Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Depression
I have to confess to being very depressed lately about the support that Bush seems to still enjoy. Many Bush detractors have been celebrating his decline in the polls of late. To me the fact that he has any measurable support after the horrendous flood of damning news since the bloody month of April is astonishing. I expect that those devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade would stay with him to the end but how could he still have any support for his policy (or lack of policy) in Iraq, even after the chorus of criticism from retired military elites?
Last night I received a real shock when watching an episode of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, a terrible show by the way. Quinn is nuts, not to mention the least funny person every to appear as a regular on SNL.
The guy cannot distinguish one "A-rab" from another and is clearly out of his mind with anger over 9-11. He lives in NY, close to the carnage, so I'll respect his anger, I'm angry about it too. But man, this guy comes across as an over-the-top racist fool. He kept showing a picture of a naked pile of Iraqi prisoners (as if that was the extent of the "abuse")next to a picture of the Twin Towers in flames and saying - "No comparison!! No need to apologize!"
Why do I let this bother me since it is so clear that this is a bankrupt statement? Because it just fully hit me while watching this that Quinn's fear and hysteria is not open to discussion and it is shared by millions in this country. Quinn had 4 panelists on the show from Air America all trying to explain why Abu Ghraib was wrong and they could not be heard over his sputtering rage about the inhuman Arabs. He, like legions of others, absolutely was not open to being persuaded to consider another point of view and clearly felt almost the same level of rage at those who opposed the Iraq invasion as at the suicide bombers who attacked us.
I fear that this country is coming apart at the seams. I still feel that the tide has turned and Kerry will probably take the White House but there will be a lot of heavy lifting to do to undo the damage Bush has wrought. It will be very easy for Quinn and his ilk to blame Kerry when the inevitable mess we are in becomes apparent to even the sleeping.
I have to confess to being very depressed lately about the support that Bush seems to still enjoy. Many Bush detractors have been celebrating his decline in the polls of late. To me the fact that he has any measurable support after the horrendous flood of damning news since the bloody month of April is astonishing. I expect that those devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade would stay with him to the end but how could he still have any support for his policy (or lack of policy) in Iraq, even after the chorus of criticism from retired military elites?
Last night I received a real shock when watching an episode of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, a terrible show by the way. Quinn is nuts, not to mention the least funny person every to appear as a regular on SNL.
The guy cannot distinguish one "A-rab" from another and is clearly out of his mind with anger over 9-11. He lives in NY, close to the carnage, so I'll respect his anger, I'm angry about it too. But man, this guy comes across as an over-the-top racist fool. He kept showing a picture of a naked pile of Iraqi prisoners (as if that was the extent of the "abuse")next to a picture of the Twin Towers in flames and saying - "No comparison!! No need to apologize!"
Why do I let this bother me since it is so clear that this is a bankrupt statement? Because it just fully hit me while watching this that Quinn's fear and hysteria is not open to discussion and it is shared by millions in this country. Quinn had 4 panelists on the show from Air America all trying to explain why Abu Ghraib was wrong and they could not be heard over his sputtering rage about the inhuman Arabs. He, like legions of others, absolutely was not open to being persuaded to consider another point of view and clearly felt almost the same level of rage at those who opposed the Iraq invasion as at the suicide bombers who attacked us.
I fear that this country is coming apart at the seams. I still feel that the tide has turned and Kerry will probably take the White House but there will be a lot of heavy lifting to do to undo the damage Bush has wrought. It will be very easy for Quinn and his ilk to blame Kerry when the inevitable mess we are in becomes apparent to even the sleeping.
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