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Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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January 24, 2004
Wesley Clark really IS a a Democrat
Wesley Clark has convinced me that he is really, truly a Democrat.
Basically, Wesley Clark strikes me as a total weasel with no real core beliefs, ready to say just about anything to get elected. Hint: his top backers are THE CLINTONS. He could be a Democrat, but he could just as easily be a Republican weasel. He voted for Richard Nixon.
Having been known to have voted for Nixon and Bush the Elder, only declaring as a Democrat in the last year, and some more, at the New Hampshire primary debate Thursday night, Brit Hume gave him a variant of a question that many people have been asking: When did you decide that you were a Democrat?
Naturally, Clark laughed and acted lightly, giving a little perhaps vaguely plausible spin on his published words to justify his current positions. OK, fair enough.
But then Friday on the stump, he's taking a fairly different stance:
Brit Hume of Fox News Channel, who worked as both moderator and questioner during the two-hour debate with the seven candidates, pressed Clark about when he had first realized he was a Democrat.
Clark told reporters Friday, "I looked at who was asking the questions, and I think that was part of the Republican agenda in the debate."
So the first time Clark gets just a little of something hung on him in a debate, the big, tough general starts crying like a little bitch about the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and their evil "agenda." Christ Jebus, how did such a pussy get to be a frickin' general?
I guess he really IS a Democrat.
posted by Al at 1/24/2004 03:03:00 AM
Howard Dean gets a bad rap on "I have a scream"
Now, Rand knows that I hate damned pinko Democrat politicians as bad as the next guy, but Howard Dean really got a bad rap on the infamous "I have a scream" speech the night of the Iowa caucuses. It seems to be presented that he was somehow out of control, having a big mad, angry rant unfit for someone who wants to be president.
This interpretation totally does not match the video that we have been subjected to over and over again. His words were nothing angry or belligerant or any other kind of bad. He was just giving a little pep rally for perhaps demoralized troops, naming off the upcoming state primaries that they're getting ready to go out there and WIN!
Most specific and critical thing wrong with the common interpretation: Dean was absolutely SMILING and LAUGHING by the time he got to the famous holler at the end. There was nothing angry about that yell at all.
I guess it figures that I'd sort of start liking the guy about the time and for just the exact gesture that seems to have turned everyone else off, but there it is. I liked Dean on an emotional level there as at no previous time.
Look, he'd just had his hat handed to him with a frankly humiliating third place showing. He'd probably REALLY REALLY like to have just had a couple of drinks and some sleep. Maybe a good cry.
Yet there he was, making the good effort to cheer up his people. He had to swallow it down, and come out and show consideration for the feelings of others around him. He worked himself up into a basic high school pep rally mode, and tried to show some school spirit.
Look, I know an angry rant when I hear one. I think I've conjured up a few pretty good rants myself. This was no angry rant.
So how is this getting so badly interpreted? Dean surely deserves some of the fault. He had pitched himself as an angry dude a lot of the time, doing his Howard Beale best. So, when a critical situation came with the shifting winds of the Iowa caucus, some people mistook the display for what they've come to think of as his norm. Apparently, Dean miscalculated the anger quotient a bit.
Some of it, however, seems like a hatchet job. I don't know how much of a conscious conspiracy would necessarily be involved, but it seems like a lot of professional Democrats were anxious to bring him down. They actually took a clue, apparently, from the giddy glee of Republicans BEGGING for Howard Dean.
Indeed, Democrats seem to be leading the pack within hours, saying that even beyond the poor showing in Iowa, the "concession" speech destroyed his campaign. Stick a fork in him.
I just don't see what Dean did wrong here- at all. Now, Wesley Clark has been saying nutsy stuff for which he should perhaps be held to account. Lately at least, Howard Dean has said nothing crazier than "Rah, rah, sis boom bah!"
posted by Al at 1/24/2004 02:26:00 AM
Blog metaphysics
Awareness of a slightly odd feeling dawned on me through the day. It strikes me as inexplicably odd (though really perfectly mundane) how I learned of the passing of Captain Kangaroo. I actually figured it out from my own web page. Well, my stats page by rights.
