DELAY, THE LOBBYIST, THE MINERS, AND NOW ALITO

As far as news worthiness is concerned, DeLay, The Lobbyist, and the Miners are dead and buried.

DeLay? Is he dead and buried or just down but not out? Like Lazarus, will he arise from the grave, or be like a groggy boxer who manages to stumble to his feet a second before the ten count? Some politicians suffering a similar experience have faded into obscurity; some have rebounded and come back to plague us.

And The Lobbyist? He may be gasping his last breath but I wouldn't bet on it. He may be (temporarily) removed from the stage but remain a very well paid consultant to various corporations, or whatever rock people like him hide under to escape the light focussed on them. I doubt that he is dead and buried, or even enduring last rites. Am I being a tad cynical?
Unfortunately, the history of the tangled skein of the political Gordian knot that is national and international politics has caused me to lean that way sometimes.

The miners? Apparently dead and buried. Oh yes, a few more interments the next day or two- a small town like that can't handle that many funerals in one day - but for all practical purposes, those innocent victims are buried. Their funerals were the rites performed by the media in heart tearing news coverage. The only thing keeping the story alive is that the media scrambles to cya about the terrible, terrible mistake they made in broadcasting internationally that the men survived and would be coming out to join their families - without verifying the facts.

See Granny's previous post concerning the wide gap in covering news about the rich vs. the poor.The media made a mistake, they erred in failing to confirm with the proper authorities that only one man, not all, survived.Survival of all was what people wanted to hear, had prayed fervently to hear, had waited in emotional agony to hear. Then there were screams and tears of joy indescribable, church bells rang out in jubilation, calling the community to come together and wait for the promised return of their men. Good, decent, hard working Small Town America voices were lifted in praise and thanksgiving for God's mercy, their untrained voices cracking on the high notes of "How Great Thou Art".They rejoiced in the unbelievable miracle.

To compound the error, the authorities, whoever was in charge, allowed them to wait three hours before revealing to them the awful, stunning truth. There actually were no more survivors; all the rest were dead. So now the story continues past the time it would have been archived as those who made the mistake hasten to explain how it happened. So far we hear no valid explanation of why the long delay in correcting that error. Do we hear a Mea Culpa from anyone?

But this, too, shall pass and the funerals will at last be over, the men and their story dead and buried.

And now we face another potential disaster. A disaster that will not play out in a few days of frenetic news coverage, but one that will creep upon us in insidious ways, little by little, ruling by ruling, through years and decades of judicial decisions that shape an unknowable number of resolutions to critical issues in our country .Resolutions that will help mold this nation to fulfill the vision of its future as planned by the Bushies and their cohorts. A vision that may not be shared by the majority of the citizens.

A disaster. Not an explosion, not a hurricane, not an earthquake or tsunami. An Alito. Humans are resilient. They grieve and mourn and rebuild and recover from most disasters. Our nation, way of life, and our futures may not recover from the likes of Bush and Alito. Some disasters continue their damage for decades and even generations before the pendulum swings back again. Is Worried being a doomsayer? Maybe so, maybe not.

Nevertheless, I urge everyone to listen to Granny. Try to block Alito's confirmation.