Joe Arapio, Ann Coulter and Charles Krauthammer. One is a woman, so my title is a bit off, but then, if you read, or listen to any of the three listed humans, accuracy is not their strong suit either. Let's see if I can encapsulate the transition of the neocons into some sort of re-homogenated Republican entity. The core values of this 'new' organziation would read something like this: Anything the Israeli's do is great. Anything. Unions are to be broken and dispersed, wherever and whenever they rise up. Anyone breaking a rule (they are always termed 'criminals' by this bunch) is to be tortured, imprisoned or even killed. After all, they broke a rule. And finally, nothing is to ever be given to the common man (or woman, they believe in total equality in this single area), or assistance extended, unless it is assistance provided to a wealthy overseer who can then 'trickle' something down. The wealthy overseer is always a fat white male, by the way.
There you have it. I have read my papers. I have poured over the op-eds. I have read about how the New York Times is in such trouble that they are going to start selling the front page of their paper for advertising. Hell, they have been doing that for years. They just did not call it that. This move, indeed, will move them up a notch in honesty. See, there is some good news! Caroline remains the lone contender for the Senate seat in New York. She will be one of those rare 'sympathy' appointments. You know, the kind that are usually made after someone we love dies. Like appointing the wife or the son to serve out the term. Caorline's is most richly deserved. And the other senators won't like her. I like that. She is a woman, and not one of those raging Tiger's of a woman (like Hilary, or Pelosi, and on and on and on), who will make believe she is a man, to fit in. No, Caroline is all woman. And very private. So private that she did not want to give out her financial background to the school district she worked for, even though that was the rule. Sheriff Joe Arapio, down there in Arizona, would have her slapped into a pink tent so fast her patrician nose would become a pug.
I did read the Tribune. The ever obnoxious Krauthammer was there in all his glory. The Trib is back! The Israeli's are so humane and caring of civilians, according to this closet freak, that they actually go way out of their way to alert and warn the people they are attacking. Only moments earlier, CNN had film of the Israeli army shelling the main city on the Gaza with 105mm artillery shells. Yes, plummeting those fifty pound, thinking and ever so caring, rounds down into residential neighborhoods. I am sure tht the family of that Hamas leader they killed in his home last week (with all of his women and kids) were well warned. This is like the proverbial robbery in a dark New York Alley, wherein the robber comes up to you (and who the hell is ever, ever, in a dark alley of New York at night?) and threatens you with a knife. You have nothing. After all, being as you are hanging about dark alleys in New York, he is the third robber in fifteen minutes to accost you! The robber says: "I want to alert you to the fact that I am pissed off, because you have nothing, and I am going to stab you right in the stomach." And then he does. You lay there, slowly bleeding out. The New York cops show up. After their first question: "what the hell were you thinking, being out here in a dark alley of New York at night?" they ask you what happened. You tell them. "I was stabbed by an Israeli." The cops, having read Krauthammer, would instantly understand. The report they would file, after your dead body was transported to the morgue, would conclude that you were properly stabbed, as you should not have been in the robber's alley at that hour, and that you were courageously and defensively attacked only after being humanely warned. Close file. Homeland security would get a blind copy, without the redacting of margin notes. Those notes would disclose the fact that you were wearing a 'Che' illustrated sweatshirt, and were most probably a terrorist.
The sun is out there and Harvey is bugging me to death. The driveway is a sheet of pure clear ice, half an inch thick, but both the cat and I have high hopes for this day. There are mice out there, under the snow and in the bracken. Harvey has sworn an oath to me, before we venture out there, that those stinking mice will receive a feline warning. In light of wjat is happening in the world, as it is reported to us here in Lake Geneva, that is sufficient.
from-the-chateau-dif.blogspot.com
In a time 25,000 years ago, a small tribe located in a primal valley attempts to survive the many threats from geology, weather, hunger and health of the times. The perspective of this sweeping adventure is from that of a young boy, cast down by not out, ignored by his family and friends, but accepted by the animal life indigenous to this period. It is a story of integrity lost and won, hard-earned honor and its meaning and effect, but above all, a romance of great proportions. The boy loses and learns, fights for love and survival itself, while attempting to overcome physical and social difficulties that at times seem insurmountable. The first novel of this series is called The Boy and it establishes a benchmark for the beginnings of the meteoric rise of the homo sapiens species, from its lowly beginnings to its eventual dominance over the entire planet.
