What Is a Snail's Fury?

I've avoided Decade of ____ and ____ of Decade bits. Suck comes to mind as too duh for both blanks; the knee-jerk blurt of suck is one reason I haven't.

America's christers and neocon warriors are air-guitaring street violence in Iran, air-guitaring protests against religious laws christers would impose on you and me, air-guitaring protests against a ruling clique who hold the same neocon good/evil world view as America's neocons, who rule with a defiant disregard for civil liberties in the face of dissent that America's neocons envy.

Sorry for repeating: Mine is a generation that can't offer its children the illusionary hope of advancing social and political progress - we can promise better toys, constant episodic diversions - progressive goals now a matter of barricading behind past gains before a reactionary assault of.... suck.

• Something's Not Right Here.
• The duhiest sublede ever: as I type this, on Salon, this Joan Walsh article's sublede is: President Bush took a week to talk about the 2001 shoe-bomber, and tried him in criminal court. Why savage Obama?
• Pussies.
• Pussies.
• Documenting the pussiness.
• All Muslims are evil.
• Republicans love terrorists.
• And murderous clowns.
• Country of bedwetters.
• Next war.
• Grading Obama.
• UPDATE! Obamapostasy.
• How Obama has let you down today.
• UPDATE! I have been deemed unworthy.
• Fucking Democrats.
• UPDATE! The answer to his question about standing up to lobbyists is no.
• The Great American Swindle.
• Ten Worse Things about the Bush Decade.
• UPDATE! Who the fuck was President when this happened? Politico story tomorrow!
• Perrin's History of the Decade, Part One, Part Two.
• Look who Fuckface Hiatt put on YFWP op-ed page!

• Your Fucking Washington Post.
• Getting away with torture.
• Sarah and Her Tribe.
• Get a fucking grip you pantswetting douchewads.
• Something I find fascinating.
• Library fines.

• Duh.
• I will vote in the primaries so this fuck doesn't win.
• My house's value.
• Fire engine catches on fire.
• George Michael, whore.
• Baithersgurgle. Half a mile from Casa Satanica.
• Darnestown and Damascus only two voting districts in MOCO to vote McCain. McMansionists and crackers, yo.

• The Genius of Thom Gunn (sub rqrd).
• Asylum's 2009 reading list. I read Colony at his (and others') urging, wrote about it here somewhere, it was terrific, though it didn't in-habit me and hasn't haunted me.
• Wolf Hall reviewed.
• UPDATE! New Eels! Having posted "I Like Birds" recently, I can't help noticing how many of his own songs E is rif(p)t(p)ing off.
• Wowee! Ear Candy!
• Bob Fucking Seger had the #1 selling CD of the decade?
• Discussing Another Green World.

CONSIDERING THE SNAIL

Thom Gunn

The snail pushes through a green
night, for the grass is heavy
with water and meets over
the bright path he makes, where rain
has darkened the earth's dark. He
moves in a wood of desire,

pale antlers barely stirring
as he hunts. I cannot tell
what power is at work, drenched there
with purpose, knowing nothing.
What is a snail's fury? All
I think is that if later

I parted the blades above
the tunnel and saw the thin
trail of broken white across
litter, I would never have
imagined the slow passion
to that deliberate progress.

Sixty-three today.