Big Hair, Big Ego, Big Problems

It really makes one appreciate the significance of Barack Obama. Here is a fairly exotic guy, uber-educated and ambitious, who early on decides to make his mark through politics. In Chicago. Takes a minimum wage-ish job as a community organizer, helping the tough southeast-side neighborhoods affected by the steel mill closings.

He gets some attention from the "powers that be" as a potential player on the make. But he doesn't go that route. He goes back to get his law degree at Harvard, heads up the Law Review there, and comes back to Chicago. Gets a gig as a professor teaching Constitutional Law at U. of Chicago.

And then he tosses this out the window and runs for State Representative. He wins. He runs for Congress. He loses. He spends time in Springfield, working with career politicians. Learns the ropes. Runs for U.S. Senate. Wins. Runs for President. Wins.

Meanwhile, there is Rod Blagojevich. We have another highly educated, uber-ambitious, politically motivated person of the Chicago streets. His father was a steel worker, layed off. Young Rod worked hard, blue-collar style. He returned to Chicago with a prestigious law degree.

But unlike Obama, Blagojevich thrived in the city political scene. He dated and later married the daughter of a highly influential alderman. He became immersed in the intricacies and intrigues of the Chicago Machine. Like Obama, he made his first big mark by becoming a State Representative.

And, like BO, he ran for Congress. But he won. And was re-elected twice. Then he ran for Governor. And won. And was re-elected (somehow).

Two Chicago politicians with certain similarities, but huge differences in attitude, point-of-view, motivation and, now, career trajectories. Both benefited from rapid ascents into politically rarified altitudes. One tried to fly too close toward the great, bright, yellow coin-shaped object in the sky and is experiencing "rapid disassembly". What a moron.

To truly appreciate how stupid the Boy Governor is, check out the Criminal Complaint filed against him when he was arrested. It's 78 pages of stunning, mind-bending revelations. How could a person who knew he was being stalked by Patrick Fitzgerald and the Feds be so feckless? Anyway, here it is. Check out page 63 and what he really thinks of our President-Elect:

http://media.suntimes.com/images/cds/MP3/blagojevich_criminal_complaint2.pdf

So he became more than a someone, and he even became a contender. But he wanted more: more money, more security, more prestige -- he didn't want to be Governor anymore. He wanted to be an Ambassador. He wanted to be a Cabinet Secretary. He wanted to be Senator. He wanted to President.

Instead, he will become an inmate, perhaps joining his predecessor, George Ryan, at the Federal Correctional Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana.

And the other guy, Barack Obama, becomes President next month. And he will try to turn this country around, picking up the pieces from what people like Blagojevich have left behind.

In honor of convicted Chicago pols everywhere, here is the original "I Fought The Law And The Law Won." by the Bobby Fuller Four:


YouTube - Bobby Fuller I fought the law


Quote of the Day:

"They have vilified me, they have crucified me; yes, they have even criticized me." -- Richard J. Daley (Da Mare I)

Novelty Act -- Or Next Big Thing??

The story of Hayseed Dixie is rich with American ingenuity and adaptable imagination. Raised in the deep backwoods of eastern Tennessee, two brothers and their friends had been living their lives isolated from the rest of our nation and pop culture. All they knew was what they could see and hear in their own back 40.

And then one day, something came along to change all that. Here is their story:

YouTube - Hayseed Dixie Story

And so off these rambling rednecks went, seeking their fortune in the world they never imagined. As they traveled and played, they became acquainted with more and more of the music which inspired their fevered interpretations. At first, there was plenty of AC/DC:

YouTube - Hayseed Dixie - Highway to Hell

And Led Zeppelin:

YouTube - Hayseed Dixie-Live at the Electric Picnic '08-Black Dog

And even Green Day:

YouTube - Hayseed Dixie - Holiday

But they remain the best when they go back to their roots:

YouTube - Hayseed Dixie - Shook Me All Night Long

So now they are out and touring, shaking off the Appalachian dirt from their clogs. There's no telling where they may end, but the genie is out of the bottle. They even have their own radio station!!

Jango - Free Music - Internet Radio that Plays What You Want! Listen to Music Online Radio Stations

Only from America!!!

How Big is Big?

Been away for a bit, but happy to be back.

It's difficult to conceptualize the enormity of the financial abyss that has engulfed us all. This monstrous maelstrom is nearly incomprehensible in its scope. And we are all being sucked into its ravenous maw, helpless as it churns inexorably toward complete economic annihilation.

Well, maybe not so bad, at least not this week. And helpless? Not with the Bush Administration around (and a compliant Congress)!! More and more freshly minted ga-Billions continue to be air-dropped from B-52 payloads into hemorrhaging financial firms, banks, insurance companies and the like and now, probably, automakers.

It's truly another case of Supply-Side Economics: pour the money on top and hope it trickles down. Too bad about the suckers who are foreclosing, and the small business owners who can't get loans. The problem, of course, is that the Demand-Side is where the money/credit is needed most!!

So whaddaya do? Print up some more ducats and spread it around. By now, the price tag is getting to be substantial. Here is a nice illustration of how our Bailout measures up to previous Big Ticket Government Projects, like World War 2, New Deal, etc. It's most revealing:

More Bailout Comparisons The Big Picture

That's a lot of coin. I think it was P.J. O'Rourke who once described the difference between the Democrats and Republicans. He said that the Republican Party is like Old Testament God and the Democratic Party is like Santa Claus. And everyone knows there is no such thing as Santa. Today, he may need to reconsider this imagery.

So what to do? Recalling an analogy to another Bush debacle, the Iraq war, here is what one commenter suggested:

"It’s a classic zugzwang; there are no good moves, only less bad ones. It seems to me that if we can not succeed in getting out of this liquidity trap then depression becomes something close to inevitable and defaulting on our debts more likely regardless, for citizens and the country as a whole alike; i.e, the dollar will either be worth more in which case debt burden becomes too great or economic growth will be so stagnant that debt can not be supported and even inflation won’t buy our way out, it will just result in a growing number of countries refusing our currency and refusing our assets and debt along with it."

Hoo-Boy, happy Wednesday, Sunshine!!

So how Big is Big? Too big to fail, Too big to care, Too big for our own good... Cars and trucks and homes and clothes and food and schools and payrolls. They're all too big to fail. Can't let 'em, or we sled down that gaping hole even faster than before. Of course, that doesn't mean that much of what we know and take for granted today should remain the same. Huge changes are starting and we probably won't recognize our own society in a couple of decades...


