The dead of winter. Every morning Harvey, my cat, puts me through the same ritual. He gets up, has a bite for breakfast (wherein he demands a new Fancy Feast can each day, whether he has eaten the old one or not), and then attempts to slip past me while I am making my sally out to get the papers. That never works because I am always ready for his not-so-subtle attempt. However, just after I begin to read the papers, with a cup of hot coffee on my chair arm and ABC's morning program on the tele, he begins his blatant sales presentation. Meow this and meow that. Sitting on the top of the chair, above my head, and swishing his tail into my face and eyes. He thinks he is a groundhog. But a new groundhog every day. He just has to go out there for five to ten minutes to reassure himself that it is still horrid and unlivable winter. I hate it. If I let him go, he instantly disappears somewhere. Behind a snowbank, under the pines or around a corner. He does it on purpose. I just know it. So then, after yelling his name, I have to go get dressed and search the great outdoors. No bath, shower, or shave. Just rough clothes on, boots without socks, coat without hat or gloves....and I am out there in it. You see, I can't just sit there and let him wander. It is too cold and too miserable. He knows all this, of course, being a cat and all. This morning I have slipped up here to get away from him. Besides, after checking out the front pages and the editorials I threw the papers down in disgust. Crap. It is a day of news crap.
There was a long article on how we just are not covering Iraq anymore, and with good reason. You must understand that the press has to spend it's dwindling funds covering stuff where something is happening. Iraq is passe'. Comparatively, not many American kids are being killed there. So we have closed all three network bureaus in Baghdad. We were out of there long ago anyway. Bush and team terrorized the media and booted them out a few years ago, along with bringing in the phony 'surge.' Now the rage is Afghanistan. That is where the new 'surge' is going to take place. So they are staffing up. The media only staffs up now to support the administration. They report what the Pentagon wants reported. Or they get dead or blown to hell and gone. Remember Jim Webb? He lipped off to George Bush, with respect to his son's service in Iraq, when he was only a few days in office two years ago (basically, he told the Commander in Chief that he had no business inquiring after his son). Mistake. When your son is controlled by that same guy, his life on the line because of where or what he might be exposed to, it is wise not to piss that guy off. And we have heard what from Jim Webb since he was elected? Nothing. Not a damn thing. He trotted out a bill to get Iraqi veterans preferred treatment for education purposes (at the expense of all veterans who came before) and that was it. What do you suppose the 'behind closed doors conversation' was like between Webb and the president's men later on? Webb still has a sock stuffed in his mouth, and will have until the end of January. Just an example of the naked power those people have to do just about anything they want. Cheney signed off on torture. Who cares? Not the media. And not the public because the public does not hear about it. Cheney says that the president is above the law in 'time of war' and the same thing happens. Nothing. Bush does his Howdy Doody imitation, day after day, giving final life to Letterman's special segments, and little else. He is above it. He has made his billions. They all have. Now they just want to go quietly and keep the billions.
William Kristol, one my favorite sleaze pundits (not of the caliber of that slug Bill Bennett, but up there), writes this day of how neat it is that he will be out of the country for the presidential inauguration. It appears he is speaking up in Canada. Hopefully, he is engaged to speak about something he is really good at, like how old men can be successful with young women if they have enough power and money. Anyway, he writes of Rick Warren and how great that is. I mean that Warren is going to get to do the invocation. How the raging wild-eyed liberals will be chained back by his selection to fill that role. Out of that will come less abortion. Out of that will come real patriotism. Out of that will come recognition that these new Old Testament Christians have come into their own.
I am one of the few people who know how William Kristol is getting up there to his speaking engagement in Canada. He is driving up in a Gran Torino.
