The Elections, The War, and the Brilliant Frank Rich

The midterm elections are a few weeks away. All signs point to the Dems taking control of the House--and maybe the Senate, too. Uh, please let this happen. If not, I think I've fucking had it with this country. (Yeah, I know, I said that when Bush was not really elected and then re-elected, but this time I mean it!) Everyone says the Dems always manage to lose, to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory, etc. But can we also lay some blame on idiotic voters? (Not to mention all the losers who don't even bother to go out and vote.) Last time the Republicans fear-mongered the public to death, and stupid voters somehow fell for it, thinking the Republicans are keeping us oh-so-safe. Now, two years later, it's clear to most everyone that this disastrous war has made us less safe, not safer. So will voters finally realize that Republicans are ruining America and vote for change? Time will tell. I want to believe...but the cynical, pessimistic side of me can easily see how, once again, I'll wake up on November 7 disappointed, disgusted, and near-suicidal.

And speaking of this war. Three years ago, when this administration was "selling" the idea of the War--you know, how Iraq and Saddam had WMDs, were a threat to America, blah blah blah--I knew all along that it was bullshit. But I wasn't alone--hundreds of thousands of other people did, too. Actually, anyone with half a brain knew the war was based on bogus and fauly intelligence--not to mention lies, lies, lies. But now that the war is an unqualified disaster, people who once supported the war are now turning against it, saying that if they had known there were no WMDs, if they had known that Rummy and Gang had no postwar plan, than they would have been against it from the beginning, too. Bullshit. (My favorite word in this posting, apparently!) These people are just covering their asses because they are on the wrong side of history.

And the rest of them, who were genuinely hoodwinked? Well, if I took the time to read the papers and stay informed, and if I knew that the whole thing was based on lies, and if I knew all along that Bush and his cronies were crooked and caught up in their neocon delusions--if I knew all this, these other people could have--and should have--known, too. They have no excuse, except their own gnorance and stupidity. If they'd get off their asses and read and watch the news and engage with the world around them, instead of hoping Jesus solves all their problems, instead of spending their time bashing gays and defending marriage and boycotting French fries, well, then, we wouldn't be in this mess, and more than 2,500 young men and women wouldn't be dead, for no reason whatsoever.

God, I could go on and on. Just read the brilliant Frank Rich's new book, The Greatest Story Ever Sold, if you want to know the downright criminal and disastrous lies the Bush administration peddled (and still peddles!) to get us into this war. Nobody says it better than Frank Rich, and he has from the get-go.

So, in two weeks, maybe we'll have a new Congress, one that can turn things around. I don't expect miracles if the Dems take over, but it sure would halt the wretched policies that Bush and Republicans have rammed down the country's throat for the past six years.