Sucking democracy dry. Last week's Village Voice commissioned a powerful image for their lead story last week, created by Alex Ross. I couldn't think of a scarier Hallowe'en image if I tried all night:
![Bush, sucking democracy dry](http://www.gumbopages.com/looka/images/vv_sucking-democracy-dry.jpg")
Nine extremely important reasons to vote for John Kerry. Via Bob Harris, who says, "Make no mistake: we are likely about to decide the balance of the Supreme Court for a generation."
 Salon reports that, despite most media accounts, Rehnquist may be gravely ill:It's not just Roe v. Wade. Justices like Scalia and Thomas, the two Bush has described as his favorites, don't even believe in our right of privacy in our own homes, in our own bedrooms. A majority consisting of their ilk would set this country back fifty or more years in terms of progress in rights in civil liberties. The negative effects of George Bush's potential appointments to the Court could last two generations or more. He must not be returned to the presidency.
Quotes of the day. Via Billmon, the face of American (would-be) fascism.
Lisa Dupler, a 33-year-old from Columbus, held up a rainbow-striped John Kerry sign outside the Nationwide Arena on Friday, as Republicans streamed out after being rallied by George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A thickset woman with very short, dark hair, Dupler was silent and barely flinched as people passing her hissed "faggot" into her ear. An old lady looked at her and said, "You people are sick!" A kid who looked to be about 10 or 11 affected a limp wrist and mincing voice and said, "Oh, I'm gay." Rather than restraining him, his squat mother guffawed and then turned to Dupler and sneered, "Why don't you go marry your girlfriend?" Encouraged, her son yelled, "We don't want faggots in the White House!" [ Link to today's entries ]
"This American Life" on voter suppression and fraud, almost entirely by Republicans. The report by Jack Hitt was posted early, and is 14 minutes, 53 seconds long. Listen to it.
Bush, Ashcroft seek limits to suits over voter fraud. This is their idea of American democracy -- allow rampant Republican-led voter fraud and suppression, then attempt to limit it in legally unprecedented moves. Bastards.
Bush administration lawyers argued in three closely contested states last week that only the Justice Department, and not voters themselves, may sue to enforce the voting rights set out in the Help America Vote Act, which was passed in the aftermath of the disputed 2000 election.And does anyone but GOP heel-clickers think that Ashcroft will bring a single voter fraud related lawsuit directed at what his party has been doing?
Ohio says no to GOP voter suppression efforts. Kos put it best when he said, "Republicans seek to decrease voter turnout, Democrats seek to increase it." The thoroughly vile actions of the Republicans to decrease voter turnout and challenge voters in Ohio is beginning to backfire on them, and I hope this rejection of their anti-American practices builds up speed and momentum until we see some of them in jail.
When Catherine Herold received mail from the Ohio Republican Party earlier this year, she refused it.Jesus Christ. Despite the worst efforts of these bastards, the voters will rule, and the votes will be counted. Get out there and vote on Tuesday, as if your freedom depended on it (because it does).
"The Bush Pledge", for feck's sake? Josh Marshall reports:
Chris Suellentrop [in Slate]has a half bizarre/half chilling report from the campaign trail in Florida last night. It's about what seems to be a new feature of the Bush rallies: the pledge of allegiance to President Bush.I know I'm dooming myself by invoking Godwin's Law, but I swear to God the first thing I thought of when I read this was German troops on the eve of World War II, reciting en masse their loyalty oath to You Know Who (not Voldemort). UPDATE: Whew ... it wasn't just me who made that connection. So did Billmon, back again from blogging retirement; here's what he said:
All officers of the SS were required to take the loyalty oath. Raising their right hand and their left hand placed on their officers sword, the oath went as follows: "I swear to thee, Adolph Hitler as Fuhrer and chancellor of the German Reich, my Loyalty and Bravery. I vow to thee and the superiors whom those shall appoint, obedience until death, so help me God."John Kerry for President.
LA Weekly: John Kerry and John Edwards for President and Vice-President. Endorsements don't get any more essential and plain-spoken than this:
With the possible exception of Jefferson Davis, and for some of the same reasons, George W. Bush is the most dangerous president our continent has known. Like Davis, Bush has amassed a stunningly divisive, parochial and belligerent record. In an era demanding international coordination simply to ensure a decent defense against terrorists, Bush is a militaristic xenophobe (and a careless one at that, as our troops in Iraq discover on a daily basis). At a time when corporations are abandoning the wage-and-benefit practices that once made American workers the envy of the world, Bush wants government to abandon its own responsibility to our citizens, leaving Americans to their own inadequate devices to pay for health care, college, retirement and other such incidentals. Just as a mental exercise, try imagining a worse president than this cosseted brat. It ain't easy. Speaking of You Know Who ... (Not ... er, Rudolf Hilter.) This t-shirt 
has been a huge hit with just about everyone I know, and most of them
have wanted one for themselves as well. Buy your own
here! Bumper stickers, too. (And check out the comic strip
"Goats" while you're at it.)Actually, the first time I wore it to work I got some very strange looks, either from people who didn't know who Voldemort is, or from people who looked at me and thought, "He's a Republican?!" (Hee hee.)
Ah well ... as Irish singer, lyricist,
playwright and novelist Julian Gough
once said, "A day without a strange look is a day wasted." [ Link to today's entries ]
Our first review! Shameless ego-boo, I know ... I was wondering whether I should post this at all, thinking it perhaps too conceited and the ego-boo too shameless. Then Mary said, "Sweetheart, you have a weblog. Such a thing is ontologically prone to shameless ego-boo. Post this." Okay, posting away! (She is the co-author of our box set book, after all, and let's face it -- we wanna sell some records here.) Here's our first review (that I was able to find, at least) of Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens, written by Buddy Blue in yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune:
[Y]ou know what the best part of this job is? I get an endless supply of free stuff, more than I can even deal with, stuff you have to pay for. The pleasure of casually dumping evil crapola as publicists beg for a line or two in this little column is only exceeded by the bliss to be gleaned from receiving freebies so wonderful, you can see the jealousy in the eyes of your friends as they feverishly, enviously rifle though your stash of promo goods. Right, Rolle? Gina? Bwahh-haw-haww, I say!Thank you, Buddy, for the lovely review. I think Buddy meant James Andrews rather than "James Armstrong." That's okay; he's certainly a musical and spiritual descendent of Louis, if not a literal one.
Twin Cities news crew may have videotaped Iraq explosives. Looks like we've finally got the proof.
A 5 Eyewitness News crew in Iraq shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein was in the area where tons of explosives disappeared, and may have videotaped some of those weapons.UPDATE via Kos: "David Kay, [former] Iraq weapons inspector for the Bush Administration, just appeared on CNN and was asked by Aaron Brown to review the new video filmed on April 18, 2003, one month after the invasion and 8 days after US Troops first arrived at Al Qaqaa. He was asked about the video which shows the seal. He said that they are indeed IAEA seals and he's seen nothing else like them in IRAQ. He then went on to say that only the explosives in question would have been sealed because of their potency. He then said that other parts of the video show clearly that these were the types of explosives in question. He was asked if it was "Game, Set, Match". He replied yes, "Game, Set, Match". In a final blow to recent conservative spin he was asked if they were classified as WMD. He replied point blank, "Absolutely not." Josh Marshall has the best coverage of this story. Start at the link and keep reading. I think BushCo is out of spin for this one.