And so reads the back cover of the new novel. I wonder what the public is going to think of it. So much of that (the public's opinion) is all about some of the things I rail about on this blogsite. Who has access to the eyes, minds, hearts and souls of this population we all belong to? Who has access at all to the outpouring of sensory pleasing technology? The books, the television and the movies? It is not me. I have a large voice in Hollywood, on two shows, but I am mostly unknown (credit is much harder to come by in Hollywood than money). I have a little bitty voice on the blogsites. Learning about how to have a larger voice is fraught with hard-work, serendipity and relationships. How to make it all work to get a message out. I ponder into the cold dark night. It is below zero here and the wind is right at twenty on my anemometer. It is to snow again tomorrow and the next day, and this is proof of global warming. I read that on Fox, one of the scrolls across the bottom of a screen that went by while ORielly was talking bad talk about Blogojevitch, the embattled governor of Illinois. He is even colder than us, up here above him in Wisconsin. Cold and becoming more alone with each passing day. Soon, the icicle he married will dump him too, and rejoin the ranks of Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Kelly Rippa and the rest of the brittle botox queens of advancing age and declining beauty.
There is not much good to say about the mess that Governor Rod has created for himself, and also the one that his enemies are helping to make worse. After all, they want to sell that senatorship themselves, and then the governorship itself. Just as soon as they can get rid of the Donald Trump Hair Guy, I mean. We have watched high offices be traded for favors and more ever since this country got under way. What is this new explosion of outrage all about? I mean, come on. The brother gets appointed, the son, the wife. All the time. To just about any office. Try Cheney's daughters being given jobs to run the Middle East! And look at New York. There is another do nothing law school graduate from a silver spoon background of no life experience being touted for the senator's job there. Her name is Caroline Kennedy. This is to be another of the leaders that is supposed to lead us where? Is there any wonder we are hip deep in the big muddy and sinking fast? While we go down, knowing and stating that we have been lead to our fate by idiots, we appoint new idiots to represent us along the way. Oh Caroline seems like a nice lady. All of us with age watched her at her father's funeral. But what has she done? Nothing. The advantage of gaining public office today is to have done nothing with your life. You cannot be found to have done anything wrong. At least she will be used to the limos and the private aircraft and the rest of the royalty perks we give our own aristocracy, while we look the other way and condemn those evil unions and those overpaid auto workers. Like she is going to give a damn about people like that. Our aristocracy is just like all the aristocracies which have preceded it. They are taught not to give a damn. It is simply a part of being what and who they are.
So I am trumpeting for the auto workers. Yes, those guys and gals who build Chevys, Fords and Chryslers across this land. I am looking to see that they get a fair deal, and they get to keep their jobs at an even higher rate of pay. I want the ideals of America, and how we go here, to this point, to be reapplied. How we got into space with real quality equipment. How we got to the moon. How we built world aviation almost single cultured. How we built the computer revolution step by step. How we did, and are doing, all of it. We did it with hard work, grit, and determination and talent. And we used our money to help fund those efforts. So, God Damn It, lets lay out the bucks to build these new cars that this fickle public seems to want. Give the building cars over to the rest of the world and we might as well just hang on to Mediterranean Place and Baltic Avenue, while ceding each and every other property on this World Monopoly Board to the rest of those cultures out there. Screw them. Let's fix our own situation. Let's get busy and build some real cars and show all those bastards a thing or two, again. And if our representatives stand in the way of this, lets show those people just what riots and tough times are like. They all live in mansions in D.C. and in their home states. Lets go get the addresses and start visiting. Hell, if those craven thieves have their way (the 'conservative' representatives) there will be plenty of unemployed auto workers to make those visits. With tools.
Let's Get Together and Fell Alright....
