100 monkeys typing.

Gather Ye Rosebuds.....

There are days when I simply have to check out. No news is good news. Walk away from the fireball and mutter to myself, “My water pistol can’t put that shit out.” Yes, I have those days. And sometimes weeks. Life in the reality-based community is like that. You can say, “Truth is stranger (and more dangerous) than fiction.” only so many times before it begins to lose all meaning. You can watch some asswipe-yay-hoo-not-my-preznit treat the country as if he’s Ken Lay and we’re Enron. You can observe from a safe distance genocide and abuse and murder of innocent people all in the name of “democracy.” You can casually read a headline like “Bush Cabal Media Censors Boondocks Comix” and simply let the disbelief wash over you without actually affecting you. Or the headline “Bush Vows Renewed Push for Faith-Based Initiative” simply registers as, “Oh, looky there. One more step towards a Theocracy. Next!” You see the dumbing down of our society in it’s youth. You can watch this almost daily if you teach at the university level. Hey, have YOU ever had to grade an essay written by a 19-year-old that looks more like it was written by a ten-year-old? A dyslexic and mildly retarded ten-year-old at that. Because the high school teachers had to get this kid a passing grade on that ever-important TAAS test so, OOPS!, he never actually learned anything. Like the motherfucking English language. Tragically, he was never told that he might someday have to apply English grammar in his job and what’s more that he should have an opinion, that he should think for himself, ask questions, not settle. So you wonder, “What happened to this country?” Why are we suddenly existing in a society straight out of some science fiction novel. Stranger in a strange land, indeed. You have days when you feel like the one sane person in Guyana who looks at Jim Jones and says, “Uh, no thanks. I’ll have the Evian.” And you wonder how so many, SO MANY, citizens could simply take leave of their senses and believe the heaping servings of bullshit that this administration is cramming down the throats (and through the courts) of its people? How could this many people be duped? And you have the opportunity – on occasion – to meet some of those who drank the kool-aid and liked it and you study them closely, quizzically and what do you find? It’s heartbreakingly simple really. They’re frightened. They respond only to their fear and no rational or reasonable or (and this is most important) INTELLIGENT debate or explanation could ever influence them. They’ve placed their hands over their ears and are humming, “La, la, la, la.” because they don’t want the truth. Why? Jack Nicholson delivered this line best. Because they can’t handle the truth. They will go to extreme lengths to never face facts and above all to never admit their error in judgment. They want more than anything to just not think about it and you notice that they get extremely irritated and angry when they come face-to-face with the truth. At those times they can be heard to exclaim, “Kill the Messenger! Kill the Messenger!” (Or is it, "Boil that dust speck! Boil that dust speck?") And for many of them, you must consider the fact that on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs these folks barely have physiological covered. How can they be expected to think about Esteem? Self-actualization? These are people who want someone else to “handle things” because “back in the day” we trusted our government to take good care of us. Little do they realize that the stinging pain in their back is from the knives thrust there by their very own elected officials. They are too frightened and ignorant to realize that they voted to their detriment. And then for just as many you know that this is nothing but a high-dollar game. Yes, The Have-Mores. Dubya’s “base.” They lie and scheme and ass-bang the world and laugh all the way to the bank. What DOES one in the reality-based community do? Well, realize that this – as with all things – is cyclical. You are reassured by history and your ability to look at The Big Picture. Trust that the Universe has a way of working this shit out. And me? Well, most days, I find other like-minded reality-based thinkers and enjoy what’s still good about this country. The fact that – for the time-being anyway - I can write this. The fact that many, many others are doing the same. I enjoy thought-provoking and downright entertaining theatre every chance I get. I walk my dogs. I read a great novel. I help desperate women-in-need take control of their lives in hopes that any improvement in their future means our country is that much closer to being a better place for all. I lecture a room full of 19 and 20-year-olds about the importance of having an opinion, questioning authority and learning the art of the persuasive essay. And oh yea, share good stuff with good folks like you. So here’s one of my faves, Mark Morford at the SF Gate, who always says what I wish I’d said first – whether it’s about abstinence-only sex ed programs, the death of radio, or the legacy of a legend. So read and laugh. Really enjoy, SAVOR each moment and don’t let the bastards get you down. Because it really pisses them off to see us enjoying life and NOT being duped. Vogue la galére!