Osama bin Remembered-just-now. Ooh, a new Osama video. Boooooo, oooooooo, scary kids! Owwwoooooooooo! Think he's trying to affect the election, maybe, do ya?! Billmon says, "Right on time, too -- four days before the election. (The Madrid bombing was three days before.)"
If anyone had any doubts about which candidate al-Qaeda prefers in this election, I think you can put them to rest now. This tape -- coming hard on the heels of "Azzam the American" -- is obviously designed to have U.S. voters as obsessively worried about the terrorist threat as possible when they go into the voting booth next Tuesday. Osama, like Bush, understands the electoral value of zapping the deeper reptilian centers of the brain. Call it hypothalamus politics. Or, as one member of the media idiot chorus cheerfully told CNN a few days ago: "Fear works."I'm not worried, and don't you be either. This is the same unspecific threatening blather we've kept hearing from OBL for the last three years. If anything, it should remind the American people that Bush failed to catch bin Laden, and he's still out there making threats. Atrios: "Well, he's still out there. Nice job with the whole 'dead or alive' thing." Paul Begala: "Mr. Dyke, the president famously promised us, you and me, all the American people, that he would get Osama bin Laden -- and I'm quoting him here -- 'dead or alive.' Which did he get him, dead or alive?" (On CNN's "Crossfire", to Republican apparatchik Jim Dyke)
NASA photo analyst: Bush wore device during debate. Salon reports that Dr. Robert M. Nelson, a senior research scientist for NASA and for Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, an international authority on image analysis, a professional physicist and photo analyst for over 30 years says, "I am willing to stake my scientific reputation to the statement that Bush was wearing something under his jacket during the debate ... This is not about a bad suit. And there's no way the bulge can be described as a wrinkled shirt."
Protect your vote! The good folks at MoveOn.org offer a voters' rights guide to help you be aware and prepared in case anyone attempts to interfere with your right to vote on Tuesday. Read this, print it out, and print out their wallet-sized voter rights card. This is important.
They're doing it again. In Nevada, a Republican contractor has allegedly ripped up thousands of Democratic registration forms. In Florida, Jeb Bush has purged tens of thousands of legitimate voters -- mostly black, mostly Democratic -- from the rolls because their names are similar to a felon's.(Greg Palast, Harper's Magazine, October 2004). In Ohio, the Republican Secretary of State has been so uncooperative that a federal judge said that he "apparently seeks to accomplish the same result in Ohio in 2004 that occurred in Florida in 2000."Learn this. Bring the materials with you. The future of our country is at stake.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Scientists estimate 100,000 Iraqi deaths. That's some "liberation" ... From the AP:
A survey of deaths in Iraqi households estimates that as many as 100,000 more people may have died throughout the country in the 18 months after the U.S. invasion than would be expected based on the death rate before the war.But hey, freedom's on the march! Submitted by Steve, who said, "Even if these numbers aren't exact, whatever the growing total is, it's unacceptable and tragic."
Quote of the day. Peace is our profession.
Mr. President, I didn't say we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million, killed. Tops. Uh, depending on the breaks.Giuliani blames our troops for al Qa Qaa looting. I'm agog with astonishment over this (Windows Media link).
The president was cautious, the president was prudent, the president did what a commander in chief should do. No matter how you try to blame it on the president the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefully enough?No, because their fucking orders were to rush to Baghdad to secure the oil ministry and look for nonexistent WMDs. Don't blame the troops for carrying out their superiors' incompetent orders. Giuliani finally returns to being the complete fuckhead he was up through September 10, 2001.
And the response, from future Kerry administration cabinet official Wesley Clark:
For President Bush to send Rudolph Giuliani out on television to say that the "actual responsibility" for the failure to secure explosives lies with the troops is insulting and cowardly.Way to court the military and military family vote, Shrubster.
Bush ghostwriter says Iraq attack planned two years before 9/11. We've been saying this all along, those of us in the reality-based community who paid attention to the plans of all the Bush cronies in the Project for a New American Century, but here's someone who's saying he heard it from the horse's mouth ... [boldface emphases mine]
Two years before the September 11 attacks, presidential candidate George W. Bush was already talking privately about the political benefits of attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer, who held many conversations with then-Texas Governor Bush in preparation for a planned autobiography.This entire article is a must-read.
Cost of war now stratospheric. It galls me to recall the post-debate attacks on John Kerry for saying that the war would cost $200 billion. Turns out the Republicans were right. Kerry was wrong. It's not going to cost $200 billion -- it's going to cost $225 billion. From The Daily Misleader:
Before the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration told the American people that it could be fought on the cheap. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said "We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon." Budget Director Mitch Daniels said Iraq will be "an affordable endeavor", one "that will not require sustained aid" and cost "in the range of $50 billion to $60 billion." Defense Policy Board Member Richard Perle said, "Iraq is a very wealthy country... They can finance, largely finance, the reconstruction of their own country." They were all wrong.They've even failed to carry out their own obsessive, needless war in a successful manner. They ignored the realities of what it would cost in lives and dollars, and continue to ignore that reality, and their obsession with non-existent weapons of mass destruction caused them to over look hundreds of thousands of pounds of powerful "conventional" explosives that are now killing dozens and dozens of our troops every month. They keep saying they have no evidence that John Kerry could protect us better or run the war better than they could. For God's sake, a child could do it better than this. It'd be pretty goddamned difficult to do a worse job. Get rid of them. On November 2, vote John Kerry for president.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Quotes of the day. In response to today's remarks by the president:
Today George W. Bush made a very compelling and thoughtful argument for why he should not be reelected. In his own words, he told the American people that "...a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your Commander in Chief."In response to the president's comments on the missing explosives:
The President failed to adequately plan to secure the tons of explosives, munitions and weapons in Iraq and ignored the military commanders who told him he'd need more troops to both secure these explosives, take Baghdad and win the peace. Is this America? Two stories of intimidation of high school students, in the country George W. Bush calls America. Lemme tell ya ... it ain't America, unless I woke up this morning in a country where there's no freedom of speech. First, from The Progressive, via Right Hand Thief:
John Sachs is a high school senior in Johnston, Iowa, a northern suburb of Des Moines. Sachs got a ticket at school to go see Bush speak in nearby Clive one day in early October. It was billed as a question and answer session with the President.Next, yesterday in Wisconsin, via Kos [although as it turns out the claim of threats of expulsion is apparently untrue; see update below]:
[An email from Wisconsin:] A friend with a child in the Richland County, WI high school where George Bush appears today reports the following. Students were told they could not wear any pro-Kerry clothing or buttons or protest in any manner, at the risk of expulsion. After a parent inquired, an alternative activity will be provided, probably a movie being shown in an auditorium. (The school secretary reportedly said that students had the choice of just staying home if they didn't want to attend the Bush rally, but the principal subsequently offered an alternative.)Kos continues, "If Bush comes to a high school, how dare his campaign dictate what students can wear? "This is out of control.
