Well, don't just shake your head and say, "There you go again , being cynical." Check out Josh Gerstein's well done piece in Politico.com (6/30) on recent court decisions that have stymied the Obama administration from continuing to assert broad executive powers to hold terrorist suspects, and to assert that the courts have no role in determining the status of the detainees over seas. Federal judges appointed by Bush 43 have given the Obama DOJ lessons in why you don't want to piss off a federal judge with stupid arguments. The courts are openly attacking the administration and questioning the credulity of the cases that seem to evaporate in the light of judicial review.
So, we marvel at the marvie ironies of Bush 43 appointees reading the riot act to Obama lawyers over claims of executive privilege. The title of the article by Gerstein is "George W. Bush appointees break Barak Obama on terror policies."
http://www.politico.com/
In the mean time, the gift that keeps on giving, the gov. Sanford story. His penchant for giving press conferences and interviews (that none really want to hear) have become an stimulus package so to speak. The AP reported that its staff had access to the gov. crying in his office again, speaking about god and doors opening ( look before you leap). This is well beyond SNL and should be an entire panel at the American Psychiatric Association's next convention. Rush Limbaugh thinks Obama made Sanford do it because the poor man was so distraught over the path of America's decline; Sanford just said screw it, and he is did just that. Does Rush take regular urine tests or not?
By the way, has anyone heard from California lately? Recent stories that the Obama administration has told the state's leaders to drop dead on the state's fiscal crisis reminds me of the famous Gerald Ford position during the New York City fiscal crisis during the 1970's. Are these guys serious? True, the state has a bunch of idiots in the legislature and propositions have been passed by brain dead voters on several occasions to exacerbate the current crisis; still, California generates about 20% of the GDP of the country. Standing alone, the state is the world's 8th largest economy. It just doesn't seem smart or sane to be playing the fiscal rectitude game right now. They need serious help or we will be calling troops back from Afghanistan sooner than we think.
Sweet Dreams
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
God, Guns, Banks and Killing the Budda
Today's NYTimes was shimmering with tips from the cosmos....well, little bits of demented diamonds falling from the heavenly web edition. Katherine Q. Seeley article ( are you ready for this title) "God, Firearms and America come Together at a Church in Kentucky." The article does nothing to dispel one's horror at the title of this piece. This story comes from Louisville where indoor plumbing has been a tradition for generation.
One quote from the good pastor, Ken Pagano (Jersey transplant) "But for a deep seated belief in God and firearms, this country would not be here today." This article is not a screen play for a Michael Moore movie or Borat II. This is as unreal as reality can get. A must read for those of you who are thinking of retiring to a gentler southern clime.
Breathless, I staggered to "the City Room" and ran into Dominick Tao's piece on a spat between the NYPD and " the banking community." It appears that bank heists are up for 2008 over the previous year by 57%. This surge in bank robbing entreprenurialism has alarmed the NYPD; they in turn have suggested to the banks and the City Council that more bulletproof glass would be a good idea. The bankers have a more Diggers like approach to the issue. They don't think it's a good idea to frustrate the bad guys, who may take out their frustrations upon the bank staff and customers....precisely the reason why I carry 250K in small denominated bills when I go to B of A. I'm with the bank guys. Let them get the cash and get out, so that the NYPD may have the fun of chasing them. I am with the banks on this one. The real bank robberies have already happened in the financial bail outs; these amateurs who get maybe 11-12 grand a heist are just pests compared to Bernie and the Wall Street "Banksters" crowd...
Finally, I was lifted into the stratosphere by the Blog ktB (Kill the Budda). The post by Jeff Sharlet entitled, " Michael Jackson, Mark Sanford,& the Synagogue of Satan" left me tingling with joy at the shear lunatic brilliance of the piece and its creator...we are not worthy.
love and piece,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29
http://killingthebudda.com/ktblog
One quote from the good pastor, Ken Pagano (Jersey transplant) "But for a deep seated belief in God and firearms, this country would not be here today." This article is not a screen play for a Michael Moore movie or Borat II. This is as unreal as reality can get. A must read for those of you who are thinking of retiring to a gentler southern clime.
Breathless, I staggered to "the City Room" and ran into Dominick Tao's piece on a spat between the NYPD and " the banking community." It appears that bank heists are up for 2008 over the previous year by 57%. This surge in bank robbing entreprenurialism has alarmed the NYPD; they in turn have suggested to the banks and the City Council that more bulletproof glass would be a good idea. The bankers have a more Diggers like approach to the issue. They don't think it's a good idea to frustrate the bad guys, who may take out their frustrations upon the bank staff and customers....precisely the reason why I carry 250K in small denominated bills when I go to B of A. I'm with the bank guys. Let them get the cash and get out, so that the NYPD may have the fun of chasing them. I am with the banks on this one. The real bank robberies have already happened in the financial bail outs; these amateurs who get maybe 11-12 grand a heist are just pests compared to Bernie and the Wall Street "Banksters" crowd...
