Clarification....

I my rambling diatribe I lost the crux of what I was trying to say. So once again I leave to the inestimable Glenn Greenwald to sum it up better then I could:

GOP operatives whisper insipid, petty, snide (though highly coordinated) gossip into the hungry ears of Beltway reporters about the effete, girly, arrogant liberal. Reporters then -- uncritically and endlessly -- repeat what they hear until it completely dominates and overwhelms our political discourse, and then -- "fair or not" -- becomes entrenched narrative.

This is what happens over and over and over. Media stars love to be used this way. The themes never change and neither does the process. Still, it's amazing how fast it travels from Karl Rove's lips and then out of the mouths of the vast bulk of "journalists" covering the presidential race for establishment media outlets. As Gloria Borger of CNN and U.S. News & World Report said: "when Rove speaks, the political class pays attention -- usually with good reason."

The fact that they all say the same thing at once ("up next: Is Obama arrogant?" -- "Obama's arrogance can hurt him" -- "Obama is striking many as arrogant and presumptuous" -- "Obama needs to be careful not to appear too arrogant") doesn't strike any of them as evidence that they're mindless, manipulated spouters of conventional wisdom. They actually think it proves the opposite -- that it's evidence that they are political sophisticates plugged into the important election themes ("Obama is arrogant and presumptuous").

The most inane part of it all is that even as they willingly serve as the GOP's attack amplifiers, they simultaneously and openly fret that they're being unfair to Republicans and too biased towards liberals -- a message that they also get from the same GOP operatives who so transparently write their script. Thus, without any recognition whatsoever of how contradictory the are, the two predominant themes from our establishment journalists are now this: (1) Obama is an arrogant, presumptuous, effete liberal whose arrogance is deeply unattractive, and (2) we in the media are far too enamored of Obama and unwilling to criticize him because we're biased members of the Liberal Media.

That about sums it up.

-Cheers

Sometimes it is just lying.....

Over the last few days we have been treated to a whole host of attacks, counter-attacks, and counter-counter-attacks, yet what has increasingly become a venal press and media apparatus, with the beginnings of a congealing "media narrative". But rarely is a lie pointed out for what it is. When you claim something repeatedly, that has been proven wrong, you are lying. They could call it prevarication if they want, even accuse the person of mendaciousness, possibly say they are dissembling, but for sake of Pete, just say it.

Whether it was the ad claiming Obama was responsible for high oil prices, specious claims about the "Surge"in Mosul, or trying to use the troops as a political football in the Landstuhl. These are lies, and demonstrably provable falsehoods. So why is the media so slow in picking up on these things?

That is what I can not understand, the country has been clamoring for a substantiative debate on the fate and direction of our country. Yet what we get swill like this:

There is nothing positive about this ad. At no point do we hear anything about what Senator McCain plans for the country. Only that Senator Obama is bad for it, because essentially some people in the States, and lots of people around the world like him more. Nothing positive with regards to what a McCain administration would look like, only that Obama, though he speaks well and motivates people to action, is bad, uncertain and definitely risky.

I like this particular line because the last 8 years have gone so well! I honestly believe that perhaps, the only thing anyone would accuse the Bush administration of not lacking would be beltway and Washington experience. So again we are faced with the experience canard. That some how age imbues you with some sort of mystical insight. While youth may have a certain callowness to it, there are plenty of old imbeciles as well (just look at Congress!). Also show me one war someone under the age of 40 started. Now I am not saying that experience has no value, it just that it often over inflated. What I want is more wisdom, you know that nexus of intelligence, knowledge and experience.

Back to the point, the evolving media narrative, at the behest of the McCain camp, is that Obama is a presumptuous, arrogant, dangerous, and definitely operating above his station. How dare he take a trip around the world and be received as if he were a world leader? There is little or no mention by the media that McCain did this very same thing after he secured his parties nomination back in March.

But I am guessing what most bothers me about this attack is, how offensive I find this developing narrative. I do not find it offensive primarily as a supporter of Senator Obama, but as an African-American. Obama has no choice but to exude confidence. His candidacy is lost with out it. He is the first viable African-American candidate. Take that in for a moment. He has out organized and out motivated his opponents, managed to weather scrutiny unlike any other candidate in recent memory, spoken eloquently on a wide range of divisive subjects and most importantly has spoken to the American people as if they were adults (even though I personally disagree with that!). Yet he is expected to also be humble all the time as well? At times we are a very stupid people. Running for the presidency is arguably the most narcissistic thing a person can do! You must have an out sized ideal of yourself to even attempt something as audacious at running for the "leader of the free world" title. Yet we also expect a pablum to humility as well?

