T’was mentioned recently in these parts that James Howard Kunstler, agree with him or not, writes like a demon on some unholy combo of LSD and steroids. This week he does it again. One can only stand aside and regard him with awe:
The word lamppost is popping up lately with alarming frequency in connection with the word banker in all kinds of respectable places, and I don’t think this refers to, say, men in Armani suits searching for their car keys where the light is shining on the sidewalk after quaffing a few rare cuvee jeroboams of Louis Roederer Cristal. Rather, it seems to suggest a certain unease with the levers of jurisprudence in this republic of grifters, stooges, and bought-off lackeys.
Also of late come rumblings from the most august newspaper in the land that certain questions concerning LIBOR-fixing among American bank officials might soon be entertained in a federal courtroom. But isn’t it a fact that the US Department of Justice has its hands full – not to mention its dockets – with cases of alleged performance-doping by star athletes? Just think: all that effort (and expense!) at repeated prosecutions and Roger Clemens remains at large! His fastball might yet shred the constitution and dishonor all the combined sacrifices of our men in uniform in countless heroic wars.
Meanwhile, has The New York Times sent a reporter to chat up the elusive John Corzine? It must be an easier job than, say, trekking to a cave in Tora Bora to interview the late Mr. Osama bin Laden – which a few plucky reporters actually accomplished back when – yet Mr. Corzine is now better hidden than the Orang-pendek of Sumatra. And higher-functioning, too, considering his current role as Uncle Scrooge McDuck (link added) to the Obama reelection campaign. In what 5th sub-basement of a Robert A. M. Stern-designed luxury high-rise does Mr. Corzine sit with his moneybags of purloined MF Global customer funds writing checks to the Democratic National Committee?
All this is to say that when a few lame rumors of prosecutorial zeal appear in old gray mouthpiece for the status quo, you can bet that the true tipping point of public impatience has probably been breeched and the fall of the elites is closer than you think. In the sizzling sauna that the US has become under the regime of climate change denial, the black swans of political turmoil are moistly hatching. Who knows what form the mischief might take and how the trouble starts. Perhaps a hostage crisis at the Maidstone Club where families of a dozen hedge fund chiefs are held in the pool house by an out-of-work pipefitter from Wantagh high on bath salts. Or a swindled soybean farmer in a Semtex-rigged vest pays a call on the PFG-Best futures trading headquarters in Cedar Falls, Iowa, just as the lawyers and their financier clients sit down in the conference room to an ordered-in lunch of sloppy joes, fries, and slurpees. Or maybe a part-time evangelist off his Zoloft in some broiling strip-mall in a bankrupt California shit-hole sees the numbers 666 resolve among the remnants of his half-eaten enchilada on a Mitt Romney for President commemorative plate and packs up an arsenal of legally-acquired small arms for his journey to the Republican Convention in Tampa….
Just to be clear, you like what Kuntsler says or the style that he uses to say it?
I love the style, the word choice, the sheer fireworks of the thing, the way he goes all convoluted but still comes out the other side making complete sense. I think his insights are great, too. Mostly only disagree on details (at least from what I’ve read of him so far).
You?
he talks a little like a Dennis Miller rant LOL
The Hunter S. Thompson-style gonzo rant form of writing that Kunstler uses is fun to read, no doubt about it. The hyperbole, the snooty cultural references, and the passionate and nearly criminal incitement Kuntsler expresses is a welcome relief from the usual bland opinion verbiage we see so often. However, as a style it has it’s limitations too. There are gonna be issues where you want to seem focused and purposeful which Kuntsler’s style doesn’t lend itself to at all.
Where indeed.
http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/america-where-art-thou
The writing is clever, but turgid and pretentious.
What was he trying to communicate? My summary is:
“I despise bankers, politicians, and average people. Everyone, in fact, who is not James Howard Kunstler.”
Not a bad batch of writing. Like how he writes it and what he says. Once, in a land far away, I wrote a report for my employer in similar language. It went over quite well, with my peers. Boss laughed, highlighted the parts that were useful and made me rewrite the rest. The outlet that the initial write provided was sorely needed at the time and made having to rewrite worth it.
Claire,
OT: Saw the Nullification movie last night. Recommended.
http://nullificationmovie.com/
Steve
Steve — Sorry, your comment went into the spam filter and I just found and unspammed it.