Patrick
adds, "Expulsion means you're tossed out of public school for the rest of
the year. For wearing a button supporting the Democratic nominee for President. UPDATE: Mary's got the skinny from Richland High School Principal John Cler, who said:
"Here's what happened. The Bush campaign called to ask if they could rent our gym. We are a rural town, with the only space large enough. We thought it would be a great opportunity for our kids to hear him, as I said to them 'whether you agree with him or not.' THe Bush people gave out tickets [I think maybe the tickets cost something and they gave some to the kids for free? In any event, in addition to the rental fee, they also got tickets for interested students.] including some for the students, and the Bush people made the rules about the kids not being allowed to wear Kerry gear, which is typcial for Bush events. We and they never ever mentioned the word expulsion. We told the kids that if the Bush campaign had a problem with them, they would remove them from the gym. It was a separate event from school. I wanted to do it in part so the kids could see the political process up close, and have a chance to see the President. They made their folks available to come to classrooms to talk to the kids, so for a small town, this is a great opportunity. We did NOT threaten explosion -- that would be illegal, and I wouldn't allow it anyway."This exonerates the principal from the charges that he threatened to expel dissenters, but he still failed his students by allowing a rally to take place on his campus while freedom of speech was being abridged. It also is yet another appalling move by the Bush campaign, who still won't tolerate any dissent against their Four Year Plan. What a terrible message to send to the kids, who learned in their civics classes that our Constitution enshrines their freedom of speech.
The rise of pseudo fascism. David Neiwert continues his remarkable series of arcicles at his website, Orcinus. There was a new article posted yesterday; the series will conclude next week. Start reading now.
The Rise of Pseudo FascismIt's not light reading, but it's essential reading, particularly if you really want to know how much your vote for Kerry will be worth next week.
A lifetime supply! Via Cursor: "A Knight Ridder news report on the weapon of choice for Iraq insurgents -- homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices' -- quotes an Iraqi police official as saying that 'the terrorists took all the explosives they would ever need' when the coalition failed to guard ammunition depots."
The New Orleans election scene: "Sitting it out is not an option." Louisiana has been pretty solidly in the Bush camp as a whole, and is expected to go red next Tuesday. However, there's a big groundswell of support for Kerry in the Crescent City, and not only because the city's majority black population tend not to be Bush's demographic. In the aftermath of the New Orleans Times-Picayune's failure to endorse a candidate last Sunday, one reader responds in a letter to the editor:
Cowards!In case you didn't know, Metairie is a very conservative suburb of New Orleans, parts of which sent David Duke to the Louisiana legislature in 1989. I'd be surprised if Mrs. Higgins was alone in this. (You go, Kathy!) New Orleans weblog Right Hand Thief comments:
Da Paper is too disappointed in Bush to endorse him. (Read: the publisher told the T-P editors to choose Bush and they threw a big enough fit so that a non-endorsement was the compromise. A spouse of one of the opinion page editors informed me that the paper's owner/publisher decides all of the major endorsements -- not an uncommon practice. He's conservative and I'm sure he sees a substantial qualitative difference between Kerry and Dubya. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during that conference call...)Yeah you rite.
One more for Big John. The Orlando Sentinel was a big one. However, to what would have been astonishment if not for the realization that no one who lives in a reality-based world and truly understands the situation we're in could possibly vote for Bush, The Idaho Statesman, a staunchly conservative newspaper in America's most staunchly conservative state, endorses John Kerry.
And yet another: "Bush Relatives for Kerry". Yep, it's for real -- these folks' blood is blue-state blue.
"Bush Relatives for Kerry" grew out of a series of conversations that took place between a group of people that have two things in common: they are all related to George Walker Bush, and they are all voting for John Kerry. As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!I don't think y'all'll have to worry too much. (I'm feeling better every day.)
[ Link to today's entries ]
It's out! Buy one! Buy several! Makes great gifts! Today is the official release day for Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans -- five hours, thirteen minutes of music, 84 pages of writing and photos, the product of a lot of my sweat, passion, anguish, joy and lots and lots of late nights and long weekends for the last year-and-two-months. In case you missed it earlier, here's the track listing.
 Buy several. Christmas is coming up, the box makes a great gift, I've got a 68-year-old house to fix up and could do with a few pennies from your purchases!
Erratum. In my liner notes for Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans, I mention that Ellis Marsalis is the director of the Jazz Studies program at the University of New Orleans. As much as I try to keep up with what's going on musically back home, I seem to have missed hearing that Ellis retired from his post in 2001. The current director of the Jazz Studies program is Terrence Blanchard. The author regrets the error.
John Peel, 1939-2004. The legendary British DJ died yesterday, of a heart attack, while on holiday in Peru. He was 65. It's a very sad day for music fans, particularly those in the UK, who got the lion's share of the benefit of his passion for presenting great music outside the mainstream, and giving lots of new, young bands and musicians a chance to be heard. My friend Steve adds, "Peel was a key force in great music for several generations, helping countless acts get a boost and spurring crucial movements in rock."
His style was immediately different to other presenters. He played the records from start to finish without interruption -- which later became useful if you wanted to tape the tracks -- providing an informative commentary for listeners. During his early period, Peel was a friend and supporter of some of the biggest names in rock. Marc Bolan, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix all recorded Peel Sessions and Peel famously once showed up on Top Of The Pops miming mandolin for Rod Stewart on the chart-topping "Maggie May".Time to start digging out my various Peel Sessions CDs. Thanks for everything, John.
Wow. Here's what yesterday's Kerry rally in Philadelphia looked like. Estimates of the crowd were between 100,000 and 120,000. 
[ Link to today's entries ]
BushCo loses 760,000 pounds of high explosives to looters. If ever there was a better example of the massive incompetence by which the Bush administration runs their little adventure in Iraq, it's with the breaking news that almost 380 tons of powerful explosives have been disappearing from a huge facility in Iraq, from which the looting began last April and was still being looted as of last Sunday.
The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demolish buildings, make missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons - are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.But only Bush and Cheney could keep us (and our troops) safe, huh? I hope the investigations and indictments begin January 21.
They'll tell you what you want to hear! This is the funniest thing I've seen in weeks, a "service" for lonely guys outside the reality-based community.
Kerry's the talk of the town. The New Yorker magazine, for the first time in its 80-year history, has endorsed a presidential candidate. You guessed it ... Big John. Their detailed critique of the Bush administration peels it apart from its very earliest days, and the tainted, illegitimate way in which it obtained office:
On Tuesday, November 7, 2000, more than a hundred and five million Americans went to the polls and, by a small but indisputable plurality, voted to make Al Gore President of the United States. Because of the way the votes were distributed, however, the outcome in the electoral college turned on the outcome in Florida. In that state, George W. Bush held a lead of some five hundred votes, one one-thousandth of Gore.s national margin; irregularities, and there were many, all had the effect of taking votes away from Gore; and the state.s electoral machinery was in the hands of Bush.s brother, who was the governor, and one of Bush.s state campaign co-chairs, who was the Florida secretary of state. "What I'm advocating is that the media work for us again." If you've got a spare hour (or even if you don't; just listen to the audio while you do something else), you'd be well-served to watch/listen to Jon Stewart on C-SPAN's "American Perspectives".
