I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
B-b-b-but, Ted Turner married Hanoi Jane? How liberal can you get?
Frist.
!
Frist anyone?
The noise machine better get louder...
Rival Shiite groups have clashed at one of Islam's holiest sites, the Imam Ali Mosque in Iraq's holy city of Najaf.
And in one of Baghdad's largest mosques, a Sunni Muslim cleric implored veterans of Saddam Hussein's military to join the insurgency against the Americans.
"Where are the military? They have indisputable experience and their silence means they keep their knowledge to themselves," Sheikh Ahmed Hassan al-Taha al-Samarai told worshippers at Abu Hanifa mosque in the capital's Sunni stronghold of Adhamiyah.
A question for someone like me who pays way too much attention to this stuff is whether I actually learn anything from the book or if it's just recycling a bunch of stuff that's old news to me.
My exact feeling after reading Krugman's book, it was like I could have finished his sentences. Same thing when I pick up the management books from all the mgmt seminars my wife attends. As I told her, there has not been a new idea in personel or business mgmt in about 2000 years, just repackaging old ideas.
"(un)professional dirt on Frank Luntz."
Do Tell, Michelle!!!
Page numbers please!
Do Tell, Michelle!!!
Page numbers please!
Here's a hint:
I've heard that Luntz is as queer as a pink house.
This is from the same source(s) that suggested Kelli Arena might have a gerbil-molestation fetish, so treat it with due respect.
As a what?
why do these words INSURGENT/INSURGENCY continue to be used to describe the opponents to the amerikan invasion and occupation of iraq? even by the opponents of the rethug warmongers?
the way the oed defines these words, they would only be used accurately if the united states of amerika always owned iraq and an insurrectionist movement grew up to defy the legitimate government of iraq.
the sons of liberty in boston were insurgents. and the crown would have been correct to label their insurrection an insurgency.
but in the case of iraq, those who oppose the us of amerka invasion/occupation can only be described accurately as PATRIOTS. and their efforts to oust the amerikan invaders have to be equated with the efforts of the french maquis to oust the third reich and the vichy regime.
isn't this correct?
death to all of the amerikan invaders and occupiers. the same sentiment i had for the nazis who invaded and occupied poland, czechoslovakia, france, greece, hungary, romania, bulgaria, serbia, montenegro, albania, crete, malta, tunisia, libya, et alia.
we have allowed our military to become the new schuttstaffel[sic].
and contrary to what some may think, rumsfeld, powell, bush, perle, wolfowitz, cheney, abrams, feith are just as grotesque a bunch of homicidal maniacs as goebbels, himmler, heydrich, speer, hitler, roehm, ad infinitum.
anyone want to disagree? i invite their exculpation of this new group of gangsters.
mmm.... kelli with an "I" arena doing anything naughty....
oh wait she's said a vote for kerry is a vote for al aqueda ...
oh well....
Good albert champion - you wouldn't be invoking the spirit of Margery Allingham, would you?
Call 'em what they are: anti-occupationists.
Albert, someone posted a link to this in an earlier thread. Sounds like you're already aware of the similarities between the $hrubco admin and the Hitler admin(of course from reading other posts of yours, I already know that 
).
If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's EXCELLENT, I've never seen anyone point out the similarities in quite the same delicious way.
Cheers
I think fighters against foreign invaders qualifies as 'patriot'.
Of course, it's not very delicious considering the circumstances, but I'll take whatever amusement I can get at the expense of $hrubco.
On Topic, I HATE Frank Luntz! Dish the dirt please? LOL You can tell from his "polls" that there's something unsavory about the man.
If we had a real liberal media this picture of Senator Frist pissing himself would be eveywhere...
"Queer as a pink house"?
I'll never be able to listen to "Music From Big Pink" the same way again...
The Wash. Times section is good.
WHAT THE FUCK? THIS REAGAN SHIT IS ON AGAIN. ON PRIMETIME UNTIL 11 PM. THIS IS NONSENSE. KENNEDY DID NOT GET THIS MUCH TIME.
"Queer as a pink house"?
What?
Scaramouche, Hahahahahahahaha... I sure as hell wouldn't want to be that soldier shaking his hand.
END GAME COMING
Abuse scandal likely to become wide-ranging investigation
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - What began as a military investigation of seven low-ranking Army reservists accused of tormenting Iraqi prisoners now appears likely to become a wide-ranging examination of whether top civilian and military leaders authorized torture or approved efforts to intimidate, humiliate or degrade suspected terrorists in violation of U.S. laws.
In Congress, Democrats and some Republicans are calling for greater scrutiny of what interrogation guidelines the Bush administration approved for dealing with prisoners in Afghanistan and at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Such scrutiny is likely over the actions of top aides to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Since that time, however, the Army has announced that it is investigating the deaths of 127 prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, and evidence compiled by military and congressional investigators indicates that top civilian and military leaders dispensed contradictory advice on how far to push the bounds of laws against torture and whether certain detainees were covered by international treaties.
"It's not clear what the instructions have been in regard to what can be done and what cannot be done," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
As a result, Congress is likely to go beyond seeking accountability for the abuses at Abu Ghraib and engage in a far more substantial debate over how detainees should be treated in the new U.S. war on terrorism.
If anything, the memos from Bush administration and Pentagon lawyers indicate that existing international treaties and federal statutes are subject to a variety of interpretations. Pentagon and intelligence lawyers in a March 2003 memo pointed out loopholes in the legal constraints on torture.
They noted that a 1994 international Convention Against Torture prohibits torture even in "a state of war or public emergency." But they also argued that, absent an explicit prohibition by Congress, torture could be justified if it is necessary to save lives.
But the administration memos that have become public argued that U.S. laws do not flatly prohibit torture. The Pentagon's 2003 memo notes that Congress specifically left open the possibility that an act of torture could be defensible if deemed necessary.
That position will be challenged next week by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who plans to introduce an amendment to a defense authorization bill that would prohibit "torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" of detainees held in military facilities.
Ashcroft last week, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, refused to turn over the 2002 memo prepared by his department lawyers, saying it would set a bad precedent by making public confidential advice fr
Thought I posted this before, but couldn't find it, so I guess I didn;t. It's completely OT, but as Martin Prince once said, "My geode must be acknowledged."
==========
Tried to write some limericks re: Reagan, but can't make up my mind as to the proper tone. Any thoughts?
A reasonably polite limerick:
President Reagan has died.
"He was great!" the Republicans lied.
"No leader was better,
No tears could be wetter,
Than the tears that true patriots cried."
A somewhat unflattering limerick:
Perhaps it was Reagan's brain lesion
That caused thousands to die for no reason.
To be senile's a curse,
But death squads are worse.
And Iran-Contra surely was treason.
A downright impolite limerick:
Reagan's corpse can't be buried too soon.
They should've sent it to the moon
Or thrown it to dogs
Or ravenous hogs
Or fed it to Rush with a spoon.
