GOP Congress, country music stars stand up to king george

Not only have we seen GOPs in Washington stand up to bush today on the ports deal, now Music Row has stood up in the form of probably their genre's biggest star couple, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The Louisiana and Mississippi natives let him have it on his miserable leadership and response to Katrina.

I'll be curious what the reaction is in wal-martamerica: do they start burning CDs and Dixie Chick them, or what?

Creepy and unappetizing, at the very least
Have you guys seen this furry lobster? Since my last posting on something furry caused trouble, let me be clear up front this is not a euphemism, it's really a furry lobster. This was the first thing I saw this morning, not a pleasant way to start the day.

Eeww.

Timing is on our side(?)
Lots of consternation, fright and depression surrounding the news of the last couple days. The Supreme Court was unanimous in smacking down law schools that were trying to support gay students by not allowing military recruiters on campus (the same way they don't allow any recruiter on campus who discriminate). And in South Dakota, the Governor signed a law that essentially outlaws abortion a: nd will likely serve as a challenge to Roe v. Wade.

Maybe I'm just on Spring Break and feeling a bit, well, rested. But I'm thinking there's some good news in here.

First, let's face it. There are not enough straight troops left to fight all of George Bush's battles. If ever there was a time when the military might be amenable to scrapping the anti-gay discrimination policy, that could be now. So, the timing may be right to have had the issue raised. It may take a little while - but by the time we get a new President, assuming it's not another complete wacko, it may be time to do what Clinton sort of tried to do: end the practice of discimination in the military. If the military had somehow lost this battle in court? maybe they dig in with more intransigence.

As for the issue of women's rights, my position and strong feelings are well known. The South Dakota action is completely indefensible, disgusting, disheartening, and hateful. But, if ever this issue were to have to come up post O'Connor, isn't this the best possible time?

For one thing, Alito and Roberts' answers on this issue are fresh in everyone's mind (including their own) and the lovefest for O'Connor is still in the air.

For another, the people of the US simply don't approve of this kind of legislation. Poll after poll confirms that a majority of Americans don't want abortion to be illegal. Even South Dakotans are split about 50-50 on that issue. So, having this come up now - in an election year - reminds voters all across the country what happens when you elect Republicans: they use the legislative process to impose on the country their faith-based bigotry and need to control women. Bringing this issue to the front - so long as we can mobilize and get voters out to the polls - is a sure way to keep Republicans on the path to defeat this November, making this kind of legislation that much less likely should the timing be worse.

And when would the timing be worse? That's my last point of optimism. The quicker this gets before the Supremes the more likely we are to prevail. We still have 5 votes, so long as kennedy holds the line and not a one of them is enticed by some kind of Roberts-led "compromise." Let's get it in front of them before Bush - or, god-forbid, some other Republican president - has a chance to nominate another justice. But even if they do, having this out there now makes it more likely that we can have the kind of Senate that won't allow the next Alito to be confirmed.

DON'T FUHGEDDABOUT IT!

Sorry Article 19 readers, I meant to post this message during Media Monday. This Sunday, after almost 2 years, the hit show The Sopranos returns for its 6th, and supposedly, final season. So bake up some ziti, invite your crew over and don't forget the gabagool.

Is anyone else excited about this? I recently finished watching all 5 seasons on dvd, and I'm completely hooked on the show. In my opinion it is the best of the current tv drama (West Wing and Law & Order fans hold on to your horses).

You say you can't remember what happened during the past 5 seasons...no problem. The Chicago Tribune has put together an article that includes a summary of each season, as well as a list of the top 10 killings.

If watching wasn't enough, now you can place a bet on which character is the first to get whacked. My guess is Vito. If there are other Soprano fans out there, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for blogging for Wal-Mart - UPDATED 3/8/06

Bloggers are sometimes called citizen journalists, and have begun to receive the flood of spin that PR professionals deluge MSM journalists with; do they do any more due diligence with that information than the MSM? Should they?

A NYTimes article, found via Huffington Post, details one of Wal-Mart's tactics in their new campaign to "tell their story" and change their image as a retail hellhole, via outreach in the blogosphere. An employee of their PR firm, Edelman, is a blogger who spreads propaganda for Wal-Mart and has seen his messages reproduced verbatim on other blogs -- something "old media" news release writers have experienced many times back in the day of printed newspapers.

Many serious bloggers (those making a living at it, and those uncompensated but passionate) strive for credibility. If they don't credit or double check a source, whether it's another blog, a newspaper, or a PR flack, do they have a right to expect to be seen as credible?


UPDATE: A new article on flackery featuring Edelman and this approach in the New York Observer, including a "greed is good" observation from Richard Edelman:

“P.R.,” he said, “plays much better in a world that lacks trust.”

I'm so proud.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

Playing it Safe
Kenneth Turan has a great Oscar column in today's LA Times: "Breaking no ground: Why 'Crash' won, why 'Brokeback' lost and how the academy chose to play it safe."

Oscar reaction
What did you think? of Jon Stewart? any acceptance speeches catch your attention? of Crash upsetting Brokeback to win best picture?

I thought Stewart was good - kind of a weak start but he warmed up. The gay western montage was hilarious, and the political ads were great. He was at his best when he was ad libbing with the flow of the show.

Liked Clooney's speech.

Really shocked that Crash built enough mo to beat Brokeback. And I think it's too bad.

My wishes for Oscar nights in the future: leave out the song performances. leave out the speech by the Academy President. leave out the useless montages, like the commitment to addressing big issues? and, it's been about 15 years since I saw Five Easy Pieces but what was the big issue there? I saw a scene stuck in that montage and if memory serves, the "big issue" in that scene was Jack Nicholson being upset that he couldn't get a sandwich served the way he liked at a diner. and you'd cut a half-hour off the show, plus have a couple minutes left over to actually allow the best picture winner to finish their speech. What they did to the Crash producer woman last night was embarrassing. You didn't see Clint Eastwood getting that kind of treatment that's for sure.

It's "Retro Rights Remembrances" Friday!

Along with paying off your credit card bill and having Big Brother check you out, as Don notes below, there are some other recent news items that make us fondly recall the days we had certain freedoms and rights in this country, such as:

Free speech, a flashback from Colorado;
and
Free speech, from New Mexico and the VA;
and
Privacy, from St. Louis.

What's your favorite memory of democracy?

"Promoting global terrorism under the guise of paying a credit-card bill"
Via AmericaBlog. Is this scary? Or just bizarre?

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

More on the Katrina Video
I'm not sure how much credibility New Orleans Mayor Nagin really has left, but this somber bit in the Washington Post story stuck out to me:

In New Orleans, Mayor C. Ray Nagin (D) was visibly shocked when shown the recording by reporters.

It "seems they were aware of everything . . . that we would need lots of help," Nagin said after a post-Mardi Gras news conference. "Why was the response so slow?"

When the video ended, Nagin turned away and said, "Oh, God."

Jerk(s)
Read this new AP report:

In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned
President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

Stupid, stupid states
Every $1 a state spends on family planning services, from education to contraception, saves that state $3 on "pregnancy-related health care costs," according to the Guttmacher Institute. So what have they done?

At a time when policymakers have made reducing unintended pregnancies a national priority, 33 states have made it more difficult or more expensive for poor women and teenagers to obtain contraceptives and related medical services, according to an analysis released yesterday by the nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute.

