So, Saddam is waiting for the gallows, Uday and Qusay are dead, Osama is sleeping under a rock, Castro takes a dive, Kim il Jung wont leave the house, now Arafat is on his way to the big dirt nap.

Who says Bush isn't having a very good year?

UPDATE: Editorial Board says Mrs. Edwards is off limits. Author agrees. Snarky comments about her waistline within a parody of lesbian-comment-scandal are removed and stored for a later day.

Posted @ October 27, 2004 02:44 PM | Current Events | Comments (3)

Code Word And Predictions

Media Code Words: Election Still Too Close To Call...

Translation:Lagging support for Democrat candidate requires a barely concealed effort by the media to get out the vote.

Prediction: The election will be essentially over by 8:00 Pacific Time, although Kerry will not concede his loss until the following day. Bush will win in states that the media have not predicted he is even competitive in leaving Dan Rather in tears by 7:30 Pacific. Be aware that media folks get early exit polls, keep an eye on how the media is acting through the day for a clear picture of what is going on. A sad Judy Woodruff is good sign that Bush is winning.

Posted @ October 27, 2004 09:43 AM | Election 2004 | Comments (4)

James Lileks: A Man

Today, Andy Sullivan surprised no one by endorsing Kerry.

Tonight, Jimmy Lileks reminds us what a small man Andy really is.

Tommorrow, Go thank your local deity that Jimmy is on our side.

Posted @ October 27, 2004 12:10 AM | Election 2004 | Comments (2)

What Would Woody Say?

I'm not big on conspiracy theories. Most conspiracy theories eventually fall into the "Prove it didn’t happen" logic trap from which few can return with their wits intact. That being said, it doesn't mean that I don't think that their are conspiracies. I believe if there is enough sex, cash, treasure or power involved, there is almost a guarantee that there will be some group of people trying to secure it by formal or informal means.

It's irresistible. It's a part of human nature. No matter who we are, no matter how poor or how rich, we all want more.

Things are a little wild in The States these days. The election is a few days off and it doesn’t matter where you sit on the political spectrum, everyone is as nervous as cancer survivors waiting for the results from a recent biopsy. We’ve all been up this road once before, and frankly we aren’t looking forward to it again. The waiting is worse than anything.

Today we all woke up to the story that hundreds of tons of high explosives were missing in Iraq, and of course it was all Bush’s fault. Kerry couldn’t get in front of a camera fast enough to say with a complete straight face how this was another example of the danger that Bush put us all in with his ill-advised war. Of course by complaining about the loss of the explosives, Kerry is in fact showing that Bush was exactly correct for going into Iraq, as the entire country is like one of those new combo gas stations that are part Chevron, part McDonalds, part quickie-mart, Only Iraq is a combination insane asylum, concentration camp and weapons depot.

It’s ok, I’m used to the litany of “Kerry complaints”. He’s like a girl I used to date, always good on post play analysis for what everyone else should do with their lives and why they were all idiots. She could never actually be bothered with actually attempting to do anything herself of course, except complain and bitch and whine. She was a master at that, for everything else in life she was a “no show” I knew the relationship was over when we started calling her “Ebert”. She works at 7-11 now; her ambition is to get on the day shift. Yes, God has a sense of humor.

So, what we got here today is a bite-in-the-ass mid-level UN bureaucrat who issues a “whoopsie” email, which just happens to fall right into the grubby hands of the New York Times. Later in the same afternoon, the CBS goons say that they were going to cover the story, but on October 31st, so it could stay fresh in the minds of the great unwashed before the election. All of a sudden, Kerry is out making campaign ad on the subject of the suddenly ‘missing explosives’ and the shame of it all.

That’s a pretty fast turn around. UN drops a note, two major media players bang out a tattoo on the jungle drums, and a candidate is eating his bounty in klieg light about the horror of it all.

And that’s hardly the first time we’ve seen this display of hand-in-glove cooperation between what are supposedly unaligned and disinterested forces. But there you have it, who is it in today’s world is truly disinterested in our affairs. Which of course brings me back to conspiracy.

Woody Allen once had a character in a movie that said:

Helen Hunt: You know, there's a word for people who think everyone is conspiring against them.
Woody Allen: I know, perceptive.

At this point, anyone who doesn’t think the media is laying it in against Bush is simply not perceptive. Anyone who thinks the UN is interested in helping Bush or even being neutral is simply not paying attention. Anyone who thinks the EU is a disinterested observer is delusional. Anyone who doesn’t think the Democrats wont lie, cheat, steal or abide acts of terror all in the name of their party achieving power in this election, well I don’t know if they can read the papers.

That is one huge stack of people that are willing to do anything to steal this election. All those people, all those organizations, all that effort, engaged to do what? Just stop plain old every day American citizens from expressing their preference for who should lead this country? It appears to me that the one thing the rest of the world and our enemies can’t abide is the idea that a plurality of us just might re-elect the man who overturned their apple cart –
George W. Bush.

Let’s face it; George ruined a lot of people’s plans, a lot of very powerful peoples plans. He broke a lot of rice bowls. The UN had a sweet deal going in Iraq until he came along and screwed it up for everyone. France had a sweet deal, 100 billion in oil contracts, weapons systems, infrastructure development. Germany had her hands in the Mesopotamian pie too, right up to her elbows. Russia was face down in the slop.

They gave us Afghanistan, they could hardly say no, but Iraq was always off limits. Once George decided to go into Iraq, the gloves came off. From that point on, George has made himself the target of a lot of people who made their living and kept their accounts in balance with the haul of cash made fencing the goods for Saddam and his family band of mad pirates.

Why?

Because Iraq was the pusher, the juice, Iraq was the grocery store that cashed their bad third party checks and looked the other way. Do a bit of business with Iraq, and a little green grease goes your way when no one is looking.

The UN knew what was going on in Iraq, they knew damn well what a monster Saddam was. They just didn’t care. The UN did worse than just turning a blind eye, the UN enabled Saddam.

The EU stood right behind them and also did nothing. No one was interested in ending the sanctions; the sanctions were making a bunch of people very rich indeed. The fact that they killed thousands of people in the process, that is of no concern of theirs.

There's no mistaking the fact that the whole Iraq piggy bank got tipped over because the voters of Tennessee didn’t vote for their favorite son, Albert Gore. Forget Florida, talk to me about Arkansas and Tennessee. How did that happen?

Once upon a time, we had a President who infuriated the world because he asked a simple question “ why not end Communism”? Why tolerate it? People were appalled. We had all been taught the doctrine of ‘peaceful coexistence’. Reagan didn’t believe in that, he believed we needed to end it. It was a huge risk, none of the smart people at the time believed that it was possible, but one day we all woke up to the Berlin wall coming down and in the blink of an eye, the nightmare was over.

People hated him. I mean they absolutely reviled Reagan and everything he stood for. Truth be told, many still do. They didn’t care one way or another about communism or capitalism; they just didn’t want to get hurt. But Reagan wasn’t stepping on as many toes as George has stepped on. Frankly, the Soviets never had the potential for money generation that the Middle East has in its cash drawers.

Today, George has also asked a basic question: “Why do we have to tolerate Islamic Terror” Why not end it? To do that, He created the Bush Doctrine, “If you are a terrorist or if you harbor a terrorist, we will make no distinction”. On that day, September 21, 2001, Iraq became a target. If Iraq was a hapless set of hillbilly backcountry bumpkins like Afghanistan, I doubt anyone would have blinked. Iraq was much more than that. Our entry into Iraq brought a huge monetary flow to a complete stop. We went to liberate a people, but to the EU, we burned down the gamblin' house to do it.

It’s been my experience that people don’t like it when you interfere with their money. They take it real personal.

The conspiracy I see today is a whole group of people who want their money back. They want their tyrants back in charge of the bank, and the only thing stopping them is grandma bubbie in West Palm Beach whos voting for a Republican for the first time in her life because she’s seen one man stand behind Israel and the other can’t bring himself to say out loud the right thing about Israel. If Ed Koch can vote Republican, why can't I? says she...

What’s standing between us and a gloating Michael Moore on November 2nd? A part-time nurse in Minnesota who’s voting Republican for the first time in her life. I'll never forget those women voting in Afghanistan, everyone said it could never happen but it did. says she...

What’s standing between George Soros and the millions he’s made selling out his country on the currency markets? A middle class church going black man who's had enough of being told hes a victim and has decided to vote Republican.

What’s standing between the EU and the UN and all that cash that they used to get in Iraq?

George W. Bush.

Which just makes me want him in office that much more.

6 Days.

UPDATE: The cat with the pipe at the top of the post is Allen Dulles. He is the bete noir of conspriacy theorists of the past 60 years. From Nazi gold, UFOs and the Kennedy assasination, Allen Dulles provides a lifetime of "What If" Conspiracy.

Posted @ October 26, 2004 08:29 PM | Election 2004 | Comments (7)

Bubba and the Boston Foghorn

Why am I voting for Bush?

Because President Clinton told me to!

