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- G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
THEATER OF THE ABSURD
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Is this whole political scene today just a farce and we the voters don't know it? If so, then we are paying a hell of a lot in admission for a really bad play. Besides, the way politicians act from day to day is confusing. Do they get the joke and we don't? Or perhaps the joke's on us. You may have heard an angry Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) giving an impassioned speech to the Senate recently. Despite being a Democrat, he has mostly voted Republican. He loves the Bushites. It seems he was mightily upset because a TV station was going to feature "hillbillies" in a reality show. A few days later, Zell, still steaming, was on the Imus Show. He explained that the reason for his opposition was that people would watch and listen to the selected "hillbillies" on the program and believe that all hillbillies (including him) were the same. This was unfair, he asserted. The same brush would tar all the people in the South since the program would seek to feature the stereotypic Beverly Hills hillbilly. That seemed like an acceptable reason for his umbrage until he took off with a scathing description of the French. He had no trouble at all in lumping all the people of France together as being snail-eating cowards. His rant put ALL the French a few notches down from Osama on his hate scale. Then there's that tricky First Amendment to the Constitution. For years we were taught that free speech was limited only by yelling "FIRE" in a crowded establishment. Now it means that unless you are sucking up to the Bushites and foaming at the mouth to go to war, you are a traitor and should not be allowed to speak. The other day we watched a strange sight on TV. Sitting together in apparent good will and friendliness were Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX). The bad blood between these two has been memorialized by reams of news shots over many years. But there were no vicious quotes this day. Both beamed at each other as CNN's Judy Woodruff recalled their past feuds and likened them to "The Odd Couple". She then went on to interview them on their campaign to help children be adopted. Strange bedfellows indeed. Dan Rather certainly got the scoop of the year when he received permission to interview Saddam. Of course, it was made clear that Saddam's people would operate the cameras. Was this interview newsworthy or traitorous? Hard to tell because of the comments of Dan's green-with-envy fellow reporters. Their remarks ran the gamut from accusations that he did not ask the tough questions to accusations that his giving Saddam time on American TV hurt the war on terrorism. There were some unexpected and notable exceptions at the Fawx Network where Rather was praised for doing a good job because it provided the American viewer with a look at the enemy. Go figure. We've all noticed how Bush is intent on pushing his religion onto everyone. He is especially fond of Christian prayer. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." http://www.bettybowers.com/prayer.html
The religiosity in the White House is not just an amalgamation of church and state. Church is in full control over the State. Yet we have seen no sign of swords being beaten into plow shares; no preservation and nurturing of human rights; no caring for the poor and infirm. Just wars and rumors of wars. Black sheep dwell
in every fold; 2003-010
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Things
are seldom what they seem, 
But
the article written by Newsweek's Howard Fineman fractured our credulity.
It tells of religious politics practiced by Bush in the White House and
in his speeches. Fineman's article is accentuated with a large picture
of Jesus Christ who appears to have one arm caressing Bush's back. The
overall impression is that the Second Coming had arrived. 