Slack

Ugh. I suppose you'd call it blogger's block. Perhaps blogck. I just haven't had much that I felt like writing about lately. Sure, there's annoying stuff to be pissed about, and I would love to gloat about Tom DeLay being indicted today, but eh...

I set a high bar for myself starting this blog during the Katrina disaster. Not since the election have I been that outraged about anything. Plus it was wicked hot here, and blogging gave me another excuse to stay inside. The last week, it's been getting nicer and nicer here (finally!), so I've spent a lot of time working in the yard and getting real tired. And while I hate thinking that we've moved on, since everyone in the south is really not okay at all yet, it's hard to resist the general pull that says it's all under control. And clearly, getting outraged about it isn't changing much. I'd make a terrible activist, not enough follow through.

And really, I'm only posting tonight because I haven't, not because I have anything to say. And I wanted to push that social anxiety post further down the list--I felt a little weird about having that up knowing that my employees might look at this. I shouldn't, but I just do.

Anyway, Jon Stewart's on now, so I have better things to do. Maybe I'll actually have something to say tomorrow.

Flotsam and Jetsam

I was going to title this "Random Shit that pisses me off", and then it was just going to be "Random Shit" so I could include things I like too, but then I thought that I don't want to create a pattern of cursing in my titles (just in my posts). So I went with an somewhat overly clever reference to, well, random shit, which also happens to be a chapter title in The Two Towers (now my favorite book).

Anyway, I don't feel terribly organized tonight, and there's nothing big enough going on to give me focused rage, so I didn't want to try putting together anything coherent.

Stuff that pisses me off

• People who "amble"--if you don't want to walk quickly somewhere, especially in public, get off to the side. Or if you're going to walk slow, walk slow enough that I can pass you without having to be dramatic about it. What's with this "getting your stroll on"? Is it because your pants are around your knees, or is it just cool to look lazy?
  
• The fact that we're stuck with two FiendSheep at the end of Big Brother 6
  
• Humidity--nuff said
  
• People who walk into my office and start talking to me without asking if I have a minute. My door is only open because it's too warm in my office!
  
• Radio personalities who try SO hard to be too cool for school. The "entertainment" reporter on the alt-rock station I listen to made such efforts to make sure we knew that SHE didn't like any of this stuff she was reporting on--none of the top 5 movies were anything she'd see, she didn't care about so-and-so being in a movie, blah blah freakin' blah. If you don't like something, just say that it's not for you and shut the fuck up. You don't need to belittle things other people like or prove that you're better than that. Because in 10 years, you'll be just like me, little girl, watching and listening to whatever you like, or else you'll be one of those insufferable snotty old broads who wear all black and look down their nose at everything.
  
• People who don't like dogs and cats. You just know that means they must be awful people inside.
  
• Not being able to hit a golf stroke the same way twice in a row. One shot is a perfect parabola and the next one is a pitiful shank that goes into the woods.
  
• People who read my blog and never comment. At least take a second to call me an asshole.
  
• FUCKING BLOGGER THROWING ERRORS AS I'M TRYING TO PUBLISH THIS POST!!!!
  

I started to do "Stuff that Doesn't Piss Me Off", but it was taking too long, and it wasn't going to be terribly interesting. Sure, I could do the obvious stuff--my wife, my dogs and cats, Family Guy, Foo Fighters, The Daily Show, but all that's too easy. It's more fun to just rant and rave about the stupid things.

Social anxiety - or is it?

I'm going to be bold and throw something out there on the chance someone else might connect. I've been going to a therapy group for social anxiety for a few weeks now. Had a single initial with the therapist, who agreed that it was something I could benefit from, and have had 2 group sessions so far. Very interesting--having a lot of conflicting thoughts about it. I definitely believe I suffer from some of the symptoms--I get intimidated trying to strike up conversations, especially with people I don't know; I try to avoid asking for help, getting on the phone, etc; I had a mini-panic attack at my class reunion last fall, simply at the prospect of talking to all those people; I become very self-conscious when I feel like I'm asked to perform or am being judged. But sitting in group for the last two weeks, I see others with much more severe problems, or at least it seems like it right now, and I wonder if a) I really should be there, and b) do I really want to put myself in this group? I know it sounds terrible, but I sort of feel like I wouldn't want to be thought of in the same way as the others--maybe that's part of the problem, I'm still too worried about what other people think.