The neocon idiots are still out there, make no mistake about it. Here comes the Financial Times' Gideon Rachman, idiot-in-charge of that right wing rag and now trumpeted on The Drudge Report. It is time for one world government, according to him. After all, we have these three global problems: financial, warming and terrorism. That the financial is neither homogeneous (applying to all countries in the same way) nor universal (some countries are doing just fine), the warming issue is still conjecture (as to what is really causing it) and the terrorism thing, well, that is just a matter of semantics, which we all know. Our own terrorism is called National Defense, or First Strike Capability, or Collateral Damage. "They' are always the ones committing the terrorism. And Mr. Dufus Rachman supposes, from his time in Brussels writing for the Economist rag one supposes, that the developing European 'model' is the way to go. What model? They can get together and agree on a uniting constitution and they have been trying for years. They can't arrive at all of them on the Euro, even. Everything, including our own security setup is almost exactly as it was on December 6, 1941.
And did anybody really celebrate or recognize that occasion this year? Even though the anniversary was on a Sunday? Not much. We perform such remembrance because we do not want to repeat the mistakes that lead to them. But, we don't really. Somehow, over time, we convert those vital failures into media hype. We trot out the 'survivors' of Pearl Harbor, in that particular case. Even though ninety percent of all the armed forces personnel on Oahu that day were not in Pearl Harbor until well after it was struck. Over the years the role changed for these people. Anybody there on the island (military only, please) became a 'Pearl Harbor Survivor.' You can even get one of those trick license plates (like the Gold Star thing). More people rewarded for doing nothing at all, except they know people who did, or had them in their family. That this kind of behavior dilutes the role of those who really did suffer and fight, well, no matter. We are a culture driven to make 'stars.' Whether they are dumb drooling sports characters with phony college diplomas, porn film stars from wealthy families, or merely people who were in a certain part of the world at a certain time. P.T. Barnum turns out to be the greatest of all American philosophers.
What amazes me, more than anything, is the bright people, who say damaging and hurtful things for all of us, just to maintain their 'voice' in front of the audience. The Ann Coulter kind of thing. They could care less that this mighty ship of state is slowly slipping under the waves, as long as they have a deluxe cabin with an ocean view. Gideon Rachman is one of those. Sad. His father is an psychiatrist working in abnormal behavior. Could anything be more predictive or apropos?
My first novel is coming out in April. Finally, It took me ten years, but I guess that is not uncommon, unless you are related somehow to the publisher or your name is synonymous with Paris Hilton or Sarah Palin. They don't even have to write. In fact, they can't write, but that is not the point is it. They are news. They sell issues or time. And that is what we have allowed our literary life to be filled with. Have you been to Borders or Barnes and Noble lately? How is it that you can spend two hours there, drink a Latte, and end up buying a couple of magazines? Among all the books, 'new issues' are not. I have seen some hardcovers in that section at least three years old. The lead in Gondola (what they call those funny book-holding cabinets) usually has a whole collection of stuff I cannot even consider picking up to page through, much less buying. Serial killers, Catholic or Biblical code mysteries, and supposedly revealing books by Washington pundits. Finding new paperbacks, which are at least affordable (as long as they are not the new 'tall' ones) is the work of a sleuth. Here and there, hither and yon, you find some. Go to the sections like Mystery, Science Fiction or Literature and all the books are spine out. You cannot see the covers unless you pull them out of the rack. I just sigh and move on. I want the cover to draw me in and then the explanation on the flyleaf or back to convince me. Usually I only read the first page, to gauge the true metal of the author, while I am standing in line, waiting to pay. I never bring books back. I read all the ever more dire and restrictive signs about bringing stuff back but pay no mind. I am not a receipt keeper so I have an ever-growing library. I have a section of 'I didn't like that thing' over by the back wall. It now takes up almost a fourth of my library! I can't even give them away or loan them out as then I would have to recommend them.
