Shills for Hill--The Spin Goes On

Is anyone else out there tired yet of the MSM's unflagging efforts to give the Presidency to Hillary Clinton? Even when the news ain't so good, the friends of Hill find a way to give this particular turd yet another coat of shellac and a nice shine--as witness yesterday's Newsweek piece on the results of their recent poll of voters in Iowa. The opening paragraph reads as follows:

"...Sen. Hillary Clinton holds a double-digit lead over her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination in many national polls. But in Iowa, home to the January 2008 caucus that is the first major event of the electoral season, the Democratic race is much tighter, according to the latest NEWSWEEK Poll. Among all Iowa Democrats surveyed, Clinton enjoys a 6-point lead over her nearest rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. But among likely Democratic caucus-goers, she is locked in a three-way race with Obama and former North Carolina senator John Edwards, with Obama enjoying a slight edge..."

All very well and good and true enough--but if you look at the poll numbers themselves, it's possible to come away with a slightly different interpretation. The total point spread of support for the top three democratic candidates among 'likely democratic caucus voters' is six points--28% Obama to 22% Edwards. The spread between Clinton (24%) and Obama is 4%--in others words, half the spread. A bookie would like those odds, and so does the Obama campaign. Another way of looking at it: 69% of polled Iowa democrats and 76% of likely caucus voters want anyone but Hillary. Considering the relentless campaign to make voters regard Mrs. Clinton as 'inevitable' over the last few months, her lack of solid support is pretty telling.

There are even signs within the Mainstream Media itself that the wheels may be coming off the Clinton steamroller. The NY Times Op-Ed page (no longer pay-per-view content--thanks, guys) leads off with Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich pieces entitled, respectively, 'The Nepotism Tango' and 'Is Hillary Clinton the New Old Al Gore?'

The Dowd piece has particular entertainment value, quoting the Literary Editor of The New Republic (in reference to Senator Clinton):

... She’s like some hellish housewife who has seen something that she really, really wants and won’t stop nagging you about it until finally you say, fine, take it, be the damn president, just leave me alone.”

Frank Rich's column compares the Clinton campaign to that of another one-time "inevitable" shoo-in--former Vice President Al Gore. Gore played it safe in the primaries-- just as Clinton is doing-- and continued to do so in the general election.....which he won, sort of. If Gore's support had been truly impassioned, rather than a weary concession to 'inevitability'......might it have been a bit harder for Republicans to steal the election?

Hell--this time they might even actually win.

There Goes The Neighborhood...

Yesterday the missus and I were riding our bikes to her office in the Texas Medical Center when we noticed some new lawn signs bearing the message 'STOP THE ASHBY HIGHRISE'. After I got back to the house, I did a Google search and came up with the following URL:

http://www.stopashbyhighrise.org/

The site tells the entire story. A couple of real estate developers have acquired title to an old apartment complex in the 1700 block of Bissonnet, plan to demolish it, and replace it with a 23 story residential tower. This is so wrong in so many ways that I hardly know where to start. To begin with, the area in question is one of the most beautiful residential neighborhoods in Houston. It isn't some barren wasteland that will be 'improved' by the presence of a residential mid-rise. Furthermore, the only two 'major' thoroughfares providing access to this proposed monstrosity are Bissonnet and Dunlavy, which dead ends into Bissonnet at the proposed site. Both are two lane residential streets with no possibility of being widened. Traffic problems will be bad enough on Bissonnet after construction of the seemingly inevitable 'Rail on Richmond' commences. Throw in this stupid thing and count on gridlock from Westheimer to Rice Blvd.

In this morning's Houston Chronicle, I was relatively pleased to see a guest editorial speaking out against the development project, as well as a little bit surprised--usually the Chron is as reflexibly pro-development as the national MSM is pro-Hillary. It's a good piece, and it speaks well of the consequences of this latest piece of greedhead developer stupidity (read it for yourself at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5175002.html).

There is an on-line petition on the 'Stop the Ashby Highrise' site, and I strongly recommend signing it. Given the lack of zoning in this city, it will be virtually impossible to stop this profoundly bad idea......but at least we have to try.

