Dark Age Mentality

"Two faces have I
One that laughs one that cries
One says hello one says goodbye
One does things I don't understand
Makes me feel like half a man"

         - Bruce Springsteen, "Two Faces"

Regardless of what Barack Obama may have said four years ago in that famous speech of his at the 2004 Democratic Convention, there definitely are two Americas - two diametrically opposed Americas. And I'm not just talking about Republicans and Democrats here, though that division largely mirrors the real divide.

Your old road is
Rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a-changin'
- Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin'


We know that throughout history conservatives have constantly fought tooth and nail against equality and justice? But the question remains, why? Could it be a sickness?

What's up with conservatives anyway? Time after time they have been shown to have been on the wrong side of history, standing strong, tall and proud against justice, equality and progress. Yet in the present they always seem to stubbornly cling to their bankrupt way of thinking, as they insist on opposing all progressive change, whatever it may be. Of course today's typical conservative wouldn't defend slavery or deny women the vote, but, in the end, it's the same mindset and, without a doubt, today's conservatives, had they been around back in the day, would have supported the status quo then, just as they do today. The conservative mind remains the same, it's just the topics under discussion that change.

You've all heard of The Axis Of Evil, of course, but what about The Axis of Medieval? Because, man, has it ever been a great week for them! In fact, it's been an amazing week for all admirers of the Dark Ages and all fans of Medieval systems, techniques and mindsets. First there was the report out of Saudi Arabia the other day about the Saudi Arabian "witch" being sentenced to death for, uh, "casting spells" on some guy, then there was this buffoon in the White House threatening to veto a Senate bill outlawing torture, and, finally, there was the start of the show trials for some of the most prominent tortured inmates at the Guantanamo Bay gulag. Truly a great week for Medieval lovers everywhere.

or Iran vs Saudi Arabia in "The Ascendancy of Asininity"

Ok, so two weeks ago you heard about the delightful tale of the 19-year-old woman in Saudi Arabia who, for the crime of being gang-raped, was sentenced to be tortured and permanently disfigured - to call flogging by its real name - followed by 6 months in prison. Well, today we're reminded that, when it comes to full-on barbaric, feudal, Dark Age Mentalities, the Saudis are relatively timid and moderate compared to their brothers in asininity in the Iranian judiciary. I can almost hear the Iranian taunts now: "Hey, Saudis, you call that a sentence? How about death to an 18-year-old for the crime of being raped by her brothers and forced into sex slavery by her parents? Bet you can't beat that, you pansies!"

What a lovely country that Saudi Arabia is. Check out this BBC article about a 19-year-old woman who is not only going to prison for being gang-raped, but is also facing 200 lashes.

Yes, 6 months in prison and a good whipping till all the skin has been ripped off her back, all for the crime of being gang-raped.

Would you go after children, I mean really go after them in a vicious heartless sort of way, just to win a campaign? Because that's exactly what Bush has just done. As you're probably already well aware by now, Bush, for some years now, has been running an aggressive, some would say ruthless, campaign for the title of Worst President Ever (WPE). It's true, sometimes he does blow it by showing tiny amounts of concern or even regret - no, regret is too strong a word - about the nearly-4000 dead American soldiers in Iraq, but no one can deny that he's mastered the whole aura of indifference when it comes to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead and the destruction of their country. And, really, you have to admit he's run a brilliant campaign when you consider not only the debacle in Iraq, but also other things such as Katrina, the American gulag at Guantanamo Bay, his passionate defense of torture, his massive budget deficits, etc, etc. But going after poor sick kids like he's doing now, well that's truly a masterstroke. I really don't see how he could possibly lose after this.

Did you hear the latest one by that Pope guy? You must have heard how, earlier this week, he decided to once again demonstrate his prowess at pomposity with his latest message to the world. And as far as pathetically pompous pontifications go, this one was a definite keeper.