An utterly hateful limerick, repugnant to all good-hearted people:
Fuck that lying old fuck! Fuck him twice!
Fuck his funeral! Fuck being nice!
Fuck his caisson and crew,
Fuck his catafalque too.
Fuck W and Condi Rice!
Are they going to give us back our t.v.'s anytime soon? Are we all going to thank the media for giving us such a precious gift this week?
Philalethes,
Yes, you did post those on a different thread earlier in the day. And they are all TERRIFIC!
I can't pick just one.
Cheers
MORE BS
Whether Congress should have a role is a subject of legal dispute. The 2003 Pentagon memo states "Congress may no more regulate the president's ability to detain and interrogate enemy combatants than it may regulate his ability to direct troop movements on the battlefield."
But in a lengthy report for Congress, the authoritative Congressional Research Service concluded in April 2002 that the Constitution provides Congress with "ample authority to legislate the treatment of battlefield detainees in the custody of the U.S. military."
Proponents of congressional action acknowledge they will have a fight. Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have said they want little to do with legislation to toughen guidelines on torture.
I'm kinda digging the band.
U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West
They started off fine. And a nice Danny Boy arrangement. C-span keeps it pure.
-
Sorry, I'm typing with my left hand now. I just put my right arm into a meat grinder and I'm driving to Simi Valley in the morning to spread it as mulch on my Dear Leader's grave.
I'm kinda digging the band.
U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West
They started off fine. And a nice Danny Boy arrangement. C-span keeps it pure.
-
hmmm, if meat were left on or near the grave...
I'm kinda digging the band.
U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West
They started off fine. And a nice Danny Boy arrangement. C-span keeps it pure.
-
talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk......
Fucking oops.
Just in case you missed it.
Thet are now investigating 127 prisoner deaths.
127, 127, 127
127?!?!
That's a lot of dead prisoners. Dear God.
I want to thank the Dear leader for a sparkling clean brain. It took a week,but I'm free for the first time in my life.
I've just posted a review to Amy Goodman's new book, The Exception to the Rulers, here. A wonderful book, a must-read.
I imagine the 127 is a wide net, and that only thirty or forty will turn out to be cases of Saddam-like beating and torturing of prisoners to death, and not all of those would have been in front of their children, necessarily.
America the Beautiful, U S Army chorus joins with the band.
Fuck you, Scalia, you treasonous bastard, and the traitor horse you slimed in on!
-
i arrived at my factory today. without my permission someone had put up the flag at half staff.
upon entering my offices i told them to take the flag down. when i noticed a semblance of insurgency i told them to either take it down or tender a resignation.
the flag came down.
if i wanted to, if i had the time, i could relate my intimate knowledge of how reagan and ghwbush destroyed the rule of law in the usa.
i have no tears for that fucker. i wish that he had died in the 1970's.
The worse part is not ONE AQ has been caught in Iraq. These are not AQ being tortured to death.
That infamous picture that was publicized of a female soldier grinning over the badly beaten corpse- well the guys wife had been searching for him since he was arrested Nov 3 and he died Nov 4. She found him when she saw the fuckin picture in May.
Yes, the band did a wonderful job with Danny Boy this afternoon. But I think the most touching piece of music was at Andrews when the casket was being loaded onto the plane for the flight back to California ---- the music was "Songs My Mother Taught Me" by Anton Dvorak. This haunting tune and Nancy's grief -- unforgettable.
Its the media stupid
Yes, you did post those on a different thread earlier in the day. And they are all TERRIFIC!
Oops, sorry. I thought I had, but then couldn't find 'em so I figured it was a typical Haloscan screw-up. My brains are a little addled from arguing with trolls upstream.
Thanks for the kind words, anyhow!
veritas -
Again, this sort of thing comes out on a FRIDAY and during RR's FUNERAL MONTH -- so do you know if any other papers are picking up on the story?
It should be FRONT PAGE NEWS !
*
Oy! Backslider! Seen Orcinus? Or more specifically, do you feel like a nonfederated Brazilian?
Who was the guy with the flag on his suit label clinging to St Ronnies casket as they took it to be buried?
Totally OT but Moyers is supposed to be tearing DeLay a new one on NOW in about four minutes or so on PBS.
I think it's important here to underscore the difference between Dear Leader and Dead Leader...
So, this guy gets in a hideous traffic accident back in 1984. He's in a coma for twenty years, but comes to yesterday. He looks vaguely around the room and sees on the TV a flag-draped coffin.
"Hey," he says, startling the nurse on duty... "What's up? Who died?
"Oh, President Reagan died."
"Jesus Christ! You don't mean to tell me Bush is President???"
...surely there's someone hasn't heard that one yet...
albert champion is our champion! not only was his last comment down to a decent length, we ourselves have been fantasizing for so long about just going around and fully raising flags.
Jenny, not to start up the music babbling from yesterday's thread..but as you said you liked the Incredible String Band, I wonder if you know the Shirley Collins LP those folks played on? "Power of the True-Love Knot," if memory serves.
That said, I think the torture stuff WILL be front-page news, soon. They're bailing out the boat with a sieve, at this point. If you're familiar with the day-to-day Watergate developments, the pace was AGONIZINGLY slow...but once certain wheels start turning, they grind very fine indeed.
Jenny from the blog- as Hatch said, its just partisan politics, and he wants nothing to do with it.
...surely there's someone hasn't heard that one yet...
Me, for one. Thanks! It's funny 'cause it's true.
British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair urged his party to keep its nerve last night after voters gave him and his government "a kicking" in seeming protest over the war in Iraq.
HA HA HA
Ironically the only good news for Mr Blair on a dismal day for Labour was the re-election of London Mayor Mr Ken Livingstone, who has said President Bush should be tried for "war crimes".
As a connoisseur--and oft-unwitting exponent--of purple prose, I have to share this tidbit with all y'all:
Somber Skies See Reagan Home to Calif.
6 minutes ago
By CALVIN WOODWARD and JEFF WILSON, Associated Press Writers
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - In a final, majestic hail to the chief Friday, the nation bade a lingering goodbye to Ronald Reagan at a stately service in Washington beneath marble arches and somber skies before the 40th president's flag-draped casket returned to his beloved California for a sunset burial ceremony.
To which I respond, somewhat inelegantly, "Jesus Fucking Christ! Give me a fucking break already, for fuck's sake!"
Rah Rah Rah
Calvin and Jeff left out the part about touching the face of God. Maybe he missed?
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Philalethes -
don't know about that Incredible String Band collaboration... but sounds interesting.
Veritas & P-
I despair because if they're willing to acknowledge the 127 number then they must be low-balling. I'm hopeful that the media will make a stink about it -- but I'm still doubtful that it will sink in. We've already heard enough and seen enough and the administration should already be locked up in the Hague.
Hatch is more monstrous than I had believed -- since it is supposedly true that he is close friends with Edward Kennedy I thought he might have at least one non-partisan bone. But when i saw the Ashcroft spectacle the other day I realized I was wrong...