from-the-chateau-dif.blogspot.com
I have this meteor. It was given to me for Christmas by my astronomer friend. It weighs about a pound and a half and is shaped like a mangled potato. i particularly like the fact that it has three little 'tangs' jutting from the bottom so it sits firmly and flatly on a hard surface. I have ordered a chunk of that terrific Hawaiian wood (Koa) to work on and make a stand with. The 'Dreiser' meteor, as I term it, named after my friend, is not the only meteor I have. An astronaut (a really neat guy named Mitchell) gave me the other one. It came from the Moon, or so he said. Why would an astronaut, and one who had been to the moon, no less, lie about that? I believe him. But I also know that all the geologic stuff brought back from the moon was categorized, labeled, stored, displayed, gifted to other countries, and held to be quite valuable. So what am I doing with a two pound chunk of ejecta from the Moon, sitting over here next to the Dreiser object? The Mitchell and the Dreiser. They are both wonderfully weird ducks, objects and men, and they are both emblematic with respect to the interesting things in life. I like to sit and hold them, one in each hand, sometimes. Cold, but somehow comforting. Even the Mitchell. It used to scare me. The Mitchell weighs just over two pounds but does it is not right. If you move your hand with the object in it, well, your hand just keeps going. The two pound piece of silvery metal does not have the proper inertia. It has too much. And that can't be. Not in our universe. Not as we know it. I went back to MIT to study in Quantum Theory. I worked on Project Antares in Los Alamos. I know these things pretty well. The physical laws of the marcro world, the one we inhabit, are immutable. They always work the same way. Every time. The glass dropped from your hand always falls to the floor. It never starts on the floor and rises to your hand. Never. Inertia is the resistance of an object's mass to acceleration. The mass. So you weigh it. Then try to move it. The inertia has to be a function of that mass, which cannot be changed unless you modify the object in some way (like hollow it out or cut part of it off). So the inertia has to be directly tied to the weight. Balsa wood cannot have the same resistance to movement as lead. Never can that happen. But there sits the 'Mitchell' over there, an arm's length away. And it's not right. I have been waiting for years for somebody to come and collect the thing. Some agents in Brooks Brother's suits and cheap shoes. Not from the Agency. From some sci-fi kind of organization. My imagination runs wild. Mitchell must still be laughing over that 'gift.' I have not seen him since, and that was way back in the early nineties. I know he's alive because he surfaced a few months back, and said that "yes, there are aliens about," or some such, on T.V., and it was played all over. I don't believe that, however. But I also don't believe that the universe is quite the place we think it is either. The 'Mitchell' is reassuring, with respect to that. There is more 'out there' than we know. There are possibilities we have not even considered. I like that a lot.
It is Sunday night and the year is ending. Two Thousand and Eight. Wow. I always expected to make it this far, ever since laying there in Yokosuka Japan recovering from the bullets after Nam. I just knew that if that did not kill me than I was in for a long run. And here I am. Maybe it is that single event in my life that made me a keen observer. Writers are keen observers. The good ones, anyway. And I think I am a good one. I did not write that I was great, however. Only history can make such a determination as that. There have been some stupendously great writers, in my opinion, who have not fared that well. Try Ralph Waldo Emerson. Absolutely terrific. But, historically, barely a footnote. And, as far as the general, rather vapid, population is concerned, no footnote at all. Britney Spears gets more play, and probably will over the years ahead. But then, we have become products and control items of that visual device. We don't really get the words and ideas of philosophers put in front of us anymore. We get Letterman and Leno. We get Conan. They give us acid repartee, like I write for House. They don't give us meaning. They don't give us hope. They don't make us think, and in thinking....do. Act. Attempt. If we can't think it we can't do it.
I swing my meteors. The Dreiser, in my left hand, is real and reassuring in it's functional obedience to physics. The Mitchell is anything but that, yet still delightful in the brilliance of opportunity it portends. You can't really swing them in unison, as the Mitchell does not want to come back from the end of the arcs. Real life. Life as it may be. Real life. Life as it will be. I swing them without coordination, as life really is. A New Year beholds.
This dog named "Little Guy" was put to work collecting the money and providing entertainment. Part of his act includes commentary about the economy & McCain:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd7-XYoeKmo
1 of 3
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcr9uAqeUqs
2 of 3
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ajcEEfeZYFc
3 of 3
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=3bSj2aWpsQ0
Don't know what we will do if this man does not become our president.
Three things that were in New York yesterday are scheduled to implode in 2008: Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, and John McCain. All of them are old and have outlived their usefulness The only big difference is that, after last night, McCain will be crumbling faster than any building or bridge in the Big Apple.
Not that the hardcores will ever fall out of love with their "Maverick", although personally I liked James Garner in the role much better, but independents have to be looking at John McCain a bit differently this morning.
Not only did he show poor political leadership yesterday...
I truly cannot believe the political and media circus surrounding the proposed economic bailout.
I've had a lot of time on my hands during the past few days, and I've watched a lot of CNN and MSNBC. Not to mention CSPAN. On Monday I got the second series of cortisone shots in my lower back, and I was on bedrest for several days. I thought I'd be napping and watching a few Netflix films, but the circus on the news stations was just too compelling to turn off.
I need to mention: I usually don't sit and watch the news.
I thought that Lou Dobbs and Jack Cafferty were going to burst some blood vessels, expressing their respective outrage. I'm glad that someone in the public eye is outraged.
