Skirrs, Rasps, the Occasional Yap, Ting

Cam Newton was on the TV near our booth while GOB and me had a couple of pints last night, and GOB says, "I wonder what the fuss is, they all cheat," and I was about to start talking about ideological state apparatuses then thought, GOB doesn't want to hear another fucking time about ideological state apparatuses - and neither do you - so I chose to say, "Yup."

GOB is a half-generation older than me. You youngsters think us old fools, but as shitty as we knew and know the world to be, progress (all pertinent and damning admissions of my fat-assed complicity acknowledged), once seemed not only not motherfucking ludicrous but - get this - incrementally achievable. That whole New Deal thingee, the standard litany of Liberal achievements of last century, even considering the bloody hegemonic engine driving the machine. Rubes! yes?

I  find myself constantly wedged and levered between those who always had faith and those who never had faith, those who know they need to lose their faith and those who've lost their faith but still maintain the rituals, those whose faith is their belief they never had any faith to lose and those whose faith is their spiritual pride in their disavowal of faith. My number is today is 435126. Wait, now it's 341562.

• Recapitulating a recapitulation.
• American justice. 
• Don't blame Obama?
• Daily obamapostasy.
• Sure, this will happen. 
• David Broder tells you to shut up and eat your catfood.
• Nobody, that's who.
• Race, class, and the Tea-Party.
• Party's over.
• Burning down the house. 
• The more things change the more they stay stupid.
• Captive audience.
• And another thing.
• Prep school.
• Johnny the Bagger.
• Never thought he'd see this.
• Virginia Republican promises loyalty to Israel.
• On the above. 
• Fresh hot linkages.
• Metroland is not like the rest of America.
• Metroland is like the rest of America.
• MOCO austerity.
• PG hilarity.
• Scary.
• Blizzard babies.
• Slow days in book and music Blegsylvania - there won't be many new releases until after Giftmas. Napoleon, however, is doing fine.

WILD BEASTS

James Tate

In the front all the weapons were
loaded. We sat there in the dark with
not so much as a whisper. We could hear
sounds outside - skirrs, rasps, the occasional
yap, ting. We were alert, perhaps too
alert. Ready to shoot a fly for just
being a fly. When you don't sleep you
start to hallucinate and that's not good.
One night this crazy notion started to
possess me: I said, "Who are our enemies
anyhow? We don't have any enemies. What
are we doing here? We should be with our
families doing what families do. I'm laying
down this gun and I'm leaving right now."
I knew there was a chance that one of them
might shoot me. Instead they all laid down
their guns and we walked right out into the moon-
lit night, frightened, now, only of ourselves.