And speaking of Big, how about this inventive clip from perhaps the biggest band in all of Rock-dom: the 23-member Polyphonic Spree:

YouTube - The Polyphonic Spree "Running Away"

And now for the Quote of the Day:
"Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."
-- discredited nutcase and Objectivitst Ayn Rand

McCain should have selected Tina Turner

Tina Turner turns 69 today.

Here is a description of a moment during her Washington, DC concert of a couple nights ago:

"Tina Turner was hovering over the Verizon Center crowd, singing her fiery 1973 song "Nutbush City Limits" from a cherry picker during a Sunday-night encore, when she decided to go hot-stepping across the hydraulic lifting arm that connected the aerial platform to the stage.

"It was a breathtakingly fearless display of athleticism, for Turner was nearly two stories above the arena floor - wearing towering spike heels, no less - while her famous, fabulous legs pumped like pistons on the narrow, catwalk-like surface of the lifting arm.

"So much for shuffling cautiously and quietly into her golden years!"

(thanks for the nice review, WaPo)

Yes, Tina Turner is a marvel. Harness that woman's energy and supply a day's power for Manhatten. Of course, she is also a national treasure. Turner was honored a couple of years ago at the Kennedy Center. As a tribute, Beyonce performed a medley of Tina hits. It was being prepared for television; after she had finished the high-energy set, a gassed Beyonce asked the producers for another take. As they prepared to shoot again, she called up to the honoree's booth. "How do you do it??!!".

Here she is with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue on Playboy After Dark in 1969. It's all hilarious, as a pipe-smoking Hef plays hep to the bunny wannabes while Tina does her thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1xmvt0WPKA

Jimminy, that's Wanna Take You Higher, Come Together and Proud Mary. What a great band, too!! Ike was a complete pud, but he knew how to pick his musicians.

And the Quote of the Day is:

"In the USA there is no female equivalent to god." -- Tina Turner

History as an Alternative

It's crazy times we're living in, there can be no doubt. But could it be stranger still? Let's speculate some. Could there be civilizations living undetected deep beneath the earth's crust? Is our planet being monitored and managed by alien races? Does the possible existence of quantum physic's String Theory suggest the simultaneous-ness of many Realities co-existing in the same space at different "vibrational" levels?

There is plenty of room in our reason-bound world to include the fecund realms of our imagination. Here in Virginia is an off-road monument to the power of twisted vision, in this case when one mixes the Civil War with the Age of the Dinosaurs:

Roadside Attraction: The Alternate History Theme Park Where Dinosaurs Fought in the Civil War

It's no wonder the rest of the world is frightened of us. But it is fun to contemplate General Phil Sheridan's army going up against a division of Allosaurses. In the real world, of course, the dinosaurs are dead, except in Detroit (thus far). We march along predictable patterns of human behavior, with familiar results. Our friends at the Onion share this news feature on one man's epiphany:

History Doomed To Repeat Itself, Reports Man Who Just Dropped Food On Pants The Onion - America's Finest News Source

One thing about history, it may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme (thanks, Mark Twain). Here is a pretty cool mapping exercise that takes some history, adds a dash of current events, and, well, here it is:

330 - From Pickin’ Cotton to Pickin’ Presidents « Strange Maps

Very interesting how the cotton producing areas of Antebellum South produced the most Obama votes in 2008. It suggests that despite the Great Northern Migration of the mid-Twentieth Century, most slave descendants live quite close to their ancestral homes.

Taking the long view is a magnificent view of the world at night, as seen by a miles-high orbiter. What a way to observe our energy-producing civilizations! Now imagine pre-history, and post-history.

http://www.warwickhughes.com/climate/liteglob.gif

Finally, we have Art as Alternative to History. Here is the famous 3000 Years of Art in Three Minutes video, originally broadcast on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968. It's still way cool:

YouTube - Classical Gas Video Smothers Brothers 1968

And here is the Quote of the Day:

"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.”
-- Herodotus

Death of the Dinosaurs

Is it possible that the Big 3 CEOs are trying to take us for a ride? Why not, you say? After all, the bankers did the same. They've already received $350 billion and what have they done with it? Lots of dividends, bonuses and acquisitions. Not so much lending. Bankers Bernanke and Paulsen are getting embarrassed.

So here come the Detroit brass to plead their case to a skeptical Congress. Please, give us $25 measly billion, because we're really excited about our new cars. The cars no one wants, even if they could afford them.

But what is truly remarkable about their appearance is how the CEOs got there. By private jets. Yes, the three CEOs traveled from Detroit to DC on their three private company jets. Please give us $25 billion!

Is it much wonder that American Auto Industry is going the way of the Dodo?

Here is a fun article that should take you all along a quick memory ride. It does feature some stinky vehicles:

10 Cars That Sank Detroit - FlowChart (usnews.com)

And while we are contemplating the life force of Detroit, let's dip back into US News for a slightly different take:

6 Myths About GM, Ford, and Chrysler - FlowChart (usnews.com)

All this discussion about automobiles makes one recall the imagery of cars in various rock songs. Here is one of the very first, and best by one of the kings, Chuck Berry:

YouTube - Chuck Berry - Maybellene

What's truly hilarious about that clip is how he's surrounded by a couple of hundred white-starched white kids who are regarding him much the same as a medical school auditorium full of students contemplate the actions of a surgeon professor. Blank stares. Not even a toe tap. Where was this recorded, Belgium? Even Berry's pickup band is a bunch of old white guys. Weird.

Speaking of weird, we leave you with this pre-Thanksgiving piece by the redoubtable Sarah Palin - there's a blast from the past. She's giving an interview in Alaska. But what's fascinating are the turkeys being beheaded directly behind her. (No, no comments about Republicans here.) Morbidly funny stuff.

YouTube - KTUU 2008 Sarah Palin turkey interview

And here's the Quote of the Day:

"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business."

-- Henry Ford

Message For The Mess Age

Congress debates the morbid future of the American auto industry. Obama confers with McCain. Economic ministers from the G-20 meeting try to translate conflicting theories. The Packers slaughter the Bears.

Oh, what a world of misery and mystery. But isn't it interesting? So much to review and analyze, towards better understanding of the past and present to prepare for future changes.

