Fair, Balanced, Circus Freaks

This month, politics seems to be less real and more surreal then ever before. It’s a dirty business, politics. Lately it’s been raw, violent and faster paced than ever before.

On the Democrat’s side we have the arrival of Candidate retired General Wesley Clark. Former Democratic front-runner Vermont Governor Dr. Howard Dean and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry are eating Clark’s dust. The party buzz is that New York Senator Hillary and former President William Jefferson Clinton brought Clark into the race because they thought Dean didn’t have what it takes to beat George W. Bush.

The Republican side is a wild ride too. Way back last summer already arch conservative columnist George Will said that if there are no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) found in Iraq, then Bush’s decision to go to war is seriously suspect. Lately Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Powell have both been grilled about this on the Sunday morning talk shows.

Seeing as the President just asked Congress for more than eighty BILLION dollars just for Iraqi reconstruction and at least one American is being killed there every day, more since Bush declared the war over than during the course of the war itself- it might be time to think about the hole we’ve dug ourselves into. If there were no WMD, was the war for oil? No question the world’s a better place without Saddam Hussein, but there never was a 9-11 connection. There are probably more Alqueda terrorists in Iraq now than while Hussein was in power. Hussein and Bin Ladden hated each other.

Is it traitorous or treasonous to talk this way? There are people who will say that criticizing the President’s decision to invade Iraq “gives comfort to the enemy.” But isn’t it patriotic to want to save the lives and reunite the families of American service men and women by bringing them home?

Remember the 1980’s patriotic rock anthem “Born in the U.S.A.?” Singer/Song writer Bruce “the Boss” Springsteen recently weighed in on Iraq:

"The question of whether we were misled into the war in Iraq isn't a liberal or conservative or Republican or Democratic question, it's an American one. Protecting the democracy that we ask our sons and daughters to die for is our responsibility and our trust. Demanding accountability from our leaders is our job as citizens. It's the American way. So may the truth win out."

The first amendment says that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” I believe that this is what American soldiers should die for, not for political polling points or for cheap gasoline.

So now, it looks like someone in the White House leaked the identity of a CIA operative as revenge for their spouse’s opposition to the war. Holy Guacamole! If it’s not true, then everything that Bill O’Rielly and Rush Limbaugh say about the “liberal media” is right, but if it IS true (and it sounds like it may be), then Holy Guacamole! That’s what I call traitorous and treasonous! That makes the Monica Lewinski scandal look like middle school!

Do you see now why I consider myself a post-partisan centrist? When you’re honest about it, are either parties REALLY any cleaner than the other?

Just when it couldn’t get any weirder…As of yesterday my old home of California got a new governor. At the time I wrote this it looked like it was going to be “the Terminator.”

I thought it was weird that New Age Priestess and former arch conservative, turned “independent” political commentator Ariara Huffington debated Arnold Schwartzenagger (or however you spell that). Let’s face it, we needed sub-titles.

Then she dropped out of the race to defeat the Action Hero and support embattled Democratic Governor Grey Davis in his recall battle.

Then we heard that Arnold sexually harassed half a dozen women. No huge surprise, but conveniently brought to light just before the election (bad liberal press, bad press, no biscuit!).

Then we heard that he said that he admired Adolf Hitler in his first muscle movie back in the 1970s. Again, very good reason NOT to vote for him, but again, very conveniently brought to our attention just before the election.

Sigh.

Then came Rush Hour. My friends used to tell me they just listen to him because he’s funny, and sometimes they think he’s right. I used to warn them that he’ll suck them in, just like pro wresting. You say you’re just gonna watch because it’s so fake and so stupid, you want to make fun of it. Then you get caught up in the excitement. Then you get caught up in the soap-opera aspect. The next thing you know, you’re running for governor of Minnesota!

I don’t know why he’s so popular. It’s partisan propaganda infotainment that feeds off our fears and frustrations. I was relieved when his TV show faded and he was isolated to am radio. Then ESPN asked him to become a color commentator for NFL football. Because he knew so little about football.

Then he resigned because he said he thought that the “liberal media” supported Philadelphia Eagle’s QB Donovan McNabb just because he’s black. Forget about his records, his awards, or the fact that there’s like 18 other starting quarterbacks in the NFL today!

And THEN, it comes to light that Rush has been abusing prescription drugs, even involved in some kind of illegal drug trafficking ring for years! I wondered how he lost all that weight!

Of course the king of preaching personal responsibility to the rest of us is not a racist addict, it’s all the “liberal media’s” fault. Watch, he’ll find a way to blame the Clintons or some “feminazi.”
I sincerely hope he gets the help he needs. I hear the founder of the Betty Ford clinic was a Republican. I don’t think it’s fair that the media latches on to people’s personal lives, their mistakes or their hypocrisies. But I don’t think it’s because their anymore liberal than FOX and Bill O’Rielly are “fair and balanced.”

I think it’s because we the readers love a good fight and when sharks smell blood they start to circle, regardless of political persuasion.

I’ll admit, that while I honestly don’t want to gloat or say “I told you so,” I have got this overwhelming urge to say, “what goes around, comes around.”