It's been a busy day with no time for blogging. I think the couple of hours before bed are going to be devoted to violin practice, and to making some headway on a couple of fine books I'm reading: Ghada Karmi's In Search of Fatima, and Far Tortuga by Peter Matthiessen. I'm halfway through the Karmi book, which is a first-rate memoir, but terribly sad. Dog lovers with tender sensibilities should approach it with caution. Far Tortuga was a gift from a kind friend of the blog. I had hoped to read it on the California trip, but I found it required more concentration than I could muster while packed into an airplane with a hundred fretful people.
While I'm reading and torturing the pets with my violin, I invite you to consider these five questions I can't answer. Feel free to help me out with any or all of them.
1. What are the odds we'll turn on the Sunday morning talk shows in a couple of years and see Cheney and/or Bush offering their sage observations on Obama's pursuit of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, etc.? (Remember, even Nixon rose from the ashes.)
2. Why does anybody listen to Colin Powell after his disgusting role in promoting the invasion of Iraq? (I'm kinda glad they do, actually, but still...)
3. Why do pro-life voters flock to support a guy who keeps reminding them that he once enjoyed dropping bombs on people?
4. Do any of the candidates read poetry, and if so, whose work do they read? (The King James Bible does not count.)
5. If the Republicans snatch this election, will there be violence in the streets? Would it be bad if there were?
Universum (The Flammarion Woodcut), 1888. Colored by Heikenwaelder Hugo, 1998. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
5 comments:
1. Yes, on Fox Noise.
2. Powell didn't really back the invasion (though now he says, loyally, it was the right thing to do): he actually counseled against it saying to Bush, "If you break it, you own it"-- which turned out to be the result-- and when Bush told him he'd made up his mind to invade Powell says he thought to himself, "My God, he's actually to do this!" Powell could have resigned, fought harder, etc., but he was a good soldier to the end. I forgive him all that in exchange for the Obama endorsement.
3. Pro-life people aren't pro-life, they're anti-sex. They even oppose sex education, which would lower the number of unwanted pregnancies and, hence, abortions.
4. Sarah Palin probably reads (or has read to her) Robert W. Service's tales of the Yukon. I hope Obama reads the speeches of Martin Luther King (they qualify as poetry, don't they?), since they carry with them the kind of hopeless hope that underlies my fears about the election.
5. I'm afraid I'll just stop breathing.
You seem to be my only taker, Bozo. Is it possible people are the teensiest bit tired of the election?
I think you're right on, but I can't be as generous toward Powell. He baffles me. I believe he really did have doubts the invasion, but then why did he put on that show at the UN? Did he have to do that? Anyway, as Dave says, at least he feels bad about it, which is more than you can say for the rest of those crooks.
Please, whatever happens, don't stop breathing. Don't give 'em the satisfaction!
1. Undoubtedly. I hope to hear from Powell as well. (see #2)
2. Powell is a team player of the armed services variety. You've got to support your Chief, 'cause if you don't support your Chief, ain't nobody gonna support your Chief, and the chances of all hell breaking loose increase astronomically. Whether or not we are cut from the same cloth, I do believe the man was adhering to a value system. And one that had good intentions.
And while I believe the safety factor was important in his decision not to run for President, methinks maybe this bit of his history made him Just Say No, as well.
Skipping the rest. It's much better to play the violin. I'll should've probably gone straight to my own instrument... ;)
Hey, SS--are you a fiddle player? I saw a reference to the flute on your blog. I'll be wildly impressed if you play both!
No, I just fiddle with my flute. :)
Hope drawing your bow brought you pleasure...
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