the otherwhirled

“This had better be good, Commander. Ah’m damn tired of you pickin’ on me all the time.”

Well, sad to say, President Bush, but it’s probably not going to be “good” from your perspective. I have a feeling that your definition of “good” is pretty much skewed beyond recognition by “good” people, anyway.

What I want for Christmas isn’t something trite like “world peace”, although, of course, that would be very nice. And what I want for Christmas isn’t overly idealistic, like “impeachment”, although that would be quite nice as well.

What I want for Christmas is “hope”. No, I’m not talking about bringing dead comedians back from the grave. I’m talking “hope”, as in real  hope. Kind of like: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. Of course, the problem with “hope” is the definition of “for the best”. For the purpose of this post, what I mean when I say “hope” is really more like to feel that something desired may happen. That’s the kind of “hope” I’m after here: A form of faith that something good can be made of all the bullshit in our lives. After all, wouldn’t that pretty well generalize the concept of “best” in the first definition?

And yes, it’s a little weird, I suppose, being a non-theist, this application of “faith”. And yet, faith is necessary. In fact, it’s a bit more necessary for the likes of me than it is for those who confuse the definition of “faith” with “knowledge”. And you know the ones I’m talking about.

So, I hope that the American public can see fit to elect a President next year who won’t put the likes of this shill into a position of power. Even go so far as to hope that Republicans, if they do not see it now, will come to perceive that this type of shill has been directly detrimental to their own cause, and in terms of America’s presence in the international community, has served metaphorically to put out fires with a bundle of straw soaked in gasoline.

And I hope that future Secretaries of State refuse to take on roles that undermine their worth and value to an administration. Think about it. This Secretary of State has her authority drawn singularly from the Vice President, and acts seemingly at his command without personal impetus. In many ways, that’s almost worse than having a puppet president (which we have, as you all know). A large reason for the state we are in is because the State Department lacks a certain personal cognizance that in the past has served to moderate certain inanities that have trickled out of the White House. But not this one. She’s just a Klingon (pun intended) with sheer pantyhose.

I hope that when the dust settles after the 2008 elections, the American public and its elected officials will not be timid about investigating the actions of this evil man. And yes, even though I’m a non-theist, I do believe that evil exists, and I do believe it has become embodied in the personage of Dick Cheney. Your heart is trying to tell you something, Mr. Cheney. It’s at least possible that it doesn’t want to beat within the body of the ninth incarnation of Satan. I very much hope that we can take seriously the task of bringing to justice—true Justice, that is—the man who orchestrated the systematic undermining of the principles and ideals upon which this country was founded.

And I hope that while we have the collective wherewithal to pursue the delivery of that Justice, that we can avoid allowing it to consume us the way he has allowed his misbegotten definitions of justice and rightness and duty to consume himself and our Nation. Similarly, I hope that we can come to understand that fear-mongering is one of the clearest signs of weakness, and recognizing that weakness, not allow his blustering and bullying to distract or dissuade us from the pursuit of Justice.

Lastly, I hope that our next President is smarter than this one. I know the rule of thumb for Presidents has often been that we don’t want a truly intelligent one mucking about and second-guessing the competence of everyone around him, but after two reigns of terror by the Chief Moron In Charge of Deciderating, I believe we have proven that that rule of thumb is both inadequate and baseless. Stupid truly is as stupid does, and while I’ll admit the man may be shrewd on certain subjects, I doubt that shrewdness comes without heavy counseling and briefing. No, we cannot have another “C” student in the White House. We need strong, intelligent leadership, not to mention class.

“Dammit, Commander. There ya go. It’s bad enough ya’ll pick on me all the time, but ya went and disrear…disaspec…irrespectered…disinfected mah friends. Ah hate it when you do that.”

Yes, thank you for reminding me, Mr. President. The other thing I sincerely hope for is that we can learn to live without the hatred and intolerance that you and your administration have brought to light over the past several years. I hope that whomever we elect after you will show the world that it is only a minority of Americans who cannot tolerate sharing the world with other human beings. And I hope that we can all work successfully to rectify the misinformation, the misrepresentation, and the misinterpretation of our true Way of Life to the ones we share the world with.

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photo credits: (they’re down here because my CSS skills are lacking for getting the damn things to show up below the images without doing tables for everything.

Reuters/Kevin LaMarque

Jason Reed/Reuters

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

Jim Young/Reuters