Thanks

Thanks to everyone who, over the past twelve months, read my posts on Political Itch.
What an amazing political year it was. I will no longer be scratching my political itch. I will, however, reactivate my other blogs, www.cybersamizdat.blogspot.com and www.poetrysmackdown.blogspot.com

Thanks for visiting.

Amen

“Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

A Reservoir of Emotion

Talking today with a friend about the Presidential election, we shared some stories of working forty and fifty years ago, as liberal organizers, to make a difference in a world that was then overtly racist and discriminatory.

It is amazing to consider. My first public effort occurred in the first weeks of December of 1963. I was a sophomore at Washington State University and, while involved in student government, organized a week long symposium called "Student Get Off Your Apathy." Some of you will recall the early stirrings on campus during those times. I was specifically responsible for a day dealing with civil rights issues. I invited a speaker to come from Monroe, North Carolina, where the so-called "Monroe Movement," was an early catalyst for the civil disobedience that would transform the South.

Just five years later I was working in the rural south helping to organize the disenfranchised and create opportunities (see posts on that subject at www.cybersamizdat.com). It was very basic, elemental work to provide basic services, and by the way, register people to vote who had never considered that to be an option. I know that is hard for people today to understand, but it was indeed the case.

Now, we are on the cusp of electing an African-American President of these United States. And, as my friend and I talked today, I could feel a reservoir of emotion, in some deep hidden place, begin to well.

It is a common thing, I believe. That the banal aspects of life, including those occasional soaring idealistic goals we commit ourselves to, leave small deposits of emotion as we move through our lives. A reservoir of emotion will fill, never to overflowing, until some event occurs; a trigger which releases the flood.

Somehow, I sense such an emotional release will come with the election of Barack Obama. It is time for that to happen. It will be transforming and liberating for a great majority of us and for those around the world who look to us. I believe that.

Washington State's former governor, Gary Locke, was just in China. A Chinese official, a woman, asked Locke who he thought would win the Presidential election. He said, "Barack Obama." The Chinese woman replied, "American people are beautiful."
I hope and pray it is so.

Democracy at Home and Abroad

It is so ironic that the Republicans and Bush the Lesser with their neo-con strike force profess such fervent belief in the democratic process and the spread of democracy across the world, and recently, especially in the Middle East, while they undermine it in America.

Remember how excited Bush the Lesser was about the red fingers of the Iraqi's when they had completed voting several years ago (right after Mission Accomplished).

The irony, of course, it that in that face of that professed passion for the democratic process, the Republicans are the masters and most aggressive purveyors of voter suppression techniques. While the Democrats are working the GOTV effort with all their vigor, the Republicans don't want people to vote. How ironic for such champions of democracy.

It appears that the Republicans may favor democracy and the democratic process overseas more than they do in America.

Marxist

Over the past several days a cabal of right wing nut cases have gotten on the Obama/Marxist bandwagon. I think I can follow the trail of this absurd talking point. It started with the Florida "newscaster" who asked Biden if Obama was a Marxist. Biden, appropriately, laughed and asked if she was serious and then provided a thoughtful answer.

In the media frenzy to find the latest pungent sound bite, the left picked up the video clip so that my pals and I could laugh out loud at the stupidity and vacuousness of the sheep on the right. Fox, true to form, picked up the Marxist theme. Fox moved the Marxist idiocy into heavy repetition. Then Fox bloviator O'Reilly(Oily)brought the Florida bimbo newscaster(and wife of a Republican operative)onto his show. Of course, Rush Limburger was all over the subject

Next, the Obama/Marxist talking point needed to gain support from senior, thoughtful Republicans in order to gain a strong perch in the political lexicon. Scanning the landscape for the most thoughtful, respected and well credentialed senior Republican to carry water on the Obama/Marxist tripe, they found the former pest control officer ("The Exterminator") Tom Delay.

Delay was thrilled to get some media time. As one of the most ethically challenged former members of Congress, Delay was rummaging in the dustbin of history and the dregs of right wingnut weekend symposia and was desperate for some time on the big stage again. The Obama/Marxist ploy was the perfect opportunity.

If Tom Delay thinks Obama is a Marxist then it must be true. Yeah, and Tom Delay is a great American and statesman when monkeys fly out of my ass.

Flat Screen TV

The economic shock of these past few weeks has been a body blow to the mindless consumerism that infects the United States. Consumer spending has fallen off a cliff.

I think this is a good thing. As I have been saying to friends, "Who needs another flat screen TV." When put in those terms it does seem patently ridiculous. Candidly, no one needs a flat screen TV. We need food and shelter, and given the stupendous increase in obesity and the proclivity for McMansion sized houses, it looks to me like we need a little less food and shelter as well.

Somehow, along the way, things have gotten grievously out of wack. We consume crap we don't need. We go into debt to consume more crap we don't need. I am reminded of the inspiring words from Bush the Lesser after 9/11 when he encouraged us to shop.

And, I am also reminded of the lines from the Dire Straits song from the early 1980's:

Get your money for nothin' get your chicks for free.
I want my flat screen TV

An Elemental Observation

When we elect a President, we are electing the leader of our country. Implicit is the notion that the person elected should exhibit leadership. They should, with the advice and counsel of the people, through their elected representatives, shape the vision and direction for our nation and articulate that vision.

Organizations, over time, begin to exhibit the tone and character of their leader. Whether our experience has been in the public or private sectors we have all experienced that in our own lives. The organization becomes reflective of its leader.

In this presidential election we have certainly witnessed the force of leadership, or lack thereof, in each campaign.

Personally, I have never witnessed a campaign as well run as the Obama campaign. It has been extremely disciplined. It has stayed on message throughout. Its ground game has known no equal. There has been no apparent dissension among its ranks.
Contrast that to the McCain campaign. It has had no strategy but has lurched from tactic to tactic. Dissension has been rampant.

The stark differences between the two campaigns are nothing other than reflections of the sharp contrasts in the quality of the leadership of Barack Obama and John McCain. If voters were to do nothing more than look at the two campaigns and how they are run they would find evidence aplenty for making a thoughtful decision about who should be our next President.

The Best Campaign Ad

Colin Powell

The appearance by Colin Powell on Meet the Press this morning was much anticipated. I was awake on the left coast Sunday morning at 6:00AM to catch the live broadcast. The Brokaw interview was artful and Powell was wonderfully well spoken in his answers.

We waited anxiously for the ultimate question. Had Powell made a decision whom to support for the Presidency? His long answer hit all of the bullet points that thoughtful Americans list when considering the same question.

It is always easy, in the long political theater that comprises our presidential election cycle, to revert to type and echo the narrow interest of our particular cohort. Certainly, in this blog, I have warmly embraced the irreverent, the obscene, the cynical or sarcastic, while pushing for my firmly held point of view.

All of us, in our quiet way, love this country. We are justly proud of what it stands for and what is represents, in finest form, both at home and abroad. Just as you can unconditionally love a child but disapprove of its behavior, you may unconditionally love your country while finding fault with its behavior and the course it has chosen.

In considering this election, thoughtful Americans, I believe, can, as did Colin Powell, come to a belief that Barack Obama is the wisest choice for President of the United States.

Many of us have, over the years, respected John McCain, not only for his historic experience, but also for his dedication to independence and his forthright voice of those independent views. We had no illusions that his maverick quality may have simply been an articulate framing of his consistent reckless behavior, going back across the sweep of this life. That recklessness found latest form in his choice of the unqualified Sarah Palin for his Vice-Presidential running mate and his unfocused response to the current economic crisis. As several wise commentators have put it, he hasn't been "Presidential."

At the same time, the Republic Party has been on an ever slippery slope embracing the issues that drive its narrow base of ill-informed, God fearing, "real Americans," whomever they may be.

In the broadest terms, I see this election as the struggle between Fear and Hope. Or, put in the new age context, it is the inherent struggle between Fear and Love.
Fear drives so much of human decision making. Listening to some of the YouTube clips at Palin rally's I have been chilled by the unthinking fear that comes from the lips of her supporters.

In my view, Obama appeals that noble side of our humanity. He is a very thoughtful man who will listen to wise advisors and consider well all of the ramifications of his decisions. He is charismatic and his eloquence is compellling. Is there anything wrong with eloquence? I think not. We need to be uplifted in this dreary time. It is a time that calls for Hope and Love.