Quote of the day. Or a 60-year-old, certainly ...
If one guy drove me into a ditch and said, "Don't worry, I know how to drive us out of this," I'll give the keys to a 7-year-old at that point.[ Link to today's entries ]
Frist lies egregiously, blatantly and outrageously, and the worst thing about it is that he really seemed to think he could get away with it? Why? Because the vast majority of the journalists in this country today don't do their jobs, and he was surprised by one who did it and did it well. Here's a post from Peter at a weblog called Tea Leaves, entitled "Stop Hurting America":
This morning on the way in to work I made the mistake of tuning in to NPR. Steve Inskeep was interviewing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) about partisanship. In so doing, Frist made the point that the Democrats have blocked 10 Federal Circuit Court nominees from consideration and that, and I quote, "the blocking of 10 justices, has never been done in the history of this country." The geekboy in me loves this. Via Paul in Galway (thanks!), here's every space geekboy's dream! Dan Carlson compiled a large image file comparing the relative sizes of all thet starships and spacecraft in many of our favorite movie and TV science-fiction universes. Man, now I want to build models of all these ...
[ Link to today's entries ]
"I voted for Kerry, and a check mark for Bush appeared." Aaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh ... via Kos:
Kim Griffith voted on Thursday -- over and over and over.It's showing signs of a disaster already. If at all possible, do not use electronic voting machines -- insist on a paper ballot, if at all possible. I understand that many counties in California offer such an option (but poll workers in places like Orange, Riverside and Santa Clara Counties are being instructed not to tell people that the option exists. *tear hair out*) I do not understand why in the good Christ we can't just do this, as perfectly explained by a Kos commenter: "We get a piece of paper, and put an X beside the person we want to vote for. Then the poll returning officer, who is an ordinary citizen sworn in for the day, counts the ballots, with a representative from each party watching. That's it, it's that simple. If it's really close, a judge does a recount. Problems are extremely rare."
Kerry endorsements keep coming in. Via Chris at My DD: major news and political weeklies are lining up to reject Bush, including The American Conservative (!), THe New Republic and, in a superb, hard-hitting editorial, The Nation, who argue that a week from Tuesday, American democracy itself is at stake. This is a must-read.
The most important [stake in this election] is the consequence it will have in what has emerged as a crisis of American democracy. The crisis began on December 12, 2000, when Bush was chosen to be President by the Supreme Court. The gift of a true electoral mandate now to this previously unelected President would give fresh legitimacy and momentum to all his disastrous policies. And that new momentum could in turn place our constitutional system itself at risk. [...]On November 2, vote for freedom. Vote John Kerry for President.
100 Facts and 1 Opinion. The non-arguable case against George W. Bush, also from The Nation.
Because we need some levity, too. I'm as serious as I've ever been about anything in my life regarding the political and election issues you've been reading about on Looka! of late. Amidst that, though, we need to relax a bit while we're getting the issues out there. Here's the funniest anti-Bush spot I've ever seen. (Discretion might be necessary at work.)
A bigger hot sausage ... who knew?! Yesterday Dave was doing some web searching to try to find a web-order source from the delicious, delectable Creole's Stuffed Bread, from Creole's Lunch House in Lafayette. He used the search box on Netscape's home page, and was pleased to see this humble website listed as the top two search results on the results page. He emailed me, and said "Scroll down a little bit to the fifth entry." (*scroll*scroll*scroll) "Um, you mean the link that says "foods to eat to get bigger penis free"? (Link perhaps NSFW.) Sure enuff, scroll down that page, and there's a link to the April 2002 edition of Looka!, with a mention of Creole's Stuffed Bread in the page title. Apparently, according to the Free Penis Enlargement Site, eating Creole's Stuffed Bread indeed gives one's John Thomas greater girth! I can assure you, though, that given the Gargantuan number of Creole's Stuffed Breads I've consumed in my lifetime, their claims are spurious at best.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Pledge drive! KCSN's semi-annual pledge drive is underway, and tonight's the night to show support for your favorite Louisiana-Irish-roots-trad radio show (via broadcast or webcast), "Down Home"! (That's my show, by the way.) Tonight from 7-9pm Pacific Time (or anytime via our online pledge central), make your dollars count for the best of commercial-free public radio on KCSN ... and when you pledge online, your dollars are worth double, as every online pledge is being matched by a Generous Benefactor. We're offering a variety of premia as thank-you gifts for your support ... in fact, quite a nifty haul of loot this year:
$120 pledge -- "Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans"; compiled, produced and with liner notes by yours truly.Plus all kinds of other nifty loot ... I imagine you can still pledge online, then call (800) 795-5276 to enquire about premia other than the 5-pack. Support independent non-commercial radio! Support our new transmitter! Support streaming web radio! Support KCSN!
DeLay subpoenaed! This sure brightened my day. Looks like Mr. "I am the government" is in a cauldron, and they're turning up the heat.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R) was subpoenaed in Houston to an October 25, 2004 deposition concerning his role in the controversial dispute between Democratic Legislators and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) during last year's redistricting struggle. Texas State Representative Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) subpoenaed DeLay in his ongoing lawsuit challenging DPS's use of public funds to achieve political ends and for its destruction of documents following the exodus of Democratic Legislators from the State to prevent a quorum in a redistricting effort that Democrats claim was illegal.Wonderful thing, a subpoenie.
Bush supporters as delusional as their leader? Excellent observations from Salon's Michelle Goldberg ... are the blind leading the blind?
Even if they don't like to say it out loud, lots of Democrats think that George Bush's supporters are a horde of ignoramuses. Now comes evidence that they're right! A remarkable new report, titled "The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters," from PIPA, the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, suggests that rank and file Republicans are more benighted than even the most supercilious coastal elitist would imagine.More from the PIPA report, a passage which Chris Bowers of My DD said made him "physically ill":
Steven Kull [director of PIPA] adds, "Another reason that Bush supporters may hold to these beliefs is that they have not accepted the idea that it does not matter whether Iraq had WMD or supported al Qaeda. Here too they are in agreement with Kerry supporters." Asked whether the US should have gone to war with Iraq if US intelligence had concluded that Iraq was not making WMD or providing support to al Qaeda, 58% of Bush supporters said the US should not have, and 61% assume that in this case the President would not have. Kull continues, "To support the president and to accept that he took the US to war based on mistaken assumptions likely creates substantial cognitive dissonance, and leads Bush supporters to suppress awareness of unsettling information about prewar Iraq."Looka! -- a proud member of the reality-based community.
What Bob said. From Bob Harris, via Tom Tomorrow:
"Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday evoked the possibility of terrorists bombing U.S. cities with nuclear weapons and questioned whether Sen. John Kerry could combat such a threat..."I second that.
