The Fulcrum
Friday, September 26, 2003
SHUT UP!
//I forgot it was "talk like Bill O'Reilly day!" But as I rarely watch him, well, I'll just borrow his most famous tag line for today.//
Shut up!
Fair and Balanced Charles2
Shut up!
Fair and Balanced Charles2
80's Icon Robert Palmer - Dead at 54
So it's not the biggest story around, but I was still taken aback seeing that yet another relatively young rocker had died. I still consider his big MTV hits "Addicted to Love" and "Simply Irresistible" to be some of the best videos ever made. Okay, so really I loved the "Palmer Girls" and their semi-see-through tight black shirts and short-short skirts, but the videos were satisfyingly ironic and the songs definitely got stuck in your head.
Palmer never got caught up in the self-destructive aspects of rock and roll stardom and was, perhaps, the best dressed man in rock. He died of a heart attack at age 54. Sad.
Palmer never got caught up in the self-destructive aspects of rock and roll stardom and was, perhaps, the best dressed man in rock. He died of a heart attack at age 54. Sad.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
One Man; No Vote
I continue to be - amazed isn't quite the right word, but will have to do - at how blithely Rethuglicans are willing to allow the disenfranchisement of registered voters.
Now I agree that the California recall has turned into a circus. I also think that some of the arguments, both pro and con for postponing the election were a little tortured. Although on balance, I think those for postponement were most compelling. What strikes me about the conservative blather about the matter is how easily they can ridicule "stopping an election (they refuse to use "postpone") in order to save democracy," while being completely oblivious to the fact that a delay would actually improve the democratic process by ensuring more votes are cast and counted.
Of course the obvious problem is that the votes that would be lost are in the poorer districts of California where they can't afford to upgrade to newer, more reliable voting machines. Those districts are most likely predominately Democratic, so... Well you can see where that line of thinking goes.
But the Repugs dismiss the whole process, the whole idea, as some minor impediment as opposed to true disenfranchisement. As the title of this post suggests, Republicans, it seems, would love to go back to the days when only monied, male "landed" gentry could vote.
Now I agree that the California recall has turned into a circus. I also think that some of the arguments, both pro and con for postponing the election were a little tortured. Although on balance, I think those for postponement were most compelling. What strikes me about the conservative blather about the matter is how easily they can ridicule "stopping an election (they refuse to use "postpone") in order to save democracy," while being completely oblivious to the fact that a delay would actually improve the democratic process by ensuring more votes are cast and counted.
Of course the obvious problem is that the votes that would be lost are in the poorer districts of California where they can't afford to upgrade to newer, more reliable voting machines. Those districts are most likely predominately Democratic, so... Well you can see where that line of thinking goes.
But the Repugs dismiss the whole process, the whole idea, as some minor impediment as opposed to true disenfranchisement. As the title of this post suggests, Republicans, it seems, would love to go back to the days when only monied, male "landed" gentry could vote.
Monday, September 22, 2003
The Most Dangerous Man in America?
Patriot Act II. This litany of legislative legerdemain just keeps providing ammunition with which BushCo repeatedly shoots themselves in the foot.
Ashcroft's latest defense of P.A.II revolves around alternately insulting, cajoling and threatening one of the least harmful, most beloved and most defenseless of groups; librarians. You can read about it in lots of places, not least of all here.
They've never used it - says Ashcroft (then why do they need it) - and if they did, they'd never tell us. And should any librarian want to complain about it, P.A.II makes it a crime to tell anyone that library records had been requested.
My suggestion is that everyone go to their public library as soon as possible - if you don't have a card, get one - then check out as many "subversive" titles as you can find there.
I guess the DoJ has never met a group they didn't want to bully. I wonder how many times John Ashcroft was sent to the principals office as a child for stealing milk money from a classmate?
Ashcroft's latest defense of P.A.II revolves around alternately insulting, cajoling and threatening one of the least harmful, most beloved and most defenseless of groups; librarians. You can read about it in lots of places, not least of all here.
They've never used it - says Ashcroft (then why do they need it) - and if they did, they'd never tell us. And should any librarian want to complain about it, P.A.II makes it a crime to tell anyone that library records had been requested.
My suggestion is that everyone go to their public library as soon as possible - if you don't have a card, get one - then check out as many "subversive" titles as you can find there.
I guess the DoJ has never met a group they didn't want to bully. I wonder how many times John Ashcroft was sent to the principals office as a child for stealing milk money from a classmate?
Sunday, September 21, 2003
The Next Phase
Not content with - or perhaps not satisfied with the results of - attacks on American soldiers or the occasional Iraqi policeman or bystander, the Iraqi resistance has targeted a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. Although Al-Hashimi is in good condition after being shot in the abdomen, this attack seems to foreshadow a new level of activity for whoever is organizing the continuing attacks.
There seems to be no end to how ugly this can get. You'd think that killing fellow Iraqis would be a great way to alienate those responsible. But like everything else there that doesn't make sense, this only seems to inflame passions further. Of course being a part of that society and that history, these gunmen surely know that.
Can we finally just say that there was no plan for how to deal with the aftermath of our war? Not just that the planning was poor, or that we had no exit plan, but really, there was no plan. And nature hates a vacuum of planning as much as any other.
There seems to be no end to how ugly this can get. You'd think that killing fellow Iraqis would be a great way to alienate those responsible. But like everything else there that doesn't make sense, this only seems to inflame passions further. Of course being a part of that society and that history, these gunmen surely know that.
Can we finally just say that there was no plan for how to deal with the aftermath of our war? Not just that the planning was poor, or that we had no exit plan, but really, there was no plan. And nature hates a vacuum of planning as much as any other.