Obama, as a man raised in the third culture, will, to use Powell's term, "electrify" the nation and the world. At the same time, I see in him a man of tremendous discipline. His campaign has been the best organized and most focused of any I have witnessed during my lifetime. I believe that all that we do reflects all that we are. Obama's campaign reflects who he is. Leadership does, indeed, come from the top. Through that lenses, John McCain comes up lacking.

Clogged Arteries

I have just finished reading Barton Gellman's splendid new book on the Cheney Vice Presidency, Angler. It is a compelling and chilling read.

Angler is the Secret Service code name for Cheney. It derives from his affection for fly-fishing in Wyoming. In the Ford Administration where he served as Chief of Staff for a time he was code named Backseat. I would have given him the code name Clogged Arteries.

Gellman gathers together all of the damning information we have picked up bit by bit over the years. He paints an overwhelmingly chilling portrait of a demonic man with firmly held beliefs who subverted our constitutionally based rule of law to carve out unlimited power for the executive and dance around statutory and constitutional limits on bad behavior.

There can be no doubt that a large handful of people inside the White House, the CIA, the NSA and the Department of Justice broke the law. There was a clear criminal conspiracy surrounding the issuance of unvetted Presidential orders on the treatment of detainees. And, it was all orchestrated by Clogged Arteries and signed off on by an incurious President.

Mark my words! There will be pardons issued by President Bush late on January 19, 2009, for as many as twenty people in his administration who run the risk of being criminally charged for their role in the conspiracy. Those pardons, issued before the charging or conviction of a crime will be similar to Ford's pardon of Nixon.

That will, however, not obviate the risk those people will face when they travel outside the United States. They will run the same risk as Pinochet when he was arrested for his Chilean crimes while in Europe. The Clogged Arteries cabal will travel internationally at great risk.

That won't affect Clogged Arteries. He is a short timer, and not just in the White House.

My People, Part II

We flew into Grand Forks, ND last Thursday. The woman at the Avis counter said, "Nice Norwegian sweater, ya." I knew I was in my ancestral home. The sweater, a family heirloom, was worn as camouflage. It was working.

We walked outside and a couple of young men drove up in our rental car. I asked, "Do you want to check our rental agreement and ID?" "Naw," they said. There were no metal stakes ready to impale us. We had landed in a twilight zone.

As we drove east, the landscape is flat as a Swedish pancake. We headed out into northwest Minnesota into the area homesteaded by our grandfather. The plan was to visit the family homestead for the first time and meet as many relatives as possible. We really had no idea what to expect.

Our family lived just north of a couple of small towns, Trail and Gully. They each have a population of 50 or 60 people. Once vital, like so many small towns in the region they have all dried up. There is usually one tavern. Maybe a restaurant. Maybe a gas station. Plenty of empty buildings.

Thursday night we ate dinner in Fosston. I had Walleye, as in Walleye Pike, a common lake fish of the region. In my big city, nuanced way, I asked the waitress where the Walleye came from. In Seattle we always want to know if the fish we are about to eat is "line caught by a sensitive fisherman." The waitress, responding to my questions said, "The Walleye comes from the company that sells us the fish." Well, alrighty then. Silly me.

Saturday night we went to the Walleye Dinner at the American Legion hall in Gonvick, population 262. It was a packed house. Walleye filet, baked potato, cold slaw and a roll for $10.

Times are tough. They have been tough forever. No jobs for young people, who all leave town. Lots of alcoholism. The economic downturn won't effect Trail, Gully or Gonvick. People were heading out to get a deer. The season opened on Saturday. Everyone was wearing the real camouflage. I had been wearing my favorite baseball cap from my daughter's Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. In Gully I felt a bit like a fruitcake wearing a ballet cap. Fortunately, our cousin runs the Gully Farmer's Co-op and graciously gave my brother and I camouflage co-op baseball caps. My brother calls them "gimme hats," as in standing at the cash register and saying, "Gimme one of those." They don't have "gimme hats" on Wall Street.

I did hear a couple of remarks about the bailout. People thought it was a bad idea. But then, they thought it was a good idea to get farm price supports and get paid to keep their land in the CRP (the conservation program where you are paid to not grow crops). Funny how that works. We are inhibited by our distaste for socialism except when it puts money in our pockets. I have an entire side of my family that holds to that oxymoronic position.

On the way home, we passed through the Minneapolis Airport. We asked the sweet 80 year old woman at the Information booth how to find the Larry Craig bathroom. She said, "That is disgusting." We chatted a bit and she volunteered that she had just voted absentee and mailed her ballot the day before. She went on to say, "I voted for Al Franken and Obama. You don't think I am stupid do you?" She was wonderful.

We spent three days off the grid. No cell service at all. It is another world. People are good and decent and hard working. The cratering of Lehman or Morgan Stanley will not, in any way that I could see, change their reality.

My People

On Thursday my brother and I travel to northern Minnesota to visit the homestead where our father was born in 1915. We have a few hundred relatives in the region. In preparation for the trip we have been listening to Prairie Home Companion on NPR and watching the Coen Brother's Fargo on a continuous loop.

I have found myself slipping into a Scandinavian lilt. I grew up around that wholesome accent. Some wag has, however, raised my ire by a completely unfair juxtaposition of Sarah Palin and Marge Gunderson.

Joe Six Pack

I have been thinking about the debate these past couple of days. I have many impressions. First, it wasn't a debate. Those who say Palin was a great debater are idiots. If this had been a college debate she would have flunked. It fact, I viewed it as offensive, rather than cute, when she said she would say what she wanted to say and not answer the questions. She would speak to the American people How presumptuous and disrespectful of the process.

Her voice is horrible. My daughter called me to say she couldn't stand to listen to Palin. The absence of anything approaching common diction,syntax and accepted grammatical standards of speech is appalling.

She had to look at her three by five cards to get the answers. She talked in sound bites. The format worked for her, because she didn't have to deal with follow up questions. That was her downfall in the TWO interviews she has had thus far that qualify as REAL interviews. The Fox interviews and those by "in the tank" commentators are bullshit. An example is the clarification interview on Fox yesterday where she identified three Supreme Court cases and named three news sources. It was unadulterated bullshit.

It was something to watch the likes of Giuliani do post debate spin and call her the best they have ever seen. Biden, by the way, did a first class job. I was anxious that he might talk too much or make a significant gaff. The only one I heard was Bosniak. That was actually kind of funny. I like Biden.

The Joe Six Pack reference of Palin is, however, what I want to focus on. The follow up question is, "Just who is Joe Six Pack." In my experience Joe Six Pack is a marginally educated white guy with a gut, and a propensity to over consume alcohol. He watches professional team sports and couldn't run a 10K or around the block to save his soul. Joe Six Pack is not a very attractive guy.

What is so interesting about Joe Six Pack and Palin's populist pitch to that demographic is the fact that the Republican's fundamentally don't give a shit about that guy. In fact, all the Republican positions are antithetical to Joe Six Pack, except he doesn't appreciate that fact. And, it is Joe Six Pack's sons and daughters who comprise the overwhelming number of young men and women who die in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Analysis of the First Debate

Several commentators have remarked on McCain's failure to look at Obama during last night's debate. A PhD who focuses on cognitive and social behavior in monkey's posted the following comment on Talking Points Memo

"I think people really are missing the point about McCain's failure to look at Obama. McCain was afraid of Obama. It was really clear--look at how much McCain blinked in the first half hour. I study monkey behavior--low ranking monkeys don't look at high ranking monkeys. In a physical, instinctive sense, Obama owned McCain tonight and I think the instant polling reflects that."

Makes sense to me. My earlier post on "Pipsqueak for President," is a variation on this point. It is hard to be Alpha when you are tiny.

Cafferty on Palin

Hilarious

Yesterday, at an estate in Hunt's Point, Washngton, Cindi McCain and Todd Palin, appeared at a fund raiser attended by 250 people who paid $1000 each for the wonderful experience of seeing a peroxided upscale sorority blonde and snow mobile racer standing side by side.

I love the idea of Cindi McCain hanging with someone like Todd Palin. She really does strike me as the type of person who loves to mingle with the little people. Yeah. Really. Cindi McCain sells beer to those folks. But, she drinks chardonnay.