In a weird way we only have John Warner but I don't hold out much hope.
geez.
*
Proof that joyless sadomasochism is alive and well in the Heartland of America!
==============
Sam's Club Markets Bulk 'Passion' Videos
By DAVID HAMMER, Associated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Mainstream retailer Sam's Club began offering 50-copy "church packs" of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" this week, in a twist on usual ways of selling to religious groups.
Advance sales for the film's Aug. 31 release on DVD and video cassette already have exceeded expectations for the retailer, the warehouse club division of Wal-Mart Stores.
[snip]
In other news, an Alaskan college-radio DJ was just fired for celebrating Reagan's death.
Jenny:
don't know about that Incredible String Band collaboration... but sounds interesting.
It's a great album. She does one or two of their songs, too. Well worth seeking out.
No more about music here from me. Promise!
And now a few choice words from a TRULY Great American : Jimmy Breslin
Jenny- McCain is on America's side, and a few other r's are really pissed.
Philalethes -
Re: watergate. I remember it well and think about it in relation to the current atrocity. But though we did have a republican president we had a much different makeup in congress. At least we were able to get an investigation going -- and then the rest is history. But here we can't even do that with the rampant partisanship at play.
It's going to take I don't know how many brave and powerful republicans to get the thing going. And I can think of only three or four -- can anyone add to my list of Warner, McCain, Hagel and the two gentlewomen, I think Collins and another one?
*
My bad. PBS in Dallas is rerunning Raygun's funeral again. Anyone see Moyers anywhere else?
The selling of the Blood Libel of the Christ in bulk "Church Packs" exactly parallels the fake success of the movie in theatres. The movie was not a successful film. Church groups bought up bricks of tickets and gave them away for free as "witnessing tools".
And if the dj got fired for celebrating Reagan's death, can we get rid of the Council of Heathers before their Thirty Day Wake...oh, yeah, never mind.
Philalethes -
Thanks! I will definitely check that out. Fun!
*
RON Reagan junior is ripping dubya a new asshole in a subtle, indirect way.
Lincoln Chafee, but I'm not sure about those two Maine ladies.
?
-
veritas -
I'm curious, as it stands today, what other repubs can you think of?
hopefully...
Jenny
*
I'm kinda waiting for Nancy R. to endorse Kerry. Wouldn't that be interesting? I think we may have some surprises from unexpected places...
*
Philalethes -
"Have I told you lately that I love you?
Well, darlin', I'm telling you now."
Oops, sorry. Got carried away there. But how else can anyone react to a poet who, in response to a deeply felt need, produces a COMPLETE ARRAY of handy-dandy all-occasion Reagan-Schmeagan limericks? I'll stash them in my pocket for use on a moment's notice. Although, unless you provide guidelines, I guess I'll have to use my own discretion as to whether it's better, in any given instance of American imbecility, to be polite, or skip right down to the "fuck w" version.
You have done us all a great service, sir. I salute you.
Ron Reagan's comments cut through all the muckity muck and said what needed to be said.
I wonder if the SCLM will make hay out of it...they've gotta keep this story alive, no?
Deaver is God.
Here comes now bagpipes doing Amazing Grace.
Watch, the Missing Man flight will make me cry.
Deaver is God.
-
This land is made of mountains,
This land is made of mud,
This land has lots of everything
For me and Elmer Fudd.
This land has lots of trouser,
This land has lots of mausers,
And pussy cats to eat them
when the sun goes down!
Ironically the only good news for Mr Blair on a dismal day for Labour was the re-election of London Mayor Mr Ken Livingstone, who has said President Bush should be tried for "war crimes".
Shouldn't Tony be in the dock with him? And why isn't Tony in chains before the International Criminal Court?
Ron Jr. just took a subtle slap at W in his funeral oration. To paraphrase: unlike some politicians, his father "did not wear his religion on his sleeve." After being shot, his father came to sincerely believe God had spared him to do "good" (my note: a debatable point, defining "good"). "My father took that as a responsibility and not a mandate. There is a difference."
Jenny,
I don't disagree, but in a way the process doesn't even involve Congress after a certain point. I think of it as a massive rejection of a foreign body by an organism--sort of like an oyster coating a grain of sand to render it harmless (though comparing Bush to a pearl doesn't sit too well with me).
It's not even partisan, once things get this completely out of hand. What they have to do is neutralize Bush and his cronies while leaving the basic, corrupt structures as intact as possible. Bush will be increasingly portrayed as an "aberration," I think, instead of as the logical conclusion of a devolving system.
Which is perhaps too optimistic AND too pessimistic, at once.
Thanks, Kate! Very sweet of you to say so. And right back at ya!
My favorite memory of Reagan is when he piloted the "Mayflower" through all those storms and landed on Plymouth Rock. Then he saved that Native American boy, "Sasquatch" I think his name was, or maybe "Sisquo," from starvation and taught the natives how to plant corn. Later, "Sasquatch" or "Sisquo" became Reagan's trusty sidekick as he fought crime on his trusty horse, Silver.
That was just great.
Eat flaming death, fascist media pigs!
I saw Moyers. Twas good tonight.
Delay story was really good. Brought up Delay's business cronies, funneling $190,000.00 into his PAC, which handed it to the RNC, then the RNC cutting checks to 7 of his Texas mafia for exactly $190,000.00 less than 2 weeks later.
It's money laundering, pure and simple.
Shorter Ron Reagan...BEWARE THE ANTICHRIST.
Palmer, I think his name was Chicago, according to Mark Twain.
-
In this time of National Mourning, cable TV is your friend. AMC is showing Andromeda Strain. Damn, I had forgotten how hot Paula Kelly is. Even in a spacesuit. Hubba Hubba!
The only funeral crap I've seen is that which I've seen in passing while channel surfing.
Mr. Champion,
I never lowered our flag. There are limits.
"I don't disagree, but in a way the process doesn't even involve Congress after a certain point. I think of it as a massive rejection of a foreign body by an organism--sort of like an oyster coating a grain of sand to render it harmless"
This is a brilliant metaphor. Thank you.
By the way, this is a great drama and we are living in interesting, terrible times. If it weren't all so vile it would be mostly compelling. But we are perched on a precipice and I wonder if our hubris as a society will do us in.. somehow in my heart I know we're all responsible.
*
sorry jenny can't recall BUT more laws broken
ASHINGTON, June 11 - The use of private contractors as interrogators at Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq violates an Army policy that requires such jobs to be filled by government employees because of the "risk to national security," among other concerns, the Army acknowledged Friday.
scaramouche. GREAT frist pic. when good people pee on themeselves!
make sure woot sees that.
OK, only one music post from me as well, but do you know Mike Heron's solo album, Smiling Men with Bad Reputations? Not only does he get backed up by Fairport Convention (including the redoubtable Richard Thompson,)but also by John Cale, and a group called 'Tommy and the Bijoux,' who turn out to be the Who minus Daltrey. It's all over the place, and quite wonderful.