What I fear, is that the McCain camp is trying to tap into the fear of the "confident African-American". Some of this is hard to put into words, because it isn't always firm feeling. Most of the time it is like a half remembered dream, but then you get moments like the Harold Ford ad from prior to the '06 races. That ad was like a body blow from Kimbo Slice, and I fear they may have learned to be more subtle this time around.

The basic gist is, if you are articulate, intelligent, young and black, then you are obviously a threat to the nation! Oh and you want our women! That makes me afraid, sad and not particularly proud of my country.

It evokes all those things, but even worse it touches on a rather pernicious narrative, that exists in some communities, that African-Americans are not "real Americans". "They" don't love "our" country as much as "we" do. It is the being classified as the "other" which is the most painful part. Some of the seeder elements of the republican brand (but not always), like to point out who are and are not part of the "mainstream". I, like Barack, am not part of that mainstream. No matter how accepting friends, coworkers and even an adoring nation(s) (in Senator Obama's case), that doesn't change and be certain there will always be someone from the opposition there to point that out.

I wish I had I the time or the patience to actually attack that sort of thought process, but it is a very real sentiment in certain segments of our society, and I don't think I have the words to mount a sustained assault on it.

Now you combine that with the other common stereotypes (shiftless welfare queens, drug dealing hip-hop artist, gun-toting athletes, angry mobs, saggy panted youth, or affirmative action slackers) and you get the sort of thing Senator Obama is trying to push back against. Are things better then they were 30 years ago? Sure. But the same feelings are still there, the same fears, and that is just sad. How many gave their lives so that we wouldn't? How many were arrested, hosed or attacked by dogs so that we could even have the chance to find how much we had in common?

So when I see ads like the one above by the McCain camp, that is what I think and what I feel. It isn't an attack on policy (whether going into Iraq was the correct move, or privatization of Social Security, or Universal Health care). It is an attack on a person. It is trying to cast someone with a quintessentially American story as non-American. What's worse (or better depending on how you look at it), is that it probably has less to do with with race and more to do maintaining what is as opposed to reaching for what could be.


Okay sorry about that. This post was most definitely not supposed to be about race relations in this country, nor my self-esteem in relation to that. It was actually meant to talk about the lack of media coverage about the blatant falsehoods spread, by either side. People are dumb, if it is on the teevee or the interwebs they will believe it, so unless you show lies for what they are then most people just accept them as true. I think some of that came through, if not some of the links above should elucidate that issue. On another note, I do believe that race in this country seriously needs to be addressed. It needs to be talked about in a serious way.

I know it is a touchy subject at best and down right incendiary most of the time, but it needs to be done. I am sure most of my friends are even wary of the topic and I have known them (in some cases) for decades, yet there is still a level of discomfort with the subject. It's okay, it is an uncomfortable subject, but like the birds and the bees, and that "not so fresh feeling", it is something that must be discussed. Worst case scenario, you get defenestrated, and at best we understand each other a little better.

Now this isn't to say, I want to have this conversation any time I talk to someone. I promise to God I will hit you upside the head with an empty 40 bottle if you come up to me while I am in the frozen food isle! :-)

Apologies again for the rambling nature of this post. Writing is hard, and surprisingly I had a lot on my mind. I promise I will do a better job, next post. Or at the very least make it about boobs or something

Almost forgot....a shout out to Bradley (remember you asked for it):


-Cheers

So that predators can't make out their outline.....

I am not really sure what to make of this. It is oddly hypnotic...From any angle it seems to follow you. Constantly shifting and morphing, like some sort of acid induced flashback. That all being said, I have to give a nod for the "side-cape-over-shoulder" thing. I think capes are much maligned. I really do feel they could make a strong showing, the Incredibles and Watchmen be damned! Nothing says, "I am confident!", like a flowing cape sashaying in the wind......match that with some nice leather boots and you are set!

-Cheers

Word of the week

Today's word is was brought on by the recent hissy fit the McCain campaign has been throwing, over Senator Obama's recent overseas trip.

Churlish

I was just asking if I could snort this cocaine off your buttocks while watching "Willy Wonka", there is no need to be all churlish about it!