As reported in the Seattle Times(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008201581_prezdonors25m.html), McCain spoke for 15 minutes and Palin for 10. That must have been a hoot. Apparently Todd said, "People been making fun of Sarah. I seen Russia from Alaska. You can see it." Then he touched upon drillin' for oil. A guest asked him whether or not Alaska oil would simply go into the global market as opposed to flowing directly into gas stations in the United States. He answered. "Alaska oil goes right into the United States." After completing his overview of energy policy he went into an extended discourse on the pros and cons of two cycle vs. four cycle snow mobile engines.

Cindi McCain asked for another chardonnay.

Postponing the Inevitable

McCain latest Hail Mary move is absolutely true to form. Let's postpone the debates. Let's put the campaign on hold while we rush to Washington to try to fix the economy. Of course, McCain has not made a single vote in the Senate in five months and is, by his own admission, utterly clueless regarding the economy.

I see it as a bonehead move. Lets take attention away from the candidates and the issues. It is similar to the faux concern during the first day of the Republican convention about the hurricane hitting the gulf coast.

But, the idea to postpone the debates and stall the campaign causes me to think of two prior instances where postponement of elections was contemplated. The first was commonly known. Giuliani wanted to continue as mayor of New York City and postpone the election that brought Bloomberg into the office. That trial balloon was a non-starter and was shot down by everyone but Giuliani.

There was an earlier exercise aimed at postponing an election which has received little coverage. It is little known, but the Nixon White House had the Rand Corporation investigate the impact and consequence of postponing the 1972 Presidential election. The exercise came to naught, and the mere fact that such an undertaking even occurred has now fallen into the dustbin of history and is denied.

Too Big To Fail

I have been watching the Paulson Bernanke testimony before the United States Senate this morning. On several occasions I have heard that companies that have been bailed out have been "too big to fail." Paulson, in particular, has also said that the regulatory environment has been insufficient to the task, having been designed in a different time and for different circumstances.

The obvious issue on the table for the American taxpayers is that we can never again allow any company become too big to fail. When that occurs, the taxpayer becomes the inevitable guarantor of survival. In some respects we have to refine the scope of anti-trust laws. It is one thing for a company to have a monopoly in a business category. That was one of the intents of anti-trust legislation. It seems logical to look at another category of regulatory oversight.

If a company begins to get so large or powerful so as to impact the economy adversely if it fails then the regulatory apparatus could place a governor on that company's growth. It seems to make sense to never again allow any company to become too big to fail.

That, however, runs counter to the American capitalist ethic and the drive to "go big or go home."

Palin Meets War Criminal Henry Kissinger

On this coming Tuesday Sarah Palin is scheduled to meet war criminal Henry Kissinger. This is part of her grooming for the Vice Presidency. It is also the process whereby she accumulates gravitas and insight in how the world works.

I wonder if she knows that Kissinger conspired with Nixon to keep the War in Vietnam going a few extra years costing the unnecessary deaths of 20,000 young Americans? I truly doubt it.

What transition Henry has had. From kept factotum to alleged statesman with a global reach. I first ran across Kissinger when I worked for Nelson Rockefeller. Nelson kept Henry, the smart professor, with a few hundred thousand dollars and a job for his preternaturally tall wife Nancy McGinnis Kissinger.

I remember a day in New York that provided all the insight a young man ever needed about how the world worked. Six cattlemen arrived in New York to meet with Rockefeller. These were truly "big hat, big cattle" ranchers including Belton Kleberg Johnson of the King Ranch in Texas.

They were concerned that we were sending grain to the Soviets which increased their cost of fattening cattle for market. It was a pocketbook issue. They wanted the United States to stop sending grain to the Soviets, and instead, send beef. Nelson Rockefeller was always a man of action. So, in the midst of the meeting he called his assistant and said, "Get Henry on the phone." Kissinger, at the time, was Nixon's Secretary of State and was heading to Moscow in a day or two on an important diplomatic mission. Henry was instantly on the phone. He was responsive to Rockefeller.

Nelson Rockefeller explained the issue to Kissinger on the phone while in the midst of the cattlemen's meeting. I have no doubt that Kissinger did not mention beef in Moscow, but the cattlemen were happy.

Will Palin leave her Kissinger meet and greet with any insight about how the real power in America plays the big game?

Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild

Some of you may have seen the egomanical star fucker Lynn Forester do her Democrats for McCain press conference and press appearances yesterday. She was a huge Hill-Raiser, having pulled in big money for Hillary. She was even on the Democratic Platform Committee in Denver. Clearly this is a person who does not care about issues. Rather, she cares about the limelight and ink.

I met her a dozen years ago at Davos and had breakfast with her later at the Regency Hotel in New York City. She is one of those leonine blondes whose eyes continually dart around the room looking for more important people to talk too. She is now married to Evelyn de Rothschild of London. He is about the same age as McCain. This is her second rich older husband, having been formerly married to Andrew Stein,formerly President of the New York City Council.

The McCain campaign will now use her as a surrogate for Carly Fiorina who imploded yesterday. Forester won't last long. Yesterday she referred to small town "rednecks" in her feeble attempt to resurrect Obama's "bitter" remarks.

Fed Bailout

I think I understand the rationale for the Fed bailout of Freddie and Fannie; AIG and Bear Stearns, and the butt stab to Lehman. So, this is how it works from the viewpoint of Paulson at Treasury, Bernanke at the Fed and the White House: We will allow the market to work and companies can fail if they have no significant holdings in the hands of sovereign funds and foreign central banks.

It is imperative that we continue to have buyers for our public and private debt instruments. If we can't borrow money from the people who have money (increasingly that money is in the hands of Arab, Russian and Chinese funds and banks)then we can't bankroll our deficit spending government. So, we have to protect the foreign investors or suffer great peril.

Freddie and Fannie sold mortgage paper to many foreign central banks. If Freddie and Fannie failed, several foreign governments may have gone bankrupt. Not a pretty picture. Foreign countries bankrupt due to bogus US paper!

Similar with AIG. If AIG tanked due to lending their AAA status through insuring shit paper then the insured paper turns to shit and foreign central banks and sovereign funds suffer. If they suffer they won't buy more of our shit paper.

So, we survive to live another day. More banks will tank, but we will be able to continue to sell our debt abroad and bankroll an out of control Bush administration foreign policy and a domestic budget that knows no limits. Why, for example, did Bush NEVER veto a spending bill until his last year in office. Bush is a fucking disengaged idiot, that's why. And, by the way, McCain is clueless about the economy and Palin is clueless about everything.

Enough ranting. It is late and I am turning on CNBC to watch the Asian markets crash overnight.

Even with Lipstick, a Pig is a Pig

The End Game

I am feeling distressed. I have been having these haunting feelings about our current circumstance. I wonder how history will record this time.

From afar, I fear it will not be a pretty picture. History will report the strong beginnings of a ideological war between Christiandom and Islam. Christiandom is torn by its own ideological and culture war. The battle between Christiandom and Islam is, at its core, a struggle over competing irrational beliefs. Each claim to possess a revealed truth based upon faith rather than fact.

The battle inside Christiandom is a battle between those who claim to live a fact based reality and those who live a life built upon illusion.

The United States Presidential election of 2008 looks to be the cleave between those two factions. On the one hand is a man who represents a complex multi-cultural world; a man who clearly possesses a deep personal spiritual faith. He yearns to bring people together; to find common ground. On the other hand is a man who panders to the illogical faith of a few; who has little spiritual grounding in his own life, and spreads a message of lies and illusion.

The outcome of this election could be a pivot point. If it is won by the man of illusion, the future appears to filled with fear and demagoguery. The powerful interests will throw cultural bones to the irrational core of their constituency.

I hope and pray that there are enough clear headed voters to enable us to cling to a fact based reality and stave off the forces of fear and illusion.

G

Have you noticed that Palin drops all of her g's? Much like the Frances MacDormand character in the fabulous Coen brothers film, Fargo, Palin cannot grab a g to save her soul. She is doin' and goin' and livin' and singin'. She comes from some subculture where they exterminated g's.

Someone must have started gettin' lazy and droppin' g's, perhaps as a way to speed up talkin' and finish up workin' so they could get out huntin' or maybe do some drillin'.

I don't know about you but for me it makes her sound fuckin' stupid.

Pleasure Yourself For Jesus

As some of you know, I grew up in a small town in Washington State. Growing up in a small town provides a wonderful education. We had friends from all walks of life and all socio-economic strata. We didn't live in an insular waspish Episcopal world nor was it a redneck backwoods place. My small town provided all variety of insights into many of the more intriguing aspects of life, including religion as practiced in the many churches that dotted the community.

