Thursday, December 18, 2008

Rick Warren, Schmick Schmarren

No, I don't like him. Warren giving the invocation is an outrage, etc...
I'm serious, I really dislike him.
I dislike the idea of an "invocation" at a state event more. That's the kowtowing to the Christian right that I find most offensive. William Lloyd Garrison would wage secular jihad over such nincompoopery.

So, yeah. I guess I have a problem with Rick Warren giving the invocation at Obama's inauguration. But to me that's like having a problem with the curtains on the Hindenburg. It's valid, but in the grand scheme, it misses the point by a pretty wide margin.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Damn

I learned today, from Crooks and Liars, that Odetta has died. That sucks.
I became familiar with Odetta after watching an otherwise unremarkable documentary about Ramblin' Jack Elliot. There was a lot of music by luminaries such as Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, but all I really came away with was a need (yes, need) to pick me up some Odetta CD's. In the intervening few years I've never gone more than a few weeks without firing up some Odetta on my iPod. In fact, she was one of my main sources of study-music while I was in law school. And I did all right.
So here's to Odetta, and here's to you getting to experience the magic of her voice and her delivery if you've never before had the pleasure:


My Wonkette moment

Listening to this newly released Nixon telephone tape, I was struck mostly by the fact that Warren Burger's response to cases involving pornography was to "come out hard." Awesome.

But on a more serious note, I was actually astonished to hear Burger and Nixon chewing the fat, guffawing about first amendment jurisprudence, waxing wistful about the regrettable longevity of the liberals on the court.

Maybe I've led a sheltered existence wherein I believed the story that the Justices were implicitly telling me as they sat on their hands during State of the Union addresses, but this just struck me as a little crazy. I've read "The Brethren," so I'm not that naive (certainly not about Burger), but I have to admit, this recording kind of shocked me.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Just shut up already!

I'm actually not one of those dirty effin' hippy bloggers who got upset at the Democratic caucus for failing to punish Joe Lieberman. I don't like him, but I get it-I understand why it may be better not to punish Lieberman to the full extent possible.

But if he's learned any lesson from all of this, it should be to shut the hell up for a little while. For god's sake:

Shorter Joementum:

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Over

"______ of rivals."

That's right, it's over. Done. All of it. "Team of rivals," "cabinet of rivals," all of it. Over.

The mind-blowingly unimaginative news media has drained that construction of all of its usefulness and left only meaningless catchphrase useful only for identifying those that use it as superhacks.

The concept of staffing a cabinet with former adversaries is as good or bad an idea as it ever was. Nobody has done anything to the thing the now-dead phrase describes. But the phrase itself has been rendered lifeless by herd animal talking heads mouthing it somewhere around infinity times in the last two weeks.

Doris Kearns Goodwin should sue.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Gingrich on "gay and secular fascism."

It'd be nice to have republican commentators who actually had a reasonable grasp of this whole "republican form of government" thing:

Did you notice how Gingrich invoked the popular will here? That's cute. Our My old friend, James Madison, had something to say about it:
When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens. To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed...By what means is this object attainable? Evidently by one of two only. Either the existence of the same passion or interest in a majority at the same time must be prevented, or the majority, having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression.
-Federalist #10

Shorter Madison: Where fundamental rights are concerned, the popular will can pound sand.

Friday, November 14, 2008

For those of you keeping score at home

I found out today that I passed the New York State Bar exam. Assuming I can keep my nose clean for a few months, I'm gonna be a real live lawyer!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Strange music: The return!

This is the very definition of strange music. The Sun City Girls are probably my favorite band. 90-95% of their output was utterly unlistenable. The other 5-10% was pure, mad brilliance. Even much of the unlistenable dreck was brilliant in its own way. A live Sun City Girls show could be infuriating or rapturous-or both.

This song may be in the brilliant minority or it may be in the awful majority. I post, you decide.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

You still celebrating?

I am. I've been smiling all week.
We haven't undone the damage yet, but we have gone one step beyond the catastrophe that is the Bush years. And in that vein:

Yes, there is...



All you have to do is have a successor with some respect for the constitution.
Mission accomplished!

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Just in case you're wondering


We still live in a world where people ask Joe The Plumber&trade what he thinks about things. Fair warning.

(H/t Driftglass)

Friday, November 07, 2008

Seems appropriate

I little music for the end of a week like no other that I can remember:

Uh...ok

To the three of you who wound up here after googling "I'd rather vote for a dog than Obama" as well as anyone else who gets here later via the same route: Errrmmmm...welcome?

It's worth pointing out that the way things are going in the Republican Party these days, you are likely to get your chance in a little under four years.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

I'm gonna go ahead and pat myself on the back here

On September 3rd, I wrote this:
Is it possible that the McCain campaign (and more likely, the RNC) chose Palin as a means to save the Alaska senate seat for the Republicans?

I just saw Chuck Todd and John Harwood on MSNBC saying that the McCain campaign is touting a post-Palin bump in the polls in Alaska. They wondered why the campaign would have spent money on a poll in a state as solidly red as Alaska. But it occurs to me that even if the presidential race isn't exactly tight there (and the polls have been tighter than anyone would have guessed), putting Palin on the ticket would get Alaskan Republicans out to the polls, and potentially create some coat-tails for Ted Stevens.

Even if McCain loses, this could prevent the Democrat Mark Begich from capturing what before Senator Stevens's indictment, was considered a long shot victory in the Alaska senate race. I guess it makes some sense for the NRSC to stem the bleeding wherever possible.

I know it's exceedingly gauche to link to yourself (especially at such length), but I'm thinking I may just have been on to something there.

History's pivot

Remember this?

Realization

Every couple of minutes, I think "Obama's going to be President." And not in the hopeful, fingers-crossed way I have over the last year, but really, certainly. And I smile so big my face hurts. Holy hell. Barack Obama is going to be President of the United States of America.

Further signs of sanity

Looks like Marilyn Musgrave got bounced. Huzzah!

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Point of personal pride

Nevada just went blue. It's an Obama state. My parents were tireless Obama volunteers since the primaries. Today they were up at 5 to go monitor polls. As far as I'm concerned, my parents won Nevada for Obama. Thanks mom and dad!

Meanwhile

They are showing the scene outside the White House on MSNBC. All it's missing is torches and pitchforks.

Heave-ho, my man. We will shed no tears when you vacate the premises.

(On that note, I'm drinking beer tonight, but on inauguration day, it's fine, fine champagne all the way...)

I'm man enough to admit it

When MSNBC showed the jubilation in Ebenezer Baptist Church, I fell apart.


(AND WE WON FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

AAAAAAAnnnnnnd that's a wrap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CNN, MSNBC call the whole shootin' match for Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CNN calls Virginia for Obama

Let me pile on...

