Fear and Loathing in Los Lunacy

Mikaela says:
Every generation claims to be, perhaps rightly, at the center of history. That caveat acknowledged, I am filled, these days, with a sense of watching in horror at the unfolding of historic events.

One of the reasons I felt so strongly about the name of this blog being so apt at this particular moment is the feeling that we are in the center of a maelstrom of empire. Many critics have been writing lately about the Neocon agenda of empire, and they have solid, rigorous, logical analysis and factual evidence that points to the legitimacy of this claim. At certain moments, lately, I have gone beyond this intellectual and academic critique and felt with a weird, chilling clarity the momentum of this dangerous reality.

Yesterday, for example, I was home sick from work and happened to stumble upon a live broadcast of Al Gore's talk to Georgetown University on C-SPAN, and I could not shake the feeling of watching a Roman Senator calling to the higher reason of the populace to save the Republic from the power-hungry lunacy of the aristocratic elite, of which he is a part.

Why isn't there more of an uproar about what's happening in the world? Are we all still so comfortable that it's simply too inconvenient to get all worked up?

Watching the debates, I was struck by how totalizing all the rhetoric from both sides really is. It's the rhetoric of do-or-die historic moments, with cateclism waiting on either side.

Maybe it's just the fallacy of self-importance of every generation, but I feel the consequences of this election will be big -- really big -- with more at stake than even the liberal there's-no-real-difference-between-the-parties rhetoric can explain away. What's at stake is no less than our constitution, our world-reputation, our civil liberties, our morale, our media, and our ability to think through rhetoric and come to some conclusion about the wisdom of governmental policy.

No matter who wins, and clearly I have an opinion about who will be the lesser of two evils, I would hope that one of the main goals of progressives everywhere (and hopefully a few others who actually think democracy is a pretty good idea) will be the reform of media. I can't help but think that the evolution (devolution?) of media from journalism to entertainment is largely responsible for allowing the conditions for the present atmosphere of bold-face lies and unchallenged rhetoric. Why wouldn't a politician lie when they know no one (or no one the majority of Americans will ever hear or listen to) will challenge them, and there will be no consequences or accountability? It's the media's fault that more people aren't aware and incensed that this is going on.

But what do I know? I'm just a citizen in the belly of the beast, doing my part to burn away lies to expose other choices for action.