Loose Teeth

The Fictional President

2006-08-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

There was a lot of fiction passing as fact back in 2000.
There was the story that Al Gore claimed to have "invented" the internet. I didn't even vote for Gore in 2000, but I wasn't buying that one for a second.
But my favorite fiction from 2000 was the one that said GW Bush didn't really "need" to be president.
Al Gore needed to be elected to the presidenct because of his own personal insecurity and Bush just was just running becuase... well, they never actually said why he would subject himself to something like that, just that he didn't really "need" it.
Since then, it's become apparent that if GW didn't need it- whoever it is that he answers to sure did.
There was the the whole "were not going to let them win this one in the courts" statement that James Baker made, just before filing the first court case in the campaign.
There was the republican congressional staffers being flown in to Florida to stage the "citizens uprising" demonstration at the Palm Beach County vote count.
But what's really telling are the things like Cheney's energy task force meetings and subsequent refusal to release records of those meetings.
And, of course, the resultant war in Iraq.
Oh yeah, that was about liberating the Iraqis- sorry, I forgot.
And then there's the 2004 "election."
That there were that many anomolies favoring the republicans has been estimated by statisticians as being 250 million to one that it was pure coincidence.
(I'm not going to post links here- just google "2004 election irregularities" and you'll find plenty.)
So now that were winding down to the final months- thank the god of your choice- of this administration, we have a glaring example of just how bad these bastards wanted it:
Judge Finds NSA spying Program Unconstitutional

DETROIT (AP) - A federal judge on Thursday struck down President Bush's warrantless surveillance program, saying it violated the rights to free speech and privacy, as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit is the first judge to rule on the legality of the National Security Agency's program, which the White House says is a key tool for fighting terrorism that has already stopped attacks.
"Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.
The administration said it would appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

Yeah, they wanted it. The chance to shred the constitution, wage war and rake in billions in the process. Maybe GW didn't care himself, personally, but if that's the case then time and again he's proved that he's not really the decider- he just plays one on TV.

Whoever it is that tells the president what to do and when wanted it. Real bad.
And the will of the people be damned, they weren't about to be denied. None of which bodes well for this coming November.

Rock Stars of the GOP

2006-08-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Despite Image, Cheney a GOP Rock Star

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060806/D8JALESO0.html

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - An anticipatory buzz fills the room. Six crisp American flags, erect as soldiers, line the dais. More than an hour before the vice president's arrival, the GOP faithful stand at the ready.
Never mind that Dick Cheney is favorably regarded by only about a third of Americans. To this crowd, in this place, he is a rock star.

If nothing else, this proves the GOP has terrible taste in music.

OK, This Is Bad

2006-08-02T17:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5602047

So it sounds like they're renovating the White House Press room.
Here's why I think that's bad:

Unbeknownst to people like me - the White House press room was a dilapidated shambles. "Falling apart" is how one reporter described it. The chairs were broken down and it was cramped and dirty.
So for the last 6 years the White House stenographers pool, the very same people who have been selling GW Bush as a tough, resolute, decisive "leader," have had to put up with third world working conditions.
I mean, you can watch the damn TV and see that they get no respect from the White House.
They've been intimidated, made fun of, told to "watch what they say", even threatened with charges of treason.
They've been snubbed and ignored while the official White House mouthpiece called on a planted male prostitute to lob softball "questions" written by the White House itself - who's very presence in the fucking room should have been an impeachable offense and should have been enough to offend any professional journalist in the country.
Still, they supplicate themselves and fawn and gush over Bush like he had been legitimately elected by the voting public.
They write down the carefully crafted talking points and PR spin and outright lies and report it all as though it were actual breaking news - even while the population starts to wake up, shake its head, look around and stand there gape jawed, amazed at how much irreparable damage the country, hell - the world, has sustained in such a relatively short time.
They dutifully shill for this bloodthirsty, power-mad, avaricious demolition crew while their audience starts to do the simple math of adding the 2 + 2 they can no longer avoid and coming to realizations that subtract substantial numbers from the presidential approval ratings despite what they're being told by their televisions.
And they've done all this from the squalor of a press room that's been as carefully maintained as the American citizen's constitutional rights.
Well, now theyre gonna get a freshly painted, fully refurbished space with brand new upholstery.
I shudder to think what the next two years is gonna bring from these clueless sycophants.

Of Course It's "The Journalists"...

2006-07-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

This little item jumped out at me today:

Rove Blasts Journalists' Role in Politics

WASHINGTON (AP) - Presidential adviser Karl Rove said Saturday that journalists often criticize political professionals because they want to draw attention away from the "corrosive role" their own coverage plays in politics and government.
"Some decry the professional role of politics, they would like to see it disappear," Rove told graduating students at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. "Some argue political professionals are ruining American politics - trapping candidates in daily competition for the news cycle instead of long-term strategic thinking in the best interest of the country."
But Rove turned that criticism on journalists.
"It's odd to me that most of these critics are journalists and columnists," he said. "Perhaps they don't like sharing the field of play. Perhaps they want to draw attention away from the corrosive role their coverage has played focusing attention on process and not substance."

