Welcome to a dark (and wet) chapter in American history.

A few nights ago I was discussing with grimarcher how, exactly, the last five years will be remembered by the history textbooks.

Badly, to say the least. A couple dubious presidential elections (and an even more dubious Michael Moore ranting about them), the dot com bust, Enron, the USS Cole, 9/11, bombings in London and Madrid, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (and the aftermath). Even the forces of nature have taken their toll on the world -- earthquake in Iran, tsunami in Indonesia, and now hurricane in our own New Orleans. I'm sure there's stuff I'm forgetting.

And never mind the fact that the President and his cohorts are a political catastrophe, but now the fucking judiciary will be stacked due to the resignation of O'Connor and the death of Rehnquist. Where are my checks and balances? Where the fuck are they? My last hope is that in '08 the Democrats nominate someone who isn't a douchebag, and that there are still some swing voters left in this place (and that's coming from a goddamn Libertarian). Because this administration is worse than all the gay pride parades in America harvesting aborted fetuses for stem cell research. And then playing GTA on a steroid binge. Or whatever it is gay pride paraders do in their spare time, other than trying to marry each other like godless heathens. Hell, even if the Republicans win again, if they'd nominated McCain I'd at least be complacent.

Here's an extremely angry guy with some good points.

In other news, a typhoon just hit Japan, most notably Kagoshima, where I'd stayed during the Summer of 2003.

If you need a chuckle, do it quick.

Because this absolutely broke my heart.

A moment of silence, please.