-cheers

Mini-report

Today's post will mainly be things that I feel do not warrant a post of their own.

• The Crackmonkeys won a barn burner on Sunday versus the HDC! The Monkeys rallied after a late push by HDC to re-take the lead and end the game via slaughter rule, to avenge an earlier loss. Once again, the Monkeys played solid defense. Everyone contributed mightily to the win, but special shout outs to everyone but the third baseman. In other news the team mascot was injured in a vicious collision with home plate.
  
  
• If you haven't see it just yet I recommend taking a look at Senator John McCain's newest ad of the campaign. I must say, that the ad itself is just flat out misleading and in some cases blatantly lying on the issues at hand. It really does come off as rather churlish.
  
  
• Visited 88 Broadway this weekend. The atmospherics are interesting the bar it self has a good design, but I am not sure if the layout helps with the general feel of the place. With the pianos, there really should be more people up and standing...get the crowd involved. Also the service was kind of bad. I am more then happy to chalk it up to the troubles of a freshly opened restaurant/bar. The problems seemed to be of an organizational nature, the staff just did not seem to have any set pattern. That being said, I am more then willing to give it a try in a couple more weeks as they get the kinks out, it could be an interesting place to hang out. Plus I didn't get to try the fondue!
  
  
• Weekend Highlights: Mike got stoned. Literally. Some kids were throwing rocks off of the top of a parking garage at him. Ahhh...the price of fame! Holly, Webbie and I, got propositioned by a drunk crazy guy. He tried to entice us with half a kilo of cocaine. Now one might think this was a potentially dangerous situation (lord knows I did!). But bless those girls hearts, they handled the situation better then I was! They were more intrigued by the notion of whether he really had the kilo or not. In my head I was imagining them haggling with the dude over how much "blow" they could get, which in and of it self made me laugh. Sorry girls, but the idea of you two involved in a drug buy is just comedy gold. On the upside if I ever decide to go to Cancun and go on a coke and speed bender I know exactly who I will want at my side!* And Scot, as usual. Was just as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Hopefully more to come later, I injured my hand in a softball game so typing is a bit slow today.


*This post should in no way be seen as advocating the use of illegal substances, however propositioning random girls on the street is completely okay.

-Cheers

Fail of the day.....

Interlude....

In case you all were wondering....


-cheers

Beware....

If you see this person, please call the police immediately. Do not try to apprehend...


I am really not sure what to say. There is just so much wrong with this. I feel like this young woman's name should be "Ethel" or maybe "Eunice"? She looks like she is auditioning for the "Real World: Happy Hills Retirement Community".

Oh my god....is that a pocket under her bosom?!?? /face palm

First off ladies, while I applaud her effort for keeping lady parts covered, I must deduct 50,000 points for the lime green-ness of the shirt. Seriously it looks like she rolled out of bed and just fell on a heap of clothing.....had a seizure.....stood up...and tied back her hair with some left over bedazzle strands.

Actually on second thought this outfit would be awesome with some La Gear, leg-warmers and in addition to the head band, a large scrunchy.....

Okay maybe not.

-Cheers

"This is our moment. This our time."

I was going to do a post on the various dissembling and prevaracating the McCain campaign has been involved in over the "Surge" recently. But instead, I think I will take some time to talk about Mr. Obama's remarks.

It is often said that Senator Obama is a fine orator, but rarely have I seen an individual rise to the occasion so often when the expectations are set so impossibly high. His gift for delivery and the top notch writing of his team only further showcases this. If you subscribe to the conventional political wisdom, this trip and speech were ripe with potential pitfalls for the Obama campaign generally and Senator Obama specifically. Whether it was how he would be received by foreign dignitaries, to the presumptuousness of the whole venture, and even to the growing meme of his utter arrogance. He needed to thread the needle, as it were.

In a world that has increasingly come to loathe the United States, he must quell those fears without seeming to echo them. He must strike all the proper patriotic tones, without alienating his hosts, yet make it relevant and topical to all that might listen.

A tall order in deed.

How could he possibly convey all that, to all those people?

Well, by brandishing both his and Americas more potent message. Hope.