Palin was a member of the Assembly of God church is Wasilla, Alaska. I think the Assembly of God church is pretty much the same all across the country. It is a small town church. I don't think there is a big Assembly of God church in the middle of Manhattan or in downtown San Francisco. Only the Catholic's have big downtown churches because big cities are full of sin and temptation and Catholic's can fuck around and then confess and everything is okay. Members of the Assembly of God can't confess. They are forced to carry around big loads of shame and guilt when they fail to follow God's will. And, they feel more comfortable in small towns where the temptation is much less compelling and the watchful eyes of the congregation are nearby.

I grew up in a small town with an Assembly of God church. They all look the same. They are plain, concrete block with an absence of landscaping. They have big parking lots.

That happened around the time that I learned that the easiest girls in town came from the most religious families. While I was slow, friends got their first bare tit from the Assembly of God and Mormon girls. It was counter-intuitive but true. You learn that kind of thing growing up in a small town. At the time, we figured they were repressed at church and at home. But they got crazy in the back seat on Friday night. Those are great lessons to learn.

As slow as First Dude seems, it appears he figured that out in high school too.

"Is he dead yet?"

McCain is one of the most horrible speakers. He was so stiff and flat last night. Only during the 5000th telling of his POW experience did he evince anything approximating human life form.

He moves very stiffly. His face is also stiff and has a mask like quality. He does not smile with ease. I have been wondering if there is some disease process at work.
Admittedly he had a tough time in Hanoi, recovering from his plane crash wounds and broken bones. I am seeing something else, however, which seems to have to do with muscularity and neuromuscular activity. A thought kept coursing through my brain, "Is he dead yet?"

While they will never let us know, I am wondering if he has Parkinson's Disease. The stiffness and the mask are symptoms of Parkinson's. I have earlier posted my thoughts regarding McCain's early on-set dementia. Maybe there is more?

The speech itself was horrible. Who wrote that tripe? I thought the Republicans had been in charge of the Congress and the White House for the overwhelming majority of recent memory. Did I miss something. No new ideas.

It is pretty funny. McCain will play the moderate maverick and Palin will throw red meat to the mouth breathing base. The base (including Palin) does not understand that the powers that be in the Republican Party do not give a shit about them. The mouth breathing base votes against its self interest...but they are so clueless as to not understand anything approximating nuance.

As for my suspicions regarding McCain's disease state, it may just be a reflection of the sclerotic Republican view of the world.

Community Organizer

Last night, Sarah Palin spoke at the Republican Convention in Minneapolis. Among other things she said,

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."

It was surprising to hear this remark from a God fearing evangelical. Why?

Because Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor.

Experience

The VP designate for the Republicans, Sarah Palin, has the thinnest resume. I think the Republicans have it all wrong. They are trying to pitch her as experienced. She doesn't have any meaningful experience. They need to pitch her as exactly what she is. She is inexperienced but, Dad Gum, she represents America. She is perfect to pitch to that lowest common denominator mouth breathing segment of this country. She had no passport until 2007. Who needs a passport? Her husband races snowmobiles. Her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. She can bond now with Britney Spears mother.

Rather than play up the inexperience as a virtue, the McCain camp and Republican pundits are claiming that she has experience. Mayor of at town of 6800? Holy shit, I was a student body officer on a campus with more students than that and we had a larger budget than her town. Does that make me qualified. And, the most hilarious is the claim by Cindy McCain and Fox that the fact that Alaska is next to Russia gives her foreign policy experience. That is the best. It prompts other intuitive insights gained as a consequence of proximity. They include:

I lived across from a pizza parlor so I know about Italy.
There was a whore house on my block so I know how to give good blow jobs.
I take my shirts to a laundry so I know how to use chopsticks.

The Palin selection is a classic John McCain shoot from the hip and take aim later decision. It reinforces the my belief that McCain is a demented whack job. It also looks like a late in the game hail mary. Time will tell, but I have heard several thoughtful women say that they are offended as they believe she was only picked because she was a woman. They say there is no chance a man with the same credentials would have been picked.

Pretty crazy! And now, the Republicans are falling all over themselves to look concerned about Hurrican Gustav. Give me a break. What losers!!

A Different Perspective

I have been out of the country this week, and away from my fix of MSNBC and The Daily Show. My perspective then has come from conversations with non-citizens who have no vote in the US presidential game. Viewed from afar, however, they do have very strong opinions. Universally, Bush is held in very low regard. McCain is seen as an extension of Bush and old. And, everyone is thrilled about Obama. When I return to my intravenous digital fix I will get back into the swing of things.

For now, all I can say is the Obama Denver speech was awesome. And for ridiculous counterpoint, McCain picks a nitwit with big hair who opposes abortion even in the case of rape or incest. She also opposes gay union. Fortunately for her Ted Stevens is a big supporter....and oh, Fox News says she has foreign policy experience because Alaska is next to Russia.

Holy shit!

Biden for Vice President

I am very excited about the Biden pick for VP. I have been a Biden fan for a long time and was vocal in my support for him in the early going in the 2007 run up to the primary contests. In the early 1970's dear friends of mine worked for Biden on his Senate staff. They were enamored then of his character (exemplified in part by his commitment to raising his two boys after the tragic death of his wife and daughter) and have remained so over these many years.

Unlike the increasingly flawed McCain (in fact, he has always been flawed, it is just becoming more clear in the harsh light of the campaign)Biden has always been thoughtful. That is something the alleged maverick McCain cannot claim. In fact, I feel certain that the maverick tag is a clever way to cover the life long tendency McCain has had to be a fuck up. In fact, but for the cover provided by his father and grandfather he would have achieved little on his own.

The Biden family and the Obama family are great in juxtaposition to McCain. They don't have seven homes to choose from. Neither do most Americans. What a great story. McCain marries beer money built on the back of the mob. The rich daughter leaves her two half sisters in the dust.

Obama and Biden on the other hand, made themselves what they are today. They pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, not the bootstraps of someone else. They are the American dream. McCain is the true elitist and the son and husband of privilege.
Voters, please open your eyes.

Pip-squeak for President

Commentators haven't focused attention on the fact that at 5 feet 6 inches in height, John McCain would be, if elected, the second shortest President in American history.
He would only tower over the 5' 4" James Madison. Simply put, McCain is a pip-squeak.

Not only is he height challenged (gawd I hate the politically correct vernacular!)he also exhibits the classic behavior of the short man. The Napoleon complex often shows itself with aggressive actions (McCain's well known anger among other of his attributes fit that bill).

Not only is McCain a pip-squeak, I think he's a little squirt and a small fry!

My Cynical Read on the Georgia Conflagration

Israel has been selling armaments to the Georgia military ($500M) and training military personnel. Although they have ceased sales for the moment, Israel is home to 80,000 Georgian Jews (there must be that many in Buckhead). The United States has approximately 1000 military advisors in Georgia and has supplied a significant amount of military equipment to that country. The President of Georgia is a Harvard trained lawyer. The most noteworthy feature of Georgia is the oil pipeline that transects the country moving Central Asian oil to the west without crossing Russian territory. Do you think that matters?

In my view, the current conflagration could not have happened without the knowing acquiescence or prodding of the United States and Israel. Our military advisors on the ground are too smart and too sophisticated for the Georgian move into Ossetia to have occurred without a wink and nod from the West.

Why would we want a conflagration in breakaway Ossetia and a dust-up in Georgia with Russia? That is an easy one. We wanted the Russians focused on an internal problem while we escalate the intensity of our pressure on Iran. This is a cynics view, but I think we should all hold our breath and hope that the Neo-Cons have not orchestrated the Georgian mess as an element of their last hope to blast Iran before the Bush administration exits the White House.

Keep in the mind that this administration is well schooled in prevarication and duplicity. Nevertheless, I hope my cynic's view of the Georgian situation is wrong.

