The "D'oh!" Apocalypse: Is this country over?

[iconoclastic cat]

Seriously, people, I wonder if we've had it. Two articles caught my eye this morning as I wait for responses to my utterly useless resume dump:

First, on the Netscape front page, this article appears:

When It's Time to Expand Your Horizons

by Kerry Spivey

Lately you may be looking around wondering exactly why you are sitting still in your job in the United States. With all of the madness of the Presidential elections and the threat of a dwindling economy, the urge to get out of town is growing stronger every day. Besides, you never had the chance to travel and are at the point where it is now or never if you want to broaden your horizons beyond the fifty states. So you make up your mind to work abroad. Here are some ideas to point you in the right direction once you decide to run for the border to explore what the world has to offer.

Familiarize yourself with the culture in the country you are interested.

Never go into anything blind sighted. The first thing you'll want to do is scope out the area in which you wish to move. There are several things to consider: What is the conversion on their currency? Are you familiar with the language? If not, it would be a good idea to either peruse a foreign language dictionary or listen to some instructional tapes to make sure that you know some key phrases before plunging into an entirely different culture. You'll also need to familiarize yourself with foreign entry requirements. Understand the cultural differences and language and use what you learn to assess which country will best suit your background and the life you want to pursue.
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Okay, so buggering off is now mainstream. Sweeeeeeet.

Next, I flipped over to Daily Kos, and saw that Hunter is similarly cheerful:

OK, Fine. It's the Apocalypse.

by Hunter
Fri Sep 16th, 2005 at 07:22:56 EDT

The person who is being placed in charge of the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort, in the wake of stunning government bungling of a national disaster due to political patrons who had no expertise in their ostensible "duties" for which they were collecting paychecks: yes, Karl Rove. And apparently, nobody in the media has a problem with this, because we're essentially all used to the notion that the manner in which, for example, primarily-black neighborhoods in New Orleans get rebuilt, or not, is a task best left to the President's loyal election strategist...

True Conservatives are tonight up in arms over the cost of rebuilding New Orleans, and demand budget cuts to pay for it. Budget cuts deemed necessary to pay for the Iraq War? None. Zip. Nada. Well, a few minor levees that nobody really cares about or will ever notice...

Insane Foaming Monkey Conservatives are working themselves into a more foamy state than usual, and apparently have some sort of blastfax campaign going on over the design of the Flight 93 Memorial which -- shudder -- is crescent-shaped. I hereby predict the next wingnut attack will be upon... the accursed, goddamn, communist moon. Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the moon, the news reports will gush, as the rockets are readied in order to square that damn puppy for once and for all...
(snip)
That's it. I'm done. You might as well kill me now, because it's the Apocalypse. All life on this planet is no doubt mere days away from coming to an end, because really -- mankind couldn't possibly get any stupider. Not possible.

In my life, I've seen 70's-era fashions that seemed to be based on the fabric equivalent of haggis. I had to listen to Ronald Freaking Reagan being praised as The Great Cultural Father. I've watched Britney Spears become famous. I've seen a Leading Religious Figure hawk videos during his Happy CouchPotato Prayertime Hour detailing how President Clinton was incontrovertibly a Central American drug lord. I've watched Orwell become praised by the right. I've watched Ozymandias become a Republican military strategy guide. I've seen the pilot episode of Manimal.

And this is worse. This, finally, is the long-awaited Apocalypse. Clearly, Terri Schiavo was the glue holding the last threads of the universe together, just as Tom DeLay had foretold in his Holy But Questionably Legal Checkbook Prophesies.
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These two pieces both make me wonder: Are we seriously heading into full-on Mussolini mode? Has this place had it?

Edit: screwed up my subject line, sorry

[iconoclastic cat]

1. Okay, so I had some weird problems posting this.

I had no idea that the poll questions had a word limit. Sorry!