Ugh...Bush...

I consider myself a pretty optimistic chick. Despite occasionally indulging in pity parties...I tend to think that there's nothing so bad that it won't look better tomorrow...or you know, after a gin and tonic or two, but even my relentless optimism is fading in the light of this administrations repeated mistakes, missteps and flat out law breaking.

I've been telling myself, well...he's only got x number of years left, and then someone can come along and mop up his mess and we can move on with things. But now, I'm wondering if there is anyone capable of cleaning up after this man. And even supposing that one or two of his messes and mistakes are fixable, 4 years or 8 years or hell even 20 years isn't going to be enough time to fix stuff.

Take Iraq, for instance. We all want the soldiers home. But that means we have to evacuate not only our soldiers, but every American in Iraq and Afghanistan because without the military protection it's going to be open season. And ethically, can we leave behind any Iraqi or Afghan who gave us aid in the last years knowing that doing so is basically signing their death warrants. So, what's the other option? Our army stays in place and we keep bleeding resources into a country that doesn't want us there. Now, I'm no genius, but I'm not exactly stupid either, and I can't find a single answer that makes sense and no one else has proposed one either. Action or inaction, they're both bad choices, how do we decide which choice is the worst.

But, perhaps the worst thing the Bush administration has done is made the American people apathetic to the crimes, lies and other crap they've pulled. In previous administrations, people who broke laws or made mistakes that caused lives were shamed and screamed out of power, in this one, we accept it as a matter of course. There is no longer any power of public opinion. Bush and his pals are going to do what they want, how they want and they don't give a good god damn what anyone thinks. This is dangerous territory, folks. Public outcry is supposed to mean something in a democracy, and it just doesn't any more. What kind of message are we sending to the folks in Washington when we don't have the power as the people to stop our leaders from breaking our own laws? Furthermore, what message are we sending to the rest of the world? You know, all those other countries with whom we've been sharing our messages of "freedom" and "democracy" and "human rights?"

America's become a joke. The worst kind of joke, because the bullshit just goes on and on and there's no punchline in sight.

Too long...

It's been too long, I know. And perhaps no one's even reading any more, but whatever it is that occasionally grips me to regurgitate words for the world to see has suddenly seized me again. We'll see how long it lasts....

Still

still, i am, fixated
full of breathless longing
and anticipation
holding my heart tight
between my teeth
it's been too long now
and wanting becomes my only focus
turned inward
on shades only i can see
my hand eternally held out to you