Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving


Reasons to be cheerful from Think Progress...

Be thankful we'll soon have a president who will hit the ground running instead of a president who is running the country into the ground.

Be thankful that Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow are demonstrating every night how strong and intelligent progressive voices can be successful on TV.

Be thankful we live in a center-left America rather than "Hannity's America."

Be thankful John McCain has more time to spend in the houses he owns...even if he can't remember them all.

Be thankful Sarah Palin has more time to watch over Russia and warn us in case Vladimir Putin ever "rears his head."

Be thankful that we're moving closer towards a complete withdrawal from Iraq.

Be thankful for Tina Fey.

Be thankful to be liberal hacks.

Be thankful that our troops will be able to get the education they so richly deserve.

Be thankful that reality still has a liberal bias.

Be thankful that there are only 55 days left until the end of the George W. Bush presidency.

Be thankful for the progressive mandate to govern.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Under reported


Mr. E from Gilbert, AZ sent me a Daily Kos link the other day about High Speed Rail.

That post had another link to the article for the LA Times about the bill that was introduced by John Kerry and Arlen Spector called the The High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008.

It's a small step, but hey, something is better than nuthin' and certainly reason to be thankful, eh?

He really pulled the room together


Yes, it's the real dude behind the inspiration for the Coen Bros.

Seriously, it is...

Monday, November 24, 2008

Manly Man


Hey, check it out, a Gender Analyzer for blogs. I was viewed as being proto butch. I guess it's due to all of the swearing I do online.

Fuckin' A.

Cadillac Records


The story of Chess Records hits theatres next week. Lots of cool actors playing some very interesting folks, up to and including my main man, Mos Def playing Chuck Berry.

My Space page for the movie is here...

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Ted Haggard


Ah yes, the modern version of Elmer Gantry has risen from the ashes and returned to public life as a evangelical pastor.

That is, of course, if Elmer Gantry were to have been a closeted meth head with a taste for rough trade male hookers.

Gosh, I guess you really can have a Second Act in American public life.

Muqtada watch


We haven't heard from our old pal Muqtada Al Sadr in a while so I thought I'd check in and see what's doing with the Mook.

Seems he had hisself a little street party the other day and they hung the chimp in effigy in the exact same square where US troops staged the pulling down of the Saddam statue several years ago.

I still say that Al Sadr is singularly the most dangerous and potentially world changing guy as it relates to US troops getting out of Iraq. We shall see how Hillary decides to deal with him in the coming months, eh?

Interesting times indeed.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Data Points


Years from now when the Right Wing noise machine has successfully blamed the ills of America on the outgoing Obama administration, just remember who was really at fault during the first 8 years of the millennium.

This will help you to recall the truth.

Just keep talking


Radio killed the radio star. El Rushbo, Laura Ingraham and the rest should just keep on blabbing 'cause the more they talk the bigger the hole they dug for themselves gets.

Nate Silver as much as says so and that's good enough for me...

What Digby said...

In yet another edition of What Digby said...we find some most excellent truthiness in her musings. We are such a nation of sheeple.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Bobo on the Bus


It seems wee man, David Brooks, is along for the ride to stability town on the Obama Greyhound. Yeah, yeah, I know...with friends like these, right?

In any case, after two plus weeks, the new President-Elect has made some fine choices from nearly every perspective and unless, you're still listening to El Rushbo howling into the wind that we've handed his country over to a bunch of rabid "socialists", most of the critics from the Fourth Estate are joining sides with our Mr. Brooks.

Wreckin' Ball


Surely everyone has seen the video by now of Bible Spice chatting about her Thanksgiving day plans while the camera angle picks up a very methodical turkey farmer slitting the throat of a few birds in the background of the the interview.

Gosh, she's dumb.

Anyway, go here if want to watch the video. It's pretty fuckin' gruesome.

It actually put me in mind of the clip I've attached to this post which features the brilliant work of the Knitters with their pal, Dave Alvin from the Blasters. This song could just about turn me into a vegetarian. Here are the lyrics...

Well I woke up this morning lookin' for some kicks
Went out to the barnyard to stomp on some chicks
They call me Wreckin' Ball, 'cause I'm the baddest of them all.

I got a bullet head and one stray eye, my back's been broken twice
Wear overalls and big black boots, my pants is full of lice
They call me Wreckin' Ball, 'cause I'm the baddest of them all.

I'll stomp on an egg, I'll stomp on a duck
Geese or Cornish hens, I don't give a fuck
They call me Wreckin' Ball, 'cause I'm the baddest of them all.

