A very long time ago U.S. Senator Tom Coburn and I shared space on the playground at Longfellow Elementary School in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The last time I saw him he was in the 6th grade and I was in the 3rd. He moved on to West Jr. High the following year and my family moved to Oklahoma City. Only two incidents remain fixed in my mind from those bright days filled with hard packed dirt and guys wearing blue jeans with the hems of the legs rolled up into large cuffs. Both involved fights. First I got into it with a classmate of his and despite the age difference we squared off. Coburn chided the guy for picking on a third grader. The second, Coburn himself ended up in a fight and on the losing end. What I remember most is him being held down by the other kid who spit in his face. Coburn told him, over and over, "I'm not scared of you." A teacher came out and everyone scattered. I have no idea how the dispute turned out.
I say these things to indicate that while I disagree with just about everything Tom Coburn says and does I've always respected his integrity and honesty. Unlike, Jim Inhofe, who I consider a ruthless and opportunistic beast, he has, or rather had, always seemed to at least consider other points of view with respect.
Now, fast forward a couple decades to Oklahoma City. Around thirty five years ago I met and became friends with the family of U.S. Magistrate Robert E. Bacharach. The Bacharachs were friendly, highly intelligent and creative. Bob's brother Phil is a journalist of note around here and ended up being a spokesman for a governor or two. His sister, Shaina is a registered nurse, who after some soul searching became a rabbi.
Because Oklahoma really is a small place, these two disparate stories have just intersected. Three months ago, President Barak Obama nominated Robert Bacharach to a vacant seat on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A story in today's Oklahoman by Chris Casteel points out that Coburn has so far refused to sign off on that nomination and another for John Dowdell to a federal judgeship in Tulsa.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has a quaint tradition of not holding a hearing for a judicial nominee until both home state senators give their approval. Bacharach's qualifications are impeccable. He has, according to Casteel, received the highest possible rating by the American Bar Association and has been vetted by the Justice Department. He has handled more than 3,000 civil and criminal cases. Even the crazed Inhofe gave his go ahead on the nomination more than a month ago.
So, Tom, what is the problem?
According to the article Coburn's office issued a statement saying "Per regular order, Dr. Coburn will return the blue slip (an approval) once the committee review of Judge Bacharach and Mr. Dowdell's nomination materials is complete. These are lifetime appointments; thus, the Senate has a duty to conduct a careful review of the nominations before proceeding. Blah, blah, blah."
Right, well according to a spokeswoman for Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, they are waiting on Coburn. "The committee will not begin to consider scheduling a hearing on the nominee until both blue slips are returned."
Catch 22. Coburn says he is waiting on the committee, the committee says it is waiting on Coburn.
The seat in question has been vacant for two years and statements by Coburn indicate he wants it filled as quickly as possible. Those statements are starting to look a tad on the fictitious side. Coburn is after all an evangelical conservative republican. His periodic homages to civility aside this is an election year and the Presidency is up for grabs. If he sits on the nomination and Obama loses, his man Mitt Romney gets to make the appointment. One can only assume that if that happens Coburn's approval of the new nominee, no matter what his or her qualifications are, will be so fast it will make heads spin.
So much for the conservatives whining about judicial appointments being too political in nature. Quoting the constitution looks great in front of the tea party mobs, but in reality that dusty old document just gets in the way every now and then. In a pinch one shouldn't take it too seriously.
Of course there is another explanation. An even darker one than Coburn simply maneuvering on behalf of his party. Bacharach is Jewish. Most evangelical Christians are in whole hearted support of Israel and the people who live there. However they don't really have much use for American Jews. They are mostly democrats, many support policies that are an anathema to evangelicals and, of course, the bottom line is they won't accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. They simply refuse to rush to the rail at the altar call all teary eyed.
Obama, a liberal, nominates a Jew to a lifetime on the federal bench. It is a seat one step below the United States Supreme Court. One can imagine the alarm bells going off in Coburn's suddenly fevered brain. Robert Bacharach is a man not to be trusted no matter how great his qualifications. Despite Tom Coburn's medical degree and all his experiences, that innate Oklahoma small town suspicion of those different from you kicks in.