And the times they are a ch-ch-ch-changing. Who would have thought just a month ago that conservative Corgi dog George Will would be upbraided on national television by a NY Times columnist? OK, the columnist just won the Nobel Prize in Economics. But it's still fun to watch Will drum his fingers:

YouTube - Krugman schools Will

It's good to get one's facts straight if one is to progress. Towards this end, I can heartily recommend The Washington Note for regular reading. It's a blog hosted by foreign policy wonk Steve Clemons, a former staffer for Republican apostate Senator Chuck Hagel (that must make him center-center). You can depend on terrific reviews, opinions, interviews, and videoconferences. In the latest piece, Steve includes an abridged interview by Bill Moyers with the great Andrew Bacevich.

Bacevich is a thinker's thinker and more than a bit of an iconoclast:

Andrew Bacevich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He's bipartisan in his denunciations of foreign policy mishaps, military bloat and our culture's spectacle. His glum view of Bush's Iraq War preceded the death of his son there. The coming Great Transformation will take a lot of understanding and getting used to; having Bacevich help interpret it all is somewhat comforting. Take a few minutes to soak in his thoughts:


Andrew Bacevich Comments on Self-Damaging Wars, the Absence of Strategy, and Dangerous Leadership - The Washington Note

Well, we need to clear our heads a bit after that slough of sobering sophistry. So here's Billy Eckstine and his band, performing his 1946 hit, Lonesome Lover Blues. Eckstine was notable for his mellow baritone voice, his use of the valve trombone and leading a crack band of outstanding musicians, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Frank Wess, Fats Navarro and more. Two minutes of sublimity:

YouTube - Billy Eckstine Sings Lonesome Lover Blues

Wow.

And now for our Quote of the Day:

“Unsustainable situations usually go on longer than most economists think possible. But they always end, and when they do, it's often painful.” -- Professor Paul Krugman

Time of the Season

California is burning, the Great Plains have blizzards, the Midwest is sleeting and Virginia has cold, heavy rains. We must be in mid-November; it's time to get ready for the winter ahead.

Here is a recently received useful summary of Seasonal Differences in the regions of the USA:

60 above - Floridians wear coats, gloves, and wooly hats. Chicago people sunbathe.

50 above - New Yorkers try to turn on the heat. Chicago people plant gardens.

40 above - Italian cars won't start. Chicago people drive with the windows down.

32 above - Distilled water freezes. Lake Michigan's water gets thicker.

20 above - Californians shiver uncontrollably. Chicago people have the last cookout before it gets cold.

15 above - New York landlords finally turn up the heat. Chicago people throw on a sweatshirt.

0 degrees - Californians fly away to Mexico. Chicago people lick the flagpole and throw on a light jacket over the sweatshirt

20 below - People in Miami cease to exist. Chicago people get out their winter coats.

40 below - Hollywood disintegrates. Chicago's Girl Scouts begin selling cookies door to door.

50 below - Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Chicago people get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg.

60 below - Microbial life survives on dairy products. Illinois cows complain of farmers with cold hands.

460 below - ALL atomic motion stops. Chicago people start saying. ."Cold 'nuff for ya??"

500 below - Hell freezes over. The Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

Whilst contemplating one's mortality in the face of unyielding change of seasons, one can determine one's IQ by gazing upon the ever-twirling silhouetted nubile nude lady here:

StumbleUpon WebToolbar - Which Way is She turning? - [IQTest] &8212; ReadnRock.com

What, you aren't a 'genius'? You can't make the gal spin and turn directions on a dime? Hmmm... you must be concentrating on the wrong part of her anatomy.

Speaking of anatomy, check out the original video for The Zombies' great single from August, 1967. It's a TERRIFIC snapshot into the world of the swinging Sixties, aggressive Carnaby Street fashion and gender branding. Nostalgia for some, nausea for others... but it's all compelling stuff:

YouTube - The Zombies - Time Of The Season

And now for the Quote of the Day:

“We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.” -- R.D. Laing

The Ever-Changing Mystery of Change

Although we live in a society where there is only one president at a time, today the president-elect has far more influence now than our current fixture. And though the world (including, it seems, our own country) would love to have Obama represent himself at the G-20 meetings this weekend, and publicly espouse future policy, it is not going to happen.

Obama is following the FDR - Hoover transition template. FDR was entreated by Hoover constantly to publicly enjoin him with statements of support and alliance. FDR demurred. He felt, rightly, that the country's economy was owned by Hoover and should remain so until his own Inauguration Day. Whatever happens between now and January 20, for better or worse, will be on W's watch. He owns it.

In the meantime, Obama has launched his Transparency in Government website. It's designed to open the door for those curious to research how the new administration is shaping up. If it works, expect to see this website serve as an alternate communication tool for Obamatists and the public at large, possibly bypassing more traditional forms of media. The Audacity of Change:

Change.gov

One thing that happened this week remains murky. After meeting with Bush at the White House, Obama headed to the airport for a Chicago-bound flight. Then a curious thing happened: an unscheduled event. His motorcade drove off to the airport's Fire Station #301, where Obama met with an unnamed person for an hour. This has the makings of High Paranoia, or at least a cool parlour game. Who was this person?? And why meet in such an odd place?

Who Did Obama Meet With? -- Political Wire


My bet is he met with Kobe Bryant and played a game of HORSE. And speaking of horse, here's Obama's future Press Secretary appearing with the world's biggest horse's rear-end, Sean Hannity, the prince of the puds. Lil' Sean is in full blowhard mode, practically flecking foam while invoking the name Bill Ayers. I think Robert Gibbs is going to be fine:

YouTube - Robert Gibbs Confronts Hannity Over Anti-Semite Guest

For a "calmer, more reasoned" approach to things, let's give a look and listen to the late, world-class loon/genius Glenn Gould as he ponders, plays and sings through a piece by Bach in his home, accompanied by a skeptical looking collie. He even has a Thelonious Monk moment when he reaches some sort of interior conflict and rises from the piano bench, mid-piece, and wanders to the window, looking out and still singing the music as he would be playing it:

YouTube - Glenn Gould plays Bach

And now for the Quote of the Day:

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward." -- Soren Kierkegaard

George Carlin Is Still Dead

Last night it was George Carlin Night at the Mark Twain Prize for Humor ceremony, held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

It took Carlin a full week to absorb the impact of being named this year's recipient. The prestigious honor was too much for him, and he died last June. But the scheduled night went on! PBS recorded the proceedings, so watch for it to be broadcast in April.

Carlin, Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor will be remembered as having successfully pushed the limits on what had been considered to be obscene in stand-up comedy. Every comic who has followed in their wake owes a part of their careers to this groundbreaking triad.