Iran joins Putin in endorsing Bush. Or, as Max puts it, "As communist ex-KGB agents go, so go Iranian Islamicist fundamentalist mullahs. Can Kim Jong Il be far behind?"
The head of Iran's security council said Tuesday that the re-election of President Bush was in Tehran's best interests, despite the administration's axis of evil label, accusations that Iran harbors al-Qaida terrorists and threats of sanctions over the country's nuclear ambitions.The Bush administration declined to accept the endorsement, but the fact that it was issued is telling, isn't it?
[ Link to today's entries ]
AP: Cheney says terrorists may nuke cities. For an administration that's attacking John Kerry and accusing him of "fearmongering" because he wonders aloud about whether Bush will start drafting people, to then send their snarling nutjob veep around saying things like this makes me wonder if I'm living in a surrealist painting instead of the reality-based community.
Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday evoked the possibility of terrorists bombing U.S. cities with nuclear weapons and questioned whether Sen. John Kerry could combat such a threat, which the vice president called a concept "you've got to get your mind around."But there is evidence that Saddam had WMDs and that he participated in the 9/11 attacks, right Dick? (Jesus.)
The Onion: Cheney vows to attack U.S. if Kerry elected.
I'm having trouble deciding which article is
more absurd -- the previous one, or this one.
"If the wrong man is elected in November, the nation will come under a
devastating armed attack of an unimaginable magnitude, one planned and
executed by none other than myself," Cheney said, speaking at a rally in
Greensboro, NC. "When they go to the polls, Americans must weigh this fact
and decide if our nation can ignore such a grave threat."
Added Cheney: "It would be a tragedy to suffer another attack on American
soil, let alone one perpetrated by an enemy as well-organized and
well-equipped as I am. My colleagues and I urge voters to keep their
safety in mind when they go to the polls."
Teacher Janet Voorhies said she simply wanted to bring a message to
President Bush, but did not intend to protest.
"I wanted to see if I would be able to make a statement that I feel is
important, but not offensive, in a rally for my president," said Voorhies,
48.
The women said they were angered by reports of peaceful protesters being
thrown out of previous Bush-Cheney events. They said they chose the
phrase, "Protect Our Civil Liberties," because it was unconfrontational.
"We chose this phrase specifically because we didn't think it would be
offensive or degrading or obscene," said Tania Tong, 34, a special
education teacher.
The women got past the first and second checkpoints and were allowed into
the Jackson County fairgrounds, but were asked to leave and then
escorted out of the event by campaign officials who allegedly told them their
T-shirts were "obscene."
L.A. Weekly has learned that, just a day after the actor's death,
one or more Republican senators put a surprise hold on the Christopher Reeve
Paralysis Act. The uncontroversial legislation had been expected to sail
through committee and then the Senate as easily as it had the House of
Representatives where it passed 418 to zero last week. Monday's action was
beyond cruel; it was like opposing Mom and apple pie.
Congressional sources confirmed to L.A. Weekly [last] Tuesday that
the hold was placed on the legislation from the Republican side of the
aisle. Democratic committee members led by Senator Edward Kennedy are
trying to find out which Republican senator or senators sandbagged S.
1010. The way the Senate system works, any senator can delay a bill without
accountability because anonymity is assured.
"We're shocked," a source inside the Christopher Reeve Paralysis
Foundation told L.A. Weekly on Tuesday. "We had been told the bill
was going to pass the Senate, but then the Republicans put a hold on the
legislation. We heard it was because Chris has been too outspoken on the
stem-cell issue. That was the trigger.
"So it would have passed if Chris hadn't died."
A visit with the Doctor. Yesterday's New York Times Magazine featured a delightful story about and interview with our dear friend Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh, where you'll get a glimpse at the sheer joy of what it's like to imbibe at Casa de Cocktail (and it's the company just as much as the astonishing array of spirits and cocktails).
Everything faded into the background, however, when [Haigh] discovered the Corpse Reviver No. 2. "The drink that started it all!" he said now as he eagerly rose to make one. Doc first read about it as a child in his parents' copy of a 1934 book called The Official Mixer's Manual, but for years it was for him purely theoretical -- an impossible recipe of lemon juice, Cointreau, pastis and some mysterious substance called Kina Lillet -- which is probably why he wanted it so badly. He spent years searching for Kina Lillet in his native Virginia, to no avail. It was not until he moved to Los Angeles that he finally found a bottle of Lillet -- a vermouth-ish herb-flavored wine spiked with quinine -- and determined that it was the same thing as Kina Lillet. He spirited it quickly home and finally revived the corpse.If you need to register to read it, just do so. You won't be sorry, believe me.
CocktailDB reborn ... again. Doc was waiting for the publication of yesterday's article to unveil the subject of untold hours (months, years, really) of work. The already-fabulous CocktailDB.com has been unveiled in its sixth iteration, and it's truly astonishing. Nearly 5,000 authenticated cocktail recipes, going back to the mid-1800s; a comprehensive encyclopaedia of ingredients, common and arcane, new and defunct; a catalog of barware; a research library nonpareil; and the amazing (and hilarious) Mixilator, which you simply must try. The Mixilator is a random cocktail recipe generator, which, since it's based on author David (The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks) Embury's principles of cocktail-building and proportions, is actually capable of coming up with something drinkable (unlike most other such random engines). Don't miss the Mixilator's advanced notes link, which is fascinating. Doc and his project partner Martin Doudoroff have done a magnificent job. The site glows with Doc's artwork and designs (which is what he does for a living), and most parts of the database are illustrated with photographs of bottles of spirits from Doc's vast collection old and new. It is an absolute gem, truly one of the greatest resources the Internet has to offer. Go there, dig in and start playing. Remember, it's always cocktail hour, somewhere in the world ...
Cocktail of the day. We did this one about a year ago (and oddly enough, until then I had never tried it), but since this is the one that did it for Doc, it's one that you need to make for yourself and your loved ones. It might just open the doors for you the same way it did for him. It's easy to make, gives an incredibly sophisticated result and it is, of course, a magnificent drink.
Corpse Reviver No. 2Enjoy.
A must-read: the presidency, faith and reason. Ron Suskind's superb article from yesterday's New York Times is not to be missed. There are so many important, disquieting and downright disturbing things in it that I hardly know which part to quote, but I'll stick to the excerpt that's been making the rounds:
In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.Bush has no interest in reason, analysis, or examination of an issue with questions. He's made up his mind, he has faith that he's always right, and no one dares question him. His attitudes trickle down through the whole administration -- hey, if he doesn't have to answer to anybody's questions, why should I? It's a terrifyingly stupid way to run a government, with disastrously global implications, as we're seeing on the news every night. Retire him. Retire them all.