Karl Rove complaining about someone else's corrosive role in politics is a little like Dick Cheney leading the choir in a chorus of "Give Peace A Chance."
But it gets better:

Rove told about 100 graduates trained to be political operatives that they should respect the instincts of the American voter.
"There are some in politics who hold that voters are dumb, ill informed and easily misled, that voters can be manipulated by a clever ad or a smart line," said Rove, who is credited with President Bush's victories in the 2000 and 2004 elections. "I've seen this cynicism over the years from political professionals and journalists. American people are not policy wonks, but they have great instincts and try to do the right thing."
Rove said it is "wrong to underestimate the intelligence of the American voter, but easy to overestimate their interest. Much tugs at their attention."
But he said voters are able to watch campaigns and candidates closely and "this messy and imperfect process has produced great leaders."

I'm sure he considers his boy GW, a "great leader."

And I'm sure we're going to see a 2008 campaign based on honest debate about the Iraq quagmire- the issue every poll identifies as the most important - now that Rove is back in the driver's seat.

OK, not really. I'm sure that once again it will be about gay marriage and the fact that all the war veteran democratic candidates for office are really cowards.

There have been few factors in modern American politics as corrosive as Karl Rove's campaigning style. If that's showing respect for the electorate, then I would hate to see what disrespecting them would look like.

Personally, I can't wait for this guy's deathbed plea for forgiveness.

Sam Meyers

2006-07-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Another motherfucking obituary.
Nice clip here:
http://www.texasgigs.com/blogs/soundcheck/2006/jul/28/sweetsam/

Evangelical Christians That Aren't Completelty Full of Shit

2006-07-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

When I first moved to Texas there was a guy running for governor, the late Don Crowder, who's entire platform was his opposition to the state's "No Pass-No Play" policy, which basically said if you don't get at least a D, then you can't play football for your school.
He was a democrat.
He was also a successful attorney- you might even remember him as Candace Montgomery's lawyer. She was the woman who hacked her lover's wife to death with an axe. He got her off on self defense, so it's not like he was stupid or anything. It takes a certain level of smarts to do that.
(For more on the Candace Montgomery case check out John Bloom's excellent book "Evidence Of Love"
Yet he was running for governor on a platform that said stupidity is every Texas student's right and failing grades were no reason a kid shouldn't get a scholarship to higher education as an athlete.
I thought that was a bad sign then, little did I know what was coming.
Fast forward 20 or so years and we have a former Texas governor as sitting president who only got enought votes to throw the election because just enough of the voting population didn't want the smart candidate to be their leader.
All I can say is that he's certainly lived up to their expectations.
A considerable percentage of those voters were, of course, evangelical christians.
Now I know a little something about evangelical christians. I was raised in a pentecostal household and was drug off to church 3 nights a week and twice on sundays. Unless there was a "revival" going on, when I got to go every night of the week- except saturdays.
One of the common themes from the pulpit back then was how education could be a bad thing. It made you question your faith and cast doubts on a strictly literal interpetaion of the Bible.
Anyone remember those bumperstickers: "God said it, I believe it, that settles it"?
Well, today on the Diane Rehm Show I heard something that made me pause and take notice.
Francis Collins, the lead scientist on the Human Genome Project was promoting his book The Language of God.
Here was a man professing not just a belief in God, but an unwavering faith in Christianity in particular. Evangelical Christianity at that.
Now it always seemed to me that "God" wouldn't really have a problem with science. I mean, let's say for the sake of argument that God exists and he created the universe and everything in it.
One of the things he created was the brain and intellegence of mankind. Using that brain and that intellegence man discovers things: Math, biology, genetics, evolution etc.
Now if you were God would you feel honored that your most ardent followers refused to believe any of the things that the brightest people using the tools you had given them had discovered because it didn't correlate with what more primitive, less advanced men had written 3- 4 thousand years ago?
I wouldn't think so.
That's basically what Collins was saying.
It always seemed contradictory to me that the same preacher that explained how to God the "twinkling of an eye" was like twenty thousand years to a man, then in the next breath insist that God had created the earth in seven days because that's what it said in the bible.
These are the people that still believe the universe is 6-10 thousand years old.
Now I'm not a scientist, mathematician, geneticist or anything even close- but I do know that some of the stars you see in the sky are millions of light years away, so it's taken millions of years for that light to get to the earth where you or I can see it.
He didn't even bother to make a case for evolution, he merely said the evidence was overwhelming.
He did make the case for stem cell research.
He also said that all the major religions have more common themes than differences.
So why is it that the stupid people control the debate for the christians out there?
Why isn't this guy the presidents advisor instead of Timothy Lehay?
Putting a person like this in a political position could do more to advance the case for people of faith than all the Fallwells, Robertsons, Dobsons and Bin Ladens combined.
OK, I realize this is Texas. Texans are frequently defiantly proud of their stupidity and Texas is, as they say, the buckle of the "Bible Belt."
You can catch the audio of today's Diane Rehm show here:
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/06/07/25.php#10891
It's worth a listen if you think all evangelicals are hopelessly stuck in the middle ages.
I only wonder if there are any Muslims that arent afraid of the very tools their God has given them. If there are, then maybe there's hope after all.

