Some Optimistic Thoughts

One could say that nations are like rivers, all flowing through the eons toward the same dark sea of history. They wend their courses through the landscapes of the world, some rivers sinuous and narrow, some straight and broad. One could also say that nations are like large Epoisses de Burgogne cheeses stored in an unventilated shed, but I prefer the river analogy: it has that pep, that extra zim for which wide-awake consumers yearn.

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GALLOWAY VERSUS HITCHENS; PROGRESSIVES VERSUS OURSELVES

Man, it just felt so good watching George Galloway rip Senator Coleman an extra exit hole. In May 2005, you'll remember, while most American politicians were mincing and cowering, the Honorable Member of the British Parliament, George Galloway, told a panel of stunned US congressmen:

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Greg Palast reporting from Southold, New York

In the War on Terror, we are all on the front lines. Now Southold has apparently been targeted by Al Qaeda. I'm not surprised.

Southold, if you look at a map, is situated at the ass end of nowhere. We are known for our Strawberry Festival and fire truck parade. According to the Census, this tiny place is made up almost entirely of inbred farmers, real estate speculators and volunteer firemen.

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They Fiddled While Nero Got the Matches

The thing that really gets my goat - and we're talking about one of those big, shaggy goats with horns the size of a man's arm and unblinking reptilian eyes, not some diminutive frog-belly from the petting zoo - is all this codswallop about how events in Iraq have gone so unpredictably wrong. Cacavi braccatum. The instructions for this war went as follows:

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WHAT THEY SAID/ WHAT THEY MEANT: KATRINA

Who: President George Bush: 2 days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
What He Said: “A State of Emergency exists in Louisiana beginning yesterday.”
What He Meant: “But since I’m still on vacation, I need to stage a few photo- ops strumming a guitar and playing golf first.”

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Grab a Towel, You're Next

The City That Care Forgot', care just remembered. Hurricane Katrina, muscled up on climate change and freak weather, plowed a fosse through New Orleans, Queen of the Mississippi. The eye of the storm barely missed downtown, and its cyclonic arms crushed the entire region to its bosom like a three-hundred-pound prostitute hitting a plate of fresh beignets. Storm surges blasted through the levees intended to keep the local waters from seeking their natural level, which is about ceiling fan height for most of the metropolitan area.

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A SPECK IN KATRINA’S EYE

Hard to fathom the chaos I’m seeing on my TV soggy but safely ensconced here at my Dad’s house in Milwaukee. A wrung out speck of comic detritus lucky to have dodged the wrath of Katrina’s Eye. And a mite sheepish. Always told anyone who bothered to listen I wanted to experience a Hurricane, but then, when the chance finally came, I hiked up my skirts and ran like a little school girl. And am extremely glad I did.

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