Observations of a Misfit

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July 13, 2007

Triskaidekaphobia

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\,

A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

"It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday," Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996

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Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Actually, Friday lands on the 13th at least twice a year, sometimes three times. When it lands on a Friday three times, the months are February, March and November.

Naturally, I regard Friday the 13th as an auspicious occasion worth celebrating. I really have no choice, having been born on one. Yes, I'm sure I've told you that 100 times. It's an interesting conversation piece; kind of like having children 20 years apart (that definitely raises more eyebrows) or writing a book about Scott Peterson. The usual reaction when I tell someone I was born on a Friday the 13th is something snarky such as, "Oh, that explains it."

Suffice it to say, I plan to get lucky today. Do you?

July 05, 2007

Of Yeats and Tyranny

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

~ William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"

In the past few days, I have spent several hours reading commentary from various bloggers, journalists and pundits about the political ramifications of President Bush's commutation of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence. This is not the kind of trial I normally follow, although I was mildly amused (but not surprised) by its devisiveness. I didn't pay very close attention to the Libby case, having considered it (in my cynical, post-rabbit-hole mindset) a sideshow of yet another patsy taking the fall for his handlers.

I am far too jaded to be outraged by the inconsistency of The Law as it applies to the rich and powerful. (Yawn. What else is new?) Nevertheless, I couldn't help but be reminded of the above stanza from Yeats' "The Second Coming," where the poet describes, nearly a century ago, a similar tragic desperation.

There is a reason we study great poetry; not to confound college freshmen or appear erudite and philosophical. No; we read it because it is relevant. We remember it because it is timeless.

The center - our country's core existence based on laws rather than men - is not holding. The continued deconstruction of our purpose as a nation has reached critical mass. We are in the last stages of surrendering our sacred beliefs, our very natures, to a tyrrany. Some would argue we have already surrendered and simply are too obtuse to realize it.

There is only one solution: Everybody out of the pool. That means everybody - a clean sweep. Every incumbant in every race for every state, no matter what party affiliation, needs to be removed. If that takes six years, so be it. Every member of congress, every cabinet officer of the administration (past and present), every political appointee in every department - fired, removed, voted out.

Meanwhile, those still holding office until we can replace them must do their jobs. If they don't do their jobs, impeach them, indict them, imprison them (without commutation or pardon) for any crimes they committed while in office.

Pretty simple. But, we don't have the guts to do this. We are cowards. We are sheep being led to the slaughter. We are lazy and fat and uninformed. We lack the "passionate intensity"; we fear ridicule and disdain. We silently mutter our protests and hope for the best, all the while holding the keys to the kingdom.

Like Dorothy in Oz, we have always had the means to go home. The question is, will we tap our ruby slippers?