On the evening of day two, I was slapped in the face with how fast my out-of-touch-ness has set in. At a small dinner party, a friend said, “So what do you think of Bush’s new Supreme Court nominee?”
I could only respond with a slack jaw, and a weak, “He has picked someone?”
I am quite certain, from the context of my fiend’s question, and from her somewhat disappointed look following my response, that I had failed to live up to my reputation. In my days as an Internet news junkie, and blog-hound, I was the go to guy for news questions. I believe my friend was expecting a briefing on the new nominee. But, her question floated away into the summer night. Because, in just two short days, I have become a more central member of the herd of Sheeple of the United States of America, and the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, with enforceable anti-trust laws and abortions for none.
There is a huge upside to being a Sheeple though. The food is great. And I was entertained to my toes yesterday. Baseball. Hot dogs and other assorted barbeque. Swimming at the pond, with cranky old neighbors who want to check your subdivision credentials before they let you share the water at the communal man-made pond. Expensive beer. Heineken and Corona. (I may bitch about branded products, but I consume them like a good American cog in the machine, oh yes).
On day three, I woke up with a slight hangover and an NYTs bursting with information. I know those who read this and haven’t caught on to the premise of my experiment will think of me as the blogging equivalent of that elderly journalist portrayed in the small town of Chisholm, Minnesota in the movie “Field of Dreams.” Archaic and quaint. (I am to the Field of Dreams, what Tom Cruise is to Dianetics, only I am homely and relatively anonymous – but I mean that the Field of Dreams is my religion – a quote, character or scene always explains bits of life for me).
But, here goes. Here is what I know on day three of my NYTs only Summer of Ignorance Tour. The Supreme Court Nomination was covered in spades. Three stories on the nominee, politics, and strategy, all on page one. Only twelve hours too late to assist my friend. I learned from the NYTs that Roberts is the ultimate insider with a Midwest calm. He apparently thinks Roe was wrongly decided. But, I’ve always wanted my daughters to travel to foreign countries for abortions anyway, should the need arise. He is a longtime member of the Federalist Society. Just shoot me. His judicial opinions appear to be against Californian Toads and against civil rights for 12 year-old accused criminals. I am fearful. He looks like he will be as bad as Scalia only much slicker, and smarter. And, he will be on the bench until I am very, very, very old – or for the rest of my natural life, barring an unfortunate calamity. I don’t have any more elections to affect this awful thing that is about to happen to my constitution. I want to leave. Take my ball, and go home. Barf. But, good coverage, albeit late. I can’t imagine what you all have been writing and saying and flipping out. But, this guy seems poised to zip right through from the perspective on one lonely Sheep.
The War was back on page one. It got the other half of the coverage. Not the really, really awful parts of the war. Just the plain awful stuff. Two out of fifteen Sunni Iraqis appointed to the committee to draft a constitution (to add balance and stability to the process, moo-hoo-ha-ha-ha) have been summarily assassinated. Sounds like a safe working environment to me. 13% of Sunni input rubbed out with a couple (or a couple dozen, I can’t remember the details) of bullets. War – on track. Also on A1. Women’s rights apparently being written out of one working draft of the constitution that relies heavily on Islamic law. Duh? You didn’t need to have a working CIA in order to tell you this was going to be the likely result of the elimination of Sadaam Hussein. You could have checked with any college graduate who read news critically before the war, I think, and you would have got the right answer. What a colossal mess. Welcome, new repressive Islamic Republic. Way to go George. Nice work. Spread that democracy. Go on with your bad self.
The really, really bad war coverage slipped to page A8. A very reliable count of civilian deaths (look at all reported news deaths in the media, and track down their credibility after the fact) puts the Iraqi civilian death toll at roughly 25,000 and counting. I say accurate in this regard. That it appears to be an excellent low end figure. The number would have to be increased by the deaths not reported in the media. So the old range of 8,000 – 150,000. Well, you can say at least 25,000 dead now, and be fairly accurate. That is well over ten times the number of innocents killed on 9/11, as I recall. Think the blood-thirsty among us feel sated yet? Not by a long shot is my guess.
More Iraq news. Heh! (That is my chimp-boy laugh, at least how his smirking laugh sounds in my head, now that I can’t watch him live anymore – the laugh still echoes there, and will for the rest of my days). A9 – Nine dismissed from Sadaam’s tribunal. Another 19 threatened with dismissal. And the source of these dismissals seems to be none other than Chalabi. Way to go neo-cons. You can’t even try the war criminal right, without making it look like a kangaroo court. I would love to hear Sadaam’s trial if it was fair, with full discovery and an impartial judge, because I think a whole lot of neo-cons would be squirming at the media beating such an event would bring.
And more. A little article on A9. Three Brits brought up on war crimes charges for killing an Iraqi. More indictments to follow. That is a tiny story. I like it. The allies are the defendants in the ongoing/aftermath of this little war of ours. Not like the good old days.
A11. Unions in total disarray. Perhaps the only power that could stand up to the corporate takeover of the world. Just in tatters. My grandfather and father had their heads busted on the picket lines. I’m glad they spilled their blood for my right to shop at Wal-Mart, and the big-box store, clone restaurants around it.
Tidbits. Government has major press conference to assure public that vaccines are safe. No autism-vaccine link. Despite evidence to the contrary that an additive in vaccines has been linked. I just don’t trust my government to deliver this message. Can you say Paranoid Sheeple?
Also, eleven dead in Phoenix heat wave. Mostly homeless. Hope we always have oil for AC. No mention of global warming or climate change.
And this, CIA briefing not enough for president. The daily brief now includes input from the Defense Intelligence Agency (you go Rummy) the National Counter-Intelligence Center and the State Department. I feel like my world is getting more and more like a very long episode of the series “24.”
Westmoreland dead at 91, but inept wars of injustice – immortal, apparently.
Editorial page. Well, the NYTs heart seems to be in the right place. For me anyway. They suggest that Roberts must be subjected to a very thorough vetting by the Senate, and rejected if he is an ideologue. Moo-hoo-ha-ha-ha. Heh! Elsewhere on the editorial page – Sarah Vowell – cool, is she a new addition or what? And Friedman. I can’t even read him. Because, as a Sheeple, I have a right to choose a corporate controlled media of my choosing. Some of the sheep really like Faux. They are baa-aaad! But, me. Four legs – goooood!
Will definitely need more distractions tomorrow. But, as Scarlet said, “Tomorrow is another day.” At least that’s how I remember it. And, since I am limiting my Internet access, I can’t really fact-check myself. Can I? Over-and-out.