Clownformity

[Mythsaje]

We've got three hundred million stories in this wide-shouldered land, stories of people short and tall, young and old, wise and foolish. We've got Survivor and American Idol, Jerry Springer and Judge Judy, showing us folks who will do nearly anything to get their promised fifteen minutes of fame. Or infamy, as the case may be.

We've got believers in bootstrap levitation and believers in nothing that can't be seen, touched, or tasted. "That which cannot be measured cannot exist." We've got Christian Scientists, Scientologists, and Creationists, folks that are pro-birth but anti-human. People who think torture is entertainment and FOX News informative. We have Holocaust and Global Warming deniers, cultural relativists and Free Republic racists. We have neo-Nazis and viking wannabes, old rich power brokers and new rich lottery winners. We've got rock stars and jock stars, libertarians and libertines, Republican sex scandals and cradle-robbing schoolteachers. We've got Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, and Bachman, on overdrive, with ol' Rupert Murdoch playing the tune.

Everybody wants a piece of that American dream. Of course, nowadays the American Dream seems to involve face time with a video camera. If it's not a makeover, it's a home makeover. It's YouTube and Jackass and "hey, ma, watch this!

We've got police car dashboard video, cellphone pics of a beat-down in blue. We've got tabloids and paparazzi, upskirts, downblouses, and sideboob. We've got cougars and wolves, dawgs and bitches. We've got "info-tainment" and unlawful detainment, lead-filled toys and high-end lobbyists like jacks-in-the-box with fist fulls of insurance cash.

We've got half-assed "reform" and politicos who perform. We've got "hiking the Appalachian Trail" and "Mom, Dad, can you pay my bail?"

If there's one thing Americans need more than decent, affordable health care, it's a restored sense of dignity. After the past several years of Republican buffoonery, it's certainly long overdue. It's a good thing we happened to elect a very dignified man to the Presidency. Maybe he'll start a trend.

But again, maybe not.

[madmom]

1. Well said sir.

:toast:

[NanceGreggs]

2. Oh, yeah ...

:fistbump:

[Mythsaje]

8. I didn't notice until later, but there's a distinct Carlinesque quality to this one... n/t

Especially if you say it out loud.

[jmondine]

3. I think we're all bozos on this bus

[OhioChick]

4. K&R n/t

[lexanman]

5. we've got humanity

and we will extinguish ourselves sooner rather than later.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

6. Kick, Rec'd, Bookmarked. -nt-

[Atticus]

7. Calm, confident, dignified, strong---

tolerant, optimistic and kind.

These words describe how we Americans once saw ourselve and each other. "If your mind can believe it, your heart can achieve it!"

Thanks for a thoughtful post.

[Demeter]

9. Dignity Comes From Having High Standards and Holding Oneself To Them

and until we see some people in high places doing so, nobody can imagine American dignity.

And I don't mean high standards of greed and amassing power.