When, lo, as they reached the mountain side,
A wonderous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain side shut fast.
Did I say, all? No! One was lame,
And could not dance the whole of the way;
And in after years, if you would blame
His sadness, he was used to say,--
"It's dull in our town since my playmates left!
The Pied Piper of Hamlin - Robert Browning
David Seaton's News Links
This is a trying period for me, when most of the people I would ever want to hang out with are besotted by Barack Obama and I, like the little crippled boy who couldn't run fast enough to follow the piper of Hamlin, am left behind.
But as the poet once said that is how the cookie crumbleth.
After all these years I have to trust my instincts and intuitions in areas where I have spent enough time ruminating for my subconscious to cough up interesting stuff.
As my readers surely have noticed by now, I have the worst hunches, whim whams and heebjeebies as far as The One is concerned.
If I had to describe metaphorically what it is about him and what surrounds him that sets my teeth on edge I would call it "George Orwell meets Walt Disney".
Really the worst and most unforgivable thing would be for time to prove me right. I am sure there will be people that instead of congratulating me for my perspicaciousness will think it's all my fault for holding such negative thoughts.
I am quite understanding about all those trundling off to the "wondrous mountain": If I were a kid there is no way I could resist the peer pressure on this one, but I'm not a kid anymore and I can... so I will.
I sure hope that in the future, finally enough people dig their way out of that hill to at least put together a pickup soccer match. DS
This is a trying period for me, when most of the people I would ever want to hang out with are besotted by Barack Obama and I, like the little crippled boy who couldn't run fast enough to follow the piper of Hamlin, am left behind.
But as the poet once said that is how the cookie crumbleth.
After all these years I have to trust my instincts and intuitions in areas where I have spent enough time ruminating for my subconscious to cough up interesting stuff.
As my readers surely have noticed by now, I have the worst hunches, whim whams and heebjeebies as far as The One is concerned.
If I had to describe metaphorically what it is about him and what surrounds him that sets my teeth on edge I would call it "George Orwell meets Walt Disney".
Really the worst and most unforgivable thing would be for time to prove me right. I am sure there will be people that instead of congratulating me for my perspicaciousness will think it's all my fault for holding such negative thoughts.
I am quite understanding about all those trundling off to the "wondrous mountain": If I were a kid there is no way I could resist the peer pressure on this one, but I'm not a kid anymore and I can... so I will.
I sure hope that in the future, finally enough people dig their way out of that hill to at least put together a pickup soccer match. DS
5 comments:
Just wanted to let you know that I'm with you on your opinion about Obama. I've been following your blog for quite some time now and understand your frustration with people who want to get onboard the 'Hope Express'.
I'm not optimistic about Obama's (potential) presidency or the *single* party system. The fundamental issue as articulated by Amy Goodman is it's just "Change Big Donors can Believe in" :http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2008/10/23/amy_goodmans_new_column_change_big_donors_can_believe_in
Wonderful link! I have just added it to the original post.
Just in case readers can't follow it in your comment, here is is again.
I'll vote for him with my eyes
wide open and sharing the feelings you express here.
We live in the states, we're
politically active, we've never
seen such a well organized, top
down ruthlessly efficient campaign. I'm no fan of the Clintons but when Hillary was running I preferred working with her supporters because the Obamabots were too scary. I did vote for him in the primary.
Like you, I hope my worst fears are wrong.
David, the above link was broken, so here it goes again:
Amy Goodman's article
David, just a quick note to assure you that you're not alone. I'm just as scared as you are by the skilled and ruthless manipulation of the mass movement created in the name of a shadowy man with lofty and deliberately non-specific goals, and with only one real purpose - to bring that man to power. If that sounds scarily familiar, it is.
(BTW, the brilliant columnist and Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman is a prominent example of someone not enchanted by this piper)
Two redeeming features of the election, IMHO: the other choice is even more scary ( I doubt if we'll survive 4 years of McCain without another major war), and Obama is nothing if not a very skillful opportunist. If O wants to get reelected, he would keep running from the Wright-Farrakhan-Ayers crowd as fast as he can - he doesn't need them anymore, their disciples will vote for him anyway, even if he'll join the Klan tomorrow. O is not known for repayment of political debts, when its not beneficial for him. Now he needs different fellow travelers, and different results. The big question is of course about his debt to the big donors to his $650 million war chest - Amy Goodman is right.
What a rotten choice... I'm leaving my presidential ballot blank
Thanks for your good work.
--Anatol
P.S. I understand that you're a journalist and/or a writer. If so, where can one read your other work?
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