Bad Moon On The Rise?

Not a good sign that these posts have been getting farther and farther apart. It's not like I've had nothing on my mind, after all.

Creeping tension as the days--just 8 days at this writing--tick down toward election day. Will Barack Obama be elected? And by what margin? Will he squeak by so narrowly that we'll be forced to revisit the Recount of 2000? What if he loses narrowly? Can we safely assume vote tampering? (how could we not?) I am trying to maintain, as I'm sure you are. It is not easy.

There is the fear factor once again at the revelation of a plot--is this for real? and should I be using the word "alleged"? --by 2 white supremacists to go on an African-American killing spree meant to culminate in an assassination attempt on Obama. According to federal authorities the would-be assassins, a 20 year-old high school dropout from Tennessee and an 18 year-old from Arkansas who met on the Internet through a shared interest in all things white power (and why are none of these details a surprise to me), were planning to target first an African-American school--though exactly which particular school apparently isn't yet known--killing 88 of its students, 14 by decapitation, or so revealed documents unsealed in a Jackson, Tenn. U.S. District Court. Why 88? And why 14 by beheading? God, I don't know. Something or other about those being magic numbers in the skinhead culture, according to the Associated Press. Yeah. Okay. Whatever. And--oh yes--according to the same report the two had been shooting at the windows of a black church (no injuries or casualties, thank goodness) in Brownsville, Tenn. on the day they were arrested.

A real class act, both of these sons of dixie.

Also (also?? did you hear what I just said?) I can't fight off the worry that, despite reported leads in all the battleground states, Obama could still lose--we could still lose--this election, undone as much by our own hubris or complacency as by GOP hanky-panky. Early voting is taking place but not, apparently, in the numbers expected or hoped for in key states; too many people seem content to chance the long lines and unexpected glitches of November 4th. I had this discussion--let's go ahead and call it a "discussion"--just this weekend with several fellow residents over the folding table in the laundry room, who smiled indulgently at my growing exasperation.

And--oh, what the fresh hell???--are we now at war in Syria? Because the news reports I'm watching tonight sure seem to be suggesting that...

George W. Bush. You just never want to stop slapping him. (I may be repeating myself)