"SPY GLASS" by the Armchair Curmudgeon

iT BOGGLES THE MIND TO THINK ABOUT WHAT'S OUT THERE. I JUST CAME BACK FROM A TRIP THAT COVERED SEVERAL STATES AND ON THE WAY, i MANAGED TO ENGAGE IN CONVERSATIONS WITH ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY WHO WOULD SIT STILL LONG ENOUGH TO TALK.

WHAT I LEARNED IS A QUALITY THAT I FIND THAT DIFFERENTIATES AMERICANS FROM MANY OTHER PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD AND IT IS BOTH CHARMING AND ,AT TIMES, CAN BE INFURIATING.

MANY EUROPEANS ARE CYNICAL TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU HAVE TO PEEL AWAY "MEANINGS" TO GET AT THE REAL CORE OF WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ....AND THINKING. WITH AMERICANS, GUILE IS NOT REALLY PART OF THEIR MAKEUP. MOST AMERICANS ARE VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD WITH THE EXPRESSION OF THEIR THINKING...SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO LOOKING FOR OBTUSE MEANINGS. HOWEVER, ONE MUST REALLY COLOR THIS STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS WITH A KIND OF COCK-EYED OPTIMISM THAT SUGGESTS A KIND OF JIMMY STEWART APPROACH TO LIFE THAT IS WRAPPED UP WITH HOME, APPLE PIE, CHURCH AND THE AMERICAN WAY.

MOST OF THESE GREAT FOLK TEND TO BELIEVE THAT THINGS HAVE A WAY OF WORKING OUT. TO MY MIND, THIS IS THE KIND OF MENTALITY THAT COMES FROM BEING BROUGHT UP ON FAIRY TALES WITH HAPPY ENDINGS. IN THE END, THE FEELING GOES, WE WILL ALL BE ALRIGHT IF YOU JUST REFRAIN FROM PEEKING BEHIND THE CURTAIN!...
THAT SEEMS TO BE IT IN A NUTSHELL.

MOST OF THE FOLKS I TALKED TO KIND OF REINFORCED THAT SIMPLISTIC MODEL.

OVERALL, FEW PEOPLE COMPLAIN, MOST PEOPLE THINK THINGS ARE GOING TO GET BETTER AND ALTHOUGH MORE THAN A FEW ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THINGS IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO WANT TO PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN.

WE'LL, I HATE TO BE THE ONE TO BREAK THE ILLUSION, BUT THE FACT IS THAT WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE.

WE HAVE A GANG IN GOVERNMENT THAT THINKS NOTHING OF REINVENTING HISTORY, DISTORTING THE FACTS, AND GENERALLY HIDING THE TRUTH FROM THE AVERAGE MAN....

IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE, WE SHALL ALL WAKE UP AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT FOR EIGHT YEARS OF OUR LIVES, WE HAVE BEEN LIVING A LIE ON SUCH A GRAND SCALE THAT IT TOUCHED EVERYTHING AND CHANGED THE WORLD.

IT'S BAD ENOUGH WHEN YOU'VE LIVED YOUR OWN LIE, BUT TO LIVE SOMEONE ELSE'S IS A NIGHTMARE OF THE WORST KIND. AND IT CAN HAVE YOU BELIEVING THAT MAYBE THEY'RE RIGHT AND YOU'RE CRAZY! BUT WE ALL KNOW BETTER. DON'T WE FOLKS?

THE QUESTION IS CAN WE ENDURE THE BALANCE OF THIS CABAL'S TERM WITHOUT SEEING THE WORLD DESTROYED.

THIS IS THE REAL TEST.

AND RIGHT NOW, MY EXTENDED FIELD TRIP DOES NOT HAVE ME FEELING ANY BETTER. WHERE I DID RUN INTO REPUBLICAN RHETORIC, I DISCOVERED THAT ITS EXPONENTS WERE MORE INTERESTED IN PROVING ME WRONG THAN SUBJECTING THEIR OWN ARGUMENTS TO THE SAME KIND OF CRITICAL EVALUATION OR 'LITMUS TEST' THAN THEY WERE WILLING TO SUBJECT MY ARGUMENTS TO...WHICH, OF COURSE, WAS A DEAD GIVE AWAY TO THEIR INTENTIONS.

BUT SADLY, AT THE SAME TIME, THESE WERE NOT POLITICIANS, OR LEADERS BUT JUST THE SHEEP WHO NAIVELY IN REPUBLICAN ENDINGS THAT TURN OUT WELL EVEN IF THEY BEAR NO RELATIONSHIP TO THE TRUTH...

lES AARON