I was looking at the news this evening, and once again I am paralyzed by what I can only describe as “apoplectic depression.” I’m so angry that my hands shake – but all I can think to do is to order another drink and perhaps have a good cry.
For one thing, there is the oil gusher nearly a mile down in the gulf. The rig killed at least 11 people as it exploded and sank. The filthy-tube is spewing crude from several holes as it snakes along the gulf-floor. The oil is slated to start hitting protected marshland and killing endangered species sometime this weekend. The company at fault (BP, in case you were wondering, one of the better ones) is, I believe, doing everything in their power to clean up and contain the spill. At least they’re not playing the denial game. We’ve also mobilized the navy – and asked the other major oil companies for help. If they can’t convince the emergency “cram shit in the oozing sore” mechanism – we’re apparently months away from even an attempt at a plug.
If at any point in your wretched existence you were heard to chant “DRILL BABY DRILL,” I would most cordially ask that you go fuck yourself.
Seriously. I’ll wait.
Also, Arizona has legally codified the longstanding joke about the DWB (Driving while Brown) violation. It appears that a modest and reasonable solution would be to make “papers please,” a standard part of travelling in the U.S. of A. I’m a freakish liberal (NY Times reading, Latte Swilling, Please just bill me for social services, and all the rest) … the idea of “papers please” in order to travel peaceably within our borders rouses me to dig the word “un-american” out of the closet and shake its pale, quivering-ness in your face. This should also be the case with the conservatives. We ought to agree on this – that being detained without charge based solely on the color of your skin is as un-american as, say, a state sponsored religion.
The levity in my day came from my employers du jour – NASA – one of whom espoused what must be a longstanding party line on global climate change: “We sell to both sides.” What he meant was that all his team does is to provide accurate date. Both sides in the climate change argument appear to be basing their beliefs on the data held in the system I’m working with. That gives me hope – because if that’s really case then the truth ought to win. It really, really ought to win.
However, I’m not holding my breath.
Gah. To bed. To sleep. Perhaps to dream.
Of fighting and fire and war … and a strange and huge house with multiple swimming pools and unwanted guests.
Like every night.