From 1994 to 2001, many states cut funds for family planning, enacted laws restricting access to birth control and placed tight controls on sex education, said the institute, a privately funded research group that focuses on sexual health and family issues.

The statewide trends help explain why more than half of the 6 million pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended...

Once again, the American Taliban yields its influence to the detriment of the poor and the uneducated. Woohoo, values!

Is this a joke? [UPDATED]
From TPM

In the department of 'you can't make this stuff up' Scooter Libby, lawyer, foreign policy hand, author and Dick Cheney's personal one-man heat shield, has hired a memory loss expert to assist in his defense.

The new cottage industry? Psychics and other mediums willing to reach into the tortured souls of Republican elected officials for the purposes of legal defense?

[UPDATE: As Deb points out in the comments, Scooter may well be more interested in hiring the kind of "memory loss experts" you saw in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...making sure his memory gets erased, not restored.]

all-time low [UPDATED]
34% -- ouch

UPDATE: Meanwhile, college teachers are at 59% and rising (link found via Wonkette)
-- Deb

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

New York's MOMA's a Scream
The Museum of Modern Art is running a Munch retrospective through May, and there's a great slide-show with commentary at Slate on it. Check it out.
--Don

Load and fire that one bullet, Barney.
One of my personally best loved actors has died, Don Knotts, 81, apparently Friday night.
http://www.barneyfife.com/

The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club was founded in 1979 by four students at Vanderbilt University. The club now has approximately 20,000 members and 1,150 chapters around the world. I'm a founding member of the Girl Campers of America chapter of Nashville, TN, and probably not a week of my life has passed without watching TAGS at some point. I think Barney Fife is possibly the best sitcome character ever, thanks to Don Knotts' comedic timing and style.

Join me in tribute by watching an episode or two tonight, it's always on TVLand and usually a handful of local affiliates every day. (For non-aficionados, black and white only, please, no color episodes.) Barney, thanks and happy motoring.

Weekend Box Office:
1 Madea's Family Reunion
2 Eight Below
3 The Pink Panther
4 Date Movie
5 Curious George

Does anyone know anything about this Madea’s Family Reunion and the man behind it and it’s predecessor movie? Is it another Big Momma’s House, or something more substantial?

Programming Note: Jon Stewart will be on Larry King tonight to talk about the Oscars thing, for those of you who can overlook Larry King to enjoy Jon Stewart.

No matter where you go, there you are
I thought I had moved away from embarrassingly goofy politicians, but I should have known better: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is all over the news today for his cluelessness in a recent Daily Show interview.

As predicted by Springfield IL radionewsguy/blogger Jim Leach when the interview aired two weeks ago, Blago was unaware of The Daily Show when they interviewed him about his emergency contraception executive order (forcing pharmacists who refuse on religious grounds to dispense).

I don't believe anyone who is not aware of The Daily Show is fit to govern; perhaps one of Rod's staffers agrees.

No time today
But read this. It would seem that our math-challenged friend Richard Cohen (see Tuesday's post) has associated himself squarely with sub-canine mathematical ability. Well, sort of. Just read it.

Debt
Plenty of bad news in a recent report on average family income, which declined 2.3% from 2001 to 2004. But to me the scariest was this bit:

The Fed survey found that debt as a percent of total assets rose to 15% in 2004, from 12.1% in 2001. Mortgages to finance home purchases were by far the biggest share of total debt at 75.2% in 2004, unchanged from 2001.

So personal debt is up, and it's not due to taking on more in home mortgages.

And it's no small increase. 12 to 15 may be an gain of only 3 points, but that's a 25% increase (try to follow along, Richard Cohen) in debt as a percentage of total assets in just 3 years. So, that's more than just a tracking of the fact that income declined.

Not a good night...
"The subject dropped the knife." Yeah no kidding.

worth thinking about
While the feeding frenzy continues piling on Bush for the UAE port security deal, Jimmy Carter is for it. There may be political gain here, but I'm still not convinced on the substance. Neither is Kevin Drum.

3 branches?
I still am not sure what to think about this issue of port security. It feels like something of a trap for some reason--this one's too easy. But I was struck by a couple phrases from the President's statement in strong defense of his position today, even threatening veto if Republican leadership pass a bill that would undo the deal.

I can understand why some in Congress have raised questions about whether or not our country will be less secure as a result of this transaction. But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully. Again, I repeat, if there was any question as to whether or not this country would be less safe as a result of the transaction, it wouldn't go forward.

The last time I checked, Congress was in fact a part of "our government." They even - if my high school civics class serves me right - have something of a role to play. But Bush sure doesn't sound like he considers the body to be anything other than a sideshow, allowed under some circumstances to "raise questions". It's certainly in keeping with other stances he's taken - that the Executive branch is really the only governing body. But kind of shocking that he can say it so starkly--he really is saying to Congress: "don't worry so much... 'our government' has things under control."

Whose government exactly? Sounds like he just means him, Cheney and the boys.... you know, our government.

Is Algebra Necessary?
If you are a regular reader of the liberal blogosphere, you know that this topic is soooo last week. The story begins with a column by the Washington Post's Richard Cohen, arguing that algebra should not be a requirement for high school graduation.

You will never need to know algebra. I have never once used it and never once even rued that I could not use it. You will never need to know -- never mind want to know -- how many boys it will take to mow a lawn if one of them quits halfway and two more show up later -- or something like that. Most of math can now be done by a computer or a calculator. On the other hand, no computer can write a column or even a thank-you note -- or reason even a little bit. If, say, the school asked you for another year of English or, God forbid, history, so that you actually had to know something about your world, I would be on its side. But algebra? Please.

I will leave aside the issue of whether or not algebra is "used" in daily life or not, other than to say that just because you don't sit down with pencil and paper and factor binomials to solve a pressing problem doesn't mean that the part of your brain stroked by algebra class doesn't come into play regularly.

No, my problem is this: the idea--common among math strugglers--that there is some discrete gene that controls your ability to perform (or not) algebra, and only algebra. I contend that if you failed high school algebra more than once, while giving a sincerely earnest effort to learn, understand and apply it, with all the spoon-feeding direction high school generally affords, then you have some problems that reach outside the walls of the algebra classroom--comprehension, problem-solving, reasoning, likely even fundamental math skill kinds of problems. I'm not saying it's easy. But I can't think that it's too much to ask of a high school graduate.

To be sure, there are certainly bad algebra teachers out there. You may fail to make heads or tails of bad algebra teaching when you might be able to pretty well grasp some better methods of explanation. But that is not the problem of having a faulty couple of brain cells that are useless anyway, which is what I always hear algebra-haters claiming. That is a problem that brings together bad teaching with poor problem-solving skills and a bad enough support system at home that there's nobody to help get you over those humps. You can fail any class with that combination. It's not an algebra problem.

Kevin Drum shows some sympathy for Cohen's basic question here. Atrios does not here. Jeanne at Body and Soul has a response that is beautiful but beside the point. Matt Yglesias tries to get specific with some Algebra uses here. But if you want to read the harshest smack-down, there's Pharyngula.

Japan's Only Resource is Shrinking
I find it ironic that at the same time the world is facing an overpopulation crisis, Japan is facing a crisis of underpopulation. Last year I spent 3 months in Japan, and heard the subject come up at least 10 times, in casual conversation, on tv shows devoted to discussing the crisis, and in a fifth-grade social studies class. Almost everyone in the country seems to be able to cite the low birthrate statistics: 1.3 nationwide and a mere 0.9 in Tokyo.