Here is an older Carlin at his scatological best, with nary a curse word within the rapid-fire 5000-or-so other words used as he describes himself:

YouTube - George Carlin - I'm A Modern Man

Speaking of comedians, you can't beat the hijinks this weekend at the 9:30 Club in DC. There was an extremely inebriated Democrat in the audience for the Grateful Dead tribute band, Dark Star Orchestra. He chose to express his appreciation in a most distasteful fashion:

Wonkette : Jersey City Dem Pees All Over D.C. Nightclubbers

The question is, will he appear before a jury of his pee-ers? Oh my, the Wonkette snark comments are still the best.

Following the thread of strange but timely humor, here is a new website constructed by the RNC. It is soliciting suggestions on how to reconstruct the pulverized Republican party. Some are good, some are wacky. I like the Truck Nutz for All suggestion (83 votes!) Note the preponderance of Libertarian responses:

Customer Feedback for Rebuild the Party

Given the amount of finger-pointing and muttered oaths and backstabbing and unattributed quotes going on within the Republican Party leadership, we could be witnessing soon a political version of this:

BBC NEWS World Middle East Monks brawl at Jerusalem shrine

Carlin would have loved that. And now for the Quote of the Day. In honor of George Carlin, we have two:

"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."

"Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck."

Inconceivable!!

One of the more curious aspects of the doomed McCain/Palin campaign occurred during its Election Night Celebration. Early on, as the Obama electoral vote count piled up, a programming change took place: the Jumbotron TV screens lining the rear of the hall switched from televised election news reports to instead play a loop of McCain campaign commercials.

Republican revelers were kept in the dark while the rest of the nation watched as a whole new era rolled from the east coast towards the west. Unless they were keeping tabs via cell phones or blackberries, partyers didn't have a clue until the lights went up and everyone was told to head out to the hotel lawn where McCain wanted to say a few words...

It all speaks to the strangeness of the McCain effort. If during the campaign we had the 2000 edition McCain, or the Election Concession Speech McCain, he might very well have carried the day. But he seemed so odd and conflicted through much of his appearances: grimacing, lurching about, teeth clenching and grinding, eyes rolling, just weird! It was like there were two people in his skin, trying to dominate each other. Now we know why:

Right Turn in July Put McCain on Unfamiliar Path - washingtonpost.com

And all's well that ends well,at least for now. Nothing good seems to be emerging from the backstory of Governor Sarah "One Heartbeat Away" Palin. Watch this stirring conversation between Fox News Blowhard Bill O'Reilly and Fox News Correspondent Carl Cameron, who had been following the Palin camp:

Breaking News Latest News Current News - FOXNews.com

Inconceivable! Africa is a country? Didn't know NAFTA partners? Didn't know the countries in North America? Didn't know "American Exceptionalism"? And still had the Hubris to wave off prep handlers before the Couric interview? Geez... If McCain had won, our nation would have been lighting daily candles praying for his continued good health.

So if Palin was crazy and McCain was conflicted, how did they manage to accrue 46% of the popular vote? Well, who knows? The Palin Doofus wing probably accounts for half of that amount. The other half seem to be a patchwork of educated, dedicated Republicans (whatever that means), skeptical Independents, a scattered number of PUMAs, and a bunch of Old White People. Here is how The Onion sees it:

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress The Onion - America's Finest News Source

It's hard to argue with that. The Onion gets the last word.

There's A New Sheriff In Town

"Good Guys Wear Black" is the Chicago White Sox slogan. In addition to the fine hat above, check out following link for the headgear on noted White Sox fan President-Elect Barack Obama:

BARACK OBAMA: Barack Obama starts new life -- chicagotribune.com

And here is a nice election-night story about the friendship between Obama and White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams:

On Election Night, It’s Not About the Pitching for Obama’s Friend Kenny Williams - NYTimes.com

And now the Quote of the Day from the late, great Chicago community activist Saul Alinsky, the author of "Rules For Radicals", the man who provided the template for the Obama ground organization:

"We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it."

Project Democracy In Action

Yes! The election is nearly here! OK, it doesn't provide the same thrill in the gut as when you were a kid and it was Christmas Eve... but it will be simply grand to be done with it.

Looking back over the nearly two years of this spectacle, I can confidently report my favorite moment, one that happened to me personally!

A couple of weeks ago, Barack Obama visited Leesburg, Virginia, not far from here. I had taken my daughter to the doctor's office and after it was over, she wanted to go see Obama. Well, alright. So off we went to brave the teeming crowds and find a distant parking place.

By the time we arrived at the entrance of the outdoor event, we were nearly late, but there were still plenty of people streaming in. Traffic was blocked off and the main road was cleared for pedestrians. To get there, we had to pass by a phalanx of McCain/Palin supporters.

They were in good form. Lots of signs suggesting we were baby-killers, treasonous traitors and socialists. Only in America.

As my daughter and I crossed their area with other Obama-bound folk, we heard their cries of opposition. One well-dressed, leather-lunged gentleman held up a yellow sign equating Obama with Socialism. As he waved it defiantly, he let out a loud, long penetrating bray:


"Stalin Obama!! Staaaaahhhlllin Oooooobhaaaammhaaaaa!!!!"


This is quite a statement to absorb, no matter where one may be on the political map, or the middle of the road (quite literally). I looked at my daughter and the other people walking with us into the entranceway. Everyone was agog. We had one of those wonderful moments of shared looks of astonishment.

And then my daughter let out a guffaw. I followed with a snort and a sharp laugh. Immediately everyone around us pitched in with their own great laughs. It was too surreal and preposterous - the humor of the moment swept us all up. Instead of being angry, we all entered the rally laughing and feeling very good.

The Quote of the Day:
"No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear." -- Edmund Burke

One of the Greatest Americans

It was not such a Happy Halloween for the many fans of the great Studs Turkel. He finally "checked out" at the age of 96.

It is no exaggeration to state that Studs was one of the great genius-spirits of our age. He put the secular humanist in Secular Humanism.

Studs Turkel invented what is now called Oral History. In the mid-1950's, Turkel began a 45-year career as a syndicated radio talk show host. His interviews from these programs, and his later books, constitute a virtual syllabus of the 20th Century. From ruling leaders, writers and artists to the Joe Sixpacks of the world, Studs' sense of empathy elicited amazingly candid and illuminating dialogues and epiphanies.

