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3-21-03 // 1.46 pm floor collapsing, falling, bouncing back NP: Radiohead - "OK Computer" This really is an earthquake of an LP, isn't it? One of those albums that continuously reveal new aspects of itself. I mean, "The Bends" was and remains a five-star album, and I've always loved and felt both "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" were terribly underrated. But "OK Computer" has that vision, that feeling that lyrically, musically, and visually, everything came together exactly. What is this, day three of war and I'm already sick of hearing about it. Tired of "live, exclusive footage" from CNN and "embedded journalists" giving patriotic reports. I'm tired of all the government's arrogance, especially. I'm sick of seeing Donald Rumsfeld laughing at reporters, I'm tired of Ari Fleischer being condescending, I'm tired of Bush and his cowboy speeches, and I'm tired of never hearing about or seeing Dick Cheney. What's he doing, piloting remote controlled bombers from his "undisclosed location"? Ugh. It all makes me feel physically ill sometimes. A TV in my office's break room is playing ABC live footage of even more bombing in Baghdad. Line after line of orange-red explosions. The party line is that we're liberating Iraq. Which may well be true. But we're also destroying these people's homes. I suppose, at least for me, the true test of Bush's mettle (and his sincerity) is how we respond to the humanitarian crisis that's bound to arise once the fighting is over, how he deals with the fact that a country can't function very well if you reduce its captial to rubble. It's funny, the administration are using the term "shock and awe" to describe this current round of air attacks. I'd use the term to describe how I'm feeling, as well. I suppose now I'm also feeling kind of resigned. What's done is done, we can't undo the fact that we've set precedent by unilaterally (well, it's the mostly US and some UK, and Australia...don't be fooled by the whole talk of "coalition". Only those three nations have troops in Iraq), and we can't change the fact that we've gone into this war without the approval of the UN. I think the lack of support worldwide for this war becomes pretty clear once you compare and contrast the number of nations that sent troops to Iraq in the first Gulf War, with the number sending troops (and hell, even nominally lending their national support to the effort) in 2003. Hrm. I never meant this to be a political forum, this diary here. In fact, in the past I really never mentioned politics, even though it's always something I've taken an interest in and paid attention to. It's just that at this time with these events, I can't put it aside, I can't ignore it. I have to address it, and I have to write about it, if for nothing else to sort of "talk out" my own feelings, frustrations, and fears. Because I'll admit it, this whole situation sort of frightens me. It makes me unsure and it makes me wonder about the future of the world. But anyway. Sun is out, sky is blue, I'm wearing tennis shoes at work, and it's Friday, which is nice indeed. I know I just had two days off, but I won't say to two more. I think it's the fish fry tonight, Zwan tomorrow, and some family time on Sunday, hopefully with plenty of time left in the interim to drink coffee & listen to records, take a few long walks in the sun, and just generally go with the flow. So yes, a little over two hours to go here at work and then I'm free. I hope you are all well and also free.
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