howls of rage

It's not only impossible to write about politics any more; it's getting very difficult to read about anything political as well.

The problem is that everyone who's not carrying water or writing propaganda or bending over for our cognitively challenged rulers sounds the same. There is a limited number of topics on everyone's mind now: the BP spill specifically and the environmental crisis generally; the "Great Recession" specifically and the re-distribution of all available wealth upward to the ruling class generally; the Afghan War specifically and the perpetual war being run by an increasingly parasitical war machine generally; Obama's bad-faith betrayal of his base specifically and the control of our political system by lobbyists funneling corporate money to the politicians generally.

The screen behind which the wizard (or in this case, wizards) hid as they manipulate the clanking machinery of global capitalism's empire is fallen, but despite increasingly shrill howls of rage from virtually everyone who's both conscious and not sold out, they refuse to acknowledge that we're even here. Feelings of outrage over what's happening combine with helplessness and frustration, making for a volatile state of mind. This is not going to continue forever.

As the days wax hot they seem longer. Time slows down in the summer, and autumn may be too far away for the benefactors of the status quo to maintain their arrogance without incurring damage.

Drawing by Pat Moriarity.