An unsettling feeling...

When the US Supreme Court delivered it's decision which installed George W. Bush as president I remember an uneasy feeling in my bones. I felt as if alarm bells were clanging but I couldn't make out where, like a fireman that lost their sight in the midst of a call.

The source of the alarm bells was soon identified as George W. Bush but I remember wondering why that should be. I didn't know anything about him and America did need a president to function properly...

And yet this feeling persisted and if anything grew stronger as the days went by. All I was sure of was that something was very, very wrong.

So, after a while of this I quieted my mind and studied my emotions. What was it that was driving these alarm bells in my mind? After all, here was a candidate adverse to foreign occupation, concerned about education, and even using the word compassion.

Then I figured out where the alarms were coming from and it is something I don't understand. What I realized is that I was alarmed because I was remembering president George W. Bush, and this remembrance was fueling my uneasiness.

That doesn't make much sense to me. This would mean that somehow I knew from past experience, or perhaps future experience, that president Bush would turn out unfavorable in my eyes (to put it mildly).

Of course you can't have this happen to you without seeing the world anew.

For instance, when I see how the world health organization is reacting to outbreaks of bird flu (H5N1) I find myself wondering if there isn't someone there with a hard-to-describe bad feeling in their bones.

The trouble is, for me, why did I have this memory and what was I supposed to do with it? After all, George W. Bush's incompetence should have been self-evident after a few months in office, let alone years, but he was reelected by tens of millions (winning the popular vote).

What chance have I got to change that kind of mass delusion?

The trouble is, lately, new alarms are sounding, clanging, and banging in my mind. Something is about to get worse, I think, but I am like a blind fireman waiting for the heat.

Do you suppose there's any point to such memories?