Johnny Cash, American V -A Hundred Highways ... a review

2006-07-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

When Johnny Cash teamed up with producer Rick Rubin and American Recordings to release the first of his “American” series he managed to both resurrect his career and earn genuine indie cred at the same time.

The four records that followed 1994’s “American Recordings” have all pretty much kept to the same formula of sparse, stripped down arrangements that lay bare both the singer’s voice and the raw emotion of the songs.

He’s produced the best work of his entire catalog in the process.

His last release, “American V –A Hundred Highways” is a beautiful final chapter to a truly original American artist’s long and influential life.

How good it is probably depends a lot on your view of the American series and how you regard Johnny Cash in the first place.

If you’re in the camp that considers Cash that most rarified of artist, one that occupied a higher plane than mere mortal men- my camp, that is- and if you think that the highlights of the “American” series: “The Beast In Me,” “Delia’s Gone, “One,” “Hurt,” “Solitary Man” etc. are stronger than his classic hits like “Ring Of Fire” or “Walk The Line” then you’ll probably love “A Hundred Highways”.

It’s the sound of a dying man publicly and honestly assessing his life and work and finding himself at peace with his own heart and his own legacy.

It’s striking juxtaposition of Johnny sounding clear and strong and Johnny sounding weak and frail underscore the honesty of the songs and the genuine humanity of the man singing them.

Not just anyone could pull this off, either. In lesser hands the plaintive, heartbreaking cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” would sound calculated and trite. The naked sentimentality of “Rose Of My Heart” would sound maudlin in the extreme.

But that’s not the case here.

He sounds bold and righteous on “God Is Gonna Cut You Down,” humble and sincere on “I Came To Believe,” and even kind of happy on the closer “I’m Free From The Chain Gang Now.”

You can’t escape the circumstances of the record. Recorded after the death of his wife, June Carter Cash, alone for the first time in his life, in poor health and staring his own death squarely in the face; even the liner notes by Rubin recount the man’s last days. Taken altogether- “A Hundred Highways” is almost too moving for words.

It’s definitely not a disc to pop in on a Saturday morning, nor is it likely to make any club DJ’s playlists. But now that the man in black is no doubt sitting at the very right hand of God in judgment of all of us lesser men here on earth, listening to and fully appreciating “American V- A Hundred Highways” should be at the top of any Johnny worshippers to-do list.

You gave us an awful lot in your time on earth, Johnny, and now this.

Rest in peace, bro.

Cross posted at http://slackercountry.com/

Dan Quayle, Music Critic

2006-07-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite news items last week:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/celebrities/4063721.html

The gist:

The former vice president, miffed about a comment made by Mellencamp about Pres. Bush's administration, walked out of the singer's July 14 show at Harvey's Lake Tahoe Casino in Lake Tahoe, Calif.

If I were in a band, I'd pay to have Dan Quayle walk out of my show.

Why The Hell Not?