But I really do question to some degree the whole approach--the "disease-ifying" (I know it's not a word) of this issue. Yes, I have anxiety in these situations, and overall I would prefer not to. But I don't feel entirely comfortable copping this victim stance, especially when I clearly have overcome the problem in a lot of cases. I wouldn't be in the job I am without having been able to deal with it, and I have friends and a wonderful wife, and all sorts of things that required me to make myself get over it. So maybe I'm just feeling extra weak lately. I know I've been a bit depressed since losing Max, but I think I'm starting to pull out of it and want to start being better, stronger, more grownup.

Sometimes I think that's a huge part of it--I don't feel like a 33 year old man with a successful career. I still feel like that freshman in college who always felt a little bit outside, not part of the crowd I wanted to be in. I mean, how stupid is it to be 33 and feel worried about what teenagers think of me? But that seems like something I should just snap out of, not something I need to spend months analyzing and creating strategies for.

Even posting this was an internal struggle--even though I've chosen to seek therapy for this, and have confided in my boss about it, I hesitated to put it up here because I know a few people I know read this (my mom, my employees). But what the hell? Everybody has problems, even if they haven't acknowledged them yet. I'm trying more and more to just look at this as identifying my weaknesses and attempting what I can to try to correct them. Sort of like taking lessons this winter to get the slice out of my golf swing.

Anyway, it would be really cool if someone else identifies with this and posted a comment or something. I feel like I need some external input on this whole thing, outside this group. I think if I were honest about what I was thinking in there, I'd set a lot of those people back quite a bit.

Blah blah blah, yakkity smakkity

You know, it's not easy to have a point every day. I keep meaning to post daily, just to keep in practice and keep things fresh and keep my blog visible, but I keep feeling like if I'm not really pissed off about something, there's no point. And I hate sitting here and starting a post, then my attention drifts, and I type a few lines, then a few more, and pretty soon, I feel like I'm making no sense whatsoever. But then I realized--there aren't that many people reading this anyway, and I set low expectations anyway with the name I chose for this blog, so why worry?

Long Weekend Number Three has begun--slept in, worked out, spent the rest of the day excavating 2 years worth of old mail and papers from my wife's side of the office and changing the furniture around for the 5th or 6th time since we moved in. Fun stuff. But the nice part is, it's still only Friday night--got all day tomorrow and Sunday still. I know I won't be able to keep having 3 day weekends forever, but it's definitely worth it for a while.

Scored tickets to see Foo Fighters (and Weezer) in a couple weeks. I was surprised I got through on the first shot, especially since there's only one show around here. They're not great seats, but it's still Foo, so I'm psyched for that.

Can't believe Janelle lost on BB6 tonight--too bad. It's likely she wouldn't have won the grand prize even if she hadn't made it to the final 2, but it would have been nice for her to have the chance. But at least now, we're free--no point in watching or keeping up anymore with those 2 Nerd-Herders left in there. It's just sad to see it all come to an end. Call it pointless or stupid, but it's been fun following the house so closely this summer, and it was a good distraction for us, especially with the whole thing losing Max. Hopefully next year will be fun like this one was. Maybe I'll try out, that would be a trip.

Hey look - a douchebag!

Just a quick Hall of Douchebags entry tonight. And I have to confess, I owe it all to the Daily Show again. But true is true and hypocrisy is hypocrisy.

So tonight's inductee is Senator Tom Coburn (Republican--surprised?) of Oklahoma. I remember hearing him say something hideous a while back, but then he fell off my radar. But today during the Roberts confirmation hearings, he sat there and got choked talking about how partisanship was so awful and hateful.

When I ponder our country and its greatness, its weakness, its potential, my heart aches for less divisiveness, less polarization, less finger-pointing, less bitterness, less mindless partisanship.

Literally choked up, made everyone wait while he choked back fake tears.

Well, bless the Daily Show for reminding us that this is the same jackass who said these non-partisan, non-hateful things.

The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power. ... That agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today. Why do you think we see the rationalization for abortion and multiple sexual partners? That’s a gay agenda.

