And he's here to make sure America will Stay-Fuct for the foreseeable future.

Ordinarily I'd be asking right now "how much needs to be wrong with a person to turn into an evil bastard like this"? And then I'd be asking "how the hell does the American system allow sociopaths like this to flourish"?

But then I remember, I read The Theory And Practice Of Hell back in my college years, and I realise that I know the answers. Evil is indeed banal, as well as systemic. Evil is process-driven, bureaucratic, supply-chain aware and shareholder responsive. Evil focuses on the short-term bottom line, but never loses sight of the long-term goals.

Most crucially, evil is a system by which the most paranoid, most fearful, and most venal work to pervert as much of their environment as they can in order to feel safer. A feudal landlord works and starves his serfs so they don't have the strength to rebel. A tin despot lavishes rewards on the military in order to build a loyal cadre to suppress the commoners. And a superpower uses intimidation, economic sabotage, and a private army to create a concentric series of gated communities, so that those at the center can feel just a bit safer (though they never feel truly safe).

We are in the midst of a global abusive relationship, terrorised not so much by outsiders as we are by our control-freak spouse. This is the public face of that spouse, and for everyone's sake we need a divorce.

Here's a simple right-wing recipe you can use for any topic!

2 cups 9/11

1 tbsp Clinton extract

1 stick denial

1/2 brain

1/4 adult vocabulary

1 tsp racism (can substitute misogyny)

5 lbs. Splenda(tm) patriotism

Half-bake for 2 minutes of hate. Skim off fat to be saved for dessert. Pour remainder over main course (dogshit souffle) to disguise. Optionally garnish with Viagra and live ammo.

It works and takes no effort or time to make. Use this the next time you run out of ideas in the kitchen, or anywhere else.

While I generally favour patient and reasoned discourse, I'd prefer to read a full page of fiery prose from lowercase-ben than another indulgent piece from Lamott. I too am beyond tired with the self-absorbed cycles of the Boomers and will be grateful when the only people they can annoy with their solipsistic ruminations are the nurses who open their pudding cups.

What I find especially wearisome, and what Lamott excels at, is her generation's tendency to view themselves as prime originators. They were the first to ever protest, to ever have mind expanding experiences, to ever discover (and then rediscover) religion, et cetera ad nauseum. They dwell in a self-referential bubble that admits no light from the outside world, only shadows which ape the movements of the epic drama that is their own life.

I'll be glad when the present infatuation with minutiae-writ-large autography passes and we return to nonfiction which is truly contemplative instead of merely diarist. I'm hopeful that the current youth generation will get this masturbatory excess out of their system via LiveJournal and MySpace, and be ready for more seasoned fare when they take their turn as the adults.

Until then Lamott will write for (and garner praise from) other Lamotts, just as every other modern Proust finds their own culturally bedridden audience. Fortunately they are easy to spot and the rest of us need not waste much time in identifying and subsequently avoiding them.

To the people who cannot understand loving a pet as a realised and complex individual, I can only say this shows either a lack of understanding, a lack of empathy, or a lack of emotion. Possibly a combination thereof. Simply because the animal mind isn't apprehendable doesn't mean it isn't fully formed as a distinct entity, with its own thoughts and passions and aspirations. Degrading pets as disposable commodities borders on the sociopathic.

Now, having said that, I'm also not on the side of people who view pets as surrogate children. This too bespeaks of a lack in some department. Humanising pets often occurs with people who have been hurt in their relationships with others, or whom need to exert more control in a relationship than a fellow human will allow.

Animals aren't soulless automatons, nor are they furry humans. They are each their own kind, apart from us but sharing some aspects, and should be treated as such.

...we're going to have to do something about overpopulation. Hell, if we started fixing that, global warming and a lot of other things would take care of themselves. Issues like biodiviersity, land use, clean water, global epidemics, and sustainable agriculture would be so much simpler if we got our numbers back down to a reasonable level.

Good luck with that.

Sorry, but count me among the posters here who say that the military members are reaping what they sowed. They overwhelmingly voted the cons back in, even after countless scandals about military contract funding and dubious real support of the troops. They continue to support the cons, even while they bleat to the liberals to save them from the cons depredations. They love all that "do it yourself" tough talk from someone who's all hat and no cattle, but when it's their turn to suffer, suddenly the liberals are on the speed dial.

Too bad. Buck up and suck it in. Gung hu and hoo-arr, muthaf*ckahs, and all those other jingoist accoutrements of military culture. You want to stop getting shat on, stop voting in people who'll shit on you (and everyone else).

In the meantime my sympathy is already allocated to battered women, abused children, and victims of wars of opportunity. There's none left to dole out to grown men who've made their own bed and now have trouble lying in it.