;)
The Commentariat -- March 6, 2014
Alissa de Carbonnel of Reuters: "Crimea's parliament voted [unanimously] to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum within 10 days on the decision in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.... The vice premier of Crimea ... said a referendum on the status would take place on March 16. He said all state property would be 'nationalized', the Russian ruble could be adopted and Ukrainian troops would be treated as occupiers and be forced to surrender or leave. The announcement, which diplomats said could not have been made without Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval, raised the stakes in the most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War." ...
... Zeke Miller of Time: "President Barack Obama ordered a round of economic sanctions Thursday targeting individuals and corporations that the administration sees as destabilizing Ukraine or involved in the crisis in Crimea.... The broad directive allows for sanctions on an array of individuals, from officials of the former Ukrainian government, to Russian government, military, and business leaders. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney warned that 'depending on how the situation develops, the United States is prepared to consider additional steps and sanctions as necessary.'" ...
Carol Morello & Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "Lawmakers in Ukraine's Crimea region voted Thursday to hold a referendum on March 16 to decide whether Crimea should become part of Russia, according to the Associated Press. The autonomous region's 100-member parliament voted 78 to 0, with eight abstentions, in favor of holding the referendum, which would also give Crimean voters the option of remaining part of Ukraine, but with enhanced local powers, AP reported." ...
... Alan Cowell of the New York Times: "The European Union was meeting in emergency session in Brussels on Thursday to debate the crisis in Ukraine, reinforcing its support for the fledgling government in Kiev even as it punished the Russian-backed former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, with measures to freeze his assets and those of 17 of his closest aides and family members. But pro-Russian forces -- and Moscow itself -- seemed to be pressing ahead undeterred with preparations to tighten their grip on the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, where Ukrainian military installations are under a tight blockade." ...
... Anne Gearan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration claimed progress Wednesday toward resolving a Cold War-style standoff with Russia over its military incursion in Ukraine, even as the Pentagon moved to reassure nervous NATO allies by positioning fighter jets closer to Russia." ...
... Top Diplomat Gets More Diplomatic. Denver Nicks of Time: "Speaking at an event at UCLA on Wednesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied she drew a parallel between Russia's recent actions in Ukraine and Nazi Germany at a fundraiser on Tuesday. 'I'm not making a comparison, certainly,' Clinton said. 'But I am recommending that we perhaps can learn from this tactic that has been used before.' She also called Putin 'a tough guy with a thin skin.'" ...
... Joe Coscarelli of New York: "Except she is comparing them, certainly, in the sense that she's noting the similarities between their actions. Clinton may not be equating the two men or their behavior, but even if the analogy is sloppy, as some have argued, she wouldn't have made it again if she didn't want to seem tough on the issue." ...
... Marc Tracy of the New Republic: "No matter which Hitler moment Clinton was referring to, she can't have been making a particularly apt analogy. It makes her seem like an Internet commenter. And even if it were a good analogy, it is not one a prominent American statesperson -- even one currently in the private sector -- should make.... If there is a silver lining [to her unstatesmanlike remark], it is that there isn't likely to be extensive political fallout for Clinton.... Given that no public figure is more associated with the Benghazi debacle than Clinton, [Sen. Lindsey Graham] cannot possibly square a narrative in which she is weak, a narrative in which Putin is like Hitler, and a narrative in which Clinton's saying Putin is like Hitler makes her unfit to lead. (Tune in next week to see how he squares those narratives.)"
... ** Henry Kissinger Is Not Dead Yet: "Russia and the West ... [have] made the situation [in Ukraine] worse. Russia would not be able to impose a military solution without isolating itself at a time when many of its borders are already precarious. For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one." ...
... ** Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: Rudy "Giuliani, once a genuinely moderate Republican (go look up his mayoral immigration record) and a man whom aides used to describe a long time ago as the one figure capable of pulling the national GOP back toward the center..., has served for some time now as little more than a right-wing standup comic -- and a staggeringly hypocritical one at that.... A standup comic often serves as his audience's id, and so it is in this case. The neocons, on some emotional level, prefer Putin to Obama." ...