My Georgia Strategy: Ten Easy Steps to Bring Russia to Her Knees

1. Restrict sale of Gulfstream jets and Feadship yachts to Russian oligarchs
2. Require that Russians only view Russian programming on television
3. Prohibit sale of property in London, South of France and Palm Beach to Russian oligarchs
4. Ship unlimited quantities of Microsoft VISTA to Russia
5. Curtail shipments of Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls Royce and Mercedes to Russia
6. Curtail shipments of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Givenchy to Russia
7. Curtail shipments of Rolex, Breitling, Piaget, and Patek Phillipe to Russia
8. Curb iTunes downloads to Russia
9. Require that Russian oligarchs buy only "Made in Russia" products
10.Restrict sale of heels more than two inches high to Russian hookers

"He Sure Does Have a Pretty Mouth"

So, the inevitable happened and John Edwards imploded. I am not surprised. I never liked the guy. When he was first thinking of running for President in 2004 I noted that he had not been outside of the country. He was a guy with no gravitas. He had made his money as a trial lawyer handling "bad baby" cases. I was a trial lawyer back in the day so I know about "bad baby" cases, and more important, that they were often based upon bad science. The horrific outcome for the child and the parents was so catastrophic that the huge amounts of money changed hands. That background was no qualifier for national office but it ostensibly made him a champion for the little guy.

Time under the limelight did not, however, give Edwards a pleasing cast. In fact, he looked more self-absorbed than before. The YouTube clip said it all:



Some of you will remember the great James Dickey novel, Deliverance. The movie, released in 1972, starred Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight. Of Edwards, a nice Southern boy, they would have said,
"He sure does have a pretty mouth."

Kinda Silly

The Obama campaign plane is silly. O Force One it is being called. It is clearly over the top. What the campaign should do is charter a plain vanilla piece of shit run out plane from one of the numerous bankrupt airlines in the US. Instead, some smart staffer decided to pimp out the campaign plane and unnecessarily spend campaign dollars on what will certainly become a symbol of Obama's hubris.

I makes me nuts. We must win this election. Obama needs to stay close to his core beliefs and remain grounded. I think this is not unlike Elvis. The posse surrounding the star want to take care of their man. Elvis didn't demand all the trappings. He was a simple small town boy. Obama didn't demand the pimped out plane. Some staffer thought it would be cool. Well, sonny, it is not cool. It is over the top, unnecessary and sends the wrong message.

Wise up. Stop being silly.

The War Criminals in the White House

Lately, I have had lots of random thoughts regarding the campaign, but nothing compelling enough to sit down at the computer and compose a post. The weather has been good in the Northwest and there are many more productive outlets available out of doors. In fact, I am about to head out for a midday bike ride, but wanted to take a moment to rant before I hit the road and allow the endorphins to wash away the negative energy.

Yesterday's New York Times Book Review had a long piece on The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals, by Jane Mayer. The book, from the review, captures the tale of how Cheney and his side-kick Addington, hijacked the American Constitution and authorized, with the naive and willing complicity of Bush and Gonzales, the use of torture.

If one great reason exists to elect a Democrat to the White House, it may be the opportunity to charge several Bush administration officials with criminal conduct. Several of them have been put on notice that they should be cautious about traveling abroad. They are easily subject to being charged with War Crimes in other jurisdictions. Domestically, they have violated the law. The Justice Department, under a Democratic President, must investigate their transgressions and bring charges, if the evidence so warrants. I believe it will.

Unfortunately, I believe that Bush, before he leaves the White House, will pardon several members of his administration for these alleged crimes. Wanna bet?

Barack Oboner

The Shriveled Up Old Nuts Syndrome

Jesse Jackson's recent comments regarding his opinion that Barack Obama had been talking down to the black community are similar in tone to the remarks made by the Reverend Wright at the National Press Club a few months ago.

It is clear to me that some in the old generation of black leadership in America have their shorts in a bunch about Barack Obama. Those shriveled up old nuts want to cut Barack's nuts off. Of course they do.

They struggled through the civil rights era of the 1950's and 1960's. They were in the trenches and earned their stripes the hard way. They ascended to leadership in the black community out of the street and the churches of those black neighborhoods. Their leadership was grounded in the black community. On occasion, they would make a move into the broader community. Jesse Jackson is an example, with his two runs for the Presidency.

Now that the next generation, untested in the trench warfare of the civil rights movement, is coming to the fore, the old guard is upset. Moreover, this next generation of young black politicians have a broad base of support. Their support is not grounded in the black community but in the broader base of enlightened voters.

"Who do they think they are? We have been running the show for the last forty years. We aren't dead yet. They need to pay us more respect. Who are they to tell us what to do? We may be shriveled up old nuts Barack, but we want to cut your nuts off."

There is nothing quite like the angst of the aging individual who history has passed by.

War Hero

Wesley Clark's comments about John McCain are insightful. No doubt they have been mangled and misrepresented by the press. His comments cause me to think about a variation off an issue I posted about several months ago.

Clark said that McCain's military experience was not a qualifier for leading the country. He explained that McCain did not have command experience while in the military. Everything that Clark said was absolutely true. McCain never commanded a large group of men in the military. He was a pilot. Clark, ultimately head of the NATO command, knows about the role of the military executive. Clark, with 38 years of service in the military, knows what leadership looks like when he sees it.

I suspect there is another underlying issue at play in Clark's comments. Clark experienced the Vietnam War on the ground and came home on a stretcher. McCain's Vietnam War experience was very different. He flew in the sky's and then spent five years in a Hanoi prison. Indeed, his experience was a brutal one, but it was not a Vietnam War experience that included bullets, chaos, and buddies being shot on the ground. McCain did not experience the political tug and pull of the Vietnam War as it was lived by people like Clark who saw the prevarication of the likes of McNamera, Kissinger, Nixon and others. I have read recently of the divide in the US Senate between those Senators, Vietnam veterans who served on the ground, and McCain. They had very different experiences and as a consequence, have very different views.

Most all descriptions of McCain begin with the phrase, "John McCain, War Hero." Clark's comments cause me to think about that and wonder. What constitutes a war hero? Historically, how do you become a war hero? Does McCain qualify, when juxtaposed to those who have previously been called war heroes, for the title?

As a young man in the 1950's I was fascinated by a war hero from World War II. Audie Murphy was a true war hero. Of course, he became a movie star and even played himself in that 1950's movie of his autobiography, To Hell and Back. Murphy was undeniably a war hero. He won every medal for valor the military could grant.

McCain's heroism derives from his endurance while incarcerated. He was not a hero on the battlefield. He is honored for standing up to his captors. I see his behavior as nothing more than his lifelong rejection of authority figures, all of which is well portrayed in the great book The Nightingale's Song, Timberg's book on five Annapolis grads: McFarland, Poindexter, McCain, Ollie North and Jim Webb. I commend it to you for its insight on the historic McCain.

At the same time, I suggest that to question McCain's service and its relevance to be commander in chief is akin to questioning any of the actions of the Bush administration after 9/11. It is a sacred cow and to raise questions about a war hero is to cross some sacred line.
Clark had the courage to cross that line. Doesn't everything that has to do with leadership and governance become fair game in selecting a President?

Collective Grief

Many commentators have written about the large outpouring of emotion surrounding the recent sudden death of Tim Russert. Some have wondered about the scope of those expressions of grief.
While all of us, political cognoscenti, were personally touched by Russert's unfortunate early demise, I believe there was another force behind the emotion. More than a year ago I posted a poem on my poetry blog: www.poetrysmackdown.blogspot.com on the subject of what I call

Collective Grief

Small slights
Each imperceptible
Occur day by day

Events of our lives
At home, at work
And in the world
At large

Things that
Upset but not
So much as to
Rise to the level
Of conscious reaction

I call them the small
Grief or the little grief

We accumulate them
Over time in some
Reservoir of emotion
About which we
Have no awareness

Then, one day a big
Event occurs and a flood
Flows from that
Reservoir out of
Proportion to the event
Itself

When the event is public
As with the death of
A revered icon
The flood includes
Not only our accumulated
Grief but also
That collective grief we
All share which has
Accumulated silently
Beside our own.

So, on several occasions, Tim Russert's death and the memorial remarks associated with his passing brought me to tears. They were an expression of grief for him, but perhaps more an expression of my own portion of the collective grief and my own mortality as well.

The Rule of Law

Perhaps I am burdened by being a lawyer and a believer in the constitution and the now "quaint" notion that we are a nation and a people bound by and committed to the rule of law. Perhaps it is difficult for me to come to grips with the this contemporary notion that the rule of law is situational and applies only when it serves our purposes.

Most of the mouth breathing citizens of this republic don't have the vaguest idea of the issues at stake in the telecom immunity bill which passed the US Senate yesterday. The Congress has done the bidding of the Bush White House, or rather the Bush White House has finessed the Congress in an action that goes to the very heart of why the administration is the most duplicitous and mendacious in our history.