I saw the current effects in the shrinking schools I visited. My wife's elementary school has half the students it did when she attended. Others already affected include seniors, who are increasingly living alone in a culture that still assumes the norm to be children living with their aging parents. Also, social security has been in the red for a few years now, with no black in sight.

As for solutions? Allowing mass immigration is one possibility. Robots are another.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

Just What is the Big Deal?
Over at the Huffington Post today, Jesse Kornbluth tries to answer the big question I had after seeing Brokeback Mountain: "Why are so many Americans so full of fear and hate for gay men?" I don't get it either. He recounted the study that showed homophobic men being more aroused by gay porn than heterosexual porn. Does it really come down to that? A bunch of dudes with low self-esteem?
--Stevie T

British Film Awards
The British film (Constant Gardener) gets the snub. Cowboys win.

NYTimes on Jon Stewart
Profile of Stewart and the challenge of emceeing the Oscars:

Somehow, Mr. Stewart and his writers must be arch enough to bring along the 1.4 million viewers who lap up "The Daily Show" each night on Comedy Central, while being broad enough to win over perhaps 40 million other people who typically watch the Oscars but may never have seen "This Week in God," a sendup of religion that is a "Daily Show" staple.

"We're hoping to disappoint fans of 'The Daily Show' and similarly disappoint new fans who had no idea who Jon was," Mr. Karlin, now executive producer of both the Stewart and Colbert shows, said in an interview.

Weekend Box Office
1. Eight Below
2. Date Movie
3. The Pink Panther
4. Curious George
5. Final Destination 3
Blah blah blah.
--Don

WICDT?
I don't have the expertise to know whether it's a good decision to hand over the US's port security to a company from the United Arabs Emirate. I know that it sounds more than a little funny, and needs to be explained to me. But mostly what it makes me think is it's a good candidate for the next chapter in the book of WICDT? (What If Clinton Did That?)

Powerball Odds
Like much of America, I had a Powerball ticket for Saturday. $360 million and all.
I had: 15, 17, 43, 48, 55--PB 27
The results? 15, 17, 43, 44, 48--PB 29

What are the odds of catching 4 of the 5 numbers without the powerball number? Approx. 1 in 14,254. So...if I got actual odds, my ticket should have turned 1 dollar into $14,254, right? Even if the state splits it with me evenly, I should still be looking at $7,127 wouldn't you say? So what do you get for 4 out of 5 without the powerball? $100. Quite the sucker bet, no?

The Magic BB
Funniest thing I've read in a while. (Thanks Doug)

Where is the Tipping Point?
The president is a compulsive liar and criminal; the vp declassifies CIA info on undercover ops for political retribution and shoots a man while under the influence; Katrina; Iraq; Iran; Abramoff; Libby; glacial melting; Alito's confirmed with no filibuster; I needn't go on.

A recent BBC survey on views of other nations found the US ranked more negatively than positively and finishing just above Iran (worldpublicopinion.org), and I personally agree with the ranking.

Why aren't millions of American people in the streets with pitchforks and torches demanding change, and more importantly, WHY ISN'T THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP LEADING THE MARCH?

Bob Burnett blogs about "Searching for the Democrats - The Leadership Issue" on the Huffington Post, and the question has been analyzed at length in the liberal blogosphere in regards to now-former Ohio candidate Hackett and whether he was swiftboated by fellow Dems.

I get so frustrated I could scream. As is often the case, Molly Ivins speaks brilliantly when I cannot:

What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing President Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich.

The majority (77 percent) think we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) think big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?
(snip)
Do not sit there cowering and pretending that the only way to win is as Republican-lite. If the Washington-based party can't get up and fight, we'll find someone who can.

Some days, I lose hope or maybe just patience. If the Dems can't be bold, come together, and kick these soul-less weasels out now when conditions couldn't be more appropriate, is there reason for hope?

Responsibility? What's that?
Former Reagan press secretary Marlin Fitzwater is "appalled": Cheney "ignored his responsibility to the American people."

Join the club, Marlin. We've been saying those things for 6 years now.

Please, No
God help me.

What's being said about Cheney
RJ Eskow (at the Huffington Post)

The real story is already emerging, if you're willing to do a little digging. Cheney and Whittington went hunting with two women (not their wives), there was some drinking, and Whittington wound up shot. Armstrong didn't see the incident but claimed she had, Cheney refused to be questioned by the Sheriff until the next morning, and a born-again evangelical physician has been downplaying Whittington's injuries since they occurred.

Alan Dershowitz

A simple cost/benefit analysis suggests that he (or those advising him) must have believed that there was more to be gained than lost by a 14 hour delay that would eventually be made public. It is likely, therefore, that something happened during that 14 hour period which was worth the negative costs of the delay.

What is the most likely thing to happen during a 14 hour delay that is worth the negative publicity? One possibility is that it takes approximately that period of time for alcohol to dissipate in the body and no longer be subject to accurate testing. It is fairly common for people involved in alcohol-related accidents to delay reporting them until the alcohol has left the body. There is no hard evidence that this is what happened here, but we are entitled to a better explanation.

Josh Marshall

How big is the Kenedy County Sheriff's Department? They rapidly concluded that "this was nothing more than a hunting accident."

But how big an outfit is it exactly? Kenedy County has a population of 414 people, which makes it the fourth smallest county in the United States.

David Letterman

[T]he real question now is -- is this a one-time thing or will the vice president try to kill again?

What good quotes have you found?

New Poll
Link

"Based on what you have heard or read, do you think George W. Bush – definitely broke the law, probably broke the law, probably did not break the law or definitely did not break the law?"

Probably or definitely broke the law = 49%
Probably or definitely did not = 47%

So, can we please be making more out of this now?

For the man who has everything [Warning! Not work safe! Unless you work at, maybe, Victoria's Secret.]
The ultimate Valentine's Day gift, discovered via BoingBoing.

Was he drunk?
Lawrence O'Donnell

When Dick Shot Harry -- update
Apparently being "peppered" can include a peppercorn lodging in your heart and causing a "minor heart attack." That's a pretty deep flesh wound, I'm thinking.

BTW, Happy Valentine's Day. I love you guys.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been listening to, reading, watching?

Article 19 Film Recommendation: Match Point
There's good news and bad news about the new Woody Allen film that is getting such good press. The good news is that it's true: this is indeed his best film in many years (ok i didn't see that one with christina ricci and the kid from american pie, but please..). It's a tight, weighty story and best of all it has some marvelous touches--in the story but also, and especially, in some beautiful shots, and some inspired coverage decisions--the way he rarely shows the reactions we want to see--that hits just the right understated tone.

The bad news is that, script-wise especially, the best parts of Match Point were already treated, and better, in Crimes and Misdemeanors. And the handful of moments when it becomes obviously a Woody Allen film, when his quirks and particular devices are most apparent, that's when the film loses me the most. (Only Woody would think that there are actually lots of young good-looking tennis-playing men in london who love nothing more than opera and read Dostoevsky in their spare time.)