It's been said in many, many places and probably more eloquently than I can manage, but I'm going to repeat it:

Howard Dean is THE hero of the night. The strategy that got Obama the nomination, then won him the national election was Dean's (yes, I'm assuming California, Oregon and Washington will not go for McCain-I have a hunch). The 50 state strategy is Dean's jam and it won the presidency, the House, and the Senate for his party.

Tonight should be 80% Obama-hype and 20% Dean-hype. And the people who supported Harold Ford for party chairman in 2004 should feel mighty sheepish.

I'm an asshole, right?

I can't help but think how lucky we are that we nominated the electable candidate who was the favorite of low-education Appalachian whites.

Dodged that bullet.

/snark

South Dakota: only partly crazy!

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC just reported that South Dakota's second recent attempt to run the clock back on abortion rights has failed. Couldn't have happened to a nastier ballot measure.

(fingers still crossed on Prop. 8...)

So long theocrat!

Dole, eh? Can't say I'm sorry to see her take a hike.

This one's for you Liddy. And spread a little around to your theocrat friends:

Monday, November 03, 2008

Like Christmas Eve

I love voting. I always have. I'm a dork and a sap but I just love it. And I've never had the pleasure of voting for my first choice for President. Call it civic pride. Hell, I've never even voted for the winner in a presidential election and I've still always loved doing it.

But this time is different by an order of magnitude. I'm like a kid on Christmas eve. I'm going to wake up early enough to be at the poll site WAY before work-and I hate waking up early. I may not be able to sleep, though, so maybe it'll just be more a matter of getting up than waking up.

Either way, I can't wait.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Random non-politics thought of the day

When did Law and Order SVU become the most ridiculous show on television? The last few seasons have been a little far-fetched, but this season it's gone right off the rails. Did they get a new team of writers or something?

That about sums it up:

Fox News reporter: angry, rude, flustered.
Obama Spokesman: calm, on message, coherent.

'Nuff said.



Video via Sullivan.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Just a quick question

Do you think that people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Hugh Hewitt, the zealots at the Corner, et al will actually wait until the election is over to claim that McCain's poor showing (and whether he wins or loses, this is indeed a poor showing) is because he was insufficiently wingnutty?

It's obvious to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear that they will claim that McCain was too liberal and that if only Mitt Romney or someone more willing to be a fundamentalist/Minuteman sock puppet was the nominee, the race would have been over before the conventions. The only question is whether they will start up with that this week or actually wait until November 5th.

(Sorta) Defending Palin

John Cole has a post up at Balloon Juice where he outlines the beginning of the circular firing squad that will break out if Barack Obama wins the election. In short, old-school McCain staffers are beginning to blame the sorry state of their campaign on Palin.

Now, I'm not one to get in the way of someone throwing rhetorical brickbats at Governor Palin. However, I would like to point out that to whatever extent John McCain's problems are attributable to her, they are indeed his own fault. He chose her as his running mate (apparently) without vetting her at all. If members of his staff want to complain about her performance, they must remember that it never would have been an issue if she was still just the governor of Alaska.

To use a sports metaphor (at which I obviously excel): when an interception is run back for a touchdown, you can blame the guys who failed to tackle the runner all you want, but at bottom, the quarterback who threw the interception is the one most at fault.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Viva Red Hook is a no go!

I don't do this sort of thing that often, but I had a particularly memorable experience, so here I go:

The missus and I are incurable brunch machines. We don't eat dinner out that often, but we eat brunch out at least once a week. Often twice. We're not crazy, we just like eggs. And coffee. And the occasional flapjack.

So our neighbors tell us about this place called "Viva" in Red Hook (Brooklyn). It's tex-mex and apparently it's not half bad. Now we're both californios and have pretty much given up on good Mexican food in New York. But we still hold out hope for decent Mexican food.

So we head to Red Hook (a feat-but we are the rare New Yorkers with a car, so it's not so hard). We see that Viva has a sign up and from the looks of the sign, the place is gonna be alright.

But it ain't. We walk in and the joint's empty. The host/waiter looks astonished to see anyone in there. So be it. We order coffee. He informs us that they don't have coffee. I silence the obvious rejoinder "then you don't serve brunch, do you?" Instead we order our chilaquiles and I walk out the door and up the street to grab some coffee from Baked.

I get back and we eventually get our chilaquiles. When done right, chilaquiles is god's own dish. It's best described as breakfast nachos, but it's way better than nachos ever could be. It is nothing less than the perfect Mexican breakfast. And in the face of huevos rancheros and huevos a la mexicana, that's saying something. But these chilaquiles were not. done. right. Not even close. The soggy slop that was put in front of us would have caused a duel in less civilized times.

We ate as much as we could choke down, waited to see our waiter again (never did-I'm pretty sure he felt the appropriate amount of shame at laying that crap in front of us) and eventually left a little cash and booked.

Not cool. Let me put this as plainly as I can: IF YOU DO NOT SERVE COFFEE YOU DO NOT GET TO ADVERTISE YOURSELF AS A BRUNCH ESTABLISHMENT. And if you serve sloppy, floppy, nasty crap and call it chilaquiles, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

W.

I saw the movie W. last night. It was sorta funny in parts. The people in the theater certainly guffawed. But I hated it.

It made me feel filthy. I laughed at some points. Josh Brolin did a magnificent job: he evoked George W. Bush without engaging in caricature. The acting was generally very good, in fact. Whoever it was who played Condoleeza Rice is the exception: she was an unbelievable farce and it was hard to watch her.

But the acting wasn't the problem. It was the movie itself: the writing, the directing, the whole awful conception.

I don't know when I became such a stick-in-the-mud killjoy, but I found the campy, farcical tone of the movie offensive. Understand, it takes a lot to offend me. And I certainly have no sentimental feelings about George W. Bush. But I was offended as hell.

When I think about the American soldiers who've died in Iraq, the people left to rot on their rooftops and in the Superdome after Katrina, I don't find the George W. Bush oedipal psychodrama funny. When I ponder the fact that my government tortures people, that it routinely eavesdrops on its on citizens' phone calls and internet communications without a warrant or the faintest whiff of probable cause, I don't feel like laughing.

I recognize that there's a time for laughing at tragedy. I understand that there's room for broad comedy in the face of tragedy. But this was all wrong. I don't even know exactly why. I have a black sense of humor. I love me some South Park and Monty Python and The Kids In the Hall. But the pitch of W. is just off. It's not serious enough to be a serious critique, like Oliver Stone's Nixon and it's not broad enough to be a total farce like Little Bush.

It was just...uncomfortable. And off. And wrong. I laughed at moments-and I was ashamed I had.

Maybe the movie does a service. It puts the deadly seriousness of the catastrophe that Bush has been in clear relief. I knew I was angry before I saw that movie. I knew I was indignant. I knew I was determined not to abet those that would repeat Bush's mistakes.