I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life.

Asshole. And this guy is a doctor.

The topper? Before he put on his little show, Coburn sat doing a crossword while the other senators questioned Roberts. No point in listening to anyone else, he's clearly got his agenda.

3 Day Weekend

I finally decided to call my boss' bluff and put in for several days off this month. I have like 8 weeks of unused vacation, so there's days to burn. I enjoyed my three days over Labor Day so much (there's just something great about having 2 full days off and then realizing you have ONE MORE!), I gave myself 3 day weekends for the rest of the month. So I took today off, piddled around, plan to play golf tomorrow, and spend Sunday working on new steps for our deck. Add being able to stay up late and sleep in if I want, and this should be a groovy weekend.

So we have a new addition to our family--we adopted a 13-year-old beagle named Lady on Thursday. Her "people" are getting a divorce and can't keep her where they're moving. DW ran across her picture on a website while signing up to foster/adopt animals orphaned in the hurricane, totally unrelated to her original intent. But the idea of this poor little dog just being dumped in a shelter after 9 years with her family broke our heart. We weren't really planning on getting another dog so soon after Max's death, but we knew we would always be open to someone in need. So we met her Tuesday night, all went well, and they dropped her off on Thursday. It's been weird, since it's not like our other dogs and cats, scooped up off the street and grateful to be somewhere warm and safe--she had a good home with people she loved, but they bailed on her. So we keep reminding ourselves that for a while, she doesn't realize she's better off here, that no dog could wish for a more loving home (not bragging, just fact). But she's doing great so far, getting along terrific with Trixie and Lucy (Lucy's taken on the pack leader role since Max is gone, and she's being so good about it), has no problem with the cats even though she'd never lived with them before, and loves being able to roam in the yard off her leash and sniff everything. She's really sweet and cuddly, and I think she's going to fit in great. It does feel good to give a home to someone in need like that. We may still try to take in a kitty or two from the South if any become available. There's always room at this inn.

Speaking of the Katrina mess, which I have quite a bit on this blog, it's good to see that things are getting under control, at least most of the people in need are getting sheltered and fed, though the job is far from done. And the spinning and coverups begin--looks like "Brownie" might be made the scapegoat, though that's not nearly enough. I can't believe Bush has the nerve to say HE'LL lead the investigation. Not only is that so transparently corrupt, but it's laughable that he thinks he's qualified to do that.

I thought The Daily Show did a great job this week of finding the black humor in the situation without trivializing the disaster. I wondered how they would be able to be funny in light of what happened, but they didn't shy away from it, even the first night back. Not only did they find a way to do what they do, but they helped channel the rage and anger of those of us who couldn't believe the incompetence and indifference. "Meet the Fuckers" on Thursday night was great, although I felt a bit like they ripped off what I had been doing all week.

Looking forward to rest of my bottle of wine tonight and Bill Maher. The simplest pleasures are the best.

Tuesday's Douchebag

Now I'm not an ageist. I don't hate old people. I don't even hate old rich people. And I certainly try to give kindly-looking old ladies the benefit of the doubt when they say things I don't agree with, you know, they're just of a different generation. But I can safely say this with no fear of regret--I HATE BARBARA BUSH!

She has earned a spot in the Hall of Douchebags with a relatively brief, simple comment. The full text is here, but the most unbelievable line is:

What I'm hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them.

In case you couldn't read through the racism and classism, she's talking about the evacuees huddled in the Astrodome, sleeping on cots, thinking about the hellish week they spent waiting to get the hell out of New Orleans, thinking about the fact that everything they had and knew is gone.

And that fugly bitch has the nerve to make a comment like that and chuckle. Good Lord. I almost didn't believe it--I mean, you hear something like that on the Daily Show, I half expected it to be out of context. But you know, I've learned, I can count on my friends under Jon Stewart's reliable leadership to always give me the real news, albeit filtered through the laughter we all need. Sure enough, dozens of news sites have this awful quote out there.

And as I blogged this and thought I had heard the ultimate for the day, I see her jackass son stand there and say "Brownie, you're doing a hell of a job" to that dickhead FEMA director Mike Brown, who couldn't possibly have bungled this worse. Guess shit really does run downhill, even in the gene pool.

