Saturday, September 09, 2006
Precious Moments and Melon Patch Ruminations
(written yesterday. posted today because I couldn’t log on till now.)
Oh for goodness sake, this has been a very full day of work, for which I am grateful and appreciative and especially so because my next stop is a friends’ house where I’ll be fed a delicious homebaked Sabbath meal. Jackie is a fiend with the fresh challah, yo. (in Hebrew, that’s spelled “yod – vov” – it’s in the Talmud, yo.) Meantime, I want to get back to a few small points left over from yesterday and put my weary mind to ease for the weekend, which promises to be full of delightful times with new friends and some other time on my goddamn knees scrubbing the kitchen floor:
I found my “good” notebook. At some point I’ll disgorge some of the less turgid entries therein, but for now, let me just share this final “commercial error”: I was told of a fabulous area called “thousand islands” where small islands dot a river, just big enough for a single house, and the houses have boat slips instead of garages. You just motorboat over to another island to go to the post office or general store or such, and there were said to be hundreds of people living there in water-lapped glee. I also found a site advertising a nice lodge on another of the thousand islands, that plugged their availability for weddings. They showed a photo of a bride and groom looking adoringly at each other, with the caption, “Sharing a Romeo and Juliet moment.” Am I the only one who reads this and thinks that it implies they’ll both be dead within a day or two? AM I THE ONLY ONE?
Okay, I’m the only one. I cower with shame. Happy now?
Also, here’s a short piece of a news article I found on the AP wires yesterday, about how Bush is doing with southern female voters:
At a watermelon festival in Chickamauga, in the mountains of northwest Georgia, substitute teacher Clydeen Tomanio said she remains committed to the party she’s called home for 43 years. “There are some people, and I’m one of them, that believe George Bush was placed where he is by the Lord,” Tomanio said. “I don’t care how he governs, I will support him. I’m a Republican through and through."
I’m not even sure where to start with this, but maybe a good place is the watermelon festival. I’m wondering what kind of festival they’re talking about. Do they dress up like melons, compete in rindcracking and vodka-filling contests, and sell seed-based jewelry? Do they charge admission? Is it waived for people who are goddamn living stereotypes, like our friend Clydeen? I’m just curious. I like washmelon more than most folk, but I can’t imagine spending my precious Chickamauga time festivating with her no matter how sweet her fruit may be.
So, Clydeen is a substitute teacher. I have nothing but respect for the pedagogic professional, but I have to wonder, Clydeen, what are you teaching? Not grammar, I hope. Otherwise I’d have expected you to say that “there are some people…who believe bla bla bla….” It makes me wonder, as did our president: Is our children larning? And if not, is it because illiterates is teaching them?
Next, I need to address the substance of Clydeen’s remarks. George Bush was not placed where he was by the lord – he was placed there by Katherine Harris, Karl Rove, and the U.S. Supreme Court. We don’t elevate people to the presidency based on godly indicia (nor on goodly indica, but that’s a whole different debate) – we actually go to polls and elect them. Are you saying, Clydeen, that anyone who has been president was there by the grace of god? Including Ulysses Grant, who burned the hell out of your state in the great disruption of 1864? Does that mean that Clinton was god’s choice in the 90’s? Does it mean that it was an act of god that we were hit by terrorists shortly after Bush took office? Ultimately, Clydeen, I don’t believe you understand how democracy works, or I don’t understand how god works. I think it might be a little of both, really.
Finally, Clydeen does not care how the president governs – she’ll support him regardless. If he sent her to fight his dirty war personally, without the body armor or weaponry she needed, she’d support him. If he cuts off aid for her school and she’s out of work, she’ll support him. If her mountain home is washed away by floods after clearcutting and stripming rapes the natural environment and disruptions in weather patterns cause hurricanes and typhoons, all attributable to this administration’s wretched environmental record, she wouldn’t care. She’s a Republican and that’s how she votes. And in the end, that’s the scariest damn thing of all: this woman actually is allowed to exercise her franchise and cast a ballot even though she expressly gives the matter no critical thought at all. It’s very sad.
That’s a good reason to visit this site, which allows you to make contributions to the non-republican of your choice. Ignore it if you wish, but please, if you do choose to vote for the red side, think a little bit about what god really has in mind for you, for us, and for this country. We need a little critical thinking, people – even on a substitution basis. We don’t have time anymore to do what we’ve done for the last 43 years just because we’re used to it. If you can’t take the time to think about who you’re voting for, and why, we’d all be better off if you just hung out in the melon patch on election day.
The weekend beckons. Have a good one and don’t swallow the seeds.
