8 May 2009

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News finally had something to report today. Almost like all the information which had been accumulating over the past couple of days arrived in a delivery at their doorstep and they finally had the opportunity to disseminate it today.

And, uhm, there's a lot to sift through. I'm still trying to take it all in myself. In fact, let's hold off on that a bit. Things around here are strange enough; we'll get to the rest of the country's issues in due time.

Other than what was reported today, everything I know is still regional. That is, I'm still unable to access national news via TV or websites. Rumors abound, but always with a slight variation; nothing solid, nothing constant on which to base any assumptions.

I'm starting to get a little restless about everyday supplies and my bank account. Today I'm still trying to take everything in...tomorrow, no matter what, I really need to look into those.

So easy to convince myself it's okay to be slack for one more day. But honestly...it's going to be a chore at best. I'm not looking forward to the lines, the prices, the people, everything. People go crazy with a lack of information, but the wrong kind of information can make them crazier, and I've got a bad feeling the wrong kind of information got spread today.

I mean, information's information. Long as it's fact, there's little you can do about it. And what was reported today was fact, mixed in with a little calming optimism. Well-spoken, actually, considering. About as well-spoken and soothing as such news can be delivered. But people react to sudden, unprecedented change in not-so-subtle manners, no matter how easily the blow is dealt.

And boy have blows been dealt.

So the news. Change, it would seem, is coming a lot sooner than we hoped.

Maybe hope's the wrong word to use here. Kinda callous, considering, what with all the positive connotations were attached to it during the election season. Regardless.

I'm still wrapping my head around all this.

The terror threat was raised for a reason. Nigh-simultaneous explosions rocked a number of major cities throughout the country. But what's interesting is (er, was) the targets...news network headquarters. CNN. MSNBC. ABC. CBS. Yes, even Fox News. Telecommunications headquarters. AT&T. Major cable carriers. Nextel, Sprint, cell providers. All major, high-taffic high-volume news and information relay points were crippled if not out-and-out obliterated.

The extent of the damage done has most likely not yet been discovered. Hard to report on anything when all the lines are down, both physical and virtual. Which would explain both the lag in coverage and the effective separation of communities from the national whole.

Also? It doesn't end there.

It should be noted that all centers of government in Washington, D.C. were unscathed. In fact, the white House issued a hand-delivered recording to as many local stations as could be reached of President Lee speaking on recent events.

Yeah, you read that right. President Lee.

The President and Vice-President, it seems, were among the targets of the widespread attacks. Of course, presidential succession continues down the line of the current administration; the President-Elect is not in the line. However, unprecedentedly, the House and Senate voted in an emergency meeting to transfer emergency power to the President-Elect, effectively naming him acting Commander-in-Chief until his official inauguration.

The process in and of itself feels a little murky, but it's hard for crystal-clear explanations to survive the dust and smoke of all the ruined buildings it must pass through to reach the local networks I'd assume. I'm a little curious as to why the

Speaker of the House did not step up as per official succession procedures, though it was well-known before the man had little political ambition beyond his current position and was looking to retire after the change in administrations.

So President Lee, in his video, calmly urged all Americans to take things one day at a time, do nothing rash, and despite the communications blackout to not panic. Rest assured, he said, the country and its government were still fully functional and

we, as a whole, would make it out of this crisis. He urged a return to normal day-to-day living as soon as feasible for each respective community, emphasizing that the country remained financially and politically stable despite all that had happened.

We are not under attack, he emphasized. We were attacked, and we are recovering, but we are not under some sort of siege or being subjected to any kind of offensive.

It must be said, though perhaps it is a bit cold of me to say it...but maybe the unorthodox succession is for the best: already President Lee has shown himself quite capable of responding in a way that should resonate with the nation, a skill his predecessor often lacked.

President Lee also said that it seems the attacks are finished; though nothing is clear, intelligence indicates that the damage has been done an further attacks have been prevented.

So...what's the strangest thing here? Numerous simultaneous bombings which have effectively severed large chunks of the nation from one another communications-wise? The loss of both the President AND the Vice-President? The end-around done on Presidential Succession standards?

Jesus Christ I can't absorb all of this. I just want to know if my friends or family are alive.

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