Your Brains

Obama made SC an impressive victory, despite all the hee-hawing by ass-pundits about race and gender.

It must be hard, I guess, for wealthy white guys to comprehend that other people can find common ground with someone who differs; they've always been able to find other wealthy white guys to vote for, and work for, and work with, and as friends, so identity politics is their only milieu.

But for the rest of us outside of the wealthy and the Beltway, diversity has been increasingly the norm and finding common ground with someone of differing race, gender, creed or what-have-you isn't all that difficult or unusual. Of course, some people don't LIKE that, and thus the Southern Strategy that has paid such swell dividends for teh Republican Party over the last thirty years; but as anti-American values such as Tolerance, Inclusiveness, and Equality have been slowly eroding the Republic, that bigoted contingent has also been eroding, as well as becoming more potent within the Right. They gave them a home; Now they can just live with the abhorrent monsters they've created.

I still have reservations about Obama, as we've been talking over the last couple of days. Hell, I've got reservations about ALL the Democratic candidates (except Kucinich. He's just crazy enough to WORK!) It's a reflection, I think, of the strength of the field; they differ little in policy and the minor details are the most intransigent.

But, still, all the talk of reaching across the aisle, and respectable compromise, and so on are not going to get us anywhere. The recent flap about the FISA law is a great example. The Democrats, pushed by Harry Reid, were ready to roll over and give this hated President everything he demanded: full, retroactive immunity for the telecoms, himself, and his cronies; and vastly expanded abilitites to use wholesale monitoring technologies to eavesdrop on any Americans he deems, for non-disclosable reasons. But, for the 'reasonable' Republicans, complete capitulation wasn't enough. They also demanded, pissily of course, that the bill be delayed JUST LONG ENOUGH that PissMaster Bush can be pissy in the SOTU speech about 'obstructionist' dems who allow TERRISTS to come BLOW US ALL UP FOREVER!!

As I've said, that's not the behavior of someone who's just waiting for a reasonable hand of compromise to be extended; they're savage primitives who view reasonableness as an opportunity to walk on someone else.  Compromise is weakness; anyone who extends a hand will not bring one back.

Atrios pointed out this morning another example of this style of 'Compromise'

Wrong 'Em Boyo

Reading back on Nick's comments, I see a problem with my responses.

Nick is an Obama  man.

Which means, of course, that he is fresh to the democratic point of view.

It's a heady feeling.

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But  as I said before, I like Obama.

And finally, he came through.  He started to support his lovely rhetoric with hard examples of policies I support wholeheartedly.  especially ones that the other candidates do not have the spine to articulate.

Barack Obama has pledged to pronounce 'Nuclear'  correctly.

He's my man.

News Of The World

***Listen Closely*****

LOWER TAXES DO NOT, CAN NOT,  LEAD TO HIGHER REVENUES!!!!!

For the luvva pasta.

It's a ludicrous assertion, wholly unsupported by any data not manufactured by Ronald McReagan's wooly brain and contra-indicated by OVER THIRTY FRICKIN YEARS  of data.

It's used solely to sell tax cuts for the wealthy to members of the lower-middle class who are more concerned that someone else might be getting something without totally debasing themselves for it, and thus are completely inattentive when their entire future is pocketed by some corporate weenoid.

Thank you for your attention.  Now go back to watching American Idol.

Shhheeeee-eeeesh.

More Of That Jazz

A brief break from the bleak political howling, enough to play some Friday random jazz, and Zelmo wishes he could be listenin, I assure you....


\This set's for Heath Ledger (John Gibson is a choadmunchloaf), Suzanne Pleshette (Bob? Bob? Bob. Bob! Bob!) and of course, Claire, who bested the eastern Seaboard's exotic bakery trixters with a good, wholesome Midwestern Oatmeal Cookie,


Here it comes, the good, the bad, and the Journey

Madame Joy from the album "The Philosopher's Stone (Disc 1)" by Van Morrison Rare stuff from Van, a good antidote if you're tired of his incessantly played hits.

