On January 20th, 2009, President Barack Obama will be inaugurated.
I’m sobbing my eyes out here with relief.
Let us see if we can get this planet back on track.
Now I can sleep.
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On January 20th, 2009, President Barack Obama will be inaugurated. I’m sobbing my eyes out here with relief. Let us see if we can get this planet back on track. Now I can sleep. That’s understandable, considering that what the majority of the American people seem to want right now is not John McCain. John McCain, in his own words. Worth watching it if only for the rocking Adam and the Ants track, “Kings of the Wild Frontier” in the background. That’s one hell of a beat. Lets hear it again without Captain Crazy talking all over it: We might have run out of episodes, but thanks to Bill McSweeney, we have Squadron Leader Jack Steel: The Song! Almost unbelievably awesome. Christopher Hitchens is a man who I find profoundly irritating most of the time. He has perfected the art of arrogance to the level that even when he is saying something I agree with (It’s about 50:50), I still mostly want him to shut up. He has frequently been an apologist for Bush’s interventionist policies, and the ensuing misery that perpetuates from them. However he is nothing if not a complicated man, and he was recently willing to put himself through something pretty unpleasant for a piece in Vanity Fair. I hope his experience, and his conclusions, will inform his future pronouncements.
If waterboarding is neither torture nor bad nor dangerous, then any public official that supports it should be willing to go through a similar experience to Mr Hitchens. As he pointed out himself, with a safe word and knowing he’d be tucked up in his own bed at the end of the day, it only hints at the awfulness that the real thing must offer after days of sleep deprivation, casual brutality, and not knowing when or if you’d ever see your family again, let alone a lawyer. If an official refuses to try it out (as they would if they have any sense), surely that is an admission that it is dangerous and cruel, and thus illegal. That was depressing. Let’s end with a song! From the BBC:
Poor Michael! I hope it’s not too serious. This’ll make him feel better: He’ll be flying by wire again in no time, I’m sure. On the upside, if he changes his mind, I’m sure he’ll make an excellent Captain Hook. A long time since I heard this song. An audio-hug to everyone out there who’s going through a tough time right now. Which, lets face it, is most of us these days. |