President William Jefferson Clinton:"If one candidate is trying to scare you and the other is trying to get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the one who wants you to think and hope," he said. Well damned if he aint got it right.

Let’s take a look at that shall we?

We learned today that Justice Rehnquist is ill,The Supreme Court is at stake."
Kerry Claims Bush Plotting 'January Surprise' to Privatize Social Security
Kerry: Potential great for return of draft
Kerry: Women are paid only 76 cents for every dollar owned by men
Two million women have lost health insurance during the Bush administration
John Ashcroft has gone overboard in carrying out Patriot act provisions,"
Bush Lost Weapons In Iraq.
Kerry – Bush lost your jobs.
Kerry says Bush knew about shortage of flu vaccine

So there you go, President Clinton makes a clear and demonstrable case for a Bush Presidency.`

Posted @ October 26, 2004 06:07 PM | Election 2004 | Comments (0)

How Some See The World

"The problem, quite clearly, is we have excited the Arab world, the Muslim world, to take up arms against us,"
Walter Cronkite - October 26th 2004

"The hostage crisis was less damaging to US interests than the recent war in Iraq". "The entire Islamic world condemned Iran, while today there was massive Islamic condemnation of the United States".
Former President Jimmy Carter - October 26th 2004

"American lives lost in Afghanistan have been wasted"
Michael Moore - 2002.

President Bush will mislead the American people but I believe that Saddam can be trusted.
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash Feb 2003

There is no terrorist threat.
Michael Moore - 2 miles from the WTC On October 07 2003

It's about time the US got over 9/11
Joan Smith - UK Columnist 09 February 2003

I simply did not share the reaction of most Americans to the destruction of the World Trade Center.
Stanley Hauerwas The South Atlantic Quarterly, Spring 2002

"I hope the USA would lose the war in Iraq, it would teach them a lesson"
Chrissy Hynde - Feb 2003

Like an unwelcome specter from an unhappy past, the ominous word "quagmire" has begun to haunt conversations among government officials and students of foreign policy, both here and abroad.
R. W. APPLE Jr. The New York Times October 31, 2001

"Here in France I feel at home"
Madonna - Former NYC Resident - 05/09/2003

Iraq is no threat.Even if Saddam had weaponsof mass distruction, why would he wish to use them?
Mo Mowlam - Tony Blair Cabinet Member 1997-2001

"War with Iraq could trigger Baghdad's use of weapons of mass destruction"."We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
September 27, 2002
The Iraq war is a fraud created to give Republicans a political boost.
September 18th 2003
Sen. Edward Kennedy. D-Mass

"We should recognize that in much of the world the U.S. is regarded as a leading terrorist state, and with good reason."
Noam Chomsky - Writer December 6th 2001.

"America is looked upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy with no limits and for good reason. The 11th of September is an occasion for me to realize it even more."
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien September 12 2002.

Posted @ October 26, 2004 03:33 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (1)

Piracy?

Once again, the gut wrenching tome written by that spectre of politics, Senator J.F. Kerry: "The New War" has become an item of controversy. I reviewed the book this summer, but here in the New York Sun, is an item that says that several portions were plagarized.

So, not only is it really badly written, but it now appears to have been lifted.

Posted @ October 26, 2004 10:38 AM | Election 2004 | Comments (1)

In the Scrum

Since I'm a crazed right wing fanatic, you should guess what was the first thing that came into my head when I heard Justice Rehnquist was in the hospital.

Gee, I sure hope he's ok...

I know as an evil right winger I should only think about how this guys health problems relate to me and my political views on the world, because as an evil right winger its all I can think about, right?

Sorry, it just doesnt work that way for me.

When I read work by people who have so clearly lost their perspective that they start reviewing childrens movies through the lens of politics, I know that some people really need to go get a beer.

A gentle reminder dear readers, as we head down the stretch here in the last few days before the election. This is not the last election, it is just another election. Despite what Mr. Kerry says, this is not "the most important election in our lifetime!" If it turns out that Mr. Kerry wins and the candidate I prefer loses, I have still won. Democracy is not about getting your way, its about concensus. I am a citizen,I am enfranchised with the power of the electorate,I am a voter and my voice was heard. I do not have to win an election to feel validated, I just need to be asked. If my candidate wins, good for him, if he loses, see you again in 2008.

I will not protest,burn down buildings,vandalize cars or shoot guns into the oppositions party headquarters or condone it if it is done by anyone in my party. I believe this is what separates me from that other party, but that's just me.

I do not look at every flutter of a butterflys wings as a sign from the Gods on how the election is going to go. I do not filter information and news as to "Good for Bush, Not Good for Bush". Justice Rehnquist is a man, he deserves to be thought of as just that, and his service to the nation second, and out about item # 78, we should think about his politics and how it relates to us. Common decency demands that remember that he is not a wooden icon, he is a man, with a wife, kids and grandkids. Today, someones grandfather entered the hospital for a dangerous procedure. Today, someone walked through the process of losing a parent, Today, a wife thought about the possibility of life without her partner. If you can't grasp what their day was like when they heard that the man of their life was in the hospital, you really need to take a deep breath and try to remember who you are and how you got that way. Who made you so small and petty? Who made you such a victim that you can't rise above your politics?

When you get all done making your case for your candidate, just remember you still have to live here. Be careful what you say about the veracity of people who disagree with you because after the election is over, they aren't going away. They will still be there, making their case, despite all the evidence that says otherwise. Much as I would love to see Paul Begala just say " oh well, I guess we were wrong,I'm glad Bush is President" it's just never going to happen, and that's fine. We still have to live together. If Bush wins, the left will still be here. If Kerry wins, The right will still be here. Thanks to the 2nd amendment and the fact that most Americans are reasonably good marksmen, they arent going to be hearded into flatcars and shipped away anytime soon.

So relax folks, put you feet up and enjoy the show. Go buy a beer for the other side after they lose and welcome them as neighbors and friends, because believe it or not, that's who we are.

One of our neighbors went into the hospital today, try to remember that when you screech about his impact on abortion rights.

Posted @ October 25, 2004 04:24 PM | Current Events | Comments (1)

NY Times Backs Bush Reasons For Iraq

So the big watercooler talk this morning is about the weapons in Iraq that went missing. Apparently, it's all Bushs fault. No mention of the literally hundred of tons of explosives that have been captured and destroyed. Another inconvienent fact.

Well, color me happy to see that the NY Times now understands why we went into Iraq. It seems they now agree with me that Iraqi assets could be used by terrorists. It's too bad they didn't get onboard sooner and back the president and his reasoning for war in Iraq.

Oh - and on the Bill Clinton on the stump for Kerry Story. Don't you think this is the biggest subliminal campaign signal in history? A Post-op Bill Clinton is still more exciting than a top of his game Lycra wearing John Kerry. (UPDATE: Why is a Democrat campaigning in territory he should own outright? You know the answer. You can't be the 'comeback kid' unles you already acknowledge that you are losing. ( notice how often Clinton talks about himself and how often he talks about Kerry?)

And why is Michigan in suddenly in play? Ask John Kerry if he's ever heard of Hamtramck. Ask him if he ever heard that its the center of Polish life in the upper midwest. Ask him what the primary social structure is of the people of Hamtramck ( here's a clue Mr. Kerry - its that big building with a cross on the top).

Then ask him what his position is on this.

Posted @ October 25, 2004 09:47 AM | Current Events | Comments (1)

The Divide

Saturday morning,we went to visit Nevada City. It's a California gold country town up on the mid-sierra, no longer populated by farmers and miners, but by t-shirt vendors,fudge stores,funky bookstores and stores that contain the same sort of things you see on the wall at TGI Fridays. The town itself dates back to the civil war, many of the buildings are still of the old style false front buildings seen on movie sets, but these are real work a day places where folks try to make their living selling art, overpriced wine and the latest in hip cuisine choices.

This is one of my favorite places on Earth, It really doesnt belong to any specific time or place. You can often find guys who are still working in shifts down the shafts at the local hardrock gold mine sitting side by side with bohemian bicyclists out exploring the sierras on their winter break from UC Berkelely, where they are holding a major in "peace studies". There are many little sole proprietor stores that deal in occult,crystals,kites and macrame in nearly every store you find music that is called 'world' or 'ethnic' music. This is not to say that this is a dark town, this is a very light hearted town. Directly across the street from the bright pink feminist bookstore is the "Fur Traders" store where you too can buy a fur covered car seat.Across the corner from there you can find the candy store where you can get your fill of fudge at yet another store. It's that kind of eclectic thing that only makes sense in Nevada City. The smell of incense is a part of the personality of every door that you open in Nevada City. Theres a recognition of the old while an embrace of the new in everyone that lives there.

