The eight years of the last administration were so horrific that at times it seemed it was the work of Hollywood writers, production and special effects ('Wag the WMD' notwithstanding). Could Congress and the President really be jetting back to Washington to pass legislation to stop a man from taking his wife off of life support? Did a top New Orleans official actually on cable news just say that he didn't know there were people in the Convention Center when we been following this rising catastrophe since Friday?
OTOH, the last eight years have brought us the opposite side of the pendulum as well. As horrific as the pictures of naked prisoners at Abu Ghraib or the thought of being imprisoned for life without redress, the hyperbolic, fearmongering, dangerous rhetoric of the right has told tales so incredible, in language so anguished and yet jaw-dropping, that all the horror writers need not pen another novel.
The problem with the boy who cried wolf though, is that when the wolf is truly at the door, all my adrenaline is gone. It's all gone. Afghanistan is deteriorating. Opium production is at its highest in years. Beyond Kabul, its the wild, wild west and corruption penetrates the entire government. A run on money market funds in September of '08 had the capacity of bringing us to financial collapse. There are growing tent cities in America. There are growing tent cities in America?
I'm spent. I can't even muster enough energy to argue about Larry Summers. I'm all Geithnered out.
So, when lobbyists come with language about segregation and discrimination because the Obama administration has placed transparencies and additional rules, as an African American, I can't muster anything. I'm pooped.
I will tell you this though. I am in Nashville, TN and last Friday, I got a call from my best friend. He was at his job, stepped out to call me and tell me that a guy whose been there 2 months got upset at a guy whose been there 6 months and so he told that coon to put his supplies somewhere else.
It is here where I put the standard boilerplate about African Americans and the struggle but because its standard boilerplate, no need. The lobbyists furiously e-mailing should know that it is offensive for you to co-opt the language for individuals who have struggled and are still struggling to be first class citizens in this nation, struggling against discrimination, struggling for equal rights, awaiting their fate by ballot initiative. But Nazi references and revolution have risen to an all time high so that even more incendiary language is all the minority party and their message machine supporters have in their arsenal.
Eight years ago, when someone dared to sully the struggle of those that "too dreamed America" and gave their lives to further realize the ideals of this nation, I rightfully wrote letters, made calls and discussed it around proverbial water coolers. Now, after Chuck Norris and Rep. Michelle Bachmann, I'm spent.
We buried my baby brother at the age of 23, five years ago. He was physically and mentally handicapped and struggled his entire life. I participated in Special Olympics. More so, I volunteered at his school. We went bowling, fishing, roller skating, dancing. When President Obama made the mistake on Leno and the outrage ensued, I looked on from the sidelines. Its gonna be a long four years, I thought.
When President Obama chuckled in the '60 Minutes' interview and the outrage ensued, I looked on from the sidelines. Its gonna be a long four years, I thought
Its dangerous to cry wolf. The Republicans entire strategy, however, has all boiled down to simply crying wolf. The Democrat Party wants to recklessly waste your hard earned dollars on something called "volcano monitoring" Governor Jindal whinily warned America in response to President Obama's Congressional address. Thank goodness for those wasteful Democrats who believe in science and effective government we now know as volcano monitoring alerted Alaskan officials and enabled jet planes to be averted.
Unbeknowst to the Beltway Republicans, America has rent back the curtain and exposed the great Karl Rovini, the well oiled Republican message apparatus and the oblivious Dick Cheney for the minuscule, bitter, self absorbed men behind a dangerous message of torture and character assassination.
So when Burletsky on a supposedly "Christian" Townhall.com implies the First Lady is a bitch, I don't even
finish the article. When Tammy Bruce calls this intelligent, strong, nurturing mother of the nation "trash", I don't even Facebook it or Twitter it. Nothing to see here. I'm just a black man yawning.