If We Amplify Everything We Hear Nothing

The best comedians approach their work with a great seriousness of purpose. In that light. Jon Stewart is surely one of the best. His "Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear" offered a great deal of humor, but it was often just as insightful in its serious turns. While some may think it sad that the political landscape has become so poisonous that a comedian is the most trustworthy individual in the news media, I prefer to think of it as a testament to the durability of America and the ideals upon which it was founded. We really are a stupid bunch, doing our best but still getting so much wrong, but our capacity to laugh at our folly and resolve to do better the next time around is what gives us the potential for greatness.

If the atomic bomb was Einstein's monster...

...then Mark Levin, who almost makes Rush Limbaugh seem like a voice of reason and moderation, is one of Goldwater's monsters. Obviously Barry Goldwater didn't himself bring people Levin into the public eye. However, as the godfather of the debased philosophy that calls itself modern conservatism, the notoriety of hate-mongers like Levin has its roots with war-mongers like Goldwater.

First Amendment Blues

When looking at a political faction like the "tea party", that prides itself on adherence to the Constitution, it's especially amusing to see their chosen ones display fundamental ignorance of that document. Case in point, in a recent debate Delaware Senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell questioned whether the United States Constitution actually outlines a separation between church and state.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101902501.html

For anyone who thinks I'm picking on O'Donnell and/or doesn't agree that virtually every public move she makes cries out for it, here is the first amendment of the Constitution.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

If people believe that the current political establishment isn't paying sufficient attention to the principles of the Constitution and want to replace those politicians through peaceful democratic elections, that is of course their right, but they should pick replacements wwith at least a passing knowledge of said document's contents.

An Obtuse Angle

There are so many things that make Sharon Angle just wrong as a candidate for any office with national policy implications that it's hard to pick just one. That said, the Nevada Senatorial candidate's assertion that there are parts of the country where Islamic Sharia law has taken over is perhaps the most amazing.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/10/why_did_sharron_angle_think_sh.html

It says a lot about the electoral headwinds against incumbents that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in a statistical tie with Angle.

Why Are The Democratic Candidates So Boring?

Putting aside the corrosive impact of the "tea party" on American politics, they deserve credit at least for backing colorful candidates. When you're up against the likes of Christine O'Donnell, Carl Paladino and Rick Iott, it's harder and harder to feel like San Francisco liberal darling Nancy Pelosi is in any meaningful way outside of the hum-drum mainstream of American culture. Seriously, the tea-party wing of the GOP has the congressional candidate who enjoys dressing up in a Nazi uniform, the evolution denier who would be senator and the gubernatorial candidate whose homophobic remarks may be some of the less offensive things he's said. Read the stories below and tell me how the democrats can compete with this.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tea-party-nazi-reenactor-rick-iott-defends/story?id=11845422

http://abcnews.go.com/News/christine-odonnell-evolution-myth/story?id=11721684

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2010_Elections/carl-paladino-gay-successful-option/story?id=11846967

Please democratic party, what good is winning the war of ideas if you lose the battle of media attention. Candidates like Christine (not a witch) O'Donnell, Carl (I'll take you out) Paladino and Rick (doesn't like the Nazi ideology, just digs the clothes) Iott may be bad for the country, but they're much better for the media circus that really makes the country go. Sadly, I suspect that the remainder of the election cycle will ignore boring, dedicated public servants like Barbara Mikulski and Chris Van Hollen. Then again, if people vote for those boring, dedicated public servants on election day, I guess I can live with it.

David Bowie's Weird & Wonderful Station to Station

Taking a side trip from politics into music, this week saw one of my favorite artists release a new edition of a favorite album.

While I'm still excited by new music, I'd be lying if I denied that reissues of beloved or overlooked albums are as often as not the ones to which I look forward the most. Perhaps it's something reflective in my nature that prizes rediscovery over the shock of the new. In any case, this week brings the latest (and likely best ever) edition of one of the most strangely wonderful albums ever to grace the upper reaches of the pop charts, David Bowie's 1976 album Station to Station.

It's unlikely that anyone will ever know for certain just what demons, chemical or otherwise, haunted Bowie during the making of this album. Even Bowie himself isn't quite sure, if the story that preceded his performance of the song Word on a Wing on his 1999 Storytellers performance is to be believed. Whatever the causes, the effect is undeniable. No other album in Bowie's 40-year achieved the same balance between accessibility (Golden Years was one of his few top 10 pop hits in America) and musical experimentation (the cryptic title song stands as one of Bowie's most ambitious works).

Interestingly, it's also an album that convinced at least a few doubters of Bowie's talent. Though he had previously dismissed Bowie's act as "Johnny Ray on cocaine singing about 1984", critic Lester Bangs conceded that Station to Station was a masterpiece that showed Bowie coming into his own as an artist. Bangs, who had previously criticized Bowie's lyrics as among the worst in pop music, went so far as to praise the emotional coherence the album's lyrics brought to its impressive musical mix of rock of rock and soul styles.

Among Bowie's (numerous) classic albums from the 1970s, Station to Station has been largely eclipsed by Low. While this isn't surprising, and there's much to enjoy about Low, this Bowie fan can't help but feel that at least a portion of the later album's acclaim derives at least as much from the mythology surrounding its making (not to mention his work with Iggy Pop) as from its artistic merits.

The latter notion is, of course, highly subjective speculation on a topic that resists certainty. While Bowie hasn't to my knowledge performed the whole album in sequence as he's done with Low, songs from Station To Station have found their way onto the set-lists of most of his tours since its release. This ongoing re-visitation, including such unique forums as Live Aid and the aforementioned Storytellers program, suggests that the artist himself certainly retained a fondness for the album.

What is certain is that the latest edition of Station to Station is a real gift to Bowie fans, more so even than the anniversary editions of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Not only does it include a re-mastered version of the original album, it also includes the full recording of Bowie's 1976 Nassau Coliseum concert. A couple songs from this show, which had been recorded for broadcast, were included on the 1991 Rykodisc version of Station to Station, and I'm thrilled to see the rest of the show get a proper release.

Interestingly, this points to one of the few good things to come out of Bowie's lack of new recordings since Reality in 2003. Whereas legitimate releases of live Bowie had been relatively sparse for most of his career, the last few years have brought concert recordings spanning three decades to CD. While I'd rather have new music from him, these opportunities for rediscovery are an undeniable pleasure.

A Nomination For Biggest Embarassment to America

Amazingly, my nominee for biggest embarrassment to America is not a politician. It is the Phelps family, whose protests at a gay soldier's funeral are the subject of an upcoming Supreme Court case testing the boundaries of free speech (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/30/AR2010093006323.html?sid=ST2010093006341). Something tells me the Phelpses do not fully appreciate that it was the sacrifices of their objects of scorn, both the soldier and his family, than enable them to spew their hateful and, yes, un-American, filth. Even in an election season dominated by apparent low-lifes like New York's Carl Paladino, their competition for worst people in America is pretty slim. Sadly, as gut-wrenchingly awful as their actions are, I am genuinely conflicted as to what the Supreme Court should do in this case.