Odds and endings

Sometimes I'm overwhelmed with despair. Sometimes I don't believe the United States of America has any future in any way similar to what was envisioned in 1776. Sometimes I think civilization itself has reached the top of its arc and has begun to accelerate downward.

I was scanning around 20 meters yesterday afternoon, hoping to work KC4USV at McMurdo Station in Antarctica who was reported to be at 14.243 -- and as you might expect in this period between sunspot cycle 23 and 24, I couldn't hear a whisper from Ross Island. I did catch one Midwestern ham telling another that he'd heard thatBarak Obama had gone "over there" and told "the Muslims" that he thought it was patriotic for them to fight against infidels. " If any of that is true, this country is doomed" said the man whose call I won't repeat. Tempted as I was to have words with him, I just shut the rig down and found other things to do. Of course, none of that is or was or likely ever will be true. But this is America. Over where? What Muslims? Failure to ask is failure to think. Failure to think and the hunger to believe fills the endless cornucopia of American political dialog.

My New York Bureau chief informs me that Alabama, in the name of protecting academic freedom and science itself, has passed legislation allowing teachers to teach religious mythology or apparently, any idiotic fairy tale they damn well please about the origin of species. The Bible is now called science in Alabama. And we fought a bloody war to keep them part of our country: and we dare to talk about optimism. How can we even say the word hope.

The end of the world makes strange bedfellows though. I stumbled into Coulterwatch this morning after reading that the shrieking harpy herself has become the subject of a formal probe by Connecticut’s Elections Enforcement Commission; moving her closer to being charged with felony fraud. Can she slither out of this one as she did in Palm Beach by having one of her familiars intimidate a Commissioner into dropping the charges? Probably, but the existence of bloggers calling themselves Conservative and yet actually dedicated to bringing about justice for Ann Coulter is heartwarming.

Coulterwatch.com blogger Dan Borchers has filed a formal complaint in Connecticut.

“For over 10 years, Ann Coulter has gotten away with illegal, immoral and unethical behavior, ranging from plagiarism to defamation, perjury to voter fraud,”

says Borcher. No, it's not a glimmer of hope. He and I may disagree on most things, but at least it's comforting to think we might all hold hands for a brief moment as the ship sinks into the abyss.