Death of a President

As one who was born during the death throes of the Nixon Administration, August of 1973, I have always been fascinated with Watergate and I must admit I have always somewhat admired Gerald Ford. By now everyone has heard the talking heads and historians talk about how decent of a man Ford was, how devoted he was to Betty, etc. etc. I have to say that if I was of voting age at the time I would have been outraged that he pardoned Nixon, but in retrospect it was the right thing to do. America had to move on after the excess of Richard Nixon. Thankfully he was VP instead of the even creepier than Nixon, Spiro Agnew. Despite LBJ's quip that Ford seemed like he had played too much football without a helmet, I think Ford's openness and uncomplicated nature was what the American people needed in the Oval Office after a truly dark and Machiavellian President like Nixon. Ford was certainly one of the good Republicans that was pro-choice and not an idealogue. He has gone up further in my estimation with Bob Woodwards posthumous release of his interview with Ford from 04 where he is highly critical of the Iraq adventure and has sharp words for W and for Ford's two former Wunderkinds, Cheney and Rumsfeld. Words of wisdom from an honest Republican from the grave.

New Years Plans

This New Years holiday my wife and I are taking the short hop up I-95 for a weekend in DC. We will be seeing the Redskins play the Giants on Saturday, and on New Years eve we will be eating at Le Paradou, a Champagne fueled debauch will ensue. The morning after the game though I will be going to Arlington to make my yearly trip to the grave of John Kennedy. It always puts me in a reflective if somewhat somber mood. I often think of how different this country might have been if Kennedy had not been killed. When you take the measure of a man like Kennedy and compare that to our current Chief Executive, you can't help but wonder how we got ourselves into this state of affairs. America eats it best and brightest, Jack, Bobbie, and MLK, all snuffed before they had their biggest impact. JFK , along with FDR have always been my political heroes and woe upon any wingnut who speaks ill of either man.

RIP JB

The hardest working man in show business passed away yesterday at the age of 73. James Brown for all of his personal demons, wife beating, cop evasion, heavy PCP use and all was still one bad-assed artist. His influence can be heard today in every musical genre from Soul to RandB, Rock, and HipHop. He was a central figure in the Civil Rights struggle and he even launched the career of Al Sharpton. His music inspired people around the world to "get up off of that thing" even an uncordinated little white boy from the sticks of VA. James had the baddest backing band around with guys like Bootsie Collins backing him up his sound was unmistakable. I remember hearing an LP of one of his early 70's live performances as a kid and it blew me away. Nobody with the exception of E wore a rhinestone cape, and sweated through a performance like JB. The worlds a much less funky place without the Godfather of Soul around.

Happy Holidays

I will be blogging lightly over the holidays, so Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone, I wish you much peace and happiness in the New Year.

The Best Band In The World

OK so Wilco is the best band in the world to me. Starting out of the breakup of the fine altcountry band Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy and Co. have refined the sound from altcountry with punk rock influences to more 60's inspired pop, with electronica. A Ghost is Born has to be one of my favorite albums of the last ten years. Lately I am hearing rumblings of frontman Jeff Tweedy falling apart, two stints in rehab, and an incident in October where he socked a fan who wandered on stage during a concert. I've met the guy twice and he seems like a mellow kinda guy to me, he sure as hell is a great songwriter and musician. Don't crack up on me Jeff I need at least 4 more good albums out of you guys.

Keep On Blogging!

Hat tip to Lizzy over at the excellent http://ocd-gx-liberal.blogspot.com/ who posted this first, Time magazine has named us in the blogosphere as the person of the year. This election cycle I think really illustrated the power of bloggers, especially those of us on the left, to change the balance of power and influence elections. I have only been at this for less than a year and I thank everyone who visits or comments on my little blog. This medium gives every man and woman with access to a computer the power to exchange ideas and opinions in a way that has never before been possible. If Jefferson were alive I think he would see this as I do, a great equalizer for citizens in this Republic and a real way to strengthen our democratic ideals.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from The King, may we truly have Peace on Earth.

