Yesterday brought yet another (yawn) installment of RNC-mail from Ken 'I'm not gay! Stop it! I'm not!' Mehlman, this one entitled "Democrats: Dishonest on Iraq". There's a video, if you're really sure you want to watch it.
At this point, I should pipe up and say that even I thought there were chemical weapons in Iraq before the war. I still thought invading was a really bad idea. To make matters worse, I didn't have one of the largest and most sophisticated intelligence infrastructures in the world telling me they didn't, or at least that the evidence was inconclusive. And I didn't take that information, cleanse it of all qualifying phrases, or in some cases completely rewrite the summary conclusions and use that information to lie to Congress and the American people.
Holy Jesus, people, what kind of balls does it take to hold people you lied to equally accountable to yourselves simply because they believed you were acting in good faith? Are you, then, telling us that we should never actually believe anything Republican politicians say? Because that's the logical progression of this line of talking point. So there you all stand, shameless and naked. I hope you freeze to death, politically speaking.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Monday, November 14, 2005
politics/Air America: Buried in a New York Times article this weekend
It should be no surprise to people who read this blog (particularly the version at slywiz.com that I'm a big fan of Rachel Maddow.
So I was very excited about an article this weekend in the New York Times about the emergence, particularly in liberal talk radio, of women as on air personalities. The bloom is off the rose somewhat for me with Randi, since she frequently dips credulously into dubious conspiracy theories and often yells unmercifully at liberal callers who don't toe her exact line on every point; and her frequent, albeit usually minor, factual errors often stick in my craw.
But Rachel is another beast entirely. Her early morning one-hour news show is peppered with humor (often courtesy of Unfiltered hang-over Kent Jones), insightful observation and a cutting wit (find the current day's show, as well as previous archived shows, in MP3 format at Air America Place, or better yet subscribe to the podcast at iTunes).
So yeah, getting around to the point finally. Halfway through the story was this quote: "The network is expected to announce imminently a move by Ms. Maddow into a more prominent morning drive-time role."
KXXT probably won't carry it, since they don't carry her show at all now and they just reshuffled the lineup to put prominent local talkers in morning drive time. But it's a great idea! It'd be better still for them to put her on in mid-afternoon or evening drive, but hey, one step at a time.
Listen. You'll be glad you did.
So I was very excited about an article this weekend in the New York Times about the emergence, particularly in liberal talk radio, of women as on air personalities. The bloom is off the rose somewhat for me with Randi, since she frequently dips credulously into dubious conspiracy theories and often yells unmercifully at liberal callers who don't toe her exact line on every point; and her frequent, albeit usually minor, factual errors often stick in my craw.
But Rachel is another beast entirely. Her early morning one-hour news show is peppered with humor (often courtesy of Unfiltered hang-over Kent Jones), insightful observation and a cutting wit (find the current day's show, as well as previous archived shows, in MP3 format at Air America Place, or better yet subscribe to the podcast at iTunes).
So yeah, getting around to the point finally. Halfway through the story was this quote: "The network is expected to announce imminently a move by Ms. Maddow into a more prominent morning drive-time role."
KXXT probably won't carry it, since they don't carry her show at all now and they just reshuffled the lineup to put prominent local talkers in morning drive time. But it's a great idea! It'd be better still for them to put her on in mid-afternoon or evening drive, but hey, one step at a time.
Listen. You'll be glad you did.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
politics: So you don't have to
I just keep getting those right-wing e-mails ... From the RNC, from Progress for America (of all the things they could've named themselves!), the American Family Association (because only right-wing Christian-approved groupings of relatives qualify as American Families), etc., etc., etc.
So what are they saying about Scalito?
Well, Progress for America wants your money to run their TV ad. As a bonus, too, you can download it for your video iPod! Snazzy!
What else do they say? "It is unprecedented for the Senate to oppose a nominee as qualified as Samuel Alito." So, in other words, advise and consent is dead. We own the country, they say, so get out of the way or you will rue the day you decided to oppose our iron fist. It's an unforgivable break with tradition, they say, to oppose their pet wingnut.
I remember a whole study we did in college of logical fallacies. One of the most common? 'Appeal to tradition.' In business, the appeal to tradition usually takes the form of 'Why change? This is how we've always done it.' This is usually followed by bankruptcy. Except in this case we're talking about moral bankruptcy.
How about the RNC?