So, I recommend it. The last 20 minutes or so are especially great. But there were some annoying moments.
Hollywood Kisses
At MSNBC.com, Erik Lundegaard surveys the history of film for the best kisses, apropos of 2/14 which, apparently, is some kind of holiday. I'm not really into kissing. Probably a credit to my complete lack of skills there (apparently it takes practice or something). So I don't have too many particular scenes that come to mind. But despite my personal handicap there, I think we could come up with a better list. So, what do you say--best movie kiss? As opposed to eric's cumbersome categories, I propose 2: best kiss regardless of context, and best kiss as an integral part of a good film.
--Don

Galactica Watching
It has come to my attention that some think the new Battlestar Galactica show is worth watching. I've never seen it. But Atrios has some reasonable questions and expectations for this kind of sci-fi show:

Not every science fiction show needs to be as precisely plotted as was Babylon 5, with not just the basic show mythology and long term plot planned in advance but also the major plot arcs of every character. And, even an elaborately plotted show is going to have some "filler episodes" which do little or nothing to advance the plot. However the opposite approach means that you end up with a show like the X-files which they really did just make everything up as they went along. Earthshattering developments in one episode are forgotten in the next. Seemingly important plot developments are dropped and ignored.
...
Still not quite sure with Galactica if they know what they're doing or if they're just making it up as they go.

That kind of make-it-up-as-they-go also doomed one of my favorite all-time shows: Twin Peaks. So, who's watching the new Galactica?
--Don

Weekend Box Office
1. The Pink Panther
2. Final Destination 3
3. Curious George
4. Firewall
5. When a Stranger Calls

How's that for originality? Out of the top 5, 2 remakes, 1 sequel, and one rehash of an old chilren's book character. And before you think about going to see the Steve Martin flick, you might want to read this: "The Death of Inspector Clouseau."
--Don

Cheney's got a gun . . .
Of course we hope his 78 year old victim/donor recovers, but I for one laughed out loud when I saw this story, and I certainly was not surprised they covered it up for 24 hours to create their "blame the victim" story.

The end is near
A lot of people--smart people--might think this is a sign of the apocalypse. But we'd probably do better to look at this.

Remember the Family-Values, Rule-of-Law Party?
We already knew Ken Starr was a grade-A pervert. Today's poll question... which does this make him more of: a big-time idiot? or a major league asshole?

Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California’s governor to spare the man’s life, prosecutors said Friday.

Do they even make law-abiding Republicans anymore?

Daughters Make a Difference
This is not terribly surprising, but is interesting.

[Yale University's Ebonya] Washington analyzed the family composition of the 105th Congress (1997-98), as well as how the liberal National Organization for Women ranked each member based on their votes on 20 women's issues. The rating scale ranged from zero (consistently voted against the NOW position) to 100 (always voted in accord with NOW's position).

She found that legislators with all daughters have NOW scores that are 12 points higher than those with all sons. Among those with three children, "each daughter is associated with an increase of nearly 3 points," Washington said.

Now, if we could just require that each congressperson have one gay child, one black child, and one child born into poverty we might be able to get some things done here.

abortion
I know I've made my position clear on this in the past. But one more time, with feeling.

I do believe that the Democratic Party should be a place where people of good will can disagree on this. And it's refreshing to have a new infusion of religious leaders and people guided by faith to find the Dems have the best approach toward being fair, just, compassionate and free. In everything from environmental issues to budget decisions, religious folks are, in small numbers granted, starting to break with their allegiance to the GOP. And if that means that the Democrats take on more people because they agree with Jimmy Carter who still finds a measure of evil in abortion, but believes it should be safe and legal, it's ok by me. Dems can have as big a tent on this issue as they want, and keep me, so long as on the front of the tent is a big sign saying: "legal abortion is the law of the land and it should stay that way."

But the pandering here toward men who would like to have more control over what women do with their bodies can be damned offensive. In short, I agree with Kevin, completely. I don't have alot of patience for men - MEN - who go around preaching/campaigning that making abortion rare (and I will admit to having tried on this position for a time to a certain extent) should be a top-tier, direct goal of government. If the rate falls, it could well be a sign of other good things happening (fewer people impoverished, fewer people uneducated about birth control, fewer people hopeless about their future) but that's about it.

Trade
I'm no economist, but this can't be good.

The U.S. trade deficit with China ballooned to $201.6 billion last year, setting a single-country record for a third consecutive year as Americans' appetite for cheap imported clothing and electronics grew.
...
The U.S. last year recorded a deficit of $725.8 billion with all its trading partners, setting a record for a fourth consecutive year, today's Commerce Department report showed. The gap with China accounted for 28 percent of the total, up from 26 percent in 2004.

The shortfall with China has more than doubled since 2000, when it reached $83.8 billion. That year, China deposed Japan, which showed an $81.6 billion surplus, as the country with the biggest trade advantage ever against the U.S.

The deficit with Japan this year, at $82.7 billion, was also a record for that country. The 2005 deficit with China is equivalent to 1.6 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced. The deficit with Japan reached a high of 1.2 percent of U.S. GDP in 1986, according to Commerce figures that go back to 1985.

But, not to worry, nothing to see here...did I mention that we stopped a serious terrorist threat 4 years ago? Terror terror terror. I wonder why word of that happened to come out today?

How do you spell moron?
D-E-U-T-S-C-H

So much for loyalty
Libby rats out Cheney.

Funeral Controversy
I shouldn't be shocked that Republicans would actually find the Coretta King funeral objectionable because people talked about war, poverty and illegal wiretaps, all of which were issues that touched the King family.

If you didn't see it, Joseph Lowery was amazing and his speech totally appropriate (you could tell that he wasn't expecting, or waiting for, a response from the crowd on his statement about WMD), Ted Kennedy kicked butt, and I heard that Jimmy Carter and Clinton were both good but missed them. If anyone finds a transcript of Lowery's remarks will you post a link?

Kos reminds us that MLK himself didn't let some need for deference get in the way speaking truth to power at funerals; and has a link showing that John McCain himself brought up politics at Barry Goldwater's funeral.

Here's Steve Gilliard. Here's Atrios. Here's Digby.

Mass hysteria, dogs and cats, living together . . .

Maybe this is too Jay Leno-like an observation, but what the hell kind of a world are we living in that produces a banner head like CNN's running this morning:

Bush urges end to cartoon violence

and April 1 is still weeks away. Is cartoon violence one of the signs of the apolcalypse?

Who's Running NASA? UPDATE
Not him anymore...

George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word "theory" at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said. Mr. Deutsch's resignation came on the same day that officials at Texas A&M University confirmed that he did not graduate from there, as his résumé on file at the agency asserted.

Oops.

Who's Running NASA?
Last week, I resisted posting about George Deutsch because it's just sooo....depressing. He's the 24-year-old who ended up being a Bush appointee in charge, apparently, of telling NASA what they can and can't say about science stuff.

In October 2005, Mr. Deutsch sent an e-mail message to Flint Wild, a NASA contractor working on a set of Web presentations about Einstein for middle-school students. The message said the word "theory" needed to be added after every mention of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion," Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator."

It continued: "This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half of this debate from NASA. That would mean we had failed to properly educate the very people who rely on us for factual information the most."

But it's worth posting now because World O'Crap has tracked down Mr. Deutsch's illustrious (and recent) career in college journalism. He believes in alot of interesting things. Makes you wonder how many other freaks make a living barking orders for our tax dollars.

And don't you think that most Republicans really are embarrassed by stuff like this?

Thanks, Dad...
Local story (sorry), but what's the point in helping your son hide the body if you're just going to end up ratting him out to save your own ass?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad there's finally enough evidence to put Perry March away. But what's with the family loyalty? I smell a lawyer...