I guess I didn't know that I was also very, very sad.

And I am.

I have a great deal of hope for the next administration, but goddamn...what have we done?

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

From the assignment desk


Please, I beg of you. I implore you. You, the savvy photoshopper. You, the video wizard. Please, for the love of god and all that's holy, do something with the posters (above) and/or Ennio Morricone's theme song to the movie "Machine Gun McCain." The lyrics are just begging for it. And Morricone doesn't make songs that sound less than awsome. SERIOUSLY!!! I lack the skill and time, but you can do it! Nay, you MUST do it! Make me proud!

Reaction, schmeaction


I could say a lot, I guess. Instead, I'll just let the image above say what I thought. (h/t Sullivan).

Thursday, October 02, 2008

My own debate reaction

Let me just point out at the outset of this post that I am not entirely sober. I was following my own drinking game (see below), and while it wasn't exactly a liver-smasher, it was enough when combined with my own extracurricular sipping (I do love that Racer 5) to leave me unsafe to drive. But thankfully, there's no breathalizer test for blogging...

My own reaction is that the debate was a wash. I think Biden sounded better altogether, but I'm the choir he was preaching to. Palin didn't fall on her ass but she looked a little stiff. Biden didn't do anything stupid but he didn't deliver any knockout blows. The people I was watching with really wanted to see him lay the smack down. I kept saying that he simply needed to stay calm and static at the level where he ordinarily lives (high competence). As long as Biden didn't blow it, and Palin didn't dazzle, the night was good for the campaign surging in the polls.

and so it went. Biden humanized himself without pandering or looking like he was trying to do so. Palin talked in complete sentences without having to punt on any questions. That was all they had to do to keep things in stasis. And stasis is a good place for the Obama campaign.

One thing that Biden did well, that I would advise Obama-favoring pundits to do (myself included-yay for the internet, I'm a pundit!), was to keep the focus on John McCain. Palin's a distraction. She's only relevant insofar as her presence on the ticket reflects on McCain's ability to make good decisions in clutch situations. It's all about McCain, and Palin's performance tonight didn't do anything to erase the Couric-interview-based indications that McCain did a bad job on the first major presidential decision he was faced with.

In other words, I feel alright tonight. And I don't expect that good feeling to dissipate.

Biden and Palin are bad for your liver!

Two things I like: drinking beer and watching debates (and we're almost out of beer...).
So I've devised a drinking game for use with the VP debate tonight. I'll be sipping (or chugging depending on the breaks), Racer 5 IPA. Choose your weapon as your tastes dictate, belly up, flip on the tube, say a little prayer for the future of the nation, and play...

Uncle Jiminy's VP Debate Boozestravaganza!

1) If Biden mentions his son going to Iraq, take a drink.
2) If Palin mentions her son going to Iraq, take a drink.
3) If Palin says "thanks but no thanks" take a drink.
4) If Palin has a Marge Gunderson moment ("...I'll bring 'em to ya'"), take 2 drinks (this is obviously subjective and will lead to delightful arguments with your debate watching partners).
5) Any time anyone says "9/11" take a drink.
6) Any time Biden mentions the Violence Against Women Act, take a drink.
7) If Biden mentions McCain is a craps player, take two drinks.
8) Any time anyone says "Scranton," take a drink.
9) Any time anyone constructs a sentence around the Wall St. vs. Main St. dichotomy, take a drink.
10) If Palin punts on a question ("let me get back to you on that") drain your drink and pour another.
11) Any time Biden says "Sarah" or "Governor Palin," take 2 drinks.
12) If Biden walks from behind his podium and approaches Palin (a la Rick Lazio against Hillary Clinton in 2000), drain your drink, pour yourself another, drain that one, then pour yourself another.
13) If Gwen Ifill asks Palin why she hasn't had a press conference, everybody clinks glasses and shouts "huzzah!"
14) If Palin says "Barack Hussein Obama," drain your drink and pour another.

These rules should lead to a pleasant glow or alcohol poisoning depending on how things go and your hooch of choice. Enjoy, and be careful out there kids.

Just a speech

This speech by Barack Obama today is remarkable. He actually manages to coherently explain why the bail out package before Congress is important for everyday workers and employers. The credit market matters because it enables everything from car loans to lines of credit that businesses use to meet payroll every month.

I don't know enough about the world of finance to know if the bail out package is the best solution, so I'm ambivalent about it. I'm also very disheartened that after two Bush administration terms I cannot trust anything coming out of any politician's mouth. Even when terms like "catastrophe" and "meltdown" are used, I can't trust "leaders" in Washington on vital, super-complex issues because I've seen them lie and manipulate fear and hyperbole to sell stupid, dangerous courses of action.

It is in crises like these that we need to be able to trust our leaders at a basic level. I've never been one to blindly follow politicians' advice even when I generally like their points of view, but I am hopelessly unable to operate on a "trust but verify" basis, because I really have no means with which to verify what they are saying. In times like these, a baseline level of political legitimacy is vital. And we don't have it. So people are left with nothing but fear and suspicion. And we currently have a president who can't be trusted and can't coherently explain why he is proposing what he is proposing.

The first step to getting that legitimacy back is having someone in office who can string sentences together in a sensible way. In other words, sometimes speeches do matter. Barack Obama shows here how giving a good speech actually performs a vital function of governing.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Memo to McCain:

The word "failure" contains an "L." It is pronounced "fayl-yur" not "fay-yur."
That is all.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Help me out here...

There is a certain segment of the population that will watch this video and still think the McCain campaign didn't show themselves to be a dangerously impulsive pack of incompetents by choosing Sarah Palin as their VP nominee. Then there are people like me who will laugh so hard they almost throw up-then be so bone-deep petrified at the prospect of this whoopie-cushion of a nominee being so close to the Oval Office she can almost smell Richard Nixon's boozy breath lingering in the air that they actually throw up.

One group is right and one group is so wrong that they should never be trusted on any matter ever again. I'm solidly in the latter category, so I have no objectivity left. I don't have a perch from which to make sober assessments. So help me out. Watch the video and tell me if my terror or their glee is the rational response.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Laughable

John McCain's "suspension" of his campaign and his attempt to postpone the debate is absurd. This will be the thing that people focus on when they try to figure out where it all went wrong. It's a shame, really, because the question of where it all went wrong will be one with a longer, more detailed, and way more illuminating answer.

If you need a recommendation of where to go for sharp analysis of this BS, I recommend following the shenanigans over at TPM.

Update: Jed sums up my feelings about as well as someone living outside of my head can:
What we are witnessing right now is what a McCain presidency would be like -- herky jerky, bouncing from crisis to crisis, overreacting at every step.

It's taken him exactly ten days to go from the economy is strong to we're heading into the Great Depression and must stop the campaign.