2006-07-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

A lot has been going on this week. Israel has begun a bombing campaign in Lebanon. An element of the Lebanese Government, Hezbollah, has declared "Open War" on Israel. Never ones to miss an opportunity, Fox News has finally trotted out the "World War 3 (or 4)" meme in a last ditch effort to ratchet up the bloodlust of the American citizenry. Here at home, Cheney's boy G. W. Bush finally used his veto power- to stop financing of stem cell research.
Seems like as good a time as any to toss out my endorsement of Kinky Friedman.
It's been a long, long time since I've voted for someone.
Don't get me wrong, I vote. I can't not vote . . . But I don't think I actually voted for someone since I cast my first ever vote for Jimmy Carter for president.
Ever since then, I've been voting against. I've voted against Reagan (twice), Bush1, Dole and Bush2.
In 2000 I even voted for Nader, not because I wanted him to win, but because I was voting in Texas and I didn't want to throw away my vote.
Down ballot can be a tougher call. Do you really read every policy position of every candidate you vote for? I've had to use a system:
Green, Independent, Democrat and when that's too unsavory, Libertarian -
unless I just have to vote for the Democrat to vote against the Republican. That does happen - a lot - 2004 for example.
No, I usually don't expect my candidate to win. But this time it's different. Kinky has a real shot.
And if you're one of those loyal Democratic voters who vote a straight ticket, even in Texas, all I can say is: Thanks a lot!
Look around you. See how completely fucked up everything is? A wealthy, delusional imbecile sits in the White House, mangling the language, talking with his mouth full, commiting our country to neverending war, redistributing our wealth upward - to the already wealthy - and trashing our good name around the world.
It was the patronage of two Democrats that made all that possible. Had they not decided to take W under their wing in order to stick it to Ann Richards, he would have most likely have been a miserable failure even as governor. And, in case you didn't know, Texas is a weak governor state.
I'm not naive enough to think for a single minute that Kinky Friedman is some kind of panacea that is going to solve all of the states's problems. After almost 10 years of one party rule- those problems get bigger and more unsolvable by the day.
But a Kinky win could damn sure serve as a bitch-slap to the official state party and their weak kneed "opponents" and isn't that, after all, what we really need?
Especially in Texas.
Chris Bell is the Democratic challenger to Governor Rick Perry. I've looked at his platform and there's nothing there that Kinky hasn't stated better. If he were running for Lt. Governor (the real power), I might even vote for him.
But I really think it's way past time for a change in the political dynamic. You can't pin Kinky down as either a right or left winger. Who even thinks in those terms anymore anyway (cable news commentators don't count)?
Considering that there's really not that much that a Texas governor can actually do, short of signing legislation, I think Kinky's campaign slogan makes perfect sense - Why the Hell not?
I mean if GW Bush can do it - anybody can.

Retiring The Flags

2006-07-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

Well, the flags have been retired. Deposited in the proper receptacle.
And, yes, they will be burned.
Unless congress passes a flag burning amendment, anyway.
Then what would they do?

More Flags in the Gutter...

2006-07-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

If I was to categorize this blog, then so far I think I have three:

'Obituary'
'You kids call that music?'

and, of course,

'Show some goddamn respect for the flag, punk'

That really wasn't my intention when I started doing this... but there it is.
I've pledged allegiance, of course, but I've never really been one to wave the flag, or use it as a bludgeon against anyone I disagree with politically.
And I think a flag burning amendment is a bad idea.
But I damn sure never thought for a moment that I would become a rescuer of our national symbol.
So yesterday when I thought I saw another flag in the gutter; I pulled over and parked in the nearest lot, got out of the car and took a closer look.
Yep, that was a flag allright.
But what was that about ten feet away? Are you kidding me? It couldn't be...
Ah, but it was... another US flag.

I shook my head and came to a reluctant acceptance of my fate.

When I got across the street, no small feat in Rush hour traffic, I picked up the discarded Old Glories and started back when I spotted, sure enough, just up the road... a third flag.
Just what the fuck is going on here, anyway?
I tromped on through the high grass in the median, enduring the oppressive 103 degree heat, certain that it would mean a fresh new crop of chigger bites on my already badly chigger scarred legs (one of these days, if no one of interest has died and there are no flags in the gutter, I might just blog about chiggers- they're a microscopic scourge straight from Hell.) and gently rescued the third flag from the gutter on the I-35E southbound service road.
These were big antennae flags with two foot long sleeves for mounting on all the multiple antennaes of those giant, patriotic SUVs that have to be wired for every kind of radio wave transmission there is. You know, the ones that still proudly and defiantly sport their "W" stickers next to their magnetic "support the troops" ribbons. And a bunch of flags.
If they're gonna drive around flagged like the lead car in the president's motorcade, you'd at least think they could secure the damn things.
OK, so now what to do.
What else? I pulled back on the road, made the next U-turn and headed to the VFW Hall down the street from the shop.
I'd never been inside before so I didn't really know what to expect when I went in. Looking around, I was reminded of the lyric in the X song, "The Have Nots"

Hail these
ancient bloody mary bastards
In a hard-
core blue collar bar
Here they sit
a shot and a beer
After another hard earned day

It was bigger inside than I would have imagined. Cleaner and brighter too.
There were two pool tables and a pretty lively crowd milling around. Stevie Ray Vaughn was on the jukebox. Several groups of ancient bloody mary bastards sat together at tables and the bar.
I walked up to the bar where the bartender, a blonde middle aged woman I had seen but never spoken to before, gave me a curious look.
I asked if they had a means of properly disposing of US flags.
Her face brightened and she said "We sure do. See that red white and blue mailbox over there?
When you're ready to retire a flag you just bring it in and put it in there. The ROTC will come by, pick em up and have a ceremony where they retire them."
I pointed to one of the vinyl flag banners hanging above the bar and asked her if that counted the same as a regular flag.
"It certainly does."
After asking if they were open monday- they are- I went on home, nailed the flags to the wall and took this pic with my webcam..