This is town that proves once again, that only the rich can afford the luxury of really bad ideas. Those that go to Nevada City to live out their lives in artisty in the tall pines and craggy peaks of the sierras, to join the burgeoning theatre group that is there, are almost all wealthy. It takes a lot of money to open a bookshop that has almost no inventory, to pay the rent month to month, to get the payroll out. It takes a lot of money to live without a day-in day-out job. If you were to ask those that are there, like the 20 something kid who served us tea at the tea shop if they were wealthy, they would say "no way man!", "I hate money". It's funny to watch how self illusion can cloud someones mind to the reality that they themselves have created.
You work at a job, junior! - you get paid for it too! - you like money because you like to eat and staying dry under a roof is a good thing. You young "Davey Sumshine" for all your counter culture anti-culture rebellion stylizing are no different than I am, and while that doesnt bother me at all to be in the same group as you, tonight my dear dreadlocked friend, this will keep you awake worrying about it until sunrise.

Today, It occured to me that America is probably the only culture on earth at any time in history where the counter culture is a reaction of the Rich against the Poor and the middle class. Usually, the counter culture is found in the ghettos and the places of poverty as a reaction to the power elite, but in this country, It's the children of the rich who would do anything except be thought of as "average". To say someone looks like they shop at wal-mart is the height of insult in our counter culture.

I've noted before that I never met an actual communist while I worked in a factory, but I did meet lots of them when I was at school. I also never found a communist or someone who believed in communism who actually had a job. What's worse, those who constantly lectured me on the values of communism were always the ones who sneered at the janitor, or gave the waitresses a hard time and left no tips. I learned a lot about the left while I was in college, although I'm sure it was not the lesson they hoped to teach me.

Nevada City is one of those places where you can see the divide in our culture in the wide open. It is like a heart surgeons chest spreader for the soul. We are a people divided between those who wish only to be average and embrace the rational and those who wish to reject the common and only embrace the irrational. On one side of the divide we have a culture that, strives to be different even if being the same is the result, and lives without obligations except to satisfy the self. the very idea that the the self is not the most important thing is incomprensible to that side of the divide. On the other side of the divide, there is an emphasis on family and selflessness, of sacrifice of the self for a greater good.

I believe it is this concept of obligation over self fulfillment that serves as the precise point of rupture in our culture.

Over the summer, one of the books I read while I was working in Seattle was "1939: The Lost World of the Fair" by David Gelernter. In this book, Mr. Gelernter describes the world of 1939 in terms of cultural values. He describes the 1939 world as a world of "aught", as in " This is what you aught to do" , in 1939, you as an individual had obligations to perform. In the world of today, we almost never describe our lives in terms of our obligations to others. Whats worse, we describe those who do hold onto obligations in low esteem. Watch TV today, and the father figure of every commericial is a babbling idiot, Watch TV today and every mother and father is a harried victim on the run from this or that threat. Watch TV today and see children who are always smarter and more wise than their parents. It's accepted as a reflection of realty, no one questions the validity of it.

A few years back, there was yet another movie about how awful life was in the suburbs. American Beauty. It didnt bother me that Hollywood made yet another movie describing suburban life as the 9th circle of hell, it didnt bother me that it was well reviewed and thought by he critics to be a great movie. What bothered me is no one ever stood up and said:

" For it being such an awful place to live, there sure is a hell of a lot of people moving to the suburbs all the time ".

I Love Nevada City, and I like the people who live there. But I do resent that the other side of the cultural divide who has benefitted so much from what the suburbs have created can only look back at it with a sneer and a giggle. Sneer away kids, you might think we sit in our suburban homes crying into our pillows, but most of us live a pretty damn good life here in the average suburb. Those of us who have been poor know that although there is no virtue in wealth for its own purpose, we also know that there is not virtue in poverty either. We like our lives here in suburbia. We like our lawns, our garages, our lawn sprinkers. We chose this life, just as you chose yours.

Embrace Diversity.

UPDATE: In the auditorium of ideas, my chair is somehwere between this guy and Christopher Hitchens. I'm also probably kicking the back of the seat that P.J. O'Rourke is sitting in.

Posted @ October 23, 2004 07:12 PM | Current Events | Comments (1)

The Weekly Link

I try not to link to others work, but once again, I'm in a rush and can't comment on my own about a given subject. In this post, Clayton Cramer writes his theory about why oil is at such a high level all of a sudden.

While Im out doing the 'Saturday Shuffle', take a look at what he's put together. I'll add more to it later, my two cents is that he's on to something.

As Senor Verde Says - Read The Whole Thing...

Posted @ October 23, 2004 10:00 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (3)

Elmer Fudd Endorses Kerry

What do I see in this picture? Three guys hunting, one guy talking. That's Kerry in a nutshell. Don't you hate being in a blind with one of these guys? talk,talk,talk,talk all day long, you might as well go hunting with a girl. When it comes time to shoot, their gun has a rag in the barrel, they cant find their ammo and have to borrow yours, you always have to make sure they are sitting in front of you because you dont want to get a sideswiping shot from him because mr. chatty-cathy cant shut up for 20 seconds to keep his eyes on the geese.

Is there anything more pathetic than being the only hunter in your group who didnt bag his limit? Oh yeah, there is one thing, a phony as a wooden watch east coast politician out pandering to the country bumpkins in flyover land to prove he's a "man of the people".

Posted @ October 22, 2004 12:30 PM | Election 2004 | Comments (6)

Branson Taking Orders For New Golgafrincham Ark "B"

LONDON, England -- William Shatner wants to boldly go where he's only pretended to go so far.

The "Star Trek" star is among more than 7,000 people who have told Richard Branson they would gladly pay him $210,000 (£115,000) for a trip aboard his planned spacecraft, the entrepreneur said Friday.

Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro has signed up for a ride, and a Hollywood director who was not identified has booked an entire ship.

In Hitchhikers Guide To the Universe, The planet Golgafrincham creatively solved the problem of middle managemers: it blasted them in to space. Golgafrinchan Telephone Sanitisers, Management Consultants, Hack actors and Marketing executives were persuaded that the planet was under threat from an enormous mutant star goat. The useless third of their population was then packed in Ark spaceships and sent to an insignificant planet.

That planet turned out to be Earth

I wonder how much we need to pay Richard Branson to make sure they dont come back? I also wonder if we should take up a collection to get Rosie O'donnell on board?

Posted @ October 22, 2004 10:20 AM | Current Events | Comments (2)

Schadenfreude

Cuban President Fidel Castro tripped on a step and tumbled to the ground after leaving the stage at a graduation ceremony, fracturing a knee and arm but quickly returning to say that he was "all in one piece."

Castro's fall after a Wednesday night speech in the central city of Santa Clara was certain to launch a new round of speculation about the 78-year-old communist leader's health and the eventual succession after his 45 years of rule

scha·den·freu·de (shädn-froid)
noun - Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

[German : Schaden, damage (from Middle High German schade, from Old High German scado) + Freude, joy (from Middle High German vreude, from Old High German frewida, from fr, happy).]

I have a big bottle of champaign waiting for this monster to kick the bucket. The fact that he did it on camera in front of the world makes me want to give a real "Gary Oldman" laugh.

Posted @ October 21, 2004 08:50 PM | Election 2004 | Comments (0)

Gassed

As of late, I’ve been operating under a vision. It’s a fairly common one and I’ll bet you share the same. The vision is this:

I can’t wait to get this election behind me, so I can go one with my life.

This election has been such a drag, that I can’t wait to get it over with.

In the last 4 years, I’ve watched my country and the world go insane. I’ve watched formerly reasonable people with great skills of articulation lose the power of discourse.

I’ve see pacifists take to the streets in anger filled protest. I’ve watched cold warriors that worked under the doctrine of brinkmanship talk of the power of liberation.

I’ve watched people who protested UN sanctions in Iraq get absolutely livid when they were finally removed.

I’ve watched people who are feminists sneer at the fact that women are voting in an Islamic country.

I’ve watched people who said that war was too much of a risk due to the existence of Chemical Weapons then laugh derisively when they were never found.

I've watched a country come together in unity for one brief moment, only to see it fracture into a 1000 pieces 6 months later when swift action was taken to bring the criminals to justice.

I've watched men with great military records made fools of as their predictions of a ‘long hard slog’ were made moot by the liberation of the Kabul by indigenous troops just a few weeks later.

I've watched pundits talk about the harsh Afghanistan winter and how our troops were bogged down in a quagmire to only three years later acts as if it was always an easy walk into Kabul.

I’ve watched a former Secretary of State, who unilaterally gave nuclear materials to the North Koreans, talk publicly about how this administrations actions to stop nuclear proliferation with the North Koreans by taking multilateral action, was just folly.

I’ve watched as a former President certified a clear election fraud in Venezuela, and then called his own countries elections a clear fraud. I've watched as the said same former President allows a 400 lb Anti-Semitic propagandist sit in a seat of honor at his parties convention, while the same President enjoys the title of Nobel Peace Prize winner, yet never having brought peace to anywhere in the world.

I've watched as two former mayors of New York City,One Jewish, One Italian, a Democrat stage actor and liberal activist, and a old school deep south Democrat all give their support to a White bread Republican President from Texas.

