Fin de siècle

These past few weeks I have been very much aware of the quality of the autumn light as it plays out these last days of summer weather. As I watch the news I keep hearing an echo of a century ago, when Sir Edward Grey famously observed that " the lights are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime". I think that we really have no idea how badly we are screwed, or how profoundly our world is changing. I hate to predict this but I think I'm right in saying that a year from now none of us will be the same, none of us will escape unmarked. George Bush will be regarded by history as a calamity greater than the black death when his impact is honestly measured. The ideology of the people behind Bush, and the pop culture induced coma of the American people have done what no outside power was able to imagine for two centuries. They have begun the destruction of America. This is so much more serious than we think folks, and I tremble for my country as I contemplate the future. If there were any honor left in Washington, pistols would be left in desks, and honorable men would do the right thing. I don't think we'll see that result, but I sadly predict that within the year the people in their righteous and inchoate anger will demand someone swing for the sins of these robber barons who will have left us destitute and naked before our enemies.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think so.

From The Department of You Can't Make This Shit Up:

This story on the wires today:


Sen. John McCain's senior foreign policy adviser cites a steamy romance 50 years ago with a Brazilian babe among the things that illustrate McCain's decades-long interest in Latin America.
Speaking at an Americas Conference panel discussion Friday on the next U.S. president's Latin American policy, McCain adviser Richard Fontaine started out by mentioning an old Brazilian flame of McCain's, who recently emerged in the press.
''Talking a little about his personal experience, he was famously born in Panama and has traveled all over the hemisphere for many years.'' Fontaine said. "In fact, I saw, I guess it was last week, that his old girlfriend in Brazil has been found from his early days when he was in the Navy and was interviewed. She's a somewhat older woman now than she was then, but it sorta speaks to the long experience he has had in the region -- in the most positive terms.''
Fontaine was referring to former model Maria Gracinda Teixeira de Jesus, who recently gave an interview to O Globo saying the former sailor was quite the kisser. According to McCain's memoirs, "Faith of My Fathers," they met in 1957, when his ship, the USS Hunt, docked in Brazil.
''I called him John but also my darling and my sweet coconut,'' she said. "He was a great kisser. I liked it so much that I bought a book to learn how to kiss myself.''

Well first of all honey, if coconuts gets his greasy little fingers near the nuke button, you better hope that book has a chapter on how to kiss your sweet ass goodbye. And secondly, the fact that John Boi had some Latin tail back in the day no more makes him an expert on policy in South America than does the fact that I used to bang my girlfriend in the backseat of a Chevy make me ready to run General Motors.

I Found This On The InterWebs

Sarah Meets Seka

Right Wing Nut Bag Rich Lowry writing today:

"A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it."

Hey Rich, was your wife pissed off when she walked into the living room and found you with your pants down and your 'right wing tool' in your hand?? Jeeez-us these are some sick fucks......

Ellie May at The White House

Well that Sarah, oh boy eh. She sure did show 'dem media types up don't ya think. You betcha! She was spunky, and smiley and called the big tooth guy Joe. Ahh that was bonus don't ya know. And no mater what the in-tee-lect-u-all crowd says, our Sarah showed 'em that she could get through 90 minutes without having some sort of seizure or involuntary bowel movement, so I think we can all agree that counts as a win and she is ready to be El Presidente. Did ya hear how she said 'Gotcha"? That's the type of perky spunky perkiness that can fix the economy eh? Get more regular folks back to work making hockey sticks, and flipping moose burgers down at the Dairy Tastee Freeze Queen Diner Wall Mart Truck Stop Hockey Barn. That Joe fella was all fact this and figure that, and fancy college talk about foreigners that smell funny and don't speak regular English, but jabber away in  garlic smelling foreign talk like Frenchy, or Mexican, or Ruskie. Well I don't much cotton to all that book learned crap-o-la, I just like straight talk about huntin and fishin and the good old U S of A. It's about time we had a somebody in warsh-ing-ton dee cee who isn't all wrapped up in "qualifications" and "knowledge" and all that stuff those media elite types use to try and trick us. Sarah's my girl you betcha. Do ya think she'll wear a toque at the Egg- Nog- Reation? Maybe she'll ride down Pennsylvania Avenue on a Moose eh? That would be Bonus!

Drinking Game For Palin / Biden Debate

Ok, pour yourself some shots of Limoncello, and get ready cowgirls:

A snort every time you hear Joe say:

Literally

Champ

My Mom

Look Folks

And a tip o' the dram every time Nan Nookie says:

Ya know

The American people

Im ready

and a double shot for the phrase:

Media filter.

We should all be completely fucking Dipso'ed 12 minutes in.

The Twisted Sister Of Rome

Last week in Rome, we stopped into Santa Maria Maggiore. I just expected to see another sort of dusty collection of once glorious art, a museum rather than a living space; which more or less was my take on St. Peters. And yet, something extraordinary happened. While I suppose many pilgrims travel to Rome to get closer to God, that was not the purpose of my trip; which makes the following all the more surprising to me.

As we entered I saw an older woman on the steps  just inside the shade line. She wore a nuns head dress, though I am not sure what order she belonged to or even if she was really a nun at all. The woman had a badly twisted leg, and held an outstretched palm to beg with a look of pain and resignation on her face. I don't think anyone else in my party even noticed her. They all hurried inside out of the Roman sun to marvel at gold and tile from long long ago. But I stood with this woman for just a moment as I fumbled for a coin.  Then I saw something in her face. Something that has left me not quite the same as before. I can't say what, I can not say who, but I saw something there. Pilgrims go to the eternal city to seek the Lord, or a cure, or wisdom. I sought none of these, nor have I received them. But I did see a vision for the smallest instant on the steps of that house of Mary.

What does it mean? I don't know. But if I had to answer I might guess I was reminded that the face of the Lord is more often seen in tears than in gold. And that is a reminder worth a pilgrimage.