So, some background: the telecom bill, FISA Amendments Act of 2007, provides to the administration and all involved, including domestic telecom carriers, immunity from prosecution for spying upon and eavesdropping upon the communications of US citizens. The eavesdropping was done without warrants. They were absolutely clear violations of the law and the constitution. The administration knew they were illegal. The administration knew that their actions could subject themselves to criminal prosecution and subject the telecom carriers to prosecution as well.
So, what did the administration do? They cunningly included the Democratic leadership in the house and the Senate in their plans. In the hysteria the prevailed post 9/11 the Democratic leadership bought off on the warrant less eavesdropping. To oppose those moves, either privately or publicly would have made them unpatriotic in the blustering eyes of the administration. So, they had no balls (or ovaries as the case may be) and supported the administrations private indiscretions and rape of the constitution.

Now, when the heat is on and the issue sees the clear light of day, the Senate (the House is voting today so lean on your Congressman/woman) supports the White House and passes this immunity bill. It seems counterintuitive that the Democrats would do that, but not when you understand that they were protecting not only the telecom carries and the White House; they were protecting themselves and their own as well.

As an analogy for the more dense among you, this is like the person who robs a bank, gets caught, and then has the law changed so that bank robbing is no longer a crime. Oh, you say, this is different. Think again please about the foundation of this nation and the sanctity of the rule of law.

Senator Dodd proposed an amendment that would have removed the immunity. It failed to pass with a filibuster proof vote of 67 Nay and 31 Yea with the ever tough Hillary Clinton not voting. Obama voted Yea. For the list of Senate voters so you will know who to never support again, see: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00015

The Boss Eulogizes Tim Russert

Tim Russert

It was such a shock to learn on this past Friday afternoon that Tim Russert had died suddenly of a heart attack. How will we navigate this Presidential election year without Russert? So many times my pals and I will compare notes Sunday and say, "Did you see Russert? Did you see Richardson implode on Russert?" Regardless of the guest, Russert was asking the tough questions that needed to be asked. He was asking the questions that we wanted to ask. In a way, he seemed to speak for all of us, right, left or center. His passing leaves a big hole.

More than the probing interrogator who prodded our democratic process, Russert allowed us to know that he had a big heart. His book about his Dad, "Big Russ" was a wonderful testiment to the power of our fathers to shape our lives and create the foundation of values that carry us into the world. Not all of us have had the good fortune to be the children of a solid and loving father. And, few can speak easily and with genuine emotion about the power of the love between parent and child.

This morning Russert's son, Luke, appeared for the first time to talk about his father. It is evocative and testament to the notion that the apple does not fall far from the tree.

R.F.K. R.I.P.

Has it really been forty years since the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy? Can it be? It seems like just yesterday.

I have so many feelings as I reflect upon both his death and those forty years. I think about his impact, both upon me and upon the country. I also think about the sweep of history and the range of those forty years.

Those forty years have happened in a moment. In historical time, forty years covers a significant span. It reaches from the Great Depression to the Man on the Moon. It reaches from Gettysburg to the Model T. And, now, it reaches from Bobby to Barack.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I met Bobby Kennedy. It was in May of 1968, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I was attending graduate school at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. I would receive a Master’s Degree in American Studies from that school. It was a fairly god forsaken place, at 7200 feet elevation on a windswept high mountain plain. I drove with my great friend Eugene Brown, now a city councilman in Durham, North Carolina, from Laramie to Cheyenne.

We attended a big rally at which Kennedy gave a tremendous speech. The rally preceded a whistle stop tour across Nebraska which was about to hold its primary. I was a Kennedy supporter. Many of the “elites” on campus were supporters of “Clean Gene” McCarthy. McCarthy had come out early against the War in Vietnam and against President Johnson and had played a large role in driving Johnson from pursuit of reelection with his strong showing earlier in New Hampshire.

After the large rally we wrangled our way into a smaller, intimate gathering and a short receiving line formed through which Bobby Kennedy passed. I remember it like it was yesterday. He seemed small and tired. I remember more than anything his eyes. He shook my hand and looked directly into my eyes. For that small moment he was only concentrating on me. We made small talk. I only remember one fragment of the conversation. He asked, “Are you working on the Nebraska primary?” He spoke for a few minutes to the crowd and was gone. It was a powerful experience and we drove back to Laramie completely energized.

It was three weeks later that we watched television late at night excited to see the positive results from the California primary. As Bobby and Ethel Kennedy turned to walk off the stage at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, I turned off the television.

The victory was sweet, but so short lived.

I was asleep when thirty minutes later Eugene Brown awakened me with a loud knock on my front door. “Kennedy has been shot.” I couldn’t believe it. We stayed up all night watching television. We were sick.

For so many of us, Bobby Kennedy embodied and represented such hope and promise. He opposed the War in Vietnam. He cared about poor people and those who were hungry and oppressed. He cared deeply about racial equality. His honest and steady voice was one of the few encouraging elements during the painful moments surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King.

At his funeral in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, his brother Ted eulogized Bobby,

“Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Mr. President:

On behalf of Mrs. Kennedy, her children, the parents and sisters of Robert Kennedy, I want to express what we feel to those who mourn with us today in this Cathedral and around the world.

We loved him as a brother, and as a father, and as a son. From his parents, and from his older brothers and sisters -- Joe and Kathleen and Jack -- he received an inspiration which he passed on to all of us. He gave us strength in time of trouble, wisdom in time of uncertainty, and sharing in time of happiness. He will always be by our side.

Love is not an easy feeling to put into words. Nor is loyalty, or trust, or joy. But he was all of these. He loved life completely and he lived it intensely.

A few years back, Robert Kennedy wrote some words about his own father which expresses [sic] the way we in his family felt about him. He said of what his father meant to him, and I quote: "What it really all adds up to is love -- not love as it is described with such facility in popular magazines, but the kind of love that is affection and respect, order and encouragement, and support. Our awareness of this was an incalculable source of strength, and because real love is something unselfish and involves sacrifice and giving, we could not help but profit from it." And he continued, "Beneath it all, he has tried to engender a social conscience. There were wrongs which needed attention. There were people who were poor and needed help. And we have a responsibility to them and to this country. Through no virtues and accomplishments of our own, we have been fortunate enough to be born in the United States under the most comfortable conditions. We, therefore, have a responsibility to others who are less well off."

That is what Robert Kennedy was given. What he leaves to us is what he said, what he did, and what he stood for. A speech he made to the young people of South Africa on their Day of Affirmation in 1966 sums it up the best, and I would like to read it now:

"There is discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere. These are differing evils, but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility towards the suffering of our fellows. But we can perhaps remember -- even if only for a time -- that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek -- as we do -- nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men. And surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again. The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress.

It is a revolutionary world we live in, and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation; a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth; a young woman reclaimed the territory of France; and it was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32 year-old Thomas Jefferson who [pro]claimed that "all men are created equal."

These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. *It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.* Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.

For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged, and as the years pass we will surely judge ourselves on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that event.

*The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society.* Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."

That is the way he lived. That is what he leaves us.

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering, and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:

"Some men see things as they are and say why.
I dream things that never were and say why not."

As stirring as those words are, and they move me to tears to this day, nothing in the political realm is more emotional for me than watching the films of the funeral train which carried Bobby Kennedy from New York City to Washington, DC. It is said that as many as 1 million people stood beside the tracks as the train made its way south.

They stood in silent vigil, paying their respects to a man who, however late he came to it, wanted for all Americans a country that cared about them, treated them with honor and compassion, and spoke from his heart. I stand by those tracks and raise my hand in salute.

Presumptive Nominee

What a long way it has been. What a long ways yet to go. It has been miraculous and so heartening to see Barack Obama become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party.
Last night's speech in Minneapolis hit all the right notes. And, to see the Obama speech in juxtaposition to the McCain speech from New Orleans was striking. This upcoming race for the Presidency will be a daily delight. Hillary will parse for a few days, hoping to leverage her losing position however she can. Bill has been sent back to the dog house, hopefully never to return.

So, I am very excited and thrilled about the outcome. But, I must say it is bitter sweet. That is, for me, a function of the stark fact that today, June 4, 2008, is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. More about that in my next post.

Bush is a Nut Case

Getting lost in the media furor over McClellan's memoir is the new autobiography of retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the onetime commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who is scathing in his assessment that the Bush administration "led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions."