Definitely Labor Day

Just a quick post for two reasons--I'm still hopeful that posting regularly keeps the blog visible, and also to live up to Anika's accusation that I blog a lot. Seems like once a day is the least I can do.

Spent most of the day working on the house and yard--finally finished the new patio door, trim and all, and continued building the stone paths in the back garden. Definitely missed the concept of Labor Day as a day of rest, but I suppose sleeping till noon the last three days covered my requisite rest. I'm bummed it's a school night now--I was just getting used to being able to stay up past midnight and sleep till I couldn't stay in bed any longer. Have to actually use some of those 38 vacation days I have saved up and give myself some more three-day weekends.

Can't wait for the Daily Show to be back tomorrow night (they damn well better be!). Everything seems unbalanced when I don't have that outlet at 11 every night. Although I imagine it would be extremely hard to do a funny political show in light of last week's events--one time I don't envy them their job.

DW has signed us up to foster or adopt pets displaced by the hurricane, so we're waiting to hear about that. In the process, she ran across a 13-year-old beagle locally who needs a home, and applied for that, so she may get here first. Either way, looks like our family will grow again, which will be good. When Max died, we said we'd remain open to whomever needs a home and happened to cross our path.

Oh, and I think Bush moving Roberts to be Chief Justice is scary. I think he has more questionable views than has been let on (Roberts that is), and if confirmed, he could be Chief for at least 30 years, which basically puts the Court in a semi-permanent conservative state for a long time. Not a good thing.

The Other Side

Looking at my SiteMeter, it seems like most people are finding this blog randomly as the "Next Blog" link on Blogger, as opposed to actually looking for it. Which is fine. Of course, Anika's been back at least twice, and my faithful employee "FedHater" seems to be checking in periodically. So maybe eventually I'll find an audience here--as much as I'm enjoying just letting things flow here, it does matter a bit to know that someone's reading it.

Anyway, as much as my thoughts have focused on the disaster this week, I like most other people have allowed my attentions to become dominated by lots of other, more trivial things. As much as I'd sometimes love to remain high-minded and focus all my energy on things of consequence, I am a child of the 80s, my attention span is short, and I love me some pop culture and TV. So with that said, I will make no future apologies for the jarring shifting of gears when I jump from serious to pointless subject matter--after all, I think one's blog should mirror one's thoughts.

As much as I'm enjoying my Labor Day weekend, I find myself a little blus knowing that another summer of Big Brother is drawing to a close. DW and I have been pretty much hooked since Season 2, and watched the live feeds a lot in Season 3, but this year has re-energized us after a couple of less-than-compelling years. I was skeptical when I first saw the cast, but the couple of interesting personalities, and the dramatic split of sides this season has made it quite enjoyable. And frankly, I wanted something to root for, to get involved in. Since the Giants suck this season, and the Dolphins have sucked for a while, I'd forgotten how much fun it is to get all anxious waiting for your team to win, and that thrill when they do or the letdown when they don't. Vicarious adrenaline is cool.

Anyway, in case anyone else is a watcher, DW and I are definitely on the Sovereign Side--we loved Kaysar (for different reasons), we think Howie is a hoot, and Janelle is just the best (again, for different reasons). The Nerd Herd is such a hypocritical, annoying bunch of self-righteous bores, that I can't see how you can possibly root for them. Unfortunately, they're probably going to win the money, but ultimately, Kaysar and Janie and Howie will get much more out of the experience and make nice careers for themselves a la Marcellas.

For those who don't see the appeal, what I most enjoy about following this show all summer is the sense of immersion. Yes, it's silly, and the competitions are stupid, and frankly if I only watched the show on TV, I would think it was pretty dumb. But following the live feeds (and reading that which we miss courtesy of the awesome people on Joker's Updates) allows us to get totally wrapped up in it, hanging on each day's events. Sure, there's plenty of other worthwhile stuff to do with one's summer, but you know, I really just needed a break. Sitting in air conditioning on a 95-degree day, watching those people bitch and act weird on the live feed, is a pretty good way to burn away a Sunday. And frankly, it's somewhat relaxing to watch people who have nothing to do but sleep late, lay in the sun all day, stay up late getting drunk, and then do it all over again.

