Saturday, June 02, 2007

One Year of "The Rant"

My goodness! Can it be an entire year? Early on the morning of June 2, 2006, I received an e-mail from a person who had read my daily postings on the wonderful political website, AlterNet (a link to which may be found on this site), who told me, "You ought to start your own blog". Never having been very computer savvy, I inquired, "Well now, how the heck do I do that"? The person then directed me toward, Blogger.com and explained to me that starting one would be easier than I thought. By day's end I had posted my first piece which was called, George W. Bush: The Last Republican President. I have searched my files, trying in vain to find that e-mail but it has apparently, sadly, been lost forever. I can't even remember if the person who contacted me that morning was a man or a woman. Whoever it was, all I can say is thanks a heap! This has turned out to be one of the greatest things I've ever been involved in. Ironically, while George W. Bush may very well be the worst thing that ever happened to this once-great nation, the hideous little thug is the best thing that ever happened to me. As the Moody Blues once sang, "Isn't life strange"?

By the end of June, I had fifteen pieces posted. The sheer volume of output that first month was somewhat misleading; most of those postings were letters to the editors of two local papers here in Orange County, New York (some going back as far as nine months) that I dusted off and ever-so-slightly edited to bring them up to date (Reflections In A Hurricane's Eye from June 24, for instance, was originally published in the Goshen Independent and the Chester Chronicle in September of 2005). At the conclusion of the first piece, I predicted that Bush would be remembered as the first former president in history of this country to go to federal prison. I stand by that prediction.

After a full year, where do we find ourselves?

We're almost at the halfway point of 2007 and things are starting to get really interesting. The Bush administration is, quite literally, falling apart. The First Fool's original Texas Gang are starting to flee this disgusting White House like rats from a sinking ship. The official explanation is that they are just "burnt out" or that they "want to move on to other things" or (my personal favorite) "they want to spend more time with their families". Please. Any power freak will tell you that working in the White House is the most sought after, desirous gig in the world. One doesn't just "leave" that job unless one has a damned good reason. These people, unlike their boss, aren't totally stupid. They know good and well that the trillion dollar shithammer is about to come crashing down. Trust me on this one, campers: they don't want to be seen anywhere near Washington, DC when that happens.

Is it un-American to feel positively giddy (as I unashamedly do) by the implosion of the executive branch of the United States government? Not at all. Not when that government has proven itself to be as murderously corrupt and incompetent as this one. Make no mistake about it: the complete and utter failure of the Bush regime is the best thing for our republic.

Oh, yeah.... The next six months are going to be very interesting - very interesting, indeed, my dears!

Pray for peace.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY.
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

Photograph of the editiorial offices of "The Rant" taken on May 9, 2007

16 Comments:

At 10:02 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Tom,

Happy Anniversary! This deserves a celebration! I would like to throw a barbeque in your honor and invite everyone who frequents The Rant, but that must wait until I convert my staunch Bush-supporting family or find another place to have it. They would like to barbeque you, my friend!

Your blog has been a steady ally in the struggle to make sense of a senseless series of events. You've kept my spirits up and given me much needed ammo in dealing with the lies my friends and family still believe. The Rant is an unbeatable combination of extensive knowledge, sharp wit, poignancy, eloquence and some side splitting humor.

Congratulations on a beautiful year's work. I'm really looking forward to year two.

 
At 10:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom

You have been terrifically informative, passionate and entertaining

I "met" you on AlterNet but I regularly read "The Rant"

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Dr. Rick Lippin

 
At 12:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom,
I've also enjoyed reading your blog. Happy Anniversary!
Please keep "speaking truth to lies".
Your continued efforts are much appreciated.
I sure hope you are correct about the fool crashing.
Let the war crimes trials begin!

