It seems I control the news

I watched ABC news last night and was overjoyed to see them trash the pope, the Vatican and the cardinals. It almost seemed like I'd written the script. The segment was both accurate and snarky. It ended by saying that Cardinal Mahony, who hid LA's rapist priests, had compared his well-deserved humiliation to the pain suffered by Jesus.

It was great fun. But of course, these newsfolk have no mettle and even less memory. They'll soon be kneeling reverently as they watch white smoke curl into the sky. But you can't deny the majesty of this moment in time, when all the world can see the evil Vatican for what it is -- a group of old men who care about no one but themselves.

The American decline continues

Lately, it's been hard to find the energy to write posts. In part, this is because I'm still not manic. (Where are ya, mania?! Come back to me!!!) But it's more than that. It's the dullness of American life.

I don't care where Petraeus stuck his weenie. (My only take on this topic is horror that any woman had sex with this lizard. Ugh.) Nor do I care that some general took his shirt off. Do you realize how stupid we look to Europeans as we focus on this junior-high nonsense? Sex isn't a big deal. But try telling an American that.

And all this talk about the imminent "fiscal cliff" is brain-dead tripe. Krugman noted this morning that the language needs to change. It's the upcoming "austerity bomb" that's a threat, not the nonexistent cliff. But the media are nitwits and they pass along any story that seems "official". And to them, the fiscal cliff is super-official. How can we ever fight our way out of nonsensical news cycles if the media is unwilling to grow up and notice reality?

It's all so depressing. And the idea that our newly re-elected drone-killer president believes all this idiocy means he might as well be a Republican. He is going to wreck the economy for good if he falls into the Merkel trap -- and he's going to. He has surrounded himself with economic failures, and shows no sign of changing course.

It's insane, depressing and deadening. Welcome to 21st Century America. Down the tubes, baby. That's where we're going.