Political Song of the Day -- Man in Black by Johnny Cash

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

Political Song of the Day - Robin Hood in Reverse by Bad Religion

Bad Religion has always been the standard bearers for thinking man's punk rock.  They obviously frequently sing of religion, but this song hits upon the Supreme Court and the ridiculousness of the Citizens United decision.  That monumentally inconceivable ruling opened the floodgates of even more dark money into the already corrupt political process.  Despite his apparent love of his own voice, Antonin Scalia will not be looked up kindly by history.  In his eyes, money is free speech.  And the more money you have, the more speech you get.

Robin Hood in Reverse by Bad Religion

 Here is the church 
There is the steeple 
Open up the door 
Corporations are people 
Wait what did he say? 
What the fuck did he say? 

It couldn't last 
They had to crash 
Some parties are just made that way 
But when the bell rings 
The boys will sing 
Swing low sweet precariat 

Let's say we try to get this right 
Said the plutocrat to jesus christ 
And when the old fox fearing the worst 
Made his entrance in a hearse 
Then the nine in black robes all went berserk 
This is a tale of robin hood in reverse 

Citizens united 
I was excited 
When the kids are united they can never be divided 
But that was yesterday 
There's a brand new sham to today 

Let's say we try to get this right 
Said the plutocrat to jesus christ 
And when the old fox fearing the worst 
Made his entrance in a hearse 
Then the nine in black robes all went berserk 
This is a tale of robin hood in reverse

Political Song of the Day -- Melt the Guns by XTC

Programmes of violence,
As entertainment,
Brings the disease into your room.
We know the germ,
Which is man-made in metal,
Is really a key to your own tomb.

Prevention is better than cure,
Bad apples affecting the pure,
You'll gather your senses I'm sure
Then agree to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them.

Children will want them,
Mothers supply them,
As long as your killers are heroes.
And all the media
Will fiddle while Rome burns,
Acting like modern-time Neros.

Prevention is better than cure,
Bad apples affecting the pure,
You'll gather your senses I'm sure
Then agree to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them.

I'm speaking to the Justice League of America.
The U S of A,
Hey you,
Yes you in particular!
When it comes to the judgement day and you're standing at the gates with your weaponry,
You dead go down on one knee,
Clasp your hands in prayer and start quoting me,
'Cos we say...
Our father we've managed to contain the epidemic in one place, now,
Let's hope they shoot themselves instead of others,
Help to civilize the race now.
We've trapped the cause of the plague,
In the land of the free and the home of the brave.
If we listen quietly we can hear them shooting from grave to grave.
You ought to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them. 

Vote for Rationality

"Becoming atheist isn't a decision to turn your back on God. It's just awakening to the fact that there isn't anything to turn your back on." -- Sue at @TwstdFishy

Let's get beyond all the practical economic, social and environmental reasons that you might not vote for Mitt Romney. From a simple, common sense, rational approach, how can you possibly vote for a man that, with all his heart, believes the following:

• Jesus visited America
• Eden is in Missouri
• Joseph Smith could translate ancient texts (the texts and translations are both provable falsifications)
• Native Americans are Jews
• God lives on the planet Kolob

And I didn't even bring up the magic underpants things.  It's simply a question of judgment.  How can one trust in his ability to make decisions that affect people of all beliefs when his own beliefs are batshit crazy.  Why one's religious beliefs are beyond criticism or scrutiny, I'll never know.  The media walks on eggshells about these things.  If a non-Christian running for President had similar tinfoil hat type beliefs, it would most certainly be an issue.

There will be a day where candidates won't have to be afraid of admitting they are atheists.  A day when science, and evolution, and climate change can be openly discussed without fear of reprisal.  That day cannot come soon enough.

Gay Marriage

Kudos to Obama for finally not riding the fence on gay marriage:

Obama supports gay marriage, taking a risky stand

As Bill Maher said on twitter (@billmaher):

I predict Obama coming out for #GayMarriage will help his re-election cuz it will make Repubs defend bigotry which will energize Dem's base

People will support a candidate that stands for something.  Do you think LBJ's advisors were telling him to support the Civil Rights Act?  I doubt it.  It was a political risk but a stance that had to be taken ... as is this one.  History will not look kindly upon those on the wrong side.