All right, back to the rage.
Nancy poor Nancy....Melanie Haber, Audrey Farber, Susan Underhill,and... Betty Jo Bialowsky
veritas -
Thanks for the Knight Ridder article.
Wait, wait, what do I see? Is it a vertebra? What's that? Is that TWO vertebrae? Do I hear three?? Are there THREE VERTEBRAE???
Sounds and looks like Congress is attempting to grow a spine. About fucking time.
Now you're just being silly, QuentinCompson. Everybody know "Chicago" was the fictional Natty Bumppo's fictional sidekick.
I'm talking about our late departed President here.
Palmer--
I forgot all about that. Good old Sasquatch...wonder where he is today? Maybe he's being buried alive with Reagan.
Remember when Reagan sank the Bismarck? That was so great! "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!" he cried, and then he unleashed the dogs of war. That bloody Red Baron never knew what hit him.
God, that reminds me. I used to have the most wonderful record with a cut-up speech of Reagan's. He said things like, "Too old to be president? Nonsense. Why, I remember Benjamin Franklin, climbing a hill in Boston, when both of us were only 72 years old."
It ended with a lunatic speech about serving one's guests cans of poison meat, and how someone had invented snap-on stein handles that you could give people when you served them cans of poison meat, so they'd have an easier time getting it down.
I'd love to hear that thing again. Anyone know it? I think someone from the anarchist punk group Crass spliced it...or a fellow-traveler of theirs, at any rate.
THE REAGAN FUNERAL:
"The strength of the holy spirit was embedded in his DNA"
somehow in my heart I know we're all responsible.
Lord knows I am.
127???????????
For fuck's sake, if 127 prisoners died in US jails, even the likes of Sean Hannity might, just might think an investigation or something was called for????
Serenade us with some memorable qutes, please.
regards
.
Deaver is God.
OT: Big losses for Blair's labor party today. Big, historic losses. Iraq blamed.
Philalethes,
I feel you. I am embarassed I didn't try harder to prevent the Iraq debacle...
Steve
:-(
If you dig a deep enough hole, everybody'll want to jump into it.
Reagan wasn't just a brilliant strategist, a formidable warrior, a fearless advocate and a courteous foe...he was a very funny man, too. He loved to laugh and play practical jokes. The time he snuck up behind Casper Weinberger, pulled out his larger-than-average penis, and urinated down the back of Weinberger's collar is legendary among Beltway insiders.
So many memories. There was just so much too love about Reagan. As Shakespeare said to Nathan Hale, he was "Dyn-O-Mite!"
I've avoided the funeral crap until now, but I was glad to see Ron Jr.'s speech, especially the part where he stuck it to W.
Young Ron seems to have a glimmer of sanity.
btw I have a few friends who knew him at Yale - definitely gay
Nearly every time I've seen Ron Jr. in the last couple of years he's been very deftly and politely ripping Bu$h a new asshole.
I actually think he's a decent guy and I'm glad that he gets gigs on pundit-a-gogo where he can shaft Bu$h.
Cheers
hold on - I work at one of the Turner networks; I'm not sure you can call him "liberal," but I did happen to be at a lunch with him two weeks ago and he said he supports Kerry, and that he was adamantly opposed to the war
in fact, the lunch was the day after he spoke at the women's rights rally in d.c.
The best image-making humans can create.
My side runs so far behind Deaver's stuff in this thing, I can believe we actually did lose the House.
-
"Reagan wasn't just a brilliant strategist, a formidable warrior, a fearless advocate and a courteous foe...he was a very funny man, too. He loved to laugh and play practical jokes. The time he snuck up behind Casper Weinberger, pulled out his larger-than-average penis, and urinated down the back of Weinberger's collar is legendary among Beltway insiders."
OK, Phil, that was too funny. I almost wet MY pants laughing at that. I guess we're all punchy from Reaganpalooza.
veritas said....
"The worse part is not ONE AQ has been caught in Iraq. These are not AQ being tortured to death."
I was engaged with a starboard (hard-right)republican the other day and she brought up the subject of torture. She copped an attitude that "they" have no respect for the Geneva Convention so why should we.
I have noticed that quite a few starboard republicans share this view...they group the entire arab people as the enemy worthy of our disdain, disgust, and punishment.
The RNC bears the responsibilty in that they are not controlling the message that their rank and file believe. In fact, I'm of the opinion that the RNC's silence is encouraging it.
The RNC is responsible for the message that represents their party. By remaining silent, it fosters the belief. It's really a sad day for the political process in America to stoop to such lows...to allow people's fantacy's to rule their beliefs and behaviours as long as it wins the Party political office.
regards
.
Ooh, man, the timing of releasing the Knight Ridder article. Was that to coincide with the end of the Reagasm? I'm lovin' Knight Ridder.
Muad-Dib -
I've read all your posts with great interest. Well-spoken.
*
On the subject of media criticism, where's the love for John Nichols and Robert McChesney?
Damn! This is the best funeral I have ever seen!
Mickey Rooney stood at the foot of the coffin and saluted. Not a half-bad salute.
And that sweet band again! Too bad when they combined band and chorus, they let the chorus guy conduct.
-
Watching Moyers right now, and if the rest of the show is as good as the first part re: Asshat's testimony before the Senate; then Moyers, deserves Mad Props too. WhooHooo!
OK, Phil, that was too funny. I almost wet MY pants laughing at that.
We're even then, 'cause that Sasquatch/Sisquo thing was one of the funniest things I've seen in what has been an especially inspired week for Eschaton posters!
Damn! This is the best funeral I have ever seen!
No doubt! They're definitely putting the "fun" back in "funeral."
Against my better judgement, watching delayed coverage of the Assumption of St. Ronnie. So... I'm confused by this funereal Resurrection of the Body stuff...
When Ronnie rises in glory, who will emerge: The hero of Death Valley Days (or Bedtime for Bonzo), or the shrivelled wasted relic they just planted in the ground?
Theology: It's a bitch, man...
When Ronnie rises in glory, who will emerge: The hero of Death Valley Days (or Bedtime for Bonzo), or the shrivelled wasted relic they just planted in the ground?
Talk about a well-turned phrase!
To answer you, it hardly matters. Either way, the Founding Fathers are going to kick the living shit out of him.
luntz was the ORIGINAL ronald macdonald.
& he kept the wig, he's such a sentimental fool.
Quentin, didn't a military band playing all of those homely, protestant hymns even bother you a little bit? A nice string quartet or some ensemble would have been succchhh welcome relief to my ears!
Jenny from the Blog - I love the Incredible String Band. I saw them in 1969 at the Fillmore West. I had every one of their albums.
The wig! That's it!
That's why he reminds me of Lance, in that original 'reality show', on PBS, An American Family. It's the hair. The orange hair.
