The American Spectator : I'm Mad as Hell

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I'm Mad as Hell

By Gerald Nachman on 10.12.11 @ 6:07AM

Just doing my part to keep up with Americans' growing anger about everything.

Polls show that Americans are getting angrier at just about everything, so it's getting harder for my anger to be heard above the surrounding cries of outrage. Sometimes I'm not merely angry, I'm furious. There are days I can hardly see straight I'm so livid. Today, for instance, I'm angry at polls that depict how angry Americans are.

Boy, am I angry! I'm angry at the president, naturally. I'm angry at Congress. I'm angry at the political parties and the Supreme Court. I'm angry at the banks, at Wall Street, at the SEC, at illegal (even legal) immigrants, at Israel, the Palestinians, and of course Pakistan and China. I'm angry at the entire Middle East and much of Europe -- Greece, Italy, France -- and of course North Korea, much of Africa and the United States.

I'm angry not just at liberals and conservatives but at independents, for not making up their minds, and at the Tea Party for being so angry. I'm angry at the movie industry, the fast food industry, the oil industry, the solar energy industry and just industry in general, or the lack of it. I'm angry at the drug cartels and the oil cartels, at No Child Left Behind and teachers' unions and test scores, at credit card debt, at the deficit, at hedge fund managers and default swaps, at the rise in obesity and bullying, at Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Judge Judy, and Nancy Grace -- my anger role models.

It's not easy being angry 24 hours a day, but I do my best. When I wake up, I figure out what things I'm angriest about and then set my priorities for the day. It's a fulltime job. I make a list because it takes careful planning so you don't squander your anger on trifling matters. I used to get angry at the paper boy for refusing to toss the paper on my porch, or at junk mail and telemarketers, but I decided to give those up and channel my anger into something more befitting my anger, like greenhouse gases. I can't begin to tell you how darn angry that gets me -- almost as angry as I got at Netflix for raising its streaming fees.

You have to expend your anger carefully. I considered taking part in a protest against the moneyed interests on Wall Street, but then I got sidetracked and decided instead to protest against the medical insurance companies, because I like to direct my anger at specific targets. Speaking of which, I'm also angry at Target and, for that matter, all big box stores like Wal-Mart and Costco for exploiting their employees; I'm also pretty angry at the employees for letting themselves be exploited. Anger-wise, I can swing either way.

Friends have tried to talk me into taking a course in anger management, but that made me even angrier. Nothing riles me up more than people who try to tell me what to do, or suggest I calm down, or are not as angry as I am. I'm willing to own my anger.

Did I mention that I'm also mad at traffic conditions, college tuition fees, and the collapsing infrastructure? Well, I am -- damn peeved, in fact. And don't let me forget to express my anger at hidden surcharges on telephone, bank, electric, and computer bills. My next door neighbor told me how upset she was at the high cost of groceries, but I said I was angry at that five years ago. It really burned me up that she was so out of touch.

I used to worry that I might run out of things to be steamed about, but something new always comes along to enrage me. This week, for instance, I'm extremely angry about airport security and FEMA, TARP, NPR, and the HPV vaccine. Plus, to be sure, those old reliables Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner. and Lawrence Summers.

You don't want to waste your time being angry at, say, al Qaeda terrorists, because that's already been done to death. It's more enterprising to get angry at the way they're being rounded up by the CIA and killed without a trial. Or you might even get angrier at the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners than at the actual prisoners -- but then some weeks it's just the reverse. When it comes to angry causes, I'm extremely flexible.

You might say I'm sort of a professional angry guy; my anger knows no bounds or political persuasion. As a freelancer, I've gotten more skilled at channeling my anger at specific causes rather than just flying off the handle like a lot of your newcomers to the anger field. That's a much better use of your anger. Take it from a seasoned expert, round-the-clock anger is no walk in the park.

Here's a typical work week for me: On Monday, I might be angry at processed foods, Tuesday it could be lax gun control, Wednesday maybe it's child molesting priests, Thursday it's the postal service, Friday it could be Casey Anthony or Amanda Knox, and, on Saturday, drug prices. I try to rest on Sunday but it isn't always possible.

If I do take a break Sundays it's to try to think of things I'm not angry about, which gives me a few hours rest before the grind begins the next day. There aren't a lot of subjects I'm not riled up about, but right now I don't appear to be angry with Tony Bennett, Canada, chocolate chip cookies, Meryl Streep, Scotland, Hank Aaron, Jacques Papin, Bob Schieffer, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, my doctor, Thanksgiving, and my old buddies Al, Morrie, Rita, Mike and Randy. But I must warn you: any of these could change at any moment. In hotheaded times, the angry American's work is never done.

About the Author

Gerald Nachman is a writer in San Francisco and most recently the author of Right Here on Our Stage Tonight!: Ed Sullivan's America (University of California Press).

Letter to the Editor View all comments (45) | Leave a comment

POST American| 10.12.11 @ 6:19AM

----NOT mad about 'everything'

--------Mad about one thing particuarly:

The many decades underway, Globalist
RED China set up, sellout and TREASON OP.

