Today I removed most of the anti-Bush rhetoric I had posted over the past couple of years. A few pieces were too funny still, and terribly apropos, so they remain. But if ever I lived through a year of, rather than in, infamy, 2008 was it.

These past 12 months witnessed the rise of acts of pure idiocy that actually multiplied at an alarming rate. I figured it was probably an epidemic of stupiditus maximus. It is a rare, and sometimes fatal, lack of common sense, good advice, and intelligence that led to failings in every sector of the federal government and economy.

Today as this year rolls into a new set of seasons, more people are homeless, jobless, and simply have LESS than ever before in my 46 years of existence. And you know what? There was no reason for all this drama to happen. None...at least no sane reason. And I am not talking about MATERIAL things either. Nope. I mean no insurance; no home; and no food. THAT is what "less" means, not being unable to afford some damned Wii system (cool though it is) or the latest cell phone. Think bigger, America, there are things greater than, well, THINGS.

Perhaps in humbling the dolts at the top car manufacturing corporations who had the incomprehensibly bizarre idea that it was ok to arrive in D.C. via corporate private jets to beg money off of...ahem...US, a measure of flesh was extracted for the people. That's US again...but I doubt it. After all those corporate dough boys make mint. Face it. What they make in one year could literally feed everyone on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ALL YEAR with plates to spare, man. That's about as real as it gets. And this wretched excess has disgusted me to no end.

Folly, fools, and wingnuts (not you, surfer extraordinaire and God of the waves to this surf betty) dominated everything from foreign policy; economic policy; courts; entertainment; and hell itself for all I know. Granted the past year has been hell on earth - anyone who was less than a millionaire knows that. Shoot, since when is making over 100K a year leaving anyone under the poverty line? But it is. Whatever. I swear I feel like I am living a freaking Clash song....Sid and Nancy...WHAT freakin' ever. And it gives me the uncanny desire to go chuck a case of tea into the Boston harbor...oh yeah, and promptly be arrested for attempted terrorist acts. Yep, that Earl Grey will do major damage, let me tell ya. "Oh, stop! Police! My fakey blond hair is...BROWN!!! AGH! It's the TEA! Arrest her!" :)

Ah, but so many more fortunate than pretty much every average American did have fun this past year. Some of them even helped little flunky peons such as myself. But at the end of the day, it was a weird, "wish it hadn't happened at all" kind of year. Duh. I feel numb from the dumbness of it all. Plech.

That and I realized just how few people are willing to make noise to stop this nonsense being carried out in the name of our country. And the absolute level of genuine hatred that is generated by voicing opinions or views that fall outside the box in which we now contain "normal." What the heck does "normal" mean anymore?

It used to mean you work hard to find a job you enjoy doing and live nicely. What that means to different people is what makes our differences quite lovely. Oh sure, there will always be a few buttheads, but that's life. Now? Hey, I went to war with a mortgage company this past year. What happened? NO IDEA - I could never get two people to communicate with each other even though they worked for the same damned company. Whatever, indeed. Because everything is upside down now. nobody is accountable yet we, the people, expect accountability but don't DEMAND it.

Aha...so perhaps this past year had some shining moments - the exchange of ideas here is one example. Yes, there were good moments. But it is hard to find joy when you see people killing and being killed; being left homeless for literally no good reason....2008...what a mess.

But damn it all, I am going to smile anyway. And laugh. And recognize that this is a divine comedy. For if you take any of this crap too seriously, it will make you insane. I don't care about the latest fashions; I don't care about who Brad and Angelina hang out with - but I care about the people I love who occupy that life. And I will spend the next years of my life dedicated to making them smile. And that includes everyone here who has been so supportive and awesome since I joined.

We all live under this circus tent. Perhaps it's time we change the ringmaster and get some new acts that make us smile. As John Lennon sang:

So this is Christmas,
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas (war is over)
For weak and for strong (if you want it)
For rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The world is so wrong (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
For black and for white (if you want it)
For yellow and red ones (war is over)
Let's stop all the fight (now)

Rock on, live on, love on. And may you all have a most happy new year.