Among the anecdotes in "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story" is an arresting portrait of Bush after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004, triggering a fierce U.S. response that was reportedly egged on by the president.

During a videoconference with his national security team and generals, Sanchez writes, Bush launched into what he described as a "confused" pep talk:

"Kick ass!" he quotes the president as saying. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can't send that message. It's an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal."

"There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!"

A White House spokesman had no comment.

Thanks to TalkingPointsMemo for this piece.

Elitist

I am an elitist. I think I have always been an elitist. Moreover, I am proud to be an elitist. It is only in the recent politically correct morass that the term elitist has become a pejorative. Historically elitism has been the core driver of this great American democratic experiment. Elitism is what makes America the great, productive leader is has been. Elitism is what brings the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” to our shores. Elitism is the driving engine of our greatness. I am an elitist and I celebrate that fact.

From its beginnings, this country has, in most regards, been a meritocracy. A meritocracy is, by definition, driven by its elite best. To be elite it to be superior. An elite student gets A grades, and is admitted to a top college where he or she excels and gains admission to an elite graduate school. Ultimately, the high achiever enters the work force and becomes a member of an elite profession or becomes among the elite in their chosen profession. The elite in the United States are not calcified body. We have a porous elite, open to new entrants based upon merit and the pursuit of excellence.

Elitist got us to the moon and cured polio. Elitists invented the silicon wafer and wrote software code. Elitists crafted the great American novel and wrote songs that make our hearts soar. Elitists nurture our souls. Elitists drive this American dream.

In this recent political campaign, both the Hillary Clinton camp and the right wingnut talk radio nabobs of negativism use the charge “elite,” to mischaracterize Obama, in particular after his reference to the attitudes of small town America bypassed by progress and prosperity. He happened, by the way, to be speaking the truth. Curiously, both Clinton and Obama are members of the American elite as a consequence of brain power, ambition and education. Our meritocracy served them well. Less so, McCain, who has largely been a screw up and got his start from the lucky sperm club, what with a father and grandfather who were Admirals. Not much of a stretch for him to get into Annapolis! His type of elitist does require a pejorative meaning in my book.

Sleek Headed Men

I have been watching Meet the Press this morning and listening to Harold Ickes opinine on the strategy that delivers the nomination for Hillary Clinton. It is ridiculous. It is based upon the notion of electability and his tortured alleged fact that Clinton has more popular votes. He claims that the last time the nominee had fewer popular votes was in 1972, a sour reference to the ill-fated McGovern campaign.

Ickes is prickly and the classic tough fixer, his long term role for Billary. In watching him I am reminded of the lines from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. Sleek headed men such as sleep 'o nights. Such men are dangerous." Ickes slicks back his thinning hair. It goes well with his thin lips. I have always distrusted anyone with thin lips. Seriously, it is an old bias of mine. Look in the mirror. If you have thin lips, you are no friend of mine.

Oh, Why Bother

It has come to that. It has come to the point where there is really no point in saying anything more about Billary. I was thinking earlier about entitling this post, "Dustbin of History," or alternatively, "Clinton Chameleon." But, upon further reflection, why bother.

Indeed, Billary has worked hard during this campaign to reacquaint us with those attributes of its personality that we found distasteful so many years ago. We had forgotten how Billary preemptively fired the career employees in the White House travel office who had served many administrations both Republican and Democrat. We had forgotten about the Rose law firm billing records which miraculously appeared in the White House after all those years. We had forgotten about the shrewd investment that turned $1000 into $100,000. We had forgotten about the horrible sense of entitlement they exhibited. We had forgotten the "bull in the china shop" tendencies. As they say, "Thanks for the memories." As the NY Times reported this morning, she will have a hard time returning to the Senate where she will resume her position as 36th in tenure out of 49 Democratic Senators. Too bad. So it goes in the dustbin of history.

Months ago I did a post about her cloying southern accent at the church in Selma. As I said then, it dripped of fat back and hogs maw. Now, we hear that she was pure corn pone and molasses in the hollows of Kentucky and West Virginia. Aw shucks, I'm just like you back country folks. Dear Hillary, she is whatever we want her to be. Chameleon indeed. It is just like looking in a mirror...except, with Billary, it has become a rearview mirror.

Why bother to mention the latest reference to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Usually, the subtext is more powerful when it is left unspoken. But, when you are Billary and you are losing you pull out all the stops. Today, the ex President got off the reservation again and said that Obama could not win against McCain.

We must put Billary out of its misery soon. I believe former President Carter is correct when he observes that the superdelegates will flock to Obama after June 3. Must we continue to watch and listen to Billary until then? Do we have to? Why bother?

Reagan Redux

I am going out on a the proverbial prognosticators limb. I believe, before this election year is over, we will see a group form which calls itself Reaganites for Obama. The organization will include, of course, the late President's son, Ron Reagan, and a host of Reagan administration factotums who see in Obama something of what they saw in Ronald Reagan. Finally, I am convinced, reading Peggy Noonan every Saturday in the Wall Street Journal, that she will get on board the Obama bandwagon. Between the lines, she is clearly, to me, already an Obama supporter.

So, why would Reaganites join forces with Obama? What is it they see in him that pulls them away from the Republican fold?

Obama gave himself a boost with the Reaganites when, in his remarks in Reno early this year, he praised Reagan as a President who had made a difference.

The great gift of Ronald Reagan was that he helped the country and its people feel better about themselves. Post Vietnam and Watergate, post Ford and Carter, post skyrocketing interest rates and Iraqi hostages, Reagan made the country feel good about itself for the first time in a long time. Obama has that same gift. Reaganites recognize it and believe in it and how important it is to the nation. McCain doesn't have the gift.

The Reaganites also see in Obama that great force of personality that made Reagan so effective around the world with his brand of personal diplomacy. Reaganites believe in that and are less inclined to embrace the Pax Americana tough stuff diplomacy of the neo-conservative Bush Administration. McCain seems inclined to follow the Bush path.

Reagan caused the world to regain respect for America. Obama has that same capacity. So, out on the limb I am, suggesting and predicting that there will be Reaganites for Obama before the election in November.

LOL. I just went to Network Solutions and discovered that the url, www.reaganitesforobama.com is already taken. I was going to buy it to add to my collection.

75,000

Seventy-five thousand Oregonians gathered today in Portland to listen to and lend their support to the Presidential candidacy of Barack Obama. It is the largest partisan political gathering in my memory. While the big events of the 1960's were larger and attracted several hundred thousand (The March on Washington, The Mobilization and The Moratorium) they were in support of ideas and broad principals, not a single candidate. I don't recall any crowds for Robert Kennedy of that scale, unless you include all of the people in New York and along the train tracks to Washington standing in silent vigil during his funeral procession.

The Portland event is a powerful statement of the force that propels the Obama candidacy. Now, if those of us on the left coast don't get too wrapped up in our own underwear, maybe there is a chance we can create the change we yearn for.

It is humorous to me to juxtapose the Portland rally with the report by the Washington Post last week of a Hillary Clinton visit to West Virginia. (It is a fabulous piece by Dana Milbank on May 13. I can't make the link to the article work. A search for the article would be worth your while)
Hillary alighted from her campaign plane and as she came down the steps she waved and pointed to friends she recognized in the crowd. Except, there was no one to meet her, no crowd and certainly no friends in the nonexistent crowd. Hillary only had the television cameras recording her arrival. To the television viewer it would appear as if Hillary was greeting a welcoming throng.

I have felt for many years that the finger pointing by politicians at rally's was a joke. It struck me as a ruse to cause the viewer to think that the politician had friends in the crowd. It creates a false sense of intimacy. I could never prove that feeling I had, until this past week when the Washington Post clearly pointed it out.

Sorry Hillary, the big crowd was in Portland, Oregon, and it was listening to Obama.

The Perfect Ticket

Barack Obama took a serious hit in West Virginia. He didn't pay any attention to the state and let Hillary Clinton run away with it. It doesn't change the outcome but it does raise doubt about his electibility in the Ohio Valley states and in Appalachia.

In 1960, John Kennedy worked West Virginia hard and it was a key turning point for his campaign for the Democratic nomination. The circumstances and importance of the West Virginia primary are different today, but, with effort Obama could have narrowed the loss and come closer, I am convinced, to an Indiana style outcome.

