Those who call the music, and those who dance the dance

I am currently dealing with a dying pet, and an impending house purchase, and an even more impending overseas trip. My work situation has become somewhat - dynamic, shall we say - which makes going on an extended vacation that much more interesting.

All of these things have combined to give me an interestingly self-focused perspective. I am looking at the outside world through a narrowed view, like peeking through the curtains onto a crime-ridden street. But my desire for information has not diminished, only my tolerance for bullshit. I've got tight filters thrown up on what I'm letting through, and they're getting clogged by all the huge chunks of crap floating around out there.

• The Mohammed cartoons are still being cast by some as the single most important freedom of expression issue in the history of expression. Bullshit. Is there an inalienable right to shout "FIRE!" in a crowded theater? No, of course not. Is there an inalienable right to shout "C*CKSUCKING N*GGERS!" in a crowded theater? No again. Does the fact that you and your buddies would not find it objectionable at all to shout "C*CKSUCKING N*GGERS!" in a crowded theater mean that no one should find it objectionable? Hell no. Does the fact that I replaced the "O" in the first word and the "I" in the second with asterisks make me a coward? No yet again, asshole.
• The Cheney hunting accident was a hunting accident. It involved the Vice President. It involved beer - a beer, which in the opinions of hunters that I've talked to and read is enough to make this a thoroughly irresponsible act: you do not drink while hunting, period. It involved a police response which would have been considered unacceptably lackadaisical in any other situation - but, hey, this was Texas, and this was the Vice President. If this is the first time you've noticed that he's a privileged, secretive scumbag with utter contempt for the press and the American public, and that Texas treats these two oilmen the way some countries treat cows, you haven't been paying attention these past five years one month and four days. (Leap year, you know.)
• The Dubai company that bought a British company that administered some cargo-handling functions at some ports is a non-story. Again, if this is the first time you're thinking that port security is something we should be concerned with, you haven't been paying attention. And maybe you should also think about the fact that most of that cargo handling is dealing with cargo coming into America's ports - technically known as "imports" - and not with cargo being shipped out of America - what you would call "exports."

All of these are to one extent or another non-stories, no more worthy of the national or international spotlight than the fact that my cat is dying, or the fact that I'm buying a house. But at the same time they have become real stories.

• The Mohammed cartoons have been made the focal point of radical Muslim clerics who have encouraged increasingly violent protests against them, and against Denmark, Norway, and of course the United States. At the same time right-wing extremists - most notably bloggers, who bravely hide behind pseudonyms and the illusion of anonymity granted by the internet - have tried to whip this into a free speech issue. The two sides roar at each other like pro wrestlers posturing in the ring. And buildings burn, and people die, and moderates become radicalized. If the peacemakers are "blessed", as some guy who delivered a sermon on a mount once said, then these people are surely cursed.
• The Cheney hunting accident blanketed the news for more than a week, even scoring the cover of the current Newsweek. This has led a lot of people to wonder: what else was going on while everyone was distracted?
• The port security issue is one that most people haven't thought of since it got some airtime in 2004, during the Presidential election. And guess what? 2006 is also an election year! Incumbents of every stripe are taking a firm and courageous stance against allowing Dubai Ports World to take over administration of some functions on some parts of some ports. Most are acting like the whole idea of foreign management of port operations is something new and shocking - which means they are either being disingenuous or are displaying remarkable ignorance. In any event, the whole situation will almost certainly blow over once the November elections have passed.

Three relatively minor stories. One has resulted in tremendous violence. One has resulted in information gridlock. And one has resulted in remarkable political posturing.

From my self-centered cocoon of personal crises I watch people play their assigned roles in these stories, operating very nearly as though according to pre-programmed responses. Someone else is calling the music, and they are dancing to it. The real question is: To what end? Or more simply: Why? Why this music, right now?

Stop dancing to the tune they're calling. It's time to choose the music for yourself.