Finally, I was lifted into the stratosphere by the Blog ktB (Kill the Budda). The post by Jeff Sharlet entitled, " Michael Jackson, Mark Sanford,& the Synagogue of Satan" left me tingling with joy at the shear lunatic brilliance of the piece and its creator...we are not worthy.
love and piece,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29
http://killingthebudda.com/ktblog
Food Fight Between WaPo and Nico of Huff Post
Saturn Smith posted on Salon.com's Open Salon 28 June 2009 a video clip of Dana Milbank and Nico Pitney going at one another as if in a genteel version of The Jerry Springer Show: for those who can read without moving their lips ( guilty). This is hilarious. Almost as good as Obama's and the Iranian President's bloviations ( much used term of Obama staffers).
Salon is dangerously close to The Onion's territory. Stories such as the food fight (Wapo vs Nico) are so delicious that one needs to run a mile after reading them...they are too good not to be fattening.
http://www.salon.com/
Salon is dangerously close to The Onion's territory. Stories such as the food fight (Wapo vs Nico) are so delicious that one needs to run a mile after reading them...they are too good not to be fattening.
http://www.salon.com/
Madoff to Read Classics as Rehab while doing time
Yes, we have an in with the Bureau of Prisons and have suggested a grueling reading program for Bernie starting with Proust and descending to Ayn Rand. It is possible that his attorney could plead that Rand is just too much punishment for a man Bernie's age. True sadists would, of course, have him read De Sade and if he acts out, French literary theory from the 60's on. Too horrible to contemplate; he does not deserve your pity.
The CIA used aural torture of its suspects. Why not have Matoff listen to old records of T.S. Eliot reading "The Hollow Man." That would fix his wagon. Everyday would seem as if it were 150 years. Bernie could be sent to the Modern Language Association meetings for the next 150 years or just one year...same difference.
Please add your suggestions of fit reading as punishment for transgressive behavior of the felonious kind....perhaps Genet?
The CIA used aural torture of its suspects. Why not have Matoff listen to old records of T.S. Eliot reading "The Hollow Man." That would fix his wagon. Everyday would seem as if it were 150 years. Bernie could be sent to the Modern Language Association meetings for the next 150 years or just one year...same difference.
Please add your suggestions of fit reading as punishment for transgressive behavior of the felonious kind....perhaps Genet?
The Big Sleep, Krugman loses it and Macho Man
The dead seem to be everywhere these days. In the past week, a veritable celebrity massacre has occurred and not a word from the President or the Secretary of Homeland Security to reassure us that the administration will have a "war on death" plan soon. Could it be that the infighting between Homeland Security and DOD is retarding the longevity offensive we need to push back death and keep all of us around to consume our way out of the current depression ( recessions are for punks). We note the passing of pitch man Billy Mays an feel a twinge of guilt for all those times we mute buttoned him. Sorry Billy. Unfortunately, he is replaceable.
Paul Krugman the nice professor from the NYTimes has gone ballistic and accused those who voted against the climate legislation of committing treason. This is not the Dr. Krugman I have come to love. He called them ignorant, self interested and venal and treasonous. I would have thought that ignorant and self interested would have covered it. He is going to face some real heat on this comment from this Sundays online NYT opinion piece. He is sounding too much like the meat heads he so justly dislikes. Bad, bad, bad Dr. Krugman.
In the mean time I discover Charles M Blow of the NyTimes who's mission is data visualization. I don't have a clue what that means, but he got my attention with his remarks on "the Affaire Sanford." We quote the maestro himself, " 'Hiking the Appalachian Trail.' Is that what we're calling it these days" This line alone should get him a Peabody or a job on The Daily Show, writing for Jon Stewart.
He dumps all over the poor Red States and their lust for Internet porn and assorted audio-visual aids. He quotes from a learned treatise on the Porn industry that yours truely has now read; it is an amazing study in the marketing characteristics of the porn industry, with titillating details e.g. Red States consume just as porn as Blue States and the state that consumes the most internet porn per 1000 broadband users is Utah. How sweet is that. This learned study was done by one Professor Edelman of the Harvard Business School and appears in the Journal of economic perspectives, volume 23, number 1, Winter 2009. There is some rough language such as " regression analysis."This should be considered adult reading material. The actual title of the article is " RedLight States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?"
start with http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27opinion/27/blow.html
I owe Charles Blow for starting my day with a cosmic grin on my face. He has his own blog called Blog By the Numbers. Check it out.
We move on to "The Death of Macho" by Reihan Salam in of all places Foreign Policy posted 6/22 on the FP website. It is actually an intelligent analysis on the stresses facing men in the global economy now and going forward. Worth the read. Macho man, poor macho man. Sigh.....
Obama Speak on the Sunday talkies:
David of Alexlrod has accused the President of Iran of playing politics when he objected to U.S. statements on the current Iranian crisis. Isn't politics his job sort of. Have we missed the irony of the Alxelrod. Apparently, the high minded D of A lives in the land of OZ where politics is not the job of the head of state. Mucho weird.
