Merry Christmas. I mean it, goddamit.
At a lovely gathering last night, there was a momentary lighthearted commentary on our greeting whether “Merry Christmas” was ok. Of course it was, although one of our greeting hosts, who is from central Europe, was perplexed by the American angst over Christmas or Happy Holidays. C’mon he said, It’s Christmas. The history of central Europe, though, gives pause in reflecting on why many Americans are uncomfortable with, resent even, the hegemony of Merry Christmas. Either way it’s a tempest in a piss-pot compared to our real troubles, but it’s something journalists can understand.
It was pleasant to see the Senate pass the health care bill on Christmas Eve, and even more enjoyable to see the Republicans sulking. We can expect more hysterical clucking from these old hens in coming days. The timidity of the final bill, tied with the ongoing inability to do much about climate change, and the general paralysis of the political system just reinforce the notion that the U.S. is rapidly becoming a failed state, unable to even approach its most basic needs. Any fool who hasn’t drunk the free-market-gospel kool-aid can see that significant shifts are required for survival, but also that they are fundamentally unobtainable in our current polity.
A local display of this sad state of affairs was the Urbana City Council earlier in the week. Opponents of the Olympia Drive extension and ring road project were allowed to make their case to the council, which they cogently did, persuasively showing that the project makes a mockery of Urbana’s so-called commitment to sustainability. The chamber of commerce types in their sharp suits and ties, made their predictable pitch, which we’ve looked at elsewhere. It was a typical show.
Despite a few unseemly moments in the testimony, notably the mayor’s snarky and petty questions of a few opponents, it all went on predictably.
The turn toward the pathetic came after the testimony. Here, it was well known that the plan would be approved, unanimously as it turned out. So why all the testimony if the fix was in? To give the opponents a sense of being heard, I suppose, but it quickly turned into an orgy of gibberish as Roberts, Gehrig, Lewis and even Smyth tried to say something conciliatory toward the opponents even as they seemed to be sweeping over their coming decision to endorse the plan to run a sprawl road through the farmland north of Urbana. Stevenson gave the inane reason that it should be passed because people had worked hard on it, but she seemed asleep through most of the meeting, if not in life generally. The others never really articulated why they were endorsing such a thing, except in those most vague sonorous terms we know so well from American politics, local and national.
It’s spectacles like this that make one want to say, “the hell with it. “ The fix has always been in, the rich and powerful will always call the shots, and it’s near impossible to maintain an opposition to the totality of their vision. You only have the chance of winning an occasional skirmish, but the march down the road to hell will continue—there’s money to be made, real estate values to boost, jobs jobs jobs to create, taxable property to put on the rolls.
Clint Atkins got a little Christmas bow from the council. The trades got one too, as did taxing bodies. It’s growth. And down the road we go. Don’t forget to switch out your light bulbs to sustainable ones.
And Happy New Year. Maybe in 2010 a more serious and realistic discussion about the deep doo-doo we’re heading into will make headway against the rushing torrent of the conventional fantasy that tomorrow will of course be like today, only better.
Me, I’m going to go fix an egg nog right now. Humbug.