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, watching, listening to?

Weekend Box Office
1. When A Stranger Calls
2. Big Momma's House 2
3. Nanny McPhee
4. Brokeback Mountain
5. Hoodwinked

Come on....did there really need to be a second Big Momma's House? And did people really need to go see it? If it stays in the top 5 for long, we'll be staring at #3 before long.
--Don

RIP, Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and co-founder of NOW, passed away Saturday, February 4 on her 85th birthday. As happens with most social issues, Betty Friedan's message got mixed in with those of more radical feminists in the 1960's, because her message was still a radical concept at the time. I found her more moderate and realistic about keeping men and families in our lives while seeking personal freedom and fulfillment than those who managed to create the lesbian man-hating stereotype of feminists that was easier for many men and women to dismiss. If you haven't read The Feminine Mystique, I recommend it. I'm curious what the word "feminist" brings to mind today, anyone?
--Deb

Hearings on Illegal Presidential Spying
If you don't have c-span handy, Glenn Greenwald is live blogging the hearings. Good coverage at AmericaBlog too. Personally, I've given up on the hope that any actual good will come out of these things. But making a few Administration shills squirm for a couple minutes is something I guess. Also nice to hear that Feingold is keeping the heat on. I'm feeling better and better about possibly making him my next doomed idealistic Presidential cause.
--Don

Multiple siblings, bar ownership, and the new Republican leadership
Gotta love the kind of sense the new Republican House leader John Boehner can make, my favorite Q & A from today's Meeet the Press (my emph.):

MR. RUSSERT: From 535 members of Congress, John Boehner ranked number 10 (in accepting trips from lobbyists) according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which did analysis of this. Over the last five years they say John Boehner received trips which would equal $157,000, privately funded. And they point out where you went, which is—and here’s, here’s a list. Congressmen Boehner: White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia, where the Green Briar Resort is, eight times; Boca Raton, Florida, six times; Scottsdale, Arizona, four times; Monterey/Pebble Beach, California twice; Edinburgh, Scotland, home of St. Andrew’s Golf Course, twice. Foreign travel: Rome, Venice, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona.

To the American people looking at that, they’re saying those aren’t exactly the global hot spots in terms of conflict. But they are places that you’d want to go and relax or play golf.

REP. BOEHNER: People want—people invite me to give speeches. And, and as you know Tim, you know, I’ve got 11 brothers and sisters, my dad owned a bar. What you see is what you get. And I’ve got a very open relationship with lobbyists in town, with my colleagues, with the press, and with my constituents. And, and as a result, you know, people invite me to go give speeches, and I go give them.

Big family + Dad owns a bar = My actions may not be questioned? What the hell is he talking about? And, no, in context it didn't make any more sense. Are those apparent non sequiturs some kind of secret code or euphemism I'm not familiar with?

News!
I'm proud to announce that beginning sometime next week Article 19 will turn into a group blog! You may have noticed that posting has become light and, frankly, a bit stale around here with my time being pressed. I didn't want to have to can the whole site, yet, so I've recruited an excellent team of smart, funny, passionate people to all be co-bloggers with me. Long-time readers Deb, Stevie T, Lisa E, and Kenny B will chime in, in no particular order and whenever they feel like it. Hopefully that will be enough to keep the site alive and hopping. But all former guest bloggers should feel free to post any time as well. A couple (Doug and Lewberry) already have their own fabulous blogs and I didn't want to hone in on their posting time there. But you two shouldn't hesitate to post here if ever you'd like.

So come back often next week. The content should be much improved!

Any other long-time readers who would like to go through the vigorous screening process to become a co-blogger drop me an e-mail.

Article 19 news
Big changes coming soon!! Stay tuned!

Ha Ha
Did he have his fingers crossed too, just in case this explanation didn't work?

One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

The old not literally defense. 75 percent by 2025 doesn't sound like much of a metaphor to me, but Bush has always communicated in strange ways...

Do you have the stomach for it?
Text of the State of the Union speech is here. I thought it was positively hilarious. This was my favorite part:

A hopeful society has institutions of science and medicine that do not cut ethical corners and that recognize the matchless value of every life.

Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research: human cloning in all its forms; creating or implanting embryos for experiments; creating human-animal hybrids; and buying, selling or patenting human embryos.

human-animal hybrids?

Oscar noms are out
Read the whole list here. Nice to see Woody Allen get another nod for screenplay, even though I haven't seen Match Point yet.

I'm also hoping the 6 nominations for Crash (which I liked but didn't completely love), including best picture, turn into a re-release and lots and lots of box office/DVD revenues for Lion's Gate Films, but I say that for purely selfish reasons.

TN Senate Race
Kos posted new poll results for the TN Senate race between, most likely Harold Ford and whoever makes it through the Republican primary.

Corker (R) 42 (36)
Ford (D) 40 (42)

Bryant (R) 42 (41)
Ford (D) 40 (38)

Hilleary (R) 43 (41)
Ford (D) 37 (39)

I really think this is one we should win. My biggest fear is that the primary challenger to Ford will paint him as being so conservative that it will keep liberals at home on general election day. We can hope that religious conservatives do the same with Corker once he whips their chosen candidate (Bryant). But that sounds more like the kind of screw-up that liberals are far more guilty of than conservatives. Ford may not be a liberal, but he's a good Democrat, and our best hope.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been listening to, reading and watching?

Oscar Nominations Out Tomorrow
Oscar Watch has predictions.

Weekend Box Office
1. Big Momma's House 2 (seriously....)
2. Nanny McPhee
3. Underworld: Evolution
4. Annapolis
5. Hoodwinked

Shocking that Queen Latifah movie didn't pan out...

Arthur and George
I broke down and bought the new Julian Barnes novel I posted about a couple weeks back. Man is it a page-turner, at this point (halfway through) it's become a different kind of story than I've read from him before. Tough to put down....full report when I'm done.

Kerry Calls Filibuster
Senator Kerry posted a diary at DailyKos explaining his filibuster position. I posted about this yesterday (too lazy to link; just look down).

What's Kerry Up To?
The first Senator to call for a filibuster of Alito:

Senator Kerry has officially called for a filibuster of Samuel Alito the Supreme Court. CNN reports the Senator will be making a statement shortly.

Three Democrats (Nelson, Johnson and Byrd) will vote for Alito. Senators Landrieu and Salazar have stated their opposition to a filibuster, and Senator Feinstein, if you'll recall, was also hesitant.

41 votes are needed to sustain a filibuster. CNN's congressional correspondent reports Kerry is calling on party and internet activists to support the filibuster. "I can't do this alone," he's telling them.

No doubt this is part of a plan to run for Pres again in '08. What's the strategy? Thoughts?

Oops
Hooray democracy. Bush identifies with Hamas?

More Bush (would-be) Troubles
In a logical world, our President would be in deep doo-doo.
Today's Washington Post:

[A]sking about Mr. Abramoff's White House meetings is no mere exercise in reportorial curiosity but a legitimate inquiry about what an admitted felon might have been seeking at the highest levels of government. Whatever White House officials did or didn't do, there is every reason to believe that Mr. Abramoff was up to no good and therefore every reason the public ought to know with whom he was meeting.