To understand our nation, from the Roaring Twenties through this day, one need only read Studs Turkel's works and hear his voice. And follow along the life he lived. Born to immigrants; child of the streets; scholar and lawyer; writer and performer; blacklisted by McCarthyism; pioneer of radio and television; creator of a new form of History; honored by Presidents and The People. The phrase 'force of nature' is overused, but it applies so well to Studs. We will never see the likes of him again. Here are some appreciations:

STUDS TERKEL: Studs Terkel dead -- chicagotribune.com

The Tribune link has a good number of video clips and ancillary stories about the great man. Another tribute is delivered by a fellow Pulitzer-winner, Roger Ebert:

Roger Ebert: To Studs: With Love and Memories

And for those who have a little bit of time to devote towards understanding the amazing memory and depth of detail that he possessed to his final day, here is an expansive interview he delivered at the U. of California a couple of years ago. Throughout, be prepared for amazement and a greater appreciation of what America was, is and can be again:

YouTube - Conversations with History: Studs Terkel

And now for the Quote of the Day:

"I'd like to be remembered as a guy who made trouble when trouble was needed." -- Studs Turkel

Happy Halloween

Hobgoblins and ghouls are running around the neighborhood, ringing doorbells and extorting treats. Thankfully, no Obamas, McCains or Palins thus far.

It will be so good to get past next Tuesday. No more robocalls. No more campaign mailers. No more sensational hyperboles and electioneering. The phony season will have ceased.

In the meantime, we have to make our real decisions. Four more years of the Bush brand, or four years of That One. Most news publications have weighed in and made endorsements. One magazine, Esquire, has made their only endorsement, ever. Here it is:

The Daily Dish By Andrew Sullivan (October 31, 2008) - What's At Stake: The Rule Of Law

Indeed, the rule of law. A quaint concept and convenient tool for some. For all the talk of socialism and plumbers and bailouts and moose and change... it all pales compared to this. Who is going to enforce and follow the rule of law? Who will best honor and uphold the Constitution, after it has been so poorly served over these past eight years? My bet: the candidate who used to be a Constitutional Law Professor. Uphold and defend the Constitution. The rest is commentary, as they say.

Speaking of endorsements, the non-insane wing of conservative writers and pundits continue to honor the Democratic candidate. Here is another unlikely endorsement, from George Bush, Sr.'s speechwriter, and political columnist, Peggy Noonan (Thousand Points of Light... Read My Lips, No New Taxes, etc.). I'm including her piece as presented by the insipid Wonkette website. The snarky comments, once again, rule:

Wonkette: The D.C. Gossip » Blog Archive » Peggy Noonan Is Barack Obama’s #1 Fan

The stock market had another nice day, against all odds. For those who can stand it, here is Pulitzer-prize-winning columnist Steve Pearlstein explaining why the Bank Bailout is not working. He does a much better job than I did yesterday:

Steven Pearlstein - Hank Paulson's $125 Billion Mistake - washingtonpost.com

And because it is Halloween, we have a fine very short video depicting the recent takeover of Wall Street by a marauding gang of zombies. Symbolism like this couldn't be more poignant:

YouTube - Baptism of Blood- Wall Street Bull

Oh, the former humanity! Finally, the Quote of the Day:

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” -- Edgar Allan Poe

Bankers Think We Are Stupid (they might be right)

It was good news on the stock market today, even though the economy continues to skid downwards along a dangerous precipice. Part of that "good news" was carried by today's Washington Post front page. As mentioned in a previous post here of a couple weeks ago, participating banks in the Big Bailout are not required to use the money for anything in particular. They could use it to pay bonuses to overworked execs. They could use it for giving out dividends - hey!! That's what's happening:

White House Defends Handling of Financial Rescue Plan - washingtonpost.com

"The 33 banks signed up so far plan to pay shareholders about $7 billion this quarter... at the present pace, those dividends will consume 52 percent of the Treasury's investment over the initial three-year term."

While this sounds like a fine plan to keep bank shareholders and executives happy, it sounds like a terrible idea to use your tax money. This money was meant to enable capital-starved banks to start lending!! Of course, this would mean that such participating banks are capital-starved. For the most part, they are not; they are not lending because they don't trust their banking brethren. They are not money starved.

And if they truly are capital-starved, why are they using this money for paying out dividends?

So when Uncle Sam drops billions of unneeded money into their vaults, with no strings attached, what do you expect these folk to do? They are, after all, part of the crowd that created the mess we are in right now (both program planners and program beneficiaries). Dividends for everyone!! Laissez bon temps roulez!! Can I get an "Amen!" Can I get some bank shares?

Oh well. As we approach our election, let's give a listen to Wilco and their song, "Impossible Germany." Included in this clip is a small bit before and a longer bit afterwards of leader Jeff Tweedy waxing philosophic about the song and the songwriting process:

YouTube - Wilco - Impossible Germany

And now for our Quote of the Day:

"The government of my country snubs honest simplicity, but fondles artistic villainy, and I think I might have developed into a very capable pickpocket if I had remained in the public service a year or two" -- Mark Twain

One Week Until Damnation

We're on the big countdown now. Seven minutes to midnight. Seven nights until "The Messiah" Obama or "Get Off My Lawn" McCain get shoved into office.

Most publications and pundits seem sure that Obama and the Democrats will cross the finish line well ahead of the plodding old man and his elephant friends. Tom Bradley and I have other thoughts about that. If Obama is up and the race is within 5-6 polling points on Monday, look for a very, very long night on Tuesday, maybe well into Wednesday:

Should Obama Fear The "Bradley Effect"? : NPR

So what happens when McCain gets elected? Of course, lots of people will be shocked and stunned, creating a nation of Zombies. There will be class action lawsuits enacted against a multitude of state boards of election. There will be joyous exultation from the Christian Conservative wing of the Republican Party. Stock in EndTimes will soar. Moderate church-goers (and disbelievers) will pack pews praying for John McCain's good health. Clintonistas will become insufferable. Passport applications will crush.

A generation of young voters will become instantly jaded and fall away from the ramparts, never engaging in political exchange again. Non-white citizens will tell each other: "I told you so." If that is all that happens, we will be very lucky indeed.

And the airwaves and blogosphere will resonate with the hyper-insane prattle of the Right Wing-off-meds. Here is the greatest re-cap of this election season one can hope to read, from the perspective of our conservative brethren of the blogs:

http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2008/10/great-moments-in-election-year-blogging.html

Oh, that is just so good. Obama having sex with the unattractive disabled man has got to be my favorite. And really, the comments section is what really makes it!!