Roosters and Hens and all their feathered friends,
They know it's time to fly when I come stomping by
Cock-a-doodle do I'm gonna put my tread on you.
And that's the call of the Wreckin' Ball.

Two of my favourite things


I stumbled across this clip on the Innertubes the other day. It combines some hilarious clips and highlights of Johnny Depp's bravura performance in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas set to the dulcet tones of the Dead Kennedy's cover of Viva Las Vegas.

It doesn't get any more American than this folks.

Sam and I saw Jello Biafra and the boys at the old Cleveland Agora circa 1979. Their musicianship stunk but they sure had plenty of gas in their tank.

Friday Random Ten

I love to hear you say my name
Especially when you say yes
I got your body right now on my mind
And I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T-Rex
To the sound of old T-Rex
Haulass Hyena -- The Cramps
Green Monkeys -- Graham Parker
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) --Arcade Fire
Please Don't Rock Me Tonight -- Fountains Of Wayne
The Modern World -- The Jam
You Better You Bet -- The Who
Don't Deceive Me -- Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Sleepwalkin' -- Modest Mouse
Buckets Of Rain -- Bette Midler
Buzz Fledderjohn -- Tom Waits

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Crash, boom, bang


Swell, the Dow is just closed under 8ooo for the first time sine 2003. I'm think I'm gonna go kill Mr. Andrea Mitchell.

Liberty Dollar


I really didn't pay much attention to Ron Paul during the election cycle the past couple of years, but I was aware of his fondness for the Liberty Dollar.

It turns out the inventor of the Liberty Dollar has retired to something of a "higher" calling.

Nice.

Back from Hiatus


Hey y'all,

I was back at the Cuyahoga County BOE this week working the special election for Stephanie Tubbs Jones' seat so posting has been light to say the least what with the departure of the RedMan from the docket.

Here's the latest skinny.

We're inches aways from Al Franken being the Jr. Sen. from MN; Ted Stevens is well on his way to becoming 84, er...sorry, 85 (Happy Birthday Senator) year old man candy for some lucky Northwood's felon, and Joe Lieberman still sucks. Although, if GA and MN goe our way, the descision not to censure ol' Droopy Dog may prove a master stroke.

Hmmm....Masterstroke...sounds like a good prison-bitch name for Ted Stevens.

Oh, and Chuck Hagel fuckin' rules!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Friday Random Ten


Roses -- Outkast
Zen Archer -- Todd Rundgren
Palestine, Texas -- T Bone Burnett
Spread --Outkast
Me And The Bean --Spoon
Little Sister -- Dwight Yoakam
When The World Is Running Down -- The Police
New York -- Sex Pistols
Dark Star -- Beck
The View -- Modest Mouse

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

John Leonard


Yeah, I know that I promised I wouldn't put up any more weepy post-election stuff, but at the urging of my brother, I just can't resist this one.

John Leonard was a pretty famous guy that would frequent CBS' ever wonderful Sunday Morning program on occasion among other things. You can't be too shabby of a person when your Wikipedia references have glowing quotes about you from both Studs Terkel and Kurt Vonnegut.

His son writes for Salon and has eulogized his dad thusly.

And so it goes.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

Later

Well, Dad’s on his way back, and life’s about to hit the fan for me. So before he gets home and sees what I’ve done to the place, I’m gonna stick the key under what’s left of the mat, top off the Absolut with some water and hustle on back to my undisclosed location in a van down by the river. I may throw the occasional roll of toilet paper into the trees, but I’m’a let Bob take it from here.

Yo I’m Reddy … I’m out!

He came, he saw, he kicked ass

I’ve offered my admiration of Howard Dean before. Now, not unexpectedly, comes the news that after one term as DNC Chair, he’ll be stepping down. His tenure has not been without controversy, but it’s undeniable that his efforts made last Tuesday possible. He had the vision of a netroots-fueled, 50 state Democratic victory and the moxie to make that vision reality. You think that insufferable spoogebag Terry McAuliffe coulda done this? Not bloody likely…

Yes, the stars certainly aligned for us… from the thermonuclear shitbomb detonated by the Cheney Administration to having a superb candidate at the head of the ticket. But without the roadmap GPS provided by the good doctor, Barack Obama’s drive to the White House would’ve been a lot more difficult. And we also have congressional majorities bigger than anything the repiglicans have had since the “The Contract On America” was put out by Newtie. We all owe Howard Dean an enormous debt of gratitude. I only hope we’ve not seen the last of him. FDA? Surgeon General? HHS? Yes, please.