So there's my confession. First of many I'm sure.

No words to describe it

I've realized by now that my blog has been dominated by information and emotions about the Katrina aftermath, at least in these early days. It wasn't really my intention, but it's as good a starting point as any. It'll be interesting if I keep doing this for a long time to go back and see the early posts again--sort of like reading through your high school yearbooks or an old diary and cringing at the things you said back then.

It seems like we find ourselves repeating the same laments and indictments over and over in these days. But when you see the same pictures, the same pain and suffering over and over, it's hard to find new words. And while I respect people's requests to not politicize this and agree the priority is to get people safe and secured, those of us who really can't do much else can't help but look for the patterns of incompetence and point fingers. It's impossible to not be angry at this.

That anger seems to cross political lines, or at least some of the ones you expect. We just watched some clips from Fox News of Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera getting emotional and calling the authorities to task for allowing this suffering to continue. Somewhat surprising to see the Faux News Channel allowing such criticism of their favored party, but refreshing. CBS Sunday Morning had several good stories this morning showing things we've seen before but putting the week in perspective, and allowing more of that anger to be vented.

I'm also glad to see some defiance, some of that spirit of New Orleans you hear about, coming out of people. And not just those who are safe, but also those poor people stuck in the muck saying they'll come back, this is their home. I mean, I would certainly respect those who never want to come back, but it's comforting in a way to know that people can't be broken by something like this.

Anne Rice had a good article this morning in the NY Times talking about the spirit of it. And outside New Orleans too, in Mississippi, people are already trying to find their solid ground and saying how this is their home and they know they'll come back, one way or the other.

Now admittedly, I have the luxury of being one of those middle-class, white liberals who sits in the comfort of my home with my pampered dogs and cats, reading the NY Times and New Yorker and becoming indignant about the plight of the poor people of New Orleans without ever having gone there or done anything. But I've long since set aside any reservations or concerns of hypocrisy I have about that--I see no reason why from my position of privilege, I can't still call out the wrongs that I see. What I see is a government that has failed to do what it owes its people, and possibly for reasons of race and indifference that are shameful.

There are lots of possible reasons why the response failed. Maybe people in authority didn't pay attention or didn't think it was that big a deal at first. Mike Brown from FEMA said that they underestimated the scope of the disaster--seems to me like a key component to disaster management is to ALWAYS OVERestimate. Be way more prepared than you need to be, and then you're always ahead. But anything to save a buck, right. I think there are clearly unqualified people making the calls here. I think our resources are probably overstretched--were we not fighting two overseas wars with 200,000 troops deployed elsewhere and an inability to even supply THEM, there would have been more people to respond to this. And I really do believe race plays a role, and I don't even want to describe again what I think that means.

I find myself losing steam--maybe later on I'll feel more energetic about a new rant.

Just for Anika, I'm going to start using "fuckwit" to describe people. Good word--feels good to say it.

More Douchebags

This guy doesn't deserve a full spot in the Hall of Douchebags, especially since I still don't know his name. But the anchor who was on CNN this afternoon was really pissing me off. He's a somewhat balding black guy who I'd never seen before, and hopefully won't see much of again. His first offense was in interviewing some woman who was stuck somewhere in Louisiana, and even though I missed the very beginning of the interview, I don't think there was a point. But the annoying part was when she was becoming more and more desperate and saying how she had nothing and no one was helping, and this moron kept saying to her, "Don't you have some relatives you could go to? Isn't there someone who could help? How about FEMA?" She said she gave her name and information to FEMA, but nothing came. "Well, keep thinking, stay positive, keep thinking about who might be able to help you." She was crying at this point, trying to get the message across that she had nothing and no one. "Don't you understand, I'm trying to help you." was his last response.

Look fucker--you're supposed to be a journalist, reporting the story. It's not your job to try to help this woman, especially when you have nothing to offer. Telling her to keep thinking is not helping--it's just reminding her that she has nothing and no one.