Jon Stewart is my hero. If you haven't done so, you simply MUST watch CNN's "Crossfire" from last Friday, in which the sole guest was Stewart, and during which he incinerated babbling hosts Tucker Carlson (whom I despise) and Paul Begala. It is the most amazing, wonderful bit of television I've seen in recent memory. Read the transcript, and watch it if you have enough bandwidth. Here's a BitTorrent, and here's a Quicktime file. In response to Carlson's Monday-morning visit to "Spin Alley", his attempts to tell us what we heard to try to distract us from what we actually heard, and his claims that Stewart was "boring ... boorish ... trite ... banal ... commonplace," ... my, where shall I begin? Boring? No. Fascinating. Riveting. Scalp-tingling, because Jon Stewart seems to be the only person on television who's willing to call it the way he sees it -- the way it is, really. When he said to them, "I watch your show every day. And it kills me. It's so -- oh, it's so painful to watch. [I'm] someone who watches your show and cannot take it anymore," it's as if he was in my head. I cannot stand "Crossfire", and just about every show like it. Boorish? Are you kidding, Mr. Black Pot Carlson? "Boorish: resembling or characteristic of a boor; rude and clumsy in behavior; clownish; uncultured; unmannerly." That is an exact description of the behavior of the hosts of "Crossfire", when anyone attempts to speak. I cannot stand to watch it, because it is so, so painful to watch. Trite? No. "Lacking power to evoke interest through overuse or repetetion; hackneyed; frayed or worn out by use" is not how I would describe Stewart's comments. Nobody's had the balls to say that to Carlson or his predecessors on that show or his competition for ratings at the other "news" networks. It was a desperately needed breath of fresh air. Trite? "You keep using that word ... I do not think it means what you think it means." Banal? "Drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite" (ah, being a bit redundant in your inanity, eh, Mr. Bow Tie?). No. Commonplace? (Department of Redundancy Department.) No. Jon was right, in his general comments on the responsibility of the media and their utter failure to the American people, and in his specific comment that Tucker Carlson is just as big a dick on his show as on any other show. Carlson's presence on television is excruciating. Jon Stewart is my hero.
Quote of the day. Jon's on a roll. Regarding CNN "journalist" Robert Novak, who wrote the article that outed Valerie Plame as a CIA operative:
Bob Novak could end this whole thing tomorrow. There's millions of dollars being spent on this investigation, and people are going to jail, but his evil is not allowed even in the darkened abyss of his soul -- some would say soul. [ Link to today's entries ]
Lie. He didn't waste any time, did he?
KERRY (during the third debate, 10/13/2004): Six months after he said Osama bin Laden must be caught dead or alive, this president was asked, "Where is Osama bin Laden?" He said, "I don't know. I don't really think about him very much. I'm not that concerned."Cut to a March 13, 2003 press conference:
Q: Mr. President, in your speeches now, you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? [...]Watch the video. (Via Atrios and Kos.) That's only the beginning, after the first question. Although this was Bush's best debate performance of the three, that's not saying much. He had almost nothing to offer, other than smirks, bad attempts at jokes, insults to unemployed American workers, an appallingly low minimum wage, a huge deficit, a higher share of taxes for the middle class and a huge tax cut for the rich, no matter how much he lies about it, and a disastrous plan for Social Security, to name but a few. (To his credit, he did seem as if he was going to attack the moderator tonight, and managed to confine his anger to excessive eyeblinking, red flushes on his face and podium-pounding.) Still, don't underestimate how badly Bush shot himself in the foot with the bin Laden remark. It's bad.
If the president had ignored Kerry's charge, everyone would have forgotten about it. By contesting it, Bush handed Kerry two gifts: As delighted as the Kerry people must be by yet another untruthful statement from the president, the substance of this particular statement is even more important. Dick Cheney's false declaration that he had never met John Edwards didn't help the Bush campaign, but this error will be orders of magnitude more damaging. Video of the vice president standing next to Edwards at a prayer breakfast is embarrassing. Video of the president saying he isn't concerned about the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks is devastating.Who looked more presidential last night, yet again? Three for three. Say hello to President Kerry. (And seriously, what the hell was wrong with Bush, physically? He frequently slurred his words, and the left side of his face seemed to droop.)
The Cocktailian. On this fortnight's visit to our master cocktailian bartender The Professor, he employs a new product from the makers of Grand Marnier made with Cognac and Madagasacar vanilla to offer a new cocktail that's like a sweet orchid with a sting of bitters, and which sounds fantastic.
You must watch this ad. It is completely devastating. Read more about its subject, Robert Acosta as well.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Hard working George. A one-minute appreciation of W's verbal virtuosity, edited from the first presidential debate by Sim Sadler. (Thanks to John Driscoll!)
Republican stooges trashing Dem voter registrations. I want to see people in jail for this. (Via Kos.)
Voter Registrations Possibly TrashedIs this their idea of democracy? No; they're not interested in democracy. Their goal is an autocratic one-party state. They don't want to govern, they want to rule. These people must not be allowed to win this election. Vote Democratic. UPDATE: A smoking gun on voter registration fraud? UPDATE II: The Republican National Committee is apparently funding voter suppression efforts in Nevada, Oregon, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Arizona, at least.
Why is Florida's voting system so corrupt? (I'll give you a hint: two words that rhyme with "web tush".) Ann Louise Bardach writes in Slate (Via Wes; below emphasis mine):
One indicator of the dire state of electoral affairs in Florida is the fact that Theresa LePore, the election supervisor who designed the infamous butterfly ballot, will once again be on the job. It was Ms. LePore's ballot that awarded the votes of thousands of elderly Jews in Palm Beach County to Pat Buchanan, arguably costing Al Gore the election. Given the multitude of other failures in the state's voting system, that's the good news.They did it so that they could steal the election and not get caught. They cannot be allowed to get away with it again.
Paso Robles: A Napa waiting to happen. Be sure to check out the L. A. Times Food Section today; there are several articles on the community of Paso Robles, about halfway up the 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Read about the area as a nexus of up-and-coming wineries, serious restaurants and organic farms, fantastic California olive oil, Tim Spear's "revolutionary" Syrahs and what Paso Robles' other vintners are up to, a weekend jaunt to their wine country and more.
Order the fish. No links here, unfortunately, but I'll pass on a recommendation from Sauté Wednesday to pick up the new issue of Vanity Fair:
Stunning photo in the November issue of Vanity Fair. In the article titled "Order the Fish" by Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), there is a picture of the ConAgra feedlots in Greeley, Colorado. Taken from the air, it shows miles, and miles, and miles of nothing but cattle. Pause for effect.No child left behind, eh?
[ Link to today's entries ]
I feel a song coming on ... Over the last day or two a bunch of friends and I have been wondering in our barrages of email how a reasonable person could still possibly be an undecided voter at this late juncture. Dave, who's singularly talented at writing and re-writing song lyrics (and was a major contributor of songwriting talent for the Kerry-oke fundraiser) took this most excellent swipe at "My Fair Lady" ...
Why Can't the Swing Votes?(Applause.)
