Personal Update from Luke
This is not to be considered a ‘submission’ in the usual sense of the word.
Ian has had my last effort for some weeks now. But with his frantic travel schedule, and, most probably even more frenetic work schedule since returning home, it somehow never got posted. Trust it will appear simultaneously with this update.
What are we updating? First of all, I have just transferred to another college, this time the state college/university located in Milledgeville, about thirty or so miles from home. Why transfer? No, I didn’t piss anybody off over at Macon State. In fact, I really liked the teachers. But since I plan to combine a major in English and history or political science, I am in a place that offers considerably more depth in all those areas. Further, the move will let me make better use of the several AP courses taken in high school.
So far the English Department looks very good. The school houses the definitive Flannery O’Conner collection.
So we have a longer commute. Playing catch up right now since I missed the first few days of class. My brother coaches at another college in quaint Milledgeville which guarantees me a ride most days.
In Georgia we have an institution called the Hope Scholarship, funded by the state lottery. As a day student, my expenses are pretty much taken care of except for transportation. The best thing about the arrangement is that the people who pay no taxes buy most of the lottery tickets and are putting us middle class kids through school. I would like to thank each and every one….keep buying tickets, hope for the big score, and use your welfare checks wisely.
All the way over in Political Puzzle Dot Org, which used to be Political Pulpit Dot Com, but had its name changed to totally confuse the hundred or more links I put up in my own website, there is a remarkable fellow named R. S. Janes. Like most of you, he is a liberal. Like Ian, he is very much of a Renaissance man, productive in a wide number of areas. He recently put in a comment following something I wrote over there his personal, working definition of NEOCON.
I don’t go along with this in every detail, but it is a passionate and honest statement that bespeaks a concept thought out and not mouthed from some kind of the knee-jerk reaction we often see among writers on the left. Don’t get me wrong, there are an equal number of no-think-responders on the right, but since I spend more time on the left, that’s where I tend to see such transgressing.
R. S. James writes, “When I use the term 'neocon' I mean those
who believe in deficit spending, foreign adventuring, using the government
to enforce religious morality or further religious interests, bowing down
to the corporations at the expense of the people, enlarging the government,
censoring free speech, invading privacy, ruining the environment, and
'elasticizing' the Constitution to fit the expediency of the moment. This
is diametrically opposed to what the brilliant Sen. Goldwater and the
equally intelligent Mr. Buckley have advocated as conservatism in the
past; although I didn't always agree with them, I had respect for them
and that they carefully made their case without resorting to bumper-sticker
rhetoric or turgid emotionalism. They both had a sense of humor, as well.
Also I include those who lack the integrity to stand up and say what they
mean in plain language, rather than 'spin' or manipulate their message
to gull voters.”
Excellent stuff. A congenital lack of a sense of humor is the mark of a political junkie too far to the left or right.
The Paul O’Neill flap seems to be dying as quickly as it rose. Numerous media morons have claimed that the fired secretary himself wrote THE PRICE OF LOYALTY. No, it was former WSJ staffer named Ron Suskind. O’Neill was already backpedaling less than two days after his appearance on SIXTY MINUTES.
One of the claims made is that very early in the Bush administration there was already a Pentagon plan at hand to invade Iraq and topple Saddam.
Wow. Major revelation. The truth is, in the bowels of the federal government, there are contingency plans to invade almost everybody. It is what governments do. Our guess is that even appeasement-minded France has a plan to invade the United States, or Great Britain at the very least. Part of this kind of thing is pedagogical….give the younger staffers something to do to keep them out of their elders’ hair. “Say, Major Buttlick, why don’t you take the next couple of weeks and draw up a contingency plan for invading Switzerland. Never know when we will get into a war with those yodeling bankers in leiderhosen .” “Yes sir, general Tightass, I’ll get right to it.”
Frankly, I am reminded of a gleeful discovery made by our very own Professor Bohannon some months ago. He was so eager to tell us that Fox News actually had a daily agenda listing what stories were to be covered that day that was disseminated to all FNC staff.
Truth is, in running a large business, frequent, often daily memos are sent out to direct and cajole the faithful. It is simply one example of HOW A BUSINESS IS RUN SUCCESSFULLY.
Well, said this was an update and not a full-blown submission. Want to get it off to Ian before he posts.
A JOKE….this from a dear family friend:
“ lady bought a new Lincoln Navigator, and returned the next day,
complaining that she couldn't figure out how the radio worked.
The salesman explained that the radio was voice activated.
"Watch this!" He said..."Nelson!"
The radio replied, "Ricky or Willie?"
"Willie!" He continued.... And "on the road again"
came from the
speakers.
The lady drove away happy, and for the next few days, every time
she'd say, "Beethoven", she'd get beautiful classical music,
and if she
said, "Beatles!" She'd get one of their awesome songs.
One day, a couple ran a red light and nearly creamed her new car,
but she swerved in time to avoid him.
"Assholes!" She yelled...
Immediately, the French national anthem, sung by the Dixie Chicks, began.”
Happy New Year. I get to vote in Georgia’s primary March second…my first time, to vote, that is.
Still waiting for that liberal hottie Ian said he would bring back from Europa for me.
Check out our own online writings at http://members.aol.com/luciusson/contents.html
Ciao,
Luke Angelo,
Macon, Georgia
Send this article to a friend Printer-Friendly Version
More articles by this author, Luke Angelo
Luke Angelo, Cyberbrat Out Of Hell, lives in Macon, GA, where he regularly causes trouble and proves that the pen is far mightier than the Mayor
