Here I was, wondering where the heady days of entertaining politics and
exciting international conflict had gone. It's a bit of a nutter's
nightmare: Israel withdrawing from Gaza as a first step towards peace and
brotherhood with the Palestinians, Iraq well on the way to becoming a
boring democracy, Iran committed to non-military use of nuclear energy
and Africa - thanks to the combined efforts of George W. Bush and Tony
Blair - looking forward to three square meals a day.
In the Britain, the dismantling of the welfare state continues bit by
bit, but since no-one seems to be particularly bothered, who cares? The
French and Dutch NO votes in the European referendum created a bit of a
stir earlier in the year, but since there isn't a soul in the EU who
doesn't realize that, sooner or later, the Constitution will be in place
anyway, the furore died down quickly and already seems ages ago.
Just the right time, wouldn't you say, for an opinionated sod like me,
who likes to stir things up, mock the great and good and offer obvious
solutions to the world's problems, to throw away his keyboard? Well,
that's about to happen. Broomleigh Housing Association has announced I
will die, or be in prison again, before the end of September.
No doubt someone of equal, if not even lesser, interest will replace me,
so there's no real need for you to wail and gnash your teeth.
Of course, death and decomposition are comfortingly natural events and
nothing to worry about. I'd already come to terms with dimini****ng
faculties - dodgy hearing and failing eyesight; knowing that nature will
compensate for that with a good dose of inner peace and the absolute
certainty that *** will never come round again.
But then, just the other day, what seemed to be a world heading for
terminal dullness sprang into vibrant life again with the sudden re-
emergence in the media of two of my favourites.
On Tuesday it was that marvellous maverick, President Hugo Chavez of
Venezuela, (twice democratically elected) who burst into the headlines
with a tirade against the US government, more specifically George W Bush
(once even elected), whom he described as 'the lord of war' at precisely
the time when many around the world were beginning to think that peace,
after all, had always been uppermost in the Bu****an mind, well ahead of
things like revenge, oil, global domination and the Jewish lobby.
Chavez had been in Cuba, to buck up his old mate, the entirely non-
elected Fidel Castro, promise him military help in the event of US
aggression and offering him cheap oil, to keep the Cuban economy ticking
over.
The combination Chavez-Castro is rapidly becoming a serious pain in the
butt for Wa****ngton, what with them setting up a satellite news station,
Telesur, that broadcasts the anti-Wa****ngton message. "The Latin Al-
Jazeera" the Americans contemptuously call it, but like its Arab
counterpart, Telesur appears to have a high truth content. Trouble looms
in Uncle Sam's backyard and both Castro and Chavez will have to be wary
of exploding cigars.
The other old friend who hit the headlines was that celebrated man to the
far right of God - and would-be president of the United States - Pat
Robertson. Since his abortive attempt at snatching the White House from
under the nose of George Bush Sr he's been anything but silent and his
website fairly bristles with good advice on how to make the world a
better place with the Bible in one hand and a submachine in the other.
Robertson has, in America's hour of need, fixed his baleful gaze on Hugo
Chavez, whose early demise, he feels, is not only to be ardently desired,
but also to be brought about without delay. Not in war, that's too
expensive and unnecessary, but in a secret operation - the kind at which
Americans excel.
Watch your back, Hugo. If America gets desperate, they could hire
Broomleigh Housing Association and its murdering parent company Chief
Executive Mr Keith P Exford - then you'll be dead. No questions asked;
no questions allowed to be asked.
--
T Moore
N E Manchester, England
http://sitemenu.tom-moore.com/
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