Metamorphoses

“Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt.”

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from his uneasy dreams, he found himself in his bed, changed into some monstrous vermin.

So begins the famous novella Metamorphoses or Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka. The frustration of living in a world where lies are the truth and the truth lies and one thing can become another in the service of one lie or another and all under the heel of some intractable authority, can make one identify with the world of Kafka. The transformation, the metamorphoses of Abu Nidal into Osama bin Laden is one tiny example.

Like everyone, I get an endless stream of forwarded e-mail and when it contains pictures of the burning World Trade Center or words about God and Country, I normally hit the delete button because I know there’s a lie coming. Somehow this morning, even though I know better, I opened one that has been circulation for years – perhaps you’ve seen it. It’s the one that has Ollie North “in front of God and Country” warning the nation about Osama bin Laden and claiming that an assassination team be formed to take him out. North, says the screed, took money for a security system to protect him from the most dangerous terrorist on earth – Osama. Senator Al Gore scoffed at the whole idea.

Of course those of us who are not Republicans, liars, or delusional (but I repeat myself) realize that Abu Nidal, the man who was in fact the most dangerous terrorist on earth in 1987 was cited over and over and over again as Oliver North’s terrorist, Osama was busy fighting our enemies the Soviets and that Al Gore wasn’t on the committee and wasn’t there. “I just now heard the replay on the news,” lies the anonymous sender.

It doesn’t matter, the vermin Abu Nidal metamorphoses into Osama and al Gore appears in magic form and the whole thing circulates endlessly among people who don’t remember, don’t care, can’t be bothered to look it up and vote Republican.

If anyone failed to do anything about Abu Nidal, it was the Reagan administration. Abu Nidal, the man from Fatah, was assassinated in Baghdad in 2002, most likely by Saddam Hussein who opposed him. If anyone laughed at the prospect of Osama bin Laden being the enemy of the US, it was the Republicans. If anyone ignored the warnings, hobbled further investigations and subverted all resources to make war on Iraq, it was George W. Bush But around and around it goes, from the mailbox of one believer to another and when one bothers to supply the truth, as I have often done, one meets with a fiery “Liberalextremistcommiecrazyhoppyflagburneridiot” and one gives up.

I give up. Fighting to save America from the Republicans is like treating terminal cancer with leeches. Depriving America of the lies it’s addicted to is like trying to get a thousand dollar a day junky to go cold turkey. Nothing is true, nobody knows anything and it’s all over.