-----And the concommitant agendas for
MASS EUGENICS (ie incremental genocide)
at the hands of a deeply entrenched, inbred,
psychopathic, Globalist, USURY feuled
'EEL--eat'.

The American people have been betrayed,
undermined, demoralized, degraded,
vrtually sterilized and dumbed down.

----------Likewise the world.

ALLLLL, absotutely ALLLLLL of it
-----by franchise slum 'design'.

NOT convinced?

CHECK OUT ALAN WATT's archives for
yourselves.

--------------------------WOE!----------------------------

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 10.12.11 @ 7:34AM

I'm angry because I don't understand Post American's anger, or 99% of his posts!!

Mike Hawk| 10.12.11 @ 8:31AM

Remember, today is a full moon. P-A is out howling. He gets let out early and gets extra time loose when the moon is full. No meds during that time either.

Agnes of God| 10.12.11 @ 10:16AM

BEN STEIN HOSPITALIZED

Please do not be angry with Ben Stein. The poor thing is, at this moment, undergoing gastric bypass surgery at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles.

Please remember him in your prayers. It's a very dangerous operation.

Cosmo| 10.13.11 @ 1:30AM

This article made me so angry that I tried to kick my cat, but she jumped out of the way and I fell down....Now she is angry with me.

yuyu| 10.12.11 @ 10:11AM

Post American, I love your psychotic poetry. Keep it coming!

Ken (Old Texican)| 10.12.11 @ 7:42AM

Gerald,
take a prozak...or three.

Then go out to the shooting range and shoot off a box of 12 guage shells.

Tim the Enchanter| 10.12.11 @ 2:35PM

Huh?

Stoddard| 10.12.11 @ 2:25PM

U mad, bro?

Dave| 10.12.11 @ 10:31AM

That's quite a collection of items on Gerald's daily rant list. For those of us living among the *Eloi (*Google it) , no doubt we could come up with a few p.o. listings of our own. As a matter of fact, I'd like to add one more item that can twist even the sturdiest pair of undies: Try spending five short minutes watching the babbling nags on The View.

It's enough to a grown straight-man wish he was gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Al Adab| 10.12.11 @ 1:48PM

Dave:
Love the eloi reference. are we that naive? LOL

Drunken Sailor| 10.12.11 @ 2:10PM

Dave, This Eloi is not afraid of the dark. And the movement is growing.

Bob Grant| 10.12.11 @ 2:50PM

My wife records the view and watches it sometimes in the evening during prime time. It's an offense to the eye, ear, and brain.

Any brave ladies want to opine on why this show is popular? For the life of me I haven't a clue.

Pecos Pete| 10.12.11 @ 6:58AM

Mr. Nachman: Are you sure your name isn't Obama?

Trinacria| 10.12.11 @ 7:20PM

Or Andy Rooney?

Drunken Sailor| 10.12.11 @ 10:28AM

Large caliber handguns work well too.

Le Cracquere| 10.12.11 @ 7:48AM

Grrr. GnnnnnAAAAAARRRRRRR!

JimH| 10.12.11 @ 7:49AM

Remember Ren's self revelation upon escaping Stimpy's Happy Helmet? He liked being angry.

Timothy L. Pennell| 10.12.11 @ 8:28AM

Hmmm. That was stupid.

Petronius| 10.12.11 @ 8:39AM

When you got to gun control, I got angry that TAS ran this. You're like that trid the other day who believes life should be palatable for weenies.

Ret. Marine| 10.12.11 @ 8:42AM

Naw I'm not angry, I am well beyond that stage and am already in the resolve stage. I resolve to be there when it hits. I am resolved to be as Dangerous as I can muster because as many on this site do, I see it for what it really is, a plot to make us angry about everything under G-d's green earth. I resolve to lesson my impact when that times comes, because I have already a list of the aggitators in my community, anyone care to guess where I plan to send them? Its not about being angry, its resolve to be part of the solution, not involved in being part of the problem leaves my heart knowing full my intentions are for the continueation of our Republic, for which it still stands, not the transformation into something, even they have yet to explain, I would not reconize nor would you. Naw, angry not going to happen, it is a fact that when everything around you is in complete chaos and going from a handbasket to hell in one split second, keep a level head and watch them fall on all sides, after all they are angry, you on the other hand resolve to do something about their anger. I'm resolved to not let their anger infect my resolve to put them all in their proper place, down like the rabbid demon children they are, right in front of god and everyone esle, for their children's safety of course, takes two to tangle but, only the one's with resolve is going to matter in the end. Semper Fi.

Spambalaya| 10.12.11 @ 10:21AM

You're a disgrace to the Corps, or a pathetic troll. Now go peddle your psycho vet crap somewhere else.

Stammon| 10.12.11 @ 11:49AM

Tell it to the Marines.

Skippy| 10.12.11 @ 3:30PM

I thought he hit for the cycle.
Right on!