Obviously he is enough of a politician to do everything he can to sound reasonable while acting just the opposite. Hypocrisy is a fine art form, best practiced by those who can at least have some semblance of sincerity. And if recent history teaches us anything it is that Tom Coburn can act as sincere as any human life form on the planet.
He never had my vote, but I always grudgingly liked Senator Coburn. At least until today. Unfortunately this morning, after all these years, I think I've finally caught a whiff of why the other kid spit on him. I don't blame him either. Given the same opportunity now, I believe I would too.
4-30-12
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
George Zimmerman, PayPal, and the Price of Justice
You can really go through a lot of money on a case like this with the intensity of it.
Mark O'Mara, Attorney at Law, currently representing George Zimmerman
Yes, in America we pride ourselves on the phrase, "and justice for all." Of course if you have a large bank balance you tend to get a little more justice than those who don't. Those high power, high profile, lawyers don't come cheap. O'Mara estimates George Zimmerman's defense costs could reach the million dollar mark.
So how does one come up with that sort of cash? It is easier than you think. You simply start your own web site and beg for it. That is what Zimmerman's wife and brother did before he turned himself in to face charges in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Apparently the site included pictures, quotes, and a page asking for donations through PayPal. According to O'Mara he has taken the site down, but not before it raked in $204,000. Well that is the amount everyone is admitting to anyway.
O'Mara claims he knew nothing of the site, despite the fact Zimmerman's wife mentioned it to the judge in last weeks bond hearing. At that time she said she didn't know how much money had been collected and testified that her brother in law was the real moving force behind it. O'Mara insists he really didn't know the money was out there when he spoke during the bond hearing and was shocked, shocked, when Zimmerman asked him what to do with his PayPal accounts. In a CNN interview O'Mara said he asked Zimmerman what he was talking about.
It might well be just a merry mix up, but now that he is aware of the largess, O'Mara has taken control of it. I mean he is, after all, a lawyer. He claims the money has been put into a trust that neither his client, or family can directly access. Obviously the man isn't working pro bono on this one.
The prosecution reacted predictably. It asked Judge Kenneth Lester to raise Zimmerman's bond at once. Lester says he wants to know more about the money and will consider a decision at a later date.
The Martin family, through their lawyer (everyone has one now days) are demanding that Zimmerman's bond not be raised, but rather revoked entirely. In a CNN interview Benjamin Crump said, "They tried to portray themselves as indigent, that they didn't have any money. We think the court should revoke his bond immediately and he should be held accountable for misleading the court."
Zimmerman is currently out, somewhere, on $150,000 bail. His family put up $15,000 cash to a bondsman, a ten percent fee, which is pretty much the standard in the industry. If the former neighborhood watch captain decides to take flight the bond company is on the hook for the $150 grand. That is where guys like Dog the Bounty Hunter come in, but that is another story.
There is no telling where this is going next, or what new revelations will come to light. God only knows what sort of mass marketing beasts have contacted both the Martins and the Zimmermans looking for licenses to sell everything from tee shirts to coffee mugs with names and photos on them. The next step will be the distribution of hand held pennants for people to wave in the court room as the trial proceeds.
I do sort of like the idea of the web site though. I might set one up for myself. "Send a Love Gift to Brother Sid and all your sins will be forgiven by me personally. That is right, for only a small fee you too can walk free and in grace."
I'd do it, but I'm sure someone has all ready beaten me to the punch. George Zimmerman certainly did.
Free enterprise and American justice. Who can top that duo?
4-27-12
Mark O'Mara, Attorney at Law, currently representing George Zimmerman
Yes, in America we pride ourselves on the phrase, "and justice for all." Of course if you have a large bank balance you tend to get a little more justice than those who don't. Those high power, high profile, lawyers don't come cheap. O'Mara estimates George Zimmerman's defense costs could reach the million dollar mark.
So how does one come up with that sort of cash? It is easier than you think. You simply start your own web site and beg for it. That is what Zimmerman's wife and brother did before he turned himself in to face charges in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Apparently the site included pictures, quotes, and a page asking for donations through PayPal. According to O'Mara he has taken the site down, but not before it raked in $204,000. Well that is the amount everyone is admitting to anyway.