I'm Wrong About Everything from the album "The Confessions Of St.Ace" by John Wesley Harding

People Of The South Wind from the album "Kansas [Boxed Set Disc Two]" by Kansas Hush. You know you like Kansas.
That Is All from the album "Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today" by Slobberbone Lead singer of this band is an attorney. He looks a bit like Charlie Manson. I can't put those two things together in my mind.

867-5309 / Jenny from the album "Just Can't Get Enough: NEW WAVE Hits of the '80s, Vol. 5" by Tommy Tutone

Miami from the album "Hard Candy" by Counting Crows

I Lost My Love To A UK Sub from the album "The Greatest Punk Album Of All Time (Disc C)" by Gonads Well finally, that was a pretty classic rock set up to here.

I Would Hurt a Fly from the album "Perfect from Now On" by Built To Spill

Finding My Way - In The Mood from the album "Grace Under Pressure Tour 1984" by Rush Now, THIS is screechy Rush. Even if it was recorded in Geddy's later days.
Boiling Boy from the album "A Bell Is A Cup Until It Is Struck" by Wire

Some Cities (Rich Costey Mix) from the album "Some Cities" by Doves

One Of The Millions from the album "Oranges & Lemons" by XTC




***BREAKING NEWS*****

The current narrative is that Bill Clinton 'endangers his legacy' by campaigning for his wife. Although there is no actual, you know, Evidence from actual people to support this. And it comes from punditry that to a one, lectured us on how Clinton's legacy was about oral sex and cigar stains on interns or something like that.

Reality-based interpretation: It's working and that bothers them. On the internet, it's called Concern Trolling.

Technorati Tags: noise

Been Caught Stealing

One More Time.

Whorry Reid has been taken to the woodshed by Lord Cheney and is reading the script "Pass this FISA law or Bad! Things! will happen. Scary!  Boogy Monster!!  Don't bother reading it - it's just some common sense laws that... ummm... totallyallowforeavesdroppinganyoneanywhereanytimeandplusgivesblanketimmunitytotelecoms whoprovidedthisinformationillegallyandbesidesanybodyinvolved.."

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Indeed.  The FISA bill Reid and the White House minions would like us to believe is SO necessary for security, actually contains not only blanket immunity for your telecom service, which sold you down the river last year to the Government, but anybody ever involved in the charade.  Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Condi's shoe salesmen...

As they say at the GNB, If my term was winding down, and based on the level of illegality of this administration, I'd be looking to cover my ass too.

But- and this is the funny part, hah-hah - we are just Normal Fuckin People out here, and when we break a law, you damn well betcha we don't get to change the rules after the fact and our asses WILL sit in jail.  Because we're a Nation of Laws, doncha know.  Unless you're rich, white, and Republican.

Or, if you're  a Corporation.  Because with this Act, we will finally have elevated Corporations clearly above individuals.  A Corp is allowed to spend money as free speech as if it's an individual, but can avoid prosecution as individuals.  Our Corporate Overlords thank you for your blind obedience, here's a pittance as a paycheck, no go buy our cheap crap and keep us in Lear Jets.

Demand accountability.  Write your Senator.  

And a big, sloppy and sincere Thank You to Russ Feingold and Chris Dodd, and any other Patriots who stand with them today to strike down this oligarchic gift.  We love you folks, big warm hugs; and come election times, we'll remember who has been able to remember WHO works for WHO.

Good Work If You Can Get It

Nick, here's your positive, bipartisan future:

Not to belittle Obama's gifts as an orator, but to take him at his word (and as Blue Girl says, we should) all it takes is some sweet talk and compromise and everything inWashington will be roses and peppermints.

Bloody-fucking-horseshit.

That chart up there shows how interested the Republicans are in compromise.  The spike in filibustering (abetted by Harry Reid, duly and dolefully noted) coincides with Democratic control, wherein they obtained enough power to introduce legislation, but not to ram it through in Republican fashion.

The Republicans respond to the hand of conciliation by chewing it off.  Compromise is viewed as weakness; concession on the Left only allows the Right to dig their heels in deeper.