Later on in the day he argued with some other "expert" about the wisdom of using domed stadiums as emergency shelters (like the Superdome). I think it's pretty obvious that the problem with the Superdome was that they didn't expect to lose plumbing and electricity--with that intact, it would have been much better. But this nitwit actually said "I don't really have a problem with using stadiums, but I have a bit of a problem with the closed-in roof and how it feels like a tomb".

This douche doesn't seem to realize that his job is to be a journalist. An anchor, at least not a junior one like him, shouldn't have an opinion. And worse, his opinion showed his ignorance, that he had no idea what that poor woman was going through. It was inconceivable to him that she didn't have resources or relatives with a place for her to stay. He's probably one of those people who's saying "Why didn't they just drive out of town"?

So he deserves a mention in the Hall of Douchebags, but not a full spot, since my hope is he'll disappear from the air very soon.

Speaking of which, Larry King has got to go. Three hours of him tonight was more than anyone should have to bear (I did NOT watch, but I was aware of it and saw a snippet, enough to pain me). He is so out of touch, inappropriate, and generally incompetent, that it is absolutely time to pull the plug. In his "prime" 10 years ago, he was comical at best--now, he's just useless, and to let him talk to people in the midst of a tragedy like this is criminal. It's insulting to those people, and it's insulting to us. Larry, you'll always have a spot in the Hall.

Consumerism and Triviality

There are just so many opportunities to be disgusted by people and our society in general watching the coverage of this disaster. What's got me wound up this morning is why it's become so hard for people to just HELP. Why do we need benefit concerts and celebrity to get rich people to cough up money? The first thing my wife and I did yesterday was figure out how we could spare $100 or $200 to send to a couple charities, and how we can donate the bags of clothes in our basement to those that need it. I gave $5 to the firemen out on the street earlier collecting money in their boots. Not much, but people all over the country are doing that with whatever they can spare, but those fuckers with millions are sitting on their hands waiting to do something that helps their PR.

Granted, there are some celebs who stepped right up and donated money--I just read that Jay-Z and Diddy put $1 million each up right away (plus others) and made the call to their fellow entertainers to cough it up. Rosie did that several times--just pay the money. They don't need or deserve the ridiculous amounts they earn, and in this case, they should damn well part with it.

I saw on CNN's fucking crawl that Jay Leno is going to have people on his show autograph a Harley to be auctioned off. What?!? How about an admission fee for the show for the next 3 weeks--$100 grand per guest. You don't pay, you don't get on. Go ahead and sign the bike anyway, but that's a quick way to raise some cash. How about the asshole who's sitting there with thousands of dollars waiting to bid on that motorcycle? How about paying the money NOW? It's still tax-deductible, and that bike isn't going to make a bit of difference.

It's so disappointing to see how our country has been turned into such a mindless, trivial consumer society. I know, I'm totally guilty--I want new stuff, I want my TV, I want new golf clubs. But I'd like to think that if I had the kind of money that can really make a difference, I would just GIVE it. The panelists on Bill Maher last night made some great points about "where's the Christianity?"--I'm not one, but I understand one of the basic concepts is to help your fellow man. Don't see a lot of that right now.

Because my wife brought it up, I'll mention Oprah too. Maybe she's just in shock, trying to figure out what to do. But the richest, most powerful black person in the country should be leading this effort, and calling on the millions of women who hang on her every word to make this an overwhelming response. I sure hope she comes forth and proves that she's not just all talk.

And let's not lose sight of the point that even before this, these people had nearly nothing, living below the poverty line. And millions of others across the country, living in squalor with nothing to their name. Was there shock and outrage then? No, it wasn't a good story, so nobody bothered talking about it, nobody bothered listening to it. Too late now.

I just don't care about celebrities' response to this aside from how much money they give. All this other bullshit that goes along with it just keeps America stupid and pointless.

Sanity from a Reality Star

DW (Darling Wife of course) just showed me this post from Dan Renzi's blog. Those of who still refuse to acknowledge reality TV or didn't catch Real World-Miami or any of the RW/RR Challenges should know Dan is a pretty funny, likable guy who was on RW Miami. Regardless, his comments about our Dummy-in-Chief gave me a good chuckle.

Hall of Douchebags

As I get this blog going, I can't help but try to think of gimmicks and clever ideas that might make more than a few people read it. So I'll just throw them all out there and see what sticks to the wall.

