02 December 2006

Day Laborers

One of those mysterious things happened in the atmosphere yesterday. It was seventy degrees, moist even, and then the air mass from Canada swept in, the cold air denser than the warm. It arrived like the wedge of a door stop, pushing the warmer air up, and raking the earth below with powerful cold fingers.

The Hispanic guys had been working down below on the pool, removing the green tarp and the edging tiles. I took the lawn chair out to watch them. They worked silently, carefully replacing the tiles with fresh new edging that holds smaller tiles giving the depth and the admonishment not to dive in water three feet deep.

I'm sure it is an insurance thing, but they look nice and crisp from up above.

They left the tarp off to let the masonry set up and cure, and the winds raised small hurricanes on the dirty water, and piled the leaves up mournfully in a corner of the deep end.

It was about thirty-four degrees (F) when I was finally able to pry myself out of bed.

I had dreamed fitfully. I do not know if it is the unsettling job thing, the approaching holidays, or the prospect of the next war in Asia that had me going. I had an animated discussion with a colleague about it, and it stuck with me into the small hours, when the powers of uncertainty are magnified.

It had made me a little queasy, agreeing with his contention that conventional war was unlikely. The affairs of China and America are too mingled these days to countenance combat. Still it is ominously similar to the theory of mutual entwinement that made the thought of war on the Continent impossible. That is what they said in 1913, anyway.

Perhaps the hysteria is unwarranted. The Federation of American Scientists claims the US intelligence agencies have portrayed Chinese weapons developments as more threatening than they really are, to justify building a new generation of weapons.

I remember the famous doomsday clock that the Federation used to maintain, with the second-hand just a few ticks away from nuclear holocausts. We seem to have blundered through that well enough, and they set the hands back a few seconds before retiring the image.

It could be that WalMart is as big a player in the diplomatic game as Ms Rice is at the Department of State. But still, the boys and their toys are a factor unto themselves, as is the resurgent nationalism on both sides of the Straits.

I hope it doesn't happen, but I think we should be prepared with realism if it does. Could we forward deploy a sufficient number of nuclear submarines quickly enough to deny sea access? Would they not have a working airhead on the island before we could deny the sea? Would the carriers be able to hold back the swarms of land-based air so near, and is the vaunted majesty of the birdfarms vulnerable to the expanded Chinese sea frontier?

I dunno.

My concerns about China faded as the light rose, and I briefly contemplated where my next paycheck was going to come from. I know the guys who supervised the work on the pool got their helpers from the line of day-laborers who gather at the Mexican Supermarket a few blocks away on Pershing Drive. Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusitts uses that method to keep his lawn nice and tidy, even if he is opposed to illegal immigration. He got ambushed the other night about hypocracy, and all he wanted was to have his leaves picked up.

I think that is a little ironic, since his Dad George, a decvout Moron, spent some of his youth with the family in mexico, looking for religious freedom. but there is so much irony in the world these days I chose to leave it alone. Go with the flow, I say.

I assume the big Defense Contractors show up with a big van and drive slowly down the line, looking for previous national security experience.

I resolved to set my alarm a little earlier on Monday and find out. I might see others in my situation there, perhaps Dr. Steve Cambone. He was the go-to guy for Secretary Rumsfeld since the start of the Bush administration in January 2001. He has been the Undersecretary for Intelligence since March 2003. With his Boss being unemployed, he was not long for the Building. His departure to "spend more time with his family" was announced on Friday.

Of course, his position as an unemployed guy will be a bit grander than mine. I image the contractors will just drive the van directly over to his house.

If I see him on Monday, I'll ask.

Copyright 2006 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com

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