Anyway, I got the "Advance Uncorrected Proofs" in the mail yesterday. On the same day came the Library of Congress copyright. I liked that. The coincidence, I mean. The book I have written is called 'The Boy.' It is a paleolithic novel set, appropriately, 25,000 years ago. Jean Auel started the genre, at least in numbers, about twenty years ago with her 'Clan of the Cave Bear' novel. Mine is much more hard science than her rather mystical presentation. I liked her book. Even as an anthropology professor. I liked the fact that people would be drawn to imagine the past. But my novel, although set back there, is all about honor, integrity, endurance and survival. It is pretty neat, as I have discovered in the many re-readings required to fully go through the edit process (which is long and hard, hard hard). And it is timely as hell with respect to what has happened to us and what may come later on.
Now I have to get a website. Hell, I have just learned how to blog, so how am I going to design a website? But life demands that we continue to change. So change I must. God is laughing because my novel is set to hit the stands on April 15th of next year! According to my calculations, fully considering this collapsing economy, that means my novel should be out just in time to be swallowed up and used as a fire-starter around the nation. Maybe I should change my calculations. If I tweak them a little bit, maybe I can get into the summer and at least be able to reflect back on how "I coulda been a contender."
Speaking of God's peeling laughter from on high, Ann Coulter has had to have her mouth wired shut! Do you know how astounding such an event is? That is almost as big as when Larry Flynt (publisher of that awful porno magazine called Hustler) was shot through the torso and lost the use of his private member for the remainder of his life! Now talk about a laughing cruel God! It's not Larry but the Ann situation is good enough. She is not really right wing, or Nazi, or any of the other things they say about her. She made it doing what she does. It did not require her belief, only her understanding of what might outrage a good part of the nation. The small part that is not outraged, and is certifiable, well, those are her buyers (the weird Aryan books) and watchers (occasional television interviews). She was into that long bare 'Cougar' leg well before Hasselbeck, Palin or even Faith Hill. And Botox. And surgery. I wonder if any of them have ever bothered to go back and read that old novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray," by that whacked out genius Oscar Wilde. It deserves reflection, in their cases. Faith was something else on The View this morning (I'm a writer and it plays in the background, for Christ's sake!). Ten thousand dollar shoes. And the legs. Then she stands there singing in that skirt, with her legs spread provocatively wide apart. That style of 'my crotch in your face' aggressive stage work was actually invented by the husband of Shania Twain (probably spelled that wrong). She was a great hit, years back, standing there and looking like she would do the whole male (and quite possibly female) part of the audience. Shyna dumped the husband a bit later, but not the style. Faith seemed okay when she spoke though. Maybe her husband will be allowed to stay on awhile.
My book, "The Boy," is the first of a four book series. The others are The Warrior, The Shaman and The Chief. But I won't get to see them in print unless The Boy is some kind of hit. At least I can now say that I am a novelist and not just one of those Hollywood hacks. House tonight was the usual drivel that has been coming through the producer's staff filter lately. Shame. Come on David, get a handle on things.
Report from McCain Country:
While the talk in the press is how Obama is having difficulty relating to HRC supporters, the real story is how the conservatives, particularly here in AZ, are divided over McCain. They just don't trust him. I'm not sure who they trust, but it aint him.
Recall back to when Romney dropped out of the race and how Rush and that crazy right wing blonde lady said they wouldn't vote for McCain. The story kind of died out but the feelings didn't. While they really don't have any reason to doubt him (McCain voted with Bush 100% of the time during the last senate session), the conservatives still have a bad taste in their mouth over the 2000 version of John McCain.
Keep up the good work Obama. Your consistent message of hope and leadership is our ticket to the whitehouse!
4/20/08
Dear Mr. Obama, I looked at the dunes of sand and brush and air in front of me and I thought "that second dune over there must be Mexico!" The border between Mexico and the United States of America is no longer just an artificial line in the sand, but has become a real fence that separates two worlds of thinking.
“On the one side of the fence there is Ann,” I thought, bringing back the words of Ann Coulter, defined by Wikipedia as “American lawyer, conservative columnist, political commentator and bestselling author.” She couldn’t have defined herself better if she did. She is the crème of the rightwing extreme, as loud and visible and fleeting as the foam on a beer.
