Boxing Ostara

As we approach Ostara (labeled the “Vernal Equinox” on most Imperial calendars) when day and night hold equal sway over the firmament of our lives, perhaps it is well that we pause to reflect upon the balance of all things. Darkness and light, male and female, sky and earth, fire and water…in short, that eternal interplay between seemingly opposing forces, which creates the great synergy of the universe. Ah, let us celebrate glorious harmony of Yin and Yang as they dance through the cosmos!

Or perhaps not.

Because right now the heavenly balance is being blown all to hell by dark-spirited men bent on poisoning both sky and earth (at least they’re equal opportunity despoilers) with an eye (and I honestly think they have only one) toward burning down Mother Earth and boiling her seas to make way for one planet-sized condominium complex (complete with strip mall, of course).

Yin sags against the ropes, being pummeled into a bloody pulp by a steroid-crazed Yang, while the referee (that’s us, folks) is off to McDonald’s or The Gap or Cabo San Lucas, too busy consuming or playing to care.

As if the evidence for this ongoing disaster of destabilization wasn’t sufficiently alarming in our own backyard: one greenway in exchange for eleventy-seven condos, one pond for twenty-four business parks, one stream for nineteen cul-de-sacs, “neutralizing” the “threat” of “hostile” cougars and bears (who is invading whose territory?).

Now we have a staggering imbalance on the national level. Witness if you will (heck, I dare you!) King George II’s alleged “budget”…

Domestic spending would be slashed. (“Oooh! A savage right hook from Yang sends Yin reeling. How much more can She take?”)

On the other hand, tax breaks for the wealthy would be increased. Likewise Pentagon spending. (“Two quick right jabs to Yin’s chin. She looks ready to fall; where is the referee?”)

Emperor Dubya swears on his honor as a…(let’s see: draft dodger?

No. Incompetent businessman? That won’t do. Victor in two rigged elections? Don’t want that on the résumé.)…well, he obviously has no honor…but he swears that this is a lean budget.

And, for once, His Fraudulency is correct. By cutting funds for programs that actually help the disadvantaged, Bush’s budget leans on the poor. By cutting Medicare funds and making no provision for better healthcare, it leans on the sick. By severely slashing money for endangered species protection and summarily eliminating Amtrak funding, it leans on the environment. By decreasing funding for education by one-third, it leans on children.

Yo, George! Maybe you should change your slogan as The Education President from “No Child Left Behind” to “Only One Out of Three Children Left Behind.”

But what can you expect from a president so drunk with power that he continues—with little or no opposition—to encircle himself with lock-step sycophants? Good presidents—those truly concerned about the welfare of this nation and how we interact with other nations on the world stage—gather smart people with fresh ideas and differing points of view.

Not Dubya. His cabinet is peopled with good ol’ boys and gals. No room there for the likes of a Colin Powell. I reckon if you’re a ball-peen hammer surrounded by nothin’ but rusty wrenches and bent pliers there’s less chance folks will notice you ain’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

At least one of Bush’s secretaries is elated over this budget. That would be Secretary of Defense Donald “The Enigmatic Military Genius” Rumsfeld. Funding for the War Department (Department of Defense? Who are we kidding?) will run as wild as a bank robber on crank. The Crusade Against Islam (oops, I meant The War on Terror) will receive carte blanche. Yoo-hoo, Iran? Would you mind if the army of Dubya’s Christian Empire dropped by for dinner? Great. See you around, say, sixish?

Oh yes, my friends. Ostara may be upon us, but our world is most definitely not in harmony. However, we may take solace in the words of the aforementioned Genius Rumsfeld (Department of “Defense” news briefing, February 12, 2002):

“As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” Let’s see Condy Rice top that.

It’s a known known that the Bush Budget is so unbalanced it will continue to lean on our children’s children.

It’s a known unknown that, given the then-existing sanctions, inspections, and international pressure, Sadam Hussein’s regime would have collapsed on its own with a minimum of bloodshed and destruction.

It’s an unknown unknown whether the recent election in Iraq will eventually lead to a true representative democracy or simply be the first sad signpost on the road to civil war.

But reckless invasions and unplanned occupations are a flashing warning sign of an empire in decline—that much we know we know. It’s a little thing called “history.” And history has a way of balancing things out.

Therein lies the knockout punch.

PS: For those of you who continue to insist upon bashing your liberal noggins against the stand-for-nothing wall of the Democratic Party, there’s good news. Check out the Web site of the Progressive Democratic Caucuses of Washington, http://www.pdcw.org. And take solace in the news that Howard Dean won the chairpersonship of the national Democratic Party.

PPS: Wait…I’m getting a message from the Goddess… “Rejoice in the Equinox, my children! Restore the balance! And screw the ‘Red States.’ Blue is True!” §