OK, so I'm not much of a photographer.
Come monday, I'll stop in the VFW hall after work, respectfully deposit the flags in the red, white and blue maibox/flag receptacle, see if there's any Johnny Cash or Steve Earle on the jukebox, have a cold beer and maybe strike up a conversation with some old vets.
Then, the ROTC can come, take the rescued flags away and do what they do.
I think they burn them, don't they?
Should be interesting...

My response to Ann Coulter

2006-07-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

Last night, I watched this clip at Crooks and Liars. I made it all through all 25 + minutes and let me tell you, it was some tough sledding.
It's pretty much Ann Coulter's entire schtick being taken apart by some guy named Donnie Deutsch.
OK, I'll concede he won that particular argument hands down. Still, I found a lot of his points to be pretty offensive- and I dont offend easily.
He kept telling her that "these liberals don't exist" and found himself in agreement with her on carpet bombing or even nuking other countries.
I'm all for Ann Coulter being shamed and eviscerated on national television but, for Christ's sake, can't the rational side get a better fucking spokesperson?
This kind of bullshit is why I quit watching cable news.
I've never read an Ann Coulter book and I'm not going to read, or even name, the one she's out pimping now- but don't they all say pretty much the same thing?
Only the adjectives change.
And to be honest, if her version of "liberals" do exist, I haven't met any.
The only real response to her psychotic assertions is to pull out the trusty old Websters-

Liberal: generous; munificent; free from narrowness in ideas or doctrines... one who advocates extension of freedom in political institutions.

Based on that, if I'm not a liberal- at least it's what I aspire to be.

Syd Barrett 1946-2006

2006-07-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

I heard it on the news today, Syd Barrett died last friday.
For those who dont know who he was:
He was a founding member of Pink Floyd and a true father of psychedelic music.
He was also one of its early casualties.
I'll admit upfront that I haven't listened to Pink Floyd in over a decade In fact, I have a two disc set of "Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd" that I've never once listened to.
But there was a time that I listened to them constantly.
I've even seen them in concert, back in March of 1975. They were between records then. They did a five night stand at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. "Dark Side Of The Moon" had been out for a couple years and "Wish You Were Here" was still about a half a year away from being released. Of course by that time Syd Barrett was a legend, not a band member.
Back then, there never were concerts within the city limits of Los Angeles. They were always in Inglewood at The Forum, or the Long Beach Arena, or the Santa Monica Civic Center or The Hollywood Bowl. Turns out there was a pretty good reason for that:
Police Chief Ed Davis.
Davis had a major hardon for pot smokers. And pot was as prevalent at a concert in Southern California in the 70s as music was. You just couldn't have one without the other.
So Ed Davis' reaction to a five night stand of concerts was to send about 50 undercover narcs to the shows and have uniformed officers do random searches at the entrances and bust everyone they could.
That kind of thing was unheard of then.
There was a van driving around the arena every night with a megaphone urging attendees to please take whatever stash they had back to their cars and not even try and take it inside.
I attended two of the shows. The first night, we had seats in the middle of the floor and a handful of reefers. The bouncer standing in the aisles near us said he pretty much knew who the narcs were and would watch for us if we would share. Of course we shared. All night long.
The second night we were sitting up in the nosebleed section and we dropped acid. We tried to smoke one joint when they hit the stage but we were all so paranoid that we ended up playing hot potato with the damn thing.
But about then we started tripping so it hardly mattered.
They came out and played "Dark Side of the Moon" in its entirety, then they took a break and came back and played 3 new songs before leaving the stage then coming out and playing "Echoes" as an encore.
Where Syd Barrett fits in in all this is that one of the new songs they played in the second set was "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"- a song about their troubled former bandmate.
I later learned that Syd Barrett had actually attended the recording session for "Crazy Diamond"
From Wikipedia:

In an interview for VH1, Rick Wright spoke about the session, saying: "One thing that really stands out in my mind, that I'll never forget; I was going in to the Shine On sessions. I went in the studio and I saw this guy sitting at the back of the studio, he was only as far away as you are from me. And I didn't recognize him. I said, 'Who's that guy behind you?' 'That's Syd.' And I just cracked up, I couldn't believe it... he had shaven all his hair off... I mean, his eyebrows, everything... he was jumping up and down brushing his teeth, it was awful. And, uh, I was in, I mean Roger was in tears, I think I was; we were both in tears. It was very shocking... seven years of no contact and then to walk in while we're actually doing that particular track. I don't know – coincidence, karma, fate, who knows? But it was very, very, very powerful." In another interview, Nick Mason has said: "When I think about it, I can still see his eyes, but... it was everything else that was different." In yet another interview, Roger Waters has said: "I had no idea who he was for a very long time."

