My first grievance

Festivus is nigh, and though the listing of grievances is meant to be directed at family members, as a blogger I feel that the community of commenters and thinkers on society and politics are my family (yes, that's very self-aggrandizing of me, you can include me in your list of grievances if you choose).

It's crap like this that aggrieves me mightily (from David Edelstein review of Munich)

What's the reason for this post-9/11, self-critical twist on the thriller genre's beloved scenarios of injury and retaliation? Maybe it's that the recent consequences of such thinking have been so catastrophic: that despite invading two countries (Afghanistan and Iraq), quickly overthrowing their governments, and inflicting massive casualties on their populations, the enemy's resistance has, if anything, grown more tenacious; and that our ally Israel, among the world's most reflexively vindictive nations, hasn't managed with its instantaneous reprisals to stanch the flow of blood. At this juncture, to make the movies we always have, the ones that revel in righteous brutality, would not only be socially irresponsible. It would be delusional.

Idiot. Dolt. Mendicant (Mendicant doesn't really fit, but I've always been a fan of Groo the Wanderer, and when hurling insults, I always throw in a mendicant for good measure)

Everything with these coastal elitist snobs (and since I live in deeply, deeply, deeply azure Santa Monica I know of what I speak) comes back and emanates from the belief that Chimpy McBu$hHitler is destroying the world and all bad things are brought forth from him.

Read a review of a gallery opening, a ballet, a film, a T.V. Show, even a T.V. commercial and somehow the subject of the Booooosh regime will crop up and be used to contrast how we live in fallen times and that there had been a past 'golden age' where now we are surrounded in sludge.

During some show as silly as Showtime's Weeds (which isn't a bad show) in the final episode of the season they have to come up with some crazed machinations to 'draft' the pothead brother into Chimpy's fascist killing machine army (he had enlisted years ago to impress a chick, and 'dropped of the radar' until he had been busted for posession). That's one minor example. 'Entertainment' abounds with such asides and dramaturgy which often clanks out of the actors mouths and thuds on the floor with its self righteous postering (think Padme's 'Is this how democracy dies' silliness from Revenge of the Sith, the entire Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds).

It's funny one show that doesn't do any of the Chimpy McBu$hHitler crap is Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm (or if they had I don't recall). You'd think with his ultra-activist wife that he would be compelled to pontificate from time to time but he keeps the focus on his petty concerns and squabbles and for that he gets an anti-grievance.

(I guess it's a bad habit of mine, can't dish out the bad karma without trying to give some good as well)

And Mr. Edelstein is wrong, the wall combined with swift and just retribution has greatly reduced the frequency of crazies entering Israel and slaughtering innocents. (Under Labor they didn't do this, since Likkud took over they have, Likkud's way has been better for Israel, to argue otherwise is to ignore the facts and reflects a 'victim' mentality)