IPO


Hey, Ohio! You just went Blue and put Obama over the top! What are you going to do next? I'm going to Youngstown! Well, specifically, the International Pop Overthrow, being held this weekend at the fabulous Cedars Lounge. The love child of impresario extraordinaire David Bash, this sweet little festival that could hits major places like LA, Chicago, New York... even Liverpool (where the pic up top comes from). I've been to the last two in Chi and it is a blast. Now, he brings the fun to Y-town.

Bash runs a tight ship and throws a new band at you every 20 minutes or so. New, I guess, is relative-- I've seen kids and old timers alike. And while Power Pop is typically the order of the evening, I also seen bands plying psychedelia, Brazillian, alt-country... pretty much anything that can have the word "pop" suffixed to it. It's a lotta fun and not to be missed.

Frontline


By now I am sure that everyone is well aware that one of my favorite television programs is Frontline on PBS.

This week's edition is yet another must see teevee.

For those of you not acquainted with Lee Atwater, he was the skunk who became infamous for those Willie Horton ads that among other factors helped to scuttle Mike Dukakis' 1988 run for the presidency. Atwater's legacy is considerably more far reaching however than just a long forgotten series of attack ads.

Frontline profiles Lee Atwater for 90 minutes tomorrow night on Frontline. Watch. This. Show...

You'll come away with a far better understanding of why the GOP has been so successful for the past 20 years and why Limbaugh, et al, have continued to reign the airways. Lastly, and more importantly, why they lost this time around and what we all can do to bar the door so that their influence on We The People can continue to be diminished.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

The Morning After

Frank Rich brings it on home for us:

Dawn ... brought the realization that we were at last emerging from an abusive relationship with our country’s 21st-century leaders. The festive scenes of liberation that Dick Cheney had once imagined for Iraq were finally taking place — in cities all over America.

He goes on to say the Cheneyites "told us that we are small, bigoted and stupid — easily divided and easily frightened." They also called any of us who had the temerity to call bullshit traitors, anti-American, terrorists ourselves. Well, guess what, assholes? We just showed you what democracy can be. Whether or not our democracy is strong enough to get these bastards frog-walked into the Hague remains to be seen...

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Oh Mercy...



This. Is. Funny. Via Rising Hegemon via driftglass.

David Neiwert


Smart guy, Dave Neiwert is cross posting these days at Crooks and Liars.

He's just put up a nice piece that asks the ever salient question as to what exactly the GOP stands for these days and who, as I have asked repeatedly, in their right mind, would vote for them and the policies for which they stand.

There's also a nice little piece of video featuring Christo-fascist Sam Brownback, among others, that is worth watching.

Listen, these tools are just gonna keeping coming after us and it is our responsibility, nay DUTY, to continue to beat them down and denounce and renounce the madness that is the right wing punditry in this country. I, for one, have had enough of the lies, falsehoods and undercurrent of hate that Limbaugh and his ilk spew on a daily basis.

Electing Barack Obama is just scratching the surface of what we need to do as citizens. Our work begins to today with turning this nation around and removing these very public fools from the airwaves is for me, job #1.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

It's (still) morning in America again

The indispenable Bob Scheer also repurposes Raygun's egregious '84 campaign slogan bullshit to offer his thoughts about President-Elect Obama's victory...

How refreshing for Americans to have elected a leader who was among the first to reject the imperial hubris that led this nation to invade Iraq over the objection of most of our allies. A leader who had the courage in the midst of a hotly contested primary election campaign to refuse to play the inveterate hawk in order to qualify as commander in chief, and instead had the audacity to advocate efforts at dialogue even with those we despise. The dead hand of Joe Lieberman has been lifted from the party that he betrayed. It is hoped it is also the end of the road for the neoconservatives who had rallied around John McCain as their last best hope for establishing a Pax Americana.

Hell, yeah...

The Rude One

Okay, I'm feeling all autumnal so I am going out to rake some leaves and ponder the world after we've had our chance to celebrate President Elect Barack Obama's victory.

But before I do that, one last thing.

Several people have said to me that now is the time for civility, composure and grace.

So, while I may move on to that notion sometime in the relatively near future, for now I reject that idea and instead stand arm in arm with our old pal, The Rude Pundit.

The President's Lounge


A Steve Bell Cartoon for the ages...take note of the face on the b-ball.

And this video piece from the Guardian documenting the joy of the South Side on Election night. Beautiful.

Good with the bad


In a beautifully crafted final post, my Canadian friend, darkblack, has delivered his own electronic obituary.

Brother Dave found his site a couple of years back and he was a daily visit for me and many others around Bloggytown. I'll miss his wit, insight and mad photoshop skillz.

