You know, originally this was going to be a GBCW diary. Sick of it. Lost Teddy's seat. Campaign finance. This place sucks. Blah, blah, blah. But GBCW diaries are so tiresome. And I'm really too lazy to go anywhere. I'm also too lazy to comment much these days. I'm just so disheartened. I look back a year to the inauguration where we all huddled together in the freezing cold, warmed by the joy and goodwill and camaraderie. Total strangers were hugging each other and crying with relief and - yeah - with hope. Now? Now, I'm back to hitting the snooze and dreading the headlines. But - well, but nothin'. Take the following and write it on the back of your hand with a Sharpie, would you, and then we'll get on with it:
WYFP (which stands for "What's Your Fucking Problem?") is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and share advice, pictures, favorite adult beverages, and anything else that we think might help. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?
As they occur to me:
The Supreme Court in General and Citizens United v FEC in particular because nothing says "God Bless America" like selling our democracy to the board of directors of every Fortune 500 hundred company from sea to shining sea. We now have a Glorious Corporatocracy from the mountains to the valleys to the oceans white with foam. Take your place in the chain gang of politics, people. Here are your blinders, your shackles and your gag.
The Marbled Murrelet - But one tiny, feathered representative of the struggle to keep our fellow species on this fragile sphere from succumbing to the horrid, black, wet, endless sucking sound that is extinction.
Climate Change – The cherry trees and forsythia bloomed all winter. The cedar waxwings were nearly two weeks early. And so on...
Haiti, because it’s so mind-emptyingly and heart-crushingly huge and – uh – I just can’t seem to – ummm - yeah. So bad.
The price of travel. We're trying to get to Jordan this fall to see my sister and her hub. Can't afford it.
Coakley and all of the things that led to Coakley. Or rather, that DIDN’T lead to Coakley. The loss of that seat leaves me blank-eyed, slack-jawed and drooling.
Daily Kos because, overwhelmingly, the people who actually used to debate are gone or are leaving or have been front paged and don't really engage anymore. So we’re left with snide comments and high fives. And NO, I’m not excluding myself from that snotty, broad-brushed pronouncement.
Spalling because it’s happening in my basement and we want to start refinishing our basement and we can’t start refinishing our basement until we deal with the spalling.
Oregon’s State Budget because it is, like many state budgets, in bloody shreds.
Bill Kristol and George Will and Tom Friedman and Cokie Roberts and Malkin and Robertson and all of the rest of the chattering pairs of wind-up teeth that go skittering around the bottom of The Great Big Bucket of Media Outlets 24/7/365.
Politicians who have the guts to stand up and yell "What I want to know..." getting relegated to The Great Big Bucket of Media Outlets where they are forced to joust with the Coalition of Obnoxious, Shouty Tongue-Sticker-Outers.
Christianity etched into gun barrels.
"Nice" as a political strategy.
Celebrity worship.
Reality shows.
Unending rain.
Lieberman.
Earwigs.
Did I add a link to any of these? No. So perhaps that can be part of someone’s f**king problem, tonight. Glad I could help.
Finally, if you want to read someone who blogs the equivalent of WYFP in a way that always makes me want to jump up and beat my chest and yell, "HELL, YES!" then go here. That's Driftglass. The link happens to be a piece on Drifty's love for David Brooks ;-), but don’t stop there. Read! He's well-sourced, wicked smaht and hilarious fun with photoshop. Driftglass should be required reading for Progressives. There is no more righteous rant than The ‘Glass. None. At least now that Gilliard is gone. And, yeah, you can add Steve’s untimely death to the above list, too, dammit.
So? What’s you’re f***in’ problem? Cross my heart – I will care.