-
Bozos
Breaking News: "Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the senior U.S. military officer in Iraq, borrowed heavily from a list of high-pressure interrogation tactics used at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and approved letting senior officials at a Baghdad jail use military dogs, temperature extremes, reversed sleep patterns, sensory deprivation, and diets of bread and water on detainees whenever they wished, according to newly obtained documents."
http://tinyurl.com/26lhd
Pansypoo,
Thanks. Tell WooT the original pics are on Frist's own site: http://frist.senate.gov/
index.cf...geGallery_id=14
-but for how long?
I to am about 2/3 of the way thru TRNM. It brings back a lot of memories about the days of my youth, growing up a liberal in Montana surrounded by the reactionary bastards. After the 60's I more or less dropped out of politics, so I was ignoring a lot of what was going on. And since I largely ignore television and (until Air America) talk radio I missed a lot of the recent history.
We need to read the book, get energized, and fight them at every turn!
Well, Streaker, I guess it's because it's a military (wind) band that I dig it so much, intrinsicly and in the context of the myth playing out, fallen patriarch and all.
But I do take your point. I very much like Ron and Nancy's playlist, but it leans to the short side, doesn't it? And a lot of time to vamp, no? The poor lips, the lungs, the fingers and wrists.
Yes, some varied arrangements to open it out would be nice, but the format is, I believe, de rigeur and rightly so.
Hahaha, best line from Moyers - Delay piece - "This is not about Democrat's or Republican's, this is about Cop's and Robber's"
Austin DA
northsylvania, thanks for letting us all know about Moyers/NOW tonight.
Damn, lets hope that people are listening.
Cheers
Crickets.
What a cool ending.
-
The irony -- hypocrisy? -- of that funeral in the National Cathedral this morning -- its Dean who has spoken out against bush's war, and supports the first openly gay bishop and very probably supports gay marriage. A church which carries the progressive banner nationally if any church does, and there all those repugs are just pretending away. Made me kind of want to puke! I wonder if Nancy thought of that? Kind of doubt it, but it would be kind of funny if it were actually a sly statement on her part. Nahhhhh!
Carol Channing put it best:
"This is a darn fine funeral
We've all had a darn fine time
The coffee and cake that they served at the wake
Was thoughtful and tasted sublime
Now that Aunt Bessie's gone to her maker
There's something's we're burstin' to say
Yes this is a darn fine funeral.
Yes this is a darn fine
F - U - N - E - R - A - L
Yes this is a darn fine day
Yippeeee!"
Tena -
It's so interesting. We were just bantering about music last night and ISB sort of popped into my head. I used to listen to them over and over -- they had such a strangely compelling and hypnotic sound. You've inspired me and so I will try to find out if I can buy a CD. I'll probably get flashbacks or something!
ps. i never got to the fillmore west because i was east coast -- but i went to the fillmore east and saw alvin lee and 10 years after. it was great...
*
Back from the Shadows again
Out where an In-jun's your friend
Where the veg'tables are green,
And you can pee into the stream
Yes, we're back from the Shadows again
before i get back into my ironlung, just let me say that i am going to miss ray charles a whole lot more than i am going to miss ronnie baby.
you just think who contributed more to our mental well-being. ronnie or ray?
hands down, the former heroin addict and lovely human being.
ronnie was always really a shit. and everyone knows it.
with alfred bloomingdale, how many did ronnie punch, cheating on both of his wives? definitive book, long out of print is VICKI. ISBN 0312839235.
did anyone notice this oblique jab at bush jr. by ron jr.
not verbatim, but close enuf "my fathers religiousity was well known, but he never wore it on his sleeve. sure after he was shot, he did believe god saved him so he could do good. but he took this as a responsibility, not a mandate, and that is a big difference.
am i just reading into it?
ron jr., good. bush jr., bad, ah, er, i mean evil, and i do mean it.
charley -
I don't think so. Others have mentioned that statement (I didn't watch) and it is very craftily constructed. He got his point across, loud and clear, to anyone not blinded by the truth! (I'm sure he ran it by Nancy and got her tacit approval -- interesting, no?)
*
Per CNN Online Poll:
How do you rate the amount of media coverage of Ronald Reagan's death?
Too little 3%
Too much 62%
Just right 35%
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The popular vote tally for the 2004 election. Watch. It will bear out.
albert champion -
If you haven't heard this one yet - my sentiments exactly...
"Maybe Ray Charles' passing was God's way of saying, "You want to fly all those flags at half staff ?? Okay, assholes...here's a reason."
Sorry about the iron lung.
*
Republican talking points..
Back to the topic of the Republican noise machine, check out this article
http://tinyurl.com/22v9f
It's absolutely content-free. Basically a writer for a news service gets to spend a page speculating about what's happening in the world, and his speculations are broadcast worldwide as "news" with the headline "National Mourning Helps Bush Politically For Now".
What can we do to get better media? Can we man a pirate ship or something?
am i just reading into it?
Charley --
Odds are, no. Ron Jr. wasn't a big Bush fan. For example, there's this quote from a Salon.com interview he did last year:
"Sure, he wasn't a technocrat like Clinton. But my father was a man -- that's the difference between him and Bush. To paraphrase Jack Palance, my father crapped bigger ones than George Bush."
Again... not what you'd call a big supporter.
How cool is Steve Gilliard?
The day of Reagan's memorial, and Steve's main post is
"The best goodamned pea soup I've had so far."
The man's got his priorities straight, no doubt.
[BIG EYES very confused]
but you're not supposed to eat the mass murderer, you're just supposed to pee on him...
oh...
I think all this Reagan nostalgia is reminding people of George the Greater, and how he won his war on Iraq but we fired him anyway, and then we had eight fantastic years of peace and prosperity (remember that? It was only three and a half years ago!)
I see George the Lesser on the same glide path to the shitheap as George the Greater.
but you're not supposed to eat the mass murderer, you're just supposed to pee on him...
Er, what?
The soup, agra, stay away from the soup.
Eight fantastic years of peace and prosperity?
Holy f**k! Where was that...Tranfalmadore?
The only ones looking deader than Ron were Hitlery Roadbag and the Bent Dick Rapist.
Reagan was queer as a three dollar bill. Actors at that time in Hollywood? Bi-curious at best. The old man died in the closet. Maybe Marilyn Monroe can pegg him in the afterlife.
I'm drunk'n surly.
and here's another good one.
i saw it in my mirror.
page A12 today's[11/6/04] NYT.
chirac and the boner. you tell me what you see.
i see chirac saying, "you silly son of a bitch, i'm not shaking your homicidal hand. i have some standards."
Sharon,
The article looks very artfully written and looks like a blatant attempt at distortion and twisting of the facts to scapegoat Sanchez.
.....
It looks like they are trying to deflect the problem into scapegoating General Sanchez.
.....
They need to let the Congress slowly and calmly review all the documents, review all the memos, interview all the generals and officials and we will arrive at our own conclusions and Congress can supervise the remediation that will be needed, thank you.
.....
