It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of
a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into
privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing
algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the
planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.
These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times. Help me understand this. Yesterday, George W. Bush said that he was "sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and the humiliation suffered by their families." Then, Bush said that "Secretary Rumsfeld has served our nation well." So which is it, Mr. Bush? If you're really sorry for the torture done by American soldiers under the command of Donald Rumsfeld, then why are you praising Rumsfeld's work so strongly? It's significant that George W. Bush has criticized Rumsfeld only for not telling him about the coming revelations of torture in American-occupied Iraq. Bush did not criticize Rumsfeld for the torture itself. Yes, Donald Rumsfeld should resign. But then again, George W. Bush should resign too. If Bush is sorry, he ought to do something more than make speeches about it. Return to the Irregular Times Main Page
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