... E. J. Dionne illustrates the difference between principled dissent & extremist partisan assaults.
Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Obama administration, struggling with continued political fallout over its troubled health care law, said Wednesday that it would allow consumers to renew health insurance policies that do not comply with the law for two more years. The action is a reflection of the difficulties the president has faced as he tries to build support for the Affordable Care Act, and the backlash over his promise -- which he later acknowledged was overstated -- that individuals who liked their insurance plans could keep them, no matter what." CW: Yes, excellent idea. Give the GOP another two years to caterwaul.
Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "Relations between the CIA and the US senators charged with its political oversight were at a nadir on Wednesday after the head of the agency issued a rare public rebuke to lawmakers who accused it of spying on their staff. John Brennan, the director of the CIA, said the claims by members of the Senate intelligence committee were 'spurious' and 'wholly unsupported by the facts', and went as far as suggesting the committee itself may have been guilty of wrongdoing." ...
... Jonathan Landay, et al., of McClatchy News have more on the allegation/suspicion that the C.I.A. spied on Senate aides: "The CIA Inspector General's Office has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations of malfeasance at the spy agency in connection with a yet-to-be released Senate Intelligence Committee report into the CIA's secret detention and interrogation program, McClatchy has learned." ...
... Update. Landay, et al.: "Congressional aides involved in preparing the Senate Intelligence Committee's unreleased study of the CIA’s secret interrogation and detention program walked out of the spy agency's fortress-like headquarters with classified documents that the CIA contended they weren't authorized to have, McClatchy has learned. After the CIA confronted the panel in January about the removal of the material last fall, panel staff concluded that the agency had monitored computers they'd been given to use in a high-security research room at the CIA campus in Langley, Va...." CW: This piece is a key that puts together the earlier pieces.
Jonathan Weisman (Update: & Michael Shear) of the New York Times: "The long shadow of Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose trial for the killing of a Philadelphia police officer became an international cause célèbre, fell over the Senate on Wednesday as lawmakers from both parties rejected President Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's civil rights division. Debo P. Adegbile, who headed the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund when it represented Mr. Abu-Jamal decades after his conviction, could not overcome a concerted campaign by Republicans, conservative activists and law enforcement organizations, still infuriated by the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner." ...
... CW: The New Lede Is Not Like the Old Lede. New: "Senate Democrats on Wednesday rejected President Obama's nominee to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in an embarrassing rebuke of the president on the choice of a key legal adviser and one that left senior White House officials 'furious' with members of their own party.... The president personally appealed to Senate Democrats at a recent caucus meeting and made several calls to Democratic senators in the last week, officials said. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff, continued making calls Tuesday night and Wednesday morning." ...
... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress has more. Plus, he points us to ...
... Adam Serwer of NBC News: "Three months ago, John Errol Ferguson was executed for one of the worst mass murders in Florida's history. After tricking his way into a woman's home, he eventually bound, blindfolded and shot eight people. Six of them died. While under indictment for those crimes, Ferguson murdered two teenagers on their way to church.... What kind of person would defend a butcher with the blood of eight people on his hands? It was Chief Justice John Roberts, who devoted 25 pro bono hours to Ferguson's case when he was working in private practice."
