Senator Lindsey Graham (R-Hyperbole) recently asserted on one of the Sunday morning news shows that ISIS is poised to come to this country and kill all Americans. Every one of us. And, although we are the most heavily-armed citizenry in the world by an almost-unimaginable factor, we are apparently still unable to defend ourselves, and Obama is powerless or unwilling to stop them.
Graham's wild-eyed rantings aside, it's certainly inarguable that ISIS is probably the most universally agreed-upon symbol of Evil on Earth since the Third Reich. They have done and continue to do some jaw-droppingly horrible acts, not least of which the one that makes that commonly used phrase literal--beheading helpless captives. The only way they could have done something worse would probably have been to use the same (apparently) timed-release, lethal-after-a-fashion chemicals used by the US penal system now to execute our prisoners. Then we'd have had to watch the poor bastards writhe, squirm and moan for an hour or two, rather than die instantly.
So ISIS is doing heinous and hideous deeds in the Middle East, and they may be headed here. Ebola, on the other hand, is already here, the first case on US soil recently diagnosed in Dallas, and there is apparently some concern that others close to this first victim may be at some risk. The medical community, of course, assures us that there is no chance of an outbreak here such as the one in West Africa, which has killed more than half those infected, and Sen. Graham hasn't yet weighed in on this, but I certainly expect that there will be much need for re-assurance on this issue.
City planners and urban development officials, at least along the coasts, are beginning now to make plans for the rising of the seas due to Climate Change, and all of the effects likely to follow. Will they do away with ground floors on new buildings? How, then, will people get to the first floor? Stronger and more frequent storms and their concomitant surges are already here, as are higher tides on a regular basis, as are severe droughts and higher temperatures. Plants and animals are having to adapt, mostly by moving north, to a climate which more closely resembles the one they emerged and evolved in.
The income gap worldwide, but particularly in the US, is wider than it's ever been and widening. In 2012, the top 1% made basically 20 times what the other 99% did. Wages have flattened or dropped for the middle- and lower-classes, who can barely keep their heads above water (figuratively, at least for now) while, as they say, the rich get richer. It's a situation that really can't be sustained or, especially, allowed to worsen, yet there seems to be little movement toward addressing this issue. If we don't, there will be blood.
President Obama, cowering and cowardly in the face of the existential threat posed by ISIS (see "the sky is falling!" above) is nevertheless delighted to use drones wantonly for "surgical strikes" against terrorists--often cleverly disguised as children playing or wedding parties reveling. Come to think of it, the sky is falling. Right now we're the only ones making it fall, but how long before some other entity--state or stateless--starts using drones on us from half a world away? How safe are our children, or our "leaders?" Hell, right now all you need to do to get to the president is climb a fence, run to the White House and open the door, although it probably helps to know when the Secret "Service" has most recently received their latest shipment of Jack Daniels and coke (and I don't mean cola). One way or another, we seem determined to be the agents of our own demise.
And worst of all, the Red Sox finished in last place this year, just the second MLB team in history to "accomplish" the feat of going worst-to-first-to-worst. The first was the 1998 Florida Marlins, who traded away most of their championship-winning roster before the next season, thus making the Sox the only team to fail so egregiously while ostensibly actually trying to defend their title. And the Patriots suddenly suck, after years and years of success and heightened expectations of fans. Tom Brady said on Sept. 2 of this year, "When I suck, I'll retire." Welp, ol' Tom's looking an awful lot like a Hoover lately--and I don't mean Herbert.
So there are just a few things a reasonably attentive and moderately well-informed person wakes up to every morning. People have frequently chided me for being too negative, for focusing on and writing about just the "bad" side of life, at least according to common conception. I mean, Jeez, how can one not? Of course there are wonderful aspects to my life, and yours, and pretty much everyone's who's roaming this increasingly overcrowded orb (oh yeah, there's another one....), but, honestly, aren't they overwhelmed by the downside? Make a list: what things make you happy? Then another--honestly considered and counted, now-- of those things which frighten, depress or trouble you when you allow them into your consciousness, and see which one is longer, or whose components seem larger, in the grand scheme. No wonder people turn to alcohol or other drugs, or to religion (see how positive I'm being by not snarkily lumping that in with the first examples?), or shuffle off this coil of their own volition. Besides, as Tolstoy said in Anna Karenina, "all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." And that's what seems to me most interesting to think about, to write about. I'm not a humbug, just a fortunate, privileged, middle-class white male plumber of darker depths than many find comfortable. And I do it all while sitting in my comfortable office, listening to music I love, gazing out at the riotous colors of the leaves and the impossibly deep blue Autumn sky. I believe that one term for such behavior is Cognitive Dissonance.
So this week, perversity being my wont if not stock in trade, I'm playing a bunch of "Happy" songs. I hope that my musical choices will put a smile on your face, even when my prose does not. Here're the songs:
Don't Worry, Be Happy Bobby McFerrin
Everybody's Gonna Be Happy The Kinks
Feelin' Happy Lee Oskar
Feeling Happy Big Joe Turner
Get Happy Charlie Byrd/ Barney Kessel/Herb Ellis
Happy Al Green
Happy Rolling Stones
Happy Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins
Happy Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters
The Happy Blues Aretha
Happy Go Lucky Marvin Gaye
Happy Jack The Who
We Shall Be Happy Ry Cooder
Happy Song The Rascals
Smile Happy War
Happy Now Poncho Sanchez
Happy Town The Replacements
Happy Trails Quicksilver Messenger Service
Happy Meeting In Glory Ry Cooder
Happy Woman Blues Lucinda Williams
Heavy Makes You Happy Staple Singers
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You Fabs
If You Wanna Be Happy Kid Creole & The Coconuts
Oh How Happy Art Garfunkel
Make Someone Happy Tower Of Power
Only Happy When It Rains Garbage
Put On A Happy Face Blossom Dearie
Sing A Happy Song Taj Mahal
So Damn Happy Loudon Wainwright III
So, So Happy Valerie Carter
Happy 'Cause I'm Coming Home Chicago
Happy Hour News Firesign Theatre
I'll be dancing around the studios of WOOL FM, 91.5 (www.wool.fm on the web) from noon till two on Tuesday. I hope you'll join me to dance and sing along.
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