First of all, I apologize to anyone offended by the use of the word "douchebag". I realize it's not entirely pleasant. But I've favored it lately, partly because it has a retro charm, partly because it just feels cathartic to say it, and partly because I giggle everytime Jon Stewart calls Bob Novak a "Douchebag of Liberty". So anyway, sorry, but... well, just get over it.

So my Hall of Douchebags (which I hope someday to have a fancy decorative version of) is in no particular order--there are just too many that you run across on a daily basis, and I didn't start this early enough to get everyone in from the start. So it's an ongoing process of identifying these dicks and doing what little I can to help point out why they're such fuckers.

The lucky first inductee... Trent Lott (Senator from Mississippi). Now I know, not a big risk taken in naming him. But it's fresh in my mind--saw him this evening on Anderson Cooper's show (no, I'm not in love with Anderson Cooper, he just happens to be doing a compelling job of reporting this story). Anderson was asking him the predictable questions about the federal response, was it enough, why wasn't it enough, what could be different. Nothing that really would have gotten a good answer, and frankly I would have thought Anderson wouldn't even bother at this point.

But Douchebag Lott wasn't even smart or decent enough to pretend to care. He had the gall to get pissed at Anderson and the media in general for asking those questions. And then when Anderson pointed out that it's not just the media asking these questions, it's the people in the Superdome and the Convention Center asking where the hell the help is, Lott dug his hole even deeper by saying that this isn't a time to complain. COMPLAIN???? You know what, if I'm left to die in a hellscape by a government that's supposed to protect its citizens, I'm damn well going to complain when that help doesn't come. I think as an American I still have that right (have to check, may have been taken away in the Patriot Act).

He stopped just short of saying something really offensive. Sure, he lost his big expensive house (yes, I'm assuming, but I'm allowed to do that!) in Mississippi, but as my wife said, he knows he has a home in Washington to go to. HE had a shower today. HE had meals today. HE knows where his family is and his possessions are, and he didn't spend the last four days slowly starving and dehydrating to death amid a sea of death and waste. So to even begin to say that people shouldn't be complaining, that it hampers the rescue efforts and that we have to concentrate on what lies ahead, that takes either enormous brass balls, or a complete lack of respect for the people he represents and their neighbors.

Which brings me to the final point here--refreshingly, everyone is starting to bring up the issue of race. Like it was so hard to figure out the first day. Not only do I believe that the urgency of the response was less than it should have been because it's mostly poor, black people, but I also think that there is a complete lack of understanding of the predicament. Those blowhards, Lott included, probably don't even UNDERSTAND that these people COULDN'T evacuate because they don't have cars, they don't have money to travel, they had to wait for their 1st of the month checks. And a good number of the dickheads in question (DW mentioned Rush Limbaugh bloviating about "why didn't these people just leave?") go behind closed doors and ask each other "Why does everyone care so much about a bunch of n***ers?". Sure, I know that's a horrible thing to say or assume, but you know what--that's the country we live in.

People like Trent Lott could give a rat's ass about those people because they don't all vote, and more importantly, they don't contribute to his campaign. He pays lip service to the issue, but all the while can't help but try to make it look like it's partly THEIR fault.

So for those reasons, and for many others which I only partly recall, but am comfortable pinning all over him, Trent Lott becomes member 1 of my Hall of Douchebags.

Outrage is good

This is the type of thing (click here) that keeps my little tiny flame of hope alive. Anderson Cooper tees off on this imbecile Senator (okay, maybe she's not an imbecile and has just lost the ability to talk like a real person). We need more of this honesty and demand for accountability and real answers. I used to think Anderson Cooper was trying to hard to stand out (and then there's the whole Mole thing), but if this is what he's really about, then THAT'S a real journalist.

Still angry

I guess it's good to post frequently, so maybe that's the one good thing about how pissed off I'm getting watching things get worse and worse. Just spent a little while talking with a couple of my employees about this, and they feel the same way I do. There's a little tiny bit of comfort in knowing that I'm not alone in my outrage, but that doesn't really matter.

How can everyone who sees this know what needs to be done, and the people who CAN do something are not? What happened to mobilizing all the resources of our mighty country to help its citizens? Are they really that afraid of crowds of black people? Do they just not give a shit?