He inserted his office in an effort to turn reality on its head, impugn honorable and selfless law enforcement officers, and glorify an unrepentant cop-killer. This is not required by our legal system. On the contrary, it is noxious to it. -- Mitch McConnell on Debo P. Adegbile
Judge Roberts has an impressive record. He has keen intellect, sterling integrity, and a judicious temperament. Most importantly, Judge Roberts will faithfully interpret the Constitution, not legislate from the bench.... We should not attribute to him the actions of clients he has represented. -- Mitch McConnell, on John Roberts, July 20, 2005
I wonder what the difference is. Oh, yeah. John Roberts is white and murdered teenagers don't have a lobby. -- Charles Pierce
Republicans argued that Adegbile's advocacy on behalf of civil rights disqualified him from running the civil rights division. -- Adam Serwer
... Jesse Wegman of the New York Times: "Some have called Mr. Adegbile a 'cop-killer advocate.' Another word for that might be 'lawyer.' In representing people like John Ferguson and Mumia Abu-Jamal, Chief Justice Roberts and Mr. Adegbile were doing what lawyers everywhere are trained to do. Particularly in death-penalty cases, it is critical to ensure that a defendant has adequate representation and that his trial, conviction and sentence do not violate the Constitution." ...
... Ari Berman of the Nation: "... Adegbile was the victim of a vicious right-wing smear campaign attacking him because LDF defended Mumia Abu Jamal's right to a fair trial. All across the right-wing media echo chamber, on Fox News and conservative blogs, the words Adegbile and 'cop-killer' were plastered in the headlines. The Fraternal Order of Police came out against his nomination, even though a court agreed with LDF that Abu Jamal had not been granted a fair trial -- a basic right in American society regardless of whether he did or did not commit the crime." ...
... Steve M. wonders: "Are Democrats ever going to develop the habit of anticipating attacks of the kind that were made against Adegbile? Are they ever going to recognize the need to neutralize such attacks rather than sticking their fingers in their ears and hoping the attacks will just go away? Is the Democratic Party always going to be a party of Dukakises?" ...
... CW P.S.: Let's give President Obama some credit here. He nominated the right guy for the job, he pushed to get him confirmed, then he condemned his own party members for voting against his nominee.
Gail Collins ponders the definition of oligarchs & who they are here in the U.S.A. So far, her list is limited to Charles & David Koch, Sheldon Adelson & maybe Michael Bloomberg, who bought himself the mayority of the country's largest city.
Absurd Moments in American History
Brought to You by the Republican Party
March 5, 2014 Edition. "Darrell Issa Hits a New Low." Dana Milbank: "Darrell Issa ... found a new way to silence Democratic critics who question his actions: He shut off the microphones." Issa had called IRS official Lois Lerner to testify, even though she had previously invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege & her attorney had said she would not testify Wednesday. Issa forced her to take the Fifth ten times during the brief hearing, and refused to allow any Democrats to speak. Here's the best/worst bit: after repeatedly shutting off the mic of ranking member Elijah Cummings,
Issa and fellow Republicans walked off to cries of 'Shame!' 'Mr. Chairman,' Cummings called after Issa, 'what are you hiding?' Said Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.), 'He's taking the Fifth, Elijah.'
Beyond the Beltway
Robert Costa & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "CPAC, which is an event that brings together movement conservatives, libertarian college students, and tea-party leaders for three days of talks, will be an opportunity for [New Jersey Go. Chris] Christie to showcase his displeasure with the president he once considered an ally." Christie is to speak at CPAC today. ...
... Charles Stile of the Bergen Record: The secrecy & duplicity in the way Gov. Christie managed toll hikes for the Hudson River crossings appears to be part of a pattern: "Christie publicly expressed surprise and outrage over the magnitude of the hikes. But a knowledgeable source said Christie met privately with his aides three days earlier to discuss the inflated toll-hike proposal. So far, Christie and Cuomo have said nothing about the reports.... Christie critics will inevitably conclude that if Christie was aware of the toll-hike scheme, then he must have been equally aware of the bridge-lane closings, despite his forceful denials."
Steve Yaccino of the New York Times: "Passing a symbolic resolution Wednesday, Chicago's City Council unanimously opposed naming a federal building in Washington after Eliot Ness, the Prohibition-era agent whose team of lawmen in Chicago inspired 'The Untouchables' book, movie and television series." Here's the backstory, by Yaccino.