The site in question is mere blocks, BTW, from another, more horizontal, implementation of the same thing at the corner of Dunlavy and Richmond. Not long ago, developers announced plans to raze the picturesque semi-ruins at the corner of Dunlavy and Alabama for.....you guessed it, a residential mid-rise with ground-level retail.

I've lived in Montrose for 30 years and loved it........oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

"....a whisper from space..."

Courtesy of SlashDot, I ran across something truly inspiring today-- a newspaper piece published in Australia about the ongoing communications with the most distant man-made objects in creation--Voyager Probes 1 & 2.

These objects are now, respectively, 15.5 and 12.5 billion kilometers from earth. They've been in space for thirty years and have an anticipated life expectancy of at least another decade. The radio signals reach Earth with a strength of about a billionth of a watt, transmit data at roughly 32 bits per second, and must be decoded using computers that would've long since been decommissioned from any other purpose.

The fact that these tiny, distant objects still speak to us from the distant cold void where only comets have fared before.... it's just enormous to me. The image is powerful and poetic. Equally so, the thought of the scientists and technicians who keep faith with these tiny artifacts and their predecessors who made them. It's almost like monastic devotion--except for the fact that the faint voice these secular monastics hear from beyond the sky is, beyond question, real.

It will be a sad day, I think, when that faint whisper from space finally ceases. We will have lost a piece of ourselves--a tangible piece of the better aspect of human aspirations.....an aspect that has been, sadly, somewhat lacking here on Earth these last thirty years......I hope we get it back.

Before that small voice ceases.......before we lose ourselves.

no wonder the poor bastard's quititng.....

Tony Snow, then & now:


I'm sorry the man's sick, but cancer is an occupational risk for people who handle toxic substances. Wonder what perky little Dana Perrino will look like after a year and half of telling lies for Shrub and The Rifleman?

Happy Memorial Day

I found this image (and the essay attached to it) by following a blog link from the comments section of a Newsweek story on the Monica Goodling Testimony. The points made in the essay are not exactly new, but that doesn't make them any less worthy of consideration--particularly on a day like today. A more concise cautionnary note is struck in today's NYT column by Paul Krugman (reprinted at http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052807D.shtml).

There's a thin line between genuine respect for those who have given their lives in military service and manipulating that respect into a public-relations tool on behalf of those institutions that just keep creating more 'honored dead'. In times of war, that line is frequently blurred beyond recognition.

By all means, let us honor those who have sacrificed their lives for what they believed to be the common good. But let us also not fail to hold accountable those responsible for the occasion of that sacrifice.

....and Tinkerbell Dies......

Once again, Bill Maher manages to channel Bill Hicks and come up with a screed that pretty much perfectly sums up the The Right's lack of brains and The Left's corresponding lack of balls. His recent piece in Salon.com contains this choice paragraph:

"...As usual, we've been sucked into a phony controversy about who said what and how it hurt George W. Bush's feelings. Because when you hurt George W. Bush you hurt America's feelings, and when you hurt America's feelings, you hurt the troops. And when that happens, Tinkerbell's light goes out and she dies..."

Last week's congressional democratic capitulation to George Bush was essentially foreordained the moment Democratic Leadership sipped the "Support The Troops" kool-aid. Much like the 9/11 Kool-aid, this beverage is a powerful psycho-active toxic that leaves one bereft of will power and inclined to believe just about anything.

It is time to get past the notion that "the troops" are some sort of sacred victim and that the scoundrels of this administration have continued Carte Blanche to hide behind their sacrifice. The only meaningful way to "support the troops" is to bring them home.

Depending on how you look at it, the war in Iraq is either an obscene and meaningless war of choice, a naked resource grab by a brutal and materialistic empire, or a crusade to save western civilization. Those who believe the latter should spend this Memorial Day contemplating the wonders of The Creationist Museum. It is far past time they were permitted to continue shaping public policy.

