I enjoyed watching the Dixie Chicks on Larry King last night. One of the high points for me was when someone called in asking how the group feels, three years later, with president Bush's approval ratings in the toilet. Natalie Maines, referring to Bush's 70% disapproval rating said she didn't take particular pleasure in that because of the Bush agenda that has created such disapproval among the public. King corrected her by saying Bush's disapproval rating was more like 60% instead of 70%. Maines didn't let that go by. She immediately confessed her 70% Bush disapproval rating was conservative. "It's more like 72%," she retorted. Dada says, "Kick ass, Natalie!"
But the American experiment with democracy is truly dead. Why? Because, despite Bush's 70-72% public disapproval (or as King interjected and claimed--only 60% disapproval--like that's somehow more acceptable?!--serving as example of the media slaves that King so subserviently exemplifies, i.e., under great pressure to continually mollify or suck the asses of his employer to keep his job by filing down difficult statistics which reflect disapproval of Bush and the corporate shills who support him by employing the likes of King), it doesn't matter. You, I, and 210 million other Americans can't do shit about it. Bush and Cheney are still in charge, still killing women, babies and unborns in Iraq in our names!
And I've just spent the last half hour reading the reactions to the Dixie Chicks last night on Larry King. Apparently, many of the remaining minority love to read, then quote, Bill O'Reilly* and Matt Drudge. And they are the 28-30% of Americans who are so bought into Bush's bullshit of fear, so fucking afraid, that they can't kill enough Iraqi kids or spill enough blood of innocent men and women to calm their panic stricken bloodlust for more.
America has become a nation, not of majority rule, but guided by a small minority of fearful chickenshitwarhawks using the support of their religious zealots to advance and enrich the greed driven likes of our executives, corrupt congress and the supporting cast of an increasingly conservative judiciary that has seized control of the government in the guise of constitutional preservationists as they proceed to dismantle the nation for their own purposes.
If I'm a little more demonstrative than usual today, I apologize. I suppose it's reaction to the, what I see as the unsustainable, pigheadedness of the 28 percent who continue to support the total destruction of the nation in the name of fear, Jesus, democracy, freedom, or just pure gluttonous greed.
But I get continuous reminders from others, those in the majority, like the e-mail I received from Code Pink today. While a tremendous supporter, I am not optimistic because somehow there still exists among many some unfounded faith in hope that this year the voting machines will work; this year they will reflect the real will of the majority. This after the system in which we still place our faith has screwed us all the past two presidential elections.
In the congressional elections now upcoming this November, more than ever, it has become imperative to those in power that their control be maintained, lest those in power become those impeached and eventually those tried, convicted and imprisioned for committing the same crimes Saddam Hussein is currently on trial for in Iraq--retaliations against innocent people.
But to quote from today's Code Pink letter:
"Dear Dada,
"The intrepid Molly Ivins recently wrote that she was fed up with 'every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch' in Washington DC. 'This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one,' Molly proclaimed. 'It is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.'
Amen. If only I could trust the faith in the machines that tally the will of America. Personally, I don't.
*NOTE: An illustration of how full of shit Bill O'Reilly is was given on Olbermann's MSNBC "Countdown" tonight. With total disregard to facts or history, O'Reilly used the WWII American slaughter of German soldiers at Malmedy as the always-bound-to -occur war atrocities example committed by US troops to justify the American slaughter of innocent civilians and children by the US military in My Lai, Vietnam as well as the current slaughter under investigation in Haditha, Iraq.
But the sad truth is O'Reilly got it backwards. It wasn't American troops who slaughtered unarmed and surrendered German soldiers, it was the other way around. At least 72 American soldiers were slaughtered in cold blood at Malmedy by the Germans. A minor misstatement of historical fact by O'Reilly. But when it comes to appealing to the small minority who remain staid in their undying support of Bush, facts for O'Reilly will always take a backseat.
6 comments:
I'm so sorry to hear about Pony. By rescuing retired racing doggies, who are considered a commodity by their owners and then discarded when they are no longer useful, you've given these greys the first loving home they've ever had, comforted them in their declining years and taught them how to be dogs instead of property.
It's seems especially unfair that because you've unselfishly adopted older animals, you have them with you for a short period of time and consequently grieve their loss too soon.
dada, your post was NOT too late to alert me to watch Countdown tonight & see that great o'reilly segment. Aahhh, Keith could barely hold back his vomit. and yet, as you say, all Bill-O's supporters will continue to defend his ridiculous stmnts, twisting themselves into knots to justify whatever vile slime erupts from his pie-hole. I have a feeling your editor's spirit would be proud of you, dishing it out so richly in this post! D.K.
Nona: Thank you for your extremely thoughtful comment re Pony and the beatiful "herd" she ran with. I'm still rolling over my last 'dog blog' in my mind.
But you know, I stand in total awe of these retired racers. As I was remarking to my wife, these guys come to us after successful "careers". The first years of their lives spent 'earnng a living' and we have no idea what they endured before being turned out, deemed no longer of any value or use.
A number of these guys come off the track with race ending injuries to their legs. Or, in Pony's case, she just wasn't into it--too much attitude. But we'll always wonder how she came to leave a piece of ear in Arizona.
But I don't care to really know any more of an industry I'd love to see abolished.
And so, I'll write one more time of The Po' and other sis' and brother here. It's been a couple of days of memories as we retire the doggie dishes, fill the holes Pony dug in the cool Earth out back her last days in search of some kind of comfort. And there's the beds. I figure the house has gained 120 sq. ft. of floor space. (~grin)
Thank you for the kind thoughts. I know you know!
DK. Oh good, glad you caught the O'Reilly segment on Countdown. One would think, as much as folks like Olbermann and Al Franken climb over his ass as a hobby, O'Reilly would at least try to get it straight.
But to his credit, O'Reilly never lets facts get in the way of the truth--as he paints it.
Geez, DK, I loved your "whatever vile slime erupts from his pie-hole" comment. Why, you sound even angrier than I! (grin)
remember Pony well, dada, she lives on in those memories...romping, pain-free and with an attitude much like her beloved humans (I wonder who got that attitude from whom? ~grin~)...grieve and mourn as you must, but take some small comfort in having provided a good life for one retired racer and for accepting the uniquely human responsibility to provide mercy...
Thanks Maineiac: Pony's mom's name was "Squirt"...we learned this unexpectedly about six mos. ago when we discovered Po's racing career record online at one of those tracks. (She went by the name of "Maricopa Pomo"....hell, where they come up with names like that? The freakin' race'd be over before they finish saying it!)
Anyway, we also found that while she had 32 races, she finished second a number of times. About as many times as she finished dead last. I figure those were on her days of "attitude." So, they didn't keep her running but for 6 mos. or so. She was definitely a "kick" though.
Thanks Maineiac. To Po's credit, however, was the fact she never 'chose to win' a race.
Post a Comment