Thursday Stray Voltage

So Karl Rove is "obsessed" with Hillary Rodham Clinton, eh? What exactly is his game? Is it the pure, Nixon-esque paranoia, that clutching Republican fear of anything different and divergent, the ubiquitous 'liberal' enemy that wants to tear down the walls of American defense and prestige and lead us all into the Scripture-prescribed Judeo-Christian apocalypse? Is it his perception of her as a genuine political threat? Or is it that ol' Karl would just really, really like to get into Hillary's pants? I mean, what better way to stick it to the Dems and that lying, adulterous sack of shit Bill Clinton--literally--than to stick it to Hillary herself? It'd be a lot like that dumbass Monica Lewinsky's ultimate motivation: "I blew the President;" Karl could chuckle to Rummy and Cheney and the other pasty white iconoclasts who share his bent worldview, "I banged the former First Lady." Yeah, it's a bit of a high school fantasy, but that's the feel I'm getting from listening to the back n' forth.

So the name of the company that's going to sell out American national security by letting in container-fuls of terrorists is Dubai Ports World, shortened to "DP World?" Call me a perv, but when I heard that, in my mind I expanded the shortened title to "Double-Penetration World." Yeah, that's pretty raw, but that's how most of the guys I know tend to think, along these lines. Now, I'd be interested in researching the portfolio of Double-Penetration World. I'd love to see what their business model looked like, what kind of perks were offered to employees, and what their past and projected growth look like. I'd love to see the corporate headquarters, and how it's outfitted. The name reminded me of the single largest and most impressive fuck-store I've ever encountered, Vegas Adult World in Las Vegas. Absolutely fascinating place, full of all kinds of stuff I just had never really thought had existed before. Educational as well as entertaining.

So Bush and all of the top levels of our national government had discussed and briefed and consulted on the possible outcomes of Katrina before it all went down, right? That much is clear, now, only because media and public interest groups have used legal processes to force the government to release the proof, the kind of information that for six months they've denied has even existed. Now it exists, and it shows that despite knowing what was coming and what was likely to happen, that no one really made the effort. The President was in the loop, and did nothing. He went on FUCKING VACATION IN CRAWFORD, again. And Chertoff took a trip to Atlanta. No leadership, no dedication, no direct national-level leadership attention to the crisis, none at all. And Brown takes the fall. Yeah, he wasn't much better, and a lot of this rests with him, but not even close to all of it. Once again, our Idiot-In-Chief has shown himself to be a fool, a disengaged, uninquisitive dolt who couldn't lead puppies to a bowl of milk. They all knew beforehand, and they didn't take the action that needed to be done.

And Bush, Inc. is just going to slide this DP World ports takeover under the door? Regardless of the name, are the conspirators in the White House and the Executive Office Buildings really that stupid, that supremely smug and arrogant that they can just make it happen, ignore the law on required reviews, and submit it as a fait accompli for immediate approval? That Bush can wave his hand like some kind of swishy monarch and that we'll all roll over and say, "Sure thing, boss?" That's the arrogance of this White House, of Bush, Cheney, of Rove and their ilk, the unbelievable cynicism that they know what is best, they will do the right thing, and that the American people are too stupid to make decisions, too uninformed, and that they'll just do it all for us. It's the ultimate in condescending paternalism, the smugness and self-assured look down the nose upon those who just don't know the difference. Yeah, I think Ignorant America is just that, but it's another thing completely for the top levels of the elected--and appointed--government to just walk all over us to do what they feel is best, in violation of convention, precedent, and law. Me, I think DP World will do just fine, as they've done in other locations in their business endeavors. Yeah, it's political, but what do you expect? This isn't about security; it's about political posturing and election-year hype. Maybe it's time the Bushies get a taste of the chum they've been spooning to the rest of the world for over five years now.

So why is it that Mohammad (PBUH) cartoons spark violent demonstrations, death threats and fatwas, but when Shia kills Sunni, and Sunni kill Shia, there aren't any demonstrations in Jakarta or at the UN or in Beirut? Why is it when the Sunni destroy a sacred site of a sect within their own religion, there is no global Islamic condemnation of the act of murder and cowardice and terrorism? Why is it when Shia death squads randomly select dozens of Sunni for reprisal murder, that there is no global Shia outrage, with the ayatollahs in Iran issuing fatwas for the death of the murderers? The current estimate of Sunni reprisals deaths in Iraq stands at about 1500 right now, but I don't see any Sunni demonstrations in Western cities decrying the senseless murders. I'm sorry, but I see a grossly imbalanced perspective here. I see willful hypocrisy.

We'll miss you, Don Knotts. Loved you as a kid in "The Apple Dumpling Gang," but really dug you as the leisure-suited uber-dork Mr. Furley. We'll miss you, too, Dennis Weaver. You were perfectly cast as the clueless everyman in "Duel."

Somehow--I think it was the overhyped Mardi Gras coverage--I was reminded of a buddy from quite a few years back who intentionally courted and received an arrest on charges of being drunk and disorderly in New Orleans so he could tell people he was "busted, down on Bourbon Street." That was during his Grateful Dead phase. That was a few years after his country-rock phase, when he took a trip to northeastern Arizona, and spent an entire day "standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona" in the hopes that girl (my Lord) in a flatbed Ford would drive by. It didn't happen, but he said the drive up and back was quite enjoyable. I've got no idea where Phil, a pilot, mind you, is these days.

I spent my own time at Mardi Gras, way back when the drinking age in Louisiana was 18. I went there as a college rugby player for the Tulane Mardi Gras rugby tournament. Man, what a combination. Four matches in two days, all of which we lost miserably. And three straight days of drinking and partying non-stop. I spent 50 hours in the city, arriving with approximately $550 in cash. I left late on a Sunday evening for the 500-mile drive home, with less than $2 in change and nothing to show for it except three strings of broken beads (the rest given to girls, to no avail), stained clothing, and cuts and bruises and aches and pains. I was shotgun in a tiny Toyota with three other rugby players. The driver fell asleep 20 minutes onto the Ponchartrain bridge, but we were on cruise control and from the right side of the car I just steered us through the sparse late Sunday night Louisiana and southern Mississippi traffic for about 90 minutes until he woke up, with a bit of a start. He wisely opted to switch out, and I got us home safely, no one awake in the goddamn car except me. They were wise not to ask me to pay for gas.