The secretive dirty deeds of the Cheney-Bush administration need to be investigated. Let's see if the mainstream media spend anywhere near the time and resources on this story as they have on investigating the death, familial dramas and peculiarities of Michael Jackson.
In her column, "A Farewell to Harms", Peggy Noonan writes why Sarah Palin was (and is) bad for the Republicans, and the republic.
"In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm.
In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying....
Here's why all this matters. The world is a dangerous place. It has never been more so, or more complicated, more straining of the reasoning powers of those with actual genius and true judgment. This is a time for conservative leaders who know how to think.
Here are a few examples of what we may face in the next 10 years: a profound and prolonged American crash, with the admission of bankruptcy and the spread of deep social unrest; one or more American cities getting hit with weapons of mass destruction from an unknown source; faint glimmers of actual secessionist movements as Americans for various reasons and in various areas decide the burdens and assumptions of the federal government are no longer attractive or legitimate.
The era we face, that is soon upon us, will require a great deal from our leaders. They had better be sturdy. They will have to be gifted. There will be many who cannot, and should not, make the cut. Now is the time to look for those who can. And so the Republican party should get serious, as serious as the age, because that is what a grown-up, responsible party—a party that deserves to lead—would do.
It's not a time to be frivolous, or to feel the temptation of resentment, or the temptation of thinking next year will be more or less like last year, and the assumptions of our childhoods will more or less reign in our future. It won't be that way.
Sarah Palin steps down. Here's her speech - Huh? It's a rambling, incoherent, clearly insincere performance. And, she's clearly lying through her gleaming white teeth. Something's up. Every time I hear this buffoon speak, I think the same thing, "Oh ... my ... God."
"We're fishermen. We know only dead fish go with the flow." - Gov. Sarah Palin
SARAH'S STRAIGHT TALK
"Truly, Sarah Palin has come a long way. When she ran for vice president, she frequently became disjointed and garbled when she departed from her prepared remarks. Now the prepared remarks are incoherent, too.
“And a problem in our country today is apathy,” she said on Friday as she announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. “It would be apathetic to just hunker down and ‘go with the flow.’ Nah, only dead fish ‘go with the flow.’ No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time ... to BUILD UP.”
Basically, the point was that Palin is quitting as governor because she’s not a quitter. Or a deceased salmon.
Sarah Barracuda made her big announcement Friday afternoon on the lawn of her home to an audience that appeared to include only Todd, the kids and the next-door neighbors. Smiling manically, she looked like a parody of the woman who knocked the Republicans dead at their convention. She babbled about her parents’ refrigerator magnet, which apparently had a lot of wise advice. And she recalled her visit with the troops in Kosovo, whose dedication and determination inspired her to ... resign." - Gail Collins, The New York Times
PALIN AND HER ENEMIES
"If Palin were exactly what her critics believe she is — the distillation of every right-wing pathology, from anti-intellectualism to apocalyptic Christianity — then she wouldn’t be a terribly interesting figure. But this caricature has always missed the point of the Alaska governor’s appeal — one that extends well outside the Republican Party’s shrinking base.
In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.
That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard"
I’m grieving. My car has died. My poor car. I’ve owned this wonderful Nissan NX 2000 for 17 years, since buying it new in 1992 in Chicago. It has a little over 91,000 miles on it.
It’s death is not an insignificant event. That car was as much a part of me as my breath. Now, it breathes no more. In it’s last throes it has been trying to speak to me. It’s been telling me that life is running out.
That car represented a hold on hope. It kept me going - literally and
figuratively. I poured hundred of dollars into it in the last two
years, trying desparately to keep it on the road, and on the mend. I
paid for overdue parking fines and overpriced parking spaces. I put
new tires, brakes and radiator into it. I nursed it like a loved one.
But, it would keep failing on me. During those times without
transportation, I was off my game. I felt trapped and powerless. When
it was running, I felt I had options, the possibility of freedom and
prosperity - maybe even, perish the thought, happiness.
My poor car has endured the travails of my life. It has carried me
through good times and bad, surviving blow after blow. It has been a
faithful mechanical steed.
Now, it has given up the ghost - given away for scrap parts. Rest in peace, my friend.
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1969, which gave birth to the Gay Rights Movement. In 1994, I produced a report on the 25th anniversary for "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour." It would be the only time in my career when I would experience censorship.
Manhattan was filled with homosexuals remembering and celebrating an historic moment. They put on a Gay Olympics, concerts and rallies around New York City and a celebration of love in Central Park.
I was working for Time Inc. New Media, which had a contract with the NewsHour to produce reports for the program. The video report I submitted looked at all the events of the weekend and was a comprehensive story on the state of gay rights in America at that time.
In one scene a winning athlete got a congratulatory kiss from his partner. Another sequence showed gay couples in the park doing what loving couples do all around the world - hugging, holding hands, resting their heads on their loved one's shoulder, brushing back their hair and kissing. It was a montage of expressions of affection.
The Executive Producer of the NewHour called me to his office across town to tell me to remove the kissing scenes, as they might offend the sensibilities of the older PBS news audience. I explained that both scenes were "normal" and central to the narrative. He disagreed. So, I compromised and said I would remove the congratulatory kiss, as not being completely germane to the athletic event, but that I would leave in the tender kiss at the love rally, as being completely appropriate. He agreed.
So, I re-cut and resubmitted the finished video report to the NewsHour.
But, when it aired, the NewsHour editors had, without my knowledge or consent, removed the kissing scene in the park. That meant that they had to extend the video to cover the narration that was under that part of the report. So, they slow-motioned all the park scenes to fill the gap in the video. What the audience saw was slowed-down video of all the tender moments, which made them look unnatural and unseemly, like they slow-mo criminals in their orange prison suits for the "perp walk."
Needless to say, I was outraged. I worked as a news producer for 20 years at ABC News and was one of the founding Senior Producers of Cable News Network. No one at either of those news organizations ever asked me to edit my report to satisfy the sensibilities of their audience. I found it disturbing that the so-called liberal powers-that-be at the NewsHour at the time would censor their own reports to satisfy the perceived prejudices of their audience.
To this day, it still bothers me.
Anyway, Frank Rich has a fine op-ed piece in today's New York Times remembering an event that most straight people never heard of to begin with. It's long past time to embrace human rights for all, all over the world. A kiss to everyone from me. Let your freak flags fly.
It will reportedly take weeks before the results of toxicology tests help determine the cause of death of Michael Jackson. Yet, in the meantime we will have to endure seemingly endless speculative news reports on what may have happened. Journalists are supposed to report what DID happen, not what MAY have happened. That current state of journalism is so very sad. I despair.
As the volatile situation in Iran develops, we should all be wary of reports circulating around the Internet, on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Nevertheless, we should also be grateful that there are means to get the word out on what is happening in that press-restricted country. But beware imposters spreading false information.
The New York Times, in its news blog, The Lede, is doing the best it can to filter through a multitude of sources to try and piece together what is actually happening. It's worth monitoring.
