Don't worry, be happy

By the way, because the government no longer works, there's no point in my worrying about climate change, or war, or any of the other things that have consumed my time and energy for decades. Clearly, the asinine behavior of government at all levels in the United States shows that humankind is too goddamned stupid to survive in the long run, so fuck the future: I'm living for today. Got kids? Sorry, I don't give a shit. No one else seems to, judging by what goes on in D.C.

I'm getting mine. With any luck, I'll eat myself into a fatal coronary before the shit really does hit the fan.

D.C. makes me sick

Congress wants air traffic to flow unimpeded in spite of sequestration.

I'm not going to plod through the details of why this was a massively stupid and irresponsible bit of bandaging; the article does a good enough job of that and I'm frankly too pissed to concentrate (in spite of being crazy 'bout the blues, as previously noted). Coming a week after Congress refused to countenance expanded background checks for gun ownership, I don't have the energy to argue rationally. I'm just going to vent, briefly.

Democrats, you caved. Your best leverage to get Congressional Republicans to bargain in anything close to good faith, and you fucking gave it away. I don't know what craven political considerations drove your decision, and at this point I don't care. You make me sick.

Republicans — well, what can I say that will make the least difference to you? As a party, you are beyond the pale. You long ago abandoned your responsibilities, adopting a philosophy that elevates not just reluctance to govern, but positive incompetence at the job, as the ideal for your elected officials. It's appalling and heartbreaking to watch your toxic brand of ignorance- and fear-based demagoguery corrode not just the machinery of governance, but the trust of the public in government. You, too, make me sick. The only difference between you and Democrats is, you've been making me sick longer.

President Obama, if you sign this bill (as seems likely), you will make me sick, too. But hey, you don't make me as sick as you would have a few years ago. I've had time to readjust my expectations much lower.

Congratulations, Congress (and Mr. President), you succeeded where al-Qaeda failed. I have given up. I have no governmental representation. I can only choose from among knaves and fools who don't give a shit about me or the country.

To quote from my earlier post: fuck all y'all.

Crazy 'bout the blues

... on Friday nights, anyway, when Kathleen Lawton or Greg Bridges is spinning them on 91.1, KCSM-FM.

Crazy 'bout the Blues has been running on Fridays from 9-midnight (Pacific) for decades now — though I can't be sure since I used to tune into Bridges' blues show at the same time on the sadly defunct commercial jazz station, KJAZ. (Darned if I can remember the name of his KJAZ blues show. Maybe "All Blues"?) It's a hell of a way to wind up the week.

Just tonight, for instance, Big Joe Turner electrified me with "The Chill is On", then the Queen of the Blues herself, Koko Taylor, about ripped me open with her buzzsaw of a voice on "I Got What It Takes". Talk about a one-two punch! It left me reeling in delirious happiness.

Whoa. The Slide Brothers' "Catch That Train", a gospel-tinged call-and-response number, captivated me so, I forgot to post this....

Rethinking our relationship with Israel

It's time for the U.S. to conduct a long-term reasseessment of our relationship with Israel.

No U.S. politician, except perhaps Ron Paul, can say that out loud. Nevertheless, it's true. I only hope the Obama administration, or at least some progressive think tank, is quietly conducting such a reassessment.

The conventional wisdom is, Israel is an — no, the — indispensable U.S. ally in the Middle East. It's the only true democracy in the area. If you hold that Islamic-leaning populations are inherently unfriendly to the U.S., Israel is also the only nation in the Middle East that isn't inherently unfriendly to the U.S.

However, the rise of deeply religious ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Israel represents a long-term challenge to the nation's fundamental nature. As David Remnick wrote in The New Yorker earlier this year, right-wing politicians in Israel have surged in popularity, perhaps helped by the tendency of ultra-religious Israeli Jews to have large families, and are saying out loud things that would have been unimaginable even ten years ago.

Early last year, Benny Katzover, a leader in the settlement of Elon Moreh, told a Chabad paper, Beit Mashiach, “I would say that today Israeli democracy has one central mission, and that is to disappear. Israeli democracy has finished its historical role, and it must be dismantled and bow before Judaism.”

Translation: theocracy, here we come!

Granted that this piece came out before the most recent Israeli elections, which produced a far-right victory that was a lot less resounding than anyone expected. Even so, demographics and the current mood in Israel don't bode well for the future.

If we're lucky, all the U.S. will lose is a reliable ally. Not that I'm counting on our being lucky: it's just that it would be too depressing to enumerate the possible bad outcomes right now.

A Jewish theocracy would be no more conducive to U.S. policy than an Islamic one like Iran. Jewish fundamentalism is no easier to live with than Islamic fundamentalism. If you think otherwise, either you are a Jewish fundamentalist, or you're a Christian fundamentalist looking for the road to the Rapture.

(Christian fundamentalism is no better, by the way. Religious fundamentalism is fundamentally bad.)

I don't know how the U.S. could handle the disaster that would be a theocratic Israel, but the odds are disturbingly high that sooner or later, that's exactly what we'll face. We'd better have a game plan ready.

Our finger-pointing pols

I just saw Sen. Lindsey Graham claim that "the ball was dropped" in the investigation of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev: either the F.B.I. failed to detect signs of his disaffection, or the Bureau wasn't allowed to follow him closely enough. (Here's a HuffPost article on the subject.) There was something in his demeanor that was so insufferably sanctimonious, I almost wanted to punch him. Sen. Graham, what makes you think you know how to do the F.B.I.'s job better than the Bureau does?

Rep. Peter King, R-NY, also flapped his gums on the subject: "If you know a threat is coming from a certain community, you have to go after that." He said he knew of five other cases "where the FBI has failed to stop someone". Really, Rep. King? Wow, the F.B.I. isn't perfect? Huh. Hey, shall we start issuing public statements criticizing your failures, too? I'm sure there are many more than five to which we could point.

It's striking that these lawmakers are so fixated on perfection. It's the same kind of asinine "standard" to which Second Amendment fanatics want to hold any and all measures to reduce gun violence.

Y'know what? Human beings aren't perfect. And if you blowhard politicians want to start pointing fingers, you are just inviting turnabout, which you wouldn't like. You are a lot worse at your jobs than most civil servants, and I'm not sure you're as useful as, let's say, the DMV.

Why are you lawmakers so quick to find fault with everyone else? Why don't you spend more of your time looking at how you and your fellow politicians do your jobs? The jobs that you reelection-obsessed politicians have been doing so spectacularly badly that you couldn't arrive at a deal to avoid sequestration?

Maybe you are so crappy at your jobs, Senator Graham and Rep. King, because you're too goddamned busy criticizing everybody else. Why don't you just shut your pieholes and earn your goddamned salaries by working on legislation?

Kim Jong-un didn't listen to me

The other day I wrote that North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un should take the opportunity provided by recent events in the U.S. to step back from the precipice and restore what passes for normal relations with the U.S., South Korea and the rest of the world.

Apparently he's ignoring my advice.

He's not as smart as his father or grandfather. That's too bad. The North Korean people are going to suffer for his mistakes.

Possibly the most asinine response so far

Per a New York Times article, here's what "Sunny McDonough, 34, a hairstylist and accountant who lives in Watertown", MA, had to say in the aftermath of the day and night of insanity that thrust the town into tne national spotlight:

I think our property values are going to go up by 10 percent. Everyone knows where we are now, and they might be more inclined to visit and go to the diner and the stores.

Way to turn lemons into lemonade, Ms. McDonough — or rather, blood into blood sausage.