Partisanship DOES serve a purpose, contrary to what the talking heads keep bleating;  it allows for contrasting viewpoints and goals to be thrashed out.  People disagree and that's part of why the system exists the way it is.

Pundits only promulgate the myth of some earlier, animus-free Congress because the arguments make their own, cocktail-party Beltway-centered lives uncomfortable; it's hard to draw up seating charts when there's all this ugly disagreement floating about.  They've found it's so much more civilized, dahling, when you allow the oligarchs a majority to run things.

So now, NOW, when the Democrats (and democrats) are poised to gain some leverage, and activism at all levels are pushing them to act as an Opposition Party and OPPOSE the shortsighted, destructive policies of the Right, Bush and Cheney and other Republicans find a new Religion called Polity.  Bipartisanship! is the new cheer!  And we'll put all this oh-so-dreary animosity behind us.

Until, of course, the Democrats try to actually move the country in a non-corporate direction.

don't get me wrong;  I like Obama and am totally psyched that the Democrats are floating an African-American as a serious Presidential contender.  And he is nearly sure to be a better President than any Republican floated as a candidate in the last thirty years or so.

But I think what he's told us about his tactics and plans for actually governing, as opposed to rabble-rousery, are far short of what will be required in this dreary post-millennial, post-Bush disaster.  He will need far larger cojones than he's shown so far, a Churchillian willingness to go toe-to-toe with his Republican opponents, and, as is so depressingly true for Democrats, a total spine transplant.

Look; Nick, as a Builder, I'm inherently optimistic.  But one thing that can be learned in painfully quick lessons as a Small Business Owner is that optimistic words and cheerful outlook are NOT accepted by the IRS or your employees on payday.  Those words need to be backed up with no-nonsense DEEDS and, preferably, a bank account.  And when the whole building has exploded, burned down, fallen over, THEN sunk into the swamp, it's foolish to pretend there's nothing wrong just because it's uncomfortable to hear.

Crazy Train

A british writer has a very insightful article over at Firedoglake today.  It's worth a trip, even if you don't visit the mainstream bloggos very much because of the emosity.

He likens America to a wealthy, sick, and insane individual, repeating many of the things some of us have been saying for quite some time, and the analogy works.

Of particular note is how far behind America is falling in the new century economy, a fact almost universally ignored by Americans because, to us, it's nearly unthinkable.  But hat hasn't prevented China, Japan, India and the EU from setting up and 'eating our lunch' as the saying goes.

It's especially riveting because the writer, Ian Welsh, quite apparently LIKES Americans, but is dismayed by AMERICA.

But when the interconnectedness and intractability of the issues are illustrated like he does, it becomes a nearly unsolvable problem and I despair even further for the repair of our country.  

My Favorite Headache

Wow.  I don't think I've ever seen a Summerfest announcement in January before.  

And the early announcepants are always something stupid or lame, Like Toby Keith or James Taylor.  ewww.

Unfortunately, apparently Pinko and the Sinke Lettuce Krew are passing us by.  Splitters!!

Lots of stuff about this, plus random New Music below.

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More

Yes.  That's right Zelmo, bud:  Rockin'screechin Canuckinoids RUSH are playing teh FEST on the First Friday.  I am SO THERE.  Getting the Front Row, I am.  Dammit.

Although Z will probably be doing a balloon tour of Siberia or something.  Emu.

Random music from my new files:  