The Onion has a customarily excellent take on how the election will impact one of the economy's most dependable markets: anti-Bush merchandise:

Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse The Onion - America's Finest News Source

My favorite is the camping tent with the image of the Bush White House staff on the side...

And now for the Quote of the Day:

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for." -- Will Rogers

End of Week Hodgepodge

Deep stuff there...

No matter who wins this election, he will be swept into office on a sea of goodwill, by a citizenry grown weary of our current national embarrassment.

For those with a spare $10,000, might I suggest the following for a terrific holiday gift to a special someone:

Titanic with iceberg T8-136, Chinee Inflatables Inc.

Please do not send this to Alan Greenspan, Henry Paulson, Phil Gramm or the University of Chicago Department of Economics. And because it is Friday, may we offer the following examples of possible weekend behaviors to be embraced or avoided, as performed by the Woodspider:

MySpaceTV Videos: woodspider by JmeeButterfly(a.K.a Pu Ping)

You gotta love the Crack Woodspider. Then there is this grainy golden oldie from the genius Ray Davies/Kinks, "Dead End Street", a song about growing up impoverished in post-WW2 England:

YouTube - The Kinks - Dead End Street

That song and its video serves to remind just how long it took for Great Britain to get on its feet following The Great Depression and World War 2. Things didn't become anywhere close to prosperous there until the early 1960s!

And because we are in World Series and Halloween season, the Onion offers the following mash-up:

Sports The Onion - America's Finest News Source

And here's the Quote for the Day:

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future." --

George Bernard Shaw

Democrats Can Be Dopes, Too

Often I have been labeled as a Liberal. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just that I don't believe I am. I'm not a Conservative, either. There are tenets from both sides with which I strongly agree and oppose.

And what I really oppose is the rancorous, vituperative, close-minded and uber-partisan rhetorical warfare that passes for political dialogue. Civil, it ain't.

Much of my previous postings dwell on Republicans. It's easy: their economic ideology is dying, their governing principles are steeped in failure and hypocrisy, and their brand of political campaigning is particularly harmful for constructively moving our nation forward. We've experienced eight years of epic incompetence and stubborn wrong direction in a multitude of crucial areas. Republicans have been responsible for most of our problems.

But all this doesn't make Democrats noble and right.

Consider John Murtha, long-time representative from southwestern Pennsylvania. Often tabbed as poster boy for corrupt, pork-barrel politicking. He must have taken some Truth Serum when he recently said that it would be difficult for Obama to win his district because there are so many racists there:

Opposing Murtha by Mark Hemingway on National Review Online

Then there is Christopher Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. He's received a preferential mortgage/loan from Countrywide Financial (no fees, no points). Because he's a good guy? Additionally, he receives millions in donations for his campaigns from banking interests. Should be a conflict of interest, compounded.

Sen. Chris Dodd took millions from now-failing finance firms he oversees Top of the Ticket Los Angeles Times

And how about Charlie Rangel, the Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee? He's admitted to errors and omissions on financial disclosure forms and is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. He's had problems with reporting a whole bunch of income on a rental home he owns, too.

Rangel to Stay On as Ways and Means Chairman - NYTimes.com

My point is that there are very few heroes in politics. Human nature is too vulnerable to the corrupt and stupid possibilities that politics and governance provides. What is important are the results - how politicians, political parties and government policies impact our lives and the health and welfare of our nation.

And here's the Quote of the Day:

"Son, always tell the truth. Then you'll never have to remember what you said the last time." -- Sam Rayburn, longtime Speaker of the House of Representatives

The Crazy Aunt in the Attic

The last two weeks of a closely contested presidential campaign usually feature the dregs of what our society has to offer. It's the two-minute warning, the pressurized time whereby sleazy political operatives get to heave barrels of sludge around with relative impunity, knowing that everything from here on out is going to be a blur and accountability gets shoved aside.

Sometimes, though, a piece of detritus will float to the surface of the maelstrom for all to see. We have a couple of examples. Michelle Bachmann, congresswoman from a country-club district in Minnesota, has been cruising to an automatic re-election. Then she opened her Big Mouth the other day on "Hardball". It's a wonderful seven minutes of talking-point posturing which suddenly and wildly veers into political insanity:

Michelle Bachmann's Id - Marc Ambinder

This is the same Representative who latched onto a startled President Bush after his last State of the Union address and wouldn't let go until she had left her saliva deep within his gullet. After "Hardball" her race has been regraded by political handicappers from Favored to Toss-Up. Throw-up would be a better description.

Then there is Representative Robin Hayes of North Carolina. He, too, has been infected by the Real America virus which seems to be affecting so many Republican candidates lately. Here is his money quote:

TPM Election Central Talking Points Memo GOP Rep. Caught Saying "Liberals Hate Real Americans," Fibbing About It

Needless to say, the sooner we get away from the Liberals Hate America/Conservatives Are Evil mantras, the sooner we can start to solve the immense problems facing us. Here is Uncle Zbigniew, who touches on this point, and a few others:

The Political Carnival: Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski On Powell Endorsement From Morning Joe

Now for some Real Madness from my new Favorite Live Band, the collective of East European gypsy punks known as Gogol Bordello!!

YouTube - "60 Revolutions" - Gogol Bordello

Very refreshing. And here is our Quote for the Day:

"[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she's just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet -- we didn't need Nancy Pelosi to do that." -- Representative Michelle Bachmann

How The Mideast Sees America Today

It is no secret that the primary source of information in the Mideast is Al Jazeera. Governments are not trusted for objective presentation of facts. American media sources and American government "mouthpieces" such as Voice of America have even less credence among citizens from Morocco to Pakistan. We are not trusted, and neither are the states we support. For that matter, neither are the states we don't support.

But Al Jazeera most certainly is. And here is what the Greater Mideast is seeing regarding our presidential election:

YouTube - Misconceptions of Obama fuel Republican campaign - 13 Oct 08

No wonder they hate us... On the other hand, maybe with Powell's endorsement, Obama can cross our electoral threshold and calm the rest of the world's frazzled nerves regarding our special brand of world leadership.

On another note, an article appeared in today's Post which bears repeating for those who have a continuing interest in why our Economy is headed for the Dumper. It's all about the proper allocation of resources, as identified by the hallowed economist John Maynard Keynes (and noted in previous posts by Pete Peterson and Kevin Phillips and George Soros and Steve Pearlstein). Keynes would have been mortified by what is going on, but he wouldn't be too surprised:

We Forgot Everything Keynes Taught Us - washingtonpost.com

It's a good read and a reminder that Economic Theory needn't be obtuse.

