Ennui

Pity poor Susan...she is sorely disappointed.

A few weeks back I rode my bike to the State Capitol for a peace rally. It had
everything a rally should have -- labor, veterans and Gold Star mothers, respected speakers, a sunny day -- except people.
It was subdued and surreal, like the final scene from "On the Beach," the 1959 movie about nuclear annihilation, in which banners flutter over an outdoor stage and flyers scuttle across the flattened grass and no one is there.

In her typical over-reactionary style, Susan then goes on to talk about the peace rally that flopped and her hyper-imaginative reasons why it flopped.

OK, I exaggerate. Our rally had maybe 300 to 400 people, still pretty much
alive, but it seemed we all had an ashy coat of hopelessness.
In Ken Burns' recent series, "The War," a veteran says the military knew that the longest a person could endure combat before going totally nuts was 240 days. We've been in Iraq roughly 1,650 days now, and though God knows most of us haven't been asked to do much more than sell off our children's future, I think we're all going a little nuts.

I can think of a few folks who think you are already there Susan and this column does little to disuade the impression. Not once does it cross her mind that maybe, just maybe the people of Minnesota don't agree with her or that maybe, just mayber we have more important things to do on a sunny October afternoon.


She then descends into full scale drama queen mode.

We nod out as Hillary's machine rolls on toward the inevitable, fed by media reports of -- the inevitable. And as 2008 approaches, those of the liberal persuasion are filled with a familiar dread.
We agonize as Congress squabbles over who is more unpatriotic for calling which members of the military more unpatriotic -- and our president assures us that the American government does not torture people.
Iraq is a never-ending nightmare, and the Decider's mind seems decided on something catastrophic for Iran. We're drowning in debt.
Our health-care system is great -- for those who can afford it. It's October and
80 degrees outside. Creepy.

It must be horrible in Lenfesteyland. I don't think it is a place I would ever want to visit....so dark...so depressing....so not based in reality.

Then again, maybe I should take heart. Maybe if the ennui overtakes Susan and her ilk, they will stay home next November and then......