1. The National, Slow Show.  Been hearing about these guys from Fascist Leader Atrios and Fascist Pravda Rolling Stone for some time.  This is as good as they say.  It's no Tom Sawyer but what is?
2. The White Stripes, You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told)    Nice little rock and rolly number.  
3. Martin Zellar, Hammer's Gonna Fall.  Americana  from the former leader of the Gear Daddies.  Yeah, it's an old album under the new stuff, but for some reason I hadn't ripped it to my hard drive, so it's new to Itunes.
4. Genesis, The Dividing Line.  MY Genesis, One of the high points from the Ray Wilson album.  Nice, propulsive drumming , a heavy instrumental intro, and some  of the best keyboard work from Banks in four albums.  Fuck off Zelmo, I prefer this to the Chicago Genesis.
5. Billy Bragg, Qualifications.  Rabble rousing punk DIY.
6. Los Lobos, Two Janes.  From the Kiko alum.
7. The Mighty Lemon Drops, Fall Down Like The Rain.  This list is starting to look like last week's.
8. Hank Williams, At The First Fall Of Snow.  Old school, complete with hiss and pops.
9. The eels, Open The Door.  New Eels!!
10. Genesis - Afterglow.  Oddly enough, from the live tour referred to above.

Be excellent to each other.

A House For Jennifer

It's probably not the DEA's jurisdiction....

Searching for a Former Clarity

well, thanks to Jennifer for the shameless blogpimpin.  She used an offhand bleat by Zelmo to make a creative little post over at her joint that confused many spectators.  Plus, It made me wonder how many Google hits I would get if I changed the name of this bloggo to Leprose Semen Fetishes.  Now she linked back here and this little old storefront blog is gonna be crashed by all her traffic.

A couple of people asked about the Figgs show; it was a late one for this old guy, and it won't compare to Cowboy Bingo with Assless Chaps.  But the band was hot and warming up for a 3 night stand at the casino in Green Bay, so they were totally jazzed to stay in one place for several consecutive days.  The life of a touring band.

While watching them, it struck me that on their albums, they have a power pop sheen, sometimes they get closer and sometimes not.  But in a live setting, they eschew the finer points and have a lean, muscular pop/punk sound that would have made them famous if they had been in Minneapolis in the 80's.

Speaking of Green Bay (and not to be a sporto blog), the Packers have surprised everyone with a fine, fine season and even stunning the Seahawks with an amazing comeback last week.  excluding the points they threw at Seattle, they held them to 6 points while racking up 42.  In the snow.

Not to be Jinxy McJinxerpants The Jinxer, but I think they may be the only team who can pull enough out of the bag to beat the Patriots.  Done it before as underdogs; I'm sure they would be underdogs again, if they make it.  One more game, no chicken counting here.

As I've said many times, Klark Kent life has been perfectly awful.  Not to even get into it; I worked till 2 AM last night, and am just about to go into a meeting with a bunch of hostile framing contractors.  If I get out of it without kicking anyone in the head, I'll count it as a win.

Barely enough time to watch the political world even.  Obama and Clinton have finally figured out that it's the MEDIA that have been saying "let's you and her fight". and backed off.  Finally.  America's enemy are the Crazy Republicans, not other Dems.

I guess if I were Atrios or this were Firedglake, this is where I'd say Open Thred.  Feel free to congratulate me on my Bake-Off win.

Hole In The Ground

Awful, awful week. No end to Klark Kent duties, and a distinct lack of clients willing to pay for such. I am looking forward to being unemployed when the housing crisis hits the construction industry full force. Recession, here we come!! As eve, nice job Bushie.

No kidding, endless tax cuts and heedless spending are a recipe for disaster, and any working stiff can tell you that. But maybe that's the issue; GWB is so far from blue collar that he'd have to make a long distance call to see it from where he is. Never done a day's worth of real work in his life. Poseur.

You wearin orange today? Our friends at the ACLU ask people to wear orange today to protest the atrocities at Guantanamo. It's the six-year anniversary. Longer for some prisoners than those in the camps of WW2. We're so civilized and advanced and modern, wheee.

Depressed and drinking random music until I lose interest: these come from recent acquisitions.