When "Wish You Were Here" was released 6 months later, I recognized the song immediately. The title track was also about Barrett.
Barrett's apparent insanity continued to haunt the band. "The Wall" makes references to him, although nothing as direct as "Crazy Diamond." After that record came out I pretty much lost interest in Pink Floyd altogether.
These days I'm pretty much into rootsier stuff, but as a teenager in southern California in the 70s, Syd Barrett was a pretty big, if indirect, influence on my life.
That's probably true for a lot of people.

Monday, Monday (Philanthropy and Desecration edition)

2006-07-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

I saw 2 things today that somehow seem to be related to each other.
One was an actual US flag laying among other discarded refuse in the gutter.
The other was a line from a story in the Dallas Morning News.

First, the flag.
I was driving southbound on the North Dallas Expressway, about a block north of the LBJ Freeway when something caught my eye. Sure enough, wadded up in the gutter among shopping bags, newspaper ads and other assorted detritus was an honest to god US flag.
Dallas, as you probably know, has a long history of being a city size petri dish for right wing thinking. The John Birch Society, The National Center for Policy Analysis, the Dallas Theological Seminary and the Dallas Baptist University all call this city their home.
George W Bush lived here, as did the most powerful man in the world, Dick Cheney.
Hell, this is the city where, as he paraded through downtown, they shot John F Kennedy in the head.
So Dallas is a city with it's conservative bona fides in order. And North Dallas is one of the most rock ribbed "movement conservative" land masses in the entire country.
When congress squanders our tax dollars debating the merits of a flag burning amendment, while the country and its constition burn, you can bet your next six paychecks that the letters to the editor in our daily news rag will be full of indignant patriots belittling the "liberals" who would dare question that kind of pandering.
But there it was. In the gutter.
And this was no tiny car antenae flag that had blown off some patriot's Cadillac Escalade or Ford Expedition as they whipped down the tollroad in a rush to the town hall meeting with Pete Sessions or Sam Johnson. This was at least a three foot long flag.
Laying in the gutter.

And that brings us to the other thing I saw earlier today.
A news account of Kenneth Lay's funeral.
If you care to read it, heres a link
(register and do battle with all the pop-ups) but I'll be happy to give you the gist.
It was packed. One reporter, got inside long enough to see, at the altar- white lilies and a picture of Mr. Lay were flanked by sprays of sunflowers, before being swiftly escorted out.
The thing that struck me was this line:

"It was very moving," former Texas Rangers partner Fred Malek said as he left the service. "It brought back the philanthropic man that he was."

Ken Lay, philanthropist.
Now I'm not dancing on anyone's grave. Personally, I think it would have been more satisfying for Lay to see the inside of a prison than to check out the way he did.
But philanthropist?
Then I got to thinking.
Ken Lay was a philanthropist for our time.
I'm being serious here.
Sure, he fucked countless thousands of working people out of their pensions, taking their money and throwing it down, all or nothing on a figurative long shot at the track. He wrote checks against the wheelbarrels of money he was gonna make as sick people's insulin rotted in their unpowered refridgerators during California's rolling black outs.
When it was all coming up losses, he ran a few more of those stupid "why" commercials to urge even more people to put their life savings in his big time orgy of greed.
And he did all that without ever even entertaining the idea that he did anything wrong.
And why should he think that?
Just about half the voting population of this country have actually opted for those kind of policies for the last decade or so. It's what we as a nation want.
Out of the hundreds of millions he pocketed, he tossed a few crumbs out to charity, most likely for deductions on the portions he actually claimed and to buy the respect needed to climb the social ladder; but that's enough to make him a philanthropist in this "New America" we inhabit.
So after rolling that line around in my head all day, it almost seemed fitting to see old glory, the symbol of the nation I always considered myself damn lucky to call home, laying in the gutter with all the other discarded and obsolete marketing material.
In the "New America." thats all the flag is- another marketing tool.
And Ken Lay was a philanthropist.

Terrell Owens Still Has A Fan

2006-07-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

G. Love and Special Sauce played the Taste of Dallas Fest in the West End last night.
Another friendly crowd on a perfect night for a free outdoor show. Dallas has had a run of those recently.
Special Sauce lays down a nice groove with keyboards, stand up bass and real drums behind G. Love's laid back, soulful guitar strumming and blues harmonica riffs. Easy going listener friendly beats with self depricating lyrics, it's "slacker rap" as opposed to "gangsta rap".
He played "Can't Go Back To Jersey," "Cold Beverages," "Booty Call" and a few recognizable covers- The Faces' "Stay With Me" and Snoop Dog's "Gin n Juice".
He kept the crowd down front dancing all night.
He seemed to be happy to be here. You get the sense that G. Love is happy to be wherever he is.
He told the audience that Dallas has had a good year so far- the Mavericks almost won! And almost winning is better than not winning at all.
Then he said: "And now you guys got T.O." (the Dallas Cowboy's acquisition of Terrell Owens from the Philadelphia Eagles) When that wasn't met with rousing applause he said: "Aw man, he just got here and already you guys don't like him- that's fucked up. "
Then he added: "I'm the only guy sitting around Phillie that still likes him!"
He closed the show with a very nice version of "Baby's got Sauce."

