Sunday, November 05, 2006

Albuquerque!


Waiting for the India Pale Ale to kick in or Mrs. Dada through the beer glass.

I've been flyin'
down the road,
And I've been starvin' to be alone,
And independent from the scene
that I've known.
Albuquerque.
- Neil Young

Saturday night and I find myself in Albuquerque. How the hell we got here I'm not sure. Something to do with a spur-of-the-moment impulse. I think it was some form of election eve escape. Some hope for a pleasant distraction perhaps that found me saying to Mrs. Dada, "Let's go to Albuquerque!" this past Thursday.

And so here we are. Saturday night and our dinner plates are gone. Our used napkins lie crumpled neatly on the table as I wait for the delicious India Pale Ale to kick in.

Back in its heyday of Empire, England had a problem. Getting beer to the troops, those enablers of its global aspirations, before it rotted. To places like India and other exotic lands. As a result, Brits learned by upping the content of the hops in the beer, it acted as a preservative enabling shiploads to arrive in places "where the sun never set" and empire was preserved. (Which is better than places "where the sun never shines" that empires deserve, I suppose.)

So here I sit, in Albuquerque, in "A great people place," as one website described Il Vicino's brewpub. And while I love meeting others and chance encounters, this evening I came here with Mrs. Dada for its great beer. For the mystical powers of this empire elixir to help me forget what next Tuesday is.

Earlier in the day, I'd read Molly Ivins latest article. In it, she said:

"I remind you what this election is about? Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, unprecedented presidential powers, unmatched incompetence, unparalleled corruption, unwarranted eavesdropping, Katrina, Enron, Halliburton, global warming, Cheney's secret energy task force, record oil company profits, $3 gasoline, FEMA, the Supreme Court, Diebold, Florida in 2000, Ohio in 2004, Terri Schiavo, stem cell research, golden parachutes, shrunken pensions, unavailable and expensive health care, habeas corpus, no weapons of mass destruction, sacrificed soldiers and Iraqi civilians, wasted billions, Taliban resurgence, expiration of the assault weapons ban, North Korea, Iran, intelligent design, swift boat hit squads, and on and on."

Ivins concluded her article by reminding all of us how this election is about more. How it's about salvaging the Constitution. And it's about the corruption dripping scoundrels counting their gold piles while Rome burns. People like Bush, Cheney, Tom DeLay, Karl Rove, Dennis Hastert, Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, and a littany of others so busy restoring Bush's "honor and integrity" to the White House.

And here's where I need the India Pale Ale to really kick in. That's because I don't think Tuesday will change much. Corruption of the voting system is well established. Daily we hear of some new, outrageous schemes to confuse or mislead voters, or to outright block voters from exercising their rights. There's no limits to creative and criminal ways to steal elections it would seem.

And I wonder? How many fucking national election results will Americans accept being settled under very suspicious circumstances or outright criminal acts before they reach their event horizon? Or is a critical mass of outrage something that only happens in places like Mexico or Nicaragua where the U.S. stirs a hornet's nest for rigging elections while here in the U.S., Americans simply accept it?

I know from the elections of 2000 and 2004 we have gleaming examples of how it's easier to just roll over and accept the theft of the nation by the bold and most audacious among us. But is there no point where we stand up and reject such outcomes? And if we ever reach that point (pray it doesn't come too late), what will we be willing to pay? I guess that depends on how much we think what's at stake is worth. Apparently, at the moment, that's not much.

Tuesday is "Here we go again!" time. Karl Rove is confident nothing much will change because he knows the outcome from crunching the real voting numbers by using "The Math." (Perhaps The Math none of us has access to because it's buried deep within a secret code in Diebold software?) By Wednesday we should know.

But for now, it's still Saturday and I'm still waiting for the India Pale Ale to kick in. It's the beer of empires you know.

9 comments:

meldonna said...