1. Sea Legs from the album "Wincing the Night Away" by The Shins I like the shins. Pinko can ridicule me if he wants. It's like a less-keyboard intensive Field Mice.
2. The Invisible Man from the album "Family" by Marillion Off the Marbles album, quite a good cut actually. But then, I've got quite a fondness for prog. Sounds a bit like a Peter Gabriel song in the muted heartbeat rhythms that start the piece.
3. Driving The Last Spike from the album "We Can't Dance" by Genesis Once in a while, they still have a good song in them. But Phil can still go back to the drums for all I care.
4. Holloway Girl from the album "Friends" by Marillion
5. When The Circus Comes from the album "Kiko" by Los Lobos
6. The Space Race Is Over (Demo) from the album "William Bloke Bonus Tracks" by Billy Bragg
7. Bedshaped from the album "Friends" by Marillion
8. Mama from the album "Genesis" by Genesis Tremendous song. I kind of wish it had a stronger ending; you can tell they didn't quite have it figured out either, because it fades on the studio track, and live they kind of rattle a drum sting off to wind it up. It's better, but it really needed a bit more of a coda or something.
9. Laughter from the album "World Without End" by The Mighty Lemon Drops Hah! Take that, Pitchforkers.
10. Big Brother Wheels from the album "Flat-Pack Philosophy" by Buzzcocks They still got it. Although Shelley's voice isn't quite as nasally as it used to be.

A few more, I guess.

11. Goalhanger from the album "William Bloke" by Billy Bragg
12. Angel In the Snow from the album "New Moon" by Elliott Smith
13. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet (Demo) from the album "William Bloke Bonus Tracks" by Billy Bragg
14. Going to Lebanon from the album "Zopilote Machine" by The Mountain Goats I love the Mountain Goats. Fantastic live.
15. Tarantula from the album "Zeitgeist" by Smashing Pumpkins Bite me, I like the pumpkins. Except for the overwrought 'Melon Collie' mess. I remember when they used to play the Unicorn here in Milwaukee all the time. Whatta dive.
16. Prismism from the album "Mirrored" by Battles Math-Prog!! Whatever that means!! Orange-toilet!!
17. One By One from the album "World Without End" by The Mighty Lemon Drops OK, now we're repeating a bit too much. No I've lost interest.

See you later.

Technorati Tags: cobaggery, noise

We'll Be Doing Time

OKAY, I'm starting to get fired up.

And by 'fired up' I mean drinking like a banshee.

Silent Mike, you swinging by to pick me up?

What time?

Zelmo.... ahhh, who am I kiddin?  There's a greater chance we'll see AG at Linnemann's.

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Between the wars

moar LOLcats

Besides the basic unassailable emotion of the above LOLCat, I'd like to point out something that, despite all the changes to acceptable age and stop-lossing being done, is a never-changing aspect of industrialized war:  look closely at that soldier.  He's a kid.  A brave and worthy kid, no doubt, but he could barely buy a beer back here.   As ever, this damnable War is being waged by old white guys, but it's still -always- the kids who are dying.

Except for all the Iraqis, of course. Those, we are apparently not so picky about.

The picture is a moment of solace in an unending wall-to-wall spasm of violence and dis-humanization.  It belies the basic humanity of the participants; But if this young man ever makes it back to us at home, will he ever be able to pet a kitteh again without thinking of the hell he participated in?

And on a more 'big picture' note, the always-excellent Glenn Greenwald today has a post up regarding what was known once-upon-a-time as the Military-Industrial Complex.

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Today, we might just as well call it the American Economy.  The imbalance of money, both among the other nations of the world and within our own economy, is mind boggling and appalling.  There is no justification for this kind of insanity anymore, unless you are an insane warmonger or have world-spanning imperialistic notions.  Unfortunately for us and the rest of the world, we are currently being governed by people who are both.

The rates of military spending are unsupportable, as Russia's demise shows.  We lasted longer because we started with more industrial capacity; but the end is the same.  It's as if Russia simply spent all their savings, while America was able to rack up some massive credit card debt; the end result is going to be catastrophe.

As GG says, we are not allowed to discuss this in the current political climate; because there are Enemies.   If you do, you are branded as unserious and far-leftist; a Dirty Fuckin Hippy who has no right to participate in the direction of the country.  We can safely ignore that these enemies pose no serious threats to America as a country; it is rather belief in Red Dawn and 24 that rule our discourse.

It's appalling.