He went before the people of Germany and proclaimed, "Tomorrow will be better." But don't take my word for it, this passage sums up that feeling:

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived - at great cost and great sacrifice - to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom - indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us - what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America's shores - is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

These days are not those days. So whether you agree with the politics of the speaker or not, whether you are a supporter or not. It is the proper sentiment. We can acknowledge that we have made mistakes. It is not a statement on what we have to fear, but of why we should have hope. It wasn't a speech about those who wish us harm, but one about how we can help each other. It was a reminder of what we can be, because at its root at its core America is essentially built on hope.

That should be a message we all can appreciate.


-Cheers

-edit-added a link to the Senator's speech.

Word of the week.....

Last weeks words were a bit negative, so this week we will go with something a bit nicer:

Pulchritudinous

Man if I had to choose, I am not sure which is more pulchritudinous Morgan Webb or Olivia Munn!

Now go forth and complement all the women you see with polysyllabic words!



-Cheers

Early evening jogging....

In an attempt to get my flabby tail in shape for my boy Ed's wedding, I have been doing some jogging. I won't call it running just yet, more like a leisurely trot at the moment....but I am getting there.

I know you all are absolutely riveted by my enhanced exercise techniques and all, but that is actually not the reason for this post. It is to relate a tale of my recent jogging excursions, and how not to stay focused.....

I set out on my normal route early yesterday evening. It was fairly humid outside, so that made it a bit more difficult of a run. But that was OK, I decided to change things up and do a circuit instead, laps around a predetermined distance, hoping the repetition would lull me into a meditative and oblivious state.

That was not to be. I was doing my thing and jogging along when I noticed a conspicuously parked car along my route. Pretty much every time I passed, the acts inside said car became increasingly more risqué. First I thought there was a loan occupant of the vehicle...then it became clear there was not. On my final pass, there was full on bare-foot against windshield, hand on window, obscured by "fog" action going on. A bit jarring when you are trying to focus keeping your form right......the best part though is the back winds were open. So each pass was accompanied by sound effects. While I respect the effort...possibly a more secluded place would have been better....

Now I am all for spontaneous boinking, don't get me wrong. In fact, I encourage it. There should be more of that! But seriously on a major thoroughfare, at 7 o'clock in the summer? That is just asking for trouble. I have seen the Cials commericals, so I understand how when the mood strikes and all that...... But for the love of Pete, there were children playing nearby! Think of the children!

On second thought it would be pretty entertaining to hear a parent have to explain why the nice woman is asking for her "daddy to spank her".

-Cheers

Monkeys crush Nutz!

The battle was hard and the weather harsh, but the Monkeys prevailed, 10-0, despite a valiant effort by the tenacious Astronutz. It was good clean game, sadly no collisions to report!

It is on to the next game!

-cheers

Interlude....

I know there are a fair number of Joss Whedon fans out there. Came across this:

Dr. Horrible's sing-along blog *

I can only describe it as a action-adventure-comedy-musical.

If that doesn't get you to click...I don't know what will!

*edit- If I had read Mr. Whedon's "plan" I would have known it was a limited availability sort of thing. Anyways there is some information on the site (updated the link). If you are a fan of iTunes I would recommend checking it out.

-cheers

@weekend.....

Heading up to the Chicago-land area to the catch the Rock the Bells tour.

It's been ages since I have seen some of these bands play, so I am a bit excited. Although that is mitigated by the idea of walking around all day. Might need to rig up some sort of intravenous water delivery system.


-cheers

Mash-up.....

Wee bit tired today so just going to go with some links. Sadly no, rabid discourse on FISA or torture today though they are coming.....

But some assorted and hopefully interesting links.

To dovetail with Mike's love of the LoLcats, I thought I would follow up with my favorite and appropriately named Failblog. An example:


Words absolutely fail me on this: Liquid Virgin
They are right. I can't believe it.

And fellas when your gal tells you she is off to the spa for a massage, keep an eye out if she seems just a bit "too relaxed".

If you thought the media would waste their time covering substantive events, like you know, the current debate on the two wars we are engaged in. You were wrong!

-cheers

Dick move of the day.....

The first installment of a hopefully rare posting theme. On the upside it is a twofer....

Our first contender:




Cardinal George Pell, had some interesting comments with regards to the survivors of the church sex scandal:

World Youth Day (WYD) has again been overshadowed by the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse cases, with Cardinal George Pell accused of holding up compensation claims, after a WYD coordinator said victims were “dwelling crankily… on old wounds".

Yep, that sounds like being a dick to me.


