Softballs

The question is no longer why Bush can't leave his bubble except to talk to morons like these. The question is why it still qualifies as news.

Bush did not leave Washington on Wednesday. But for at least two hours he was transported to a different world, away from inquiries involving the credibility of top aides and questions about the war in Iraq. The place was a hotel ballroom just a couple of blocks from the White House, where he took questions from supporters. It was not so much a grilling as a warming.

“What do you pray about?” one man asked. “And how we can we pray for you?” (Answer: “Wisdom and strength, and my family, is what I’d like for you to pray for.”)

....

Another attendee said, “What I wanted to bestow upon you is the fact of our appreciation of keeping my family and also the families of Americans safe for the past five years.”

....

The questions came from members of the Associated General Contractors of America, a trade group that is heavily Republican and has a political action committee that gives more to Republicans than to Democrats, by a roughly six-to-one margin, according to an analysis by the Web site PoliticalMoneyLine.com.

This is like the D.C. Madam thing in reverse; the customer is paying for the privilege of giving the hooker the blowjob. That's something.

This is something else:

Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said, “Stay tuned,” when asked whether Mr. Bush would be doing that again anytime soon.

She chided reporters in attendance at the session on Wednesday for “the rolling of the eyes and the smirking” during the questioning.

“What I observed was the looks of disbelief on some of the reporters’ faces — and I’ve seen it before — that anyone in the United States supports the president or has a different opinion from what is read in the newspapers,” Ms. Perino said. “People who have that feeling need to be validated and respected as well.”

Um, no. I fail to see why some halfwit who paid probably four figures for the "privilege" of standing up and acting like a feudal stooge deserves to be "validated" or "respected". "What do you pray about" and "How can we pray for you"? Really? Are you fuckin' serious, pally? All this time, all this death and destruction and corruption and incompetence, and that's your fuckin' question, you goddamned invertebrate? Fuck that shit. You want your "feelings" validated, go on Oprah or something. The rest of us are trying to figure out how to unmake the shit sandwich Mister Man insists on choking down.

Mind you, this is not about prayer, though these people have certainly done their damndest to devalue whatever genuine spiritual currency that may have once had for some people. In this scenario it is little more than scrip to be redeemed at the company store. There's no value to it because it is completely devoid of reflection, awareness, understanding, of rational thought and right action.

I'm not holding them in contempt because they're believers, not at all. Rather, we can and should hold them in contempt precisely because they are not believers, they are merely political animals -- or in this case, vegetables -- who merely want to be seen believing. Even the simple, contemplative act of prayer becomes irretrievably corrupted as a political adjunct of their sickened worldview. They don't pray for guidance; they pray for more money, more shit they don't need, more empty validation for their fucking feelings.

Prayer is for people who wish to press on, to not give up. Only someone who has completely given up, who has abdicated any hope of getting off his fucking hind legs would ask such pathetic, puling questions of anyone, least of all the very person who is most responsible for this mess. Might as well ask the devil if you can help sharpen his pitchfork.