And how DARE these officials try to politicize this? Ted Koppel ripped into the head of FEMA for the failures, and that jackass had the nerve to try to pin the blame on others. Why is it so hard to shrug off the blame, to even say that it's pointless to point fingers, that the priority is to fix the situation NOW? Have we become so defensive and petty that we can't even face a catastrophe like this without trying to pin blame on the other party? Sure, I'm partisan and I'd love to make this into "their" fault, but what does that accomplish?

I feel powerless, more so than in other situations. I feel like we've all let down our fellow citizens and that even if a majority of us think it should have been different, there's little we can do to fix it. As I grow older and see more of the real world and business and bureaucracy, I realize that even those people with a great deal of responsibility are at best fallible, and at worst incompetent. And dealing with incompetence when you're selling crap or doing some sort of business is one thing, but when it involves people's lives, it becomes really scary.

Long overdue

I sat with writer's block last night trying to think of how to kick off my blog. Nothing seemed significant or clever enough, even though there's a good chance nobody but myself and my wife will ever see it.

But just now, I was hit with a wave of anger, yet again today, over the fact that for days now, people have been dying and suffering in the South while the authorities play their fiddles. And I realized that I don't need a focus--I needed a vent, and this is it, even if it's just for me.

It angers me that this country has grown so trivial and soft. I'll be the first to confess that my life has little "grand" meaning--I have a job which the world could easily do without, I don't spend my free hours helping people or improving the world. The best I can claim is that I try to love my wife like she deserves to be loved, and that I help care for the cats and dogs that we saved from a much harder life. But even I can see the pointlessness of what most of this country engages in as thousands suffer and die just hours away.

This morning on Today, Harry Connick was as honest as he could be about the horrible conditions and the lack of response and help, and fucking Katie Couric sat there pandering to the moos watching at home, asking the stupid questions and reminding Harry to save his voice for the concert tonight. A fucking CONCERT!?!?! We need some pointless, lame entertainment to make us give money to help these people? I watched that idiot Pat O'Brien last night making himself appear so grand by donating a Beatles poster to be auctioned off for relief--how about giving a million dollars to the Red Cross and call it a day, Pat??? I don't understand how these people and companies with more money than they could ever need sit there and make everybody jump through hoops to cough up a buck, too little, too late.

How about this--our idiot President could partly redeem himself in my eyes if he went on TV tonight at 8:00, pre-empting that stupid concert, and said "All you Americans out there--your duty as a citizen of this country is to stop buying crap you don't need for the next 3 months, send money to the charities we've established, send all your clothes and things you don't need anymore to those who need them, and go DO something to help." Help load a truck of supplies to send to these people who'll be homeless for months.

We live in this enormous, consumer society built on moving goods around the country to be sold to people who don't need them. Mobilize that capacity to help these poor people. Fuck this emergency response shit, and trying to keep the country going. You know what--stop the goddamn economy for a couple weeks, redirect every bus and truck in the country somewhere that they can help. Stop building fucking McMansions all over the place, send those builders to high ground in Texas and build housing for 100,000 people. Pay the damn bills later--that's how we're paying for this stupid war.

Is it because so many of the people are black and poor? I can see where that would be a problem for most of the people in Washington. All the more reason to get rid of them. Is it because there's a handful of useless idiots going around shooting and stealing and raping people? You know what, they're always there--they've always been there, and they always will, and the best way to stop it is to send in the troops and shoot those fuckers. Then you can help the people who need it, the vast crowds of people literally dying in the streets while we worry about a couple of stray sniper shots. Chaos brings out the worst in people because there's always someone willing to take advantage. But we can't let that stop us from saving these people who have nothing.

It's really disturbing that we can't coordinate this effort better. I almost hope that the people in charge just decided not to, rather than thinking that they're THAT incompetent. Is it so hard to think creatively and use the vast resources of this country? We're so concerned about doing these things without upsetting the status quo. What does that prove? That Walmarts can stay open and sell junk to people in Kansas while people in Louisiana die? I know it's simplistic, and there's more to it than that, but the simple fact is that if people really wanted to help, they could. It's just not in our nature anymore.