Distraction denied: I head to the Blockbuster but keep driving; can’t bear stupid movies (but I’m the odd one — video rentals are up.) My copy of Jonathan Franzen’s novel was filled with pulverized World Trade Center when I ran away; I bought a new copy but can’t bring myself to pick it up. My favorite distraction, Howard Stern, has turned into a political show — and a damned good one — because he can’t get distracted either. I go to a sweet and witty kiddie concert from Tom Chapin but even a giggling 5-year-old can’t distract me. Am I ready for the new TV season? Ha! Oh, how I wish I could be distracted. But it’s going to take time.
The Axis alliance of this war: Extreme fundamentalist Muslims who hate America, extreme fundamentalist Christians (read: Falwell) who hate what America has become, and extreme fundamentalist liberals (read Matt Welch and Christopher Hitchens’ attack on them) who want to blame America for what has befallen it. They’re all dangerous lunatics. Shouldn’t we in the media be exposing and and ridiculing these kooks and cults? Isn’t that in our job description?