And this leads us to our Quote of the Day:

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” -- John Maynard Keynes

The GOP's Face Of Evil

Oh, for goodness sake. Here is what the Virginia GOP has been circulating in the mail. If this doesn't speak of wild desperation and scorched earth values, nothing can give it voice. Daffy Duck: "It's Dethpicable!"

The obvious point is for suspicious voters to blend their remembered image of Barack Obama into an altered image of Osama bin Laden. Note that The Evil One (Osama, for those keeping score) has had his visage photoshopped so there is no longer beard, mustache or turban. Not even Arabic skin color. Instead... gosh... it looks like Obama!!

The TPM DOCUMENT COLLECTION - Virginia GOP Mailer: Look Evil In The Eye

The Virginia GOP is really pathetic to put garbage like this out there. This is the same group whose leader rallied the troops this weekend by telling them to remind voters that Obama and Osama "both have friends who bombed the Pentagon." This is the same state GOP whose standard bearer is losing the Senate race by 30 points!! They are truly a bunch of lost souls. It's no wonder Virginia is becoming an Obama Blue state.

On to the Economy and our diminishing returns... here is how it all plays out for the savvy investor:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you have $49.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you have $33.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you have $0.00 today.
But . . . if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.

And what better way to battle past the blues than to experience The Neville Brothers, live at the 1991 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival:

YouTube - NEVILLE BROTHERS - BIG CHIEF

The Quote of the Day:

"It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime." -- the late Lee Atwater, before handing the reins over to Karl Rove, who didn't learn.

Death Rays Kill Sox??

After watching the Tampa Bay Rays pummel the Boston Red Sox for the third straight game, I no longer feel so badly about how the Chicago White Sox could summon only one victory against this young team. You can change your socks, but you can't change the Sox, either color, apparently.

We pause for the presidential debate tonight before proceeding to the possible series clincher on Thursday evening. This brings to mind what one prominent White Sox fan had to say over the last couple of years:

In 2007, preceding the World Series, Barack Obama visited Boston. "Welcome to Red Sox nation," said Governor Deval Patrick. Referring to the upcoming World Series here, his own win in 2006 and perhaps to Obama's then lagging performance in the polls, he added, "Around here, we know how to come from behind and win."

"I am a White Sox fan," declared Obama, raising a mass groan.

"You don't want somebody who pretends to be a Red Sox fan to be president of the United States." Obama said he was a "principled" sports fan, a slap, perhaps, at chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, who switched allegiance from Chicago to New York teams when she started her run for the Senate.

This is the stuff that makes a true Leader. Here is what Obama has to say about Chicago baseball, a town dominated by Cub Cult of Media Personality:

"I'm not one of these fair weather fans,'' the junior senator from Illinois and presidential nominee of the Democratic Party explained. "You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. Southside."

Before becoming an icon of drunken buffonery with the Chicago Cubs, Harry Caray was the exalted drunken fop for the Chicago White Sox. During the mid-Seventies, Harry was asked by maverick owner Bill Veeck to sing the Seventh Inning Stretch because, in Veeck's words, "Harry was the only person who was a worse singer than me." Here he is, in fine voice. Note the coats in May and September. And at 3:58 in, check out the Softball Uniforms that Veeck had his team wear for a couple of weeks.

YouTube - Harry Caray 1980

Finally, here is a really rich, really funny rivalry gone over the top between a couple of Cubs and White Sox fans:

Rosenblog Chicago Tribune Blog

The End of an Era

Here is an illuminating interview between Bill Moyers and George Soros on the US Economy, the Global Financial Structure, and where we as a society are headed. Soros, you may recall, is the Right Wing's favorite multi-billionaire punching bag. Red-heads remain enraged by his apostasy to the monied class. He supported John Kerry. He warned of the collapse of Free Markets. He says Global Warning is real. He is supporting Obama. He is foreign.

But he's also right. This appeared over the weekend. Soros has some success explaining the current dilemma. What interests more are his solutions and the dangers ahead:

The Big Picture George Soros on Markets (Bill Moyers)

On a related note, it is interesting that today's announced US Government equity purchase of elite banks (and more to come) have a big empty sack. There is no language indicating how the US Government infused capital $$ should be spent by the banks. Of course, it is presumed that banks will use the money to start lending to each other and thus free up the Great Credit Spigot for our frozen economy. But there isn't anything to require them to do so. They could give the money to their shareholders as dividends. Now wouldn't that be something?

Today, National Review gave the heave-ho to Bill Buckley's son, Christopher. Banished. His crime: he came out with a piece supporting Barack Obama. Another apostate!! Put him in the same boat with Soros! So much for intellectual engagement and discussion of different ideas:

Christopher Buckley Shown the Door at National Review - The Washington Note#comments#comments#comments#comments

Undebated singularity of thought produces unexamined sameness of thought. Here is what happens when an environment becomes over-run with sameness, literally:

YouTube - Harry and Paul - Clarkson Island

Oh, very funny.

Milton Friedman is really, really dead

Can there be any more doubt? Modern laissez-faire economics is dying before our eyes. American Capitalism has poisoned itself, and the Global Economy, too.

This is a mixed blessing. It means we all will be suffering for a long time. It also means that we won't have to listen to arrogant conservative blowhards spouting off about the Wisdom of the Market. The Market has proven to possess the wisdom of an adolescent male. It needs a Parent to make sure it does what it is supposed to do.

So let the word go forth: Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning, U. of Chicago guru and godfather of Free Market economics has died again. Once in 2006, and now in 2008. So has Trickle-Down Theory, Supply-Side Economics, Reaganomics, and whatever the hell both Bushes were trying to do. The economic ideology of the Republican party is officially bankrupt. Gone. Kaput. To the ashbin of history.

What replaces it will be fascinating to watch as it evolves over the next months and years...

And because it's Friday, another Black Friday (after a Black Thursday, Black Wednesday, etc etc) here is a classic piece of Laughter:

YouTube - Harpo Marx - Mirror scene (Duck Soup, 1933)

And the Quote of the Day:

"Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government." -- Milton Friedman

The Ownership Society Owns Us

Way back when, somewhere early on in the first W. term, our President launched a feel-good effort called "The Ownership Society". It was to be his big domestic legacy. His administration would promote home ownership among all Americans. Even those who had never been able to afford a home before! It seemed like a good idea on paper...

