the beads

I was planning to start this post by mentioning how difficult it has been lately for me to work up any outrage. The truth though, is that I have been inundated with outrage. The conduct of the honorable men of the US Senate during the Alito hearings nearly caused me to blow a vein. The self serving comments of John Murtha on 60 Minutes all but caused me to stroke out. Mayor Ray Nagin's racist, sanctimonious, rambling, Almighty-invoking statements almost caused the television to leave my apartment via the window. And those were just the highlights of the outrage that has caused me to recognize the general, appalling, illiteracy of the masses, and the propagation of the same by supposedly objective members of the press. Before any of you reading this consider dashing off a vitriolic diatribe know this: I am a Pro-Choice abortion clinic volunteer, US Army Infantry veteran who hails from New Orleans, so save the otherwise crayon written missives you feel are warranted for someone who does not have a vested interest in all the things mentioned.

I could dissect every one of the points I mentioned with calm, reasoned responses that would provoke dispassionate comments from those predisposed to such dialogue, but I know that no such animal exists any longer. 40% of people are wearing republican party jerseys, and anything not espoused by the party leaders is anathema to reason. 40% of people are wearing democrat party 100% hemp t-shirts, and anything not sanctioned by George Soros is, well, the byproduct of a maladjusted mind. That leaves 20% of us who have a foot in either camp, depending upon the issue. Well, dear friends that just does not make for any sort of genteel conduct.

A friend and I were teaching a combined class recently when he said something that perfectly encapsulates my thoughts on this subject. He related how, while watching one of the 345,912 episodes of Law and Order that are broadcast daily, one episode caught his attention in a profound way. The episode revolved around the death of a rather dour, mousy, high school teacher who apparently functioned as a dominatrix in her off hours. When one of the detectives questioned how these two things were even possible, a student of the victim responded candidly, "Hell, people ain't just one thing." That statement fuels my friend's teaching style, and, probably, his off hours too. Unfortunately too many people cannot, or will not, remember this, but prefer to get caught up in the rhetoric of whomever they currently fancy. Al Gore and Ted Kennedy rant about things they are personally complicate in, just not today, and DeLay and his boys circumvent the rules, albeit probably not illegally, to enrich themselves. Scooter Libby is indicted as a "leaker" and the NSA is revealed to be tapping phones by a "whistle-blower." I am personally just sick of it all. I am sick of the rhetoric and sick of the rank and file who popularize the demagoguery of the elected few. All I can say is, when I take over, things are going to change.