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	Mission Accomplished By this time, everyone should be familiar with the ancient Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Now just another kicked-around cliche, that wicked sentiment is a bounty for those who keep their heads out of the sand for even a few ticks of the clock. This also explains why fewer people have been going to the movies in recent years. Reality is incredibly entertaining right now. Today's thunderous political dramas make the Nixon White House look like The Brady Bunch. So many new and memorable lines of dialogue have washed ashore since Clinton left office, everything from "bring 'em on" to "go f*ck yourself". Americans have come to know a cast of thousands - the Coalition, the Freedom Haters, the Pakis, and of course The Evil One. George Lucas couldn't have written Bush, The Motion Picture, not even on pills. Lately, the stories have focused less on lasers and troops. The headlines have been gobbled up by natural disasters and domestic foibles. By the end of this month, the administration's two top political advisers, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, could be indicted on conspiracy charges in the Valerie Plame case. It is rumored that the president and vice president took place in related discussions with their respective hacks, which means they could be indicted for conspiracy, too. Less important that that, there is an apparent upheaval afoot among the Republicans over the nomination of Harriet Miers, whose only qualification would seem to be an unending adoration of George W. Bush. Some think this is classic Party judo designed to trick the would-be opposition, that Miers could actually be a Bork in sheep's clothing. The funny but sad part is that the Democrats are just dumb enough to fall for it. If that doesn't work, they can always trot out another bogus terror-attack warning for New York City, as just happened recently. Some journalists have noticed a suspicious linkage between such unnecessary alertness-level hikes and negative news stories resulting in a lowering of Bush's approval rating. This all but ensures that when we are attacked again, thousands of victims will have ignored the warnings because of the well-known motives of those who issue them. Then there's the bird flu. At least the government is taking that seriously. According to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt, there is a great deal of concern about another flu pandemic. This particular strain, known as H5N1, first appeared in Southeast Asia in 2003, and has since spread to neighboring countries such as Russia and China. With a 55 percent fatality rate, millions could be in harm's way... But so far, in two years, only 63 have died. Are fewer than six dozen deaths enough to declare an impending disaster, complete with Orwellian language? This virus only spreads from poultry to people, not from person to person, but listen to Leavitt's words, from last week. "The probability that the H5N1 virus will create a pandemic is uncertain. The signs are worrisome," he said. "It's enough of a possibility that it demands our attention." You know, like Saddam did, only maybe more likely. "We have to be prepared all the time" for such a problem, he explained (although he later stated that "preparations are not yet complete nor are they adequate"). "If you can get there fast enough and apply good public health techniques of isolating and quarantining and medicating and vaccinating the people in that area, you can... squelch it or you can delay it." And Bush himself has already said that the military will be doing the isolating and the quarantining, if not the medicating and vaccinating. Of course, that would be a blatant violation of the Constitution. Leavitt left the details and statements of the obvious to those who are best qualified for the job, like White House Spokesman Rosie McClellan, who reportedly said that revision (or repeal) of the Posse Comitatus Act "needs to be looked at" by Congress and the administration, who are in the "early planning of discussing it." Anyway. That's the news. You see why I haven't been writing much lately. Things are going to be changing soon, on this Web site, in this country. For my money, the change will be for the better. As the Romans would have said, Si quaenam Americam amoenam, circumspice. If you seek a beautiful America, look around you. From here, it really can't get any worse. In that regard, my mission is accomplished. All along, I have held but one unstated goal, which was to use my God-given talent to make my fellow citizens feel uncomfortable in their own skin about this abomination of a government. When I started this gig, Bush's approval rating was at 90 percent. Today, considerably less than half of that number would give him the thumbs-up. The same feelings abound when it comes to the Republican-led Congress. And they've got their greasy finger on the button of martial law. That's where we stand. You don't need me to tell you what's gone wrong anymore; you probably never did in the first place. So I say to you good day, reader, at least in this capacity. From here on out, you will be just as entertained on Heller Mountain as you ever were (probably more so, judging from the sounds of construction coming out of Web Guy's cubicle), but it will henceforth be different... Subcutaneous, even, like so many things in life will be. Don't worry. Change never hurts, because it was bound to happen anyway. Trust me, you won't even feel it. Paul Heller 10/12/05 << Back to the Home Page << Enter the Archives << What is Heller Mountain?
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