The Cure for Malaise

I have been reading Chris Hedges lately.  Chris is a former war correspondent for the NY Times.  He got fired because he was opposed to the invasion of Iraq.  Now he writes inspiring books like “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt”  and “Empire of Illusion.” 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Chris makes statements like “There are always people willing to commit unspeakable human atrocity in exchange for a little power and privilege.”[i]

In a recent interview on PBS with Bill Moyers, he summed up his viewpoint as follows: “We stand on the verge of one of the bleakest periods in human history, when the bright lights of civilization bank out...” [ii]

To Chris I say, "Don't be scared, Stand Your Ground!” [iii]

But for myself, this attitude is just too bleak.  It fails to conform to my basic philosophy of life—which can be summed up in two words—HAVE FUN!

To cure the malaise brought on by reading too much Hedges, I watch the Olympics, an inspiring tableau of human achievement. The only place today where the best is brought out in everyone.

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

And I don’t just mean people.  The Olympics brings out the best in animals too. Take for example, the outstanding American dancing horse named “Rafalca.”  

Rafalca has a chance to win the gold for America and make us all proud.  Even hard core liberals are  rooting for her. 

And, believe me, Rafalca is a motivated athlete.  This is because one of Rafalca’s owners is Ann Romney, and as every animal in that family knows, animal behavior not pleasing to Mitt and Ann can end badly. The now deceased family dog,  Seamus, was strapped to the top of a vehicle and rushed down the interstate and 75 mph until he threw up and pooped all over the roof.

So –to avoid a similar fate--Rafalca is going to be shaking in her horseshoes to win the gold.

The story of Rafalca is an inspiring one.  Rafalca, after qualifying, flew across the Atlantic on a FedEx jet (inside, not strapped to the roof) and dined on an in-flight meal of watermelon.

She will be competing in London in the dressage competition — a form of ballet for horses and their riders in which the animals do pirouettes, serpentines and Piaffes. The Piaffe is a “highly collected, cadenced, elevated diagonal movement” in which “the haunches with active hocks are well engaged.”[iv] 

Sounds one Hell of a lot like political behavior to me.

Rafalca is good for America and the Romney’s bottom line too. Of course, the horse is a tad bit expensive. The Romneys spent more on the horse's healthcare than the average American family spends on its own health care. [v]  On the other hand, in the one and only tax return made available to the public, the couple declared a $77,731 loss on their 2010 tax returns for their share of Rafalca’s care. That helped with the bottom line!

Green eye shade tax experts have all kinds of questions about so called “hobby losses” like this one.[vi] But Romney has stated in no uncertain terms that he is paying all the taxes he owes and “not one penny more.”

---

[i] Other uplifting quotes can be found on Good Reads.

[ii] The full interview can be found here.

[iii] The laws of most States allow us to stand our ground whenever we think we might be threatened, thanks to ALEC.

[iv] Definition provided by the International Equestrian Federation.

[v] Estimate provided  by Deadspin.

[vi]  For some in depth research on this little scam, check out this site.