Oh Please...

2006-07-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

I should start with a disclaimer:
I've never heard a Justin Timberlake song.
Well, I may have heard one somewhere in a store or on a commercial or blasting from someone's car speakers at a light or something; but I was blissfully unaware if I did.
So if one were to say that I'm totally unqualified to make any judgements about JT's "music"- I would counter that when you've squandered as much of your life hanging out in live music venues and scavenging through the bins of used record stores and garage sales as I have, you earn the right to make certain assumptions.
When I read this morning that Justin Timberlake Wants New Sound ToChange Pop the assumption I made was:
Yeah, right.

The first single from the album, "SexyBack," features a pounding bass beat and electronic sounds, and does not include the falsetto singing that has become Timberlake's trademark. He said, however, that the album featured "a lot" of such singing.

"...a pounding bass beat and electronic sounds..." Well, that's certainly a new approach to pop music. And "a lot" of singing that isn't falsetto?
Will music ever be the same?
Not if our man Justin has any say in it:

"I realize that I have a platform to push the sound of pop music. That's the only responsibility that I put on myself in recording the album"

Well there you go. He's a man on a mission.
So while pop music is being boldly changed to pounding beats and electronic sounds, I think I'll continue my curent mission to find a used, four dollar cd copy of Junior Well's "Hoodoo Man Blues".

WWCD?

2006-07-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

I came across a little news item today that I think deserves comment.

Former Survivor winner arrested

A winner of the popular reality show "Survivor" was arrested Wednesday after allegedly shooting a puppy with an arrow.

Brian Heidik, 38, is charged with battery and cruelty to animals. After a pretrial hearing Wednesday morning in Douglas County Magistrate Court, he was released on bond.

I don't really have a problem with people who hunt for food. In fact, I think someone who kills the animal that he eats probably inhabits a more noble place in the cosmos than the person who relies on the likes of IBP or Con Agra to provide their suppertime pound of flesh.
And someone who does their sustenance hunting with a bow and arrow is just that much more sporting, IMHO. I mean, if I had to choose, I'd rather have to dodge an arrow than a shotgun shell anyday.
Someone who hunts for the purpose of hanging a mounted head on his wall is another story altogether, however, and someone who kills an animal for the pure love of killing, or because they might just be pissed off at someone is so far beneath contempt they make the trophy hunter almost look human.

"At about 3 a.m., his wife called to report that he was outside and that he had shot a puppy that was on his property with an arrow and planned to shoot another one," Copeland said.

When sheriff's deputies arrived, Heidik fled in his car but was quickly caught and taken back to the home where the incident occurred.

Heidik's wife, Charmaine, and 5-year-old son were present at the home at the time of the incident, Copeland said.

Copeland said there was evidence in the home to support a charge of battery for family violence. Because the case is pending, he could not elaborate on the nature of the evidence.

If you read the story, that appears to be the case here. He had a fight with his wife and decided to by god shoot an arrow through a puppy or two.

So just who the fuck does this guy think he is? Dick Cheney?
Sure, Dick Cheney has no doubt killed his share of puppies.
But Christ, man, he's the most powerful man in the world.
And when he does get pissed off at something and decides to take it out on a puppy, does he use a bow and arrow?

Get real.

He most likely just calls up one of his game rancher buddies- the ones that will keep the liberal media at bay- and makes arrangements to have a puppy chained to a post and stands 3 or 4 feet away and uses a high power rifle or a 30 ought 6 shotgun.
And his wife doesn't call the cops on him. She knows damn well that if he's that pissed off at her she better be thanking her lucky stars that he's taking it out on a puppy.
And if he fires a stray shot- he has high dollar Texas lawyers who will not only take the bullet (or buckshot) in the face but also tell the press that they're sorry for the pain it's caused the VP and his family.

This guy, Brian Heidik, manged to lie, scheme and backstab his way to a million dollars and had his 15 episodes of fame. Still, he's no Dick Cheney and as far as I'm concerned, he should start acting that way.

*Note- fortunately, besides being an apparently loathesome excuse for a human being, Brian Heidik is also a lousy archer. The puppy was wounded, not killed.

Kenneth Lay 4/15/42 - 7/5/06

2006-07-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's case of morbid curiosity, but I just can't help wondering what they're gonna say in this guy's eulogy.
I also can't help wondering if his biggest political beneficiary, G.W.Bush, will attend the funeral.
He's supposed to be all about loyaly isn't he?
I think that's about to be put to the test.