O'Mara claims he knew nothing of the site, despite the fact Zimmerman's wife mentioned it to the judge in last weeks bond hearing. At that time she said she didn't know how much money had been collected and testified that her brother in law was the real moving force behind it. O'Mara insists he really didn't know the money was out there when he spoke during the bond hearing and was shocked, shocked, when Zimmerman asked him what to do with his PayPal accounts. In a CNN interview O'Mara said he asked Zimmerman what he was talking about.
It might well be just a merry mix up, but now that he is aware of the largess, O'Mara has taken control of it. I mean he is, after all, a lawyer. He claims the money has been put into a trust that neither his client, or family can directly access. Obviously the man isn't working pro bono on this one.
The prosecution reacted predictably. It asked Judge Kenneth Lester to raise Zimmerman's bond at once. Lester says he wants to know more about the money and will consider a decision at a later date.
The Martin family, through their lawyer (everyone has one now days) are demanding that Zimmerman's bond not be raised, but rather revoked entirely. In a CNN interview Benjamin Crump said, "They tried to portray themselves as indigent, that they didn't have any money. We think the court should revoke his bond immediately and he should be held accountable for misleading the court."
Zimmerman is currently out, somewhere, on $150,000 bail. His family put up $15,000 cash to a bondsman, a ten percent fee, which is pretty much the standard in the industry. If the former neighborhood watch captain decides to take flight the bond company is on the hook for the $150 grand. That is where guys like Dog the Bounty Hunter come in, but that is another story.
There is no telling where this is going next, or what new revelations will come to light. God only knows what sort of mass marketing beasts have contacted both the Martins and the Zimmermans looking for licenses to sell everything from tee shirts to coffee mugs with names and photos on them. The next step will be the distribution of hand held pennants for people to wave in the court room as the trial proceeds.
I do sort of like the idea of the web site though. I might set one up for myself. "Send a Love Gift to Brother Sid and all your sins will be forgiven by me personally. That is right, for only a small fee you too can walk free and in grace."
I'd do it, but I'm sure someone has all ready beaten me to the punch. George Zimmerman certainly did.
Free enterprise and American justice. Who can top that duo?
4-27-12
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Singing to Anders
According to both Reuters and MSNBC the Norwegians came out by the thousands today. They filled Youngstorget Square in Oslo and gathered simultaneously in other towns across the nation. They carried roses and wept. They sang the song, "Children of the Rainbow." Reportedly it is the Norwegian version of Pete Seeger's 1971 tune, "My Rainbow Race." The lyrics celebrate tolerance and multi culturalism. They speak about a seamless mix of different ethnic groups living in peace together.
Ahh, idealism. I once knew it well.
Despite the presence of Anders Breivik in their midst that noble dream apparently hasn't died the horrible death in Norway. An estimated 40,000 people were singing this particular song because Breivik, who murdered 77 innocent people last year, hates it. He claims it is nothing more than Marxist propaganda meant to brainwash the nation's youth into accepting the creeping take over of Europe and Norway by Islam. He has yet to explain how Marxism, which condemns all religion, has become so tolerant of the Muslim faith. But then logic many times escapes those who have come to the conclusion that killing innocent people is the right thing to do.
Breivik is utterly unapologetic for his brutality. In fact he seems completely proud of it, calling those he killed traitors. He finds it insulting that the court is even considering declaring him insane. He insists his mental capacity is completely undiminished by his xenophobia. He is, in his mind anyway, possibly the only rational person in Norway.
His victims are testifying now. Reuters reports that government employee, Harold Foesker took the stand and testified that the bomb cost him 80% of his eye sight and that his face had to be restored. At the same time Foesker said that he is proud to live in a country that treats criminal defendants with dignity. There is a man who can turn the other rebuilt cheek.
After Tim McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City local residents drove around town for days with car lights on during the daytime. We continued to do so until the last body part was removed from the rubble. I suppose it was our way of singing, "Children of the Rainbow." Of course we then made damn sure McVeigh was shot up with enough poison that he ceased to exist.
