Mundanely Profound

Now that my academic stress is over, it's time to worry about bigger problems, among celebrating my own personal triumph.

First, this post by Juan Cole starts out with some extraneous details about a spat between two bloggers (still interesting) but then he gets stirred up and gives the best declarative statement against a war against Iran (yes, they're thinking about doing that) I've read. If only messages with this much passion were heard 3.5 years ago when the country with a 'q' on the end was the big threat. Juan Cole has had some nasty things to say about the Israeli government, but he does actually know Arabic so he can tell what this big Arab meanies are actually saying when the English translations of their statements make the news.

OK, riled up? Then Digby turns things to the internal threats to our democracy... Bush has made over 750 'signing statements' that basically declare that he can disobey any law passed by Congress that he doesn't like, including bans on torture. There's nothing that can marginalize a liberal more in public discourse can comparing Bush to a fascist dictator (the 'H'-word oh no!), but really, a government determined by the whim of one arrogant person is getting closer to a dictatorship (or absolute monarchy). Digby says it better in an excerpt (the whole thing is better):

"And that's a little like Bush and the signing statements. Presidents of the United States don't do things like that. They just don't. There is nothing in American history that prepares us for a president who acts like he's Louis XIV. Not even the odious Nixon. And so, Bush blithely issues his signing statements, telling the country over and over and over that he simply has no intention whatsoever of obeying any law he doesn't like. And the country not only doesn't bother to notice. The country doesn't have the political/cultural framework to notice. Look, Bush's signing statements can't be compared to those of a tinpot autocrat. We're talking the United States of America here, the very symbol of democracy - remember government of the people, etc etc?. So whatever he's up to and as much as you dislike him personally, the president of the United States is not a fascist dictator, relying on his personal charisma to do anything he wants to. Of course, he respects and obeys the Constitution, no matter what the signing statements say.

Wake up, boys and girls.

If, at the moment, this president has reserved torture and long imprisonment without trial primarily for non-US citizens, or for deeply marginalized citizens like Padilla (Hispanic, a felon, and a Muslim), there is nothing to prevent either Bush, or some other crackpot, from extending such practices to members of the larger population they don't particularly like. For example, liberals. Or the "wrong kind" of Hispanics."
It's a very powerful post, and ends with an urgent call to arms to help out for this 2006 election any way you can. My schedule gets a little (just a teeny bit little) less hectic in the summer, so I hope to head to local suburbs with competitive house races and help throw the bums out. It's totally understandable to not be dramatic about this political situation and try to live a normal life. That's what I've been doing after Nov. 2004 and when I saw how much anger the current state of the world makes me. But in the U.S., trends towards absolute power in our elected officials cannot go unchecked. Either Republicans have to grow a pair and stand up to Bush, or we need to get the opposition back into power. Bush is laying the groundwork for any President to govern by a personal vendetta. This post is probably just motivating myself for action, but there were too many good emotional blog posts this week to ignore.

Up next, my number 3 hated movie!!! Happy times!!!

I've been scribbling albums I might eventually buy on a notepad at work for the past 6 months. Because there is no more space, I figure I'd write them up here. If you still read this, offer advice please.

White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
Bjork (if the album is on sale under 10 bucks)
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
Of Montreal (last two recent albums)
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
New Pornagraphers - Twin Cinema
Frank Ferdinand (latest)
IfIHadaHiFi
The Faint
The Grates (opened for Go! Team)
Fiery Furnaces - Gallowsbird Bark
Avalanches - Since I Left You
M.I.A. - Arular
David Gray
Elliot Smith - X/O or Either/Or
Strokes - (latest)
Ladytron - Witching Hour
Kanye West
Futureheads
Belle and Sebastian (latest)

$$$$ is needed, though.

UPDATE: Arcade Fire and Kanye West (Late Registration), purchased and enjoyed

I've wanted to do a list like this ever since I was stuck in a boring class and began to write down what I felt were my own personal 'timeless' songs.