Bid him adieu with a click of your mouse.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Pitchforks and torches sold separately

This might've been my favorite picture of Election Day 2008. Sure, we saw a lot of our fellow citizens shedding tears of joy and the images of our new First Family greeting the faithful in Grant Park were both stirring and adorable. But it gladdened my three sizes too-small heart to see patriots serving th' chimp his eviction notice.

Don't let the door hit you in the ass...

Play nice, now

There were two small but striking moments in the speeches made by McCain and President-Elect Obama last night. McCain was, yes, the epitome of class and graciousness in his concession. But when he referred to his opponent, the boos erupted. (And I think there may even have been some raspberries for Miss Sarah... ha!) Then in his address, Obama thanked McCain for his service and the crowd in Chicago ... cheered. That says a lot about us and the campaign the President-Elect ran. He really is all about reaching across aisles and working together. Repiglicans? Not so much...

So while there's something to be said for cooperation and kinship in the pursuit of shared and higher goals, here's a little rudeness to keep it real. 'Cause you know what? Fuck those assholes.

Faux News



Wow. Who knew that Fox News' Juan Williams would offer up one of the more heartfelt and inspired commentaries of the evening last night?


Certainly, not me.

It's morning in America again

Michelle was right: I’m prouder than I’ve ever been of our country today. And we did it our way. The rethuglicans hijacked the last two elections and have ruled these last eight years to the extent that I thought we’d never really be a true democracy again. We proved them wrong. All of us, every last volunteer, everyone who donated 5 or ten bucks, everyone who cared enough to work hard enough to take our country back.

And as I’ve said before, Howard Dean deserves a ton of credit for this. He embraced the nascent online community of Kos and Atrios and all the rest and showed the Democrats how to build a winning organization from the ground up. And Obama took it and ran with it to the White House.

I’ll let Roger Ebert, one of my favorite Chicagoans, take it from here...

Let’s savor these three words this morning: President Barack Obama.

Home at last


It has been a long and horrible ride for the last eight years and Cheney-Bush will have to be watched ever so closely for the next 74 days...but it's finally over.

I'm nearly speechless. I sat here and just wept this morning. Mostly from sheer exhaustion but partly from outright joy and relief.

I don't have any pithy bon mots to toss about nor any fantastically appropriate photos to post this morning. I just want to thank everyone who shared the vision of a reborn and vital nation and helped to elect the smartest guy in the room for a change.

No need to discuss the long slog ahead or any tactical points just yet. Today, I'll just sit back and enjoy the sweet smell of victory and job well done by all of us.

Me. So. Happy.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

FUCK yeah

Barack Obama wins The Buckeye State. Way to go, Ohio....

Cheddar Report

I'd signed up to work with the Appleton Obama office to do either driving or calling today. I was on the phones almost all day and prolly talked to 75 people or so outta maybe ... I dunno ... 300-400 total dials. Sure, I had a few hangups, but I had a lot more that were excited and grateful exchanges. Like the 82 year old grandmother who told me she hardly ever leaves the house but had to get out and vote for this "wonderful young man" and thanked me for calling.

I've mentioned before that I live in an area conservative and white enough that the John Birch Society is HQd there. But the group I was with today was the most diverse I've seen. Predominantly white, to be sure, but much more, you know, representative of the country than what I usually see around town. And they were fired up. The two shots of the inside up top had about that many people rolling through all day.

The only driving I did was to take a young soldier to his polling place. Showing up in full camo, PFC Josh Calender is being trained in artillery and will be shipping out to Falujah in February. He told me that from what he's heard, the military is leaning 75-25 Obama. Their concerns were not only coming home, but what their lives will be like after they do. He then said that Joe the Prop was the last straw. McCain has lost his rep for seriousness with some very serious people. Josh also told me he moved up here with his family from Florida and that they all used to vote solidly Republican, but not now. This was his first election and he cast his vote for Barack Obama.

All in all a very exciting day, here in this little burgh.

I love the smell of democracy in the morning

Smells like ... victory

It's a beautiful morning here in Appleton, Wisconsin. A gorgeous sunrise erupted into a cloudless sky as I went to vote. Nothing but white faces in line. I was decked out in my Obama t-shirt, so no one really even looked me in the eye, much less talked to me. I did get a quiet thumbs up from a mom with her young son, but that was it. This is, after all, the home of the John Birch Society. They may have been prattling on about The Pack or where to get the best cheese curds, but they all looked uneasy, like they knew something big and new was coming.

We have the chance to change things today. We're in a hole the likes of which some of us have not seen in our lifetimes, and it will take everything we've got to get out of it. But as America looks into that deep, dark truthful mirror today, I think enough of us will say enough and elect Barack Obama president.

Yes. We. Can.

Once more into the breach my friends


I'm off in a few minutes to go tend to the poll workers I've been training for the past 8 weeks. I'll be on the phone starting at 5:00 a.m. and be there until the polls close at 7:30 and probably much later. I hope that I'm home by 10:00.

Yes....go vote if you haven't done already so via an absentee ballot or early voting.

We'll have a new, smart, cool president elect this time tomorrow. Trust me.


Peace, out.

Monday, November 03, 2008

The Real America

A few pix of the crowd and some of our neighbors standing in front of the Peace Fountain at the Obama rally in Cleveland yesterday. The PD said 80 large. No way to know, but it felt huge. We couldn't even got to the stage, ending up a block and a half away on the south side of Lakeside, along with a mass of fellow citizens. I don't know about Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman, but this is the America I know as "real". We were all there-- every one of us Americans. Since we couldn't really see much, we all became the event. It was, in the old sense of the word, awesome. Simply thrilling to see all of us there. We will do this tomorrow.

Vote

So long, Farewell...


...auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye.

The end of a long and vile legacy.

Fuck off forever, George Walker Bush

Darkest before the Dawn


You'd have hardly expected me to not provide a link to James Kunstler's final say before before the election now woulda?

Well here it is. He's right in so many ways and entirely frightening in total. I can only hope that some of the better angels of our current society hear his pleas and actually start DOING something that improve things ASAP.

I, of course, would agree with Jim and start directly with an assault on our infrastructure system with particular attention to the shreds of our national and regional rail system.

One last time

I find it oddly sad that Studs Terkel didn't get the chance to see Barack Obama elected to the highest office in the land.

This piece cheered me up, tho. What a great man Studs Terkel was.

Tres Bon!



Hey mon amis, check out this French teevee documentary on Cleveland, the election and the future of our region.

Right around minute 33 they do a nice profile of Goldstar, OH and feature a short clip of moi in their excerpt. Interestingly enough, the whole story ends with my other focus for the last few weeks at the Board of Elections on les Avenues des Euclid.

C'est fantastique!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

The meanest woman in the world


This news item from metro Detroit perfectly defines the level of tolerance between the Left and the Right. This dried up SeaHag from Grosse Point is a walking billboard for hatred and exclusivity.

Dennis!


Rep. Kucinich gives a tour of his district and The Cleve to some journalists from the UK Guardian who are touring America in a Winnebago.

Dennis will of course retain his seat on Tuesday. I loves him.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Just stay cool everyone


I feel like I've been spending a good deal of time in the last week or so reassuring my friends and colleagues that Barack Obama will be elected the 44th President of the United States of Awesome this coming Tuesday. Seriously, I'm 100% sure of this concept.

And here is yet one more reason why I am so confident.

Studs

America lost a champion and singular voice on Friday. Studs Terkel dead at 96. A man of his time and for all time. We are a poorer country today.

(Psst...Hey...it's me, Bob tacking on a little piece to Dave's post from earlier today/last night. Here's an excerpt from an essay that Studs wrote many years ago. He was a great progressive thinker and below is just a small example of why I admired him so much).

My own beliefs, my personal beliefs, came into being during the most traumatic moment in American history: the Great American Depression of the 1930s. I was 17 at the time, and I saw on the sidewalks pots and pans and bedsteads and mattresses. A family had just been evicted and there was an individual cry of despair, multiplied by millions. But that community had a number of people on that very block who were electricians and plumbers and carpenters and they appeared that same evening, the evening of the eviction, and moved these household goods back into the flat where they had been. They turned on the gas; they fixed the plumbing. It was a community in action accomplishing something.

And this is my belief, too: that it's the community in action that accomplishes more than any individual does, no matter how strong he may be.

Einstein once observed that Westerners have a feeling the individual loses his freedom if he joins, say, a union or any group. Precisely the opposite's the case. The individual discovers his strength as an individual because he has, along the way, discovered others share his feelings -- he is not alone, and thus a community is formed. You might call it the prescient community or the prophetic community. It's always been there.

And I must say, it has always paid its dues, too. The community of the '30s and '40s and the Depression, fighting for rights of laborers and the rights of women and the rights of all people who are different from the majority, always paid their dues. But it was their presence as well as their prescience that made for whatever progress we have made.

And that's what Tom Paine meant when he said: "Freedom has been hunted around the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth that all it asks, all it wants, is the liberty of appearing. In such a situation, man becomes what he ought to be."

Still quoting Tom Paine: "He sees his species not with the inhuman idea of a natural enemy" -- you're either with us or against us, no. "He sees his species as kindred."

And that happens to be my belief, and I'll put it into three words: community in action.

RIP.