LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

Help. I can’t find any democracy.

— Bumper sticker of the week: Thou shalt not kill — unless otherwise instructed.

— Quotes of the week: “An intellectual is a person who has discovered something more interesting than sex.

“Maybe this planet is another planet's hell.” Aldous Huxley

— Positive peeverism of the week: The weather has been great. No hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides, or forest fires. Just goes to show you, it’s good to live in a place where nothing much ever happens.

— Condoleezza Rice fills in the blanks on why we went to war against Iraq: Ms. Rice states it is likely we will have a military presence in Iraq for the next 10 years. Truth is, we are likely to be there for the next millennium. Gives us a good place to control the Middle East from, and the oil makes for a good bonus. They tell us there’s no way we could withdraw now, it would create chaos and anarchy. I’d say that’s just about what we got now. I support our troops. They should come home. Look at the bloodshed, the torture, the destruction, the wanton disregard for human life, and than tell me you want your son or daughter to be a part of that. We are in a period of morally deficient, intellectually bankrupt, government leadership. We will look back on this time with shame and disgrace. Condoleezza will have been a major part of it.

— Don’t kid yourself, the Democrats are not much better than the Republicans: Where is the Democratic voice for universal health-care? Gone with all the lobbying dollars. Where are our voices in an obvious governmental blunder in response to a natural disaster? Muffled by a call for mismanagement, vs. a callous, vicious, anti-poor Bush administration ideology. Where were our voices when welfare reform was masked by a stern pronouncement: Either play by our rules are do without. Where were we when it was time to pull the plug on an illegal war? Cowering down so that no one could call us un-American. It is not a good, or proud day, to be a Democrat. My only solace comes in believing that it is still a whole lot better than being a Republican.

— Some things I’ve done wrong:

• I’ve bought way too much and given away way too little.

• I’ve been in Galesburg way too long.

• I thought way too long that the truth came out of a bong.

• I wish I had more faith and less doubt.

• I’ve spent way too much time trying to be a man and way too little trying to become a decent human being.

• Regrets, I’ve had a few. And you can bet I wouldn’t do it all over the same way.

— With hundreds of billions of dollars pouring out of Washington for an illegal war and supplementing the income of the richest 1% of the population with tax cuts, let it never be said that we cannot afford universal health-care, or helping the poor with jobs, food, and housing.

— You be the judge. Early warning signs of Fascism, as researched by Lawrence Britt:

• A government, corporate, controlled mass media.

• Rampant sexism.

• Disdain for human rights.

• Suppressed labor power.

• Rampant cronyism and corruption.

• Religion and government intertwined.

• Obsession with national security.

• Identification of enemies as a unifying cause.

• Supremacy of the military.

• Fraudulent elections.

Works for me. We’re waist deep in it. Let’s not drown.