Strange Country We Live In . . .

Strange country we live in. . .

A few days ago, a columnist, Clive Crook I think, but I didn't save the reference, wrote of the Bush administration that several pundits are referring to it as a "reign of terror . . . "

Yesterday, the Cominch of the Middle East, an Admiral, resigned because he disagrees with the president's policies there. A lot of us fear that Bush/Cheney are planning to leave office with a shock and awe preemptive strike on Iran in the waning days of their own "reign of terror . . ."

Yesterday, Diane Lopez-Hughes was released after serving 45 days for her witness against the SOA/WHINSEC, the school for educating hit men in a "reign of terror . . . "

Strange country we live in. . .

This day, the Governor of New York resigned, not so much for foolin' around, as for prosecuting those who also fooled around, while granting immunity for his own penis penchants. Mumbling prosecutors stumble over immediate decisions whether to prosecute him for being a John.

This day's news proclaims that Barack Obama is black and resents Geraldine Ferraro for calling him black, while she is outraged that the media is outraged at her for saying so. Hillary Rodham Clinton is female, but nobody seems to notice that, because she is white? The whole sordid business, by professionals, is called a campaign for public office, the one called "the presidency," so as to extricate us in 2009 from the "reign of terror . . ." starting, as they say, on the "First Day" at "3:00, AM."

Strange country we live in . . .

A couple of months ago, January 28^th, John Dear, SJ, was sentenced for sitting too long in an elevator in a federal building, by a Magistrate Judge, who called Dean from the safety of the bench a "renegade priest," "a coward" and "no Gandhi." Thus, freedom of speech in the land of the free and the brave.

Strange country we live in.

Diane Lopez-Hughes said on her day of sentencing, also January 28^th:

"As the daughter of a Guatemalan father, I am a member of an extended family that has experienced both sides of the conflict in that tortured country. In the late nineteenth century my grandfather was a general in the Guatemalan army. His mother was an indigenous woman. So my relatives have included those who have been repressed and those who have directly participated in the repression. And my own government trains Guatemalan soldiers in techniques that support the repression, disappearance and murder of their own citizens and those who would help them in their quest for a better life and just treatment. And I believe that the attitude that allows this practice is also responsible for our domestic and foreign policy that disrespects individuals and promotes injustice."

Strange country we live in. . . Makes one wonder when our own "reign of terror . . ." will end. Or will it? Just by voting?