Now, to overcome the doubt, he has shifted his emphasis to Kentucky. He is going to put resources and money into the state and not let it get too far out of whack as he did in West Virginia.

John Edwards endorsement this evening is a part of the strategy to build Obama's working class and poor folks cred. It is great that Edwards has come on board now. He said earlier that he was going to await the outcome of the primaries. I guess he feels the outcome is now certain.

Thoughtful analysis aside, I do believe there is a perfect ticket that will give the Republicans fits. It also will secure, permanently, the votes of poor white folk who growed up in a holler. I am proposing that Obama select the senior Senator from West Virginia, Robert Byrd, as his running mate. Think about, an Obama/Byrd ticket. It resonates success. It can't lose in Appalachia. It is a great unifying ticket. It smells of pork. And, the good news is, within a year or so Obama could select a replacement. On the other hand, Byrd as would act an insurance policy against lunatics bent upon taking out Obama. No one wants a President who soils himself.

Clinton Rage

I have been thinking recently about what it is that drives Hillary. What is the primary motivator that drives her behavior. Friends have said it is power. They say it is her desire for power.
I don't think so. I think the desire for power is a manifestation of the primary motivator.
I feel that Hillary's primary motivator is rage.

In my experience, most of human behavior can be ascribed to the baser emotions. Fear is a primary motivator. In Hillary's case, when I watch and listen to her, I hear the underlying rage.

She has spent most of her adult life playing second fiddle to Bill Clinton. That, alone, without his numerous indiscretions, would cause the accumulation of a fair amount of anger. Add to that his numerous and continuing indiscretions, about which she can do nothing whatsoever, and the anger gathers into a powerful rage. Her own ambitions have been attached to his star. Now that she has the chance for independent flight he holds her back once again. He is uncontrollable.

She has paid her dues for many years. The ultimate payoff was to be the Presidency. Now, to be inhibited in her plan by a young upstart and the weight of her past, the rage is incalculable.

Hillary is also a vehicle for the rage of her supporters. She gives voice not only to her own rage, but to the accumulated rage of women of her generation and older, working class whites and those, undereducated, who have been by-passed by the illusive American Dream.

I don't denigrate the rage, only observe it and know that it is real.

The Week That Was

What a week it was. And, what a difference a day makes. Going into last Tuesday's North Carolina and Indiana primaries, there was a plausible claim that the race hung in the balance. The math didn't work for Hillary and the Clintonistas but, there was a plausible claim that if they had a narrow loss in North Carolina and a strong victory in Indiana, they would, on the heels of Pennsylvania, have momentum. They could make a claim to the super delegates that Hillary was the most electable. It was not to be.

It was a great result Tuesday for Obama. It sealed the nomination for him, at least, as everyone has said, "presumptively."

There were several noteworthy events following on after the Tuesday elections. Obama, on the Hill courting super delegates, walked onto the House floor during a vote. He was swarmed by Democrats and Republicans alike. You didn't need a pollster to tell you that he was the winner. He was like a rock star and the adulation was apparent. When I saw that I knew for certain that it was over.

Hillary, though, was not so sure. She continued in her robo-call manner, to careen forward. Her interview with USA Today was the most unbelievable. Okay, Hillary, so you have great strength among the poor white uneducated population many of whom are racist. Wahoo Hillary!!! But, Hillary, where are your manners. You can think that but you can't say it. That is especially the case if you wish to retain for yourself and your hapless ex-President husband, any sense of nobility. Candidly, I think you have both made great strides toward the dustbin of history.

Saturday Night Live put the knife in it when they opened with a great Amy Poehler skit. It was a wonderful put down of Hillary. She has no ethics. SNL made up for their pivotal early support, post writer's strike of Hillary and their parody of the media's fawning over Obama. Kudos to SNL for getting it right last night. Check it out.

Clinton's End Game

The end game for the Clinton campaign is now becoming clear. Regardless of the protestations of her most aggressive supporters, the Clinton campaign will end in early to mid June.

Between now and then the Clinton campaign will reduce the negative attacks against Obama as a part of their significant reduction in television advertising. Hillary will continue to campaign and will continue to give her standard stump speech and continue to talk about going all the way to November and the White House. She must do that to keep up the illusion that the game is not over.

She will continue to raise money. The money will be used to pay for the campaign essentials. Campaign debt to existing vendors owed millions will not be paid and the Clinton debt will not be repaid, at least not now. Ultimately, of course, the repayment of the Clinton debt and campaign vendor debt is a relatively trivial matter and will be handled in due course, either by or through the efforts the Democratic Party, Obama and others. Money is always easier to raise for a gracious loser than for a failing competitor.

Clinton will play it out through the remaining primaries in part because it would look bad if Obama lost in West Virginia or Kentucky to Clinton who will remain on those ballots even if she withdraws from the race. Hence, she will stay to the end.

The key piece to keep in mind is that she will lower the rhetoric, reduce the attacks and focus her campaign on the issues she wants on the agenda. The next month she will focus on that agenda and, with her fingers crossed behind her back, hope against hope that Obama implodes somehow.

He won't and she will then graciously move aside. So, we should just relax and let it play out.

"Butt Crack" Strategy

An inside source at the Clinton campaign sent me a copy of a top secret campaign strategy memo which details the plans for winning over the blue collar and no collar voters. Staffers in the campaign call it the "Butt Crack Memo."

The memo came together after the huge success the campaign had sending Bill Clinton into small towns in Pennsylvania. It was drafted after the stunning response he had in Intercourse, PA. Bill claimed to have never been in Intercourse before. On the Intercourse stump he said, "I have never been in Intercourse before. I love Intercourse." The staff strategists put together a plan that would send the former President to as many small backwater towns as possible in every upcoming primary state.

These are towns, all previously served by railroads and now by-passed by both rail and interstate, who last saw a President when Theodore Roosevelt made a whistle stop in 1904. They are thrilled to see a former President, even one who is disgraced, increasingly irrelevant and relegated to eating large portions of fried chicken in bingo halls.

The memo got its name from the first stop on the former President's new schedule, Butt Crack, Indiana. Butt Crack is a wide place in the road just south of French Lick.

Please Save Us From Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton is at large on the campaign trail spouting off once again. If you saw the fabulous Saturday Live skit with the Clinton's recently, it has a hilarious send-up of Bill's love for talking.
He does love to talk to people. He loves to hear himself talk.

Most recently he has been working hard to reinforce Hilary's ersatz working class cred. Part of that effort involves an attack on the alleged elitist views of Obama and his supporters. Bill is quoted as follows:

"The great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it's by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules," he said. "In West Virginia and Arkansas, we know that when we see it."

I am incredulous when I read this quote. If anyone knows about playing by a different set of rules it is Bill Clinton. The record is full of examples of Bill Clinton playing the elitist card and claiming a separate set of rules for himself. Hillary is no different. The latest from Bill reinforces once again why it is imperative that we do everything we can to keep him out of the White House.

I blame him for the war in Iraq and the deaths of the young men and woman being needlessly sacrificed in that apocryphal conflict. His indiscretions and his insistence on having a separate set of rules brought us George W. Bush. Thanks Bill. Now go away and let us rebuild America.

Jeremiah Wright

This is the story that keeps on ticking. It hasn't helped that Reverend Jeremiah Wright has gone on a media tour these past several days. Wright clearly loves being the center of attention. I also think it is very clear that he is irritated with Barack Obama. He is irritated and he is jealous.

It is actually funny and pathetic. And it detracts from the righteous core message that Wright has historically conveyed from his pulpit. I happen to believe that Wright overwhelming speaks the truth from his pulpit. He gives voice to a perception that is held by many. It needs to be listened to. Obama said as much in his Constitution Hall speech on race.

It appears clear to me, however, that Wright is jealous that the young Barack Obama, whom he guided and counseled when he was a young man, has now eclipsed his elder, former spiritual mentor. This is a classic phenomenon. The young protege who learns the ropes from the older mentor, must as he matures, find his own way in the world and break from his mentor. That transition is a difficult and troublesome one. It is a time when jealousy and irritation over the protege's success can cause the mentor to be hurtful. The mentor always sees greatness in the protege, which is one reason the relationship begins in the first instance. The mentor knows that the protege will soar. But, is only human to see base emotions surface when the protege soars beyond the mentor's reach.

How Obama deals with this latest Wright flare up will say much about the man. I have a notion about how it should be handled, but I will hold back on that until we see the response of the man I believe should be our next President.