I don’t know what’s got me down this week – maybe the news, maybe the switch back to Standard time from Daylight Savings over the weekend, or maybe the arrival of cool weather after several unseasonably warm months has finally convinced me that summer might, possibly, be over. Probably some combination of all of the above.
World news certainly isn’t cheerful. That nuclear-armed “democratic” dictatorship the US has supported, in much the same way it used to support Saddam Hussein when he was our puppet, is crumbling. The declaration of martial law there and the imprisonment of dissenting voices are examples of what can go wrong when one single executive is given too much power. They’re also examples of steps Bush can legally take now in America, thanks to a batshit-insane executive branch and a congress packed with lapdog Republicans and invertebrate Democrats.
On the flip side, the folks in Pakistan who are standing up to Musharraf are mostly sympathetic to the fanatical Islamists (like Al Qaeda, the real, Osama Bin Laden one, not the made-up Al Qaeda of news reports from Iraq). So if the military dictatorship fails, it will most likely be replaced by a cruel and corrupt government that enforces oppressive sharia law at nuclear-missile-point.
So, really, it’s a lose-lose situation, exacerbated of course by our little adventures in Afghanistan (where the Taliban are taking back control of one large province after another) and Iraq (do I even have to mention how well that’s going?)
Hey, but at least the economy is good! Well, okay, the dollar is plummeting. Yeah, our national debt is skyrocketing faster than oil prices. It could be that the fall of our currency will make the price of goods from all those third-world countries (you know, the ones that decades of of Free Market Uber Alles economic policy have sent tens of thousands of US jobs to, all in the name of saving 10 cents on a pack of socks at Wal-Mart) more expensive for us.
Not to worry, though, I’m sure our friends in China and Saudi Arabia will take advantage of the exchange rate and bolster our economy by investing billions more in US-owned companies. I hear the auto industry in particular is ripe for tak- er, “investment”.
There are a few uplifting stories in the news this morning, though.
I’ve been following the news about the 8-limbed little girl in India who underwent surgery to have her not-fully-formed conjoined twin removed so she can do normal things like walk and live. Word on the news networks this morning is that, though she’s not out of the woods yet, the surgery was a success. (As an aside, I wonder if births of children like her were the basis for the many-limbed deities of the Hindu religion. Certainly seems likely, and she herself was worshipped by some in her village.)
In a stunning turn of events, Republican Chuck Grassley has launched an investigation into the finances of several prominent televangelists. Go get ’em, Chuck!
As I wrote this, the sun finally peaked out from behind the clouds, and my mood has begun to improve. I think I’ll slip on a jacket and take a short walk amid the fall foliage. The fact that a species evolved that can take such enjoyment from the feel of sunshine and the sound of a breeze blowing through colored leaves is one of those many wonders of the universe that are cheapened when we ascribe them to some imaginary higher power. The fact that such wonders exist in such great numbers, and that most of them will go on existing no matter we hairless apes do to ourselves, is uplifting. I feel better already.