Hey Baby, it's the 4th of July!

2006-07-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

On this years July 4th compilation cd, I thought it would be appropriate to include "Warrior" from Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts Now"....

This is the best time of the day—the dawn
The final cleansing breath unsullied yet
By acrid fume or death’s cacophony
The rank refuse of unchained ambition
And pray, deny me not but know me now,
Your faithful retainer stands resolute
To serve his liege lord without recompense
Perchance to fall and perish namelessly
No flag-draped bier or muffled drum to set
The cadence for a final dress parade
But it was not always thus—remember?
Once you worshipped me and named me a god
In many tongues and made offering lest
I exact too terrible a tribute

Take heed for I am weary, ancient
And decrepit now and my time grows short
There are no honorable frays to join

Only mean death dealt out in dibs and dabs
Or horror unleashed from across oceans
Assail me not with noble policy
For I care not at all for platitude
And surrender such tedious detail
To greater minds than mine and nimbler tongues
Singular in their purpose and resolve
And presuming to speak for everyman

Oh, for another time, a distant field
And there a mortal warrior’s lonely grave
But duty charges me remain until
The end the last battle of the last war
Until that ‘morrow render unto me
That which is mine my stipend well deserved
The fairest flower of your progeny
Your sons, your daughters your hopes and your dreams
The cruel consequence of your conceit

Here's the whole tracklist:

01 - Dave Alvin - Fourth Of July - From "Romeo's Escape"
02 - Steve Earle - Amerika V. 6.0 (The Best We Can Do)
03 - Scott Miller & The Commonwealth - Hawks and Doves
04 - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl
05 - Steve Earle - F the CC
06 - Bob Dylan - Political World
07 - Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now
08 - Neil Young - Flags Of Freedom
09 - X - 4th of July
10 - Los Lobos - One Time One Night
11 - The Gourds - Lower 48
12 - Neil Young - Hawks And Doves -Live, with The International Harvesters
13 - The Beau Roland Band - 229 Years
14 - Steve Earle - Warrior
15 - Jefferson Pepper - This Land Is Your Land
16 - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rockin' In The Free World
17 - Dave Alvin - Fourth Of July -Acoustic version, from "King Of California"

Happy 4th!

Now that that's out of the way...

2006-07-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

It was becoming increasingly clear as I typed and deleted, typed and deleted, typed and deleted etc that untill I got that bit of business out of the way (see below) that this thing wasn't going anywhere.
OK, so now it starts.
What is this exactly?
I don't really know yet.
I have been kicking the idea around in my head for some time and today seemed like the perfect time to just jump in and do it already.
Just to see what happens.
Will anyone read this? I don't know that either.
I guess we'll see.
This much I know:
There will be politics, music and general mundane observations. None of which will be standard, run of the mill boilerplate.
This will be the only post about what this blog is about.
Maybe there'll be readers too. Maybe there'll be regulars. Maybe contibutors. Maybe even trolls.
Time will tell.
Hello. My name is jitter.
This is my blog...

A death in the family

2006-07-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

What a way to start a blog.
Last friday, my birthday ironically, our cat Chico died.
He was 10 years old.
It was the second cat death we've suffered in the last 3 months.
A week earlier, Chico was a happy, healthy, frequently annoying orange tabby. Then I noticed he had been spending most of his time just laying on his favorite table.
He was still responsive, ready to start clawing and purring when petted, but any other time he seemed to be kind of listless. Several days had passed with none of the demands for attention he was so well known for.
One night he left the table and moved into the bathtub. I pulled him out of the tub and took him to the front room with his companion, Blanca. They had literally grown up together.
The two of them snugled up on the futon, the way they used to always do and I thought everything was going to be OK.
The next morning Chico was back in the tub. My wife noticed that he seemed to be a little bloated. She said he wouldn't eat and wouldn't drink any water when she offered it.
That evening, when I got home from work, I noticed he wasn't being very responsive. I gave him some chicken broth and he didnt want any. I gave him some water and he went at it. I left the broth in the tub with him and the next morning I noticed he had drank about half of it.
My wife took him to the vet and the vet drained a pretty large amount of fluid from his abdomen. She said he was so dehydrated that she couldn't get a good blood sample so she wanted to keep him there and rehydrate him.
The next day she said she was encouraged but she sill couldn't get a good sample. She was feeding him intraveinously but he still had no interest in solid food. That evening she made another attempt to get him to eat and he simply had a convulsion and died.
I was sitting right here, typing an email to a friend who had inquired about him when the phone rang. A minute later I heard my wife start bawling in the other room.
I didn't even have to ask.
The vet said he had cancer. She did a cursory examination of his body and determined there was a mass and it probably affected several organs.
He is now buried in the back yard under his favorite window.
Rest in peace, old friend.