Well, actually, no.
But once in a great while I feel the desperate need to clarify what the Lion is about. Why another snarky little blog that gets fifty readers a day, and in the great scheme of things doesn’t contribute all that much meaning to the great conversation of democracy…
Next question…
In part, I got tired of trying to write letters to the editor, only to come up against the competition of hundreds or thousands of others trying to break through to the editors, and seeing that when a letter does break through, the editors, who can’t write nearly as well, butcher the prose.
In part, I hate what Bush and the Republicans have done to this country. That whole bunch comprises some of the most despicable people in this country ever to rise to prominence in politics, in the press and the media, in business, in the law. And I had no voice. A vote is not a voice when the electoral process is corrupt. A vote is not a voice when the press lies and distorts, and kowtows to power. So, to keep my blood pressure at an acceptable level and preserve my health and sanity, I write here.
I don’t bring any new information. I don’t break new ground. I don’t investigate. I do read the Boston Globe every morning, with an orange marker in hand and a note pad and pen next to the paper. I read pretty much everything, and as I read I note the stories that engage my attention, that engage my outrage. It may be a quote buried in the story. It may be the whole story. And then I write, I write fast and hot, as if fighting a daily deadline like I used to do at the old Cape Cod Standard Times long ago.
I realize that in the great conversation of democracy what I do doesn’t amount to much. Maybe someone will get a different take on an issue because of what I say here. Maybe not. But I want to be part of that conversation. I refuse to allow the wingnuts and psychotics, the Bushes and the Rices and the Rumsfelds, the Giulianis and Romneys and McCains, to dominate the conversation, to take from me the right to speak my mind, the right to live as a free American, a real American who believes in freedom and liberty for all, not just the moneyed few and their yes-men, not just the haves and have-mores, as Bush defines his base of supporters.
If one word I say, if one sentence I write, contributes to bringing Bush and Cheney, Rice and Gonzales, and all the rest of them down; if I contribute in any way to making these people accountable for their crimes, for their brutality, for their studied destruction of the Constitution and the rule of law on their way to creating an American tyranny, then I will have done my part as a free citizen of a free nation to preserve and recreate an America, the real America, that lives in the deepest heart of true patriots.
That’s why there’s a Grumpy Lion. That’s why I write.
Sometimes I need to remind myself.
Thanks for your patience.
Grumpy Lion 