Watering down the liquor. Via Tim comes an article from an online publication that's fairly new to me -- Modern Drunkard Magazine. I hadn't noticed this, but it seems that a troubling trend amongst makers of liquors has just accelerated, to the outrage of my spirits connonisseurs -- the makers of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey have lowered the proof of their flagship product, from 90 to 86 and now down to 80 proof. I have serious doubts that such a change will not have an effect on the flavor.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Unfit for command. Via Atrios, whom I will quote because it can't be said any better: "There are plenty of reasons why John F. Kerry is a better man than George W. Bush. And, there are plenty of reasons why George W. Bush is unfit to be president and commander in chief. But, frankly, there is only one which trumps all the rest -- George W. Bush believes his re-election is more important than the lives of our soldiers and the situation in Iraq.
Major Assaults On Hold Until After U.S. VoteJust when I thought he couldn't possibly sink any lower ... The man won't even admit to any mistakes he's made when asked by an American citizen, instead beats his chest to insist he was right about Iraq, and now openly -- even brazenly -- announces he's playing with the lives of American soldiers for political gain. Either this is the truth, or else it's a disinformation campaign for an "October surprise" attack, in which they'd likely figure that support for the president would go up during major military action. Either way, it's a nadir for the Bush administration. How can any Bush voter justify this?
I believed a man could fly. Christopher Reeve, 1952-2004.
 (Click on image for music.) Another child left behind. 41 talks to 43, in one of the best "Doonesbury" strips I've seen in a while.
 [ Link to today's entries ]
It's here!! Good lord, this happened earlier in the week and, due to my never quite knowing where I am in the space-time continuum, I plumb forgot. Now available is the one book you need to buy right now ... Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zazerac, 80 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them by my dear friend Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh. It looks like this:
 Do yourself a favor. If you love cocktails, buy this book. (A wonderful side effect will be that once you've acquired all the ingredients necessary to make these drinks, you'll have THE most well-stocked bar in your neighborhod, certainly more so than most of your local bars.) Find it at your local book emporium, or if you're not OK to drive, you can order it online via Amazon.com. Cheers!
[ Link to today's entries ]
"Your New Job" commercial now available as BitTorrent. Thanks to the generous contribution of labor by Mitch McGlaughlin, Lou Weinert's commercial on the realities of the Bush administration jobs record is now available as a BitTorrent file [link removed, sorry], so those of you familiar with that file distribution system can use it without turning my server into a quivering puddle of melted bacon fat. (Let me know in comments if something's not working, BitTorrent users.) Thanks a million, Mitch!
Dick Cheney: the hits just keep on coming! An astonishing story from the AP today says that the CIA report saying there were no WMDs in Iraq justifies the invasion anyway. Via Steven, who added, "Unfortunately, the story includes no confirmation of the rumor that the phrases War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength were discovered scribbled on his notes."
Vice President Dick Cheney asserted on Thursday that a finding by the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq that Saddam Hussein's government produced no weapons of mass destruction after 1991 justifies rather than undermines President Bush's decision to go to war."We already knew that"?! What else did you "know"? How 'bout this? ...
"This Week with George Stephanopoulos", ABC News, March 30, 2003To coin a phrase ... you don't know dick, actually.
Recipe of the day: Shrimp and grits, part deux. Here's another version of shrimp and grits, this time coming from Chapel Hill, North Carolina's legendary local restaurant Crook's Corner, with recipe kindly provided by my New Orleanian friends Michael and Louise, who used to live in Chapel Hill. Michael even claims that this version is better than the version served at Uglesich's, which is a mighty bold claim indeed. Suffice to say I love both versions, and must admit that Anthony's version doesn't have any bacon ... hmm. If you're on Weight Watchers, you might want to prepare the dish with Michael's "lightening" suggestions, or you'll blow all your Flex Points for the entire week. That said, here's Crook's Corner's famous Spicy Sautéed Shrimp and Cheese Grits. It's got shrimp, bacon and two kinds of cheese, so how can you go wrong?
Cocktail of the day: the poor suffering bar steward. The current issue of Malt Advocate magazine features an article by the inimitable Ardent Spirit Gary Regan, libations writer and Hoskins Cocktail evangelist, tells of his adventures in seeking out the creator of the following cocktail, which began with an obituary in the New York Times ...
The Suffering BastardYe poor bastards, yis won't be suffering so much after one or three of these ...
Quote of the day. After the vote to authorize the use of force to disarm Saddam of any WMDs he was discovered to have, as a last resort:
In giving the President this authority, I expect him to fulfill the commitments he has made to the American people in recent days--to work with the United Nations Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough and immediate inspection requirements, and to act with our allies at our side if we have to disarm Saddam Hussein by force. If he fails to do so, I will be among the first to speak out.[ Link to today's entries ]
The vice-presidential debate, in a nutshell. Cheney releases the hounds.
Cheney vs. reality. I'm trying to decide if I'm surprised at the number of times I shouted at the television screen, "That is a boldfaced LIE!" while the vice-president was speaking. The DNC has already produced a video (Windows Media, broadband, dialup) that demonstrates that Mr. Cheney apparently thinks no one will question anything he says.
"An administration that would lie about the small things ..."That sounds like a bit more than just a "suggestion".
Recipe of the day. Shrimp and grits are a classic combination, in case you didn't know. I've had them prepared in several different ways, but they're usually a cheesy, creamy serving of grits (in either loose or solid cake form) with shrimp and a wonderful gravy. It's very, very comforting, and yet exciting because with those basic elements you can really go almost anywhere with it. Today's L. A. Times Food Section features a recipe request from Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, no less, who had a fabulous shrimp and grits dish in Louisville, Kentucky, and couldn't figure out what was in it. To the rescue comes Chef Shawn Ward of Jack Fry's Restaurant, and the recipe for Shrimp and Grits with Red-eye Gravy (which, of course, contains strong, brewed coffee), published under the fabulously awful headline, "Delicious three-part hominy." (Oy.) I can't wait to try this one. Over the next two days I'll post two more shrimp and grits recipes that I love. You'll love 'em too.
WMDs? What WMDs? Quelle surprise: Iraq's capability for producing weapons of mass destruction was essentially destroyed in 1991.
Undercutting the Bush's administration's rationale for invading Iraq, the final report of the chief U.S. arms inspector concludes that Saddam Hussein did not vigorously pursue a program to develop weapons of mass destruction after international inspectors left Baghdad in 1998, according to lawmakers and others briefed on the report.And in fact, international attention was anything but waning. If Bush had allowed the inspectors to complete their jobs, there would be over 1,000 American troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis who would be alive today. "But Saddam Hussein is in jail!" wail the GoOPers. Kim Jong Il, however, is not, and he has nukes.
Wish I'd been there. Via Michael, here's a brief report from the "Backstreets" list on last night's "Vote for Change" concert in St. Paul, Minnesota, featuring Bruce Springsteen, REM, Bright Eyes and ... a special guest.
Nothing ragged about this one -- just full-on guitar glory as Neil Young came out and cranked up the energy for the best VFC show yet. "Any Canadians for Kerry in the house? I thought I saw one here earlier..." said Bruce. And yeah, Young had been out earlier for "Country Feedback" with REM, but that didn't diminish the "holy shit" factor as Neil faced off with Bruce for monster jam on "Souls of the Departed" and a fierce "All Along the Watchtower." Even Clarence got swept away. Blow, Big Man, blow! Wail, Shakey, wail! And the wind began to howl... Neil was back in the encores trading off vocals with Bruce on "Rockin' in the Free World" along with Fogerty, all of REM, and Neil's wife Pegi.Wow. Unfortunately, this part of the tour isn't coming anywhere near me, so if they're near you, go and have a great time.