I watched a national press take sides in an election, and then get indignant when their audience reacted negatively. I’ve watched what were formerly respected newsmen refer to some of their audience as “Jihadis” for simply speaking their mind, while some of the audience were having their heads cut off by people the same respected newsman would not allow to be called “terrorists” because of the bias it might show.

I've watched people decry the loss of their rights and the 'police state' imposed on them by the President, while literally hundreds of books and hundreds of movies were produced that provided dissent against the President, providing a steady income and celebrity to their authors.

I've watched as a candidate for president insists that their would be a draft, that it was only the president himself that was keeping drugs out of the hands of the infirmed people who needed them and that the elderly would be made into paupers by the actions of the president, while he simultaneously decried the president had artificially inflated the threat of terror to the country and hyping a state of fear to the populace.

I also watched a candidate for president answer a question about his wife by talking about his mother.

It’s been a long 4 years since I watched Al Gore “Huff and Puff” around the stage at the debate. It’s been a million years since the opposition research team of the Gore campaign dropped the DUI bombshell 72 hours before the election. It’s been a geological age since we watched the chads getting counted in Florida.

I’m tired. I’m suffering from a form of battle fatigue, I’ve gone "bunker-happy". I’m like one of those civilians who have been down in the London tube for too many nights during the blitz, and they start singing showtunes in their pajamas while running down the street as the bombs fall. Politics is not a sport to me; sport is sport. I find myself interested in politics to a degree, but I really can’t stand the way it’s become a contact sport. I can’t stand the way it’s become such a part of our lives. I think I preferred the days when we all decried “voter apathy”. Atleast when there was "voter apathy" I could buy a book at Borders about World War II without getting a lecture from the bookstore staff on how I was another 'fascist Bush supporter' and an "oppresser of third world people due to my clear support for globalization".

But I wasn’t nearly as tired as I thought I was, until I realized that the vision I’ve been living with was just an illusion. You see, I’ve been working with anticipation that after the election is over, I can go back to a normal life. Tonight, I realized that the day after the election, even if Bush wins by 15% and takes 49 states, Paul Begala and the other “children of the night” will be on TV, making a mockery of whatever victory has been accomplished and thus turning our Democracy on its ear for the sake of feathering his little political consulting business. For the truly black-hearted partisan, there is never a moment where they can just say publicly “ok, you won”. We are not going to wake up on November 3rd and find that the ‘armies of the insane’ have suddenly accepted a Bush victory. We will be going on with this insanity, because no one on either side of the argument has the force of character to simply say:

“Ok, you won”.

Part of the responsibility of citizens in a Democracy is to have the maturity to accept the result, even when it goes against your side. This next election is not the last election, just the next one in the line. There will be another in 2 years, and another 2 years after than and so on and so forth. Let's knock this crap off that "this is the most important election in our lifetimes"; they are all important. Just vote. Do a reasonably good job of knowing the issues, accept people who take a different view than you and then go take up rock polishing or go knit sweaters for the other 23 months in between the election season. Let's all go find a hobbies to keep us busy for Gods' sake.

The founding fathers really meant for us to do other things besides talk about tax rates every damn day of the year. You want to change the employment situation, then get a job, if you've got one help someone else. Start with your family and work your way out to friends, and on to acquiantances and then on to strangers. Got too much and feel guilty about it? then give somebody something you dont need. You want to do something about education? then go volunteer for lunchroom duty at the local elementary school.

Stop expecting these half-wit lawyers in Washington to improve your lives. You can improve your life all by yourself, you don't need John Edwards to sue someone for you to get a better life.

While we've all been dicking around talking about 'electoral vote tallies', a bunch of guys went into space in a private spacecraft. I ask you, Where's the better use of time?

( Note: The picture on the post is that of a painting by John Singer Sargent. Despite his age and the fact that he was better known for the quality of his portraits and his paintings of high society, his reputation led to Sargent (1856-1925) being commissioned to do this commemorative painting. In 1918, he went to northern France and during one of his journeys from Arras to Doullens, he saw groups of soldiers blinded by projections of mustard gas. )

Posted @ October 20, 2004 09:29 PM | Current Events | Comments (19)

Kids For Kerry

Dennis Kucinich throws his support behind the Kerry Campaign.

Inspired by the todays "news" that "Children prefer Kerry". How this is supposed to change my mind and get me - an adult - to vote for Kerry, I have no idea, but the need for the media to report this annual asinine statistic never ceases to amaze me. I guess since kids dont own anything or have any responsibility and wet their pants thrice daily, it makes the perfect Kerry Voter Demographic. Are you a Dependent? Do you have a childlike grip on reality, sometimes confusing your jacket hanging in the closet with the boogie man? Do you admire the military accomplishments of Captain Crunch? If so, then John F. Kerry is your man!

This "kids vote" story is just like the annual pardoning of the Thanskgiving turkey. Just once, I'd love to watch the president say "Not this year Tom!" and hack the head off the turkey right on camera.

Posted @ October 20, 2004 01:52 PM | Election 2004 | Comments (3)

Is It Time To Extend The Franchise?

I’ve been reading with some amusement the goings on over at Tim Blair’s site in regards to the “Operation Guardian” Project. Just to catch you up on the subject, there’s some well meaning doo-gooders over in “old blighty” who are starting a letter writing campaign to the residents of Ohio, to implore them to not vote for George W. Bush.

Now, we’ve heard this kind of stuff before; “If only the whole world world could vote, they would vote for John Kerry”. The more I thought about it, the more I realized what they were really saying. What the citizens of the UK are saying is that they would love to become part of the United States!

Let’s face it, What’s their option out there at the edge of the Eurozone? Join a pack of decrepit "has been" unelected bureaucrats in the European Union based in Brussels, a Union that none of their constituents voted on, where the populace will have fewer rights than they have today and a constitution that’s 1400 pages long and written by a French politician? They haven’t really been given any other options, you either join the EU or you will quickly become about as relevant as Andorra and Lichtenstein on the world scene.

Or…

Perhaps its time we make them a better offer? Lets look at it this way, in 1890, using the fastest form of transportation known to man, a train, a person could go from London to Edinburgh in 14 hours. Today,by air, you can go anywhere on the planet in 14 hours. So if you calculate relative distance in terms of time, rather than the linear measurement of space, the earth has now shrunk to roughly the size of England in 1890. Yes, England is over on the other side of the Atlantic, but so what, it’s really only 7 hours from New York, it's closer to Washington DC than is Hawaii or Alaska.

Now what would they get out of it? I don’t what to go off on a 100 page statement of what being a US citizen would give to the residents of the UK, so for now, let’s keep the conversation towards voting rights, specifically voting for the executive branch of government.

Under this model, let's treat each of the components of the UK as a separate US state. Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland, are now all new states to the United States. Ireland then decides to "beat the Christmas rush" and do the same with their 3 million inhabitants. Each of the new states either already have or are working on their own independent parliaments, and we would let them keep that as their own state level legislatorial systems. The only change we would mandate is regular elections, rather than the parliamentary approach of elections whenever they are called for. Now, let's add some federal representation; Give each of the new states two Senators and a congressional district for every million in population, with a minimum of one congressional district for each state.

That adds 12 new senators and 33 new congressman and 45 new electoral votes in the expanded US/UK "Union of The States" model.

For the first time ever, the people of England would be able to vote on their executive branch of government. with 45 electoral votes, the Candidates for President would have to visit far off places like Manchester, Luton, Bath, Liverpool, Dublin and London and kiss their babies, shake their hands, eat their 'rubber chicken' specialities and promise them a list of asininely impossible to deliver things that candidates have to do just like we do in the US today. Better still, we might get to vote on a guy like Tony Blair as our President. We could do with a eloquent liberal with a backbone who is willing to defend civilization. Hell, I'd vote for him if I could and I'm hardly a Labour voter, so its not a one way street! The economic conditions in the UK would undoubtedly improve with a "Union of the States", their need for an independent army and navy would no longer exist, they would never again fear of invasion from the continent, their tax burden would be greatly lifted, their opportunities for improving their lives would most certainly improve.

In every way that I can see, it seems to me that we could make them a better offer than the EU could put on the table. In business, we are very familiar with the phenomenon of industry consolidation. Once an industry matures, it’s natural for fewer and fewer companies to exist in that market, as there are fewer dollars to chase in the market as whole. The result is collapse of unfit companies and consolidation of the ones that are still solvent. We might be looking at a similar phenomenon in the nations of the world today. There is an underlying current of “consolidation” out there. The Europeans are looking to consolidate themselves, to become a sort of United States of Europe. This is a fine ambition, one that I whole heartily support. Unfortunately, What has resulted is not a winning combination and in many ways it is forming up to be a first class disaster. So rather than having the UK left with no other real choice but to join the already failed state of the EU, why not consider union with the US?

