Monday, February 12, 2007 | by nathan

He Ruined The Whole World

Did anyone else find themselves deeply moved by the Grammys last night? Anyone?

Never mind that great bands like, say, The Flaming Lips weren’t nominated for much - though they did win. I’m used to seeing popularity rewarded over talent at awards shows; it’s why I can’t stand them.

But God, how good was it to see the Dixie Chicks take home the top three awards? It seems like all the crap that has been going on in America is starting to get sorted out, seen through, and washed away a bit. Don’t get me wrong - there are still a couple hundred thousand of our people in Iraq who need to come home as soon as possible - though possibly not right away - but it seems like people aren’t just blindly throwing their support behind Bush anymore, and this makes me feel like I can breathe again.

Perhaps it was that right around the time Sept. 11 happened, my whole life was falling apart, and it kept falling apart as Bush’s numbers grew. As this all happened in my own life, simultaneously it seemed that the entire world had gone completely insane and was supporting someone who clearly was lying to get us into a war, someone whose left eye twitched with glee just at the thought of it. Here and people were going nuts supporting him, and Clear Channel, which has no official ties to the administration, was blacklisting the Dixie Chicks for speaking out against him?

You know it’s bad when Madonna won’t say anything.

Everyone, everywhere, it seemed, had completely lost their minds; it was like being in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I remember watching Bush’s 2004 State of the Union address and just feeling so hopeless that there was nothing left to do but get rotten, stinking drunk, which I did. The 2004 elections left me completely wiped out and feeling like there was never going to be any hope. The Christian fascists, the military-industrial complex and the corporations had conspired to take over America, and they had done it.

I gave serious thought to emigrating.

Instead, I fell in love, and I got my shit together a bit. I went back to school, and got a series of respectable jobs, all of which I loved. We moved into an actual house that was ours, and we gathered our family around us and kept warm. People started seeing through Bush after Katrina; they started to really see that he doesn’t mean the things he says about wanting what’s best for America. He wants what is best for him and his rich friends. The American people gave him a message in November, and in typical Bush fashion he has not listened to it; he recently remarked that he can do whatever the hell he wants, and if he wants to send troops to Iraq, he doesn’t really have to ask Congress’ permission, and he sure as hell doesn’t have to listen when the representatives of the American people pass a resolution stating they disapprove of what he’s doing.

Yeah - well fuck him.

The Chicks stood up to him. And I’m hoping that all this Bush hate-on isn’t just a fad, because the man really is a dumbass, and the people working for him are nutjobs. Does no one else see this? I used to wonder. I used to be so addicted to the energy of hating him, and I clung so tightly to that. Now I have let it go, because I believe that if you turn a cheek eventually the evil man will "out" himself and be revealed. Now, I don’t even really hate him that much. Maybe it’s because I know he only has two more years, or maybe it’s because I don’t hate my life anymore. I don’t want him in office - have no doubt - and I don’t think I want any Republican in office for awhile, if ever. I’m not sure I can trust someone who takes money from Jerry Falwell, or Halliburton, or Clear Channel.

So, go on, Chicks. The new album really is awesome. Maybe light is dawning across America again.