How to stop worrying and love the Bush

We all knew it had to happen. Our hopes were raised, our spirits lifted, and we sat on the edge of our seats, beers in hand, waiting for the results to roll in. John F Kerry would be America’s next President elect, and all the signs pointed to a landslide victory: the Redskins lost their game, his initials were the same as John F Kennedy’s, surely nobody in their right mind liked Bush anyway. As the results came in, red state after red state, beers turned to whiskeys, whiskeys turned to shots of absinthe, and shots of absinthe turned to gallons of pure ethanol with flaming gasoline chasers. Those of us living in foreign climes were left spent and bruised at five in the morning, having been thoroughly rogered up the ramjet by the Republican Party. “Let me put it to you this way,” the chimpy-featured prolapse uttered at his first press conference, “I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style.” Despite only winning the slimmest of paper-thin majorities of America’s votes, the man who ignored a memo called “Bin Laden determined to strike in US” now claims to have a mandate to carry on as before. However, although this seems like an unrecoverable blow to all that is peaceful and intelligent in the world, not to mention America’s reputation on the world stage, Rum and Monkey would like to remind you of this: he only has two years before he becomes a lame duck and can’t even make an echo under a bridge, let alone substantial policy. That’s not enough time to start another war. That’s hardly enough time for a government department to organise a staff barbecue, or for a Democrat to decide how to decorate his cubicle. It is in this spirit that Rum and Monkey offers you some ways of spending the next two years, so that you hardly even notice that the man with his finger on the button actively believes in bringing about Armageddon in order to trigger the second coming of Christ. After all, who needs mortal terror when you’ve got great holiday ideas? Idea One: Freeze Yourself Sadly, it’s a myth that Walt Disney had himself frozen when he died. It would have been great to see him wake up in 2043, exclaim “what the hell is this?!”, die again, be resuscitated, exclaim “what the hell is this?!”, die again, be resuscitated, exclaim “what the hell is this?!”, and so on, ad infinitum for the rest of eternity. Although cryogenics cannot properly provide a way to be frozen and then thawed into a harsh universe thousands of years later, the dream is kept alive by a few brave men and women who ably take millions of dollars from stupid rich people afraid of death. Why should this be solely the preserve of the very wealthy? You too can obtain enough funds to be put on ice for the period of your choice. Simply defraud California and bankroll a famous gubernatorial candidate who can’t lose in order to only have to pay 2% of the debt. It’s easy when you know how! Idea Two: Spend Your Time On The Road Singing Gospel Whether you’re Christian or not, you can’t deny that gospel music is both beautiful and soulful. Singers like Mahalia Jackson, the Blind Boys of Alabama and John Ashcroft have proven that this art form transcends religious barriers and can deliver the warm, sweet glow of passion direct into your cold, dead heart. Why not join in the fervent religious antics, and sing your own great gospel songs? There are several elements you must not forget when singing gospel:
  • Every song must mention Jesus in some way, preferably as part of a day-to-day activity. Examples include Jesus, I want to hold your hand; O Lord, I’m washing my dishes with Jesus; Jesus makes me glad to be beaten by my alcoholic husband and addressed as ‘Woman’.
  • The more you embellish your note with seemingly pointless trills and scales, the more you care. Similarly, emphatic hand-clapping is smiled upon.
  • Rolling around on the floor speaking in tongues is not strictly necessary, but may lend a more contemporary feel to your song; it is our understanding that Eminem does this halfway through every performance.
It is also important never to mix gospel with rhythm and blues, unless you want to be damned for all eternity like the demon Ray Charles. Ashcroft does it best, as can plainly be determined by listening to his cover of King Jesus (on his album Truth), a song that goes:
All the armies of the world will someday gather And they’ll pass before the great reviewing stand And they’ll beat their swords and weapons into plow shares Then the Prince of Peace will give the last command
We at Rum and Monkey find this quite stirring. Idea Three: Move To New York Interestingly, given the city’s famous terrorist attack and apparently numerous subsequent foiled attempts to level the metropolis with dirty bombs and / or the fearful spectre of godless immorality, New York had one of the largest Democratic majorities in the country. (This is not hard.) It would seem that New Yorkers, having actually been exposed to terrorism and dealing with potentially alarming concepts like foreigners and gay people every day, have overcome their fear of other people and get on with their lives. Republican mixes with Democrat, gay with straight, black with white, street mugger with corporate criminal, dirty bomb with clean – a true melting pot. If you move here, maybe you too can find the strength to get on with your life! We hope you have found these ideas both useful and inspirational. As for us here at Rum and Monkey? We live in Britain, and can therefore feel smug without any fear of recrimination. After all, it’s not like our government has reduced civil liberties, invaded the middle east, broken social security, racked up a large debt, fraudulently inspired fear of terrorism in the population or elected a religious fundamentalist to its figurehead position! Ha ha!

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