I know there are lots of details, and things to work out with a "Union of the States", but the same is true of a "Union with Europe". So when I hear you folks in England wanting to vote for the US President, I have a simple answer to the problem:

Now there’s no reason to think we have to extend this just to the UK, we can also extend this offer to Canada and Australia. But a word of warning, while we would welcome you all into the Union, I’m afraid its a permanent arraignment. We had a little problem once with some of our earlier organizations trying to leave the Union, and I’m afraid that didn’t go over so well.

Look at it this way guys, you're going to join someone, you've already made it clear that you're in the market when you signaled your intention to join the EU, so its not like I'm saying anything that surprising. I'm just saying I think we can make you a better deal, thats all. Do you still want to be whining in 10 years about how you still don't get to vote for President?, or wouldnt you rather have an average guy from Lincolnshire running to be President of the United States or the Presidential candidate running his campaign through your town? Think of it, in the Future some average kid in Wessex could be President of the United States!

Has Brussels really got anything that can compete with that?

Posted @ October 19, 2004 10:35 PM | Current Events | Comments (11)

Foreign Leaders For Kerry

( Voiceover) One more foreign leader who is outwardly supporting John Kerry, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq is shown working the line in the key battleground state of Ohio as he goes out on the stump for the Democrat Presidential candidate. Spokesman Paul Begala said that Saddam has every right to speak out in this election, as he is the poster child for everything the Kerry campaign stands for. Later today, Saddam will be visiting a flu shot clinic to ensure that the frail and elderly world statesman is kept in tip top shape for the Kerry inaugural ball in January.

A USA Today Poll shows that Kerry is way ahead in the deposed tyrannical leader demographic, but since the Afghanistan election, Bush has seen an "uptick" in support from women who used to be property in islam, but are now full citizens of what some people have said is a military quagmire..."

UPDATE: Castro Weighs In, "SI Por Kerry, Non Para BUSH". No word forthcoming on when Cubans will be able to say anything but praise about "El Commandante".

Posted @ October 19, 2004 04:51 PM | Election 2004 | Comments (0)

Opportunists For Kerry

This picture shows two things:

1) A left wing politician whos political goals are in conflict with mainstream Americas values, who has remained the darling of the media for 30 years.

2) The Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Posted @ October 19, 2004 11:29 AM | Election 2004 | Comments (0)

Alternate Futures

As we wind down to the end of this election campaign, I'd like to point out a few things.

1) If Kerry wins, the entry in wikipedia for "phyrric victory" will be replaced by a picture of John Forbes Kerry. A Kerry victory secures the White House, but he almost certainly will not win the Senate and he wont get the House and a vast majority of state legislatures who are also Republican in name and conservative in action. Kerry wins a nation with one foot in the "war canoe" and the other foot on the "peace pier". To quote the lyrics of Sting: "Every breath you take, Every move you make, Ill be watching you..." - Every move Kerry makes will be under the microscope by an increasingly influential blog media. Clinton was nearly undone by one website, hows kerry going to survive a relentless attacks by the blog media ( visual reference : Death Star - rebel X wings fighters ) For those of you hoping that this will be a return to the "blue dress" years, forget it. Kerry is much more likely to be Carter-like, than Clinton-like. And gosh,weren't the Carter years a hoot, Jimmy Carter augered into the ground so hard that the Democrats are still trying to crawl out of that hole. Four years of Kerry, and the "Birchers" are going to seem like middle of the road voters.

2) Whether or not Bush wins,this is the last time you will ever see George W. Bush campaign for anything. Based on his brothers clear statements, it may very well be the last time any Bush family member runs for anything at the national level. Come what may on November 2nd, This is the end of the Bush Dynasty.

3) Second terms are almost always problematic for Presidents. Nixon Reagan and Clinton were all damaged by their second terms. What the left gets out of a second Bush term is a scandal that let's them define Bush in the way they want that best suits their purposes.

4) Cheney, Bush's Vice President,has no intenetion of ever being President, leaving a large vacuum in the Republican field.

5) Kerry's base is hardly "excited for Kerry". They settled, and they know it. The largest amount of 'Swing" in the votes as of late is not towards Bush or Kerry, but towards - Ralph Nader. The logic being if they are going to lose, might as well throw some weight behind a guy who believes what they believe.

6) Heres how it works - A Vote for Nader is actually Vote For Clinton! If Kerry wins, Hillary in 2008 will not be possible, If Kerry loses, its a virtually certain that the Clinton 2008 campaign will begin on November 3rd, 2004.

7) Can Hillary win in 2008? My guess is yes, she can! After 8 years of war, after an all but certain second term Bush scandal, the nation will be ready for a change. Mrs. Clinton has played the War situation with an amazing amount of political savvy, as she is a much more capable politician than the current Democrat candidate.

So Remember kids, If you Vote for Nader in 2004, you will probably get to vote for Clinton in 2008.

UPDATE: Thomas P. Barnett Explains It All For You.

Posted @ October 19, 2004 09:38 AM | Election 2004 | Comments (8)

Campfire Rumors

So, the boys and me were sitting around the campfire talking, when one of the galoots goes and says, “ You know its funny but I can’t ever remember there ever being so much flu vaccine rejected, and aint it funny how it happened just three weeks before a major election, it sure gets a guy to thinking...”

Thanks a lot Mr. Smartypants!, now instead of going to sleep, I’m going to have to sit here and think about paranoid conspiracies involving socialist bureaucrats in England conspiring with their Democrat allies to scare the hell out of American old folks, who now are lining up around the block because they’ve heard there isn’t enough flu vaccine to go around.

It wouldn’t take much, a little failed inspection here, a little production line sabotage there and "poof", you got yourself a "custom made for the 5:00 news" emergency. Now instead of dropping dead of flu, the old codgers are dropping dead in line at the pharmacy, thinking that if they don't get their shots, that they are going to be reenacting Stephen Kings "The Stand" in the community hall at Del Webbs Sun City. There is nothing in the world more dangerous than old folks with time on their hands and panic in their hearts. And you can just forget talking rationally to them, you can't tell those folks anything. Once you get that herd into stampede mode, you need to get out of the way, because there is no talking sense to them.

I hate it when this happens. I wish I remembered where I put the shovel so after Mr. Smartypants goes to sleep I can go bang him upside the head with it for planting that thought in my brain.

Posted @ October 18, 2004 11:14 PM | Current Events | Comments (1)

Vegetables For Kerry

This 'picture' shows two things:

1) One is a hollow vegetable that is going to be carved up around the end of October and forgotten on the side of the road by mid November.

2) The other is a Pumpkin.

Posted @ October 18, 2004 12:39 PM | Election 2004 | Comments (6)

Kerry’s Grand Unified Campaign Strategy

From a newly discovered Kerry campaign notebook:

George W. Bush’s secret plan is to kill more senior citizens faster by purposely sabotaging Flu vaccines and simultaneously stopping stem cell research outlawing Canadian reimportation of perscription drugs, then forcing those that refuse to die into poverty by privatizing their Social Security, ensuring that fewer core Democrat party voters will be alive to vote and since he’s also drafting all the kids into the military against their will while the evil John Ashcroft is rounding up all the remaining dissenters under false charges of supporting terror under provisions of the so called "Patriot Act" and Michael "Nepotism" Powell is silencing the voices of leftist media by questioning their patriotism, that will leave nothing but loyal Halliburton employees to vote in the election. This is the ultimate in voter suppression techniques. If doesnt supress enough votes, Bush has promised to increase the arsenic in the water so his corporate pals can make more profits, and you know what that means, dont you comrade! Run for the Hills! We're all going to die!

Oh! and I forgot, the reason why it cost you 2.50 a gallon for you to drive your SUV's with Kerry/Edwards stickers on the bumpers to this Democrat rally is because Bush and his cronies in Saudi Arabia are manipulating the price of oil to satisfy their contractual obligations to the Carlile group so that they can put on the "New World Order Bildeburger Bash" this year at the Bohemian grove.

Oh! and one other thing, the reason why its so hard to park at the mall or get a seat at a restaurant is because everyone is out of work. If people had real jobs they wouldnt be hanging out at the mall buying stuff all the time would they?

Oh! did I mention that Bush is a Christian? Well, I dont have to tell you what that means, do I comrade? John Kerry is a Catholic, but its not like he really follows it, I mean, He's divorced, votes for abortion rights, advocates all sorts of things the church works against and except for election season every 6 years, he doesnt darken the door of a church. I mean, The President actually believes that stuff, how dangerous is that? The last thing we need in this world is someone who believes in something greater than himself, that just screws it up for the rest of us.

Oh! One other thing - Mary Cheney is a Lesbian. I know cause Barney Frank and Jim McGreevy told me so. It's not that we didnt know, or that she didnt know, but we just thought you'd like to know, but only if it changes how you think of the Cheney family, if it changes how you feel about John Kerry, then you are clearly a bigot.

And just because this memo looks fake, it doesnt mean that the facts dont support what the memo says.

(Lord John Worfin - Kerry Campaign Manager - Reporting for Duty)

Posted @ October 18, 2004 10:06 AM | Election 2004 | Comments (3)

Discourse

There’s a way to do things, and a way not to do things. We all know the apocryphal tale of a person being able to tell a priest in church to “go screw himself”, as long as you know how to say it right.

