Loose Lips

It's always nice when a political candidate says something that makes it completely clear that you should not vote for them. A few years ago, we had George Allen with his "macaca" comment in Virginia. This year, we get Tea Party backed New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino who continually demonstrates his unfitness for office. Arguably, the finest example was his pronouncement that he would use the power of eminent domain to keep the proposed site of an Islamic community center in Manhattan from becoming a "monument to those who attacked our country."Putting aside the civil libertarian issues that raises, some may wonder whether he actually believes this is what Park51 would be or is simply saying this for political advantage, but frankly it's irrelevant, because either answer makes him unfit for office.

Fair and Balanced (as long as you're on their payroll)

An interesting dilemma for Fox News, how do you report on political candidates who are also effectively your employees without violating your journalistic ethics.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/42745

Obviously, the resolution to this is easier for Fox News than most other outlets. When you're so blatantly partisan, no one will blink and eye if you treat Palin, Gingrich, et al with kid gloves. Go for it, Fox News!

Confederacy of Cowards

A friend of mine on Facebook recently expressed the understandable (and laudable) frustration about the level of media oxygen consumed by bad-girl/bad-boy celebrity train-wrecks like Lindsay Lohan while brave men and women (gay and straight alike, while we're on the subject) die unheralded. She went on to wonder aloud what's wrong with our country. However deserving of scorn Lohan or (fill in embarrassing celebrity here) may be, I can't help but feel they're much too simplistic a target. Put another way, ranting against them serves the same purpose as the media's unsavory focus on them and other malcontents like would-be book-burners - distracting us from issues of actual substance.

As far as what's wrong with our country, while I didn't come here to bury the government, there's no doubt that it plays a large part though for reasons beyond the obvious. Starting with Bush 43 & perpetuated by Obama, rather than pushing Americans to face the hard truths of being at war, with the sacrifices that should entail, our government almost goes out of its way to disguise this national condition.

That's not to say this surprises me. The wars were funded outside the budget for years, enabling both major parties to dodge hard choices while the deficit expanded. Meanwhile, cowards on both sides of the aisle in congress fell victim to the fallacy that allowing a tax cut that was ill-advised in the first place to expire is the same thing as raising taxes at a time when the need to get our fiscal house in order is greatest. In short, we have a government fit only for cowards.

I'll have some DeMint Tea please

Today's "how gullible does he think voters are?" award goes to South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint (photo at right). In his editorial in today's Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/17/AR2010091706454.html), while extolling the virtues of "tea party" candidates, DeMint lists a number of the administration's perceived failures. Among them, he cites the recently passed health-care reform bill.

To be sure, there are flaws in this bill, including some provisions that will personally impact my wallet, but DeMint is in fear-mongering mode here. He writes, "The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act hasn't made health care affordable. Instead, health insurance rates are rising." While there are indications that health care premiums are rising, trying to attach that to a bill whose major provisions have yet to take effect (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/23/AR2010032301714.html) is cynical posturing at its worst. I hope the electorate at large doesn't fall for it, though, I fear they will.

I take it on faith that there are a great many thoughtful and reasonable people who consider themselves Republicans. That said, when hateful nonsense like this is going on, not as the ramblings of a fringe group but rather from an official state party (and the GOP are champions of state versus federal, after all), I don't know how anyone who considers themselves reasonable and thoughtful can consider themselves a Republican.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gays_in_montana

Election Day (Round Two)

Lest anyone think I'm only interested in politics, let's turn the topic to music. Here are my five favorite political songs by Elvis Costello. Some are overtly political, particularly British politics, while others have gained political resonance with the passage of time. Some are among his best known, while others are a bit more obscure. Some are fantastic while others are just as good.

Pills and Soap: This standout from the somewhat lackluster album Punch the Clock is Costello at his most menacing. With a sparse, yet driving arrangement and lyrics that veer from the impressionistic ("ashtrays of emotion") to the starkly concrete ("give me the needle, give me the rope"), the song paints a bleak picture of a world where waking up is only the beginning of the nightmare.

