Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Wouldn't it be nice?

So, the Decider is issuing commands to his wholly-owned Pakistani subsidiary, but has yet to receive prompt and complete obedience. But, as I am informed about yet another place on the other side of the globe convulsed in street violence and police crackdowns, it occurs to me that it would be different -- and good -- not to have to consider what "my" government has done to precipitate the troubles, what it is doing to "manage" them and produce its preferred outcome, and so on and so on. How often does any trouble break out in this world that doesn't vitally concern the Empire?

And we get to pay for it all -- or, rather, to put it on the kids' MasterCard bill. Oh, my aching back.

1 comment:

Grace Nearing said...

Some believe this is a post-ironic age, but I resist. After all, just a few months ago Musharraf was a guest on The Daily Show and Jon Stewart commented that, as strongmen go, Musharaff was good people.

Imagine how history might have been altered had Fidel Castro, visiting NYC in 1959, had clowned around Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows or had signed in as the celebrity guest on What's My Line? A quick romantic dalliance with that scorching Dorothy Kilgallen and who knows, who knows....