It appears that there are many people who don’t know the difference between disagreeing and being disagreeable. Let’s walk through this together. I read Andrew Sullivan’s site almost every day. I only agree with him about once out of every 8 visits. I go to his site, not because I agree with everything he says, but he is a well thought out person of a different viewpoint. I don’t want to agree with everything he says, I want there to be disagreement. Andy challenges my thinking; as a result of that challenge, he makes my reasoning on a given subject stronger by causing me to disregard weak positions and causes me to reinforce my stronger positions. When I find myself disagreeing with him, I don’t go ‘crazy eight bonkers’ and write him a stack of hate mail. I don’t insist that Andy take my view of the world that of his own. I expect Andy to take an opinion that I would not. Frankly, I’m hoping he does, because that’s why I’m reading him in the first place. If I wanted to read what I think I’d just read my own blog, and what’s the point in that?

I often disagree with Andrew Sullivan, but I have no desire or need to be disagreeable about it, and he is under no obligation to facilitate that sort of discourse with me. Andy is entitled to his beliefs and it’s precisely his ability to expound on those beliefs that makes him interesting to me. I’m not the slightest bit bothered that his opinions are different than mine. Quite the contrary, I expect him to have an opinion different than mine.

Why is it that so many people read other peoples sites, where the masthead of the site clearly states someone’s political view and then act shocked when they read an opinion on that site that they don’t agree with? If I go to blogsforbush.com, am I really surprised that there is no Kerry support expressed by the site?

I have a stack of email a foot thick over one subject - The use of the word “victory” in my masthead. I got about 15 emails in the positive, and a stack of trackbacks, but I also got a hugely disproportionate number of emails from people who felt that it was akin to a racial slur. Now – had I seen someone use a word on their site that I found to be offensive, what would I do?

Avert my eyes
Write a cogent and simple email, that is not disagreeable, but disagrees.
Not visit anymore

Probably.

Would I ever flame the comments section?
Would I ever pound the other commentors with unwanted queries?
Would I ever insist that the author MUST see it my way?

Hardly.

It's time I explained a few things to some of you who don’t understand the difference between disagreement and being disagreeable. Varifrank is not a public utility, its a privately owned and operated website, created, owned and operated by solely by myself. I do not have a 'tip jar'. I do not have advertising. I am under no obligation to provide anyone with a forum on my site which to send his or her own thoughts out to the reading public. I provide comments only as an easy way on which to communicate with me on the subject at hand, it is not a cheap way for you to start a blog. It is also not a way to allow you to hijack the subject or to harass the readers. Right now, there is an effort underway by the demon like denizens of “democratic underground” to hijack what they consider to be ‘right wing websites’ by any means necessary. Some will hack the sites, and corrupt their content, some will commit Denial Of Service attacks against their sites IP’s. Some will send a spam wave towards the site, thereby clogging up the owners email with lots of useless email. Others are more subtle in their actions, by disrupting the comments section or bogging down the site owner with a great deal of disagreeable discourse they hope to dissuade the blog owner and its fellow travelers from having a voice.

We’ve seen some great bloggers, great minds who’s ideas we all benefited from reading silenced by this type of action. It’s not freedom of speech that’s being practiced by this kind of behavior; it’s thuggery, plain and simple. It has the same affect on a blog that broken windows, un-mowed lawns and graffiti does to property values.

If you have something to add, or if I’ve made an error, then by all means send a comment. The comments on this site are moderated by me, meaning they don’t get published unless I say so. I say so, not because the author of the comment agrees with me, but that the author of the comment has something that adds to the piece being commented on. Comments on this site are not a forum to attack me or the other readers. It’s not a method to get your own pithy statements on a web someplace so you can feel validated.

Here’s another clue to “how to do things”. If you want me to publish your comment, try to say what you want without acting like you are a victim of Tourettes syndrome. For the record, I’m not Jewish, I’m not Gay, nor am I a Woman, nor am I Black. I’m honored to be in their company, but if the basis of your argument is that “I must be a fill-in-the-blank racial epithet”, then you’ve just gone into the electronic circular file, even if you’ve just published the formula for nuclear cold fusion in your comments. For those of you on the left who feel its only us crazed right wingers who attack people, man have I got a stack of hate mail for you to read from supposedly pacifist people who can sling some pretty good racial epithets.

There is a way to disagree, without being disagreeable. If your disagreement is cogent, and well reasoned and civil to myself and the other readers, then it will likely get published. If you can’t get a grip on yourself, then not only will you not get your comment not published, but you will be banned from the site altogether. I need to protect your weak sensibilities from the damage reading my site does to your weak constitutions. I cannot bear the thought that I may be causing some of you such high levels of bile production.

Does it really surprise so many of you that there are people who disagree with your worldview? Do you really think that your vision of reality is universally felt and that any variation from that reality is subversive? I mean, I felt like that when I was 14 years old, but now that I’m in my 40’s I sort of figured out that opinions are like elbows, most people have at least two of them and most of the time it takes a great deal of effort to get them to meet in the middle, but they work just fine when they don’t.

When you visit a blog, think of yourself as being at a party where the host as invited you to meet people you’ve never met before. You are introduced to these strangers, you get to know them by eating and drinking with them, you politely listen to what they say, even when they are people you would normally not hang out with or agree with. But you do not throw lawn furniture at someone you disagree with; you do not “key” their car. At best you might stand in the kitchen and grumble under your breath and wish you would have driven yourself to the party, but you don’t try to burn down the hosts’ living room because someone said something you disagree with.

I worked in San Francisco for 12 years. I loved it, it’s a great city with some great people and the best food anywhere. One of the really cool parts of the job was that I was working in a culture that was completely alien to me. I was a conservative in the very capitol of leftist ideology. I worked there for 12 years, day in day out. Now, if after 12 years of day in day out exposure to leftist ideals hasn’t caused me to give up my orientation and become a Democrat, what chance do you think you have, dear DU Denizen, of getting me to change?

The thing is, I had some great friendships with people in SF who were really waaaaaay out there politically from me. We all managed to get along with each other fine. I once gave some frequent flyer miles to someone who wanted to fly in a jazz artist to a Christic Institute event. I once bailed someone out of jail after a protest against the President. When I had major surgery, one of the women who helped get me through that time was, and I’m not kidding, a real live Sandinista. They were my friends; their politics were secondary. We respected each other’s opinions, we knew that we didn’t agree, but we didn’t take it personally. One of my very best friends hates Bush so much he can’t bring himself to see or hear the Presidents visage or voice at anytime. When he comes over, he always says to me “ make sure you don’t have the TV on…” and I don’t. We have a lifetime of friendship together, that’s much more important than politics. We disagree with each other, but we are not disagreeable.

I learned along time ago that not all lefties are idiots and not all right wingers are Klan members. People are people, you accept them as they are or you leave them alone. All I ever ask of someone in regards to their politics is the answer to this one question:

“Are you prepared to be wrong?”

If someone wants to talk about politics with me, that’s the first question I ask. If you’re not prepared to be wrong, then there’s nothing to be said and we should talk about the negative effects of the ocean tide on fishing. I am prepared to be wrong; I am always interested in hearing a different idea on a subject. I am a pragmatist before I am anything else. I’m not saying that you are wrong, but if you are not prepared for the possibility that you might be wrong, then we are not having a conversation, we are just listening to the b-b’s in our heads rattle around. I don’t believe any human owns the truth, the truth is discovered through a sort of adversarial process akin to the way our law works, or when its done properly, science works by using the skeptical analysis approach.

We discover the truth together. None of us owns the truth, it is discovered via our discourse and disagreement.

Embrace the diversity of thought, kids. It's your only hope in discovering the truth.

Posted @ October 17, 2004 11:09 PM | Current Events | Comments (7)

The Third Man: Review and Analysis

I checked The National Review's Corner Blog this evening and found that one of the writers there (Cliff May) had recently seen "The Third Man", and came away not liking it.

As some of you may know, I'm a sucker for 'Noir' Films. I’m also a sucker for war movies, even though as a rule war movies are usually really, really bad movies. "The Third Man" is a great movie for many reasons, first it is the very definition of a “Noir Film” and it is also not just a war movie, but a post-war movie. There aren’t many of them; this film and “The Big Lift” are two that come to mind. When you see burned out buildings in the backdrop of these films, its not stagecraft, it’s the detritus of the war that has killed 52 million people. In this film the residents of post-war Vienna play many of the extras and minor parts of the film. You can see the war reflected in their faces in ways that cannot be captured in the backlot at paramount or in Lucasfilms CGI. It's not makeup or acting that gives a person the ‘100 yard stare’, that’s life baby and its right there reflected in the eyes of folks who just a few years before the film was made were being bombed in their homes by their enemies and beaten in the streets by their neighbors friends.

