Politics, Porn, And A Monstrous Silence

Hey, it's only been 9 months since my last post. That's only a few weeks in dormant-blog years. Now, I could spin out a tale of being kidnapped by a drug cartel in Juarez, or maybe holding off foreclosure agency thugs while dodging the claws and fangs of their relentless scud-launching attack-kittens. (That very last part, unfortunately, is pretty accurate, attack-kittens being what they are.) The truth is, there's just been a lot of duct tape in my life, most of it involving children and new relatives, and most of it good. Full disclosure is inadvisable, and would be too long.

Shorter and sweeter, our littlest one is about to turn 2, and he's probably my last opportunity to wallow in the sheer animal affections of a living being who is completely yours, and, when not being impish and trying to maim or kill other living beings, purely innocent. So I took him up on the offer, and compared to what's been happening in the world (the recorded and loud-spoken phrase "Mind The Gap" is playing in my head right now, in an ominous Oxford accent), the choice seems wise enough. Of course, my toddler master is confident I'm his personal property, and there are exigencies accompanying that status, such as being pinned to the bed, ridden like a horse, and otherwise not being allowed to move. I've missed writing as an outlet, blogging particularly, and now, there's something for the blurting of which can't wait.

I really hate politics. (That's not the blurting thing, exactly, I'm winding up for something more specific.) To me, watching politics is an annoyingly great deal like watching porn. They're both highly repetitive, the acting is nail-across-chalkboards bad, all the basest possible human behaviors are nakedly celebrated and displayed whether you want to see them or not, and here's the worst part: they fully expect you to watch, enjoy and praise what they're doing. My kiddie affection break has been great, but politics are, apparently, a necessary part of the human condition, and have in the past 9 months predictably devolved to a yet more obscene state of baseness; I've been as vigilant and knowing as a metaphorical Berlin hausfrau tracking the Red Army's progress through Poland circa Spring, 1945 as my country's armies declare strategic victory with each debacle and renewed attack to the rear. A ring is about to close around the city, and a decision to either leave or bury the valuables has arrived.

Politics are beasts with two backs. The beasts are almost here, and by now you surely know some of them by reputation. It will be of utmost importance to know their leaders intimately, since a raw and brutal ideology, no matter how demonstrably wrong, deeply cynical, or misguided it may be is about to be administered to the full. One leader's name is Goldman, the other goes by Sachs.