Who's Best

So I have always been a huge Who fan and recently I was talking to a friend and debating which album is their finest. A few years back I would have said "Live at Leeds" but now I gotta say its "Quadrophenia." I have always loved the album, but had never seen more than snippets of the film. Now I have a dvd copy of the film and it has changed the way I feel about the album. If you haven't seen it I recommend it, especially check out Ray Winstone's (Gal from Sexybeast) performance, and a very young Sting as a hotel bellhop and Mod with a badass scooter. I'm glad Roger and Pete didn't die before they got old.

Wingnuts Gone Wild!

Man, since the Baker commission has come out the Right Wingnuts have gone ballistic. Like this angry little person. They simply can't bear the fact that a bipartisan committee has come up with the same results that about 70% of the American public believes, its time to clean up the mess in Mesopotamia. Rush, Hannity, Malkin, Coulter and the rest are apoplectic. My real fear is that W is not going to listen to a damn thing that the commission recommended and is going to continue being the "decider." Arrogant fratboy that he is, he looked like he had been called into the Dean's office when Baker and Hamilton met at the White House. The wingnuts are calling the commission a bunch of political fossils, hmm in 2000 when Baker was sent to Florida to count votes he was a brilliant statesman. The neocons and far right need to suck it up and realize its over. They have no support from the public or from the Generals for that matter and its time for the Iraqis to sink or swim.

Unwed Mother

So The Vice President aka Darth Vaders daughter Mary is preggo. I wonder how the GOP base feels about that. Remember they think its only a family if you have a husband and wife, none of those damn queers or unmarried folks, they aren't real families. I wonder how Mary Cheney can sleep at night as an openly gay woman, in a relationship with a woman that she can't marry (because they live here in Virginia) and yet she has worked tirelessly for the GOP and her fathers reelection. The very bigots that want to deny her and her partner their civil rights and enshrine that bigotry in the US Constitution. Gay Republicans have always baffled me. I have known a few and the only conclusion I can draw is that they are more worried about their tax bracket and well to do lifestyles than the rights and well being of their fellow gay sisters and brothers, essentially greed taking over conscious. Its rather like Primo Levi or any other Italian Jew supporting Mussolini because he made the trains run on time. Mind boggling.

What Happened Condi?

Ok Ok, so this graphic may be a little distasteful, its still funny and true. I just finished reading Bob Woodwards book, "State of Denial" the 3rd in his Bush at war series. Of course the villians of the book are Cheney and the neocons and especially Rummy, but the person who stands out in the book for her incompetence is Condi. Even Bush 41 is quoted as saying that Rice is in over her head, and has quote "been a disappointment." She was one of the inner cabal that kept W insulated from bad news and from experts that didn't share the opinions of the neocons. Colin Powell also comes off rather badly in the book, he was at the height of his influence and power as Secretary of State, and while he had many valid reservations about the war, he went along with it, breaking with his own Powell doctrine. His now infamous UN speech will haunt him for the rest of his life. Almost all of the people Woodward interviews and quotes in the book, from Jay Garner to weapons inspector David Kay, all remark about the absolute lack of intellectual curiosity on behalf of the Chief Executive, and the absolute bunker mentality in the Oval Office which allowed only rosy and inaccurate assessments of the Iraq war to be presented. This war was an absolute horrible, ill guided, preemptive mistake which was poorly planned and executed and a lot of US troops and Iraqis have paid the cost for the sheer incompetence of the planners of this adventure in post-colonialism. They wanted to fight a war on the cheap, they never planned on a long occupation, they never forsaw a protracted insurgency, and they never had a plan to rebuild Iraq, Powell hit it on the head with his "you break it you own it" quote. I have an undergraduate degree in Political Science with a History minor, with no military experiance and I knew that this war would be a debacle. Any armchair strategist could have told you what would happen when you disband the Iraqi army, chaos and a brutal insurgency. The US has never before Iraq waged a preemptive war, and Al Gore is right when he said today that this is the worst foreign policy disaster in US history. I couldn't agree more. Apparently so does the Baker Commission.