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Friday, April 9, 2004

a poem
	THE STAIN OF THE WORLD     We who live in this miserable time               know        that our present is written            out of past sorrows. The black ink of our history —    of avarice, war,      and a poverty of compassion — seeps into our newspapers, magazines, and teleprompters. Yet, despite the continued repetition of the past          our politicians manage to expect               a different future. Mistakes beget mistakes. Sorrows beget sorrows.   If only I could convince     this ink               to unform words               to make bare the pages,      or better yet,        to emphasize solace over sorrow,                  compassion over power and greed. What future will I give my children,    I ask this ink. What future is there for me?   — h. mouse
11:24:15 AM

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

ticket gossip
	Gephardt proving a key member of Kerry's organization The shouts of approval quickly turned into a chant of "Gephardt for VP," which was repeated again later during the rally. The noise was deafening at one point when Kerry cupped his hand to his ear as a sign that he was listening. a love-in at the World's Fair pavillion in St. Louis (scroll down) It was a political love-in Saturday night at the World's Fair Pavilion, with Democratic prez hopeful Sen. John Kerry lavishing praise on his escort, Rep. Dick Gephardt. Gephardt blushed when Kerry told the crowd how the congressman had proposed to his wife, Jane, on the same spot 38 years earlier. But what the audience thought had a really good ring to it was Gephardt as the next veep; talk was about whether the pavilion would prove to be a starting point for another great partnership House Dems lobby for Kerry-Gephardt ticket
10:10:40 AM

Air America debuts today
	Al Franken talks about his new show on Air America, "The O'Franken Factor" Air America debuts today at noon
9:32:59 AM

life and death
	Meteor Blades nearly dies. But, no, he doesn't want a get-well card, he wants you to help oust the Republicans out of power.
9:32:23 AM

grab bag
	Bush Barbs Getting Under Kerry's Skin Say it ain't so: Gephardt for Veep? John Kerry to Undergo Shoulder Surgery: No hand shaking for several weeks. Study: File-Sharing No Threat to Music Sales: In fact, music sales increased as a result of file swapping. From 2003, Ron Reagan Jr. Blasts Bush, "My father crapped bigger ones than George Bush." Why Fox has higher ratings--when CNN has more viewers
9:31:31 AM

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Condi to testify
	Read the full story here. Bowing to pressure, the White House will allow National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify in public under oath before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney also agreed to speak with the full panel privately.   To reach the compromise, the administration said Tuesday it had won agreement from the commission that it would seek no further public testimony from White House officials and that Rice's appearance would not be viewed as a precedent. Two quick observations. First, it is a precedent, one that will be called upon in the future when another recalcitrant National Security Advisor refuses to testify. That said, as explained by Talking Points Memo time and again Rice was standing on incredibly shaky ground by claiming immunity from testifying. Second, this is a clear a demonstration of how the White House strategy for dealing with Richard Clarke has backfired. Clarke has handled the media masterfully and has shrugged aside all of the slime the White House has tried to lob at him. Plus I think the American public found it glaringly inconsistent that Rice would go on national television time and again, including 60 Minutes, in order to defend the White House while at the same time arguing that she can't testify under oath in public. Well, apparently she can. And this inconsistency, on top of so many others, will further tarnish Bush.
12:43:06 PM

funny, funny, funny
	The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman via Oliver Willis
12:28:09 PM

Monday, March 29, 2004

Marriage and marriage rights
	I am all for what is now called “gay marriage” – the legal acknowledgement that all people, including homosexuals, have the right to marry the partner of their choice regardless of differences in gender, religion, or skin color. In other words, I am very much a pro-marriage kind of guy. I admit, though, that it is not an issue I have thought about in compulsive detail. It just follows that if we want to live in a free society, we should allow others to make the life affirming decision to marry the person that they love. We don’t prohibit people from marrying because of race, or religion, or disability. Why should sexuality be any different? What seems like such an easy, legal slam dunk in the advancement of civil rights has once again, like the civil rights movement, become tangled in the web of “fear of the other”. You know what I mean – the make-believe nightmares concerning “the other”. The fears that “communists will marry your sister”, that “blacks will marry your sister”, or that “the Irish will marry your sister” (sisters, even if you don’t have one, figure prominently in Fear Land). The fear of people who are just like you and me, but somehow different. Throughout her short history, our nation, despite her high ideals, has seen fit to discriminate against certain of her citizens – be they female, African-American, Irish, Italian, German, Native American, Oriental, disabled, or homosexual. And time and again she has been shown the error of her ways. And after heated arguments, appeals to the Supreme Court, federal intervention, or amendments to the constitution, our great nation has become even greater by mending her ways. We may end up going through some “separate but equal” nonsense all over again (I hope not) with “gay marriage-lite” (a.k.a. civil unions). But in the end, I have no doubt, we will have full marriage rights for everyone. And you know what – in the end you won’t care if your sister marries someone who is communist, black, Irish, or gay. You’ll just be happy that she’s found someone she wants to spend her life with. And that, really, is what its supposed to be about.
6:25:14 PM

funny, funny, funny
	trunk monkey viaMetaFilter
3:23:59 PM

toxic Texas and more
	Bush's legacy in Texas: the most polluted state in the nation. As Governor of Texas, Bush earned the nickname 'the Toxic Texan'. Now, as the dispossessed communities suffering in the most polluted state in the USA would have warned if anyone had listened, Bush is using his Texas example as a template for the nation. Check out Toxic Texas and more photo essays by Zed Nelson. via gordon.coale
3:21:59 PM

Amazon Trolls -- again
	Following Atrios's lead, many people are posting the following review of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's book. via cursor.org I am troubled that someone would sell a book, trading on their service as a government insider with access to our nation's most valuable intelligence, in order to profit from the suffering that this nation endured on September 11, 2001. Aside from the fact that I think Bill Frist should be censured, this reinforces my belief that Amazon.com will have to institute some system to combat this form of hooliganism. (The quote, for those who don't know, is what Frist himself said in reference to Richard Clarke. To use it in reference to Frist's own book, on how to protect your family from bioterror, is spot-on sarcasm.)
3:00:29 PM

Updated: 4/9/04; 11:29:52 AM.