But nothing has changed other than the polls, and that's why it's impossible to take this gamble seriously.

McCain can see that he cannot win the presidency unless the campaign narrative changes dramatically, so he's decided to roll the dice.

After all his talk of bipartisanship, John McCain has decided to make an intensely political move. He does not have a plan, but he's willing to drag the country through his personal drama, no matter the cost, just so that he might win the presidency.

McCain wants to demonstrate his leadership skills, but instead he's demonstrating beyond any doubt that he is temperamentally unfit to be president.


I believe it's called "flailing."

Monday, September 22, 2008

The dreamlife of a crazy man

"No one wants to hear what you dreamt about, unless you dreamt about...them..."

-Built to Spill, Made Up Dreams

So I'm still in California. Northern, now (Oakland to be exact). I'm crashing on a friend's couch. Maybe this partly explains the oddity of the dream I had last night. But mostly, I think it's just that I'm a little nuts.

In this dream I was hanging out at Sarah Palin's house with her kids. They weren't her real kids, or her real house (as far as I know), but I just knew that was the situation like you do in dreams. I was apparently a high school classmate of one of Palin's daughters. Whether I was dreaming a made up adolescence in Alaska or the Palins had been relocated to early 90's Orange County, I don't know.

Either way, I was aware (again, as you often are aware in dreams about unstated things) that Palin's daughter had a crush on me that I didn't share. But she was my friend and I thought she was a very nice girl. So we're hanging out and Sarah Palin is basically just a presence in the background talking to official-looking people in the other room. The daughter asks me if I want to go check out the "grow room." When I say "OK," she makes me swear not to tell anyone about this. I agree.

So we go into this room off of the kitchen that is more like a cinderblock warehouse. It is filled with marijuana plants in terra cotta pots. There is also a swimming pool near the door and a bunch of garbage bags full of cultivated, dried out, weed, ready to smoke or sell.

As the daughter is pulling buds out of one of the trash bags to show me the quality, Sarah Palin and the officials she'd been talking to walk in. She looks like she does on the stump and they are dressed in conservative but sharp gray suits.

Sarah Palin yells at the daughter that she knows this place is off limits and to get the hell out. We leave, and the daughter tells me again that I have to promise not to tell anyone and that I should go.

As I'm leaving, I'm thinking that I made a promise to this girl whose only misstep was to have a crush on me, so I really should just keep this under my hat. But then I think, revealing the grass-growing operation could finally sink the McCain candidacy, so I almost have to spill the beans. But then again, I think, I don't really have a problem with people growing pot, so it would be massively hypocritical of me to let it out. Besides who can I tell? I can't trust the cops because they want McCain to win, so they'll just hush it up. I don't know any reporters, and they can't prove that the operation exists even if I do.

Then it dawns on me that the gray-suited men are going to remove any trace of the grow room and then probably hunt me down and kill me.

Then I woke up.

Make of that what you will, but I think it was a delightfully surreal way to spend a short spell of unconsciousness. At the very least it tells me that I have a truly massive ego and that I need to avoid eating burritos at night.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Let's hope so



This photo is from an anti-Palin rally in Alaska. That about says it all.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Some music

I post this for no other reason than because it's really, really great. I'm a huge Johnny Cash fan and an almost equally huge John Hartford fan, and I've never been hipped to this. I now have and so have you. Enjoy...

For your consideration

I've been on another vacation the last few days (oh the benefits of a late start date at work...). I'm in California, currently in Orange County where I grew up. Next week I'll be in the Bay Area, where I lived before moving to New York (and where I will in all likelihood wind up again at some point).

I really don't have a lot to add to the accelerating media narrative of John McCain being a liar. He just is, dammit, and thankfully the idea seems to be sinking in.

What I do have to add is a plea on behalf of Debbie Cook. She's the current mayor of Huntington Beach, where I grew up, and she's running for congress against Dana Rohrbacher. He's been in congress since before I moved away and he's been a boil on the ass of our republic for a long time.

Orange County is a weird place. It's an island of right-wingeriness in the middle of California. But it's not Mississippi. I grew up here (I say "here" because I'm in OC now) and I'm not a dittohead. I know a lot of people here who are anything but conservative. If the voters of Orange County can pull it together enough to kick B-1 Bob Dornan to the electoral curb, they can give Rohrbacher his walking papers. And in Debbie Cook, I believe the perfect opportunity to do just that has presented itself.

Cook is not only better than Rohrbacher (faint praise indeed), she would be a truly stellar member of Congress. The House of Representatives would be a better place for her influence by several orders of magnitude.

So, if you can kick a little cash her way, please do. She could use it and it would be such a kick in the Republicans' collective groin take back the California 46th. Also, if you're in a safe Obama state and your Congressional district would sooner secede from the union than go Republican, please consider putting Debbie Cook on your "volunteer time to put in on election day" list. I know I will and I personally can't wait to crow about Rohrbacher, the torture apologist, getting his electoral comeuppance in November.

Friday, September 12, 2008

"Charlie"

Maybe I'm juvenile, but when I see the clips from Sarah Palin's interview with Charlie Gibson

I keep thinking of this:

"In what respect, Chaaaaarrrrrlie?"

Thursday, September 11, 2008

This is telling

This interview with Bob Woodward stood out for me for a lot of obvious reasons. One of the most frightening things revealed is that George W. Bush apparently thinks winning a counterinsurgency is a simple matter of tallying up the dead on both sides. Whoever's number is lowest wins. Never mind pesky things like blowback and creating more insurgents/terrorists by the very methods that sort of mindset argues in favor of. Watch the whole thing:


H/T Crooks and Liars.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

I'm Danger Zone Johnny and I have the integrity of a hyena

It seems pretty clear to me at this point that the McCain campaign is trying to bring this campaign into the swamp of personal animosity. They certainly have done so on their side. They have opted for a strategy of trying to make this a tit-for-tat poop-flinging contest. That allows Obama's central theme of being a grownup running to fix serious problems to be diluted or destroyed. If that happens, all there is to argue about is experience as the McCain campaign defines it. That is not winning ground for Obama.

1. This is not surprising. McCain has hired Karl Rove proteges to run his campaign. That's what they do.

2. McCain desperately needs to keep this campaign away from issues. He will lose on the issues. When large majorities of Americans disapprove of President Bush and McCain wants to adopt essentially all of his policies-the issues are not his friends. When McCain refuses to support updating the GI Bill to have it actually help returning veterans in a meaningful way-issues are not his friends.

So, yeah. McCain does not want this election to be about issues.

3. When you want to keep an election away from issues, you lie, insult, and try to get the other guy to do the same thing. McCain has done just that. From the repeated outright lying on this "bridge to nowhere" nonsense, to his latest ad about Obama wanting to teach kindergarteners about the finer points of fellatio, he's dragging this one into the depths of the political scum swamp.

