when the truth is found to be lies

I haven't done a political post in a while, choosing instead to slip, stumble, and fall into the role of comics blogger, a direction I honestly wanted to avoid. The truth is that it is far easier and less trying on the psyche to crack wise about Namor's swimtrunks or Steve Lombard than to sit down and try to articulate my current thoughts about the present state of events.

Not that there has been anything really worth writing about in the first place. The present cycle of history is caught in an accelerated loop where we've already gone though the fifth or sixth go round of the same shit -- first as a tragedy, then as a farce, then as a tragic farce, then as slapstick, then as snuff porn. When the road out is beyond most people's willingness to comprehend or stomach, it becomes preferable to keep spinning the wheels and get used to the smell of burning rubber...or books...or bodies.

Meanwhile the Democratic-controlled congress has continued to roll over and vacillate, the fourth estate has been preoccupied with Britney's adventures in moving violations, and Bush and Company's surge plan for Iraq is being labeled a success -- meaning the sawdust in the transmission will mask the grinding noises until the next administration drives it off the used pre-owned war lot.

It doesn't look like things are going to get any better in the near future. The frontloading of the 2008 presidential election season, as welcome an event as "Christmas in July" retail promotions, has only succeded in making me nauseous and convincing me that none of the candidates are qualified to lead the nation out of the wilderness.

The Republican contenders have chosen to define themselves through their ever-escalating attempts to out-fascist one another, with the exception of Ron Paul's mix of anti-interventionism (good) and extreme right-wing libertarianism (not good). I wish that those folks pinning all their hopes on Paul as an outsider white knight antiwar candidate would pay a little more attention to the rest of his political positions. (Even if I could ever bring myself to vote for a Republican, his anti-choice stance and support for this misleading bit of legislation puts him beyond the political pale.)

Then there's the Democratic crop of candidates, whose apparent plan for 2008 is to take a tremendously advantageous historical position and attempt to turn it into a loss. They're long on lofty platitudes, short on honest convictions (except Dennis Kucinich, who had to spoil things with his UFO talk), and have exhibited an overall willingness to piss all over the party's traditional base in order to pander to folks who aren't going to vote Democratic anyhow. The politics of principle have given way to the politics of point-scoring by any means necessary, even if it means crazy talk about nuclear weapons use or cozying up to anti-gay religious demagogues, and being "progressive" means "your vote is a given, so suck it up, baby."

In such circumstances, looking for silly or creepy subtext in old comics stories is a welcome relief.

Agent Orange - Somebody to Love (from the When You Least Expect It... EP, 1984) - I originally considered posting The Great Society's original version of this song (which Grace Slick brought with her to Jefferson Airplane when she jumped bands), but it was a little too mellow given my present mood. So an OC punk cover it is, then.