"The World is too Much with Us"

THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

--Wordsworth

We read that poem yesterday in Omnibus. I was immediately taken with it, and had to share it. I don't much care for poetry as a general rule, but there are a few gems, hidden here and there. Poetry is much like art, in that sense. There are a few great paintings and sculptures that the rest gravitate toward. I have never understood the appeal of a Dali, filled with those lackadaisical melting clocks, compared to a Constable, a Turner, a Rembrandt, or a Monet. There are subtle criteria that seperate the best from the rest. Thus in art, and thus in poetry, and thus in life.

Speaking of Turner, TIME has an article about him, which can be accessed HERE. He's my favorite artist of all time, bar none. The article did not, however, display his greatest painting, which can be seen HERE. It hangs at the National Gallery in London. He was the REAL Painter of Light (R) (TM) (C). (Notice my disapproval for Thomas Kincaid (R) (TM) (C).)

On, then, to bigger and better things. The cover of TIME this week was more petulant than usual. The glib tagline, under a picture of Chief Justice John Roberts (By the way, the demon touches are my own--but Time would have done it if they thought they could get away with it), read something like this, "How John Roberts and his crew of twisted, evil evangelical Justices are secretly trying to institute a Dobson-Bush theocracy. A TIME Magazine Exclusive." I jest, but that really wasn't far off.

The article was not much more than a slur on the Republican-majority court, saying they've tried less cases than any other court in history. I'm guessing the ulterior motive was to discredit Justice Thomas yet again, pending the release of his new book. The blatant lies told at Justice Thomas' nomination reveal the REAL bias in the Democratic party: the "party of tolerance" is more racist than any Republican since Strom Thurmond, and he started out as a Democrat. I firmly believe that the Democrats could not stand idly by and let a Black--more importantly a Republican Black--Justice get confirmed to the Supreme Court. So they invented the Anita Hill "controversy"--read "sham."

The real thing I was going to post about was the unspeakable idiocy and hypocrisy of our beloved Senate Majority Leader, "Dingy Harry" Reid, who I would say, if I wasn't too nice to revert to personal attacks, a codfish in a suit. He sent a letter to Rush Limbaugh's boss, or syndicator, telling him to condemn Bush's phony soldier remark. Rush's boss refused, saying that there were many documented cases of people posing as veterans, to protest the war with greater credence, to get people to listen to them, or to try and con the Government out of veteran benefits. The "Baghdad Diarist" comes to mind.

Rush and his syndicator, in what I may say is an ingenious act, have put the letter up for auction on Ebay, with all proceeds going to The Marine Corps.-Law Enforcement Foundation, which I believe gives college scholarships to children whose parents were Marines or Police who died in action. In a second stroke of genius, Rush said that he would match it out of his own pocket. In a THIRD stroke of genius (they don't call him El Rushbo for nothing) he invited Majority Leader Reid to match it as well. Now, is that a great way to deflect outrageous criticism or what?

I'll be back later. SO much that needs doing!