This is perfect because it forces the Right to defend the indefensible. At best
they appear as religious zealots. At worst ... out-of-touch bigots.  And I don't believe that this is going to cost the votes that some people think it will.  Those strongest in opposition of gay marriage were the type of voters that would not have voted for Obama anyway.  And despite the tendency of Black and Hispanic voters to generally be against gay marriage, this is hardly the issue that would push them into the "reed-in-the-wind" Romney camp.  Romney ... who has never had an opinion on anything.

Taking a principled stand is what the base of the Democratic Party has been looking for Obama to do.  Everything doesn't have to be politically calculated.  Take a stand, goddamn it!  People want to be inspired, not lulled to sleep.

Podcast(s) of the Week

I've always enjoyed Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's work, partly for their own aesthetic but also for the undeniable real life drama that encompassed the artists themselves. Politics and Mexican culture are integral to their art and probably the reasons that I'm drawn to them. The Phoenix Art Museum, where we are members, is lucky enough to have several paintings by both artists.

These 2 recent podcasts do a great job of talking about the tragedies and experiences that influenced Kahlo as an artist and a person.  Interestingly, her marriage to Rivera could be construed as both ... a tragedy and a positive experience.

Frida Kahlo podcast from Stuff You Missed in History Class:

Part 1
Part 2

They've both been portrayed on-screen very well, most notably in Frida with Salma Hayek in the title role and Alfred Molina as Rivera.  I also like Ruben Blades as Rivera in Tim Robbin's Cradle Will Rock, a very good movie on art and politics in 1930's America.

-------------------------------

I will listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson in whatever capacity he speaks.  He is the most vocal American proponent of an active space program and one of our best spokesman for the popularization of science and a reality-based world.  Here he is on a recent NPR Science Friday with Ira Flatow speaking on both of those things:

NPR's Science Friday - March 24, 2012

-------------------------------

Earl Scruggs, who just recently passed away at the age of 88, was one of the pioneers of bluegrass music and a true innovator of banjo playing, creating a completely new way of picking.  Most people think they don't know of him, but if you have ever heard the getaway music in Bonnie and Clyde or the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies, then you have heard his playing.  He was greatly influential and touched musicians in completely different genres.

Terry Gross interviewed him in 2003 and after his passing, NPR re-aired the interview:

Earl Scruggs: The 2003 Fresh Air Interview

This NY Times article of his passing has a short video of some of the people that he influenced:

Earl Scruggs, Bluegrass Pioneer, Dies at 88

Environmental/Political Song of the Day

Subdivisions by Rush

Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown

Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone

Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
Subdivisions --
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
Subdivisions --
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out
Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth

Drawn like moths we drift into the city
The timeless old attraction
Cruising for the action
Lit up like a firefly
Just to feel the living night

Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight

Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights...

Oh, the delicious irony. I knowingly live in the suburbs and curse my existence. Sadly, it's mostly out of financial necessity. But even that necessity is becoming less and less so. In the suburbs, you have less access to mass transit and less access to the things we actually like to do. As you've seen from this blog, we're always downtown anyway: protest marches, art museum, ballgames, farmer's market, the Audubon Society, etc.

Rush (the band that is) kicks ass. This song sounds awesome but has great lyrics. I particularly like,

Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone

The organization of living is just a metaphor for people's opinions. This song is from 1982, but just as relevant today.

Religion/Politics

Don't "beware the Ides of March"

The Ides of march (from dictionary.com): March 15 in the ancient Roman calendar; the day in 44 b.c. on which Julius Caesar was assassinated.

.

Obviously, the naming of the new George Clooney directed movie, The Ides of March, is not coincidental with the subject matter. The death of Julius Caesar was borne of a conspiracy and by its very nature was political. Ostensibly, he was killed because the senators feared the march toward tyranny and the end of the Senate. Ironically, it was his death that did just that. They compromised principles to do what they believed was in the best interest of the republic.

While there is no assassination in The Ides of March, there is plenty of political intrigue and the compromising of principles in the name of idealism.

