"SHOCKED" AND "AWED"

"America, you are an ASS." --comic/commentator Marc Maron, Air America Radio

In a nutshell.

To the 55 million who voted against Bush, props. But thanks to the disproportionate inbred population of the Bible-thumping Cracker Belt, we have gift-wrapped our country and tossed it to the sharks. From here on out, any fundamental Islamic zealots who slam airliners and whatever other incendiary devices into our offices, schools and homes will be vindicated, and the rest of the world won’t give a gerbil’s turd. America’s name is not John Q. Public, it’s I. Hate Fear. The “I.” standing for Ignorance.

The pieces are set, and the Empire has been assembled. America, kiss your sweet civil freedoms goodbye, cuz there’s no turning back now. Supreme Court balance—Peace out. Social Security—Kick rocks. A fair economy where most Americans don’t have to “scratch and survive” like Florida and JJ Evans—as we say over this way, Sayonara.

And all this time I’d been giving my fellow countrymen the benefit of the doubt, defending them even when criticized by my international counterparts.

Non-American friend: “What the $&%@ is wrong with Americans? Americans are some #%$ed up, crazy #%#%#s!”

Me: “Au contraire, mon frere/ma soeur. All Americans aren’t so bad. Hey, we DID NOT elect the Bushies in 2000—they stole the election. STOLE it. Besides, most of us are decent, hard-working, peace-loving, common sense-having individuals just like you and yours. C’mon, Bush is an idiot... Americans don’t think like him!”

What can I say now? There’s no defense. Now, I don’t doubt for a second that the Red party, by myriad means, lied, cheated, and stole their way back into Washington, but the bottom line is that, any way you flip it, America is a divided state, and the country is still about as split apart as it was during the Civil War. Social progress? Ha! We might be headed back towards the 60’s, except next time it won’t just be Black folk getting hosed down, clubbed, bitten and shot in the streets. It’ll be the entire “broke” class, including whites.

I’ve been hearing talk about people fleeing the States, becoming expats—I guess people like me would be the objects of envy in that respect. But I’m not ready to give up my citizenship just yet.

Sigh. If this is Star Wars, then Bush might be Darth Sidius, Cheney might be Vader. I might be Lando Calrissian, and Japan might be my Cloud City.

Meanwhile, I’ll be chilling…waiting for Luke…and the Rebel Alliance to make their move.