I'm Mad At Everybody - Except My Dogs

The recent Harris Interactive study that quantified stressed-out Americans focused on immediate and personal causes - like jobs, household budgets and dwindling personal time. And those pressures are all very real.

But those issues are spikes in an ever-elevating baseline of stress that comes from issues that are beyond our control, but still impact our lives. Our stress hormones are telling us to fight or flee or both. But it's hard to choose when there is a crackling disconnect between what we hear and what we see.

A war that ranks among the greatest policy blunders in American history drags on without a hint of an exit strategy. The two men who supervised the attack that instigated that war remain free, taunting and threatening the Western world from parts unknown.

Relentlessly rising gas prices caused by the ever-mysterious and convenient "market forces" are putting companies out of business and causing consumers to choose between travel and food -- while oil companies log new rounds of stratospheric profits. Food prices have turned the simple act of feeding a family into a budget issue. A flood of easy-money mortgages ignored by the rating agencies that vouched for their quality are drowning whole neighborhoods in foreclosures. After decades of talk, blame and dithering, medical costs continue to spiral up along with the numbers of uninsured.

Through it all, our President "understands" the frustrations of the American people, while taking every opportunity to blame someone else; anybody else. The Democratic Congress voted in to create change has proved to be, well, a Democratic Congress - almost comically unable to agree, organize, or move forward on even the simplest issues.

As people watch forces beyond their control change their lives in ways they never anticipated, there is a creeping dread that the world is running on a basic rule: you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time - and that's good enough to start a war or make some money.

In a world where truth is a shell game and trust is used to calculated advantage I'm reminded every day why I like my dogs.

Comments

[Cathexis]

Your dogs called, Ms Drexler. They've max'd the credit cards again at Hooters. ;-)

[mamacat]

HuffPost's Pick

We are like the burglars who broke into a house and then held the family hostage. We have forgotten all about how we illegally broke into the house in the first place, and now we are saying that we won't leave because we have to stay and protect the people we are holding hostage. If any of the people who we are holding hostage pick up arms to try to throw us out of their house, we call them terrorists and try to kill them.

The criminal mind can sure come up with some astounding rationales for immoral behaviour.

[richcpl]

I'd like to hear more about the dogs, please.

[mlaiuppa]

Me too.

[taoist]

Good article and could not agree more. Sometimes you just want to get away from all of it, but like junkies we all come back for more.

[FrankBlackFrancis]

Couldn't agree more. Whenever the world gets me down I just go into the back yard and play a little bally with my 6 border collies. Dogs rule, humans by and large, suck.

[jagoneely]

Though I agree with your overall assessment, I actually feel it's even worse than all that. I feel I'm beyond the ability to even joke about the corruption in Bush & co. Our problems are mounting and dangerous and some people STILL feel Bush is "doing his best". Has he admitted we're in a recession yet, or are we still in a "down turn"?. I guess when you and all your friends keep getting richer as America gets poorer, it's hard to see the problem. OY!

[Henry]

"The two men who supervised the attach that instigated the war"

You might do some serious research into that statement you make. Iraq was on the drawing table long before Little Geo was elected. It was going to happen one way or another. How about Darfur... whaddaya think about that then?

[serenegeezer]

I could've written the headline about myself.