I noticed that my statistics were showing about double normal traffic. Then I noticed the referrer logs indicated numerous visitors coming in under various kinds of searches for Captain Kangaroo or Bob Keeshan. [I had a modest blurb on his birthday last year.] Why would I be getting a sudden bunch of interest in... search item: Bob Keeshan dead.
Damn. Ah well, he had to go sometime. I'll consider the traffic bump a little parting gift from the Captain.
One more specific thing in these searches, I've gotten quite a few hits on variations of "Bob Keeshan Jew." This comes from also having an unrelated blurb with a Randy Newman song on the same page. It had never occured to me to wonder about Mr. Keeshan's ethnic background. I spent an hour looking for such info, to no avail. Anyone got a clue?
posted by Al at 1/24/2004 12:00:00 AM
January 23, 2004
Everybody Loves Raymond must be banned
I'm seconding new brother Blogcritic David Flanagan who finds freedom to be offensive. He's right. It sucks.
I say we clean house. We're not accepting or tolerating homophobia, xenophobia, racism, any of that. There is a democratic consensus or some judge decided it or something. Anyway, these things are fattening and immoral, and of course deeply offensive.
OK, fair enough- but I'll insist that we include on the banned phobia/ism list the principal group responsible for violating MY civil liberties. Since there so many citizens, maybe we should just pick one thing apiece to ban.
I pick think-o-phobes. Dumb sonsabitches who avoid thought of any significant kind as if it were painful. People who go to great lengths to actively avoid thought. People who love Raymond.
If I get to ban just ONE stupid, thoughtless thing, it will be Everybody Loves Raymond.
Nielsen estimates that approximately 1 billion Americans each week faithfully tune in to watch Everybody Loves Raymond. Why?
Do they adore the shrewish, nagging wife? Perhaps it is Raymond's whining and petty grievances that get the folks excited. Perhaps they identify with someone who manages to be such a miserable loser despite being a rich American.
Do any of these people have a personality other than broadly being whiny or shrewish? Do they have any pride or passion in anything? Are they Republicans, Democrats, Green? Do they believe in Jesus? Do they even give a THOUGHT to any such thing?
NO. Exactly my complaint. There's not a thought in the head of any of these characters other than the most mundane level of personal politics, how to get what they want out of family members in the next five minutes. How do I get him to take out the trash? How do I get her to leave me alone while I watch the game? That pretty much seems to be their level of consciousness.
"Blandly whiny" pretty well describes the tone. That would have to be one of the least appetizing descriptions I could imagine. I'd rather watch Susan Sarandon rant against President Bush. Heck, I'd rather watch Michael Moore rant against the president. Hell, I would rather listen to Barbara Streisand sing than to have to watch Everybody Loves Raymond.
Raymond kills brain cells. Every time you fixate on one these inane thoughts, a few of your brain cells dies not just from lack of exercise, but by active suffocation. It's like Raymond's whining is holding a pillow over your brain, and smothering it from ever being able to think again. You might as well be huffing paint thinner or sniffing glue.
In short, Raymond sucks really bad, and anybody who watches it is a big doo-doo head.
It's bad for America. It is destructive of our basic will to think. If any of you conspiracy buffs wanted to argue that there is some oligarchic/corporate/government/Vatican plot to dumb down the nation, Raymond would be exhibit A in evidence. Raymond must be put down with extreme prejudice.
Hey, hey-ho, ho Think-o-phobes have got to go!
posted by Al at 1/23/2004 07:45:00 PM
Bob Keeshan 1927-2004
Today we lament the passing of Captain Kangaroo. Bob Keeshan, age 76, died January 23, 2004.
Captain Kangaroo was definitely my favorite fun guy back when I was a tyke. The anarchic thrill of those ping pong balls raining down on his head was something that you'd just never get from Fred Rogers.
