Two-minute hate (and then some)

My fellow Americans, my fellow citizens of the world, our soliders overseas and at home, the people of the nation of Iraq, and why even you, Mrs. Anthrax and Mr. Chemical Ali--On this lazy, humid afternoon in mid-August, when most of us are droning along in our jobs until quittin' time, on vacation, dodging hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, or avoiding petrol bombs in public squares, I feel it is my duty to make you aware of the latest official wisdom from the Ministry of Truth with regards to the ongoing war between Oceania and Eurasia, as evidenced by this article from the CNN website, published Wednesday afternoon, 22 August 2007:

U.S. officials rethink hopes for Iraq democracy

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Nightmarish political realities in Baghdad are prompting American officials to curb their vision for democracy in Iraq. Instead, the officials now say they are willing to settle for a government that functions and can bring security . . . .

. . . "Democratic institutions are not necessarily the way ahead in the long-term future," said Brig. Gen. John "Mick" Bednarek, part of Task Force Lightning in Diyala province, one of the war's major battlegrounds . . . .

Hmmm. And, again, altogether now but louder, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

So . . . how would this scenario be different than, I dunno, life with Saddam Hussein and the nondemocratic governmental structure that was in place in Iraq in, oh, say, 2003?

Please pardon me for this question if it at all sounds like I'm giving aid and comfort to the enemy, whomever they may be now. I'm frightened of terrorists and fundamentalist social extortionists, both international and homegrown, as much as anyone. However, I guess I'm just confused over why more than 3,700 U.S. soldiers and tens (or hundreds?) of thousands of Iraqis have had to die so that we can get back to the same place we were four years ago.

There were those of us who thought this invasion was a bad idea from the beginning, a classic case of tilting after the wrong windmill--or oil well, as the case may be. Why, even Dick Cheney knew we wouldn't succeed in Iraq--at least the 1994 version of him did. The 1984 version of him has possibly forgotten this point, though. Reeducated right out of him. I envision Cheney in the dreaded Room 101, but instead of being threatened with Winston Smith's great fear (rats), there's a moment involving a remote ranch, a hunting rifle, a shotgun blast, and 24 hours without a visit by medical or police authorities.

Bound to make you change your allegiances. Or die trying.

In times like these, I'm reminded of a bumpersticker my friend the Gladman told me he saw on a car in Texas sometime before the last national election: "If you're not outraged, you're just not paying attention."

Folks, we should be paying very close attention, and we should indeed be outraged. No matter what your political stripe--red, blue, green, pink, or full-spectrum rainbow coalition--this should officially piss you off.

My fear is that it won't, though. I suspect most of us feel helpless in the middle of this muddle, maybe even somewhat depressed or world-weary from it. Thus, if the war hasn't pissed you off so far, if Katrina and the botched response to that didn't madden you, and/or if the constant lying, the excessive greed, and the total lack of interest in good government accompanied by an intense fixation on wielding power at all costs didn't infuriate you, well, I don't know what would.

This isn't condemnation of you, dear reader. I'm as guilty as anyone, maybe more so because I whine publicly and still do little but stew and steam in the August heat. I'm furious, seething, apoplectic, would love to foment revolution, go wild in the streets with protest, and have hyenas with tapeworms feast on the entrails of our leaders--and that's just for this afternoon's entertainment. When I'm really wound up, I have far worse scenarios in mind for the idiots in charge, the expression of which would be ill-advised and liable to prevent me from flying for years to come.

Yet I sit here in my home office typing this blog entry for I don't know who.

What is wrong with me? What is wrong with all of us? What's it going to take to get us angry enough to take action and demand a government that doesn't do what it wants (money, power, control) or what we want (whim by whim by whim), but aims instead to do the right thing for the right reasons?

These aren't necessarily rhetorical questions, guys. The more we tarry, the worse it's going to get for all of us, at home and abroad. We need to figure out answers and take appropriate action, 'cause clearly those who wield power over us aren't paying attention and need to be reminded of who's in charge here. Us.