the shrewdness of apes

while waiting in line for my lunch, the guy behind me noticed i was reading something football related. he asked if i had heard about the former NFL player who was just killed during fighting in Afghanistan. i said i had and we chatted for a few moments about what a tragedy it was, this player giving up millions of dollars because he felt an obligation to go fight for his country. then he said something that gave me some great insight into the American political climate:

y'know, a lot of people don't understand what's really going on over there. 'cause if we lose over there, they're coming here next.

fortunately my food was handed to me at that point and i was able to scramble away with a quick "so long". as i walked, i couldn't decide what was the biggest problem with that declaration. the fact that "they" are already here most likely; the fact that "they" was so vague as to be meaningless; the fact that the domino theory is still being cited 30 years after Vietnam; the implication that the U.S. was not the agressor in deposing two governments (the desirability of each not withstanding); or the fact that i wanted to escape rather than try to talk to him.

but it reinforced for me that fear is powerful, and that the polls don't lie: there's still a ton of support for a president who could care less if what he's saying is truthful so long as its pandering and/or designed to belittle any criticism; who conducts every press conference with a smirk on his face like he just pissed in your pool and got away with it; who graduated from one of the finest institutions on earth, yet has more trouble communicating than my dog; whose extremist Christianity could give extremist Islam a run for its money from a suppressing freedom standpoint; who believes that the government should not have to protect the environment because, you know, companies can be counted on to do the right thing.

with each passing day, and each sign of "economic recovery" (note to self: check value of 401(k)), i become increasingly concerned that we could be in another 4 years of this bullshit that makes the previous bullshit look like chocolate ice cream. i swear, if i somehow end up with a son like Alex P. Keaton, i'm selling him to the gypsies. you could do a lot worse than that Meredith Baxter Birney in the wife department, though.