insanity is the human condition

"Mr. Maginnis said he concluded that the analysts were being “manipulated” to convey a false sense of certainty about the evidence of the weapons. Yet he and Mr. Bevelacqua and the other analysts who attended the briefing did not share any misgivings with the American public. Mr. Bevelacqua and another Fox analyst, Mr. Cowan, had formed the wvc3 Group, and hoped to win military and national security contracts."

If I'm reading this correctly, a few military analysts had been so co-opted by the government in their quest for funding, they were willing to allow the American public to be duped into a war. They stood by--specific people with the power to end the madness. Instead, it turns out they too were mad, driven crazy by the pursuit of money.

Then again, insanity has always been a part of the human condition. That explains why I'm not so surprised. Really, I'd be surprised if the opposite happened. Yet shouldn't there be balance? Because if we either despair completely or embrace it, then we wouldn't be aware of the difference, or the existence of this quality.

thoughts

Most of the men I meet in the Northwoods fit the same general category--fit guys who spend the weekends drinking beer, fishing, hunting, playing football, and eating game for dinner. I know, there's got to be plenty of couch potatoes too, but it still feels like all the boys in the woods spend their weekends running around the woods in rites of manhood.

A friend thinks conservatives are the conglomeration of society's winners--religious, wealthy, 'popular kids' type people. Liberals are the outsiders, loser type people. This sounds like a case of low self-esteem from internalized marginalization.

Today it snowed. Many trees haven't even changed colors (and this is definitely what most people were talking about today, as though yearning for order). I thought it was beautiful. After work I went for a drive with my friend of 6 years. Over the course of that drive, the leaves turned from light green to brilliant yellow. Snow began to fall in clumps like goose down. The leaves let out low rustles, splintering in the sky; frozen water in their veins.