The Grayson Family Saga, Ctd.:
News Ledes
New York Times: "An American drone strike killed five Afghan National Army soldiers and wounded eight more Thursday morning, according to Afghan officials. The attack took place at 3:20 a.m. in the Charkh district of Logar Province, an area of intense insurgent activity. 'We believe the strike was the result of poor coordination between the people on the ground and the operators of the drone,' said Din Mohammad Darwish, a spokesman for the governor of Logar Province, which is in eastern Afghanistan...."
New York: "In the latest inception of the SAT, the second ever change in the exam's 88-year history, the College Board tried to make a test that would be more accessible to more people, for which preparation materials would be widely available, and wealthy students would have a harder time gaming the system by taking expensive classes."
Share Article
Reader Comments (20)
As a penance while driving through the American Steppe of the Palouse today I listened to Rush Limbaugh. He's a circus act. And if PT Barnum is to be believed a sucker is born every minute. His insufferable verbal obfuscation is really sucker driven. What needs to happen is the local advertisers who enable him need to have support withdrawn from their businesses. And told about it.
I take heart from the fact that my not-so-demon-spawn and I listened to a BBC documentary about Gil Scott Heron over post-drive pizza. We have a great country with great people. A carnival barker college dropout radio guy isn't going to change my attitude that 'yes we can' is the best position for a solution for most of our difficulties.
By the way: Henry Kissinger may not be dead, but his soul died many years ago. To me he would have been Derzhinsky just like Cheney would have been Stalin just like Bush would have been a Romanov.
As for Darrell Issa: do you think many interesting would like to eat lunch with this fellow? I bet he has a mirror as a dining companion.
@625: Whitey on the Moon remains one of the finest songs/poems in the lexicon. Except maybe for the prescient Winter in America. What a talent.
The Cummings/Issa situation coupled with the seven Democrats who voted against Adegbile, those that are calling our President feckless while seeming to embrace Putin as some kind of strong, shirtless leader, and news from Texas that more abortion/women's health service clinics have been closed puts me in the state of mind of that pregnant woman in Florida who drove her car into the ocean with her three children in the back seats (everyone is safe). What does one do when these lines are crossed and the over riding feeling is frustration, fury and helplessness? This woman was obviously seriously disturbed, but I'm telling you people I'm on the verge.
One guy Gail Collins left out is the mogul from North Carolina, Art Pope, who runs the state like he owns it––oh, wait, he does!
The aura of Henry Kissinger makes me sick when we consider the pain and misery he caused directed outside of our borders, particularly the overthrow of Salvador Allende and the installation of the Pinochet dictatorship 1973. Enflaring violence in other territories was a specialty of his, so his "respected" words ring hollow when compared to history. I bet he wears his Noble Peace Prize at home while walking around to convince himself all the blood and slaughter cooked up in his realpolitik were just illusions.
Another intersting take on his op-ed is his insistence that Ukraine politicians are too inexperienced to find an equilibrium in a heterogenous society. If only they could take a few lessons from us, maybe they could take a more all-inclusive approach and set the foundations of a stronger democracy. Oh wait! What's that? Ah yes, mean Mr. Yanukovych has had some coaching by his American counterparts. It was a Mister Paul Manafort, infamous Republican political consultant and meddler in all things corrupt that helped Mr. Yanukovych win the presidency in Ukraine. Apparently he cleaned up Mr. Uanukovych's image and trained him how to play the game of caring politician while the cameras were rolling.
You see? He perfected the presentation, as I mentioned yesterday. Kissinger seems to be saying that representation is the ticket to stable success, but somehow the Republican operative forgot about covering that chapter in his How To book. Wonder how that would have happened...?
