...the 1 train as apparatchik?

Lately the 1 train has been perceptively slow, and its tardiness directly correlates with its overcrowded and aggressive cargo.

I want to blame the Bush administration. I believe that Bush prefers a negligent MTA to an efficient one, not because he simply delights in the misery of others, but rather because he recognizes the typically unexploited opportunities of turning a population against itself in subtle ways.

Suggestions that Bush's political savvy might outpace his marketability have always seemed untenable. Occasion after countless occasion he prattles presidentially and pathetically--we shall not be fooled, most maintain. What if the dolt were reinscribed in Machiavellian manipulation? What if the idiot tank were the only viable breeding ground for an ungodly political dynamism?

Sometimes when I ride the 1 train it takes forever to arrive and then I sadly sardine myself amidst the flock. The other day steerage was so scrambled I had no need to touch a pole or wall, the herd helped me remain on my feet. And yet the feelings that arose in me were hardly camaraderie or companionship, communalism or compassion, but in fact a brand of xenophobia. Yes, Bush likes slow trains because it fosters xenophobias which then make prejudicial treatment of 'the other' far more palatable. By beginning several million people's day closer to several other million people, Bush undermines what ought to be collective endeavor--the commute--and distorts our view on philosophical alterity.

Instead of an homage to the stranger, the other, the train ride has become a session in larval hostility and egoism. Riding crowded trains makes it easier to resent and ultimately loathe the unknown, a process which in turn justifies the war on terror. Bush inconveniences us to render us pliable pieces of complicit citizenry...

Unsuspecting masses of the free world unite! For we approach one day when such thoughts might not only be illegal, but also outside the reach of everyday consciousness.