When I heard that John McCain suspended his campaign, my first thought was: WHAT A CAMPAIGN PLOY! He's starting to lag in the polls, so this will give him some momentum. Oh, doesn't he look "Presidential" dropping his "unimportant" election campaign, cancelling Friday's debate, and rushing back to to Washington -- to do what -- totally screw up the proceedings! Then he blows off David Letterman, opting instead to take an interview with Katie Couric. Oh, how I enjoyed watching Letterman rip him last night! I really hope that McCain's kneejerk reaction will cost him votes.
And yes, why doesn't he just send Sarah Palin to debate in his place? Or better yet, change around the debate schedule, so that the VICE PRESIDENTIAL debate takes place tomorrow night! Oh, what a fun night of TV viewing that would be. Personally, I believe that McCain is trying to make it impossible for Palin to debate. I think he's afraid of what she would say. If Friday's Presidential debate is cancelled (a travesty IMO), then they will have less time to hold 3 Presidential debates (necessary to declare a winner of 2-out-of-3), so the next logical decison would be to cancel the Vice Presidential debate, which is much less important. Well...it's less important unless you were looking forward to Sarah Palin making a fool of herself on international TV.
Speaking of Sarah Palin....didn't you just LOVE the way that the President of Pakistan practically jumped out of his pants, gushing that Sarah Palin was "more gorgeous in person" and wanting to hug her? Hell, let's just nominate the next Penthouse Pet to be Vice President! Then all the male world leaders can be pussy whipped into submission, and world dominance would be ours!
But, I digress...
The bailiout. Or as George W calls it, "the rescue." I don't totally agree with this bailout stuff, but frankly -- like many Americans -- I'm not an economics expert. I'm perplexed that Obama is agreeing that some sort of plan must be drafted. I would like to hear more objections from him, or at least a sentence beginning with "I do not agree that the Federal Government should get involved with private business failures, but...."
I have a plan: let the greedy unethical corporations go down. Save the corporations and programs that will affect the little guy. Of course, there's no easy way to do that, so I suppose some sort of blanket plan must be drafted. I kept hoping to hear Obama say something along the lines of "This is bullshit," but I suppose he walks a slippery slope on this huge issue.
What really bothers me about this whole thing is that it is predicated on fear. I haven't heard one single economics expert explain EXACTLY what could LOGICALLY happen if no plan were enacted. Surely, among all the highly educated experts in this country, SOMEONE can draw up a flow chart that is more specific than "...many banks will fail, perhaps some in your town." Don't you just love the way that George W dumbed down his speech? Now children, Daddy knows best, so I'll put it in a way you're going to understand....
Yes, I understand. Nobody was watching the store. George W, can you please explain WHY nobody was watching the store, instead of merely telling us that now we're really in a pickle? I swear, it's like a Paddy Chafesky story!
Did you see the footage of Paulson from March 2008, stating that the economy was sound? How about the footage George W stating the same thing in July 2008? Are these guys total morons, or are they just backpeddling? How could they have not known that a crisis like this could be looming? When Bear Stearns, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got into trouble, you think they'd have said, somwhere along the line MONTHS ago, "Gee, this really has potential for trouble, maybe we should do something about this now?" Instead they waited until they could whip Wall Street into a frenzy.
My husband has joked, on many occassions, that George W Bush is really working for Al Qaeda to ruin this country. I always chuckled at his comment, but lately I'm beginning to think he may be right.
Taking a cue from Paddy Chafesky, let's all open our windows, and yell at the top of our lungs, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
On second thought, instead of yelling it from our windows, let's yell it from the voting booths on November 4th. Let's elect Barack Obama in a landslide victory.
A must see...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26884600#26884600
Dear Friends,
I am Letterman fan, and you!
This is great...
John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign this morning was the butt of a nine minute riff by David Letterman, who had McCain scheduled for an appearance on last night’s show. (Here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E )
As a comedian, Letterman makes several points more effectively than the rest of us can. He bluntly questions Palin’s qualifications, suggesting McCain doesn’t even trust her to competently carry on the campaign, while he’s saving the economy. Letterman asks, "He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?" (See yesterday’s posting for Lawrence Lessig’s rational analysis of Palin’s qualifications.)