Anyways, there are really good songs, really great songs, and absolutely amazing songs, but you have to admit that even some of the best wear off over the years and don't pack quite a powerful punch. But there are a selection of songs that, at least for me, transcend their place at a particular time when I first heard the song, purchased the album, etc., and give you the feeling when you listen of someting very intangible, beyond just wonderful music, but more of like painting your existence with bright colors. When I think of these songs now and in the future, even on miserable days in a sterile cubicle while I'm doing something mindless (or even engaging), I am really comforted in a completely encompassing way. The only way to really enhance that comfort (if I ever wanted to) would be to these share these songs with well-wishers and friends. Listing these songs online is a poor substitute for a personal method of hearing and listening with someone in the same room, but I'm doing this primarily for self-preservation.

The ironic thing is that a lot of these transcendent timeless ditties are powerful to me because they bring to mind personal memories directly or indirectly tied to the song. Unlike a CD I get tired of, these memories don't go away to the back of my CD stack. In fact, it's probably due to the songs that they are vivid memories.

Finally, another great thing about this particular list is that I wasn't listening to any music while I was making it, so there's no bias towards anything. It's just what I jotted down when I thought "Music" and "Life".

Is that enough Hippie language? I'm in a very good mood this weekend, for a variety of reasons, so let me be flowery about music at least!

And because the timelessness of a song is a characteristic and not a quality this list is unranked. I've made ranked lists of songs and albums before, so this is kind of different.

Here we go: it is so out of your duties as blog readers to go on, but I really appreciate your sentiments.

Frank Zappa - Yo' Mama
Frank Zappa - Inca Roads
Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
Beach Boys - God Only Knows
New Order - Blue Monday
Beck - Nicotine + Gravy
Beck - The New Pollution
Radiohead - The National Anthem
Nirvana - All Apologies
Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
Fiery Furnaces - Here Comes the Summer
Godspeed you Black Emperor - Storm
Captain Beefheart - Ella Guru
Smashing Pumpkins - Hummer
Smashing Pumpkins - Rocket
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Miles Davis - All Blues
Sonic Youth - Unmade Bed
Sonic Youth - Theresa's Sound World
Sonic Youth - Cross the Breeze
nine inch nails - ruiner
Sufjan Stevens - Cashmir Pulaski Day
The Doors - Hyacinth House
Moody Blues - You Can Never Go Home
Smokey Robinson - Tears of a Clown
The Cars - Bye Bye Love
Beatles - A Day in the Life
Television - Marquee Moon
Strokes - The End Has No End
R.E.M. - Drive
Flaming Lips - Moth's Head in the Incubator
Iqu - Aluet
Iqu - Puka
Fela Kuti - Zombie
Postal Service - We Will Become Sillhouettes
The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
Beta Band - Dry the Rain
Beta Band - It's Not too Beautiful
Gary Numan - Metal
Deerhoof - Milk Man

UPDATE: I'm trying to be as selective as possible, but I did come up with some more today...

The Who - Baba O'Reilly
The Who - Blue, Red, and Grey
Fugazi - Nightshop

More to come I'm sure.

Madison zoo penguin pictures, a perfect complement to angry political rants. Stay tuned for cuteness!

I just can't neglect this blog, even though I've got positive feedback that I'm now posting on the more-conveniently-accessed-for-some xanga site. I'm eager to eventually get to 100 posts and have a big celebration. So if you want please let me know if you are still reading this site. If not, I'll move my operations mostly to xanga with the occasional post here when I feel like writing as if I was writing in a private journal with all the juicy sexy details omitted in case I run for political office and the oppositions googles my name and finds this.

Anyway, I wonder if people other than political junkies have heard of Cindy Sheehan. She is the mother of one of the 1800+ soldiers (some of them my age or younger) who were killed in Iraq. While our Commander-in-Chief is taking one of the longest presidential vacations in U.S. history in a time of war, Ms. Sheehan is camping out on the street leading up to Bush's Crawford ranch, hoping to meet face-to-face with President Bush and ask him basically "What was the noble cause my son died for in Iraq?" Some anti-war activists and others are joining her and it is quite a poignant demonstration.