Thank you for your support,
http://www.attackandcritique.blogspot.com/
Paul Krugman the nice professor from the NYTimes has gone ballistic and accused those who voted against the climate legislation of committing treason. This is not the Dr. Krugman I have come to love. He called them ignorant, self interested and venal and treasonous. I would have thought that ignorant and self interested would have covered it. He is going to face some real heat on this comment from this Sundays online NYT opinion piece. He is sounding too much like the meat heads he so justly dislikes. Bad, bad, bad Dr. Krugman.
In the mean time I discover Charles M Blow of the NyTimes who's mission is data visualization. I don't have a clue what that means, but he got my attention with his remarks on "the Affaire Sanford." We quote the maestro himself, " 'Hiking the Appalachian Trail.' Is that what we're calling it these days" This line alone should get him a Peabody or a job on The Daily Show, writing for Jon Stewart.
He dumps all over the poor Red States and their lust for Internet porn and assorted audio-visual aids. He quotes from a learned treatise on the Porn industry that yours truely has now read; it is an amazing study in the marketing characteristics of the porn industry, with titillating details e.g. Red States consume just as porn as Blue States and the state that consumes the most internet porn per 1000 broadband users is Utah. How sweet is that. This learned study was done by one Professor Edelman of the Harvard Business School and appears in the Journal of economic perspectives, volume 23, number 1, Winter 2009. There is some rough language such as " regression analysis."This should be considered adult reading material. The actual title of the article is " RedLight States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?"
start with http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27opinion/27/blow.html
I owe Charles Blow for starting my day with a cosmic grin on my face. He has his own blog called Blog By the Numbers. Check it out.
We move on to "The Death of Macho" by Reihan Salam in of all places Foreign Policy posted 6/22 on the FP website. It is actually an intelligent analysis on the stresses facing men in the global economy now and going forward. Worth the read. Macho man, poor macho man. Sigh.....
Obama Speak on the Sunday talkies:
David of Alexlrod has accused the President of Iran of playing politics when he objected to U.S. statements on the current Iranian crisis. Isn't politics his job sort of. Have we missed the irony of the Alxelrod. Apparently, the high minded D of A lives in the land of OZ where politics is not the job of the head of state. Mucho weird.
Thank you for your support,
http://www.attackandcritique.blogspot.com/
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Times They Aren't Changing: preventative detention
Rachel Maddow called out Obama on his recent speech proposing an official policy rationalizing preventative detention in national security cases. Of course, many of you served detention in high school. This proposal on detention is somewhat different and shows Obama is either brain dead, self deluded or more cynical than I am. Google "you tube" and watch Rachel man handle ( if that turns you on) this proposal to justify something he railed against during his campaign.
Glenn Greenwald in the opinion section of Salon.com June 28, 2009 smacked the Washington Post upside the head for floating a story that was clearly designed by the Obama media factory to test the winds in opposition or support on his preventative detention proposals. Greenwald riped the Post for uncritically swallowing the sound bites from the ever lovely anonymous sources; one beauty was that civil liberty organizations favor one approach to preventative detention over another. Say what?! Greenwald was on a role and just stomped the Posties pretty good. I found it disheartening that not only the Posties were involved, so was ProPublica an investigative reporting group. Man, you have got to read Greenwald, like dog with a bone. He also embedded the Rachel bomb to the Bama man.
For those of you who still hold out hope that Bambi's mother was only wounded and that Obama is really going to be better than his predecessor, my hat is off to you. Just let me know what your smoking. Greenwald and Salon.com are to be thanked for calling it as it is: a freaking disgrace for the Posties to be used by the administration to propose such an Obamination. I am especially puzzled by the Post, my favorite mainstream media outlet. What gives? This is Judith Miller land on WMDs.
http://dir.salon.com/topics/opinions/
Glenn Greenwald in the opinion section of Salon.com June 28, 2009 smacked the Washington Post upside the head for floating a story that was clearly designed by the Obama media factory to test the winds in opposition or support on his preventative detention proposals. Greenwald riped the Post for uncritically swallowing the sound bites from the ever lovely anonymous sources; one beauty was that civil liberty organizations favor one approach to preventative detention over another. Say what?! Greenwald was on a role and just stomped the Posties pretty good. I found it disheartening that not only the Posties were involved, so was ProPublica an investigative reporting group. Man, you have got to read Greenwald, like dog with a bone. He also embedded the Rachel bomb to the Bama man.
For those of you who still hold out hope that Bambi's mother was only wounded and that Obama is really going to be better than his predecessor, my hat is off to you. Just let me know what your smoking. Greenwald and Salon.com are to be thanked for calling it as it is: a freaking disgrace for the Posties to be used by the administration to propose such an Obamination. I am especially puzzled by the Post, my favorite mainstream media outlet. What gives? This is Judith Miller land on WMDs.
http://dir.salon.com/topics/opinions/
Friday, June 26, 2009
Taking The Hill
I have barely enough time these days to read," Bicycling: World's Leading Bike Magazine." The blogosphere sucks up all within its reach. I know there is life out beyond the blog but is it air conditioned?
We are in mourning this a.m. for the passing of Jacko and Farah. Today, is a bad hair day the world over. We had barely gotten Ed McMahon's demise comprehended when the lights went out for many of us....for whatever reason. Still, there is hope for another day with the announcement by The Hill of the 50 most beautiful people in D.C. for 2008. You have got to read these profiles.