Letterman questions how McCain will be able to multi-task, if he can’t save the economy, run his campaign and prepare for Friday’s debate at the same time. After all, the presidency isn’t a job where problems line up and patiently wait their turn for attention, like airliners at LAX waiting to use a single runway. It is more a job like defending against a missile barrage, where each incoming missile has multiple warheads. Letterman asks, "What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"
Cynically, I suspect the suspension of the campaign is a gimmick to try to shift the debate. McCain would love to get the media talking about what a great example McCain is setting by putting country first. It’s a risky strategy that Letterman may have completely undone. But taking the chance beats the certainty that this news cycle would be churning through McCain’s slumping poll numbers, Rick Davis’s (the top McCain Campaign staffer) $15,000 per month lobbying payday from Freddie Mac that only ended last month, and McCain’s long support for the deregulation that, this week, will cost us $700 billion. Getting even more cynical, perhaps McCain had to suspend his campaign. With $700 billion being spent this week, the lobbyists that staff his campaign may have decided they couldn’t afford not to be at the table. The McCain Campaign may be temporarily without staff to carry on the campaign until this enormous pie is carved up. Having connections to a potential future president is worth millions. But getting your share of $700 billion, the largest bailout in history, is priceless!
What do you have to do piss off David Letterman? Lie to his face. John McCain, trying hard to figure out why he is down double-digit against Obama when voters are polled - "who do you trust during trying economic times?"
The McCain campaign is being hit on all sides. The NY Times reporting that Rick Davis' firm has been getting paychecks, up an until last month. Over $345,000 in total...not including the $2 million he previously received from Fannie and Freddie.
I can't believe the amount of desperation and panic. I have never thought John McCain would raise the white flag, 6 weeks from the election. Does he not want to even try?
I'm not saying that the Obama campaign should lessen up, they should continue with the plan and march directly to the White House. Calm, steady and trustworthy is what the American people want in a president during these troubling times. Not someone who's making decisions like they just found a dead body in the trunk. I feel that I'm watching the McCain campaign spiral into a "everyone's against me" mentality and will show the American people that the McCain-Palin ticket is not worthy of running our country. The Republicans are just full of attacks and lies, not substance.
Listen to Katie Couric as Sarah Palin "Specifically, when in the past 26 years, John McCain has been on the side of regulation?" Sarah Palin, when cornered, moves to Folksy Sarah - "Well, I'll find out and get it to ya." Are you serious?!?!?
As much as I'm disgusted with the lies and conceit, I think the American people will now start seeing the truth....An old, tired politician who will try ANYTHING to get elected, right next to someone who is so under-qualified in both experience and judgment, is potentially the most scary part of the McCain campaign.
Tune in - CBS at 11:35pm ET.
Lee
My favorite CTA performer (and new bud), Albert Griffith/GQ/Tha Teacha, told me about Barack Obama's appearance on Letterman on Sept. 10. I missed it on TV, but found a video clip on the CBS web site. Here's the link to Letterman -- click on the picture of Dave and Barack to play the clip.
Also on Sept. 10, NPR played audio clips of John McCain and a host of other politicians using the good ol' "lipstick on a pig" phrase. McCain himself used it during the primary season to criticize Hillary Clinton's heath care initiative. Listen here to NPR clips. (Ugh, I can't believe even I am posting about this stupid non-issue.)
Thanks for the tip, Albert!Albert on this site: http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/grQfxAlbert on TPM: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/profile/gq
Democracy is not a spectator sportObama needs your help to winClick on Events at the right side of this page --------- >Volunteer for the campaign today
Obama gives his Top 10 on Letterman. Not only presidential material, but also a good sense of humor!
Straight from the horse's mouth:
"I'll take the excitement wherever I can get it." -- Bill Clinton on Late Night with David Letterman, September 4, 2007.
"Excitement" as in forbidden sex? Monica, Jennifer, Catherine, Debra... etc.
He's still seeking excitement and the polar icecaps won't be the only things having a meltdown... Scenario: Hillary in the Oval Office... Bill taking on some "excitement"... Our country in danger of a woman scorned... NO THANKS!
OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT '08
Top Ten Things Hillary Clinton Won't Say on Letterman:
10. "If the Hsu fits, tap it."
9. "If you can't run your own house, run for the White House."
8. "I think it reminds us of Mark Foley and Bill Clinton."
7. "I have said publicly no option should be off the table, but I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table."
6. "To know me is to love me."
5. "I've got a crush on Obama."
4. "Lobbyists? They have feelings, too, Dave."
3. "That vote on Iraq? Whoops."
2. "Let me tell you how I would get to universal coverage."
1. "When it comes to health care, I have a wide stance, Dave, and I have the scars to show for it."
Just wanted to remind everyone to tune into the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS tonight.
Tell your friends!