Dignity is, like so much else on this blue ball, a relative thing.
The Norwegians are overwhelmingly stunned by Breivik's insanity and gruesome crime. They are desperately trying to cling to their ideals and that beautiful self portrait of their society they hold so dear. I admire them for it sometimes and at others think of them as incredibly naive. I have this terrible suspicion they have now become cynics in training. I hope I'm wrong. It is nice to think somewhere in this world fairy tales actually do exist.
There are so few of them left that, quite frankly, most of us have forgotten the words.
4-26-12
.
Ahh, idealism. I once knew it well.
Despite the presence of Anders Breivik in their midst that noble dream apparently hasn't died the horrible death in Norway. An estimated 40,000 people were singing this particular song because Breivik, who murdered 77 innocent people last year, hates it. He claims it is nothing more than Marxist propaganda meant to brainwash the nation's youth into accepting the creeping take over of Europe and Norway by Islam. He has yet to explain how Marxism, which condemns all religion, has become so tolerant of the Muslim faith. But then logic many times escapes those who have come to the conclusion that killing innocent people is the right thing to do.
Breivik is utterly unapologetic for his brutality. In fact he seems completely proud of it, calling those he killed traitors. He finds it insulting that the court is even considering declaring him insane. He insists his mental capacity is completely undiminished by his xenophobia. He is, in his mind anyway, possibly the only rational person in Norway.
His victims are testifying now. Reuters reports that government employee, Harold Foesker took the stand and testified that the bomb cost him 80% of his eye sight and that his face had to be restored. At the same time Foesker said that he is proud to live in a country that treats criminal defendants with dignity. There is a man who can turn the other rebuilt cheek.
After Tim McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City local residents drove around town for days with car lights on during the daytime. We continued to do so until the last body part was removed from the rubble. I suppose it was our way of singing, "Children of the Rainbow." Of course we then made damn sure McVeigh was shot up with enough poison that he ceased to exist.
Dignity is, like so much else on this blue ball, a relative thing.
The Norwegians are overwhelmingly stunned by Breivik's insanity and gruesome crime. They are desperately trying to cling to their ideals and that beautiful self portrait of their society they hold so dear. I admire them for it sometimes and at others think of them as incredibly naive. I have this terrible suspicion they have now become cynics in training. I hope I'm wrong. It is nice to think somewhere in this world fairy tales actually do exist.
There are so few of them left that, quite frankly, most of us have forgotten the words.
4-26-12
.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Oklahoma Republicans On the Hot Seat
Here in Oklahoma things have gotten sticky for republican legislators. At question is Oklahoma state senate bill 1433, which among other things declares that a person exists within a woman's womb the very second a sperm fertilizes an egg.
The Christian Imams are clamoring for its passage in the state house, but for reasons unsaid the republican majority is reluctant to do so. It has shelved the bill and wants to let it die this session. This decision has enraged the evangelicals and catholic clergy, along with an outfit known as Parenthood USA. Parenthood is one of those right wing organizations, much like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which writes bills promoting their agenda and then hands them off to arch conservative hacks from places like Hollis, Oklahoma. You know, people who have been elected to office, but are too stupid to come up with their own ideas or legislation.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to read the bill, because to do so you need software I don't possess. It is obvious, however, that something is terribly wrong with the way it is written. We aren't talking about New York and Massachusetts republicans here. We are talking about yahoos who go out and shoot their dinners. These are the same people who will tell you, quite seriously, that if you support Barak Obama you are a communist sonofabitch. No, the only reason this thing hasn't gone to the floor and passed is that it is flawed beyond redemption and even the conservative clods who hold the majority in the state house recognize it as such.
The Tulsa World quotes Oklahoma Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice co president, Kelly Jennings as saying, "Only attorneys who litigate all the law suits arising from this ridiculous legislation will benefit." That gives us a hint as to how helter skelter the wording must be.
Other organizations and supporters are shrilly denying the legislation will cause in vitro fertilization, stem cell research and even contraception to become illegal. Their denials are so desperate that it makes one think that is exactly what could happen if the bill passes. Other issues may have to do with, oh yes, money.