"Film Noir" is a way of saying that the movie is about a dark subject. In my little group of fellow movie addicts its also a way of saying the film was shot "out of focus" by a drunk and decrepit film director. "Film noir" is often a shorthand for "crappy foreign film that only has artistic appeal and can barely keep a narrative going but youre supposed to like it anyway because everyone says so".

But "The Third Man" is not crappy or out of focus. It’s crystal clear. When pushed, men and women will do anything to survive and if you don’t think so, you’ve never been really, really hungry or desperate. All the characters of this movie are either in dangerous waters or resting by the shore of the river styx on their personal journey to purgatory.

"The Third Man" is a cold film. This first thing you notice is everyone wears greatcoats and hats all the time, even indoors. Post war Vienna is a decayed corpse of its former self. This is not a Capitol City of a once great empire, a place of commerce and art of factories and buildings. It’s a collection of debris too large to wash away with the rain. People live their life in post-war Vienna out of habit rather than choice.

It’s in this setting that four characters arrive. Our viewpoint is played by Holly Martins an American writer of dime novels that are based in a place he’s never been and life he’s never been a part of, the old west of the gunslingers. Holly has fallen into hard times, and a lifeline has been tossed to him from an old school friend, Harry Lime.

Harry has gone to some expense to send his friend a ticket to come to Vienna for a job. It’s not clear in the story what the job might be or what Harry intends. Holly doesn’t care, it’s a chance at something and to a desparate man, that beats nothing any day of the week. To the post-war, post-depression generation, this emotion would ring like a dinner bell.

On his arrival to Vienna, Holly discovers that his friend and benefactor is dead bringing his hopeful spring in his step to a lurching halt. Holly may be 12,000 miles from home, but he's right back where he started, nowhere. The film essentially begins in a graveside burial for Harry Lime. At this scene the other two significant characters are introduced. Inspector Calloway, a British police officer who is very curious as to the sudden arrival of an American civilian into the life of his criminal nemesis, Harry Lime.

And then there’s Anna. Anna is the pivot on which this movie turns. Anna is one of the women of post-war Europe who, if she is good at anything at all, she is good a survival. Anna has the unfortunate luck of being a Czech citizen. Unfortunate, because this in the Russian sphere of influence. If you want to know what that means, just look into her eyes. She will tell you everything you need to know about what totalitarian regimes mean to real people.

It’s at this point in the story that our protagonist Holly Martins begins to ask some questions about his friend’s death. How did it happen? Why the inconsistencies between the accounts of his death? Why is the Inspector taking such an interest in his friend, but seems unmoved and almost callous at his death. Holly decides to use his time in Vienna to discover the truth about his friend and how he died.

Each of us lives in a world that is not bound only by rational truth. Most of what we see in the world is what we want to see and not necessarily what is. Holly enters into his investigation to find the real story behind Harry’s death, and that’s just what happens, only not the way Holly had intended. The result is that Holly discovers more about his friend than he thought possible, and in the end more about himself than he ever wanted to know.

In his piece, Chris May asked several questions and I will attempt to answer them here:

It makes no sense that Anna and Holly would have such affection for Harry Lime, and that it then turns out that yes, Major Calloway is right: Harry Lime is indeed a baby killer who steals penicillin and then waters it down so that it turns from medicine to poison.

Each has their own reason for their affection for Harry. Harry is an enabler, a fixer, a scrounge. Harry is the guy you go to make things happen. In school, it was Harry that provided Holly with what he needed to survive, a stolen test here, a bully bought off there, Harry was able to make Hollys life livable ( for a price of course) It's not brought out in detail but its clear from some of the things they say that the school they refer to is a boarding school.

On the charge of baby killer, let’s also remember that Harry is an amoral fixer. I don’t believe it was his intent to cause the damage that he did, but I also don’t think it cost Harry any sleep. Those who are addicted to him, Like Anna will rationalize his crime away by saying that he meant well or that he didn’t really understand the consequences or whatever is convenient. Some people don’t want to see a monster for what they are even when it is self-evident.

Remember one other item, Holly himself has a hand in the death of an innocent. Due to Hollys ham handed approach to the Porter, who witnessed Harry's "Death", the Porter ends up being killed by Harry's associates. Graham Greene is sending that message the the audeince by having the little boy accuse Holly of killing the Porter to the crowd gathered outside the Hotel Sacher.

Did Holly kill the Porter? Holly didnt use his hands to kill him, but the Porter is dead all the same, and Holly could have kept this from happening just by thinking and taking a smater path. The Porter is dead due to Hollys incompetency. Is Holly guilty of the Porters death? By law, no, but by most moral sensibilities, he most certainly is.

Did Harry kill the kids with menengitis himself and with that purpose in mind? How much does ones intentions go in removing guilt in a crime? It is this debate that Graham Greene, a man who understood the nature, character and often the result of espionage, wants us to think about.

(Anna keeps saying to the Major: “You’ve got it all upside down.” And I kept trying to see how to turn it right, how to solve the mystery. But there is no mystery. The surprise is there is no surprise.)

Again, watch any episode of “Cops” and you’ll see this same reaction in women who are beaten within an inch of their lives by their husbands, yet scream and punch the police for taking their monster husbands to jail. “You just don’t understand officer I made him hit me”

What kind of scheme did Harry cook up? If you’re going to sell bogus penicillin why bother stealing real penicillin? And how many kids have to get sick before the hospital staff figures it out?

Harry’s scheme was to steal drugs in general and penicillin specifically out of the Army hospital and sell it to the civilian hospitals. His “inside man” Harbin did a reasonably good job, but he got pinched by the authorities (Calloway), and began to work as a double agent to get into Harry’s nefarious network. Harry discovered this, and this is why he was removed, in fact taking the place of Harry at his funeral. Demand for penicillin outstretched Harry’s ability to supply, so like all drug dealers, Harry cut the batch to make it go further to satisfy the demand. The buyers went to Harry because before he began to cut the drug, it worked and worked well. Remember two things, first this is a world of desperation and second, penicillin is a new and wondrous miracle drug, it is not the common pharmacological remedy that it is today.

Also: Why would Harry have a job for Holly, a writer of Western fiction, in his penicillin-stealing-and-watering-down-and-selling-it-to-hospitals-to-give-to-kids scheme? What use could he have been to Harry? He didn’t even speak German.

Maybe Harry intended Holly to be his substitute in the grave before a more convenient soul came along. It could also be that Harry intended to co-opt Holly and use him as a mule to move drugs across the border. Holly is about as straight laced a person as they come, no one would look twice at him.

And why would Harry bring him over to Vienna just when he was planning to fake his own death?

My interpretation is the revelation of Harbin as the double agent occurred while Holly was in transit. So the whole plan of the faking of his death was impromptu thing.

And why would Harry think Holly would be so depraved as to help him kill kids for cash anyway?

I don’t think there was any intent for that to happen. I also don’t think that it was Harrys intent to kill kids, it was “ just one of those things”.

And since that scheme was finally blown, how is Harry making a buck now?

For people like Harry, as long as there are people with desires, there’s a way to make a buck. My guess is that if he got Penicillin, morphine was probably not too far behind. Its also mentioned that Harry seems to be working with the Soviets.

Shouldn’t Anna be at least a tad shocked when she finds out what her lover was doing? Shouldn’t she have an opinion on it?

She is and she does, but she rationalizes it away.

And shouldn’t she be upset that he staged his death, didn’t tell her, and ditched her instead? Wouldn’t that at least be something she’d discuss with Holly?

She’s got a lot to deal with. She’s happy as hell that he’s alive and by the time she finds out all the details, he’s dead for real. In the mean time, she’s trying to stay out of the hands of the Soviets. Her relationship with Holly is not substantial, he can do very little for her and she knows it. She reveals nothing to Holly of any value about anything.

When Holly first sees Harry in the doorway, why does Harry run? What was he doing in that doorway anyhow? Who was he waiting for if not Holly or Anna?

He runs because he needs to remain in control of the situation (Maybe he didn’t see me, I still don’t know if my friend is on my side, or if he’s working for Calloway, if I run it will just be one drunk man who thought he saw a dead one).

In my opinion, he was waiting for Anna, and was intercepted by Holly. It was not in Harrys plan to be revealed, but once done, it could not be undone.

The cat? Why does the cat love Harry? Seriously, in films animals love people because they sense those people have a good heart. Harry doesn’t have a good heart. He’s a heartless murderer who would sell a cat to an all-you-can-eat restaurant.

It’s a device. We need the cat to give away Harry’s position in the scene. I would have looked odd for a random cat to just walk up and start nuzzling Harry's leg. so a cat 'pre-story' was created.

If Harry doesn’t want to see Holly – he runs away after being spotted in the doorway --why does he change his mind the next day and meet with him?

Because the risk is there that Holly will go to Calloway and tell him what he saw. Harry doesn’t know that holly has already done this. He’s still hoping to co-opt his friend, and he’s also trying to find out what he knows, as a back door way of finding out how close Calloway is to him and his network.

