Monday, July 09, 2007

What Can I Say?

I simply ran out of words, at least words that were not of the four-letter variety and it was beginning to feel like I was not so much commenting on anything as regurgitating whatever made the latest blip on the public radar and all of it feels like parts of the same larger story.

Four years after the initial invasion of Iraq we still have the same sort of men who used to run about wearing white sheets terrorizing darker skinned men running about motivated by their absolute terror of darker skinned men wearing white sheets. Both sides remain unable to grasp the concept that human stupidity is oblivious to race, religion, nationality or any other artificial designations we've chosen to place upon ourselves. The universe apparently has a sense of humor.

Six and a half years into an administration led by lunatics we still have not done anything about it. I can't muster up much outrage or anger over whatever Dubya or Darth Cheney's latest antics are when We The People are still sitting about with our thumbs up our bums. Six years is a pretty steep learning curve, even the developmentally disabled are expected to master new skills in a 3 to 6 month treatment program. Granted, the developmentally disabled are seldom distracted by the release of the newest I-Whatever or the trials and tribulations of the Bimbetter-of-the-moment so they have an advantage over the rest of us.

Half a century past building possibly the greatest national infrastructure in recorded history it's now collapsing from disrepair and general neglect. Now if we were truly as smart as we seem to believe we are at the very least you would think the New Orleans levee would have given us a clue. Most of the small and medium-sized dams in this country were built to last just 50 years. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, about 30 percent of the more than 76,000 dams in the United States are older than 50 years--and by 2020, that number will increase to more than 80 percent. I can only assume we're waiting for Sacramento's levees to collapse and a few dams to break and engulf a few cities to pay attention.

James Inhofe may not believe in climate change or it's potential to wreak havoc but his state now has a shot at creating an entirely new tourism industry: boating tours of Oklahoma. Granted, the 42,000 gallons of crude oil spilled in Kansas that is now headed straight into Oklahoma may slow things up a bit but that is one way to get rid of all that pesky wildlife.

Meanwhile we've been basking in 115+ degree heat here in the southwest but I feel lucky. Not only did I not even break a sweat while not even having refrigerated air, I can also revel in the glory of Heidi Fleiss' new laundry. See, there's always a way to distract ourselves.