Grotesque Gall Galore

A large dog distressed by New Year fireworks kept me up last night, and I'm grateful for it. I did something I rarely do and turned on the overnight news.The ABC male news reader was talking about the Bush administration crowning the year by producing unemployment at levels not seen since 1991. Then, in his banter with his female co-anchor, the male anchor actually complains that he's working on New Year's and declares his desire for and doubts about being compensated better in the coming year. He has just spoken of millions of fellow Americans without jobs, about how hard times are, but is gainsaying the position he has which so far as I can discern requires no unique ability, just the capacity to stay awake and read. Plenty of people, recently downsized or made redundant would be glad to trade places with him. In my hometown of Nashville yesterday, Muslim activists held a rally at the state capitol, holding up graphic pictures of babies purportedly butchered by Israel during the recent unpleasantness. I recall no similar gathering of Nashville Muslims to express their outrage over September 11, over the Beslan school massacre, over the Madrid train bombings, over the 7/7 London attacks, over the Mumbai murders, or indeed over any other act of barbarism or terror. While they would not be able to exercise their right to demonstrate unless they were parroting the position of government in any Arab or Muslim capital, it is heartening that even those who would use Sharia to deprive the freedom of others, have the liberty to protest here. The protest is of course misdirected, if Hamas had not been raining rockets over Israel and hiding behind women and children, the protesters would not have had any provocative photos to hold-up. (Except those from other events or that were photo shopped which I don't think Muslim provocateurs are beyond doing.)