FOUR-YEAR-LONG
MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY (updated)
In 24 hours from just about now, we will have a new President
LET THE OBAMINAUGURAMA BEGIN
On November 5th I declared myself to be speechless, and I find this is the case once again, as we grow closer and closer to the moment where the rise of the oceans will be completely unaffected, and the planet will be in no danger of healing any too soon -- the moment when Barack Hussein Obama will assume the mantle of American leadership and ascend to the pantheon of American history.
Meanwhile, according to the Onion, ziss is ze time on Schprockets ven vee danz!
Congress Debates Adding Elaborate Dance To Obama's Inauguration Ceremony
On the subject of pantheons, of course, only gods belong there. If you're wondering whether that would be the appropriate place for the newbie, well, just ask him -- he hasn't even taken the oath of office yet and already he thinks he's Abraham Lincoln. When he starts to stumble -- and he will -- my God, he's given himself an extra long way to fall.
But apparently the occasion calls for some serious
GUSHING: See this article by Lorne Gunter at the National Post.
SLOBBERING: See this book by Bernie Goldberg, late of CBS
[KOOL-AID break............]
At Sunday's Lincoln Memorial rock concert, some very, very important people lent their voices to the celebrations, to tell us just how momentous was this day and how happy we should be -- better, smarter folks than you and I, to be sure: Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx, Steve Carrell.
Steve F***ing Carrell, I'm telling you!!!!!
That Great American, Paul Hewson (otherwise known as Irish U2 vocalist Bono) recalled how Martin Luther King had spoken of his dream on these steps 43 (er, he stands corrected: 46) years ago. "Let freedom ring," said he. "On Tuesday, that dream comes to pass."
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but as I recall Dr. King's dream went something like this:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Is that what just happened here, over the past two years of eternal campaigning? Is that what happened on November 4? A man rose to the apex of American political power on the "content of his character" rather than the colour of his skin? [Dare I say it?] No -- I think not.
In fact the evidence suggests that Mr. Obama rose largely because his character was unknown (or suppressed) -- and because the same could be said of the content of his policies. He remains a cipher. Our most pressing question now: is this an accident born of his inexperience and unpreparedness? or is it the result of a deliberate strategy on his part to conceal, and to hoodwink a nation?
[Before the concert, Hewson/Bono told NBC's Brian Williams that when Obama swears his oath on Lincoln's bible, it will prove that "America exists." Begging your pardon, sir, we're here, we're queer (in the dictionary sense), we're not going away -- we have never gone away. Tell Saddam Hussein that America's existence has been in doubt these past eight years. Sheesh. What arrogant B.S.]
There are other pressing questions. Fred Barnes at the Weekly Standard boils them down rather well, to four Fears -- here:
He doesn't know what he's talking about. (numbers, numbers, everywhere)
He's a pushover. (Pelosi will eat him for lunch)
He's another Jimmy Carter on foreign and national security policy. (diplomacy as panacea)
He has nerves of jello. (how deep is the 'calm'?)
Over at Commentary Magazine, Abe Greenwald has a less charitable, and much less optimistic take on the nature of the new administration. He claims that we are about to see implemented "The Doctrine of Fakism" at every level. I am inclined to agree with him. It hit me between the brows when I heard the Secretary of State Designate (looking tired and de-botoxed) declare that United States foreign policy must henceforth be an exercise in "smart power" -- I nearly lost my lunch. Are we really going to have to listen to this kind vacuous jargon for the next four years, our eyes trained in horrified fascination on the spectacle of overpaid elected officials treating this nonsense as if it has meaning, not to mention utility? Sweet Jesu -- take me now.
Update:
OH CANADA -- WHO KNEW YOU HAD A QUOTA
ON LEFT-WING EXTREMISTS AND WASHED-UP TERRORISTS?
How did I miss this? How did I not sniff it in the air, a crisp, fresh northern wind that said, "BILL AYERS HAS BEEN BARRED FROM ENTERING THE COUNTRY."
I don't know what possessed the folks at the border, but they stymied America's attempt to get revenge for all that garbage we're shipping to Michigan.
Obama buddy (and never doubt it -- he WAS -- is?) William Ayers, 1960's Weather Underground terrorist-honcho, was scheduled to spew his disingenuous nonsense at the University of Toronto, but was sent back to Chicago with his tail between his legs. (There has been no mention of what he did with his horns....)
Wolfe the Dauntless would be proud.
Sunday was also Sanctity of Human Life Day, as declared by the outgoing President. Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. That point of light will likely go out all over America in pretty short order. In the meantime, remind yourself what's at stake, courtesy of Deacon Greg and Catholic Media House here.
WHITHER HISTORY? TRUTH OR RAPE?
PBS Talking head Tavis Smiley wasted no time (we haven't even sworn the guy in yet!) in declaring that the election of Barack Obama demonstrates nothing about a "post-racial" era -- far from it, my friends, in that it merely shows that America is "less racist" than it used to be -- that this election is merely a "down payment" on reparation for slavery. Here's the tape, and one informed black dude's puzzled response at BlackInformant.com
Here's some more history that I ran across while feeling speechless and numb. It's the Leader of the Free World, striding into a situation where he is more vulnerable, in myriad ways, than any President has ever been. And he, and tens of thousands of Americans, show the world what we're made of. Watch and remember.
Mini-update: Forgot to mention -- when I watched the baseball game footage, I burst into tears for my country and said "What have we done? My God, what have we done?