Ryan Gosling's character Stephen Myers, a campaign manager for Clooney's character, governor Mike Morris goes into the campaign full of idealism and believing the man he is working for has that same idealism. Through the machinations of the film, the integrity of Morris and the political process is called into question and leads to Myers' loss of innocence. He is faced with the quandary of opting out altogether or scheming for what he perceives as the greater good. Does he make the right choice and how can it really be for the "greater good" if one compromises one's principles? Don't expect the movie to answer that question.

There's no "happy ending". Along with the fucked up political process it represents, the movie ends ambiguously.

When we start down the road of compromising and selling our soul, when do we lose ourselves?

The casting is good. Gosling is believable as a slick and confident pitch man for a candidate. If anything, he comes across as too slick and you have a hard time buying that he would have a crisis of conscience. Clooney is Clooney. Because of his ideas and charisma, you wish that he would actually run for office.

But the actors that steal the show are the vets, Paul Giamati as the opponent's lead adviser and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Morris' adviser. Would we really expect any less from a couple of Oscar winners? They have the unique talent to be perfectly cast in whatever they play because they are just that good. Jeffrey Wright is also outstanding.

Clooney is very clever in making the candidates in question Democrats. It removes a lot of the tendency by the Right to write off the movie as another example of Hollywood liberal propaganda. Clooney rightly sees the larger point that the problem is the process and not necessarily the political ideas involved. There is no moral high ground when it comes to behavior of the two major parties' campaigns.

This is by no means a "great" political thriller. It would not be mistaken for All the President's Men or The Candidate or even The Contender. But it is good and topical. Grade: B

"Catapult the Propaganda"

I have to give credit where credit is due. It takes a special kind of stupid to be able to consume FOX News on a daily basis. We ate dinner at BJ's Brewpub tonight and among their bank of TV's, FOX News was on ... with no sound. Even without sound, within 5 minutes I was ready to put a gun in my mouth. In that small time frame, I was able to discover that Obama is the worst imperialist President ever, that he was going to take my home through imminent domain and was going to tax me into submission. That's important information that I was lucky enough to have beat into my brain without so much as a convincing argument.  I was able to tick off at least a half dozen of the classic propaganda techniques without even trying.

A reasoning FOX News viewer might be concerned by the turmoil of News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch, but as evidenced by my short indoctrination, there couldn't possibly be any reasoning FOX News viewers.

Political Song of the Day: BOOM! by System of a Down

I've been walking through your streets
Where all your moneys are earned
Where all your buildings crying
And clueless neckties working
Revolving fake-lawn houses
Housing all your fears
Desensitized by TV
Overbearing advertising
God of consumerism
And all your crooked pictures looking good
Mirrorism, filtering information for the public eye
Designed for profiteering
Your neighbor, what a guy.

BOOM!

Every time you drop the bomb, you kill the god your child has born-

BOOM!

Modern globalization
Coupled with condemnations
Unnecessary death
Matador corporations
Puppeting your frustrations with a blinded flag
Manufacturing consent is the name of the game
The bottom line is money
Nobody gives a FUCK
Four thousand hungry children leave us per hour from starvation
While billions are spent on bombs
Creating death showers

BOOM!

Every time you drop the bomb, you kill the god your child has born-

BOOM!

Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom!

Why must we kill our own kind?
...

"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it." -- Noam Chomsky

Look for me, Mom, I'll be there ...

" ... Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me.""

The Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen

100,000 strong in Wisconsin and huge groups across the country protesting the Wisconsin governor's (and by extension the Republican Party) attempt to bust public unions. No matter what they say, it's not about the budget. It's about the rich of one party (Koch brothers and the Republicans) breaking up the biggest funding source of the other party (unions and the Democrats). Remove their funding and the ability of the common man to organize and you will have a self-perpetuating Republican majority that can't be stopped.

But, maybe ... just maybe, the Republicans shot their load too soon. Underestimating the resolve of 14 brave state senators and countless people across the country that make up the backbone of the working class (teachers, firemen, cops and your average private union worker).

