YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett

this is from my favorite Liberal, a guy totally in denial of his Balkans heritage! just kidding!

23rd QUALM

Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego'sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war, I will find no
exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control, they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.
My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me all the days of thy
term, And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That last line hit kind of close to home until recently. My grown child who lives at home does have a job, and in fact has just recieved a promotion. Still this was after a long period of joblessness.
I don't care for the false patriotism and religious extremist atmosphere.
Last night, I was looking for one of my lost links and came across this marvelous story by Aleksandar Hemon, and I felt like some of the things I've said for a long time now were validated in his story here.

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/content/index.ssf?050228fi_fiction

The things he said in this funny, and very sad story really grabbed me, but the one that made me feel better was that he too found that since Sept. 11th the U.S. had taken on many features of life in the Balkans without takeing on anything pleasant from that life. We Balkanized in all the Wrong Ways. I've said that ever since.
'We got the bigotry, the attitdued problems, and the damn coffee is still too damn thin!'is what I told one friend when they asked me my take on things here since.