Anonymous (W)

 
At 2:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary Tom!It has been an entertaining,frustrating,infuriating, FUN year.
I am ambivalent about the implosion of the Commander in Thief and Liar in Chief,
On one hand I am glad he is coming unravelled mentally; on the other I am not wise enough to know which GWB is the greater danger to our country:the foaming at the mouth GWB or the diarrhea of the mouth GWB,especially in face to face encounters with foreign leaders.
You and Alternet have provided me with a chance to vent that would otherwise be hard to find here in flat-earth Kansas.
The Holy Joes here in this great state must be beating their heads against the wall for letting Kentucky beat them to the creation museum

 
At 2:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fearless Flower; let's allow for different time zones and lift a glass of our favorite potent potable to Tom's sucess in the past and his continued success in the future.

 
At 4:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great idea, Wilma. I believe you are two hours ahead of me, so shall we say, about 8:00 pm your time?

 
At 5:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's to another year of Bush-bashing and my he still be on the government dole in Leavenworth or better yet Gitmo.
Care to join us Tom?
Keep up the fine posts!Wilma

 
At 6:41 PM, Blogger Bambic said...

Wait for me!
Don't I get to toast our beloved Mr. Degan, too?
Okay, so I don't post comments quite as often as you others, but blame that on a very old computer (I have to crank it up) that sometimes just doesn't feel like going online...yeah well, anyway, Tom: how can we thank you for you being you?
Here's to another wonderful year!

Bambic
P.S. Just out of curiousity, is there any candidate out there that you favor? Presidential, that is...

 
At 6:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bambic; the more the merrier,you have excellent comments and I am sure your toast will do us all proud.
As far as I am concerned all are invited

 
At 9:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary Tom,
I found that one of the luckiest days in my life was finding your Blog. I too want to propose a toast to you. May you be blogging for many more years to come with the same accuracy and wit that we lucky readers have become accustomed to.

One of your many avid fans

Linda Fallis
North Bay, On. Ca.

 
At 11:44 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Thank you so much for the kind words, folks...As I told Fearless Flower in a private e-mail this morning, I had to blink a couple of times to realize you were talking about me. That's not false modesty - Anyone who grew up with me who are reading your nice words are probably shaking their collective heads!

To Bambic: I'm not thrilled with ANY of the candidates at the moment. My one hope is that Al Gore decides to gety in to the game. Think of the message that sending him to the White House will send to the rest of the world:

"Hey world! We fucked up - BIG TIME! - and we're trying to make things right by sending to Washington the man who had the election stolen from him seven years ago!"

That would, indeed be a powerful message.

Love,
Tom Degan

 
At 8:12 PM, Blogger Wisewebwoman said...

Slainte Tom, always, always! good words from you.

 
At 8:21 PM, Blogger Saltwater said...

Congratulations, Tom, and you give me hope to keep up blogging myself, after almost giving up on mine. But as they say, it takes many grains of sand to make a beach, or something like that, and so to be one "grain" speaking out against Bush's war is small but at least it is something. I read each post of The Rant since I discovered it last fall, and am really glad you are there keepin' on keepin' on.
-Gib (or John of your email recently)

p.s. if you haven't seen this yet, check out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x997461

 
At 12:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Tom (although a day late and a dollar short), here's to the next ten years!

If wishing can make it so, then these thugs currently in power will end their days in federal prison. Fingers crossed!

Keep up your terrific writings, they get us through these dark days.

Mary Eman

 
At 12:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Tom,

I am very late coming to the party as I was out of town for most of the week and weekend, but I too want to add my congratulations.


Before The Rant, I enjoyed emailing with you about your postings on Alternet and I am so pleased that you now have your own blog. In my last year's Christmas letter, I encouraged all of my firends to check out this site as one of the best on the internet. Always entertaining and always to the point.

Congratulatinos and let us hope for more years to come. (And may we all get together to celebrate the fall of this wretched excuse of an administration).

 
At 3:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Tom
I couldnt get the website to accept my comment, when I first read this Anniversary piece. So, better late than never, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I have admired your courage, honesty, and no-nonsense comments from the first time I began reading them. Your blog speaks the truth, something that has been in short supply the last 7 years. I join with you in expressing the anger and indignation over the conditions that now exist in this country. Thank you for speaking out.

 

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