Those that are trying to sell you "liberty" and "freedom" are encouraging the exact opposite ... a government funded and dictated to by a small group of huge corporations whose goal this week may be fiscal in nature. But next week, when they have effective control, it will be the removing of environmental and civil rights protections.

We have a choice.

"Let the workers organize. Let the toilers assemble. Let their crystallized voice proclaim their injustices and demand their privileges. Let all thoughtful citizens sustain them, for the future of Labor is the future of America." -- John L. Lewis(President of the UMWA from 1920-1960)

In Her Defense, I'm Sure the Moose Had It Coming

In Her Defense, I'm Sure the Moose Had It Coming 

By screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing) at the Huffington Post

"Unless you've never worn leather shoes, sat upon a leather chair or eaten meat, save your condemnation."

You're right, Sarah, we'll all just go fuck ourselves now.

The snotty quote was posted by Sarah Palin on (like all the great frontier women who've come before her) her Facebook page to respond to the criticism she knew and hoped would be coming after she hunted, killed and carved up a Caribou during a segment of her truly awful reality show, Sarah Palin's Alaska, broadcast on The-Now-Hilariously-Titled Learning Channel.

I eat meat, chicken and fish, have shoes and furniture made of leather, and PETA is not ever going to put me on the cover of their brochure and for these reasons Palin thinks it's hypocritical of me to find what she did heart-stoppingly disgusting. I don't think it is, and here's why.

Like 95% of the people I know, I don't have a visceral (look it up) problem eating meat or wearing a belt. But like absolutely everybody I know, I don't relish the idea of torturing animals. I don't enjoy the fact that they're dead and I certainly don't want to volunteer to be the one to kill them and if I were picked to be the one to kill them in some kind of Lottery-from-Hell, I wouldn't do a little dance of joy while I was slicing the animal apart.

I'm able to make a distinction between you and me without feeling the least bit hypocritical. I don't watch snuff films and you make them. You weren't killing that animal for food or shelter or even fashion, you were killing it for fun. You enjoy killing animals. I can make the distinction between the two of us but I've tried and tried and for the life of me, I can't make a distinction between what you get paid to do and what Michael Vick went to prison for doing. I'm able to make the distinction with no pangs of hypocrisy even though I get happy every time one of you faux-macho shitheads accidentally shoots another one of you in the face.

So I don't think I will save my condemnation, you phony pioneer girl. (I'm in film and television, Cruella, and there was an insert close-up of your manicure while you were roughing it in God's country. I know exactly how many feet off camera your hair and make-up trailer was.)

And you didn't just do it for fun and you didn't just do it for money. That was the first moose ever murdered for political gain. You knew there'd be a protest from PETA and you knew that would be an opportunity to hate on some people, you witless bully. What a uniter you'd be -- bringing the right together with the far right.

(Let me be the first to say that I abused cocaine and was arrested for it in April 2001. I want to be the first to say it so that when Palin's Army of Arrogant Assholes, bereft of any reasonable rebuttal, write it all over the internet tomorrow they will at best be the second.)

I eat meat, there are leather chairs in my office, Sarah Palin is deranged and The Learning Channel should be ashamed of itself.

The language is a bit harsh, but so is the offense. I'd go even further and say that the comparison to Michael Vick is unfair ... to Michael Vick! Michael Vick served his time and by all accounts is remorseful, humbled and genuinely apologetic. Sarah Palin will never be remorseful, humble or apologetic about anything. And instead of going to jail (or at least back to obscurity), she makes us serve time by having to witness her tired and disingenuous act daily.

"Cruelty and fear shake hands together." -- Honore de Balzac

"One of the ill effects of cruelty is that it makes the bystanders cruel." -- Thomas Fowell Buxton

Jumping the Tea Party Shark

Do you get the feeling that the Tea Party is starting to "jump the shark"? I got that feeling about 5 minutes after it started but it might take others longer. Exhibit 1:

A Valley community's decision to change the way trash is picked up provided further proof of how deeply the nation's anti-government, "tea party"-fueled sentiment is running.

A decision by the Fountain Hills Town Council to hire a single trash hauler and begin a curbside recycling program has been met with angry protests from residents who accuse town leaders of overstepping their bounds and taking a leap toward socialism.

