By Tom Hunter

I’ve been reading the memoirs of Casanova, written when he was 73 years old and not to be published til after his death.  I am blown away by his candor and intelligence and the social backstory that made up life in 18th century.

They seemed to have the same twists of fate that are still with us.  He was imprisoned by the inquisition for a year and a half before he did a Shawshank Redemption-style escape.  He had many lovers and when he decided to move on he usually got them married to a suitable partner.

He was a Christian in public and an man of reason at all times.  He was living in a society where rumor spread like text messages and a good scandal whipped the truth every time. The Pope had more power than Rupert Murdoch and the church was Fox News.

The Inquisition has reformed itself in the twenty-first century in the form of the Tea Party and the Koch Brothers.  They’d made a valiant effort to overturn science at every turn and replace it with quotations from the Bible.  Not the New Testament, oh no.

The Old Testament of hellfire-and-brimstone and ignorance-is-bliss.  They NEVER refer to the teachings of Jesus.  That’s a bunch of commie, hippie love fest.  No, they’re more into an eye for an eye and making the other poor dumb bastard give his life for his country – because God is on our side and we’ve got drones!

George Orwell didn’t need to imagine video cameras on every corner or every telephone call being monitored.  He painted the picture with the colors he had, but what he did understand that if you repeated your lies over and over for long enough to enough people, you could sell them anything.  You could stir them up to declare war on anyone and you would make them feel righteous in murder.

The modern Inquisitor of our age is Darrel Issa.

He drags some of our finest minds before his mindless committee and asks them the usual.  So . . .” when “you stop beating your wife?”” When did you find out that our President was a Kenyan Commie and why didn’t you denounce him to the Inquisition- you lying bastard?”  “And why oh why won’t you vote for me?” “Which of these cameras has caught my best righteous indignation?”

“I’m not a politician – I am a righteous man who spends most of his time posing for the next election.”

Darrel Issa’s man in San Diego is the most righteous loser Carl Demaio.  He didn’t win the election but he can get on local TV anytime he finds a knife to stick in someone’s back.  He has taken credit for everything good that ever happened in San Diego, and has become a legend in his own mind.  He’s sniffing around trying to find some scandal to ride into power on. He should get a ticket to ride and get out there and ride the Issa coattail bandwagon.

So, once more into the breach.  Once more we place our thumb on the balance of power.  Americas weapons builders have found evidence blah blah blah.  So having blasted Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan into oblivion, all Bush’s Cheneys and all Bush’s Rumsfelds could care less if we try to put it all together again, because their time is taken up with explaining how they were righteous and good.

So, I’m thinking we haven’t learned much from our wars, other than it seems to be good for business.  Forever and ever Amen.

Shall we have a parade?