Trust me, with all the stuff I’ve written over the past year or so, you would think that I’d have been writing up a storm about Terri Schiavo and the obscenity this entire episode has become. But I refrained because it’s precisely the kind of thing that makes blogs what they truly are: reactionary writing about the kulturkampf.

Well, so much for the restraint, because I have grown so tired of this farce that I’m beginning to lose sight of the poor, brain-damaged woman at the center. It’s not impossible to feel bad for her, but it’s difficult to control the rising anger I have over the machinations of our elected piggies, who are -- at the very least -- trampling over their own conservative principles to interfere in a private, personal matter. The worst end of it is that not many people are noticing, or worse, not bothering to care. I just wonder, with all the noise about the “right to die,” where are all the marriage defender loudmouths?

The Republican party likes to flatter itself as the arbiter of morality. Just a few weeks ago, gay marriage was the ugly beast they were determined to slay, what with Bush supporting a constitutional amendment and the Catholic Church exploiting the issue to avoid the real crimes of pederasty and cover-up that are a threat to families more than two homos at a civil ceremony. “We have to defend traditional marriage!” is their war cry, but when it’s come down to Mr. and Mrs. Schiavo, they don’t seem to be stepping up to the plate. What’s more, this is the issue of a man in regards to his wife -- precisely the kind of setup that hardcore religious types love.

It’s theater of the obscene at this point, and not just because ethically-challenged (and all around asshole) Tom DeLay sees this sorry episode for exactly what it is: a political opportunity to get our homegrown Taliban all excited. Because, it’s not about federalism and state’s rights, or the sanctity of marriage, or rigging of the courts to get the desired effect (Bush v Gore, anyone?). No, it’s about distracting moron Americans from real issues, like this hideous budget that cuts $200 billion in discretionary spending on important things that we, obstensibly, consider more important. And of course, the media whores have been all too willing to provide us with repeated video of Mrs. Schiavo and ignoring real news.

You know: just another day in America.

Wow, how could I go almost an entire month without writing about all the fun the world has been having? After the media trumpeted the historic elections in Iraq, the news quickly faded from the front page, either because the violence continued unabated or no one really knows what to do next. I opt for the latter, because the corporate-owned media has shown little ability to analyse their hype beyond a lot of human-interest stories.

It must be a drag to talk about Iraq, because all there is to report is more death and carnage. In the last week alone, well over 150 people have been killed. But hey, as Rumsfeld said, freedom is messy.

And then, like a breath of fresh air, Syria winds up on the front page. Perturbed (to say the least) by the assassination of former prime minister Tafiq Hariri, the Lebanese remembered how they were once sovereign, and a lot of anti-Syrian sentiment came to the fore. Just in time to give the Bush Administration something else to distract the American public, whose only topic of conversation has been Social Security (we’re bored with Iraq as well). With a predictable amount of hoopla, the world suddenly began demanding that Syria withdraw, as the 1989 Taif Agreement accorded for, leaving Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to give a dull, uninspired speech before the Syrian parliament that said very little.

I am just waiting for the attention of the world to turn on “Israel” and start demanding with equal force that its army start leaving Palestine. I mean, come on, we should have some modicum of consistency here. If we don’t like occupation troops in Lebanon, then we shouldn’t like it just a few kilometers to the south, right?

Just thought I ’d ask.