Some even likened it to "Obamacare" for garbage, calling it "trashcare."

An Arizona website affiliated with the Alexandria, Va.,-based Campaign for Liberty, azc4l.com, features an intimidating, cigar-chomping man standing in front of the town's famous fountain next to a story about the issue.

And last week, a flier was circulated around Fountain Hills with an ominous icon and the phrase, "The Hills Will Have Eyes," and that claimed the "Fountain Hills Green Police" checked residents' garbage and recyclables, and as a result, "you are wanted for questioning."

On Thursday, a divided council approved a five-year contract with Allied Waste Services to be the single hauler and begin a recycling program. Residents currently can choose among five haulers and the town has no curbside recycling.

That single issue generated a nearly five-hour public hearing and council debate that went past midnight ...

From Talking Points Memo and the Arizona Republic.

Come on! Anyone of any kind of conscience would have to be thinking that these guys are seriously off their nut. Right?  Socialist garbage collection.  You have got to be kidding me.  If this is the kind of substantive work they will be doing, progressives have nothing to worry about.

I'm almost looking forward to the next couple of years for entertainment value alone.  Here's hoping that Michele Bachmann gets a leadership position in the new Republican Congress.

Political Song of the Day - We Shall Be Free by Garth Brooks

When the last child cries for a crust of bread,
When the last man dies for just words that he said,
When there's shelter over the poorest head,
We shall be free,

When the last thing we notice is the color of skin,
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within,
When the skies and the oceans are clean again,
Then we shall be free,

We shall be free ...

When we're free to love anyone we choose,
When this worlds big enough for all different views,
When we're all free to worship from our own kind of pew,
Then we shall be free,

We shall be free ...

And when money talks for the very last time,
And nobody walks a step behind,
When there's only one race and that's mankind,
Then we shall be free,

We shall be free ...

Political Songs of the Day: American Jesus by Bad Religion

American Jesus by Bad Religion

I don't need to be a global citizen,
'Cause I'm blessed by nationality,
I'm a member of a growing populace,
We enforce our popularity
There are things that seem to pull us under and
There are things that drag us down,
But there's a power and a vital presence
That's lurking all around

We've got the American Jesus
See him on the interstate,
We've got the American Jesus
He helped build the president's estate

I feel sorry for the earth's population
'Cause so few live in the U.S.A,
At least the foreigners can copy our morality,
They can visit but they cannot stay,
Only precious few can counter the barbarity,
It makes us walk with renewed confidence,
We've got a place to go when we die
And the architect resides right here

We've got the American Jesus
Bolstering national faith
We've got the American Jesus
Overwhelming millions every day

He's the farmers' barren fields, (In God)
He's the force the army wields, (We trust)
He's the expression on the faces of the starving millions, (Because he's one of us)
The power of the man. (Break down)
He's the fuel that drives the Klan, (Cave in)
He's the motive and the conscience of the murderer (He can redeem your sin)
He's the preacher on TV, (Strong heart)
He's the false sincerity, (Clear mind)
He's the form letter that's written by the big computer, (And infinitely kind)
He's the nuclear bombs, (You lose)
He's the kids with no moms (We win)
And I'm fearful that he's inside ME (He is our champion)

We've got the American Jesus
See him on the interstate
We've got the American Jesus
Exercising his authority
We've got the American Jesus
Bolstering National faith
We've got the American Jesus
Overwhelming millions every day

One nation under God(x10)

Theocracy

What are the characteristics of a theocracy?

"A nation or state in which the clergy exercise political power and in which religious law is dominant over civil law."

Now, I'm not going to use hyperbole and try to say we ARE a theocracy. But, don't you get the feeling sometimes that there is a large part of the country that wants us to move in that direction and are actively supporting leaders and candidates that believe exactly that?

You have nutters like Terry Jones threatening to burn Qurans, that some Republicans took their time to criticize:

Pastor Jones was a high school classmate of Rush Limbaugh in Missouri. Interesting.

And most recently, you have what any sane person would consider an absolute religious zealot, Christine O'Donnell, win the Republican primary for US Senate in Delaware. Someone who I have no love for and can't ever remember agreeing with, Karl Rove, called her for what she was and has been systematically criticized by every other prominent Republican (including the aforementioned Limbaugh). It's become a wacky world where George Bush looks like a moderate.

