Non Sequitur

The more I read others' shitty spelling and grammar online, the worse my spelling and grammar get. I just caught myself using "their" for "they're." WTF? That's so unlike me.

-AF

Woke Up Feeling Some Cynical Today

I'll shake it off before lunchtime. After all, it is my birthday. 'Til then it's...

The Godfathers - "Birth, School, Work, Death"*

Been turned around till I'm upside down
Been all at sea until I've drowned
And I've felt torture, I've felt pain
Just like that film with Michael Caine*
I've been abused and I've been confused
And I've kissed Margaret Thatcher's shoes
And I been high and I been low
And I don't know where to go

Birth, school, work, death
Birth, school, work, death

(Sony fucked me on the embed. Watch the clip here).

Although diminutive in stature, guitarist Kris Dollimore makes a big noise -- searing stuff. One of the most extraordinary players I've ever known. His "BSWD" riffs & leads cut like a hot knife through butter. Singer Peter Coyne spits, spews and snarls. The rock solid rhythm section kicks up a racket. Super-sonic genius the late Vic Maile (Live at Leeds, the seminal Ace of Spades, Guns 'n Roses EP -- everybody from The Vibrators to Hendrix) puts it down on tape. Rarely does perfection sound so furious.

I caught one of the 'fathers' first US gigs on a Sunday nite at T.T. the Bears'. Maybe 20 people joined me. They were touring to support their debut Hit By Hit. Man, they were awesome. ("This Damn Nation" fucking slew me!) This band had the chops. They had the songs. They had the look down pat: gangster suits, skinny ties & haircuts to match. Nice guys as well. The Godfathers weren't at all dark as their music.

Sadly, The Godfathers landed 5-10 years too soon. Their smart, bleak, crunchy brand of rock was out of step with a nascent rave culture. I did my job by making 'em big in Boston. Like played on KISS 108 big. Elsewhere most folks were scared to spin it on-air.

The Godfathers were a great, great band while they lasted.

-AF
* Initial import pressings of "BSWD" 12" came in a nifty black shopping bag.
**I'm kicking myself for never asking which film. Get Carter would be in keeping with The Godfathers' image, I think they're referring to The Man Who Would Be King.
----------------
Now playing: The Godfathers - Birth, School, Work, Death

After He's Left, Bush Could Still Block Subpeonas

Harry Truman set a precedent. NYT's Charlie Savage has the skinny.

-AF

"Why Do Bigots Smell?"

"So that blind people can hate them too."

A very lame joke. It was spontaneous -- the best I could do under the circumstances. I was standing in Sully's (no, not that Sully) BC dorm room twenty-seven years ago. Sully had just moved in. Upon learning throwing furniture out the window was punishable by expulsion, we were considering bringing furniture outside and throwing it back in through the window. You know, just to fuck with the RA.

Sully stepped outside to consider logistics. I cracked a brew with our friends Jay and Chuck. Sully had just introduced his room mate, "G", who was also present. Just four white guys hanging out. Drinking.

About a minute in, "G" tells what is colloquially known as a "nigger joke." (As if any "humor" characterized by such an ugly, hateful word could be a joke). Jay, Chuck and I ignored him. "G" told another one. Now I was officially fucking pissed. But I said nothing. Chuck was a wimp, Jay was confrontation averse and I really didn't want to slug it out with Sully's new room mate his first weekend at school. Did I mention that "G" had twenty pounds on me?

"G" told his third and final "joke."

What came next:

Me: "I have a joke for you."
"G": "Great!"
Me: "Why do bigots smell?"
"G": "Why?"
Me: ""So that blind people can hate them too."

Silence. Jay and Chuck immediately flinched. Two or three beats later it dawned on "G" that I was fucking with him, attacking him for his racism. What ensued was predictable -- "I'm gonna kill you!" vs. "Give me your best shot, cracker!", etc. Chuck and Jay kept us from mixing it up. "G" split presumably to find a more sympathetic audience. Every subsequent visit to Sully, "G" left before I arrived.

Here's what I learned from this incident:

1. People often choose to ignore racism in their friends, family, co-workers, etc.
   
2. If you ignore bigotry, it won't go away.
   
3. Ignoring bigotry is read as tacit approval thus encouraging more of the same.
   
4. Confronting racism is a tricky, sometimes dangerous, business.
5. Bigots are bullies. Stand up to them and they usually back off.
6. Less confrontational techniques might prevent me getting my head kicked in.
   

Enough for now. I'll pick this up again tomorrow.

-AF

They Got It From Their Parents

What's racist, red and white all over? Rexburg, Idaho. That town's children chant "Assassinate Obama" on their school bus." BYU, Rexburg Psych prof sez:

"I think the thing that struck us was just like, 'Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?'"