In that context, the next offender is probably tame. After all, blaming victims for their grieving and suffering is pretty high on the dick-o-meter, I am not sure what you would need to do to supplant that on the old meter, but I am sure it involves kittens. The problem is that the sheer perfidy (see you can use it in a sentence!) of the current administration seems to know no bounds and just needs to be commented on.

Our next entrant the Bush Administration:

Don't let the title of the article fool you. I know abortion is a hot-button, morally weighty issue, but this is just ridiculous.

Money Quote:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Family planning groups and at least one member of Congress objected on Tuesday to a Bush administration memo that defines several widely used contraception methods as abortion and protects the right of medical providers to refuse to offer them.

The proposal would cut off federal funds to hospitals and states that attempt to compel medical providers to offer legal abortion and contraception services to women.

The proposal circulated to media defines abortion broadly to include many types of contraception, including birth control pills and intrauterine devices.

(emphasis added mine)

I am sorry, but I thought the goal was to lower the number of abortions. I can not for the life of me see how restricting the use, sale, or distribution of birth control will magically cause that to happen. Not to mention how exactly is an IUD tantamount to abortion? I am going to need that explained to me. This argument is like the intellectual equivalent of a praline and dick flavored pizza. It just does not make any sense. Also I notice that condoms are not on the list.

Control of woman's reproductive rights has been one of the prime reasons, women have enjoyed some of the social, economic and creative progress in the last two centuries. This prudish, puritanical streak our society has really needs a swift kick in the nuts. Women's groups and people who are fans of women should ask McCain and President Bush about this every time they ask to take questions. I am a supporter of birth control and I endorse its continued use. Its neat.

Just to be clear though, make no mistake I don't in anyway seek to establish an equivalence between these two topics. Insulting people who have been sexually abused, and chiding them for not getting over it, is borderline evil in my book. Especially when you are responsible for doling out their compensation. Just had to point out the hypocrisy on display here.

That being said, the Bush Administration collectively, and presumably individually, are a whole gaggle of dicks.

-cheers

The New Yorker cover.....

I have been asked by a couple of friends what I think of the cover and all I can really muster is a resigned "meh". I know, I should be in a nice rich lather of high dudgeon. The problem is, I just really don't care very much about it. I saw it for the act of satire it was, but admit it wasn't a very good attempt. It just fell short. If you haven't seen it by now....



So yeah, I could see what they were going for, and lets face it this is the New Yorker, not the National Review. I mean it is simply a mash-up of all the different smears that have been attached to Senator Obama. The press's fascination with Mrs. Obama continues to amaze me. Do voters really care about spouses? I mean as long as they aren't vamping with pool boys or something? I guess if they artist had done a better job, of who they were trying to satirize that may have helped. Maybe a scrolling text box with the "Fox"emblem, or within the thought bubble of a Oxycontin and vicodined out Rush Limbaugh? But that isn't what happened.

-cheers

Mike would do it.....

Waffle House nuptials.


*Thanks to Mariah for the catch.

Word(s) of the week(s)

I have have had my fill of the way the media, pundits, on air personalities, and politicians repeat certain words/terms without any hesitation. The English language has hundreds of thousands of words in it surely we do not have to re-use terms such as, pivot, branding, move to the center, etc.

Between that and journalists strongly held belief that the term "lie" is verboten really burns my biscuits! Evidently, you must know the original speaker's intent before you can impute whether it is a lie. That irks the hell out of me. Why? Because sometimes reality makes it clearly evident that an actor has given demonstrably false statements. That is not always the case, but take the following as examples:

Senator McCain denying that he never said, "....he did not understand the economy."?

Senator Obama's claim that he has not changed his position on the recently passed FISA amendment? Well I will leave that question to the estimable Glenn Greenwald, he sums up the mendacity quite well, and better then I.


But I digress. We need to use some new words! There is so much rich and florid language to draw on, specially considering how many things we should be angered by. Considering my previous examples I think these terms are well timed and appropriate. So my offerings for this and last week are:

Calumny and Perfidy


Just to reiterate, they are acutely appropriate for the behavior that we have seen thus far in the presidential race as well as over the last 7 years. So use them in a sentence. Write a pretty letter. Pen a lengthy missive to the editor. Just do something to help our journalist and media friends out.

-cheers

For the Locals.......

There was some chatter about this over the weekend so I did some research.

And dug up 88 Broadway's website as well.

There will be an exploratory group put together relatively soon.......