O'Donnell is a long-time religious activist with laughable beliefs on masturbation and sexuality in general. Here are just some of her greatest hits:

- 90s video of Christine O'Donnell explaining her crusade against the scourge of masturbation

- and O'Donnell on several of Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect programs

The weirdest thing is that a lot of Christians don't even consider her a zealot. That's you know when there is a problem with the direction of our country.

Vjack on Twitter put it this way:

In our political climate, I bet a Christian extremist who publicly advocated bombing medical clinics could win a GOP nomination.

And Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo (joshtpm on Twitter)

US policy needs to empower moderate/peaceful elements within Republican party to isolate the radicals

If we are not a theocracy and there is separation of church and state, why does our President feel compelled to mention his Christian faith? What would the problem be if he WAS a Muslim or ... perish the thought ... an ATHEIST? Gasp!! The religious beliefs of one person should never inform the laws of everyone. We are going to become a backward, Creation-believing, science-denying, fundamentalist country no better than Iran if we don't start understanding this.

Woody Allen on masturbation: "it's sex with someone I love."

Arizonans get what they deserve

Cars I snapped pics of in the last week:

I have no problem with bumper stickers that might say something negative about a sitting president (I may have had one of my own in the past).  But the Kenya bumper sticker turns something that might just have been making fun of a president's intelligence into something racist.  Would a white president get similar treatment if their ancestors were from England or Ireland?  I don't think so.  At the very least, even if the sticker isn't racist, it indicates the owner is a "birther".  And that's a whole different kind of bat-shit crazy.

With constituents like this, is it any wonder we have idiots like this (incumbent governor Jan Brewer)?



It's not too much of a surprise that Sarah Palin is a big supporter and has stumped for Brewer.

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." -- Harlan Ellison

Political Song of the Day: War Pigs by Black Sabbath (covered by Faith No More)

Obviously I know this was written and first performed by Black Sabbath ... and theirs is a great version. But, my first exposure to War Pigs was by Faith No More in college. And theirs is the best cover of the song I've ever heard.

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'til their judgement day comes
Yeah!

Now in darkness world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees the war pig's crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing spreads his wings
Oh lord yeah!

Stupidity Sells

I was at Costco today and was perusing the books and came upon the political section. These were the books I saw ... the only political books I saw:

• ** An Obama hatchet-job book by Michelle Malkin, Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies. 
• ** Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto by Dick Armey, who, unintentionally, has the most appropriate name ever for the movement he represents. 
• ** Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin. There's no joke that hasn't already been said about Palin. 
•  ** And last, and certainly least, a novel by Glenn Beck, The Overton Window. Considering everything that Beck has ever said or written is fiction, this is not exactly a stretch.

No books by liberal or even moderate authors to be found. Is this a switch to the dark side by the traditionally progressive company? Probably not. More likely an admission that the Right is more likely to shell out $ for blatantly biased writing. It's why conservative talk radio and FOX News make money. For all the talk about "freedom" and "independence", Republicans don't want to form their own opinion. They want to be told what to think. They don't want an exchange of ideas. They want a chorus of sycophants.

So-called "liberal" authors have never sold a lot of books because most liberals don't want an echo-chamber. The few that have done moderately well did so because they were also humorists (Al Franken and Molly Ivins). But we've lost both of them in one way or another ... Franken, thankfully, to the Senate, and Ivins, unfortunately, passed away a few years ago.

Most liberals are far more likely to read scholarly works analyzing society in general (Jared Diamond, Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Friedman, etc.) than anything partisan. This makes for better rounded people, but it doesn't necessarily help Costco sell more books. So, I guess it doesn't bother me that they sell the books. They are certainly not changing anyone's mind with them. In Arizona, if agreeing philosophically with one's customers was a prerequisite for a transaction, then I would be out of business.

"SYCOPHANT, n. One who approaches Greatness on his belly so that he may not be commanded to turn and be kicked. He is sometimes an editor." -- Ambrose Bierce (American Writer, Journalist)