Whatever else Harry may be, he’s a smart cookie. Surely he knows he hasn’t sold Holly on the logic of killing kids for cash based on his soliloquy on the Ferris wheel, when he explains the Camus-lite view of the world that he’s now adopted. Surely, he knows that Holly doesn’t agree that children are just black dots lacking any meaning and value, so killing them is no biggie. So why does Harry go to meet with Holly again? What would be the upside? And how could he not see the downside risk?

To Harry, Holly is not a person as much as an asset or a liability. Harry’s whole life has been based on making sure that assets are used and liabilities eliminated. He goes to meet Holly to eliminate him as he has become a liability. Harry’s contempt for Holly as the underclassmen from their school days keeps him from seeing that Holly has betrayed him to Calloway until its too late.

Was Harry the third man who helped carry the dead body – which I suppose was really Harbin – across the street?
Yes.

Did no one see the body before it was put into the coffin?
No. Yes this is a problem, but relax its just a movie. There’s no CSI Vienna in the 1940’s

At the start of the movie, we hear from a narrator – a cynical Brit in some way involved in the black market. He seems like an interesting character. Who is he? Why do we never hear from him again?

The device of the voiceover is to give an entrance to the story, its quite common in films of the era. If you turn down the sound, it doesn’t change the nature of the story at all, but to 1940s audiences it helps them get in tune with the film. This is a pretty shocking film for that audience, today we live with realism in our films as something we expect and desire, but in that time, it is expected for films to not be “too real” as the viewing audience of that time found it distasteful to have a film presented as so close to reality. Movie audiences of that era are going to the movies to get away from reality, not get a close up view of what they just stepped out of.

Posted @ October 16, 2004 08:58 PM | Movie Reviews | Comments (2)

A Week In Hooverville

Here is a recap of the week in the hell that has become our horrible economic situation brought on by evil and incompetant Bush administration. Some say its the worst economic situation faced by any country by any people in Western civilization since the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Saying it is one thing, but when other people believe it, well thats something else altogether.

Monday -
The house 4 doors down goes up for sale. The house is 7 years old. They are asking for 4 times its original purchase price. If I had to move here now, I could not afford to do it. Of course when we moved here, everyone said it was a mistake. That should show you what "everyone" knows. By the way, I have no intention of leaving.

Tuesday -
Now that a month of candidate interviews are complete, my team puts hiring offers on the table for 3 new openings - all for external hires.

Wednesday -
Another part of our group suffers a setback as three of their staff announce that they are quitting and going to work at other companies. These are all US employees, one is moving to Seattle to work at a small software company, but the other two are "working remote" at two different companies. I see a new employment trend on the rise, "outsourcing at home" why ship jobs overseas when you can just hire folks to work remotely here in the US?

Our Management struggles in the morning conference call to deal with the new phenomenon of employees leaving for greener pastures. Luckily for me the mute button is on as I fall on the floor laughing at their displeasure with the new reality. As I regain my composure, one of them asks what I think they should do, I respond "Oh golly I dont know, promote someone, give a raise here and there, pat someone on the back, give public kudos and thanks now and then?" My humor is often lost on the management class, however,this morning it hits them like a 2x4 across the forehead. I tell them the truth that "the drought is over boys, and those that can get out now, will. For every one of those that left this morning, theres another 10 of them looking."

At Lunch, I wait 20 minutes to get to a gas pump. At two different stations. I resolve to ride my motorcycle more often.

Heres an observation I made in the Costco Parking lot:
SUV,SUV,SUV,Minivan,Minivan,SUV,SUV,Scion Type B,SUV,SUV,SUV,Minivan,Hummer.
I make a note to mark the next time I see a car over 10 years old. 30 minutes go by and a 1968 Chevy Nova appears just as I'm about to give up.

Two afternoon conference calls are interrupted by the sound of pools being constructed in our court. The Gunite spraying machines and small tractors digging the holes are very, very loud. Between pool construction and lawn maintenance, the neighborhood during work hours is one very noisy place indeed.

I have no intention of ever getting a pool. Everyone wants a pool,until they get one. We've already had one thank-you-very-much. They are really at their nicest when they are someone elses and you just visit.

Thursday -
Two of our candidates reject their offers, as they have already accepted offers at other companies. The third accepts, turning down an offer that included a signing bonus. I had no idea such things still existed. The Second tier candidates are now re-evaluated for the remaining open positions.

A headhunter calls in the afternoon, he wants to have lunch next week. The rate of recruiter calls has gone up from one a quarter to one a month. Im not going anywhere, I like my gig but you've always got to take care of these guys. You never know when you'll need one. Besides, this one used to work for me back-in-the-day.

The house that went up for sale on Monday is now sold. The offer was for 20k more than what was being asked for. This leaves us as the last remaining original owners in the court. I dont know what to say.

We begin accepting internal staff transfers to the remaining open headcount. 5 employees are given lateral transfers. 2 are given promotions. This is a relief to me, as I can now stop working 18 hour shift cycles in concert with the European staff work hours.

Friday -
Good news! A new project has been started as we were just informed that an additional contract has been signed for our services. Back to 18 hour shift. For 24 hours, I was pretty happy, but now we are back to reality.

Plans are finalized this morning for me to visit San Jose next week, as the new contract requires the assistance of a new hardware vendor to support the project.

The next door neighbors parents are visting. How do I know this? Because their giant 5th wheel "super trailer" with the pop out sides and the satellite dish is sitting in front of my house. I am now officially "trailer trash". ( they are nice folks, and its ok, they usually only stay for the regulation three days at a time, but every time I hear someone squabble about how bad it is for old folks, guess who comes to mind?)

Friday Night:

6:30 - On the Border - A 45 minute wait to get a seat.
7:15 - Seated. Chips and salsa are delivered
7:20 - Waitress arrives. Drinks are ordered
7:40 - Orders for dinner are taken. Waitress apologizes for delay, apparently several staff did not arrive this evening. Apparently they quit for better offers. ( lots of that going around I opine)
8:15 - Dinner arrives.
9:00 - Check arrives. The waitress, is handling 25 tables by herself, due to a lack of staff. The manager arrives, announces that Dinner is free, due to the problems this evening.

On to 'Barnes and Noble' to peruse the shelves -

9:15 - Parking lot full - to capacity.
9:40 - Parking space secure.
9:45 - Store is jammed to capacity. 4 registers, all staffed, a line 15 deep forms in front. The line is consistent throught the visit.
10:30 - Standing in line for checkout.
10:45 - Checked out. I ask the staff about the lines " its been like this every Friday lately ..."

It's now too late for a trip to Best Buy, but a sign in front of the building says "NOW HIRING". Every store and restaurant we went by this evening has had these signs up. Christmas is coming, and it shows.

On to Starbucks!
11:00 - 6 in line,
11:15 - Order taken. The store is out of milk. This sends a groan into the air. A Starbucks out of milk is like KFC being all out of biscuits. I ask how this could happen, the barrista says " We had quite a run tonight and we didnt stock enough I guess..."
11:25 - Order delivered. All tables inside taken, All tables outside taken. We hover around a promising table.

11:45. Table freed up at the exact moment the latte is finished.

Safeway -
12:00 - 2 registers open, 6 people in each line, they both extend beyond the endcaps.
12:10 - Soft Drink row blocked by shopper on a cell phone asking his wife "what should I buy" over the phone. I give him "the look". I begin to wonder if anyone can function without those damn things stuck to their heads.
12:15 - In line.
12:20 - Another shopper is on a cell phone asking someone on the other end what kind of cigarettes they want him to buy. A game ensues where the cashier has to go to the cigarette area and call out the brands while our "remote autonomous shopping unit" attempts to find the required brands for our mystery guest.
12:30 - Home.

Hit it Buck Owens!

Gloom Dispair and Agony on Me, Deep Dark Depression, excessive misery
If it werent for bad luck I'd have no luck at all
Gloom Dispair and Agony on Me!!!!!!

Look folks, I know that sometimes people have bad times, I know its not all "sunshine and light" out there, but I also know its not the worst.economy.ever. I lived through the Carter Administration!20% Mortgage interest rates, 9% unemployed, no gas to be had at any price and the worlds biggest pacifist pessimist in the White House. Let's try to put things in perspective, shall we?

And before I get more hate mail, I know I'm breaking the "Commentariat Diktat" by reporting good news while the fascist Bush is in office, but I must. Repeat after me wage slaves!, Business is good,life is great,things are looking up. Don't be afraid to ditch pessimism to be positive. Stop looking at all the things that can go wrong and try to find something that has gone right. We are at War, oil is at 55 dollars a barrel, we should look like the picture at the top of the post. We dont. We are not even close, so stop acting like it.

UPDATE I: Washington State Reports its unemployment rate is falling rapidly. The horror, The horror

UPDATE II: Dell Announces its building a factory in Texas. Curse You foul temptress of positive thinking and Be Gone!

UPDATE III: Lucent announces first profit since 2000. (fingers in ears chanting "la-la-la-la not listening")