-ciao

Monkey vs. Nutz....the Rematch

I have just received a late breaking news story from an anonymous local news director. It seems that the first round of the "tourney" will be dominated by the epic rematch between two of the cities finest!

The Sensational Crackmonkeys versus the Astounding Astronutz.

I am, sure it will be a spirited game between the two teams. If their first meeting was any indication, then this will be the game to watch on Sunday.

So ladies and gentleman, start your trash talking now.

Crackmonkey pre-game pep talk:

MC: What is best in life?

Crackmonkeys in unison: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.

MC: That is good! That is good.

So fem-nutz prepare those lamentations, I prefer mine with a twist of lime and slightly chilled.

-Cheers

That ain't right.....

In life you periodically come across things that just set off alarms for their wrongness. That last glass of milk a week past expiration, that third shot of Patron, or that burly "girl" at the bar with the crooked wig on.

Some things are wrong or just inexplicable:


Others shake you to your core with their wrongness.


But there is another type of thing that is just so wrong that words completely fail.

The Penguin would be envious.....

In honor of Batman: The Dark Knight opening this week, I thought I would drop a quick post about the latest in personal self defense.

It slices, it dices, makes a nice watermelon margarita and dispatches your foes!

Monkeys on a roll

Just wanted to give a shout out to the Crackmonkeys, for their impressive win last night. It was a solid performance from the whole team. But I want to give a particular shout out to the gals of the Crackmonkeys, they put in another solid performance. They got us rolling and kept it going. Nice way to finish off the regular season in first place.


-cheers

A Nation of Whiners

Earlier I made some comments on the coverage last week of the various gaffes, policy statements and just plain old nutty stuff, but I felt that former Senator Phil Gramm's comments needs some special attention.

A refresher:


Now I have often made some pretty blanket statements on what I feel about the general state of our collective intellect in this country. Generally those comments are not particularly nice. They tend to focus on the lack of perspective we seem to have with regards to comments made by our politicians and our lack of any collective recall on the subject. But then really do like how the folks at TPM put Gramm's comments in the proper context. This is a man who is respected in many circles on economic issues, and guess what. He does not like you very much. Just look at the statements he made, Gramm firmly believes that the economic downturn is in part a product of "negative vibes". The credit crunch, the housing market implosion, sky high oil prices, and dollar in free fall are the product of Joe Sixpack not feeling good about owning that hummer? That is why things are so bad right now. Because we are not sufficiently supportive of republican policies.

This is an aspect that has always concerned me about the liberal/conservative divide in this country. Liberals in this country are labeled as elitest and not being "for the common man", condescending would be the ideal descripition I would guess. It is amazing that the same meme does not really exist for the conservatives. Even when they show complete disdain for their fellow citizens, they escape that sort of scrutiny and pejorative association.

To my eyes this is a part of the standard republican trope. If there is something wrong with the economy it is our fault. We should be grateful for their largess. Liberals have guilt, conservatives have greed. It's the only construction that can explain why no matter what the economic problem is, the republican platform is, almost in it's entirety, to cut taxes. That is the solution. Semper et ubique. Housing crash? Cut taxes. Oil too high? Why of course, cut taxes. Medical expenses too high? Just cut those damnable taxes. This is just another example of the sort of disdain those in power have for their subjects. We should grateful.

But I will give Phil Gramm this, somethings about what have happened over the last 8 years are a bit mental.

Re: Body Pants.....

Dear body pants and inappropriately used belt,


Waist called, she says she misses you deeply and wants you to come back quickly. Listen to me, she is just not the same with out you. She is cold all the the time now and just doesn't look the same with out you! She told me that chest just doesn't love you like she does! You should leave that trollop and get back to her friendly contours immediately! Chest will let any hairy palm grope her. You are better then that! So do the right thing, she misses you and we can't breathe.

Sincerely,

Compressed Lungs

If I were a religious man, this would almost be enough to have me rejoicing in the streets and speaking in tongues. It is nearly the perfect combination of mind numbing, non-functional fashion choices. All we need are some leggings in there and maybe toss a dress over the top and it would, quite possibly, strike people dead from its absolute fugosity! Ooh...we could use it like that Ark of the Covenant! Where is my DARPA grant?

I seriously can't wait till people start cavorting around in burlap bags.

Confirmation....

Yep, Jesse Jackson gets an "A" for dickery.

The worst week that wasn't.....