I envy you your India Pale, mi amigo, as I sip my Natty Light. That's the beer of the financially challenged! ;)

Hang in there, my good man. I know it's hard to keep your hopes up when there's still a good chance they'll screw us again (and I know you're preparing yourself for a letdown; I remember how depressed I was all winter in 2004). Have another of those excellent brews, and remind yourself if they steal this one, too many people, including the media, are going to notice. Myself, I'm keeping my plowshare handy in case I should need to beat it back into a sword. The real work starts on the eighth.

And if you haven't seen this one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr5tx0lcyQc
watch it. Pretty much knits it all together.

here we come down the stretch,
*m

Anonymous said...

yes, here we go again, same old show again, bye bye, democracy. After thinking about THE math, here's my prediction: Democrats will win in a landslide, but repubs will manage to keep control of house & senate. And of course, Bush will do as he pleases no matter who diebold selects.

that's funny mel (plows vs swords), cuz i was thinking earlier that maybe instead of planting spring tulip bulbs all weekend, i should've gone with potatoes. much more useful as the world falls apart. and here i'd been feeling so upbeat and all.

when were exit polls outlawed? did we lose that along with habeus & not even notice? oh, it's enough to make me feel all medieval. may be in dire need of a magical mystical elixer ~~ D.K.

Dada said...

Damn Mel: I just had a George Bush moment while out in the back looking through the shed for my plowshare.

"Hmmm, no plowshare in here," I heard myself muttering under by breath. "Maybe it's in the garage?" I continued. Only thing missing was the laughter from an oddience of my "Haves" and "Have Mores."

(Nice video by the way.)

Dada said...

Raed: Yeh, but what the hell kinda flower do potato plants put out, D.K.?

"when were exit polls outlawed?"

Ah, wasn't that after Ohio--'04, when election results proved exit polls were no longer a reliable predictor of the people's choice.

'Member that stupid late-60's song with the line, "Some machine's doing that for you," or some such. (But I thought that wasn't supposed to happen til 2525 or so.)

Wow, seems like the more of the past we put behind us, the faster and faster the future comes at us.

azgoddess said...

my guess - not many more fucking national election swill we sit back and take it

heaing bend over and drop um -- is not one of the things i like to hear when i go and vote...

faith my friend..faith...hugs

meldonna said...

Hell, Dada, just yank the blade off the lawnmower and wrap an end in duct tape; some folks call it a kaiser blade, I call it a sling blade. Worked for Carl, didn't it?

I *got* something for the have mores; somehow lawn implements seem rather apt. And when we get through, we can head over to deke's and help her set 'em flower bulbs out, mm hmmm.

Anonymous said...

omg, mel, just TYPING mm hmmmm hurts my throat! how'd billy bob ever carry that off for a whole movie?

but, ummm, what about us desert rats who threw away our lawn mowers yrs ago? oh, i know, we still have a wicked-looking mah-chet-ay (with rattlesnake blood on it, no less) hanging about somewhere. I might've had better luck using it in my bulb-planting spree to hack some holes out in our stony soil than the prissy little trowel that broke apart.

oh wait, we have an actual sword! husband still has his original marine parade issue, now hanging & rusting on the wall! EnGarde!

egad, this really is sounding medieval. anyone got some monty python holy grail armour hanging about? ~~ D.K.

Dada said...

Mel: "Ah, awright then." One of the reasons my wife is sooo thankful for the past 10 years rushing by so quickly was my frequent impersonations of Karl. While I don't think she was impressed, it sounded exactly like him to me.

Thanks for the lawnmower blade idea. That may come in useful after today, Tuesday, November 7th.

meldonna said...

I know how you feel, Dada...my friends made me quit doing Carl because it creeped 'em out -- I'll challenge you to a Carl-off (just remember I'm from Arkansas and the accent comes naturally).

What a great flick, tho'!

I'm taking 30 minutes off election watch for Jeopardy (an addiction), but so far, looking good. That fucking Santorum already conceded! Praise the Lawd and pass the ammo!!!!