Lots of commentary on the blogs of course, and what is surprising is how respectful both sides whether pro-war and anti-war, liberal and conservative, are at least respecting both Ms. Sheehan's grief and her right to a political opinion that is strengthened and sharpened by that grief. The policy of the Iraq war can still be debated with passion, but at least pro-war types haven't sunken so low as to attack Ms. Sheehan's humanity, to attack her as a person, and bring up all sorts of details about her personal life to some how delegitimize her and her important question. Kudos for them...

I'm kidding of course! Ms. Sheehan's fair game because her personal story is making Bush look bad! I actually would argue that Bush is making Bush look bad in this particularly situation. Here's how he responded at his ranch when asked about the pesky grieving mother"

"But whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job," Bush said on the ranch. "And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say."
"But," he added, "I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."

Mr. Sensitivity right there. Mr. Bush, can't you just freakin' talk to her in private? But nothing puts a bummer on a vacation as being reminded of the job your neglecting. I've been there but I didn't make decisions on my job that resulted in death and destruction.

Anyway, who other than John from Powerline to sink to another low. I've quoted him 3 times in a row, and I think I now why. There's nothing entirely bad about being a complete party-line hack, but there are a few that are just jerks about it, and toss out extreme accusations like they don't mean anything. Anyway in a post titled "Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism: An Old Brew In a New Bottle" he cites other ultra right-wing research websites to smear Sheehan and then concludes:

Cindy Sheehan: is she a poor, benighted woman unhinged and rendered irrational by grief, or is she a calculating, vicious anti-Semite and anti-American like the extremists with whom she associates? I don't know, and I'm not sure there is any way to know. But either way, is there any reason why she should be glorified by virtually every American media outlet?

He does like nuance doesn't he? Dear readers, which characterization would you choose? You've only got two choices. Evidence for her vicious anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism? Well if you read the post she mentioned how Americans have slaughtered people in this country and she says that Palestinians are being slaughtered by Isrealis. I don't like the inflammed rhetoric on both sides on the Palestinian Israeli conflict because it simplifies an issue way too much and dismissing a spiritual relgious connection Jews and others have to that area. But her statements are no more than what a good portion of die-hard liberals say regarding their view of the world and American history. Does that make her vicious? And more importantly, does that make her demonstration on behalf of her dead son less important? Can she dismissed as a hippie anti-war freak when she has suffered so much? A lot of conservative bloggers when attacking Sheehan graciously added a clause that she has suffered a devasting loss. Some, like Powerline are done with that wussy game and are no longer offering any condolences, just depraved smears. Again, she's not attacked as a symbol of the anti-war movement, she's attacked as a person.

And it gets worse. Another one of the most popular conservative blogs is Michelle Malkin. She has just been terrible during this whole thing and there's too much to document. She recently put some sort of divorce-related papers of Cindy Sheehan up on her website. Why? Apparently to show that some of her family isn't behind her, thereby demonstrating that she shouldn't be taken seriously. I found the link to her post at a very enlightening post at This Modern World, especially to conservatives and Bushists who might be astounded that I can't respect their wholly consistent worldview.

You can read it or not. But remember smearing someone personally is not good if your a Democrat, OK if your Republican. Speaking for someone other than yourself to make a political point is BAD is you are a Democrat, OK if your Republican. And digging hard and long for personal details to prevent the perfect President from looking bad, OK if your Republican, very very bad and inexusable if you're a Democrat.

Grieving mothers who lose their sons in armed conflict are entitiled to their political views and any way they wish to express them, that is if you identify yourself as a COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEING. Let's all agree on that, and move on to making fun of the verbal slipups of Dubbya. Of course I guess to some he speaks very eloquently, but you get my drift.

Things are going to get busy, with classes and two jobs starting next week. So enjoy the long rants while they last.

Well not really. But I can really understand the downsides of blogging as a political communication tool. The temptation to use inflamed rhetoric and overdramatize is just too great. I mean, I'm not a professional writer by any means, and I just write this blog for my friends (and well-wishers) and as a diary of sorts, I'm not expected to be entirely rational or respectful of the intelligence of my audience (smart folks that you are) 100 percent of the time. Sometimes I just have to type away. But what if, say, I had an audience of thousands of anonymous people and a national online forum to discuss my views in a spirited way, would I be able to refrain from oversimplification, from ridiculously grandiose language that makes me look insane to my political opponents and those who might not hang on my every word??