4. What to do? Let him. John McCain has built his political persona on being above this hyper-partisan, red-meat-for-the-salivating-base approach. And while Democrats have been shouting from the rooftops that McCain is not that person anymore, nothing proves the point like ol' Danger Zone himself hopping into the Rove wallow and snorting about in the filth for all to see. The Republicans have gone to that well too many times, and it's simply not full enough to do it for them anymore. All it's going to do this time around is prove our point.

Moreover, Obama built his primary victory on superior organizing on the ground and that's where this one's going to be won as well. All of the polls people are fretting about are based on tried and true methods but we are dealing with a vastly larger voter pool this time around. I believe that the polls are showing this race to be tighter than it actually is. After all, in the Democratic primaries in every state in the union the turnout was record breaking. And since May, the Obama campaign has been working hard to register even more voters in every state. I don't think Obama's confident smile as he was being interviewed by Keith Olbermann the other night was unfounded optimism or a veneer. I think he has faith in the campaign apparatus he's built. And so do I.

So by all means, get mad. Call McCain out as the liar and Bush clone he is. Call him "unfit for high office," as he surely is. But more importantly, help out in the push to register voters. Give money to the campaign so they can organize teams of election monitors and lawyers to keep those registration gains on election day. If you're tapped out, do some phone banking. But most importantly, don't get lost in gloom based on what some polls say. As The Littlest Gator over at the Group News Blog says: "Dammit dig in and fight harder. There is a long tradition of Liberals in American fighting for what is right, what is good for the people, what is fair and kind and what just makes sense." Remember that. If the people who brought you the forty hour work week, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and female suffrage persevered in the face of brickbats and lynchings, we can stiffen our spines in the face of some tight polling numbers and make the change we want to see happen.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Talk to me Goose

This video about sums it up. And I will henceforth refer to John McCain as John "Danger Zone" McCain.
See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Know any women swayed by Palin?

Here's what you tell 'em: Under her mayorship, the town of Wasilla forced rape victims to pay for their forensic medical tests. It saved the taxpayers money, you see. Except for the taxpayers who were raped. And the other taxpayers that were raped because the original rapists weren't brought to justice because the victim couldn't afford to collect the evidence to prosecute. Yeah, she's like a pit bull alright...the kind that eats children.

Friday, September 05, 2008

A little late night TV

I'm watching Real Time with Bill Maher and there are 2 things that really stand out to me:

1) Michael Steele has a profound problem with logical reasoning (or at least doesn't mind if viewers think so). He basically said that Sarah Palin being a mother and a coach is relevant experience for the job of Vice President of the United States, while Obama being a community organizer is not relevant experience for the office of President. Sharp as a beach ball.

2) There was a brief clip of Dan Savage talking to Tucker Carlson and Carlson was leaning away like Savage had smallpox and halitosis. Usually "homophobia" doesn't refer to actual terror, but Carlson is clearly homophobic in that he is phobic about homos. He's also a tool, but for my current purpose, that's neither here nor there.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Yes, please

...in which Joe Biden calmly and cogently explains that any crimes by members of the Bush administration will be pursued after they leave office. Here's hoping this isn't mere puffery and that it isn't contingent on any particular election outcome.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

A quick thought about the Palin pick

Is it possible that the McCain campaign (and more likely, the RNC) chose Palin as a means to save the Alaska senate seat for the Republicans?

I just saw Chuck Todd and John Harwood on MSNBC saying that the McCain campaign is touting a post-Palin bump in the polls in Alaska. They wondered why the campaign would have spent money on a poll in a state as solidly red as Alaska. But it occurs to me that even if the presidential race isn't exactly tight there (and the polls have been tighter than anyone would have guessed), putting Palin on the ticket would get Alaskan Republicans out to the polls, and potentially create some coat-tails for Ted Stevens.

Even if McCain loses, this could prevent the Democrat Mark Begich from capturing what before Senator Stevens's indictment, was considered a long shot victory in the Alaska senate race. I guess it makes some sense for the NRSC to stem the bleeding wherever possible.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman


H/T Al Giordano

By way of explanation

Obviously, I'm back. And just as obviously, I was gone from ye olde blogosphere for a little while.

But contrary to Brendan's (AKA my only reader-holla!) suggestion, I have not lost my will to blog.

I had very good reasons not to be blogging for a few months. First, I had to deal with the last set of exams of my law school career. Studying for them and taking them took a few weeks (BTW, all was well and I graduated magna cum laude). From there and through the end of July, I was studying for and taking the New York Bar Exam. A more diabolical test of one's ability to soldier on through boredom and monotony has yet to be devised. But after the exam was out of the way, the missus and I embarked on a weeks-long road trip through the south. Fourteen states, 3500 miles, and several tons of the best food I've ever eaten later, and here I am. I may have more to say about that later, but for now let me just say that I love barbecue, fried chicken, bourbon, road trips, and Mrs. Jilliker, so it was one hell of a way to end the summer.

That explanation out of the way, I have the month of September free before I start work, so I should be much more prolific in the coming weeks. Clearly I've come back at a good time.

...and Lieberman...

All I can think of as I watch Joe Lieberman speak is the poor Connecticut sucker who voted for him in 2006 hoping he would act like a Democrat. That guy's gotta be pissed.

update (10:48 EDT):
Speaking of irony, the crowd who only two hours before were shouting huzzahs and hosanas at the President now shouting approval at Lieberman's praise of bi (and non) partisanship.

On watching the RNC

As I watched Fred Thompson go through the story of John McCain's time as a POW I was struck most by the audience shots. The same people with tears running down their faces are the same hooting troglodytes that are first to the barricades anytime anyone has the temerity to insinuate that our military should stop torturing the prisoners in our military prisons.

And their faces betray no trace of appreciation of the irony. If it wasn't the very definition of the word tragic, it would be funny.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Deathwatch

I've removed the HIllary Clinton Campaign Deathwatch widget from the site.

This is because I disagree strongly with any assessment that has her chances above 0%, and because it's essentially run its course-no reason to salt the wound.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Strange music of the day

This is a surprisingly catchy remix of the Bill O'Reilly freakout that's been making the rounds (and my day). I would actually dance to this. Perhaps that's one of the reasons nobody has ever asked me to DJ at their dance club.

NOTE: This is not safe for work. It contains many iterations of the naughty "F" word. Consider yourself warned. And rocked.

(h/t Andrew Sullivan)

The marriage opinion

I'm just as happy as I could possibly be that the Supreme Court of California ruled in favor of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

I'm reading through the lengthy opinion and I may have more to say about it later, but for now, one big thing stands out: The Court consistently refers to marriage itself as establishing a family.

Too often, as a result of the social conservatives' influence on our discourse about family issues, we talk about "family" in terms of parents and children. Families are undoubtedly about parents and children, but they are not only about parents and children.