As my wife pointed out the other day, "If I get pregnant in October, I should be able to declare the fetus as a dependent on January's taxes, even though the baby isn't born yet." Indeed, if Oklahoma has declared the fetus a person and obviously it is dependent on the mother, how can the state deny the deduction before birth. Tax breaks for preggos everywhere! Then once you give them the tax break the parents should be able to take out life insurance on the unborn. After all it is a legal dependent and a "person." And, if the worst happens and the "person" dies during birth, or even before? Well then the carrier, owes the mother, or parents what might be fantastic sums of cash because someone who was never born in the first place has passed away. I love it when I think like a lawyer. It is a muddled mess and only those who aren't going to be responsible for the fall out don't see it that way. No wonder even Oklahoma republicans are edgy about the whole proposal.
The only thing certain now is that the people pushing this bill are stooping to threats not usually seen outside of mafia social clubs. Personhood USA has said that governor Mary Fallon should use her influence to get the measure heard and "avoid a share of the blame". More darkly, the group threatened to report any house member who blocks the effort to bring the bill to the floor as being for abortion rights. Big Joe McCarthy was a rank amateur compared to these grinders.
A spokeswoman for the Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma contends that her denomination has "been failed by the very people who are here because of our votes and our campaign dollars." Priests are in the gallery praying and the halls of the capital are filled with protestant ministers adorned in pastel colored sports jackets. They have the necks of bull frogs and their saccharine smiles are offset by their steely glares. Mass excommunications will begin soon. Heresy trials are sure to follow as wooden stakes are planted just south of the capital in anticipation of witch burnings.
The republicans sold their souls to these monsters and now the piper has come to be paid. It is the blackest of comedies and only people like me are laughing. Well, at least for now. I won't be once this bill passes. And it will pass, if not this session then the next.
Years ago a Southern Baptist preacher asked me what denomination I belonged to. I told him I was an Episcopalian. There was a long pause, then he finally said, "Well, that's all right." He then went off into a little sermonette clarifying that it was okay for me to be an Episcopalian so long as I believed pretty much exactly what Southern Baptists believe.
And there you have it. The only problem is that now they are trying to turn that philosophy into state law. You either follow the tenets of their church or you do hard time. So much for that whole separation of church and state deal.
Next stop, mandatory state sponsored prayers in public schools.
Bet on it.
4-25-12
The Christian Imams are clamoring for its passage in the state house, but for reasons unsaid the republican majority is reluctant to do so. It has shelved the bill and wants to let it die this session. This decision has enraged the evangelicals and catholic clergy, along with an outfit known as Parenthood USA. Parenthood is one of those right wing organizations, much like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which writes bills promoting their agenda and then hands them off to arch conservative hacks from places like Hollis, Oklahoma. You know, people who have been elected to office, but are too stupid to come up with their own ideas or legislation.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to read the bill, because to do so you need software I don't possess. It is obvious, however, that something is terribly wrong with the way it is written. We aren't talking about New York and Massachusetts republicans here. We are talking about yahoos who go out and shoot their dinners. These are the same people who will tell you, quite seriously, that if you support Barak Obama you are a communist sonofabitch. No, the only reason this thing hasn't gone to the floor and passed is that it is flawed beyond redemption and even the conservative clods who hold the majority in the state house recognize it as such.
The Tulsa World quotes Oklahoma Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice co president, Kelly Jennings as saying, "Only attorneys who litigate all the law suits arising from this ridiculous legislation will benefit." That gives us a hint as to how helter skelter the wording must be.
Other organizations and supporters are shrilly denying the legislation will cause in vitro fertilization, stem cell research and even contraception to become illegal. Their denials are so desperate that it makes one think that is exactly what could happen if the bill passes. Other issues may have to do with, oh yes, money.