If the standards of blogging are popularity among conservatives, then a glance at another Powerline quote
, one that was referenced in the long link from the previous post, convince me that while I shouldn't quit my day job, there is an extremely low bar set for online political discussion:

Throughout American history, until now, there have been limits. There have been depths beneath which Americans would not sink for the sake of partisan advantage. Even during the Civil War, when the Democrats were fighting to preserve slavery, limits were observed. Now, all civility is gone. There is no depth to which some Democrats will not sink. Hold your nose. Things are only going to get worse. With MoveOn and the Daily Dose dominating Democratic politics, all constraints are gone.

This passage convinces me to make Powerline the first conservative blog I will check in on a regular basis. It will absolutely fascinating and sometimes hilarious to see these bloggers, with law degrees mind you, continue to debase political discussion this way. For the context, read the link in the political post below, but basically because of one reference to one blogger making a little joke about Supreme Court nominee possibly being homosexual because of an old photo of him wearing plaid pants (yeah that's all there is too it) John from Powerline made that ridiculous generalization. What was even more amazing was while reading that for the first few times, I ignored the ignorant and revisionist and cheap pot shot that said that the Civil War Democrats who fought to preserve slavery can be lumped together with the Democrats of today. It's the exact same political party folks! And there were even civil limits to the conflicting parties then, during the deadliest war in U.S. history, unlike the anarchic hell that we live in now! You see how multi-layered the crap is! Even the rhetoric used to blow this out of proportion is based on fabricated shallow talking points.

You know what, throughout American history, until now, there have been limits. There have been depths beneath which Americans would not sink for the sake of partisan advantage. Even during the aftermath of 9/11, when Republicans were fighting to get rid of our civil liberties, limits were observed. NOW, YOU KNOW WHAT? CIVILITY IS GONE!!! AAAHHH!!!! There is NO DEPTH to which some conservative bloggers will not sink. Hold your nose. Things are only going to get worse. With relgigous nuts and greedy white males dominating Republican politics, all constraints are gone!!! It's a FREE-FOR-ALL!!!! Protect your women and children, spread some lambs blood on the doorpost of your liberal homes, lest the spirit of conservatism come and kill your family!

You know what, it's awfully fun to demonize opponents this way. I can see why it's so attractive, and why I resorted to poor choices of words before (only once or twice though). I think I'm going to have a lot of fun looking at Powerline over the next few weeks. These blog posts will begin writing themselves before too long.

Well, that was a nice way to end my work day.

I by no means expect you read this whole thing , but I want to preserve as a more intellectual criticism of the very scary political philosophy exemplified by the Powerline quote I was annoyed by in the last post. I think the link provides some historical (which in blog time means a few weeks ago) examples and reasons why a little post from some blogger online bothers me a great deal and shapes my current view of the most visisible parts of the conservative movement.

Enough of that though.

I had a great time with Leigha (tallfleur) and Vy, who came to visit me yesterday. We went on a half hour boat ride that all those touristy types do, and it was very cool. I got really excited that I live here in Chicago after seeing the whole skyline laid out from the water. We walked all around the parks around the museums afterwards, hoping to find a discount admission day in the future, but enjoying the scenery nonetheless. Although I'm not going to become attached to my car, I realized that if I really need to I can get to downtown Chicago using the freeway without too much trouble on the weekends, so that's good to know.

Finally, I had an unexpected great concert experience seeing the legendary Olivia Tremor Control at an outdoor festival. The stage was right next to the elevated train tracks, making it a neat setting. I'm always tired at concerts nowadays so I have to seperate my objective analysis of the experience with the gnawing physical exhuastion that occurs when it's hot, cramped, you have to stand, and smoke is blowing in your face. That being said, it was incredible. Their albums were recorded with lots of instrumentation but through a 4-track recording process (for budget or artistic reasons I don't know), which makes the album I have of them sort of flow into the background with nothing standing out. Seeing it live (with 8 musicians!) and seeing the songs actually pack a punch had a great effect. It's a very energized performance and it's probably one of my favorite concerts that I've been to ever. So there.

Well, type to enjoy another day of weekend freedom.