Talking as though they are has allowed the opponents of marriage equality to claim that their opposition has something to do with the inability of same sex couples to procreate. It's a clever argument, but it's wrong and it's a ruse. But the ruse is a clever one because it allows the debate to proceed on grounds that don't call into question the religious motivation of marriage equality opponents.

Being upfront about the fact that they are motivated by religious doctrines (even widely believed religious doctrines) would open social conservatives up to the legitimate counterargument that they are advocating theocracy. Of course they don't want to argue on those grounds because they will lose. I do recognize that some are quite up front about their theocratic preferences and that the old "America is a Christian nation" argument is just a thinly veiled argument for theocracy. But those that are up front about it are marginal figures and the "America is a Christian nation" crowd at least has to dress their theocracy pig in a historical prom dress before dragging its stinky ass into the living room. That shows, if not shame, at least some awareness of the fact that a blunt appeal for theocracy won't work.

But the California Supreme Court, by referring to married, childless couples as families has helped to shut that nonsense up. And I couldn't be happier. The same sex couples I know are no less worthy than my wife and I of the joys, obligations, protections, and pains in the ass a marriage brings. And for that matter, my wife and I are no more or less a family than anybody walking by with their kid in a stroller.

This just in!

President George W. Bush is an a-hole who says foolish, damaging things at inappropriate times!

Stop the presses!

Yeesh, talk about your "dog bites man" stories...

(Also: Joe Lieberman's with W on this one. That's about as surprising as the sun rising in the east.)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Strange Music of the Day

If Ennio Morricone was skydiving and his parachute failed, causing him to land at terminal velocity on the roof of a jeepney carrying Deicide, which then rolled off the road and down a hill, crashing on top of a gamelan troupe on psychedelic mushrooms, Secret Chiefs 3 would result.

Actually, a bloody and noisy catastrophe would result. But if a metaphorical Ennio Morricone was skydiving...

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Not to pile on, but...

From Senator Clinton's speech last night:

Thank you, Indiana. Thank you. Not too long ago, my opponent made a prediction. He said I would probably win Pennsylvania. He would win North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tie-breaker. Well, tonight we've come from behind, we’ve broken the tie, and thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White House.

The shorter version? "Joementum!"

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Thought for today

From Al Giordano at the Field:
In the coming weeks, Obama will pick up a few more states, and he will lose a few, too (nothing is more annoying these days than the Chicken Little proclamations by some Obama supporters that the sky will fall if he loses, say, Indiana: that has zero basis in reality; the sun will still come up the following day, and he’ll be even closer to the nomination in delegate math). But the overriding dynamic is already bigger than can be affected by the momentum coming out of a particular state, and the movement continues toward Obama.

I share Al's irritation with the "chicken littles." It's about delegate math, and Pennsylvania, while not a win, actually put Obama closer to the nomination by taking the largest remaining pile of delegates and votes off of the table without a huge blowout for Clinton.

Indiana, however it comes out, will likely be the same. Then the next biggest state. Then the next. It's a long, drawn out process, but that's how it works and by not conceding a bunch of states, Obama set himself up to win it. It looks like that plan is working.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Strange Music of the Day

I have been quite lame about posting this last week. I have a great excuse, though: I finished off my last semester's worth of law school classes and have been prepping for my last semester's worth of exams. There's much to be said about the subjects I usually post about, but after a week wallowing in the mire of trusts and estates, criminal procedure, first amendment jurisprudence and advanced intellectual property, I'm afraid it would come out quite incoherently.

I can post another installment of our delightful "Strange Music" series, though.
This one comes from India. It's "Jaan Pehechan Ho" by Mohammed Rafi. It's featured on the soundtrack to the movie "Ghost World" and I think it's one of the best damned songs ever. The video from the movie it originally appeared in is likewise without peer. Please understand that I am in no way kidding when I say I long to be able to dance (and dress) like that. Enjoy.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Note to Obama's advance team:

Having three frat-bro-looking guys in Abercrombie & Fitch shirts standing right behind the candidate as he gives a speech just looks weird. You should probably try to prevent it in the future.

Note to frat-bro-looking guys behind Senator Obama as he was giving his speech: You really couldn't turn the smirk machine off for even a few minutes?

Yeesh. Those guys looked like plants designed to look like updated versions of a young George W. Bush.

Update: We have a photo (god bless the internet, eh?)

Terry McAuliffe must be dizzy!

The RPMs on Terry McAuliffe's spin are off the charts.
Of course he's denying that Obama's delegate lead is all but insurmountable; that's to be expected. Of course he's downplaying the fact that Pennsylvania was never expected to be anywhere near close; he has to (and we still don't know what the actual margin will be).

But he just said that the Obama campaign has "thrown kitchen sink after kitchen sink" at Clinton. Wha...?! It's not the pot calling the kettle black-it's the pot calling the kettle a pot!

Nothin'

I tried to ignore the primary coverage and just study for my upcoming exams tonight. I told myself I was going to leave the TV off altogether.

I lasted until about 8:10. And lo and behold...nothin. I can only assume that's minor good news for Obama.

Looks like it could be a long night.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

A noun a verb and the Hanoi Hilton

John McCain was on This Week with George Stephanapoulos today and further convinced me that whatever integrity he may have once had is gone.
When asked about Elizabeth Edwards' criticism of him on health care, which included the point that he has had his health care tab picked up by the U.S. government his entire life, McCain said:
It’s a cheap shot, but I did have a period of time where I didn’t have very good government health care. I had it from another government. (LAUGHTER)

This is ridiculous. Not normal ridiculous, either. It's up to Giuliani levels of ridiculousness. Driftglass is spot-on in his characterization of the remark as
...all but saying that government-run health care sucks because...uh...I was tortured by the North Vietnamese 40 years ago.

My friend. hehehe.
We get it. he was a POW. That doesn't mean his health care (non)plan or his Bush III economic policy will be good things for the country.

In fact, it means very little at all, other than that John McCain suffered bravely and excessively in a war we shouldn't have been in.

The fact that he's so gung ho to keep putting more men and women in the same situation shows that for all of his bravery, he lacks a more important qualifying trait: Judgment. That lack of judgment shows in his domestic proposals as well.

What McCain doesn't lack is a cynical willingness to inject the fact of his having been tortured into every discussion of every issue for which he's being criticized.

Except, of course, the one issue where it could do some good.

See the This Week segment here at crooks and liars.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Strange Music of the Day

Someone appended a youtube snippet of "The War Room" that featured a debate exchange between Jerry Brown and Bill Clinton to a comment over at The Field. It was a good reminder that it was ever thus.
It also brought to mind the brilliant Dead Kennedys song, "California Uber Alles."

