The World Keeps Spinning

It seems that while I've been off gallivanting hither and yon, "life" has kept moving forward. While I've been deprived of the nightly "pundit sitcoms" (as Walt calls shows like Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman), world news has gone on without me. While I've been wrapping baby gifts and not reading The Huffington Post, worrisome things have continued to be posted on the Internet.

Now that I'm back home again, and with a blissfully empty schedule for two whole weeks, it's time to pick up where I left off however many days/weeks ago that was, and express ire, frustration, and whatever other emotion seems to well up as I try to catch up.

It seems that while I've been in a news blackout, the Vatican has created new sins (kind of like Bill Mahr's "New Rules," without the laugh track). I don't think these are carved in stone the way the original ones are, or that there is some celestial Xerox machine which has whipped out several addenda that God didn't realize he would need until Man began screwing things up. On the whole, the "sins" (probably an irrelevant term anyway--do people still go to confession any more? Are there still mortal sins and venial sins?) make sense. Things like pollution -- "thou shalt not befoul the air I have given to thee" (or something like that) and I may have quarrel with the church's stand on genetic manipulation, stem cell research and that sort of thing, but I understand their stance against it.

However, I had to scoff at the emphasis on the sin of social injustice from the organization which is one of the biggest contributors to social injustice against gay people.

And then there's that old sex scandal stuff. Surely you remember it. It was in all the papers. But that is, apparently, the problem. Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the spokesperson for Pope Benedict, acknowledged the “objective gravity” of the allegations, but contended that the heavy coverage by mass media of the scandals must also be denounced because it “discredits the church.”

Discredits the church? Well...duhhhh! Should the media have been part of the vast coverup? Apparently the media was guilty of the sin of...uh...honesty!

Back on this side of the Atlantic, the gas at the station near Alice Nan's house in Santa Barbara was charging $3.99 a gallon for regular (in fairness, it was the only station we saw charging that much. $3.79 seemed to be more common). Didja see Our Glorious Leader asked a question about $4 a gallon gasoline and saying he didn't know anything about that...only to say a few minutes later that he hadn't been informed about some other issue because he was too busy worrying about things like $4/gallon gas?

Has the man given up all pretense of being competent? I have the feeling he is just playing out the clock and trying not to put too many feet in his mouth--there are too many in there already. Or maybe Cheney has finally given him the key to the liquor cabinet, figuring that it can't really hurt anything any more.

I also see that we are now admitting that we have a torture policy, with his nibs vetoing legislation that would ban harsh techniques like waterboarding saying that to do so would "take away one of the most valuable tools in he war on terror."

After all this time of insisting that the United States does. not. torture, he now admits that we do and refuses to pass legislation that would ban it.

Yeah--nothing funnier than torture

But I guess--what can you expect from someone who thinks going to war is something "romantic."

It doesn't surprise me about Bush, but how badly do you want the presidency that you would sell your soul to get it. McCain, who was held and tortured for years, who has, in the past, been quite vocal in his objection to torture and stating his personal experience knowing that information extracted under torture is not reliable, also refused to support the bill which would ban torture.

Was it worth it, John? Is is really that important to you to be president?

What I want to know is...are these bozos really going to get away with all the shit they've been pulling for 8 years? I notice that the White House has blocked the EPA from releasing document to Henry Waxman's Government Oversight committee which would show why California's request for permission to regulate greenhouse emissions from cars and trucks. This just adds to the long list of other documents the White House has blocked from being examined. Whether there is any actual wrongdoing or not, the fact that the White House puts up such roadblocks, again thumbing its nose at congress and saying that they are above such petty rules and regulations, leads to the only logical conclusion--they are covering their own asses.

And if they continue to cover them until January, and if a Democratic president is elected (though Clinton and Obama seem to be working very hard to change public opinion about that, dammit), will all these investigations end? Will they all ride off into the sunset with one last smirk at us all and a wink for the good ol' boys? God, I hope not! Can you impeach a former president?

And there's an Oklahoma Congresscritter who thinks gays are worse than terrorists. (Ironically, in my journal entry one year ago, I mentioned that General Peter Pace likened gay men and women to adulterers. Wow...what's next??)

You know, it was kind of nice being on news hiatus. It was a lot less stressful. It's probably how Bush feels most of the time, without letting his mind be troubled by little things like war, the economy, or anything else of any import.