Watching the Whirl(d)

Sometimes I think the world’s gonna spin off the axis…things keep happening and I always think “what more could possibly happen?” Bad question.

London bombings: what more could possibly happen? Hurricane: what more could possibly happen? CIA leak investigation: what more could possibly happen?

Well, secret executive searches with no judicial review; an Iranian nuclear threat; another Bin Laden tape.

I’m not complaining. Really; it’s a news-junkie’s wet dream.

I remember watching Reagan’s funeral: what I like to call “the day everyone thought we were being attacked for about half an hour that everyone missed.” It was incredible. All the senators and representatives are congregating in one place, when suddenly, security guards are screaming “take off your shoes and run as fast as you can!” I’m watching it all live: the reporter says a plane has just flown into the no-fly zone. This is serious. People fly by the camera. The camera man loses his shot as they all have to suddenly run away from the commands of a guard. And the whole time I’m thinking “this is it, this is it: I’m watching the next attack on live TV.” And then, just as quickly as it had started, the reporter announces false warning. Evidently, some senator’s plane accidentally entered the no-fly zone. And that was it.

But that’s kind of what I watch for.