> Are things so bad today that bashing Reagan's Central American terror
> wars brings a measure of relief? Judge for yourself -- read and scroll
> down to the comments. Like old times.
>
> <http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/07/18/when-reagan-wore-leather>
Remarkable clips. Truly the last flicker of light before the Storm of Mordor. I remember the 1980s quite well, and there was this creepy-crawly feeling of autumnal decay in the air. Doom was upon the Empire. Yet I never dared to dream I would live to see the hour of its self-destruction.
Weirdly, I find myself becoming more optimistic these days. It's something I sense in the media culture. A subtle, invisible recoil, something in the curvature of a PS3, in the sound-track of a Satoshi Kon film, in the character-design of Fran and Balthier in "Final Fantasy 12", one of the most magnificent works of art created by human hands. I don't have the words to explain it. Something like the glint of happiness yet to come, or the promise of a life beyond the Empire's rack and ruin, maybe.
-- DRR