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/paul-manafort-ukraine-104263.html?hp=t1
@PD Pepe: I thought John Kerry was going to win the 2004 election. I wasn't a huge fan of Kerry's & even then I thought John Edwards was a phony, but they were of course a damned sight better than Dubya & Darth. I was stunned when Kerry lost (albeit through GOP shenanigans in Ohio, tho he still would have lost the popular vote) and really depressed. I had some public functions to attend in the two days after the election, & I dreaded going because I'd have to be polite to people who certainly voted for D&D (SW Florida is GOP territory). I performed my duties, but with a heavy heart.
The third day after the election, still glum, I was driving home after an errand when a young white woman in a beat-up old car passed me. When she got to the point where I could see her rear bumper, I saw that she had a sticker on it: "Obama in 2008". That bumper sticker completely changed my mood. It wasn't because I was crazy about Obama, either; it was because that young woman made me realize that among the Republican shmucks I had to face there were -- sometimes hiding in plain sight -- people who more-or-less shared my values. "Good" people.
The arc of history may or may not bend toward justice, but if it does, it bends slowly & erratically. Nonetheless, there are at least a couple of self-serving reasons not to plunge off a bridge: (1) you'll miss so much interesting stuff that is bound to occur whether or not you're around to see it; & (2) some bits of that interesting stuff will cheer you & some bits will give you a better understanding of why things happen as they do.
I have been a late bloomer, I guess, but I can say without equivocation that I'm a more interesting, fulfilled person than I was when I was younger. I'm glad the real bummers that directly affected me & those of a more general nature did not do me in. The and-then-and-then-and-then of a well-wrought work of fiction keeps me turning pages. I hope to have quite a few more pages to turn in the world of nonfiction. There are bound to be some intriguing developments.
Marie
There is no pretense remaining. The race, ethnicity, family origin and employment status of the victim, defendant and advocate can nullify the provisions of the 6th Amendment. There aren't enough vile expletives to describe the conduct of this group of legislators. At some point this ignorance has to be terminal.
Media Matters has a good piece, including myths, facts and letters from various legal organizations in re: Adegbile .
http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/01/27/myths-and-facts-about-doj-civil-rights-nominee/197627
This is an extension of a comment posted yesterday, prompted by JJG's question about history and morality.
Is history moral? Can it be? Can mathematics be moral? Or mechanical engineering? Probably not in the sense of implied or direct morality, but the practice of history is freighted with moral judgments.
Two different historians can take the same set of circumstances and end up with completely different historical narratives. Let's take the Iran-Contra scandal. Depending on one's ideological persuasion vastly different conclusions will be reached, conclusions which may be informed by and create new moral judgments. Differing interpretations of facts (or certainly, eliding facts, as most GOPers love to do) guarantees opposing historical views and moral judgments.
Every time we tell a story, every time we use language, there is the potential for this. Some historians feel that morality intrudes on their ability to deftly parse facts and events. Some feel that historians should maintain a distance from making such decisions in the interest of objectivity. Others, notably old friend Isaiah Berlin, feel that there is no escaping the implicit moral underpinnings when describing historical events.
And I see what you're getting at about morality clouding our vision.
This is a very real danger. It reminds me of Nietzsche's assertion that we don't see nearly as much as we think we do. We look at a tree, for instance, take a quick glimpse and fill in the blanks ourselves according to what we think constitutes the idea of "tree". We don't really see all the branches and leaves, note how the architecture of that particular tree might be different. Nietzsche calls this kind of knowledge made up or make-believe knowledge. This is certainly the fate of many historians (and pundits) who fill in the blanks without bothering too much with the details.
It's a sad state of affairs but if I pick up a book in the history aisle and see that it's been blurbed by Krauthammer or Kristol or some Heritage hack (see, that right there is a moral judgment), I put it down as completely unworthy of my time. I'm probably right 90% of the time. But in that other 10% I may be missing something useful or informative. But that's as much marketing as moral decision making.
The point is that in all instances, I will reject outright demagoguery pushed as history. The difficult part is sussing out those works that cloak their ideological biases. Or that have useful viewpoints despite (or because of) their ideology. But are there any that don't have an ideological bias? I don't know.