Well, they want your money, too. But other than claiming that Scalito is a brilliant man out of whose ass the sun always shines, that under his influence America will turn into a land of milk and honey, where everyone joins hands and walks singing and smiling across the meadows, where your whites get whiter, your car never breaks down and money rains down from the heavens like a golden shower, offers up no substantive arguments for why their boy should get the job. But, as I've noted before, Kenny pretty much just expects that sending down his orders from on high should be enough to get the stormtroopers out in the streets smashing Democratic shop windows. And so on. And so on.
Of course, PFAW and MoveOn want my money, too. Frankly, I'm getting sick of all the money pitches, wherever they come from, but that's a side issue here.
So what are they saying about Scalito?
Well, Progress for America wants your money to run their TV ad. As a bonus, too, you can download it for your video iPod! Snazzy!
What else do they say? "It is unprecedented for the Senate to oppose a nominee as qualified as Samuel Alito." So, in other words, advise and consent is dead. We own the country, they say, so get out of the way or you will rue the day you decided to oppose our iron fist. It's an unforgivable break with tradition, they say, to oppose their pet wingnut.
I remember a whole study we did in college of logical fallacies. One of the most common? 'Appeal to tradition.' In business, the appeal to tradition usually takes the form of 'Why change? This is how we've always done it.' This is usually followed by bankruptcy. Except in this case we're talking about moral bankruptcy.
How about the RNC?
Well, they want your money, too. But other than claiming that Scalito is a brilliant man out of whose ass the sun always shines, that under his influence America will turn into a land of milk and honey, where everyone joins hands and walks singing and smiling across the meadows, where your whites get whiter, your car never breaks down and money rains down from the heavens like a golden shower, offers up no substantive arguments for why their boy should get the job. But, as I've noted before, Kenny pretty much just expects that sending down his orders from on high should be enough to get the stormtroopers out in the streets smashing Democratic shop windows. And so on. And so on.
Of course, PFAW and MoveOn want my money, too. Frankly, I'm getting sick of all the money pitches, wherever they come from, but that's a side issue here.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
personal: And they're off!
Once a year, for a month, I become absolutely, and almost certifiably, insane. What's that you say? I always am?
Yeah, probably.
But what's up in the month of November is National Novel Writing Month. This is my third year participating, though last year I didn't quite make it to the finish line because I was (shock, horror) working full time finishing the last semester of my master's program. And I was working full time. And my schooling necessitated a once-a-week evening commute to Tucson and back (a two-hour drive each way). And I'm in a band that wanted to rehearse occasionally. And, well, you get the idea.
I suppose my larger point is that I've always considered myself to be a writer but, like so many others, I always have an excuse not to do it. And if you've ever thought about writing a book but haven't done it, you've had your excuses too. It never hits the top of the priority list.
Nanowrimo is about abandoning the excuses and just doing it. It doesn't have to be good. It doesn't have to flow. It doesn't even have to make sense. It just has to be fiction and the goal is to hit the 50,000-word mark by midnight Nov. 30. Knowing my life in the last year or two, I'm pretty sure politics will enter in somewhere, but I'll be honest ... I'm about a page into it so far and I have absolutely no idea what I'm writing about. And that's OK.
Join me, won't you? And if you can't or don't, bear with me if I don't answer e-mails or disappear for days at a time. I'm writing my Great American Novel, even if it falls far short of the Platonic ideal of such a beast.
Oh, and I'll be having fun doing it.
Yeah, probably.
But what's up in the month of November is National Novel Writing Month. This is my third year participating, though last year I didn't quite make it to the finish line because I was (shock, horror) working full time finishing the last semester of my master's program. And I was working full time. And my schooling necessitated a once-a-week evening commute to Tucson and back (a two-hour drive each way). And I'm in a band that wanted to rehearse occasionally. And, well, you get the idea.
I suppose my larger point is that I've always considered myself to be a writer but, like so many others, I always have an excuse not to do it. And if you've ever thought about writing a book but haven't done it, you've had your excuses too. It never hits the top of the priority list.
Nanowrimo is about abandoning the excuses and just doing it. It doesn't have to be good. It doesn't have to flow. It doesn't even have to make sense. It just has to be fiction and the goal is to hit the 50,000-word mark by midnight Nov. 30. Knowing my life in the last year or two, I'm pretty sure politics will enter in somewhere, but I'll be honest ... I'm about a page into it so far and I have absolutely no idea what I'm writing about. And that's OK.
Join me, won't you? And if you can't or don't, bear with me if I don't answer e-mails or disappear for days at a time. I'm writing my Great American Novel, even if it falls far short of the Platonic ideal of such a beast.
Oh, and I'll be having fun doing it.
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