Rumblings

I had been looking for a pic of one of the Jasper Johns's cubbyhole constructions, with noses and lips and dicks, but I couldn't find one, so the reverse-color flag, above, will have to do. The issue inundation around here has been personal as well as public, and it's been hard to pick what to say about any of them, about anything. I had expected September to bring revelations, but not so fast - Bush & Cronies LLP (or what Billmon always calls the Cheney Administration...) with its pants down and a hurricane flushing its ass; the waking of many citizens from a secure and pleasant dream to find that they are pretty fucking defenseless after all; a press with a spine implant (probably temporary, but I'm glad for small favors). More to come.

Here I have had a balking patient, and also a new and understanding boyfriend (good as gold, that!). Fortune smiling on you when she's frowning everywhere else is disconcerting - and we all know she's not reliable, or she would not be so beloved through the purchase of lottery tickets. Other people have been on the mark, and here are some of my bullseyes from the last few days:

• Jane has a sharp commentary on Dubya as a Dry Drunk. This is a meeting of personal and public recognition - what she describes so closely fits a sibling of mine, I can play diagnostician. May account for why it frightens me to drive with her - that sibling - and why I couldn't vote for her, were she to run for office, no matter how progressive her politics. Also why Bush seems such a tool when he's supposed to be in charge - he was a made man from the very beginning, and I suspect much of DC knew this all along (I am speaking to you, Broder). Complicit they were, and god, I hope they are ready to suck dick for it in future.
• Fred Kaplan eviscerates emergency planning in a Slate piece yesterday - and makes me think about the jobs I've had analyzing operations, or writing and building management tools in both academic and business settings. The vagueness Kaplan describes in the HSC Manual on emergency planning scenarios is fucking terrifying - any well-run hospital has protocols 10K times more specific and detailed, and they pride themselves on it. I never did believe the initial Bushie bravado about "grown-ups" taking control, but these guys truly embarrass themselves, and why anyone ever trusted them with our security goes beyond mystery to a collective psychosis.
• My family prides itself on rationality (even when it goes nuts), so I think I can commend this note from Kevin Drum on The Republican War on Science, Chris Mooney's new book to them. Should really scare Dad....:-)

God, there's a lot more, what with Roberts playing with Seven Veils and Senators saying, "My Head on the Silver Platter First! Kiss me, Kiss Me, Jokannan!!" - like we fags don't know the Bible....or Richard Strauss.

The new BF hates opera, btw - tough for him, but I'm not that much of a Taste Queen to insist on categorical fidelity. Many more inportant things to consider, and they are marching upon us.