There are some philosophers who recognize this difficulty. Simone Weil believed that the most important thing we can do is to be attentive (maybe giving that tree more than the quick once over). For Weil, seeing the world as it is rather than as it appears to us through our own set of preconceived notions and biases is more than worth the effort.
And maybe that's the trick with history done well. There may not be way to completely insulate one's work from a moral framework (Berlin believes it's dumb, dumb, dumb, and even irresponsible to try), but at least attempting to see as much of the tree as possible is a good start.
Then, of course, there are some philosophers of history who take the long view. Walter Benjamin, the German Marxist, philosopher, and intellectual gadfly, insists that history must be taken, not as individual details and data points, but as it comes, in a torrent. Benjamin, of course, while one of my favorite writers, could be a wee bit pessimistic at times. But, given that he ended his life a short distance from safety while being pursued by the Gestapo in 1940 (and they weren't chasing him for his autograph; for a guy with such a deep appreciation for history, it took Walter way too long to figure out what was going on in Germany in the 30's), we can forgive his slightly mordant outlook.
Anyway, this discussion is worth a book or three or four, but since we don't have time for that, I'll close with Benjamin's wildly memorable image of the Angel of History:
"His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress."
Try forgetting that.
Safari,
Right there with you concerning Henry the K. The image of him walking around the house wearing his Nobel prize is hysterical. Less hysterical is the evil he has wrought upon the world.
Every time I'd see this asshole on Nightline, I'd scream at Ted Koppel "Why are you listening to this piece of shit? Why are you letting him pour his poison into my living room?" Expert? Yeah. Expert gangster.
Anyway, don't know if you've read Hitchens' "Trials of Henry Kissinger" but it's pretty compelling stuff. If you don't have the book, watch the documentary.
Granted this is a bit of a polemic, but there's no way you can come away from this and ever consider this scumbag anything but a vicious war criminal.
He can stick that Nobel prize up his ass.
Henry Kissinger: War Criminal
Just returned from a long walk that rejuvenated me––the crisp, cold air, the ground still covered with snow in contrast to the cloudless brilliant blue of the sky––breathtaking–-literally, and then reading Marie's post which was like a hot cup of tea for me and I thank her (this "woman on the verge" is always just that––on the verge, never off the rails––too well adjusted I imagine), and then Akhilleus's lovely long piece about morality and ending with Benjamin's "Angel of *History," makes me glad I, too, have a few more pages to turn before I call it a day.
The Grayson story is sad and so embarrassing for someone in the public view, but it's the children who suffer.
A nation's history is like memory for an individual. Individuals deprived of memory are disoriented and lost, not knowing where they have been, and where they are going. So, too, a nation, denied a conception of its past will be disabled in dealing with the future. How ironic then, when history is denied by historians themselves. I recall reading years ago that one should be careful and selective in choosing historical material ––-know your source.
Citizen and Whyte,
I can't think of Gil Scott-Heron without hearing "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" in my head.
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.
Great, great stuff.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
PD: "One guy Gail Collins left out is the mogul from North Carolina, Art Pope, who runs the state like he owns it––oh, wait, he does!" I'd like to add a new one you've likely never heard of from next door in S. Carolina, Charles W. Coker and his family. Their business, Sunoco, owns about 350 facilities world wide, they specialize in petrochemical-based food contact packaging and do not test for hydrocarbon residues on their food contact materials. (personal correspondence). Another reason why processed foods are not good for you is because they are delivered to you inside petrochemicals.
Is there a brain somewhere in the Democratic Party? Do they always have to shoot themselves in the foot, especially when the other side is arranged as a circular firing squad? Can they never stand up and do something right and for the right reason?
Honestly, if Democrats can't find a way to pull together for civil rights, for the president's choice, a good candidate, by the way, in the face of a party who are busy shivving those rights and alienating millions of voters, what the hell good are they? They're not even smart politicians.
