Power Vacuum

Lemonade is for Suckers

When life hands you lemons some would advise you to make lemonade. Being somewhat more anarchistic I would advise you to hurl the aforementioned lemons at a passerby. Why not? It’s all in fun.

Allergy season is here and my head feels like a lump of concrete sitting there bobbling on my shoulders as I write this. The week has been rough on me already and it’s only day one! Some weeks are like that. I’m trying to organize my thoughts between burning eyes, violent sneezes, and itching ears. What the hell? There is definitely something in the air.

Bush – Do You Want Him With You or Against You?

George W. Bush definitely knows how to stand by his man and in this case it’s attorney general Alberto Gonzales. I don’t understand the President’s unwavering support for incompetence but he has demonstrated it famously with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Gonzales, and to a lesser degree with infamous FEMA “director” Michael D. “Brownie you’re doing a heckuva job” Brown. At this point wouldn’t you rather Bush not cast his support your way if you were in the line of fire? I wonder if this was how Britain felt when Bush belatedly chastised Iran for taking fifteen British sailors hostage. Was there a point when Tony Blair might have said to Bush “err, why don’t you just sit this one out old boy and we’ll get this mess sorted?” Maybe? I don’t know.

The most amazing twist in this attorney scandal is Justice Department official Monica Goodling pleading the Fifth Amendment which guarantees her right not to incriminate herself based on the fact that she might not tell the truth when questioned. She is basically saying “if I testify there’s a good chance I will perjure myself, and therefore I plead the fifth.” This is a new low and yet another lovely twist on the logic of the law. And these people accused Bill Clinton of being the tricky one.

Communication Breakdown

Honesty is in short supply these days. Personally I have always found honesty to be the only way to go – I’m basically too dumb to lie effectively so that’s easy for me to say. But really, sometimes the truth will lock you up but ultimately it will set you free. Life is a lot less tangled when you consistently tell the truth. You don’t have to cover your tracks or remember what you told when and to whom. Just be honest. When you screw up, admit it. If our politicians would employ this simple kindergarten logic we’d all be a lot better off. They’re all so fucking busy thinking that they’re smarter than the rest of us they can’t be bothered with such basic concepts as “truth” and “honesty.”

Find the Hypocrite in the Room

That’s an easy one, just find a mirror. We’re all capable of hypocrisy but our public servants are particularly susceptible basically because the institution is held to a higher standard than the people who comprise it. And that is the essence of hypocrisy – holding others to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. Plenty amongst us have a tendency to think pretty highly of ourselves and the best way to avoid being a hypocrite is to keep ourselves grounded. Make a concerted effort to understand ourselves, what makes us tick, and who we are.

Self-Reflexivity

When I was a young art student in Southern California the concept of self-reflexivity was pounded into my brain. To be a reasonable artist you have to have at least some idea of how you work. You need to be able to see yourself through other people’s eyes. It doesn’t mean you need to fit-in or succumb to peer pressure. On the contrary, by practicing self-reflexivity you gain confidence in your decisions and your path in life because you understand where you’ve been and where you are going. It also means you understand your weaknesses as well as your strengths.

You and I are Not the Same

This is the lesson I have learned this year. You don’t think like me, I don’t think like you. Certainly there will be similarities. In some cases there may be two people who think very similarly – but never exactly the same. We won’t necessarily react in the same way to the same stimuli. We won’t show stress the same way or communicate the same way or understand a set of circumstances the same way. We think differently. It’s a healthy thing to keep in mind when dealing with other people and dealing with other people has a great deal to do with living this crazy American workaday life. Damn it wears me out sometimes.