The Clusterfuck Nation Chronicle
Commentary on the Flux of Events
They started today and I'm already sick of the winter olympics. I was in the YMCA locker room at 7:00am pulling on swimming trunks when NBC showed tape of the torch-lighting ceremony. (There's a boob-tube suspended from the ceiling, of course.) The ultimate torchbearer was somebody in a wheelchair. I am certainly not against disabled people, but I am against the gross sentimentality of my culture having to remind ourselves every five minutes what kind and wonderful people we are by pandering to the disabled. Later today when President Bush visits Salt Lake City, he'll toss in a snootful of political vainglory to top off the sentimentality and the national self-esteem-o-meter will pop its mainspring.
What's wrong with a little ceremonial nationalism? Well, despite all the strutting and tough talk, this country is really not serious about addressing the demands of the 21st Century. All we really want to do is keep having a party -- with an added layer of police protection to keep the thugs out. Meanwhile, we have a national living arrangement (the United Parking Lot) that does not have a future, we're addicted to resources that are under the control of our enemies, we're doing nothing to reestablish a comprehensive passenger rail network, we have a Ponzi economy based on bad debt, and, in the words of Neil Postman, we're entertaining ourselves to death.
An NPR report this morning said that a US Olympic team spokesman stated they were determined to win a minimum of 20 gold medals this year. I had to really wonder: who gives a fuck? Why should anyone care whether we win any medals? Is it not noble enough just to participate? Will winning medals in luge help to revive local economies that have been crippled by WalMart and Home Depot? Will it bring back towns whose manufacturing base has been "outsourced" to Malaysia? Will it help a child learn how to speak English competently? Will it prevent another work-place massacre?
Another thing about the NPR report bugged me. They interviewed a couple of female skiers and they sounded like men. This is not a comment on the their sexual preferences, because I don't care about their activities in bed. What bothered me is that winning in sports is the essence of male childishness. Its bad enough that American men are not grown up and responsible enough to face the real problems of American life in 2002. Do women now have to emulate that behavior?
The olympics are darker than you think. This nation is really in trouble.