It does indeed rock. It is in fact made with a rather conventional lineup of instruments played in more or less standard ways.
Nonetheless, "California Uber Alles" simply must fit under any rational definition of "strange music" I or anyone else can come up with. Enjoy:

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

She's got nerve anyway

I gotta give it to Clinton, she's got some nerve.
She has the stones to go after Obama for his "connections" to William Ayers, which essentially amount to sitting on the board of a charity with the guy. Under other circumstances, that might be a "whatever" moment. But these are not other circumstances. They are the very strange circumstances that obtain in this strangest of primary seasons.

And those circumstances include Clinton having sat on Wal-Mart's board of directors (enthusiastically) with John Tate, the virulently anti-labor executive VP.

Pardon me, I meant John "Labor unions are nothing but blood-sucking parasites living off the productive labor of people who work for a living" Tate.
(*Ahem*)


This is Wal-Mart, a corporation that has come to embody that anti-labor sentiment. And as pointed out in the video above, even while she was on the board, it was pretty clearly bad on labor and trade. And she praised "our company" for its ability to do what it does better than anyone else. When what "it does" is screw workers (here and abroad!).

Yes, Clinton's repudiated Wal-Mart's anti-labor actions, but if she's going to get in Obama's face about who he served on boards of directors with, she should be given the same treatment.

Update: The more I think of it, there seems to be a subtext along the lines that Obama sitting on the charity board with Ayers is something that McCain can take him on about, whereas Clinton's participation in a virulently anti-labor enterprise like Wal-Mart won't be on the table since Republicans agree with the Wal-Mart position. It would still be fair game in the "where do you get off lecturing us on fair labor and trade policy when you sat on the Wal-Mart board with Tate" sense. But leaving that aside, ceding ground to Republicans on as important (and quintessentially Democratic) a set of issues as labor and fair trade is not something I relish our nominee having to do. But I'm silly like that.

Debate:

That debate was...um...to put it bluntly, crap.
A debate where lapel pins are brought up, but not torture, is essentially worthless.
I see that I agree with Olbermann on that.
And I also don't think it was Obama's finest hour. But he didn't need it to be. He's winning already won.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Exactly.

John Stewart nails the absurdity of this whole "Obama's an elitist" dustup:

(Well, dammit. Since I don't seem to be having any luck embedding this video of Stewart explaining [hilariously] that an elitist is what we need after 8 years of a President who is no better qualified for the office than any randomly-chosen one of your neighbors., you can view it here.)

A little elitism is a good thing. Put another way:

Monday, April 14, 2008

In a perfect world...

From Hardball last week:
"Isn't that interesting, Senator Casey, that Barack Obama, your candidate, can walk before 15000 people with complete calm and assurance, but he seems a little out of place in A) a bowling alley and B) a diner. What is the problem with your guy?"
(see video at 1:35)


In a perfect world, Senator Casey's response to Chris Matthews' question would be something along the lines of "No, Chris, it isn't interesting. It isn't even noteworthy, much less relevant. And you are an embarrassment."
Or maybe just a long yawn and some blinking would have been more appropriate. I guess that'd just be too elitist.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Strange Music of the Day

As you may have guessed, this will not be a daily feature.
It will, however, always be awesome. And strange in one way or another.
Here's a strange and wonderful song by Woody Guthrie (and don't think it's easy to make that noise like that, either-it's not).

VP Hagel?

Marc Ambinder has given his short list of VP candidates for McCain and Obama (what, no Clinton? Let's just say that ship has sailed...).

On the Obama list is Chuck Hagel, Republican Senator from Nebraska.

Now, Chuck Hagel's a decent enough senator, for a Republican. But Chuck Hagel is a Republican! Keep in mind that one of the key things a Vice President does is wait around to run for President in eight years. That's why people accept the offer-being the de facto incumbent carries significant advantages in name recognition and credit-taking for a successful administration.

Cheney being too infirm to run (you do realize that's the only reason, right?), and Gore having run away from Clinton's accomplishments (and scandals) were seriously anomalous. And Quayle was...well...Quayle-and all he had to run on was his name, which had become a joke and the legacy of Bush I, which the voters rejected after one term. He was even too young to have any Reagan residue left over on his suit. So of course he went nowhere in 1996 or 2000.

But don't let all that recent VP electoral failure blind you to the reality that there is a significant advantage for a Vice President entering a presidential race. Bush I, Ford, Nixon, LBJ, Truman-all were VP's, and they make up 45% of the Presidents since 1950. There isn't any position that has a better pre-presidential track-record.

I don't want Obama to give anyone who will appoint Scalias, Robertses, Alitos, or Thomases a leg-up in the race to be his successor. Besides, this race will be freighted with enough history without some sort of unity ticket.

If Senator Obama wants to make more history, he can do so by choosing an accomplished woman for VP, but he should leave the Republican VP nominations to McCain.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Strange Music of the Day

Just to be clear: By "strange music," I might mean many things. I could mean "strange that I like it," "strange that it exists at all," "strange that someone would classify it as music," or "just plain exotic."
I'd file this under "just plain exotic." Behold, Turkish psychedelic rock.
I give you Mogollar:

Friday, April 04, 2008

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner! Give Joe Klein a cigar!
He has identified the essential nonsense of McCain's complaints that his "100 years in Iraq" comments have been taken out of context.
The context is the problem!

Even if we accept his explanation that he was advocating a non-combat military commitment like that in South Korea, Germany or Okinawa, it's still a stupid statement. Iraq is not Okinawa. Nor is it South Korea. Al Qaeda had no right (obviously) to murder American civilians, but lets not forget that they did so in response to our military presence in the middle east. 100 combat free years is not going to happen. It just isn't that kind of place.

Yes, it's true that Japan, Germany, and North Korea had to be beaten militarily before we got to the point where we could have a peaceful military presence. But we have already beaten Iraq militarily.
We are five brutal, grinding, deadly years into this occupation, which is a longer time than it took to defeat both Japan and Germany in World War II, and longer than it took us to conclude the "hot" portion of the Korean War.

So saying in essence "I don't have a problem keeping troops in Iraq for 1oo years as long as they aren't fighting and dying" is either stupid or it's intentional obfuscation. Take your pick and vote accordingly.

Strange Music of the Day

Behold, Negativland's controversial, U2 and Casey Kasem mocking masterpiece. It nearly ruined Negativland, and it is funnier than anything you've heard all month, guaranteed.

It's also exceedingly unsafe for work (in a "Casey Kasem's filthy mouth", not a "naked ladies on the computer" sort of way)-click with care.

With friends like this...

Randi Rhodes, Air America Radio host, has been suspended for being an idiot. (h/t Brendan)
She called Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro "f**king whores" at an appearance in San Francisco. Here's the video.