Still, we must go on and take on The Hill.com, a wildly entertaining blog about the congress. How could it be other than entertaining when it is about capital capers. Perhaps my lack of sleep made me a bit more giddy than usual at the piece on a congressional committee attempting to force more money on the administration for F-22 fighter planes. The Secretary of Defense says he doesn't want them, the country doesn't need them and there isn't anyone around who could possible be a threat to the already huge air force we have in place. Of course, as the movie "Independence Day" proved, you never know who is out there in the far reaches of the galaxy. The Obama administration is preparing to veto the appropriation bill and Gates will way in to stop the buying of a weapon's system with no mission. This is about jobs in the home district and these congressional patriots are willing to give their all to put more money into a program, that the Defense Secretary says is useless to the needs of the military mission.
While we hear sticker shock over health care, tens of billions in obsolete and useless weapons programs rubble along, almost unstoppable. Kind of funny in a way...if you have a sick sense of humor.... And who doesn't have a sick sense of humor these days? Okay, Hanna Montana!
More later, once I get some more sleep,
http://blogspot.attackandcritique.com
http://thehill.com/
We are in mourning this a.m. for the passing of Jacko and Farah. Today, is a bad hair day the world over. We had barely gotten Ed McMahon's demise comprehended when the lights went out for many of us....for whatever reason. Still, there is hope for another day with the announcement by The Hill of the 50 most beautiful people in D.C. for 2008. You have got to read these profiles.
Still, we must go on and take on The Hill.com, a wildly entertaining blog about the congress. How could it be other than entertaining when it is about capital capers. Perhaps my lack of sleep made me a bit more giddy than usual at the piece on a congressional committee attempting to force more money on the administration for F-22 fighter planes. The Secretary of Defense says he doesn't want them, the country doesn't need them and there isn't anyone around who could possible be a threat to the already huge air force we have in place. Of course, as the movie "Independence Day" proved, you never know who is out there in the far reaches of the galaxy. The Obama administration is preparing to veto the appropriation bill and Gates will way in to stop the buying of a weapon's system with no mission. This is about jobs in the home district and these congressional patriots are willing to give their all to put more money into a program, that the Defense Secretary says is useless to the needs of the military mission.
While we hear sticker shock over health care, tens of billions in obsolete and useless weapons programs rubble along, almost unstoppable. Kind of funny in a way...if you have a sick sense of humor.... And who doesn't have a sick sense of humor these days? Okay, Hanna Montana!
More later, once I get some more sleep,
http://blogspot.attackandcritique.com
http://thehill.com/
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Horror, The Horror or Crying in Argentina
Another time out from reality as the media dumbs down for the Mark Sanford morality play. So much for health care, North Korea, Iran and the sale of the state of California on ebay. The AP had an analysis piece this a.m. that was priceless, "Analysis: Why do politicians cheat?" It was almost anguished in its tone. Political psychologists were spoken to and comments were made about guys with huge...egos. The article was stern in tone. The NY Times blogista, Kate Phillips on "The Caucus" piece was more urbane, but, of course, it would be. Bless her heart she included some emails ,alleged to be from correspondence between Mark and Maria of Argentine fame. I did not read beyond her posting of a brief sample of this private correspondence.
(disclaimer: I am not a trained analyst or lit. critter)
Having disclaimed all responsibility for what I am about to say, I must observe the more sensitive side of the Governor surprised me....For a man who was prepared to see people in his state go hungry on principle, I was not expecting such angst from the tough guy from the land of John C. Calhoun. I have to assume that agents for many publishers have taken note of the governor's sensitive prose style. Can a book deal be far off? There are so many lessons to be learned here...none of them of the slightest use to the nation in dealing with any of our country's serious troubles.
Still, who among us can drive past a car crash without looking....? How will the Reps. rebound; or to put it in a Cosellian riff "Will the party of Lincoln resuscitate itself and fight it's way back into the game. Here for further insight is Frank Gifford....Well, maybe not." We miss Howard? Sorry, I lost focus. As Tallulah Bankhead once observed, " There is less here than meets the eye."
Your humble servant,
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/
(disclaimer: I am not a trained analyst or lit. critter)
Having disclaimed all responsibility for what I am about to say, I must observe the more sensitive side of the Governor surprised me....For a man who was prepared to see people in his state go hungry on principle, I was not expecting such angst from the tough guy from the land of John C. Calhoun. I have to assume that agents for many publishers have taken note of the governor's sensitive prose style. Can a book deal be far off? There are so many lessons to be learned here...none of them of the slightest use to the nation in dealing with any of our country's serious troubles.
Still, who among us can drive past a car crash without looking....? How will the Reps. rebound; or to put it in a Cosellian riff "Will the party of Lincoln resuscitate itself and fight it's way back into the game. Here for further insight is Frank Gifford....Well, maybe not." We miss Howard? Sorry, I lost focus. As Tallulah Bankhead once observed, " There is less here than meets the eye."
Your humble servant,
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/
The Horror, The Horror!
[ I lost this in the ether and thought it was more thoughtful any the other post on this burning issue]
Thank god, we can get away from the real issues of the day and talk about Mark Sanford and his "issues." Yahoo.com has something from the AP called "Analysis: Why do politicians cheat?" It read like a script from "Sex and the City' Worse, it could have been a sermon from the Oprah mobile. Because the story was analysis, political scientists were asked to comment. It's always nice to know that certain people are still alive and still commenting, even on something as stupid as this story. I got a bit nervous when one scientist was quoted talking about "out sized" this and that. I think that I could be a bit over stimulated by all these cheap thrills.
The press shows itself to be the gawkers at the crash seen, just like anyone else. The venerable NYTimes, blogista Kate Phillips tried to refrain herself and lost it when she quoted from alleged emails between Mark and Maria that were posted by a South Carolina paper. Actually, aspiring pols out there should read them; they show the governor is a lot more self aware as a bounder than as the chief executive of a small, humid state. I will not talk about a stimulus package for fear it could be taken the wrong way.
Back to Liz at the AP and the agonizing why, oh why do they do it....cheat that is. Well, maybe Liz didn't read the stuff that Kate had on her site and helpfully added a link to The State newspaper for more of the Proustian musings of gov. Sanford. It's amazing that no one has yet done the evolutionary biology dodge....I think I read in some old Cosmo or Popular Mechanics piece. It goes like this: men have huge, sex specific neural transmitters and many more than girls. So guys may be prone to acting like idiots because it is their destiny...sorry Darth V. I have heard this learned theory expounded in detail by many barologists and friends over the years. It makes sense the more one drinks.
We all owe the governor a debt of gratitude because Iran is depressing, North Korea is plain scary and California is about to be sold on ebay. If you pay attention to the health care debate you will become depressed and may need medical intervention that you can't afford or can't get your HMO to approve.
I am still waiting to hear from Karl Rove on the new swinging Republican Party; yeah, I was like the rest of you; thinking that the Reps were a bunch of uptight, bible thumping, golf obsessed stiffs...so to speak. Sure, they are...but there is this sensitive side to them too. I for one think that we should look past the obvious and seek out the existential truth of this crisis on the sand hills of the Carolinas. Anybody know if John C. Calhoun fooled around?
Let us not forget that we all would want a good friend like Cubby to lean at such a moment.
Thank god, we can get away from the real issues of the day and talk about Mark Sanford and his "issues." Yahoo.com has something from the AP called "Analysis: Why do politicians cheat?" It read like a script from "Sex and the City' Worse, it could have been a sermon from the Oprah mobile. Because the story was analysis, political scientists were asked to comment. It's always nice to know that certain people are still alive and still commenting, even on something as stupid as this story. I got a bit nervous when one scientist was quoted talking about "out sized" this and that. I think that I could be a bit over stimulated by all these cheap thrills.
The press shows itself to be the gawkers at the crash seen, just like anyone else. The venerable NYTimes, blogista Kate Phillips tried to refrain herself and lost it when she quoted from alleged emails between Mark and Maria that were posted by a South Carolina paper. Actually, aspiring pols out there should read them; they show the governor is a lot more self aware as a bounder than as the chief executive of a small, humid state. I will not talk about a stimulus package for fear it could be taken the wrong way.
Back to Liz at the AP and the agonizing why, oh why do they do it....cheat that is. Well, maybe Liz didn't read the stuff that Kate had on her site and helpfully added a link to The State newspaper for more of the Proustian musings of gov. Sanford. It's amazing that no one has yet done the evolutionary biology dodge....I think I read in some old Cosmo or Popular Mechanics piece. It goes like this: men have huge, sex specific neural transmitters and many more than girls. So guys may be prone to acting like idiots because it is their destiny...sorry Darth V. I have heard this learned theory expounded in detail by many barologists and friends over the years. It makes sense the more one drinks.
We all owe the governor a debt of gratitude because Iran is depressing, North Korea is plain scary and California is about to be sold on ebay. If you pay attention to the health care debate you will become depressed and may need medical intervention that you can't afford or can't get your HMO to approve.
I am still waiting to hear from Karl Rove on the new swinging Republican Party; yeah, I was like the rest of you; thinking that the Reps were a bunch of uptight, bible thumping, golf obsessed stiffs...so to speak. Sure, they are...but there is this sensitive side to them too. I for one think that we should look past the obvious and seek out the existential truth of this crisis on the sand hills of the Carolinas. Anybody know if John C. Calhoun fooled around?
Let us not forget that we all would want a good friend like Cubby to lean at such a moment.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What about this Guy Cillizza at The Wash Post?
Like David Shuster of MSNBC, Chris Cillizza has to ask his mom's permission to stay out late to cover world events. The picture of Mr. Chris on his Post column is a nice one; he is smiling as opposed to the semi-serious pose he does on Keith Obermann's MSNBC show. It is just that Cillizza smiling over his column today on "the Affaire Sanford," ( my characterization) will give the evil genius Rove more ammo to talk about the biased, liberal media. Sure the picture is probably from when he graduated from college; nonetheless, the impression it gives is one of glee as he reports the political car wreak of Sanford's misdeed. I am smiling so much these days that I could hurt myself.
It's great that Cillizza had a happy childhood and smiles a lot; still, he needs to ask himself, "What would Morrow do?" The Washington Post probably has other reporters who smile as well and they need to address this pressing issue before Karl gets there....Be afraid.
It's great that Cillizza had a happy childhood and smiles a lot; still, he needs to ask himself, "What would Morrow do?" The Washington Post probably has other reporters who smile as well and they need to address this pressing issue before Karl gets there....Be afraid.
What Have They Put in Republican's Water Supply?
Okay, I'm impressed. If I wanted to score in some foreign city, I'm going with the Republican Team. Now, Sanford of South Carolina has his mi- life crisis with an Argentine senorita. I am impressed. All those years the liberal, left kept on calling the Republicans up-tight and repressed. Well, barely repressed and hardly clothed it seems. Oh, the joys and little David Shuster has put Hypocrisy Watch on hold, damn! David, come home boy; get it cranking. I was going to say, "Get it up." But, I'm not Rachel Maddow and I don't do that kind of trash talk....
I'm picturing Sanford as Pacino on the dance floor in "Scent of a Woman." Doesn't really work. Still, what the hell. Just when you think you have nothing to say, someone goes ape and does something really dumb. Confession time for sure. But, Karl Rove should see this as evidence of Republican virility and machismo. All that defense and war talk must stimulate the brain...if you know what I mean....Got to get invited to some Repub. mixers. Maybe, do some skeet shooting and take a road trip to stimulate the economy.
I'm picturing Sanford as Pacino on the dance floor in "Scent of a Woman." Doesn't really work. Still, what the hell. Just when you think you have nothing to say, someone goes ape and does something really dumb. Confession time for sure. But, Karl Rove should see this as evidence of Republican virility and machismo. All that defense and war talk must stimulate the brain...if you know what I mean....Got to get invited to some Repub. mixers. Maybe, do some skeet shooting and take a road trip to stimulate the economy.
It Just Keeps Getting Better and Better
The real benefit to not sleeping is the gift that appears out of the ether. Today, June 24, the NYTimes reported that the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) will be giving naming opportunities to put your brand name on a particular subway station. Oh, the mind reels at the possibilities. Clorox has always been the brand that comes most ready to my mind when thinking about the subway system in the summer months. The whiffy scents of human habitation that greet one at the West Fourth Street Station call forth the Clorox brand name, and huge doses of that legendary product.
Perhaps there could be co-branding opportunities ie, Clorox and, well, any one of a number of effective deodorant products....the Time Square/Mennens/Old Spice/Brute & Clorox Station. In areas with high crime (they do not officially exist anymore), you could have the Smith and Wesson Station or The Taeser Stop on the Number 6 train. Grand Central Station and Penn Station could be sponsored by all of the anti-depressants or just a favorite e.g. Penn-Prozac or Grand Pharma Station.
We have not included the drugs for enhanced sexual performance: the L line is the obvious candidate. New York's public servants trying to make you laugh and cry at the same time. All of this goodness before 4 a.m.
Perhaps there could be co-branding opportunities ie, Clorox and, well, any one of a number of effective deodorant products....the Time Square/Mennens/Old Spice/Brute & Clorox Station. In areas with high crime (they do not officially exist anymore), you could have the Smith and Wesson Station or The Taeser Stop on the Number 6 train. Grand Central Station and Penn Station could be sponsored by all of the anti-depressants or just a favorite e.g. Penn-Prozac or Grand Pharma Station.
We have not included the drugs for enhanced sexual performance: the L line is the obvious candidate. New York's public servants trying to make you laugh and cry at the same time. All of this goodness before 4 a.m.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Those Who Stand Up for Justice....
President Obama bravely observed that history has a way of noting those who seek justice. Indeed, it is usually done posthumously, a nice bronze plague somewhere or a flower bed perhaps near the spot where they were shot or disappeared. How uplifting and inspirational and meaningless. The sound bites from the White House are meant to placate the carping from the right wing in this country. The Iranian government could care less about the press coverage; their real concern is to control the perceptions of the non protesters: who are these people in the streets? The regime needs to preserve its legitimacy and the monopoly on the use of force. Nothing Obama says will have a substantive influence on the internal power struggle over the elections in Iran.
Obama felt he has to respond to the Ayatollahs of the Republican Party who were posturing about being tough on Iran...pure theater, pure bull, 24/7. It needs to be pointed out that the United States has quite recently seen a Presidential election stolen from its nominal winner....remember 2000? It was only Gore's timidity that saved the country from a series of major protests in the streets. Michael Moore had a comment upon the Gore capitulation in his film Fahrenheit 9/11 when Gore refused to support a group of Black Congressional Representatives in a bid to challenge the election results.
The current death toll in Iran is unfortunate and we all can hope that it does not reach the level of say the Detroit riots in 1967. The Iranian militias does look or act much differently than the Chicago Police Department did at the Democratic Convention of 1968. So, as Archie use to say to Edith, "Stifle it. Why don't ya." For a country that still holds hundreds of people in preventative detention and has 50% of its citizens, in a recent poll, saying it is all right to torture suspects sometime, we should clean up our own act.
Obama felt he has to respond to the Ayatollahs of the Republican Party who were posturing about being tough on Iran...pure theater, pure bull, 24/7. It needs to be pointed out that the United States has quite recently seen a Presidential election stolen from its nominal winner....remember 2000? It was only Gore's timidity that saved the country from a series of major protests in the streets. Michael Moore had a comment upon the Gore capitulation in his film Fahrenheit 9/11 when Gore refused to support a group of Black Congressional Representatives in a bid to challenge the election results.
The current death toll in Iran is unfortunate and we all can hope that it does not reach the level of say the Detroit riots in 1967. The Iranian militias does look or act much differently than the Chicago Police Department did at the Democratic Convention of 1968. So, as Archie use to say to Edith, "Stifle it. Why don't ya." For a country that still holds hundreds of people in preventative detention and has 50% of its citizens, in a recent poll, saying it is all right to torture suspects sometime, we should clean up our own act.
I'm a Bit Confused Again
If I remember rightly, Louie XIV was supposed have said, "I am the State." The current president of France appears to be saying, "I am the taste." He proposes to ban burqas because he believes that they are a symbol of female subservience. Having grown up around a lot of black clad women, grannys and nuns, I just don't see this as the core issue facing the French nation. But, politics is anything but rational, especially in the nation that fetishes reason. President Sarkozy should be happy that his wife likes to dress the way she does and let it go at that; he invites far right nationalists to play the card of Muslims as outsiders, not good Frenchmen or women. This is a dangerous game. It is well known in the sociological literature that generational change comes as the younger generations assimilate and pick and chose their cultural styles. Force of law in this case will only keep people on the defensive. I hate to sound like a NYT editorial. Sarkozy is usually good for a laugh or two; this is not funny, even if it sounds that way.
Perhaps he did not get his history lesson correctly on the Louie quote? Maybe Carla hates black.? Who knows.?In the land of the Enlightenment, Dior and Chanel are the taste/State. Very odd.
Perhaps he did not get his history lesson correctly on the Louie quote? Maybe Carla hates black.? Who knows.?In the land of the Enlightenment, Dior and Chanel are the taste/State. Very odd.
Conservatives Can Be Sooo Cute!
I just ran across a guy named Armstrong Williams. His blog was featured on The Hill, a pretty reputable political blog from what I can tell. First, I had to find out if this guy was real or if someone was making him up. You just can't be too careful when flirting on the web...so to speak. Yeah, he is for real and has a small right wing media factory of his own and everything. So, I asked myself, "Why would the smart folks at The Hill put his platitudes on their site?" Generally, you want to remove that stuff from your windshield before you start your car. you don't save this stuff...except for gardening purposes. (By the way, we are looking for a garden columist.)
In the posting on The Hill 6/23, the real Mr. Armstrong Williams points out that the national debt is much bigger now than it was when "The Prince" was in the Oval Office in 2007. Williams, like many of the Republican chattering class, seems to make no connection between the economic chaos of the Bush years and the consequences of the enormous debt burdens now staring us in the face. A historical hysteria is a common affliction amongst right wing pundits; not that the Democrats have any use for historical reality....still maintaining that we are a republic and not an empire is almost clinically odd. Obama has little interest in peaking under the sheets of the past administration; history is not policy and off we go to the new beginning. Can there be an old beginning? The mind boggles....moment to boggle.
I would not defend the Obama administration for any numbers of reasons, on a multitude of issues. But, I must say that I have my Rahm Emanuel moments when I read the zombie like musings of the dead political theory of the party of limited government. You have got to wonder how Mr. Williams keeps up the fiction of the Republican fantasy after the Bush deficits and the expansion of executive power during the Bushite years. Perhaps it is a blessing to be fact challenged. Still, it is not covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. I am sure that Mr. Williams could get a Republican and Blue Dog Democrat to sponsor a bill to study his affliction; it is certainly widespread, a veritable swine flu running through both political parties.
I guess The Hill folks are just like me: I just can't say no to a guy who needs a quarter or a buck when he is down and out.
In the posting on The Hill 6/23, the real Mr. Armstrong Williams points out that the national debt is much bigger now than it was when "The Prince" was in the Oval Office in 2007. Williams, like many of the Republican chattering class, seems to make no connection between the economic chaos of the Bush years and the consequences of the enormous debt burdens now staring us in the face. A historical hysteria is a common affliction amongst right wing pundits; not that the Democrats have any use for historical reality....still maintaining that we are a republic and not an empire is almost clinically odd. Obama has little interest in peaking under the sheets of the past administration; history is not policy and off we go to the new beginning. Can there be an old beginning? The mind boggles....moment to boggle.
I would not defend the Obama administration for any numbers of reasons, on a multitude of issues. But, I must say that I have my Rahm Emanuel moments when I read the zombie like musings of the dead political theory of the party of limited government. You have got to wonder how Mr. Williams keeps up the fiction of the Republican fantasy after the Bush deficits and the expansion of executive power during the Bushite years. Perhaps it is a blessing to be fact challenged. Still, it is not covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. I am sure that Mr. Williams could get a Republican and Blue Dog Democrat to sponsor a bill to study his affliction; it is certainly widespread, a veritable swine flu running through both political parties.
I guess The Hill folks are just like me: I just can't say no to a guy who needs a quarter or a buck when he is down and out.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Some Odds and Ends
I am feeling the pressure to be...not boring, UN-Gore, UN-Gary Null (perfect name). And, I must try to send my messages of warning and peace to any intelligent species who might thing that now is the time to come to earth and buy real estate in Manhattan. These are not my Prime Directives because I have intention deficit disorder that makes it almost impossible to take anyone or anything too seriously for too long.
I was harassed into calling this blog "Attack and Critique." But, I want you all to think of puppies and the Amish when reading my future postings. There is no getting around it: we are all really screwed as our empire is slip, sliding away (sounds familiar). So, with that in mind, I offer entertaining bits and pieces of our national and international catastrophe....history in the making. I offer you my worldview so that you do not feel compelled to tell me what I already know: I am not a serious person and probably will never serve my country on a coop board or substitute teach anywhere. So, let me share some of my observations, just for the hell of it.
Gitmo ridiculous has taken another prisoner in the person of Senator James Webb of Virginia. It appears that his brain was renditioned when he stated his objection to the release of four members of a Chinese Muslim minority group who were captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. These men were held in prison for almost seven years; they are now about to be released and Senator Webb objected to their release into the community of their co-religionist living in his state. The grounds for his objection was national security. The Chinese do not like these Muslims and call them terrorists. The Obama administration will not send these poor refugees back to China because they would most likely face torture and death; but, the Congress will not allow them to be settled in the United States....National security might translate like this: we have to kiss the Chinese collective behinds because they have 750 billion dollars of our debt obligations. Washington prays that the Chinese will not stop buys our paper and precipitate a collapse of the dollar. Of course, there is North Korea and global warming to add to the list.
When you think about it, the lives of a few men against all that money and Geo-political razzle dazzle, well, they're just people. Of course, we are all just people to be used for the greater good. Senator Webb's sense of national security seems to leave out a sense of national honor and obligation to the people who were unlawfully detained and robbed of years of their lives in the name of the our national interest. The courts found no reason to hold these Chinese refugees.
Of course, to have Gitmo detainees living amongst us would be to remind the nation of what we had become during the Bush years, the world's most trigger happy, super power. We tortured and called it enhanced interrogation; we kidnapped in the name of fighting terror; we violated the treaties and conventions against war crimes that we helped write. To have the living consequences of those policies walking amongst us would raise the questions that Obama and Bush don't have time for: the questions of accountability and justice. Not in the national interest I guess.
I was harassed into calling this blog "Attack and Critique." But, I want you all to think of puppies and the Amish when reading my future postings. There is no getting around it: we are all really screwed as our empire is slip, sliding away (sounds familiar). So, with that in mind, I offer entertaining bits and pieces of our national and international catastrophe....history in the making. I offer you my worldview so that you do not feel compelled to tell me what I already know: I am not a serious person and probably will never serve my country on a coop board or substitute teach anywhere. So, let me share some of my observations, just for the hell of it.
Gitmo ridiculous has taken another prisoner in the person of Senator James Webb of Virginia. It appears that his brain was renditioned when he stated his objection to the release of four members of a Chinese Muslim minority group who were captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. These men were held in prison for almost seven years; they are now about to be released and Senator Webb objected to their release into the community of their co-religionist living in his state. The grounds for his objection was national security. The Chinese do not like these Muslims and call them terrorists. The Obama administration will not send these poor refugees back to China because they would most likely face torture and death; but, the Congress will not allow them to be settled in the United States....National security might translate like this: we have to kiss the Chinese collective behinds because they have 750 billion dollars of our debt obligations. Washington prays that the Chinese will not stop buys our paper and precipitate a collapse of the dollar. Of course, there is North Korea and global warming to add to the list.
When you think about it, the lives of a few men against all that money and Geo-political razzle dazzle, well, they're just people. Of course, we are all just people to be used for the greater good. Senator Webb's sense of national security seems to leave out a sense of national honor and obligation to the people who were unlawfully detained and robbed of years of their lives in the name of the our national interest. The courts found no reason to hold these Chinese refugees.
Of course, to have Gitmo detainees living amongst us would be to remind the nation of what we had become during the Bush years, the world's most trigger happy, super power. We tortured and called it enhanced interrogation; we kidnapped in the name of fighting terror; we violated the treaties and conventions against war crimes that we helped write. To have the living consequences of those policies walking amongst us would raise the questions that Obama and Bush don't have time for: the questions of accountability and justice. Not in the national interest I guess.
The Usual Suspects
Well, today we add a bit more lunacy into the already heady brew for you webmeisters ot there. Our subject is as vast as human stupidity will take us...vast. We will marvel with you over the many ways that human kind has found to make itself into the victim of itself.
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