Sunday Talking Head Funnies

This week's Sunday Talking Head Funnies kicked off with a 'debate' on Meet The Press between a couple of guys who could easily pass for each other in a police line-up:
Neither Newt Gingrich nor his sparring partner, Chris Dodd, managed to bring anything new to the debate over Iraq Policy. For every sober assessment of unfolding disaster Dodd had to offer, Gringrich had a classically Republican comeback--smug, smirking, and at variance with the facts. Click here for all the boring, tedious, details.

Somewhat more interesting was the exchange that followed on Face The Nation between Diane Feinstein and Arlen Spector on the ever-lively topic of the worst attorney general in U.S. History. Spector's continued refusal to call for the resignation of the man he has described as single-handedly responsible for rendering the US. Department of Justice 'dysfunctional' tells you everything you need to know about why Republicans have no business running this country. Regarding the upcoming vote of no confidence against Gonzales, Spector seemed to believe that Gonzales would resign before facing such a vote. Why? If Alberto Gonzales had the self-esteem of a two-peso crack whore, he would've resigned months ago.

The morning's festivities ended with appearances on ABC's This Week by Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell that were not any more likely to change anyone's mind than the preceding discussions. Pelosi sounded vibrant and confident, McConnell sounded like a dispirited hack and a loyalist to a failed cause.....which, of course, he is. The only thing standing between this country and virtual one-party rule by Democrats in a year and half is the American preference for divided government.

The "I" word Returns

In his appearance on "Face The Nation" this morning, Jack Murtha responded to Bob Schieffer's suggestion that congress has no choice but to cave in to Bush on war funding with a typically blunt assessment. He mentioned the four ways that an obdurate president can be influenced, the last two of which are funding and impeachment.

"Surely you don't mean that impeachment is on the table?" Shieffer replied--to which Murtha replied (in effect) "I'm just sayin'...."

You go, Jack. I don't believe it was an offhand comment. I think the democratic leadership in Congress has finally realized the extent to which both time and public opinion is on their side. The smart play, after Bush's promised veto, is to run out the clock on funding until the last possible moment (probably in about 60-90 days)--and propose essentially the same legislation.

During that time, support for Bush and the war erodes even further--in no small part because of further abuses of power that will likely be revealed by congressional oversight. If Bush continues to hide behind 'executive privilege' and empty 'I'm the decider' rhetoric', he may well find that lying about a blowjob ain't the only think presidents get spanked for.

And it'll be about bloody goddam time.

Nappy Headed Nonsense

Global Climate Change must be causing some unseasonably cold weather in Hell, too--I actually find myself in agreement with Pat Buchanan.

Not that I share his fondness for Don Imus--I consider them both pointless Neanderthals--but the self-righteous posse that went after Imus managed to combine the hypocrisy of a choirboy-buggering catholic priest, the oily sanctimony of a mega-church 'evangelical' pastor, and a selective attitude toward race that would do credit to any religion's irrationality.

If Imus were half his present age, had a slightly darker complexion, and made the same comments in blank-verse rhyme from the stage of a hip-hop club, would anyone have noticed........or cared?

Slow week...

Between the news cycle slowing down over the Easter holiday and trying to crowd in a little last minute fun time before my 'vacation' ends (read: before I start my latest contract as a corporate geek for hire), I pretty much got nothin'.

Preview of the Bush Endgame

Bush's three recent recess appointments (including Swift Boat Vets backer Sam Fox as Ambassador to Belgium) not only illustrate the full extent of The President's sincerity with regards to 'bipartisanship' or 'working with Congress' (he obviously has none), they also provide a pretty clear picture of what we can expect when the clock finally runs out on this administration.

Bush will take whatever opportunity he can to load the government with as many cronies and neo-con ideologues as possible, in the hope that the next administration will have its hands so full fixing so many messes that a few Bush-era hacks will go overlooked. Expect as well to see the long-anticipated pardon for Scooter Libby.....as well as the one for which (by then) Alberto Gonzales will likely have an equal need.

Apparently, I'm Crazy (again).......

One of the dubious benefits of being alive for more than a couple of decades is that (if you're paying attention), you will learn that history very much does 'repeat itself.'