Son Volt or not-Son Volt? Just within the last couple of weeks I excitedly relayed Jay Farrar's announcemente that the original lineup of Son Volt would be reforming. Today, via Barry, we now hear that it's Son Volt in name only:
Jay Farrar's popular rock band persona, Son Volt, is heading back into the studio to record their fourth full-length studio album -- the first new release since 1998's Wide Swing Tremolo (Warner Bros. Records). This time around, though, fans will be seeing (and hearing) a different collection of side musicians performing with Farrar. After several months of discussions and planning with the original Son Volt players.Dave Boquist, Jim Boquist and Mike Heidorn.Farrar was unable to reach acceptable business terms with the original line-up.I'm sure the new album'll be great (I hope it is, anyway), but I have to say I'm disappointed that it's not going to be the original lineup, which I loved. Why doesn't Jay just call it a Jay Farrar album? In fact, as Barry put it, "why doesn't he just call it Uncle Tupelo?"
Quote of the day. From last night's vice-presidential debate:
The vice president, I'm surprised to hear him talk about records. When he was one of 435 members of the United States House, he was one of 10 to vote against Head Start, one of four to vote against banning plastic weapons that can pass through metal detectors.Cheney would not -- and in fact, could not -- respond.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Your new job (courtesy of George W. Bush). My old friend Lou Weinert just produced a commercial for the Democrats. Off the top of his head. In about a week's time. With donated labor and equipment. For a total cost of less than $500. And it's great. Watch it now. (3.7 MB Quicktime ... above link may not work if you're behind a firewall or using a proxy server. If the previous link doesn't work, use this one, a 1.5 MB backup version.) That packs quite a punch, and belies BushCo's claims of job creation (in the face of the actual statistic of being the first administration in 70 years to have a net loss of jobs). It shows us what kinds of jobs are being created more and more these days, as in the joke Lou told me the other day -- A guy goes into a greasy spoon diner, sits down and orders a cup of coffee. As he's reading his paper he tells the waitress, "Hey, it says here that President Bush created 1.7 million new jobs!" "Yeah," replied the waitress as she poured his coffee. "I've got three of 'em." Lou knew some of the right people, and (amazingly) it's already in the hands of the DNC and MoveOn.org. I'm hoping we'll at least see it on their websites within the next few days, and since it was professionally produced and photographed on 35mm film (Lou's a professional cameraman and documentary filmmaker), it's easily broadcast quality. Keep an eye out!
[ Link to today's entries ]
Space: the final frontier. That frontier has been broken, ever so slightly, by Peter Allen and Burt Rutan's Space Ship One, which flew to an altitude of 71.5 miles today and claimed the $10 million X Prize for the first successful (and repeatable) civilian spaceflight. (Full coverage here.) Apparently Richard Branson has already set up Virgin Galactic to offer commercial space tourist flights. Here's hoping I can get into space sometime before I die (although he'll need to get the price down a little from the projected $200,000 fares ... maybe standby coach redeye spaceflight for me).
Funny/scary. What do you talk about at your convention when you have nothing else to talk about? September 11th, Saddam, terror terror terror! -- some soundbites from the 2004 Republican National Convention.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Photo of the day. Two parrots having a debate, Audubon Park Zoo, New Orleans, August 2004.
I don't recall them having a 32-page rulebook, though.
Quotes of the day. (Via Julian Sanchez):
GEORGE W. BUSH, DURING THE DEBATE, 9/30/2004: My opponent says we didn't have any allies in this war? What's he say to Tony Blair? What's he to Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland?Yeah. Don't forget Poland! More ...
BUSH: I don't think we want to get to how he's going to pay for all those promises.Julian: "Yeah, we wouldn't want to be running massive deficits." Atrios: "Bush chose the wrong debate to use that line. Was Kerry about incresing welfare payments? Free health care for all? Subways in every city? Some liberal big government program? No. He was talking about doing very sensible and relatively inexpensive things to prevent catastrophe. The full exchange:
KERRY: Jim, let me tell you exactly what I'll do. And there are a long list of things. First of all, what kind of mixed message does it send when you've got $500 million going over to Iraq to put police officers in the streets of Iraq and the president is cutting the cops program in America? What kind of message does it send to be sending money to open firehouses in Iraq but we're shutting firehouses, who are the first responders here in America? The president hasn't put one nickel -- not one nickel -- into the effort to fix some of our tunnels and bridges and most exposed subway systems. That's why they had to close down the subway in New York when the Republican convention was there. We haven't done the work that ought to be done.Atrios: "From a tactical perspective, it was a great gaffe." More...
KERRY: I acknowledge [the president's] daughters, I've watched them, I've chuckled a bit at some of their comments.Andrew Sullivan: "No president who has presided over Abu Ghraib should ever say he wants to put anyone on a leash." (I don't like him, but I have to admit that's a great line.) Look at the new video on the DNC website entitled "Faces of Frustration", highlighting all of the very unpresidential facial expressions, twitching, eyerolling and smirking from Bush during the debate. Then look again at his bizarre outburst, "Of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us!". Did you also catch his "Let me finish..." bit, which he pulls out when he's getting angry and defensive? Remember how he pulled it at least a dozen times on Irish reporter Carole Coleman when she actually asked him real, tough questions. Kerry hit it out of the park. He looked calm, cool, collected, informed, presidential. Bush looked nervous, twitchy, petulant, angry, sarcastic, smirking. The key to observing the difference between these men is when ABC cut to a split screen view, showing Bush's reactions as Kerry made his points and charges (and I understand C-SPAN ran the whole debate that way). As Atrios said, "Split screen will save this country." Keep this up, George, and it'll be Nixon's sweaty five o'clock shadow to the tenth power.
Fox "News": Paving the way for the Ministry of Truth. Looky how the Fox News art department Photoshopped an additional three inches onto Bush, so wouldn't seem so short next to thte 6'4" Kerry. We can't have Our Fearless Leader looking small, now, can we? (Via Kos)
Um, wow. Okay, so when I set up that Amazon.com pre-order link for Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens on Wednesday, I remember noticing that its Amazon.com sales rank was about 320,000something. When I took a look at the link today, the sales rank was 30,154. Hey, does that mean that a few people are pre-ordering? (Heh.) Woo! Tell your friends! Buy buy buy! (No, really, it's cool, you'll love it. Promise.)
September Looka! entries have been permanently archived.
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This means that you may not copy my writing onto other web
pages or anywhere else without my specific written permission. (Quotes of
short passages, properly attributed, may be considered fair use.)
If you do copy my work, it's called "stealing". People who steal my stuff will be étoufféed and served to Dr. Lecter, with a nice Chianti. (I'm serious. Just don't do it. Thanks.) |