Should she have been suspended for this? I don't know. That's an issue to be worked out between Rhodes and her employer. Her agreements or contracts with Air America, what they expect out of her at official events, what they expect her to bring to the network's "brand," and whether or not this incident runs contrary to those things should be weighed in making the decision. They have obviously made their choice and I don't know enough about their relationship to have an opinion about whether that choice was the right one.

That's me being reasonable and level-headed.

But, there's a very large part of me that is not so level-headed. It says, for the purely self-serving reason that Randi Rhodes just bugs the hell out of me, that they should fire her and do everything in their power to keep her off the air forever. Granted, I don't have to listen to her, and I don't, but just knowing she's out there every day representing my position on issues that matter to me in that "Rush Limbaugh of the left" way drives me up a wall.

She is the Rush Limbaugh of the left. That is not a compliment. I can't stand Rush Limbaugh. That's partly because I disagree with him almost entirely on every political issue. But only partly.

Beyond the disagreement, I hate Rush Limbaugh's whole approach. Regardless of which side he comes out on, I hate that in his world, there are only two sides. It's either "dittos" or "go to hell." I hate the childish nicknames he gives his political opponents. I hate his stupid sound effects. I hate his juvenile skits and songs. I hate how he debases the discourse on important issues to a series of schoolyard verbal pissing contests.

And while I agree with Randi Rhodes on most political issues, I hate her approach to discussing those issues just like I hate Limbaugh's. And for the same reasons. I feel the same about Hannity. And Glen Beck. And Laura Ingraham. And Ed Schultz. And Michael Savage. OK, OK...Michael Savage is in a class all his own-below the barrel that Limbaugh is at the bottom of. However...

I think this dominant talk radio style of talking about politics debases vitally important discussions. It trivializes issues, the resolution of which can literally mean the difference between life and death, into a question of who can make the cleverest puns. I find that whole enterprise offensive regardless of whether I agree with it's proponent.

And it doesn't have to be that way. Rachel Maddow manages to have intelligent, opinionated discussions of the issues with a clear viewpoint delivered with passion without sounding like a moron or infantilizing her audience. So does Gene Burns, the mostly libertarian radio host on KGO in San Francisco. Ronn Owens and the late Pete Wilson (no, not the governor), both also on KGO prove that such discussions on the radio can be intelligent, reasoned, and entertaining
(And lest you think this is just some resurgence of Bay Area radio nostalgia, I can tell you that I thought many, if not most, of the KGO hosts were obnoxious as hell-as much as I may have agreed with the positions they took).

I know I sound like a crank, but I'm no victorian. I recognize that politics can be amusing or even hilarious. But Limbaugh's or Rhodes's guffawing jackassery just rubs me entirely the wrong way. Incidentally, so does the punny name-calling I see in blog comment sections (sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but "rethuglican," "repug," "rethug," "elephascist" and the like are nowhere near as clever as their frequent users think they are).

Moreover, as desperately as I want Barack Obama to win this democratic presidential nomination, and as distasteful as I think the Clinton campaign has been lately, attacks like the one Rhodes made are totally counterproductive. A circular firing squad is not helpful. This will now be talked about as something that the Obama campaign has to deal with or repudiate, which will lead to more tit-for-tat allegations that some Clinton supporter or another has engaged in some similarly rancid ad hominem, and the whole nonsense machine will continue to chug right along. That's damaging. The damage to the democratic party from this long primary season is WAY overstated, but this is the kind of thing that causes actual damage, because it wears people down. Hell, I live for this kind of thing, and it's wearing me down.

And it wasn't even funny. Sheesh...

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Strange Music of the Day

In the grand tradition of crooks and liars' late night music club and skippy's music club, I proudly introduce the Strange Music of the Day.
I am a man with wide ranging musical tastes, but I definitely gravitate toward the weird in a cross-genre sort of way. To kick things off, here's my favorite Wesley Willis song:

Friday, March 28, 2008

Slate sees the light!

Today, Slate debuted it's new feature tracing the odds that Hillary Clinton will secure the Democratic nomination.

I'm leaving off its name because I'm paranoid enough to think that posting it to my blog or even including it in an email is enough to trigger the NSA datamining computers, and I don't really need that kind of headache. Seriously.

BUT! I am quite heartened that the media seems to be coming around to what should be the obvious conclusion that Clinton can't do it. Her odds today are 12%, by the way (which Slate acknowledges is quite generous).

The facts being what they are (math still works the same way you remember, the electorate is only mostly stupid, superdelegates are rational and self-interested, etc.) Clinton can only secure the nomination by in essence burning down the whole tent. I think she's happy to do so, but the more the Obama-inevitability meme is pushed, the less likely it is that the party elders will allow her to.

Laughably empty threats from fat cat donors notwithstanding.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

High speed rail!

I grew up in southern California. I went to college in central California. I spent the following five years in northern California.
This means I lived in NorCal and had friends and family in SoCal. So several times each year, I would make the awful trek down the I-5. That drive is boring, it's expensive, it takes a long time, and it doesn't do the environment any favors. I knew MANY people in the same boat as me-having to make that drive at least three times a year (and back!).
So high speed rail between northern and southern California sounds like just about the best thing in the world to me.
To keep up with the ins and outs of the November, 2008 ballot measure, check out the California High Speed Rail Blog.
And here's hoping you get that done before I move back there...

PS: I've taken the Acela from New York City to DC and it's awesome-seriously.

Crooks and Liars » Chelsea Clinton Smacks Down Butler Univ. Student: Lewinsky “None Of Your Business”

Crooks and Liars » Chelsea Clinton Smacks Down Butler Univ. Student: Lewinsky “None Of Your Business”

OK, I'm anything but a fan of Hillary or Bill Clinton at this point, but this question was dumb, inappropriate and Chelsea Clinton handled it with way more class than I would have.

Sure, Chelsea Clinton is an adult who has made the decision to go out on the campaign trail and shill for her mom, but that doesn't mean she should be barraged with this type of nonsense. And "the Republicans will bring it up in November" is no better an excuse here than it is when people float innuendo about Obama being a muslim.

The best comment I saw at Crooks and Liars was one to the effect that "it's none of your business" was the way her father should have handled questions about his extracurricular sex life ten years ago. If only...

Woot!

If you're like me (and god help you if you are), you love yourself some woot.com.
And if you love you some woot.com, chances are good that you live for their periodic woot-offs (or is that woots-off?).
From about now until whenever-the-hell-it-ends, 'tis a woot-off y'all.
Consume at will...

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

4000

This post is mostly a theft of Hilzoy's post at Obsidian Wings. Ordinarily, I wouldn't steal an entire post, particularly not one as eloquent as hers, but...I have. Because it's like that.

When you think about the election in November, whoever you support, think about this. Think about the fact that each iteration of the word below represents a piece of a family, part of a circle of friends, torn off like a limb from a body. And it's happened over and over and over and over...

Here's the stolen post:

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Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead."