It’s a queer world, God knows, but the best we have to be going on with. – Brendan Behan
If you read the headlines enough they become like a tickertape of the absurd. I go to Huffington Post once or twice a day as it is usually a good place to see what the country is talking about. I don’t really read many of their articles, there are way better places to get in depth knowledge, but it’s a good place to get the pulse of what is going on. Just today they had a morning headline about how the Iraq War architects were being brought back into the fold by the media as if they had any credibility left. They should be in shackles for all the poor men and women they sent to their deaths, not on TV voicing their opinions. Then tonight I see the headline is that our country is going to execute three convicts within 24 hours starting tonight. It’s like that scene in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where the characters of Sailor and Lula ride through the desert flipping through the radio. Every station features news darker and more degrading than the last, until they finally can’t stand it and decide to crank heavy metal music.
However, there are reasons to be hopeful. President Obama finally made the speech that he needed to on climate change. It obviously remains to be scene what he can actually accomplish, but it was a strong speech that no other President has dared to make. It also looks that despite the media giving some voice to the insane warmongers who got us into Iraq, that there is also some genuine pushback to stay out of the Middle East for once. I am no Thomas Friedman fan, but in the Sunday Times he mentioned that the two countries that are doing best in the Middle East, Tunisia and Kurdistan, are also the countries that we have largely stayed out of. Hopefully some of those in power understand this.
I just recently started a part time job canvassing for a political organization. I thought it would be a good way to make a little extra cash and do something positive in my community on days I don’t have shows. Going door to door I have found most people to be polite and kind. Flipping though mainstream TV and paying attention to the headlines is an easy way to find oneself depressed. However, there is good in this world and it is worth remembering that all hope is not lost. You might have to dig for it sometimes, but it is there. Don’t let the bastards get you down…
Windup Wire 