Mr. McClellan dismisses requests for the information as an effort to play "partisan politics," and no doubt there is more than an element of partisanship in Democrats' efforts to extract this information. But Republicans wouldn't stand for this kind of stonewalling if the situation were reversed. We can say that with confidence because history proves it. During the 1996 scandal over foreign fundraising in the Clinton White House, Republicans demanded -- and obtained, though not without a fight -- extensive information about White House coffees and other meetings, including photos and videotapes.

Plus this:

a poll released last week by Zogby International showed 52 percent of American adults thought Congress should consider impeaching Bush if he wiretapped U.S. citizens without court approval, including 59 percent of independents and 23 percent of Republicans.

But, of course, Democrats don't know how to take advantage of the fact that everything - and I mean everything - should now point Americans away from the GOP. And that impotence could be because of this.

News You Already Knew
Last Year Was Warmest in a Century

More important, he said, is that 2005 reached the warmth of 1998 without help of the "El Nino of the century" that pushed temperatures up in 1998.

Over the past 30 years, Earth has warmed a bit more than 1 degree in total, making it about the warmest it's been in 10,000 years, Hansen said. He blamed a buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

But I guess before we really decide to give a shit about global warming and agree to do something about it, we should wait and see if there's any actual scientific evidence, right Republicans? I'm sure that while the great-grandkids try to find a way out of the massive national debt we're going to pass on they'll have plenty of time to science their way out of this looming disaster.

More Give 'em Hell Harry
I'm starting to really like our Senate leader. Read this transcript of a speech to the Center for American Progress.

In related news, Bush approval rating back down to 36%, tying his lowest ever. I suppose not even an Iraqi election and a new tape from Osama can save him anymore.

And in more related news, political guru Stu Rothenberg is set to raise his predictions of Demoractic gains in the 2006 House elections to "5-8 seats, with a bias toward even greater Democratic gains." We will need a pickup of 15 to take control. Can Republicans even keep another handful of House members from being carted off to jail by November?

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, watching listening to?

Oscar Favorite
I haven't seen many of the Oscar contenders, but I've still picked my favorite. I'll get around to seeing Brokeback Mountain but even unseen it's the one I hope wins. I was tiring of the hype and expected to jump on the bandwagon of some underdog. Then, last week, Chris Matthews and Don Imus had this annoying exchange, and the Washington Post ran this annoying cartoon on the comics page (which may have caused Jon at Americablog a bit of an overreaction but still). With so many people out there refusing to give gay people a freaking break, I realized it needs to win just so that fact can be stuck up their collective asses.

Weekend Box Office
1. Underworld: Evolution
2. Hoodwinked
3. Glory Road
4. Last Holiday
5. Brokeback Mountain

Challenge
I've posted something of a challenge at the BJC blog. Article 19 readers should feel free to take me up on it.

Lyrics of the Day
Bright Eyes has been buzzing my head.

What's so simple in the moonlight,
By the morning never is.

Alito-Filbuster Calculations
Kos has a running count of Dems voting yes and no on Alito at this point. And he points to a fascinating analysis (by a conservative, no less!) of the choices faced by Senate minority leader Reid in deciding whether to pursue a filibuster or not. If you're at all interested in political strategery, you should read it!

Cell Phone Privacy
Kudos to Jon at AmericaBlog for almost single-handedly forcing the cell phone records issue into the mainstream press. And props to Senator Durbin for being the one to finally introduce legislation addressing it.

Son of "Words that Piss Me Off"
Until I actually study the English language, I suppose this is going to become a regular A19 feature (see here). Last night on some cable news, I heard the word "potentiality." Seems to me there is no reason whatever for the existence of this word, though it is in the dictionary. I will relent if anyone can give me an example of a sentence using the word "potentiality" where "potential" wouldn't work just as well.

Doug, what does your big dictionary say about this one?

Dissent
Not that we needed confirmation of this, but we got our first real sense of where Roberts sits on the Court. The Supremes decided 6-3 that the federal government is wrong to think they can ban state laws allowing physician-assisted suicide. The 3 dissenters? Thomas, Scalia and Roberts. We can probably safely assume that Alito would have made 4 here. Pray for Justice Stevens' continued good health.

Interruption [UPDATED with excerpts]
Interrupting this Media Monday to point you to the text of Al Gore's speech just delivered. I didn't catch the video on C-Span (hopefully will replay), but the text is a barnburner. Interestingly, the speech was co-sponsored by the liberal American Constitution Society and the Conservative/Libertarian Liberty Coalition. Gore was introduced by former Republican congressman and Clinton impeachment manager Bob Barr. Some highlights:

At present, we still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently.
....
[T]he President has also declared that he has a heretofore unrecognized inherent power to seize and imprison any American citizen that he alone determines to be a threat to our nation, and that, notwithstanding his American citizenship, the person imprisoned has no right to talk with a lawyer-even to argue that the President or his appointees have made a mistake and imprisoned the wrong person.

The President claims that he can imprison American citizens indefinitely for the rest of their lives without an arrest warrant, without notifying them about what charges have been filed against them, and without informing their families that they have been imprisoned.
....
Can it be true that any president really has such powers under our Constitution? If the answer is "yes" then under the theory by which these acts are committed, are there any acts that can on their face be prohibited? If the President has the inherent authority to eavesdrop, imprison citizens on his own declaration, kidnap and torture, then what can't he do?
....
Whenever power is unchecked and unaccountable it almost inevitably leads to mistakes and abuses. In the absence of rigorous accountability, incompetence flourishes. Dishonesty is encouraged and rewarded.
....
I endorse the words of Bob Barr, when he said, "The President has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will."

A special counsel should immediately be appointed by the Attorney General to remedy the obvious conflict of interest that prevents him from investigating what many believe are serious violations of law by the President.

President Gore.

MEDIA MONDAY
It's a holiday--I'll come back strong tomorrow.

In the meantime, what have you been listening to, watching and reading?

A Start
Maryland passed a new law

The bill, which passed despite a veto by Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr., requires employers with more than 10,000 workers to spend at least 8% of their payroll on employee health care or else pay into a fund for the uninsured.

Why 10,000? Because that makes WalMart have to do it.

"This opens the way for dozens of states across the country to follow suit, and that's clearly a chilling message to Wal-Mart," says Tracy Sefl, a spokeswoman at Wal-Mart Watch, a Washington-based group focused on the megaretailer.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised the Maryland action. "What the Maryland victory shows is that the tide is turning, because working people are not just fed up, they are ready to get active to set our country in a different direction, one state at a time," he said in a statement after the vote.

10,000 may set that bar pretty high (Wal-Mart is the only company that will be affected.), but now that the law is passed, lowering the threshold to hit more companies will be that much easier. Plus, the more we make huge companies spend on health care the more likely it will be that they will be supportive of a national health care plan that would relieve their burden. In the meantime, more people get health insurance.

Reid: Republicans are Criminals
Or something like that. Today's must-read is Senator Harry Reid's op-ed in the Houston Chronicle entitled: "If we can beat mob, we can fight Delay-style politics."

My term on the gaming commission came to an end in 1981, and when it did, I thought I had seen such corruption for the last time. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. It is not quite the mafia of Las Vegas in the 1970s, but what is happening today in Washington is every bit as corrupt and the consequences for our country have been severe.

Our nation's capital has been overrun by organized crime — Tom DeLay-style.

The gangsters are the lobbyists, cronies and lawmakers who have banded together and abused their power to serve their own self-interest. The casinos are the Capitol, which has had its doors thrown open for special interests to waltz in and help themselves, and the victims, of course, are the American people.