Say No to Scapegoating General Sanchez, yes, to direct examination of documents, yes, to release of memos, yes, to direct interviews and assessments and calm reviews in the clear light of day, thank you.
.....
I loved Reagan.
(And I'll do it again and again and again.)
Why was Poppy Bush practically sobbing?
.....
It looked like a lot of folks out there were mournful of the passing of their own period of influence and how Dubya is going thuddy thud thud.
.....
"They need to let the Congress slowly and calmly review all the documents"
That would make sense, IF CONGRESS COULD GET THE DOCUMENTS. they're getting all their info from sy hersch at this point. oh, and the 2,000 missing page taguba report from the pentagon...
*
[in the voice of giant vultures vaguely resembling human beings, ranged like senators or staff officers around General Sanchez's body and now suddenly turning to MinnieB9:]
Say no? Who says you get to say anything? We're sure as fuck not going to jail.
BTW, Tony’s Labor party got a spanking 
.
.....
It was all that Tony Drama Queen stuff, the Brits will forgive iWaq, they can’t forgive a Drama Queen.
.....
Just saying .
.....
Christ! Charlie Rose is rolling credits to an operatic 'Amazing Grace'.
Enough of this shit. Bedtime for this Bonzo.
-
That piece on Moyers about Mot Delay's Celebrations for Children fund scandal is pretty old. I don't think he's too worried about it growing legs any time soon.
Oh honey, kei and yuri, good parody, ha, ha, but it applies more to the Vichy, they are shore gonna find out people in the communities are real protective of the troops. .
.....
And BTW, I don’t really expect the Senators to be scapeogating anyone, oh no, they are responsible to the communities, it is the Vichy trying to deflect the uproar all onto one person or create enough of a diversion but people are not about to be diverted, they are very calm and watchful and paying attention and they are not gonna be bamboozled or diverted, not how it looks from here.
.....
What can we do to get better media? Can we man a pirate ship or something?
Rick
You're on it.
Okay, about the spectacle of it all, with only one comment about the politics. Dan Rather mostly had the good sense to shut up and let the pictures roll. Good for him. Ron Jr did get in a few subtle but biting slams at Bush while affectionately eulogizing his father. Very good for him. At the end (after that minister carried on for fifteen minutes about how wonderful it is that he's their minister) when they folded up the flag and gave it to Nancy and she wept over the coffin, the clicking shutters sounded like castanets. Couldn't the photographers have had the class to leave her alone? (I never thought I'd ever say these two words in succession: Poor Nancy.) No, silly me, I forget.
But how about that military ceremonial? Where do they teach that choreography and costume? Whoever's in charge of that needs to write a book -- there's liturgists and theatrical producers all over the world who'd buy it. Holy toledo. I would.
And yeah, whoever snarked about how they'll be showing the sunset graveside service at film school, absolutely. But they did pile on a little too much. You don't need a twenty-one gun salute *and* a rifle volley. You don't need a bugler playing Taps *and* a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace.
I admit it, I'm a fool for pomp and circumstance and spectacle.
Now back to our regularly scheduled political chatting.
Quentin, The Amazing Grace was pretty OK, I thought, I was really concerned about Nancy though, her kids and friends need to be real protective of her, she has been way over-stretched these past few days.
.....
Off topic but my home state of Oklahoma just gambled away 13 million dollars on a single murder trial that will deliver a life sentence to a mass murdering fuck already serving a life sentence. Anyone want to tell me how killing off killers saves states money?
Misha is trying to spin the massive defeat for Labour as...a victory for the warmongerers? It looks to us like a lot of Labour voters just didn't vote, or didn't vote for Labour anyway, leaving the way clear for the next biggest competitor, the Tories. Probably an omen for us, and, just like the Tories technically supported the war, Misha will have his laughable basis for saying a Kerry presidential mandate is proof that people want more War on Terra and not a snub to Shrub...
Marta Limbaugh seen with Ben Affleck. Hey with all the stories flying around.....why not?
strawhat, I agree about the concern about Nancy, I was very concerned too, she just looked way traumatized and fragile, this has all been a way lot for her.
.....
The pomp on the other hand may have actually created some consternation and distance, however unintentional, I think it did not resonate that much with people, it looked too distant and massive in sections and too repetitive in others.
.....
kei and yuri, which Misha is this and what is he saying, I am not watching the same program, I am watching Conan .
.....
Conan had Ice-T as a guest .
.....
Stick to Conan, he was just raising some important point about mecha and bubbles and distributors switching format and arrangement in mid-series.
(the misha in question is the Misha, if you haven't heard of the bastard-his claim to fame is posting a real map to an opponent's house and trying to get readers to kill him-good.)
That 21 gun and 3 rifle volley was required to flush out that rabbit(?) that scooted down the hillside, under the smoke. I think he held fast for about ten rounds, making him one cool critter.
And I agree, strawhat, I was right about going to school on this production. Hell, it approached D-Day proportions when you consider that the whole day's coast-to-coast project ended perfectly in what must have been a ten-second margin of tolerance for the tv top-of-the-hour.
The camera placement and direction was the pinnacle of the art. I'm more dazzled than when I first watched Monday Night Football, with all its then-whiz bang new graphical world.
And that 'Taps' was the best I've ever heard.
-
Imagine what'll happen when they straighten out Urusei Yatsura, or when they start the US release of Kochikame? Last Kochikame "distribution" we saw was actually like these VHS cassettes that were honestly like seventy bucks an outdated pop. Surely the recliner is justly enraged!
[kidding]
did anyone notice this oblique jab at bush jr. by ron jr.
not verbatim, but close enuf "my fathers religiousity was well known, but he never wore it on his sleeve. sure after he was shot, he did believe god saved him so he could do good. but he took this as a responsibility, not a mandate, and that is a big difference.
am i just reading into it?
ron jr., good. bush jr., bad, ah, er, i mean evil, and i do mean it.
& also put that thru the filter that ron jr HAS to know more about the neil bush-hinckley connection than any of us do!
seems to me like he's invoking that as well!
Re: watergate. I remember it well and think about it in relation to the current atrocity. But though we did have a republican president we had a much different makeup in congress.
It's for this very reason that I believe that it is more important that Democrats win the congress than it is to win the white house. That and the fact that to pass legislation, you need to control the legislative branch. (It's actually amazing how little the Repubs have been able to accomplish legislatively-outside of the tax cuts, because all their capital is being spent on Iraq.)
But I'll take both branches, because we need to fix the courts as well.
Wall Street Week with Louis Ruykeiser is doing a look at the life of Ronald Reagan.
It's for this very reason that I believe that it is more important that Democrats win the congress than it is to win the white house.
Yeah. But Bush needs to get beat so the stink of defeat gets attached to his whole presidency and his administration's lunatic policies.
If ever there was a hunch that needs discrediting, it's this one.
Limbaugh and others are out making the claim that tax cuts work, that trickle down economics has been 'proven'.
