Taken aback by that shot of our patron saint Al Gore below, I couldn’t help thinking of Ernest P. Worrell (and, for some reason, his work which I’m sure misspelled the name, “Earnest, Scared Stupid”), poking his head in the neighbor’s window to begin the harangue. It’s funny how the mind works, but that got me thinking about the things neighbors discuss, which led to politics, and what’s going on in Washington right now.

I’m a little embarassed to admit that I don’t remember if I’ve ever called an elected official to express my opinion. Maybe I felt that the TV and radio, columns, books, speeches, panels, blogs and all the rest of it were “my part.” Which means, encouraging others to do so. And possibly, working closely on occasion with Capitol Hill over the past two decades gave me too great a feel for how those offices generally treat individual constituent input (not much respect is wasted on you as a rule — surely with many exceptions — I could go into stories, but let’s leave it at that. It’s a sad, arrogant place that’s strayed far from its founders’ intent).

After seeing this obscenity, on the heels of the Green trade press this morning boasting of how nearly all green pork was spared the hatche . . . er, paring knife, even cynical, seen-most-if-not-it-all me was hot under the collar. Congressman Price suggests we call our representatives. And I did. Sure, the lady answering the phone had a slight tone in her voice indicating slight bemusement with one more yahoo, bothering with such objections in the face of the great things that are about to happen. That’s ok. Let her feel what we feel for a few moments.

We are on a very dangerous course, as part of which we are normalizing the most outrageous national vandalism. And along for the ride this time are pornographic levels of “green” pork, ramming through long-held pet projects here and there which couldn’t previously make it in alongside the normal, bloated appropriations — from feel-good goodies to doomsday scare campaigns that substitute for arguments they know they can’t make.

Later, “green” alarmism will serve as the next excuse for crisis-driven binges in offense to our liberties. But things are really very much worse than even that at this moment, and the question is how much worse we let them get. So send a Valentine to your country and push back today. And then again.