Ret. Marine| 10.13.11 @ 7:26AM

What do you know of this organization I spent 32-1/2 involved in, apparently nothing at all. I feel sorry for those of your kind, no don't discuse any of the points I made here, no just lump me into the supposed hatred I oresented to you, too close for comfort there? right. Don't think for a minute I am going to get angry at you, no not going to happen, I do look forward to the day when you have the guts of a real man and say it to my face, yeah good luck with that, I am Retired now for almost 12 years, and still fit quite nicely into my dress blues, still holds these truth that one man is an army's worst mightmare, and as far as you civies are concerned, Marines, no better friend, no worst enemy.

Ken (Old Texican)| 10.12.11 @ 11:10AM

Well spoken, Marine!

I am resolved unto death.

Ret. Marine| 10.13.11 @ 7:35AM

Thanks Ken, a man must know his limits, apparently the prior post knows of no limits, but then again I am a Patriots, first in my Family to 1) graduate from College, 2) first in this second Generation family of German decent to become an Officer of these United States, still am, just retired from active service, and three I know who and what I am made of, I don't make idle threats, I keep promises I make. I swore to Defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, intend to uphold it to my death. Death before DisHonor. Semper Fi.

apnep | 10.12.11 @ 9:03AM

"My next door neighbor said she was angry at high grocery prices. I said I was angry about that five years ago. It really burned me up she was so out of touch." Hahahaaaa! Enjoyed this read.

Denver Todd| 10.12.11 @ 9:23AM

When you buy Ben & Jerry's, the money goes to all the things you are angry about, so the ice cream is anger by proxy. You should be angry about that.

Paul from SA| 10.12.11 @ 10:02AM

I'm angry at bad drivers.

Doctor Right| 10.12.11 @ 10:24AM

I'm angry that I wasted 4 minutes reading this dumb article...

Steve A| 10.12.11 @ 10:57AM

I'm angry at myself for my inability to cope with my anger.

Doctor Right| 10.12.11 @ 12:29PM

...That really ticks me off, Steve A...

Al Adab| 10.12.11 @ 11:28AM

The ever increasing anger is symptomatic of the large frustration caused by the nanny state and its over promising to solve everything. When government intrudes deeper every day and promises to solve all our ills, it only sets itself up for failure. That failure causes great frustration as the system becomes ever more bureaucratic and unresponsive. That frustration manifests itself in anger toward other things over which people at least believe they still retain some control.

Ron.Ron.do.Ron| 10.12.11 @ 11:43AM

Consider cultivating cynicism instead of anger - it's much less work even though, as Joan Didion said, "No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up."

Bob Grant| 10.12.11 @ 12:19PM

Folks,

Be mad at the following:

(A) Authors and promoters of the Community Reinvestment act which started this downward snowball to hell. The subsequent GSE's which enabled people who were in no position to to own mortgages have caused irreparable damage. Politicians such as Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Christopher Dodd, and others who used the race/class card to push and grow these programs should be in jail. Republicans who where too too Chicken S**t to put an end to it should pay the ultimate political price. Guilty parties in the private sector such as Franklin Raines should also be in jail. He's no different than Bernie Madoff.

(B) Citizens (you know who you are) with no moral grounding who became in debt up to their ears just to keep up with the Jones' should be held accountable....again, you know who you are!!!

(C) UNIONS, UNIONS, UNIONS - both private and public - that killed the manufacturing sector in this country and forced/demanded unsustainable compensation and benefits.

(D) Regulation which has caused nothing but mass uncertainty and the destruction of our domestic energy capabilities.

...The democrats are the perpetrators. The republicans are the enablers.

Bob K.| 10.12.11 @ 2:38PM

Oh Angered Ones!

Soothe your Oxygen induced Paranoia! The cure is simple.

Take a paper bag and exhale and inhale into it until these feelings of anger cease. We all know that Carbon Dioxide taken in this manner has a tranquilizing effect.

While doing this contemplate on the joys that man made Global Warming will bring to the human race! This increase of Carbon Dioxide will ultimately bring nirvana to all members of the human race! Wars will cease. Brotherly love will return as will sisterly and other types of love.

And so, burn more coal in the name of love! Cast off your catalytic converter and convert to CO2!

Inhale in peace!

Bob Grant| 10.12.11 @ 2:43PM

You're funny. Then again, I thought Jerry Lewis was funny.

WhiteBikerTrash| 10.12.11 @ 2:48PM

Take a deep breath.

Count to ten.

Kill something.

Feel better now?

Why did I get kicked out of anger management classes?

Skippy| 10.12.11 @ 3:32PM

For skipping ahead in the textbook.

Prester John| 10.12.11 @ 4:50PM

I'd rather blow something up.

Diomasach| 10.12.11 @ 3:44PM

Dude, how can you not be angry at Tony Bennett? Have you heard his 9/11 comments about how "we caused it" because “we were bombing them and they told us to stop.”
Just pisses me off!

Jeremiah| 10.12.11 @ 5:08PM

How can you not be angry at Meryl Streep? She should be a great actress, but in every role in every great movie she is in, I keep thinking, "Meryl Streep is doing a great job in this role." I can never get lost in her character and forget it is Meryl being a character - and that really p*sses me off!