Things are a bit screwy? (tf)
I feel the urge to write a few words, especially since this is meant to be an active blog and apparently Stevens is on yet another of his self-imposed sabbaticals….complaining constantly about how busy he is in the midst of his full-time retirement, and flummoxed again by a case of writer’s block that at last count is well into its second calendar year. On the positive side, he does claim to be shedding a few pounds so he looks better for the camera’s. The man didn’t become a local celeb by not being able to mug at a moment’s notice. So just because he’s a writer and he’s not writing doesn’t mean he’s deep into sloth or anything. He’ll likely turn up at a coffee shop somewhere, Ipad in hand, desperate to make me look bad. And probably succeeding.
There has been plenty to keep us busy, actually.
The last few Republican candidates continue to debate each other every 15 minutes or so, trading barbs about wives and ex-wives and tax returns and truthiness and how brown people are a pain in the ass. Next up is the Florida primary….as if the perpetually tanned Romney (or Mrs. Gingrich the 3rd) needs more sun. Santorum is just about down and out, having spent all his money trying to convince the faithful that anybody who uses a condom is “with the terrorists”. Rick Perry’s unintentionally hilarious YouTube video that bashed gays while at the same time making him seem gay finished him some time ago….so thankfully he’s back to being a Texas problem. I think Ron Paul is still in the race but nobody seems to ask him any questions in the debates, probably because they’re terrified of what he might say in reply. Meanwhile, Obama is showing just how scared he is of the republican murderers row by literally singing at the podium. While they tear at each other like rabid dingos, the President is yucking it up and channeling his inner Al Green, apparently having the time of his life. Never has a man had to do so little to convince people that the opposition is batshit crazy. While vast swaths of the population are pissed-off and unemployed…and some are taking to the streets and being fire-hosed and truncheoned by cops channeling their inner Bull Connor for the TV cameras, Gingrich is proposing a colony on the moon….which makes Obama’s policy of not really doing anything at all seem like something out of LBJ’s Great Society. It’s not that Washington is out of touch. It’s more like they’re perpetually stoned on really good grass…and have turned into hoarders.
In truth you may have missed a lot of this because Joe Paterno died. When famous people die the US press seems to drive into a brick wall…..and it takes them at least a week to decide if they should climb over, dig under, or go around it. This is especially true if the famous person recently did something infamous. Or in this case, didn’t do anything at all, which ended up being the same thing.
So yea, there’s some things worth commenting on….at least in passing.
Oh….one more thing. When you get your W2, and for the 5th year in a row you’ve made less money than the year before, and yet you still feel like one of the fortunate ones….doesn’t that mean….you know….things are a bit screwy?
–Tom Flannery
Riding Both Rails 