Revolution

Posted on 22 March 2010 by bangpitcher

“This meeting can do nothing more to save the country!” — Samuel Adams; December 16, 1773

I said, nearly two years ago, that the United States of America as founded between 1775 and 1789 died on November 4, 2008. The result of that election irrevocably demonstrated that the people of the United States – no longer citizens – were timid sheep, easily led astray by a smooth talking shepherd skilled in cheap parlor tricks. The mob finally ruled and was only interested in dividing their unearned spoils.

Yesterday, “the people” in Congress assembled chose to violate both the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Law of the Land in open defiance of the desires of the majority of the people of the United States as expressed through polling data and commit this nation to an absolute and permanent state of collapse. There is no coming back from this. There’s no way to fix this. It will never be repealed. It can never be amended enough to make it tolerable. It is a permanent and unalterable change in the status of We the People from participants in their government to mere subjects and slaves.

The only recourse now is armed revolution. The taking up of arms is not to be done lightly. All good citizens must bide their time, attempt to force a change through the power of the ballot box and work within the tattered remnants of the system. If those efforts fail, only two choices remain: death or slavery.

I am going to be totally selfish. I am happier now than I have been in my entire life. I might accept the yoke with the understanding that some day soon I am going to die and escape this catastrophe.

It is a sad, sad day in the history of the human race. The day all of humanity finally surrendered to slavery.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. — H.L. Mencken; 1919

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Novus

Posted on 19 March 2010 by bangpitcher

Novus Ordo Seclorum

In the grand scheme of Latin phraseology I’ve always been more partial to things like Oderint Dum Metuant and Re Vera, Potas Bene.

Funny how life can continue to surprise you even when you think you’ve got its measure. You can be coasting along, content if not happy, and then something upends everything. And instead of drinking a lot or trying to instill fear you’re sober on St. Patrick’s Day, watching insipid children’s programming, thinking about a new order, happily contemplating a new future. It’s heady stuff.

I started this website as a way to get thoughts out of my head and on to virtual paper. This always helps me think. More importantly, once all the bad thoughts weren’t bouncing around my head I was a much more stable and happy guy; far less prone to occasional bouts of genocide.

Now I find myself to be genuinely happy. For the first time in my entire life there’s a very real possibility I may get everything I ever wanted. I will still have to work, there will still be troubles along the way and the general idiocy of the world will still annoy. But a man finds that when he’s got his own family, everything else gets the volume turned down. There’s a reason to eat shit with a smile. To wake up early and go to bed late. To wash dishes, clean house and maintain an even keel.

The old Mess of the Damned will always stand as a place to lay my burdens down. But I am learning not to ask for those burdens to be lifted, rather I ask for broader shoulders to bear them.

Posted in Reality is a Harsh Mistress | 1 Comment

Kyklos

Posted on 8 March 2010 by bangpitcher

Grammy died on Mardi Gras. She was the center of the party right to the end. Even on the last night, she held on while her family gathered around her laughing and joking. When the party was over and people headed home she let herself go home. The whole thing reminds me of Saint Francis constantly thanking God for Sister Death as he died.

I should have written all this sooner. At the time I felt utterly adrift. For my entire life the one thing that could be counted on was an unlocked door in Delanco and a barrage of words whenever Grammy realized you were there. I’ve seen both of my childhood homes sold. I’ve even seen my Dad move away from my home town after my Mother died. Life seemed fleeting and unanchored but always there was the absolute permanence of Grammy.

Now she’s gone. And for a moment I started to float away. But life is a circle, and an anchor appeared to root me again. I hate people that make death all about themselves. I’ll give myself a good kick in the pants later on.

I’m three for four on family eulogies. We’re so good at this funereal thing, the undertaker comes over to drink beer while we collectively make the arrangements. The Olympic year curse has struck again (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010). We soldier on as a family, happy to be together in sadness and in celebration, secure in the thought I had when Grandpop died:

If his only monument is our large, loud, happily scrapping family it’s still the best monument to any person I can think of.

Jeanne Anne Hagarty
1923-2010
Requiescat In Pace

Posted in Reality is a Harsh Mistress, The Cold Embrace of Death | 2 Comments

Conservation

Posted on 16 February 2010 by bangpitcher

I don’t know where I heard it but I’ve had stuck in my head for a while that life and death are a soul for soul kind of trade: conservation of energy, one out, one in and all that.

Kind of funny, my grandmother is on the way out and my friends are about to welcome their second child into the world.

One out, one in.

It’s snowing, my Grandmother is dying and I still haven’t had my annual fasnacht.

Happy Mardi Gras.

Posted in Reality is a Harsh Mistress | 1 Comment

Vernal

Posted on 12 February 2010 by bangpitcher

It’s official.

It’s spring!

Up yours, you buck-toothed, Pennsylvanian underminer of foundations. Up yours, Al Gore and your global warmongering induced snowfall.

Up yours, winter.

Yesterday was Truck Day in Philadelphia and today is Truck Day in Boston.

Less than a week to go.

Posted in The Baseball Gods | Leave a comment