Radio Radio: Three decades and numerous corporate mergers, culminating in more media outlets under the control of fewer and fewer people, have given this song even more dimension than when it was just the catchy song that got Costello banned from Saturday Night Live.

Less Than Zero: Oddly enough, the producers of SNL apparently had no problems with Costello playing this song. In fairness, most US listeners, they probably based their judgment on the so-called "Dallas version", where the Oswald in the lyrics was Lee Harvey Oswald rather than former British Union of Fascists leader Sir Oswald Mosley. Either way, the lyrics are among Costello's most pointed, even in comparison to other songs from his early albums.

Let Him Dangle: Inspired by the same true story as the film Let Him Have It, this song from 1989's Spike uses a gross miscarriage of justice as the springboard for Costello's musings about the political under-pinning of public outcries to revive the death penalty in England. Though the word-play is characteristically rich, the heart of the song is found in a fittingly blunt question. "If killing anybody is a terrible crime, why does this blood-thirsty chorus come 'round from time to time? Let him dangle?"

Tramp the Dirt Down: "When England was the whore of the world, Margaret was her madam." Suffice it to say, he wasn't talking about writer Margaret Atwood on this poison-pen letter, also from Spike.

Honorable mention would have to go to Costello's rendition of (What's So Funny `Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? from his 1979 album Armed Forces. Though he didn't compose the song, it's become so much associated with it that it belongs to him as much, if not more, than its writer Nick Lowe.

If you don't own these songs already, you owe it to yourself to (legally) download at least two of them.

Election Day (Round One)

It's a primary election day in some states (or areas that should have the same rights as states like the District of Columbia). If you're eligible/registered to vote, remember that it's your responsibility to exercise this hard-fought right.

Laughter Through the Tears

No politics today, we all should be just Americans today. In that spirit, here's something from the Onion that everyone who was appalled by the 9/11 terrorist attacks should be able to enjoy.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/hijackers-surprised-to-find-selves-in-hell,1445/

Something is happening, but you don't know what it is. Do you Mister Jones?

According to Pastor (and so-called Christian) Terry Jones, he's just "just a man trying to do what God has told us to do, which is to take the blinders off as to how dangerous and violent Islam is."


http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/florida-pastor-terry-jones-says-he-might-scuttle-planned-quran-burning/19628291

Sadly, the above story didn't include Jones' best laugh-line, uttered on the Today Show this morning" where he proclaimed that "Islam is killing people." There's no doubt that violent, reprehensible and one could even say godless acts have been committed in the name of Islam. We'll be commemorating some tomorrow. To say, though, that an entire religion is evil remains shocking to me. In a weird way, that may be a good thing, as I at least can say I'm not numb to the hateful depravity that's becoming all too common.

Happy New Year

Shana tova to those celebrating Rosh Hashanah. I hope the year ahead brings peace and prosperity, which encompasses an indirect hope that the results of the mid-term elections keep the democratic party (i.e. the one that cares about the prosperity of those making less than a quarter of a million dollars) in control of congress.

At War?

One idea that we as Americans should take to heart when people talk about America being at war is that very few of us can legitimately make that claim. As the saying goes, "the military is at war, America is at the mall." Certainly, mistakes have been made post-9/11, such as diverting our attention from Afghanistan to launch the boondoggle in Iraq, but I remain humbled by the dedication of our men in uniform.

Burn Baby Burn

Let's get this party started with a quick observation about the plans of a Florida church to observe the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Koran.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703713504575475500753093116.html

It's fascinating that this perverse remembrance and the plans to build a community center near (but not at) "Ground Zero" both exemplify the gulf between the idealism and the actuality of our constitution's 1st amendment. These groups absolutely have the right to do these things, and no true patriot would say otherwise. That said, that doesn't make it a good idea. I've always felt that maturity can be defined as an equilibrium between the knowledge of what one can do and the reasons why doing it may not be the right thing. Clearly, this kind of maturity is in short supply these days.