Barack Hussein Obama.
Just checking...and nope, doesn't matter how many times I write it or hear it I don't feel any fear.
I'm not sure what Ann Coulter and others with similar interests to her are trying to accomplish. Yes, I understand they are fear mongers, but seriously, Hussein is just a name like Jesse or James or Bonnie or Clyde or Al or Capone or Ted or Bundy or Lee or Harvey or Oswald or Butch or Cassidy or Sundance or Timothy or McVeigh or Terry or Nichols and this list could go on and on.
The character behind the name is what matters.
And as I observe the actions of Ann Coulter and the like, I question their character... and intelligence.
I often wonder if Ann Coulter and the like have ever studied American history or world history. If so, they would surely notice that each outlaw, criminal, murderer, terrorist, etc., had a name. And many of those people had somewhat common names.
If we are to be so gullible to succumb to the fear mongering manipulations of the Ann Coulter's of the world, what's next? A ban on all names of those that kill, murder, rape, rob, steal, etc., or perhaps we should ban names all together and simply allow the governments of the world to assign people numbers when they are born.
NO. Those are not the solutions.
If they were, could you imagine a world in which we did not laugh at TED Danson in Cheers or the Bundy's on Married With Children?
OR enjoyed the rapid beating of our once young girl's heart's over the former teen idols Shaun and David CASSIDY?
OR be mesmerized by the wonderful, Pulitzer Prize winning play turned into a movie HARVEY?
OR celebrated the success of independent film at the SUNDANCE Film Festival?
OR watched AL Roker deliver the weather each morning on the Today show or learned about global warming from Noble Prize winning, Vice President AL Gore?
OR held your stomach while laughing through the films by director TERRY Gilliam?
OR applauded the films of Spike LEE or Ang LEE?
OR sang along with smooth styling's of BONNIE Raitt?
OR enjoyed the writings of JAMES Fenimore Cooper and OSWALD Chambers and TIMOTHY Leary?
OR have been motivated and inspired by JESSE Jackson?
OR have cheered on NBA star CLYDE Drexsler?
OR clapped at the graduation of the students from NICHOLS School?
OR listened to a message of healing by Kate McVEIGH?
OR voted for the Governor of Idaho C.L. "BUTCH" Otter?
OR played pool with one of Mike CAPONE's custom cues?
OR dream with Barrack HUSSEIN Obama?
There has been a lot of talk about identity politics this election cycle. Is Barack Obama the black candidate? Is Hillary Clinton the female candidate? Will Latino voters go for Democrats or Republicans? Is the Democratic nomination about wine drinkers versus beer drinkers? Is (as David Brooks loves to say) demography destiny? Of course, although there is some value to asking these questions, the media obsession with it reduces the possibility that the election conversation will be about things that really matter such as...oh, I don't know...issues. Whether people are going to be able to keep their homes during the mortage crisis or their jobs during the recession. Whether we will be able to stop global warming before it becomes irreversable. Whether we will finally have a foreign policy that reduces the number of enemies rather than increasing them. Whether all Americans will finally get the affordable healthcare and quality education that they deserve. Stuff like that.
Identity politics are always symptoms of a pathology. They are signs that something is wrong with our political system, either because people feel so cut off from the posibility of progress through participation in the political process that they are forced into a defensive crouch or because they have become so emotionally overinvolved with a set of policy positions that those positions begin to define who they are in some fundamental ways.
The Republicans have an identity politics problem of the latter kind. A real serious problem. And nobody is talking about it.
I am not making this up.
Tonight, conservative media pundit Ann Coulter stated on Fox News that she would vote for and compaign for Hillary Clinton should John McCain win the republican nomination. Coulter believes Clinton will keep the country more safe, pointing to Clinton's support of the war and declining to support McCain's opposition to harsh interrogation techniques, and her unequivicol promise to respond militarily to future terrorist attacks.
Both Hannity and Colmes offered Coulter multiple opportunities to retract or suggest she was not serious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fyp0NQB33U
Longer version:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WvEIGyFWMxE
