I'm back after a short hiatus to celebrate my birthday.
Not saying how old I am but there is a Beatles song about it—"will you still need me, will you still feed me, etc."
Actually the Beatles didn't sing "etc."
Well, there was news last week about our intrepid American contractors, the ones guarding our embassy in Afghanistan. Those wacky Wackenhut boys, drinking and running around naked and doing lewd things. Reporters have called it "deviant behavior."
On behalf of all you deviants out there, I will protest this insult.
It's just amazing the lack of quality in our contracted foreign service employees. Why aren't our embassies being protected by Marines anymore? Those guys were proud and took their job and their dignity seriously. I may be a conscientious objector, but I thought they looked great and fitting in front of our embassies back in the day. Kinda made you proud, no matter what your position on war.
Now we have yahoos being paid by you and me but with no accountability to you and me for their behavior. They are only accountable to their employers, and you know how corporations cover their asses no matter how bad they've been. One of my biggest gripes is hearing how some corporation has paid a big fine for some malfeasance but allowed to get away with not admitting any culpability.
Who started that shit?
Make the bastards get down on their knees and beg, i say.
Anyway, I wonder whose pockets got greased to allow Wackenhut to keep its contract despite many complaints about its incompetence.
On a lighter note, someone, one Melissa Dunphy, has written an opera the libretto of which is the records of the hearing of Alberto Gonzales before Congress. The appearance where he couldn't remember anything. It is, in the little I heard on the web site, quite accomplished, listenable and rather charming.
Also I'm developing a crush on the woman who sings the Alberto part, but that's neither here nor there. I develop a lot of crushes. A few drinks and a good look in the mirror and it goes away.
I digress.
One of the neat things about this production is that the composer, being a little pissed that there was only one woman on the committee questioning him, has switched genders on all the participants. All the male senators' parts are sung by women, and the lone female, who was Senator Feinstein, is sung by a male. It's a delicious conceit.
You can hear segments here:
http://www.gonzalescantata.com/
I can't wait for the original cast recording.
I hope Ms. Dunphy does more of this.
Actually I think Philip Glass should also take up the idea. it wouldn't be as engaging as Ms. Dunphy no doubt would be, but it would actually reflect the atmosphere of a Senate committee hearing more accurately. I'd love it if he did the Sotomajor hearings.
I can already hear the three note turn on "wise Latina woman." He couldn't repeat it more than the Repubicans did.
Oh, latest right wing wacko upset—fear that Obama will indoctrinate school children into socialism with his speech to them this week.
What a bunch of wingnuts. This is all racism at its core. Bill Clinton, even in his unzippered peccadilloes, wasn't treated like this. There are just too many people who are upset that that NEEEGROW is running the country.
The socialism thing is just a camouflage to hide the underlying racism.
So far what I've heard of the speech is basically the usual boilerplate "study hard and be good etc" stuff.
Definitely a hidden socialist message there.
That's as much as i can manage tonight. Both of you, my readers, go find something useful to do.
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We still have Marines at many (probably most) but not all of our embassies and consulates. But the world is so much more dangerous now that we need far more security personnel than the Marines can provide, especially as they fight wars on two fronts. So we have to rely on contractors. We could not have done our jobs in the West Bank without the ones in Jerusalem.
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