Greenwald accurately states that none of the current candidates make any statements that would change this trend.  Military commerce has become far too much of America's economy to be willing to stand for that kind of nonsense.  We'd much rather let sick kids or old people die than sacrifice a small portion of the profits of our beloved military contractors; or - heaven forbid!- change the contracts to development and purchase of industrial goods or infrastructural expenses!!!  Swords into plowshares is fine for the Bible, but this is business.  

But.... just for a moment, imagine if Lockheed Martin was developing a mass transit system.  Or Raytheon was working on power generation and distribution for cities, or water cleaning systems, or even just new paving and bridge systems that would last a thousand years....  If we spent 1% of our military budget on development of alternative energy sources, America could be a world leader in future energy.

Imagine.

What's The World Got In Store

Molly Ivins, from the Introduction to her latest and final book:

As a Texas Liberal, I have developed a positively British case of phlegm. According to medieval medicine, 'phlegm' is one of the four 'humours', and it accounts for those of us who are hard to startle. If ever there was a group that knew how to survive political reverses, your Texas liberals are the past masters. I do not discombobulate easily. Experience has taught me that things are likely to get worse, so these will eventually turn out to be the Good Old Days, and think what a fool you'll feel like later if you don't enjoy them now.

She has often talked about her friends, such as Ann Richards and John henry Faulk, having the time of their lives rousing the rabble and fighting for civil rights, even in the face of appalling obstacles.

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I like to think that this attitude made her enjoy her life right to the end. Although Molly died early in 2007 (thus starting the year off to a lousy start) I didn't feel the impact until I was gift shopping. Molly always wrote a column before the holidays, pointing out good books of all kinds to give your loved ones. I always wound up buying half or more of her suggestions, and they were always dead on. This year, I was throne on my own resources, with somewhat lesser results.

I got up late this morning; although I woke up fairly early. It didn't seem like the world had improved measurably yet in 2008, so I figured everyone would just have to cope for a couple of hours without me. Besides, I had made no resolutions to get started on, and 2007 could use a bit more sleep to properly kick it to the curb.

Molly's words notwithstanding, 2007 was a hairball of a year. I expect 2008 to be similar, since Cheney and Bush still have 12+ months to fuck around; of course, Ivins and her writing partner Lou Dubose, accurately predicted nearly the entire sorry mess, absent the WTC attack, so even in the face of abysmal disaster on nearly every front, they would be able to take a grim, satisfaction in 'I told you so'.

But as always, there are bright spots, and just as Molly's last book dwells on them, we can look back at 2007 and see some remaining bright spots of hope. Most recently Chris Dodd, virtually alone, faced down Emperor Bush, Harry Reid and the entire telecom industry to deny them blanket immunity (surely a pairing of words more anathema to American ideals has never been written)

The neocon rush to war in Iran has stalled a bit, facing far more skepticism than the dive into Iraq. This has exacerbated the divisions within the Republican Party, resulting in the bloodthirstiness of the current slate of rightwing Presidential candidates, serving to appall most of the rest of America.

Plus, it turns out that contrary to Beltway Conventional wisdom, the vicious partisan divide authored by the Republicans has actually served to strengthen democracy, in that more people are becoming more active, and voting rates are trending upwards. Americans have re-discovered the value of participating in democracy; of course, the Republicans have responded by immediately casting about for ways to discourage voting numbers.

And, of course, Jonah Goldberg released his Humor Masterwork, "Liberal Fascism", providing the snarkmeisters at Sadly, No! weeks worth of material for ridicule and satire. Without intending, Goldberg has not only provided liberals with an awe-inspiring look into the illogic rampant in the wingnut mind, but he has also made use of the term 'fascist' acceptable again as well as single-handedly invalidating Godwin's law.

I want to thank all my friends, virtual and analog, for stopping by to read, argue, abuse and ban.

I hope you all have a 'positively British case of phlegm' in the coming year, as I suspect Molly is right. regardless of what the future holds, these ARE the Good Old Days, and may you all enjoy them.