They've never been poster children for Order and Unity, but this is ridiculous. They're giving the Party of Stupid a run for their money. Christ, we might as well have Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff representing us.
@Marie: you said "There are bound to be some intriguing developments." Indeed there are and they're good reasons to stick around.
Like you, I had to learn to observe in order to see fellow libruls. One bumper sticker I especially liked was "Come the Rapture, can I have your car?" We're few and far between in the benighted South, but we're here and aren't going away soon.
The imagery of that doomed Angel with the wreckage piling up was a bit too much for me. Today is very discouraging. The mad, the rude, the disrespecting, the crass, the cowardly all seem to be winning today. Somehow, I have to eradicate this mood, because no matter what today brings, the Angel and its garbage is there, and I really don't want to be overrun. Possibly it is always like this and I just wasn't as aware, but Jacob Marley reminds us the crap is always with us...no, wait, he thinks we can change things. Let's go back to the Angel...
@AK; History; it ain't pretty. I like the image that Kurt Vonnegut leaves us with as Icenine destroys the planet. His hero lies down on a grassy field as the world turns to ice and gives a frozen finger to the sky. Kurt was one of the first to arrive at the death camps in Germany and saw what we are capable of. Nothing more needs to be said.
@PD; Did you make somebody smile today? If you did, you are paid through tomorrow. Keep up the good work.
No surprises here.
Huff Post has an article with graphs & support data, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/top-republican-names_n_4905094.html ): "The Top 10 Republican Names Are Exactly What You'd Expect"
C'mon down....Tanner, Colton, Randal, Eldon, Randall, Kent, Rex, Caleb, Bret, and Bradley.
...also read some of Tailgunner Cruz's CPAC address. The guy sure likes being the bull* in the china shop, what an ego!
*the short version!
Jeanne,
If you're looking for a different sort of imagery, one not quite so cataclysmic, I can offer this from another philosopher of history, Hegel, who wrote that "When philosophy paints its gray in gray, then has a form of life grown old. Philosophy cannot rejuvenate it, but only understand it. The owl of Minerva begins its flight only with the coming of the dusk."
The famous image of the Owl of Minerva (or Athena to us ancient Greeks), an avatar for wisdom, can be applied profitably to history.
Hegel's point is that it's not until an era has passed, the coming of the dusk, that we can truly understand it.
Me, I'm content with another avian image, from T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday". Monday is stormy, Tuesday is just as bad, Wednesday is worse and Thursday's oh so sad, but "the eagle flies on Friday and Saturday I go out to play."
But if the owl runs into the eagle on Friday night and they decide to elope, we'll all be screwed.
You're right. Back to the Angel. But first, a little T-Bone...
Call It Stormy Monday
Marie,
Apropos of your felicitous sighting of an Obama 2008 bumper sticker at such a psychological perigee, I have to convey a similar uptick in emotion in my own blood red state whenever I spot that exceedingly rare bumper sticker that doesn't say things like "Show a liberal gun control. Shoot them between the eyes" or "Send that Muslim back to Africa".
It's like coming across a tiny island of civilization and rationality in a roiling ocean of foaming spittle.
So yes indeed, let's continue to turn those pages. Plot twists are even weirder in non-fiction.
Robin Abcarian in the LA Times on CPAC. Short and funny.
http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-ra-how-trump-and-lapierre-outshone-christie-ryan-and-cruz-at-cpac-20140306,0,5525207.story#axzz2vEK2hKuR
@Ak: Between 625's + my followup post and yours on The Revolution, I listened to an interview with Angela Davis:
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/19/angela_davis_on_the_prison_abolishment
Unfortunately it 1. has been televised and 2. in part because of 1. has lost some of its edge, but 3. sure has some wicked smart soldiers.
Sorry for the late post, we're PDT now.