This is a job for Captain Obvious!

-AF

It's Been A Year

I started this lil' writing exercise a little over 12 months ago. Writing isn't something that comes easily to me. So I'm that much more grateful to you who stop by.

Much thanks.

-AF

PS Just cracked 10,000 visits too.

Andrew Sullivan's Misogyny On Display. Again.

kosnomore@MyDD notes that "Andrew Sullivan Never fails To Disappoint":

Discussing lesbians who stuck with Hillary, and voted in lesser numbers for Obama than Kerry, Sullivan says "Maybe there was a particular lesbian bond with Clinton, which may have led some lesbians to pick McCain (they're susceptible to a little Alaskan boobage as well)."
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/lgbt-gop-ctd.html#m%20ore

Wow.
Wow.
Can you imagine if a conservative referred to "a particular lesbian bond" with Hillary, with all implied by that sentence, or said lesbians voted for Palin's "boobage"? I somehow think they'd be tossed from Matthews' "panel of experts".

P.S. - Seriously, Sullivan writes that lesbians were inclined to vote for McCain because they like Palin's boobs, and he's invited on legitimate Sunday morning talk shows? That's THE most sexist thing I've read from an MSM talking head in years. Sullivan really has issues with women.

Sully has issues with anyone who disagrees with whatever position(s) he's taken at the moment. Always somehow winding up at the top of that list, women most frequently become the target of Andy's lame, misogynistic attempts at humor.

-AF

"Center-Right" Is The New Black

...among many pundits. They cannot accept an electorate that has completely rejected their Weltanschauung. To cope these pundits comfort themselves by substituting this silly "the US is now center-right" fantasy (here, here, here, here) for our mutual reality (i.e. not so much).

A CNN poll out today shows:

59 percent of those questioned think that Democratic control of both the executive and legislative branches will be good for the country, with 38 percent saying that such one-party control will be bad…

The poll also suggests that the public has a positive view of the Democratic Party, with 62 percent having a favorable opinion and 31 percent an unfavorable opinion…

That is not the case for the Republicans, with a majority, 54 percent, having an unfavorable view of the GOP and 38 percent holding a positive view.

"The public has a positive view of the Democratic Party, while the GOP 'brand' is hurting. Overall views of the Democratic Party have gone from 53 percent favorable in October to 62 percent favorable now; the GOP overall has seen a 5-point drop in its favorable rating," Holland said.

The 62 percent figure is the "the highest opinion of the Democrats in at least 16 years, since before Bill Clinton got elected," said Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst.

"When has the Republican Party image ever been that bad? Answer: when the Republican Congress impeached President Clinton at the end of 1998," Schneider added.

The incomparable Digby spells it out:

This can only be interpreted to be a mandate that the new administration needs to bring as many of these unpopular Republicans into the administration and enact as many GOP priorities as possible.

And, by the way, the country hasn't been "center-right" for quite some time. This is yet another example of the villagers thinking they are the representatives of Real America --- just as they did when they staged the world's biggest hissy fit over Bill Clinton's zipper. It's all about them.

It always is.

-AF

RIP: Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba - "Pata Pata"

The singer may be gone but her song lives on.

The NYT:

Miriam Makeba, a South African singer whose voice stirred hopes of freedom among millions in her own country though her music was formally banned by the apartheid authorities she struggled against, died overnight after performing at a concert in Italy on Sunday. She was 76.

Makeba's voice was as singular as she was brave.

-AF

*Update: Makeba tributes from around the world.

Dems Renting Joe Like Dodgers Did Manny?

Obama sez "Joe can stay." Hell, even Bill Clinton's joined the action. I've gone back and forth and back and forth all over again on this. My knee-jerk response is to disagree with this play 'cuz it smacks of weakness. But perhaps we're much closer to getting those 59 Senate seats than we thought. It's tough to get a read when the "conventional wisdom" seems to change every day twice a day. Like the Dodgers did with Manny Ramirez, the Dems may be renting Lieberman's 60th filibuster-proof vote for Obama's first term. Because barring some sorta spectacular "come to Jesus moment", Lieberman will not be re-elected.

Forgiveness puts Joe on the shortest possible leash too. He'll have to toe the line or start packing. Switching parties is not a realistic option. If his ego would let him (and it won't), it would be tantamount to political suicide (see re-election). McConnell doesn't even have a ranking position to offer Lieberman let alone a chairmanship. God knows Holy Joe's done a piss poor job as Homeland Security Chair.

Reid can give Joe Veterans Affairs and tell him to shut the fuck up.

-AF
(HTs: Digby & TPM)