Now that we have the first post out of the way, lets get to it shall we?

As I get my blogging legs, I will probably do some shorter simpler posts as I learn the ins and outs of the software. So political commentary will probably make up the bulk of the posts to begin with. Especially since it is currently taking up a large portion of my mental real estate. So I guess I should get to it.


So for those that were following last week should have been an absolutely horrible news cycle for Senator John McCain. How it was not, I can't even begin to explain after the full on media orgy over such diverse and substantive issues as: Tuzla-gate, Bitter-gate, My crazy old preacher-gate and cleavage-gate. I was absolutely ecstatic at the prospect of some in depth coverage of Senator McCain's actual views on certain issues that seem relevant to the running for president. At best, if you go by the cable news commentariat it was a tie this week with regards to it being a bad week for both Obama and McCain.

I will say that I was underwhelmed by how anemic the coverage was. Lets have Senator McCain speak on the subject himself on

Social Security:

Birth Control availability:

Phil Gramm "Top economic advisor":


These are just the items from last week! Great Googley Moogley! Senator McCain is running on his resume and experience as a senator and he just said that younger workers paying for the benefits for senior members of our society is a "disgrace". As someone who has been in politics so long and claims to understand how government works, that shows an appalling lack of knowledge. Note to the senator from Arizona, that is exactly how the system is set up to work and by most standards it has been fantastically successful. Oops, I am forgetting myself here, conservatives have always hated Social Security, so I guess I shouldn't be shocked by this revelation.

Mental note. When trying to woo female voters, it is probably wise to bone up on your voting record on reproductive rights. More to the point, how can you not have a view or make a statement about the idea that insurance companies provide coverage for Viagra, but not for birth control? I don't get that. Either you think it is okay or you don't. Not complicated stuff here. You should not need a policy paper for that. Now the sexual efficacy of men is an issue near and dear to my heart, of course, but honestly if birth control isn't covered then I can't for the life of me see why Viagra would be. It is especially troubling given all the ardor versus abortion on the Right. One would think that you would encourage and promote the use of birth control to lower the rates of abortion? But anyways. So yeah, shorter McCain: I want your vote, but you need to live your life by these precepts that my base has picked out for you.

As to the Phil Gramm comment, well I am crafting a separate post on that subject. So my question is this, why is it that Senator Obama is always cast as out of touch with the common man?

-cheers

Alea iacta est

After some prompting and prodding from friends, I finally caved and decided to inflict my commentary on the "interwebs", I am sure, to many sighs of relief from friends and loved ones!


So here we have it, my inaugural post on my very own inaugural blog. So many things to discuss, so many events to cover, where do we even begin?


I guess the first thing to do would be to define the point of this little blogging exercise, correct? Well I am having none of that. This is a place to bloviate and to engage in my most base pretentious qualities! It will probably range around wildly, and at various points make little or no sense. But if I must state something I would state this: when you enter the Rubicon prepare for a healthy dose of condescension, thinly veiled arrogance, diatribes, polemic screeds, and maybe if we all are lucky the occassional rousing discussion.

In closing this first post, it would be prudent of me to issue some blanket apologies. I am no professional writer or journalist, so I apologize for my mangling of the English language and it's grammatical rules. Expect participles to dangle, my conjugates to be incomplete and my tenses both past and future to be imperfect.


Also as much as I would love to cite every quote that might appear in my musings, I am certain that I will not be able too. So to the scribes, filmmakers, poets, and other individuals who are more gifted then I in the arts and critical thinking I offer my humblest regrets that you were the unlucky group which has influenced my thought process. I will try to police it but some of your ideas are so ingrained I don't even notice that I didn't originally come up with them! So I apologize for abusing your works! And will endeavor to give credit where it is due!


In particular (in no particular order), Daniel Quinn, Warren Ellis, Steve Benen, Glenn Greenwald, the gifted contributors at Salon, Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Descarte, Bertrand Russell, Kant, Kafka, Fiztgerald, Hunter S. Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others in ways both small and large. Thank you and I am deeply sorry.


And finally to my friends and family I apologize to you all for having to listen to me during all those ramblings.


Well, with that all out of the way grab your smarty pants, your dictionaries, and a tall glass of self-recrimination and lets get this train going.


The die is cast!* And yeah I know, that was an extremely long “in closing” statement. Get used to it.





* For those whose Latin is not what it should be!


-cheers