This piece should be the prototype campaign speech for every Democrat running for DC office in 2006. Corruption, Corruption, Corruption.

Great Moments in Textbook Writing
This may have to be a regular feature for a couple months while I come to grips with my reality this school semester. The first sentence to the section on "Harmony" in my new Music Appreciation book reads as follows:

"When folksingers accompany themselves on a guitar, they add support, depth, and richness to the melody; we call this harmonizing."

(book's emphasis)

A more stomach-turning sentence introducing the topic I can hardly imagine.

On the opposite page, there is a picture of Avril Lavigne, in some kind of camouflage clothing, sitting and playing the acoustic guitar while singing. The caption reads: "The singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne blends melody and harmony by accompanying herself on the guitar." Then there is a teacher's suggestion: "Play a recording by Avril Lavigne to illustrate the combination of melody and harmony."

I have a long list of rants about this I could bore you with, starting with the fact that this is a horrible non-definition of both "harmonizing" and especially "harmony", (let alone "folksingers") but I'll leave it at this side point: is there any doubt that some coordination exists between the textbook company and the record company that owns Avril Lavigne's recording rights? If there's not, why are they behaving like there is? Is this book *trying* to become out-of-date in 3 years? (My guess is that next year's freshmen will have never heard of her) And finally, If I were to take their advice, and play an entire track of Ms. Lavigne's in class as demonstration, is there any doubt that said company would, if they could find out about it, try and make me pay some kind of royalty for performance - educational use or not? I do that sort of thing all the time and, of course, don't pay and shouldn't. But schools are getting so cautious and worried...so filled with warning and a better-safe-than-sorry attitude over musical copyright as if educational fair use might as well not exist any more, that I'm shocked that a textbook would urge such behavior...

Some Sanity, involving Pat Robertson
Not sanity *from* him, mind you. Sanity in getting the heck *away from* him. The Israeli Tourism Minister has had enough. Hopefully that kind of attitude will be contagious. The man has long been a disgrace, but has recently devolved into a pathetic caricature of himself.

Turning the Tables
I'm too nice to strangers to be able to do this myself (working on it), but if you're not, you may want to try this the next time you're called by a telemarketer: a conversation flow-chart to engage your caller and turn yourself into the one asking the questions.

Lierberman Confirms What We've Been Saying
He's not a Democrat. He just likes being in the Senate.

More Alito
If you missed the hearings yesterday, you didn't miss much. The highlights? That's easy. Feingold was good, but Schumer was great. The Washington Post transcript starts here, but to get right to these 2 above average performances, skip right to the end of page 2. And on to page 3.

The Hearing Dance [UPDATED]
Like Judge Roberts before him, Alito has now "made news" by agreeing that the Constitution does in fact guarantee a right to privacy. That right is the one typically invoked by abortion rights supporters, and denied by its detractors. Isn't it clear that this is the new strategy? Concede the privacy point to undercut the Democrats' avenue of questioning, and then simply determine, when the time comes, that the right to privacy doesn't extend to reproductive rights? It sounds to me like they know Americans like the idea of "privacy" and have just decided about arguing the general point: why bother?

[UPDATE: Senator Kohl (D-WI) just now (1:50 central time): "This begs the question...." AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!]

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

Article 19 Music Recommendation: Bright Eyes--I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Like mosts musical things these days, I was late getting to Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst). I'm Wide Awake... is strong and compelling. Lyrics - which I normally listen to second or third - distinguish this otherwise warbly voice. He manages to be poetic without being overly pretentious, thoughtful without being condescending. The country-esque (Americana? who knows) sounds backing up most of the tracks, including the amazing Emmylou Harris, give the right musical frame to view these tunes not as elliott smith-like alternative rock (which it could easily sound like) so much as in the vein of newer Steve Earle. I'm surprised how much I like it. Here are some favorite lyrics:

If you hate the taste of wine, why do you drink it 'til you're blind?
And if you swear that there's no truth, and who cares, why do you say it like you're right?
Why are you so scared to dream of God, when it's salvation that you want?
Like stars that clear have been dead for years, but the idea still lives on.
In our wheels that roll around, as we move over the ground.
And all day it seems, we've been in between a past and present town.

We are nowhere and it's now.

Chicago Film Critics
Named Crash the Film of the Year, breaking(back Mountain) from the recent trends.

Oscar Host Announced
Jon Stewart. Ok. I'll watch.

Weekend Box Office
1. Hostel
2. Chronicles of Narnia
3. King Kong
4. Fun with Dick and Jane
5. Cheaper by the Dozen 2

Dean kicking butt
Wolf Blitzer hardly knew what hit him. Read the transcript.

Crazy
Not that anyone should still believe you can keep any of your personal information or actions from being monitored, recorded and up for sale. But this seems out of control:

[T]he Chicago Sun-Times ran a story two days ago about a Web site that sells phone records, for cells and land-lines, for $110 a pop. The company boasts on its own Web site:

"Give us the cell phone number and we will send you the calls made from the cell phone number."

So I went to their site, plopped down $110, and within a day I had a list of every single phone number that called my cell, or that I called from my cell, for the month of November. I even had the dates the calls were made, and for a premium I could find out how long the calls were.

I called Cingular and they were shocked by what I told them - yeah right.

New Orleans Year in Review
Haunting column from the Times-Picayune (via Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Myself to Death)

This was the year that defines our city, our lives, our destiny. Nothing comparable has ever happened in modern times in America, and there is no blueprint for how we do this.

We just wing it. Do good work. Save someone or something.

You'd have to be crazy to want to live here. You'd have to be plumb out of reasonable options elsewhere.

Then again, I have discovered that the only thing worse than being in New Orleans these days is not being in New Orleans.

It's a siren calling us home. It cannot be explained.

Read the whole thing.

Words And Phrases That Piss Me Off
Longtime readers of Article 19 will remember that I have a peculiar pet peeve about the rampant misuse of logical fallacy phrases like "begging the question." This is made worse by the fact, I know, that its misunderstanding has become so widespread that it no longer really is a misuse. It's now just a perfectly acceptable way to annoy the crap out of me. Kevin Drum yesterday pointed to a bizarrely funny cartoon with the same message.

But while I'm at it. I was disturbed yesterday to learn that yet another utterance I have always thought to be a misuse is in fact perfectly acceptable. We all know the word "preventive." So why are people always saying "preventative"?? That's got to be wrong, right? No. Either one is just fine. Why? I have no idea. Why don't we just let every spelling and every pronunciation into the dictionary?! Next thing you know the entry for "nuclear" will say "also nucular." Will make it so much harder to feel superior.

Oops
I guess "pastoring" can get you in trouble.

An executive committee member of the Southern Baptist Convention was arrested on a lewdness charge for propositioning a plainclothes policeman outside a hotel, police said.

Lonnie Latham, senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church, was booked into Oklahoma County Jail Tuesday night on a misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in an act of lewdness, police Capt. Jeffrey Becker said. Latham was released on $500 bail Wednesday afternoon.

Latham, who has spoken out against homosexuality, asked the officer to join him in his hotel room for oral sex. Latham was arrested and his 2005 Mercedes automobile was impounded, Becker said.

Calls to Latham at his church were not immediately returned Wednesday.

When he left jail, he said:

"I was set up. I was in the area pastoring to police."

He wuz fraaaamed!