Regulating agencies saw their staff and budgets cut way back. Leniency was the word and a favorable wind blew from Washington to support the nifty but incomprehensible and intractable financial manipulations that promoted sub-prime mortgages, and their sales into securities, and these sales into other securities, and loans, and packages, and more etc. etc.

Of course, the chickens have come home to roost, and will live with us for quite some time. So pardon me while I pull a McCain and suspend my disbelief for a moment. We're all owners of everything now. We will own everyone's mortgages. We will own their insurance, too. Soon we will own the nation's banks. And your credit cards. Next will be everyone's automobiles. Further down the list: spring strawberries, cable TV, and mexican food. If we can finally own the Chicago White Sox, maybe it will be worthwhile...

An earlier post mentioned the mid-80's predictions of economist Pete Peterson. Yesterday, there appeared an article by the great sage Kevin Phillips. A fascinating guy, Phillips was responsible for Nixon's Southern Strategy. He wrote a book called "The Emerging Republican Majority" in 1969; it accurately foretold the red-blue state dynamic of today, and the Reagan Revolution.

Kevin Phillips (political commentator) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He's been bashing Bush and the modern Republican Party for a while now. Since 2002, he's said that W. is the worst thing that could happen to our nation. Right again. It's tough to be right so often. Anyway, like Pete Peterson, he's been warning us about the shift of our economy - from manufacturing to financial services and its Debt/Credit. Here is as succinct a rendering of our dilemma and its causes and consequences as any I've read:

Kevin Phillips: The Bungled Bailout (Or the Perils of Paulson)

The disease has metastasized. It spread throughout our national economy's corpus, and has been transmitted throughout the global economy corpus. And now the symptoms have manifested.


And now for some levity: here is a video taken in the parking lot of the Strongsville, Ohio campaign rally of McCain and Palin a couple of days ago. The auteur is clearly partisan and provocative and probably should have had his nose poked... but the footage yields some great moments of H.L. Mencken's "Booboisie":

YouTube - The McCain-Palin Mob

And the Quote of the Day:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H. L. Mencken

The Nijinsky of Rock and Roll

To help take our minds off of the madness of everyday life, here is a brief tribute to Iggy Pop. Called The Idiot, The Motor City Madman, The Godfather of Punk, The Ig, The Stooge Supreme, and James Osterburg.

In his prime, Iggy's shows were the definition of animistic power and primitive grace. He was the starving tortured artist who was the true raging spirit of punk rock. The energy generated at his shows could light up the north side of Chicago for a weekend.

Today he picks up a paycheck every time "Lust for Life" is played on the Carnival Cruise Ship commercial. And now he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He performs with Madonna and hangs out with other celebrities, all the while sticking his tongue out at all of us. Definitely one of the coolest 60-somethings alive.

Here is one of the funniest documents I've read - the contractual requirements for Iggy and the Stooges from 2006:

Lust For Laughs - October 4, 2006

And here is Iggy back in 1977 on the Dinah Shore Show, with David Bowie on keyboards and the Sales brothers (Soupy Sales' kids) on bass and drums:

YouTube - Iggy Pop David Bowie - Dinah Shore - "Sister Midnight"

And here's just a quick lil' snippet from some goofy Midnight Special-type of show in the Seventies:

YouTube - Iggy Pop - I wanna be your dog - 1979 - live

Iggy's shows were filled with such a wild sense of irrationality and even danger. To himself, mostly. Rolling around on the stage with broken shards of glass, rubbing peanut butter onto himself, chewing his microphone until his mouth was filled with bloody chiclets... you never knew what was going to happen. But he survived. And, I guess, we did, too.

The Quote of the Day:

"Nihilism is best done by professionals." -- Iggy Pop

Shirley Temple for Vice President

Robin Williams captured the spirit of the Presidential race by comparing Obama and McCain as "The Fresh Prince versus Fred Mertz."

So what does that make Biden and Palin? I'm unsure about Hairplug Joe... maybe an older Kevin Costner? But the Moose Maiden is channeling Shirley Temple. Gosh darn it, (wink), you betcha, darn tootin' and dadgum it! It is charming to a point, then the shtick descends into Irritation. Here is the original:

YouTube - You son of a gun

YouTube - Oh my goodness!

They don't make them like that anymore... oh, wait. I guess they do. If you ever wondered what Shirley was like as a grown-up, now you know.

Quote of the Day:

"You have two hemispheres in your brain - a left and a right side. The left side controls the right side of your body and right controls the left half. It's a fact. Therefore, left-handers are the only people in their right minds." -- Bill Lee, noted free spirit and baseball pitcher.

The Friends of Distinction

No one will mistake this 1970 song for an all-time classic. However, for me it has always epitomized the feeling of a cool summer night as autumn approaches. It's definitely fall now, but there was enough warmth today to get that feeling once again:

YouTube - Friends of Disctinction - Love or Let Me Be Lonely

Towards Irony-Free Government

A couple of weeks ago, I came across the following quote by financial historian Ron Chernow regarding the state of the government/politics/the economy:

"I fear the government has passed the point of no return. We have the irony of a free-market administration doing things that the most liberal Democratic administration would never have been doing in its wildest dreams. It’s pure crisis management. It’s the Treasury and the Federal Reserve lurching from crisis to crisis without a clear statement on how financial failures will be handled in the future. They’re afraid to articulate such a policy. The safety net they are spreading seems to widen every day with no end in sight."

Now we have a Senate-approved "bailout" package that will either save us from economic disaster, delay economic disaster, or do nothing to stave off economic disaster. It's the best patch-job available, I guess, for our faltering house of cards.

Let's look, shall we, at the two presidential candidates' positions on the economy:

McCain’s Economic Plan For Nation: 'Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress' The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Obama Promises To Stop America's Shitty Jobs From Going Overseas The Onion - America's Finest News Source

All right, so neither candidate has really stepped up on the economy and their position on the "bailout". That is smart politics, but not great leadership. Part of the problem is that both recognize the unspoken extent of the crisis and don't want go there.

This job calls for a man with nerves of steel and a very steady hand. Yes, I am talking about the greatest card artist in the world, Mr. Ricky Jay. Though this is a video, the effect of this trick is terrific. Sue and I saw it "live" at his show a couple of years ago and it is a stunner:

YouTube - Ricky Jay: 4 Queens 3 Ways

And now for the Quote of the Day:

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx