One of my favorite bumper stickers says, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." It's both pithy and frustratingly true. But how can one maintain that outrage? It's exhausting. The newest example is the Stupak Amendment, which was so infuriating and outrageous to me that I cried when I found out about it. There was rage that once again women's rights were going to be trampled, and despondency knowing that the road to a sexism-free America was just that much longer. And there was the pity for women who will have to pay out of pocket for abortions they might need to live, and the disgust for the smug "pro-lifers" who somehow maintain the moral high ground in this country despite their hatefulness and incoherent worldview.
Then, tonight, as usual I tuned into the ROCK radio show, where they brought out the tried-and-true Christian heritage crap. "It's not threatening to acknowledge our heritage," the ROCK president cooed, continuing to say that when the government puts out Christmas trees it's just acknowledging Christmastime, not establishing religion! Funny, since it was so important the first 35 minutes of the show to say that we should remember the Christian meanings of the end-of-year holidays. Incoherent. The wonderful subtext was, of course, the pernicious and delicious lie that white evangelicals are somehow persecuted in this country. And you better believe they bashed the ACLU at every possible opportunity.
So it goes, all the outrageous events and spin, every fucking day. Happily for the powers that be, it's easy to disengage when all the messages are confusing, or when one's personal life is in desperate need of rebuilding [to get personal]. For more than a couple years of my life, I kept away from politics--it really is too depressing to deal with sometimes. Many people I know chalk politics up to a corrupt popularity contest, or figure that since all politicians are corrupt, it's not worth following. There is, rightly, a real sense of futility. Morals and meanings simply do not trump money and systems.
... wine is such sweet solace.