MinnieB9, if you mean the 'Amazing Grace'(s) at the funeral service, I thought they were gorgeous and fitting. I was earlier referencing the Charlie Rose Show closing with a loudish Amazing Grace, which seemed, I dunno, usurpatory r something. This after, for some reason, whispering whispering all through his interview with Michael Deaver.
And strawhat's right about the crass cameras blasting Nancy and the kids at the casket. Even the video team overstepped there, for the only blemish I would call. They should have had a brief tight shot face-on, but then pulled back to an angle or height. That was too much. I guess if Deaver is God, then even God makes mistakes.
=
Is Reagan still dead?
Text of Ron Reagan Jr.'s remarks:
http://tinyurl.com/2q6j6
-
We would disagree with the idea that Bush is not "really" getting that much done. He seems to us to be getting everything he wants, and the deeper stories that come out now and again-the legislative sessions delayed until four in the morning, the careful orchestration of the congress, the violations-are scary enough.
Goddamn, is the funeral still going on? I just got home, it's late and flicked on CNN, and the ceremony's still going on. They're wrapping the flag, now. Is this a replay? Is it still light in California?
Rerun.
C-span has the pure stuff.
how soon till Limbaugh, Hannity et al are attacking Ron Jr. for the unsightly partisian comments at his father's funeral, remniscient of Diana's brother that earl who pissed off the the loyalists in the UK at her funeral.
Well, little Ronnie's comments made all the other BS we put up with all week almost worth it "...religion...A responsibility NOT a mandate"
Well, K & Y, I agree that he is accomplishing things in the only way he knows, that is, through fiat and proclamation. What I meant to say though, is that really very little legislation has been passed. Mainly because a lot of the political (and monetary) capital is being spent on Iraq. The proclamations can be overturned quickly by a new administration. When something is passed into law, however, it's a bit tougher to remove.
However, I sure don't want to imply that he hasn't done a lot of damage.
"Very little legislation is getting passed."
Well, unless you mean in the sense that it's more like most of the laws are getting un-passed, between HAVA, NCLB, CSI, Iraq, Afghanistan, USAPATRIOTs I & II, and his sneak-appointed judges, it's quite enough!
This whole day has been really depressing. I can't quite put my finger on it. I guess I'm just feeling like it's so fake and pointless, all the fanfare. And he's the one who set all this wingnuttery and neurotic fake patriotism into motion that we've had to deal with for so long and will for many years to come if they don't get us all killed first.
The fakery of Bush Sr. choking up and Shrub trying to talk long enough that he would look bigger, and the Reagan family laughing and then finally a Catholic priest saying Reagan had a "beautiful mind." The wing nuts lost their white heterosexual corporate father figure. I didn't see one black person there unless they were carrying the casket at the funeral. It was all white people. No diversity. No "big tent." Well, Ray Charles interjected his blackness into it all, which was cool. Now his passing truly saddened me.
That's exactly how I feel, incognito.
Depressed. I wish I had never read about all that Reagan stuff. Now I know that everything is part of a long-term plot to turn this country into something very frightening. Every little law they push that looks so innocent is in the great manifesto in the early 1980's in its extreme form. And we are inching our way over there. I have to go to get some sleep.
Had the Phil Henry show on for awhile, (radio), and this POS was ragging on some "acquaintance" of his who was somewhere at the California Reagan services. She borrowed her hubby's suit, rented a Reagan mask, and was handing out Kerry leaflets. She was talking to Phil on the air and said that Michael Moore had come up to her and mentioned that Reagan's demise certainly seemed to be suspiciously timed, suggesting that maybe he (Reagan) was "helped along" in his passing, to benefit Bush. Very wacko; I was thinking that the suggestion that Reagan had passed on earlier and had been on ice for awhile made more sense. Phil Henry claims he is a lifelong Democrat, but thinks the ABB crowd is all wrong, therefore he is voting for Bush. What a stupid shit. Oh, and I only listened for a short while, only because my local station that carries Air America shuts down to broadcast Oakland A's baseball. Weird.
OT, and i don't know if it has been talked about but that e-Marine guy Ken O'Keefe has been detained in Isreal. He is mounting a great idea about having 10,000 ppl from around the world go to Palistine/Isreal and be watchers and protesters...i think it's a great idea. i hope he is ok.
http://www.p10k.net/index_home.htm
it's quite enough!
It's too much.
the "liberal media" my eye, i only wish...i'm reading 'Why I'm Not A Christian' by B. Russel, the first 40 pages made me want to cry over the fact that the U.S. is being run by a bunch of sadistic religious nut freaks...and they seem to be getting stronger...please wake up liberal media!
That's exactly how I feel, incognito.
Depressed. I wish I had never read about all that Reagan stuff. Now I know that everything is part of a long-term plot to turn this country into something very frightening. Every little law they push that looks so innocent is in the great manifesto in the early 1980's in its extreme form. And we are inching our way over there. I have to go to get some sleep.
Echidne
It's been depressing for me all day and I couldn't quite figure out why I was feeling like this. Until thinking about it reading some comments, maybe. Take Reagan out of it, and I feel like I've been watching the burial of my country. It symbolically feels that way.
The Bush Administration admitted today that it was when they hooked the wires to Reagan's balls and shocked him repeatedly that he passed away.
They reportedly were screaming: "Where did you hide the Iran-Contra money, you bastard!" and didn't notice that the ex-President had grown pale, vomited, and died.
In Guatemala, a hundred widows put poppies on their childrens' graves.
--
"Take Reagan out of it, and I feel like I've been watching the burial of my country. It symbolically feels that way.--Incognito"
Well, duh man, but don't poke yourself in the eye with it. They are intentionally making people feel desperate, to keep them from PURSUING THEIR LEGAL DESTRUCTION.
You are watching Reagan 'better shits than W' being buried by the lesser shit. No reason to get glum.
Our freedom is our strength. Protest and support your neighbors in their dissent and free speech.
Push for Punishment
Bush Lied...Impeach NOW!
--
Our freedom is our strength. Protest and support your neighbors in their dissent and free speech.
The really are vampires sucking the life out of the country. Let them eventually start feeding off each other.
OT:
Josh Marshall links to a really good post by Juan Cole.
Did Prohibiting Local Elections Derail Iraq? The articles linked to are short and worth reading.
Sigh.
Wait a second, no blacks at the
funeral? No Micheal Jackson? Not
Mr T (sans Santa suit of course).
None of the people Ronny held
hands with during "Hands across
America"? Not one "strapping
young buck"?
Wait a second, no blacks at the
funeral? No Micheal Jackson? Not
Mr T (sans Santa suit of course).
None of the people Ronny held
hands with during "Hands across
America"? Not one "strapping
young buck"?
Phil Hendry figured out about a year ago where the money is. Another asswipe sell out along the lines of O'Rourke, Whoreowitz and crew. Wonder about Atrios endorsement of Brooks?
Did I say Brooks? Could Atrios indorse Brooks?
A David Brock book called Blinded By the Right, really opened my eyes.
