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Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, United States

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Bloody-minded

I like British expressions;
They enliven the English language.
Some achieve common American use
In such abbreviations as "fridge" and "telly."

One of my favorites is "gobsmacked."
There is no way you can translate it;
Yet as soon as you hear it,
You know exactly what it means.

Great German expressions are also untranslateable,
Therefore you have to fit the original to the situation,
Such as "weltschmerz", "schadenfreude",
Or that happy little "gemutlichkeit"!

The British take first prize with "bloody-minded,"
Because it describes so accurately the condition of the world.
So many examples of bloody-mindedness abound
That it is difficult to enumerate them all.

I'll make a simplistic stab at definition:
Bloody-minded is, "I'm going to have my way,
Even if it brings the house down on me!"
Sound familiar? Let's look at:

The failure of the recall election in Wisconsin,
Wherein the voters ratified the achievements of the governor
In pulling the fangs of the public employees' unions;
Thus making their futile gesture a harbinger of decline.

You alread have read my accounts of
The headstrong drive to organizational suicide
By the leaders of the Christian denomination
That I used to belong to.

Now turn our attention to the U.S. Congress.
High on the list of egregious failures
Is the decision of the Senate to
Forgo passing a national budget for the past three years.

Europe offers vivid pictures
Of citizens rioting in the streets
Because their governments are broke and
Can't afford the handouts people demand.

I could go on, but it's too depressing.
Perhaps we should just tend our gardens,
Fix the broken windows, fill the potholes,
And try to restore confidence in who we are.

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