Case in point: for a number of years, it was impossible to question the 'official story' of the Kennedy assassination, numerous holes in that story notwithstanding.....even though The History Channel, et. al. routinely run programming now that reduces the official story to so much swiss cheese. As a precocious child and adolescent, I acquired my own doubts about the Warren Commission Report--and learned very quickly not to talk about it.

Current doubters of the official story of the events of 09/11/2001 are subjected to even greater scorn and vilification than were early doubters of the Kennedy assassination-- just look at what's happened to Rosie O'Donnnell. She has doubts about the official story, as do I. She goes public with her doubts...and gets measured for a tin-foil hat. I wasn't crazy in 70's (well, not too much), Rosie isn't crazy now (well, not too much). But we are crazy as a culture if it takes another three decades to get past yet another 'official story' that any bright thirteen year old can see for a scam.

For Rosie's own current comments on the matter, click here.

This Week's Sunday Funnies

For me, the 'Sunday Funnies' are the major network talking head shows--Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and This Week with George Stephanopoulos. I'm sure that 'Garfield' is endlessly entertaining to some, but I have a hard time finding anything more entertaining that the spectacle of a senior Republican Senator lamely defending the most incompetent attorney general in U.S. history.

The consensus from senators Hatch, Leahy, Schumer, and Spector (sounds more like the law firm from hell than a partial roster of the Senate Judiciary Committee) is that 'Berto Gonzales is either doing a heckuva job, lying to congress, overdue to resign, or has some explaining to do.

Giving that Patrick Leahy is refusing to budge from Gonzales's originally scheduled testimony on April 17th, given that Arlen Spector has already described that testimony as a 'make or break' situation, and given that the specific reason for keeping the scheduled date is to obtain confidential sworn testimony from DOJ employees, I think it's a fair bet that Chuck Schumer's blunt call for a resignation is a far better predictor for events of the next two weeks than Orrin Hatch's faint praise and reiteration of GOP talking points.

My predictions at this point are that:

• Gonzales will resign before being called in to testify.
• Harriet Miers and Karl Rove will privately testify--transcripts, no oaths.
• Karl Rove will subsequently be given a choice between testifying under oath or being charged with lying to congress.

one helluva man.....

My mother and father just stopped by the house to drop off some firewood / BBQ fuel, courtesy of a neighbor of theirs who had to cut down a tree. As Dad and I were getting the wood out of his truck and stacking it in the garage, he remarked that he would be seeing his doctor soon and was anxious to make sure he was OK.

"So, lemmee ask ya a question," I said, as I snagged one of the bigger pieces. "Who loaded this wood?"

"Well, I did-- but Mrs. Macy's son helped," my father told me, as he made a point of grabbing a piece of equal size. "But I had to put all of it in the truck this morning by myself."

"Old man," I said. "There ain't nothin' wrong with you."

Not long after, he and my mother hugged my wife, hugged me, and got back in the truck to drive a hundred fifty miles back to their home in Centerville. They'd come to Houston to visit my mom's younger sister and detoured on the way back to see us. She's 91, he's 87, and I can't even begin to say how much I love them both. I just turned 50, I like to think I look 40 and have been know to let people flatter me by saying I look younger than that. But I can't imagine that I'll be throwing loads of firewood in the back of a pickup or driving a hundred miles for the hell of it when I'm 60, much less 80. I'd pay someone to do it, maybe con someone into it.....but I don't think I'd be doing it myself.

My father is one of those 'greatest generation' types. He and all of my uncles wore uniforms in WWII, while my mother and all of her contemporaries worked, sacrificed, and not infrequently grieved. My dad was an aircraft mechanic who spent the war in Blackpool, England.. The closest he ever came to combat was testing-firing machine guns in a B25 while he watched the sun rise over the Irish Sea from 20,000 feet. One of his brother saw ground combat on Iwo Jima, the other was an engineer in Sicily. Then they came home and built houses and drove trucks and raised families.

My mother and father have been married longer than I have been alive, been there without fail for my sister and myself for our entire lives. They have lived and continue to live lives of simple faith, honor, and dignity. I don't know that I would particularly care to emulate my Dad, I don't know that I could (my own life has been, for the most part, a messy and ironic carnival). But I will always respect him.

And always love him.