corrente

Fingerprinting our guests.... Tragedy turned to farce awfully fast in the war on terra, didn't it?

Fingerprinting the guests to our country, while cargo planes aren't guarded, container ports aren't guarded, loose nukes are still floating around, OBL is still on the loose...

Christopher Alexander has a great concept called the quality without a name. I think that quality, for our country right now, is that what once would have been a joke, and funny, is now reality, and not funny at all. You see this a lot in Dilbert. That quality—would it be irony? Is irony this bitter and hurtful?—is evident in a wonderful song Randy Newman wrote, a long time ago, called "Political Science." I quote in full:

Political Science-
by Randy Newman
1969

No one likes us - I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money, but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us, so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded, and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot, and Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia, don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All-American amusement park there
They got surfin' too

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono baby
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

I guess it plays to the Bush base, though....