Had a chat with a friend about how Berlusconi can send the whole Italian government down the crapper when he, and probably a good number of his colleagues ought to be locked up and forgotten. Yet somehow, he retains office and influence al out of proportion to his contribution to society: some folks there seem to identify with him even though they are most likely among his victims.
Of course the Italians have no corner on the idiocy in politics market, and a swing through Washington these days is likely to be good for a few guffaws before the spate of tears that must inevitably follow, given the consequences of the lack of substantive action in the face of impending disaster. It’s not just Ted Cruz reading Dr. Seuss (you can almost hear the Seussian spirits gagging in the next dimension), but the whole notion that the peoples’ business can be stopped dead in its tracks by the collection of louts that sits in those august chambers is beyond ridicule and goes a long way toward explaining why nothing has been done about climate change, about oil spills and the devastation of water resources through tracking, the sacking and pillage of the economy by the sponsors of said louts, who mostly hail from Wall Street, the crisis, not only of health care, but of health itself, brought on by our inability to tell ourselves the truth about diet, medication, exercise and the spare parts philosophy of care.
Caped Cruzader? Cruz Missile? Here is another man whose message is hidden behind the rhetoric of individual freedom. The unstated and sinister part of the message is that he protects his own freedom to plunder at the expense of the freedom of millions of fellow citizens, and he has a lot of company.
It’s everywhere: the Olympic torch has left Greece headed for Sochi, for a winter pageant to be held in a place with a sub-tropical climate, and where the vultures have moved in to boost the cost of hosting the event to something in the $50 billion range, according to recent reports on CBC news.
The government in Ottawa is removing the culture of medicinal marijuana from small operations run by individuals and is putting it in the hands of large corporate concerns. It will be interesting to see if the Bronfman clan gets in on the action. This looks from the outside as an invitation to graft and corruption where the current group in Ottawa are running like hell to catch up to the crew in Washington.
Go find a copy of Stephen Bruton’s song “The Clock”: it’s ticking, you can hear it every time you contemplate the direction set by leaders in all levels of political and corporate governance. What did Frank Zappa say about stupidity? That there’s more of it in the universe than hydrogen, and that it has a longer shelf life….