Here's the most interesting bio I could find.
Happy trails, Captain.
ADD COMMENTS HERE
posted by Al at 1/23/2004 03:24:00 PM
January 21, 2004
Shocking Bush conspiracies to go
The State of the Union speech was a little dry. Not much that was especially egregious, but it wasn't especially interesting.
I DID find out something interesting about Bush, though. "George W. Bush had Michael Jackson arrested so that Ann Coulter, oil companies, and Rush Limbaugh could kill The French." Damn, but the conspiracies run DEEP in this administration.
This was from the Bush Conspiracy Theory Generator. What a lifesaver this could be to poor, beaten down liberals. I'm about afraid some folks are going to give themselves aneurysms from straining to come up with ever wilder and more nonsensical scandals to run on Dubya.
You could save yourself the bother of going to MoveOn.org and all them other pinko websites. Just hit the random Bush Conspiracy generator a couple of times. There you go.
They even have special features to let you customize your random conspiracies. For example, you could have it generating Bush conspiracies that involve Ann Coulter.
These conspiracies may not have any significant truth value, but they're more fun than the State of the Union.
posted by Al at 1/21/2004 12:01:00 AM
January 20, 2004
Iowa Democrats not stupid
Perhaps the Democrat Party is not as collectively stupid as they sometimes seem to act. I say this, of course, in light of the results of the Iowa presidential caucuses. I wouldn't presume to have known how to predict this, but a few things jump out of the results, which were
Kerry 38%
Edwards 32%
Dean 18%
Gephardt 11%
Most striking, labor was NOWHERE. Some wisdom might have foreseen that labor support was split between traditional unions for Gephardt and AFSCME for Dean, thus diluting their impact. But note that all votes, labor and otherwise, for Dean and Gephardt COMBINED were somewhat less than what the SECOND place finisher got. If the unions haven't got any throw weight in a Democrat primary, they're REALLY not going to have an impact in the general election against Bush.
Iowa Democrats obviously put a big premium on the idea of "electability." Lots of Democrats go around hatin' and bashin' Bush, but the voters were looking for someone nicer- someone perhaps actually electable. They seem to be thinking this through, rather than going with the candidate who articulates their anger. Smart thinking. Apparently, that whipping in the midterms has focused their attention.
Despite how well Dean may tap their anger feelings, Democrats apparently looked at Dean and tried to imagine him actually competing against Dubya. Obviously that's not going to fly. Who else we got?
They've tried not to emphasize it, but Republicans fear Edwards in the fall worse than any of the other Democrats. The intuition of this seems to have been the basis of his surprisingly strong Iowa showing. After all, which of these Democrats might conceivably peel off some of those Southern states?
Which all may or may not mean anything in New Hampshire a week from now. One thing though- Dean pretty much HAS to have New Hampshire now to remain viable. Kerry keeps going no matter how New Hampshire comes out, and Edwards isn't expected to do well in New Hampshire. He will be heading into the South- which should be his natural constituency.
The obvious critical thing issue that neither Iowa nor New Hampshire addresses: the black vote. A big portion of Democrat voters are black. Starting in South Carolina, which of the three likely Democrats will get black votes? I may be proved wrong, but I have trouble seeing Southern black voters going for Dean or Kerry. By default, Edwards seems like the man.
posted by Al at 1/20/2004 03:02:00 AM
January 18, 2004
Damaged Goods
My life is like unto a bargain store. I may have just what you're looking for.
Particularly if you're looking for some comedic audio stimulation to boost your temperament.
In other words, I've been sprucing up the Damaged Goods Comedy Shop. Come on over and look around. Try the free downloads. The comedy may be slightly bitter, so don't blame me if it don't agree with your valve.
I might recommend starting with John McCain's Free Speech Zone. [Right click/save as...]
posted by Al at 1/18/2004 01:16:00 AM
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