Really Funny
This seems old but I hadn't seen it before today. Andy Dick as the President's speechwriter and advisor. Plus some choice old-time favorites from Bush's legendary speech moments.

Blame
This West Virginia tragedy underlines a sad fact: miners are killed every year in accidents. Republicans wonder why we insist so strongly on corporate regulation and workplace safety. And there can be no doubt that mining -- like many blue collar, hard hat industries -- could be done more safely. It would just cost more.

Corporate profits are passed up the executive chain every day in this country; profits made on the backs of the hard-working who give up their bodies, and virtually all of their waking hours. They risk their health and their very lives doing work that seems to most of us unimaginably demanding. And all for a paycheck that just gets their families by in some of the poorest areas of the country.

So, in a sane world, those workers and their families would find a concerned protecting partner in the corporation that squeezes so much out of them and gives them so little in return. But of course that's not the case in ours. And so who do we count on to hold their feet to the fire? Who has the power to require the kind of corporate responsibility that is worthy of the dedicated workers, the calloused hands, and the grizzled faces whose anguish is now all over our TV screens? The damned federal government, that's who. (that's right, I'm pissed)

And here's the kind of government you get when you elect Republicans to control congress and the White House for most of the last ten years (my emph.):

Sago Mine was cited for repeated safety violations over the past two years, including multiple citations for inadequate ventilation and failure to fully secure the mine against a roof collapse. The Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a total of 208 citations for alleged violations at the site last year, up from 68 in 2004.

Most of the citations were issued before the current owners took over the mine in November, but International Coal Group Inc. was cited by the federal government three times in five days in December for allowing flammable coal dust to collect in a work area. Those citations were among 17 issued last year at the mine for "accumulation of combustible materials." Anker West Virginia was the former owner.

The violations last year have drawn total fines of $24,000, with scores of penalties for the minimum of $60.
....
Under Bush, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has worked more closely with mine owners than under previous presidents, according to union officials. The government has formed formal "partnerships" between companies and agency officials and is shying away from imposing heavy fines and sanctions, said Phil Smith, a spokesman for United Mine Workers of America.

"They've gone from being an agency that enforces the regulations and puts penalties in, to something that's a lot more almost touchy-feely," Smith said.
....
J. Davitt McAteer, a mine safety specialist who was President Clinton's assistant labor secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said there has been a major shift from enforcement to cooperation under the Bush's administration.

"I'm not opposed to cooperation, but I'd suggest to you that -- much like the need for highway patrols -- you have to have enforcement for the laws to be followed," McAteer said.

Of course there's no way to eliminate all danger from work like that. But those that risk their butts for a company should be better paid, better supported and better protected. And while companies like this one are great at endearing themselves to the community that keeps them afloat, their true mission is making money, and no amount is too much to make.

The balance we have for this unhealthy system is called regulation. Republicans have not only run away from that responsibilty, they've made it a dirty word. And they've convinced an entire generation of the white working poor that love of God and country binds them to the GOP. They've convinced them that expecting the government to have as a priority their protection from corporate exploitation is a sign of personal weakness and lack of character. Meanwhile, our government cuddles up to another industry; a heavily cited, but lightly fined company continues practically unchecked, and another handful of hard-working, soot-stained faces streak with tears, huddled in their community church, clutching the families of fallen colleagues, asking God -- of all people -- why.

Horrible
How does a mistake like this get made? Truly cruel.

The mistaken information last night that 12 of 13 miners trapped in a West Virginia coal mine had been saved, when in fact 12 were dead and only one was alive, came through a series of miscommunications among rescue workers and others exhausted from more than 30 hours of searching, and desperate for a good ending to a tragic situation, the president of the mining company said this afternoon.

Or more precisely, how does a mistake like that not get corrected for hours? It was really exciting watching the "good news" last night.

New Novel!
Julian Barnes has a new book. Looks like a glowing review in Slate. His A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters remains maybe my favorite book ever. I try to read it once every couple of years.

Woody Allen Interview
Since I took a much-deserved holiday from Media Monday yesterday, I didn't get to post any of the great interview with Woody Allen LAWeekly published last week. I'm worried now that I've become so excited to see his new film. In recent years (like 15?) that has always been mistaken expectation.

“Look, I make a lot of films,” he says. “Some come out fairly good. Some come out mediocre. Some come out poor. This one came out well. I could see it myself: When I finished the film, I felt, ‘Oh, this is a good film,’ and it doesn’t surprise me that people are responding to it. I must say that I got every break a film director could want making this film. When I needed Scarlett Johansson, she was available. When I needed a rainy day, I got a rainy day. When I needed sunshine for a week, I got it. It was like I couldn’t screw the film up no matter how hard I tried. It is indeed a better film than most of the films I’ve made before — just by coincidence, by happy luck.”
....
I’ve also never minded failing. For some reason, that was not a sensitive thing with me. Now, I would rather succeed, of course! But I knew when I was making Shadows and Fog that there would not be a human being who would want to see it.”
....
I’m certainly not intellectual. I’m a middle-class person playing the part of a neurotic intellectual. People mistake that for who I am, but actually, I’m the guy who sits next to you at the ballgame or the movie house. I’m the guy who will be home tonight with a beer watching the Knicks on television. I’m not going to have my nose in my Kierkegaard.”...But surely, I say, you’ve read Kierkegaard, and Freud and Marshall McLuhan...

“But only because I had to to survive. I didn’t read them because it’s an instinct in me or because I liked it. I read those things because the girls I was dating wouldn’t go out with me if I hadn’t.

A Father Lashes Out
A blistering op-ed in the Washington Post from the father of a US soldier, recently killed in Iraq.

A Life, Wasted

I choose to honor our fallen hero by remembering who he was in life, not how he died. A picture of a smiling Augie in Iraq, sunglasses turned upside down, shows his essence -- a joyous kid who could use any prop to make others feel the same way.

Though it hurts, I believe that his death -- and that of the other Americans who have died in Iraq -- was a waste. They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by removing a dictator -- a careless misunderstanding of what democracy requires. They were wasted by not sending enough troops to do the job needed in the resulting occupation -- a careless disregard for professional military counsel.

But their deaths will not be in vain if Americans stop hiding behind flag-draped hero masks and stop whispering their opposition to this war. Until then, the lives of other sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers may be wasted as well.

2006 Ir-resolutions
New Year's resolutions are noble things, I suppose. A clean slate to have an opportunity to better yourself, be more responsible. I used to be quite serious about them - about naming them anyway. But the last few years I've had more rebellious thoughts and they feel more appropriate. I've decided to get them down in writing this year. Frankly, and those of you who know me may disagree, I don't think what my life needs is more "responsible" boredom. I am in much more need of a good kick in the ass...a jolt of anything but responsible. So here are my 2006 ir-resolutions.

1. Be less courteous to strangers.
2. Take the last doughnut/cookie/beer and stop splitting it in half or deferring to others who seem to want it more.
3. Make more impulsive purchases.
4. Remember that stealing can be fun.
5. Talk and act with less thought going into it.
6. Argue in public with people I don't know when I overhear them saying something foolish, offensive, or for no other reason than that I just don't like the sound of their voice.
7. More Word-dojo.
8. Be willing to sleep my way to the top.

I hope you will all help hold me to them, especially after those first few weeks when old bad habits start to return. Do you have resolutions? And are they the responsible or irresponsible kind?