comforting Patriotic Slogans of My Weird Gramma's day.

And as to vaunted Leadership as a Chimera-Stone -
That all depends on *WHOM* you are leading: the MBAs? the mall-rats? the non-voting majority inhabiting Ennui-City?

You can appeal to mindless Valuez of the 20-sec attention span clan or you can attempt to elicit some small spark of recognition (from the distant past, maybe even unto Adlai) .. of just What a Colossal Fuck-Up looks like on Tee Vee, after his-Roveowitz decides to invade a place for all the erroneous reasons, arrives with no fucking Plan and -

[fill in all the detailed fuck-ups from.. expecting flag-waving Yassuh-boss folk as welcoming committee, looting and further shooting-up of the stuff the US taxpayers have to rebuild, on down to today].

Vindicated, eh? Is that the same root as vindictive or Invincible.


OK maybe after this career-crisis abates (lookin over the top to the downward descent into the abyss, bunky?), and you get over the pop fantasy that, with enough new nukes our Military Might shall continue that PNAC master plan -- just remember, Your Boys' Plan next, for [link|http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/08/25/bush_second_term/| Soc Sec], then recall the faces of Roveowitz at all, 'in repose' ..along with the perpetual sneer of our Halliburton Veep.

(That should prove a comfort, when the vingar in bloodstream finally gets processed by the kidneys. Ixnay on the John Wayne reruns; you obv can't deal well with heroic symbology in HDTV resolution.)

Other than the Disneyland stuff though, it's a hell of a soap opera, except for some of the rilly Painful slogans that don't work even in fairy tales. But after about 20 min of the syrupy maudlin, I just turn it all off and commune with Siva

(or sometimes.. Ganesha; you haven't heard a real SNORT til you've heard one through G's trunk..)


Keep the Faith, Baby - things will appear differently as you ride that slope on down towards disillusionment [But first you must fight! reillusionment, y'know?].

Oh: While waiting for Awareness (after forgetting why you liked Adlai), I recommend seeking a copy of the ~~'tone poem' [link|http://www.americansymphony.org/dialogues_extensions/2002_03season/2003_2_9/botstein2_9.cfm| Manfred] based on a late night Lord Byron opus.

Doubt you can find the stirring rendition I have, by Sir Thomas B, Royal Phil, "with Actors, Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra"; George Rylands as Manfred - on Columbia M2L 245 (Mono LP) .. This was the first complete recording, and was found for me by a remarkable One, years ago. But then, maybe the Jesuits have a copy - they collect Everything.

From the album notes:

"The collaboration of Byron and Schumann in Manfred, though they worked thirty years apart, is a true meeting of like minds which is all the more striking in the abrupt dissimilarity of their public personalities. Manfred is Byron as a youth; there is no doubt about that. Schumann saw in Byron's hero a reflection of certain aspects of his own nature, but Schumann as a man was a far more fulfilled and complete human being than Manfred or Byron, and this despite the composer's incipient madness at the time of this composition"
...

"Goethe later went on record as admiring Manfred and declared that, 'Hamlet's soliloquy appears improved on here'".


Kinda doubt it's been saved onto CD, given marketing priorities of the new MBA-class and the God of Efficiency.

Every 40-something needs to hear this entire, undistracted by football plays with the sound turned down - at least Once. IMmatchlessO.



It will be hard to stick you into a boring Groupthink slot, because you have so little excuse for drinking the Koolaid of Demagoguery 101-Remedial.

The Real Adlai is Not the Adlai You See
er, cha cha cha