This will happen again tomorrow
You have so many areas. There is surprisingly little play.
The president on a rippling screen
called the entire population
a bunch of traitors
today.
And now he lies in bed and munches
on the graham cracker
of an entire continent.
The boiling of our only world
is his indigestion.
Which means he's already eaten.
And now we are eating.
And there is a long goddamned table with nobody at it.
And there is a long fucking life with nobody inhabiting it.
4 comments:
"The president on a rippling screen
called the entire population
a bunch of traitors
today."
powerful image. enjoyed.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Speaking of presidents: if you're into really dark comedy, check out the press conference Bush did this morning. He sounds truly desperate.
Dear Bill--
You said: "No doubt I am being too literal. And, no doubt, you would be too, if you were to defend the image as suggestive of reality." I'm inclined to agree with you, but, just for fun, I'll take that as a challenge, and respond to the question you pose of the image: "is it true?"
Here goes:
Bush has called all of us traitors, just not in so many words. You see, Bush has repeatedly said that we're either with him or the terrorists, and during the last campaign, said that a Democratic victory would be a victory for the terrorists: "However they put it, the Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses."
So, since the majority of Americans voted for the Democrats, that makes us all traitors, including those who of us who voted for Republicans (and I voted for a couple of 'em myself); are we not all responsible? The Republicans are equally traitorous, since they did not care enough about America and its fight to find a way to win the election, thereby saving us all from a terrorist victory. If Bush was right, it would have been morally sound for them to steal the election, since the stakes are so high. The fact that they didn't means that they have betrayed us all. That means that Bush, in a very roundabout and oblivious way, has now condemned even himself as a traitor, along with the rest of us. So, yes, my image is utterly true.
Further thoughts:
Since you are a registered Republican, we can reasonably assume that your political comments are driven not only by a desire for truth, but also by a desire to help reclaim the power that the Republicans held for the past twelve years. It may be that we all have ulterior motives; but I think one of your ulterior motives is pretty easy to guess at, in this case. This does not mean that your comments always lack insight, or tend to be untrue. It simply means that, like most critiques in our society, yours is, at least to some extent, a partisan critique. Whether this limits, even damages, you as a commentator, is up for debate, I suppose.
I am not burdened by party affiliation (though I won't claim that this automatically makes me more enlightened than those who are), and you're not going to hear any defenses of the Democrats from me. I find them utterly vapid and gutless, and I yearn for them to be disgraced and cast out of office, along with their Republican doppelgangers. I find it pathetic that anyone runs on any party's ticket; we should all be independents. I vote the same way most Americans vote: in an attempt to help the lesser of two, or several, evils win out. But I realize that this is probably a wasted and futile effort; evil still wins out, even if it sometimes appears to be a lesser one. I don't place much importance on voting. But I prefer involvement to detached critique; I like to get my hands dirty, because then I find I feel more comfortable when I comment on the process in my writings.
I haven't heard any Democrats promising to bring the troops home lately, by the way. I've heard that some of them have (and I totally agree with you that some of them have deliberately, deceptively created the impression that they would, in order to win election), but most of the high-level Democrats are repeating the following sentence, in their sleep: "we need a new DIRECTION in Iraq." Yes, we need a new "direction" for our government's murderous mistake. That is the "message" the democrats are sending. Impressive.
The Democrats have virtually nothing to offer me. After all, I am against nationalized healthcare (which seems to be a "liberal" sacred cow, and something many Democrats clamor for in one version or another). I also think that paying taxes should be optional. And, unlike the Democrats, I do not admire the military. So, no matter what the result of any election, I will be just as disenfranchised as I was to begin with. This gives me little reason to approach politics with many practical goals in mind. Both parties long ago voted people like me out of political existence. Perhaps I should thank them for this: I have better things to do elsewhere.
There was a very fascinating moment during the Bush post-election press conference: he said "I thought we were gonna be fine. Shows you how much I know." The utterly arrogant, self-righteous and hectoring tone of many of his previous addresses had melted away. He sounded wounded, vulnerable, almost tearful, at times. He seemed more human than usual. It can be a relief to lose, at times; a relief to have a few holes torn in one's constraining armor.
Thanks for stopping by. You always make the 'comments' section more lively around here; and there is nobody whose presence I relish more, when I'm looking over responses.
Luke
PS--I'd love to see your response to this statement: your own views are actually closer to those of the Democrats than mine are.
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