This has been a week of shocking news. First, NASA shot a rocket at the moon in search of water. Why a rover wouldn't have been a better choice for this mission, I can't say. And by all that is holy, why does it matter, really in the big picture if there is water on the moon? Unless of course we're planning for the day when we have no water left on Earth? Or does it have more to do with the idea of abandoning Earth altogether after we've fucked it up and going to live on the moon?
I am having a really hard time with this. I understand that the moon is uninhabited and the rocket wasn't big enough to do any real damage and etc. Cognitively I understand all that. But I'm still pretty upset about it. Perhaps this is because I consider the moon sacred. Perhaps it's because I was traumatized by the book The Dead and the Gone (highly recommended for young readers by the way, my 12 year old son loved it). Maybe it's the price tag. Mostly, it's the hubris of it all that rubs me the wrong way. Doesn't the moon affect the entire Earth? Did NASA take a worldwide vote on this? It's not their moon.
The next shocker came when President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Even he was shocked. As you know if you've read me before, I love Obama with that pure true love that allows me to accept his faults while still celebrating his total awesomeness. I maintain that adoration even as I rail against some of his administrations policies. I realize that part of this is just because he's good-looking and well-spoken, but there's no shame in standing behind a good-looking and well-spoken leader. My love for him has only made it more painful as his presidency comes to resemble a Cohen Brothers' movie and this latest Peace Prize debacle has only made it worse. Thanks Norway.
Why is it so terrible? Partly because it shines a huge spotlight on the fact that, as Saturday Night Live recently pointed out, he hasn't managed to accomplish much so far. I am the first to leap to his defense and remind my fellow Americans that the President's job does not come with a magic wand of instant gratification. No, he is but one man subject to the whim of the House and Senate as our forefathers arranged because if we gave one man the sort of power that people seem to expect from the President these days, it would be a Very Bad Thing.
Another reason why this Nobel Peace prize debacle is disturbing is because it's sort of a glass ceiling of accomplishments. It sets poor Mr Obama up to have nowhere to go but down.
And finally, it gives people another reason to resent him - as if we don't have enough.
Can the President just get on with being a President? Can we give him some time to accomplish some stuff before we start judging his accomplishments? I think a year is reasonable. It hasn't been a year yet. I promise not to gripe about anyone who wants to make judgments in February 2010.
And the final insanity that has struck my brain leaving me stammering ... WTF?
My mother bought my son a real sword to go with his Halloween costume. Yea. It's a good idea to walk around Salem on Halloween with a real sword.
Why wasn't it so easy to get her to buy crazy stuff when I was a kid?
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