He was an insider, (well as inside as you can get with those homophobes)
so he has lotza dirt.
He had sort of a spirtual awakening
and realized that smearing people was
wrong.(Previously he wrote The Real Anita Hill, The seduction of Hillary
Rodham Clinton and tons of articles
that helped dictate public opinion.) I really admire him because he
is trying to make up for some of the
cayouse he personally caused.
GO Brock, We Luv's Ya!
There is nothing wrong with endorsing
something you feel has weight. I don't think that Brock needs Atrios's
help, there.
Kerry can come out now from his hidey hole.
leaving the basic, corrupt structures as intact as possible. Bush will be increasingly portrayed as an "aberration...
Philalethes,
you are a poet and a philosopher.
I think thatlimericks and the little 4 line (Roses are red rhythem) plastered on handbills everywhere is the way to beat this scum. The artist and poets will eventually lead us back to a saner world.
So did everybody have a lovely Ronukkah? Hope you got everything you wanted! The last night's always my favorite, with the sunset rifle fire, Amazing Grace on the bagpipes and all that...
By the way, at the risk of letting the first decent words in days pass from my mouth... I did feel pain for Nancy Reagan when I saw a picture in this morning's WaPo online of her stifling sobs as the soldier kneels presenting her the flag from the coffin, saying "On behalf of a grateful nation..." It's an incredibly powerful moment. It tore me up at my dad's funeral a couple of years back. Still does, when I think of it.
"The artist and poets will eventually lead us back to a saner world."
So true that. I think it is righteous
the way writers have replaced "journalists" in the form
of blogging. Can you imagine what a
lot of crap we would be in without
the bloggers?
"The last night's always my favorite, with the sunset rifle fire, Amazing Grace on the bagpipes and all that..."
I am just wondering, did anyone else
think it was creepy that they buried
him at twilight? Who does that?
All the funerals I have attended were
before noon.
"Hollywood's often tried to mix/Show business with politics/From Helen Gahagan/To Ronald Reagan??" -- Tom Lehrer, 1965
I am just wondering, did anyone else
think it was creepy that they buried
him at twilight?
I never thought Ted Turner was liberal. A rich, sexist, lover of the confederate myth in the mode of Margaret Mitchell who made his money in cable TV and real estate. At best he's a semi-libertarian conservative with a big mouth. I will give him this, though. Haven't been able to see how his large donations to the UN have been the kind of self-serving public relations that those of another, much richer, man have been. But haven't been looking that closely either.
Don't trust any of those rich guys until they've earned your trust.
Frebnedzo, no Tony Orlando. I'll never forget the sight of him dancing with Betty Ford at the 1976 Republican convention. My stomach wasn't as fussy back then. Probably had had a beer too.
It wasn't as funny as her gushing over C. Grant. Well, yes. In a very 1970s way it was.
Grrwrawl...
Am listening to Christian radio which I had to give up for awhile because I couldn't stand the pro-bush comments from the djays between
songs.
now they are talking about how Reagan
was a born again christan because his
son said so at the funeral. please
do not endorse politicians, fellow christians. only God knows the heart
of individuals. church and state need to be seperate, otherwise there won't be a church left, there will just be the GOP church and they will cut Christ out all together.
I only wish one of Reagan's eulogists had quoted from Counrtey Love's speech at Kurt Cobain's memorial service:
"Asshole! Asshole! Asshole!"
Ooops. Stupid previewless HaloScan.
I wouldn't read anything into the family's funeral choices. For all we know Ronny might have wanted it this way: to ride of into the sunset, as it were...
Brooks is real dreck. Read a review in latest nation
http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i...21&
s=vonhoffmanThe Nation
Brooks is real dreck. Read a review in latest nation
http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i...21&
s=vonhoffmanThe Nation
Thanks for the p10k link, Beth.
Reminds me of Paul Goodman's proposal to get the US out of Nam through massive, nonviolent, criminal disobedience. His idea was for 10,000 guys to march on Washington and collectively burn their draft cards, a federal criminal offense, and thereby force the government to prosecute (unmanageable) or lose the draft (unsustainable). We'll never know if it would have worked, due to the difficulty of getting 10,000 guys to deliberately face a five-year prison hitch.
-
Phil Hendry...what a tragedy. His fake call-in shows were absolutely amazing, though I was often afraid I detected a smarmy right-wing mentality behind some of 'em. But they were so fucking funny I couldn't stop listening.
But he started getting more and more into commentary, and the last time I tuned him in he was bitching about the media for its "negative" coverage of Iraq. So the hell with him.
But still, it turns my entire worldview upside-down to conceive of a right-wing shill with a sense of humor. He's gotta be the only one I've ever come across.
Why is it when creative people make a right turn they lose everything that made them appealing?
Philalethes -
It's Phil Hendrie... just so you know!
*
Jesus Freak -
Your instincts are good. Anyone can say "I am a Christian." See? That was easy. Never forget, "by your fruits shall ye know them."
Anyone who wants to swipe your religion and turn it into the property of the state is NOT your friend. Back in graduate school, studying German literature, I did a research project examining in detail how the Nazis and their "poets" hijacked "Christianity" and stripped it of everything they didn't like.
There was one "poet" in particular who took on the voice of "the prophet" for the express purpose of telling the people how wonderful and "chosen" they were, and how the machinery of the state was the right hand of God. Of course, anyone knowing their Bible knows that Old Testament prophets were constantly telling the people things they DIDN'T want to hear, how sinful they were, how they were worshipping idols.
Keep reading. Keep learning.
Kate-the Prophets also reassured the Israelites that their various historical slaughters were just punishments for having been insufficiently grovelly before Jehovah, that women were scum, that they would conquer/annihilate all their enemies, that these enemies were subhuman and that women were also shit. A lot of the "corruption" they decried was not corruption as we think of it but the creeping survival of matriarchal sex cults. Was it Hosea who kept "taking back" his wife?
Philalethes -
It's Phil Hendrie... just so you know!
Thanks, Jenny. I had no idea how to spell it, and wasn't even sure about the 'd'!
To the fellow upthread who called me a "poet and philosopher" on account of those limericks...well, thanks. But I think that mean-spiritedness of the sort I was indulging should be out of bounds for poets and philosophers both.
I go back and forth on expressing that type of anger. On the one hand, in comes very naturally to me. On the other hand, I do try to make empathy and compassion my watchword. And as much as I believe that Reagan is either directly or indirectly guilty of mass murder, I also agree with Rand Rhodes, who pointed out that the obvious, sincere love between the Reagans was a form of grace that has some sort of redemptive quality...for her, if not for him.
Though I'm not a Christian, I do go in for that "old-time religion" as regards trying to understand and forgive one's enemies. So I feel a little bad having posted that stuff. On the other hand, it was really more a response to the cynical nature of the press coverage...which simultaneously overlooked Reagan's crimes AND completely cheapened the emotional validity of his family's suffering.
So no regrets, overall...but a poet and a philosopher? Nah.
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