As my wife pointed out the other day, "If I get pregnant in October, I should be able to declare the fetus as a dependent on January's taxes, even though the baby isn't born yet." Indeed, if Oklahoma has declared the fetus a person and obviously it is dependent on the mother, how can the state deny the deduction before birth. Tax breaks for preggos everywhere! Then once you give them the tax break the parents should be able to take out life insurance on the unborn. After all it is a legal dependent and a "person." And, if the worst happens and the "person" dies during birth, or even before? Well then the carrier, owes the mother, or parents what might be fantastic sums of cash because someone who was never born in the first place has passed away. I love it when I think like a lawyer. It is a muddled mess and only those who aren't going to be responsible for the fall out don't see it that way. No wonder even Oklahoma republicans are edgy about the whole proposal.
The only thing certain now is that the people pushing this bill are stooping to threats not usually seen outside of mafia social clubs. Personhood USA has said that governor Mary Fallon should use her influence to get the measure heard and "avoid a share of the blame". More darkly, the group threatened to report any house member who blocks the effort to bring the bill to the floor as being for abortion rights. Big Joe McCarthy was a rank amateur compared to these grinders.
A spokeswoman for the Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma contends that her denomination has "been failed by the very people who are here because of our votes and our campaign dollars." Priests are in the gallery praying and the halls of the capital are filled with protestant ministers adorned in pastel colored sports jackets. They have the necks of bull frogs and their saccharine smiles are offset by their steely glares. Mass excommunications will begin soon. Heresy trials are sure to follow as wooden stakes are planted just south of the capital in anticipation of witch burnings.
The republicans sold their souls to these monsters and now the piper has come to be paid. It is the blackest of comedies and only people like me are laughing. Well, at least for now. I won't be once this bill passes. And it will pass, if not this session then the next.
Years ago a Southern Baptist preacher asked me what denomination I belonged to. I told him I was an Episcopalian. There was a long pause, then he finally said, "Well, that's all right." He then went off into a little sermonette clarifying that it was okay for me to be an Episcopalian so long as I believed pretty much exactly what Southern Baptists believe.
And there you have it. The only problem is that now they are trying to turn that philosophy into state law. You either follow the tenets of their church or you do hard time. So much for that whole separation of church and state deal.
Next stop, mandatory state sponsored prayers in public schools.
Bet on it.
4-25-12
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
From Saunders To Martin: One Hundred Posts About the Big Parade
I cranked out the first post of this blog on November 2nd, 2011. It had to do with the savage murder of Carina Saunders and the shooting death of her former classmate Kelsey Bransby. Now, five plus months and ninety-nine posts later some of the people who may, or may not have dismembered Saunders are in the Oklahoma County jail. None of them seem any closer to trial than the moon is to the earth. Bransby has been largely forgotten, except by her family and friends. The investigation and media coverage of her killing was minimal at best from the very beginning and for all practical purposes stopped by Thanksgiving of last year.
Shortly there after former Penn State assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky was arrested in connection with multiple incidents of child molestation. Very quickly it became apparent he'd been running amok for years and the powers that be at Penn State had been turning a blind eye to it all. I suppose they were hoping against hope that his behavior would some how turn out to be not true, or, naively, stop all on its own. His fall precipitated the fall of Joe Paterno, who was up until that moment, one of the most revered figures in all of American college football. Sandusky, who has a home patio that overlooks an elementary school playground, has yet to be brought into court and maintains his complete innocence.
The body of Alina Fitzpatrick was then found in far east Oklahoma City. She was nude, covered with bruises and abrasions, and had a paper like gag stuffed in her mouth. The medical examiner came to the conclusion her death was probably caused by an overwhelming amount of meth in her body and listed it as suspicious. After a while the police said they were keeping an "open file," but not investigating it as a homicide. Then they clarified themselves by saying the investigation was on going into the circumstances of her death. To this date there have been no arrests and once again the local media appears to have forgotten she ever existed.
Then came that gruesome circus known as the republican primary season. Never have so many grossly incompetent people spent such extravagant amounts of money campaigning for an office they were utterly unqualified for. The field was so breathtakingly grotesque that for a while there was even a dalliance with a Donald Trump candidacy. The names charged in and then fell out like some dreadful roll call of right wing hacks. Bachman, Perry, the sex mad pizza magnate Herman Cain and Huntsman. Then finally there was the closet racist Ron Paul, the serial philanderer Newt Gingrich, and the anti contraception fanatic Rick Santorum. All of them wild eyed bumblers who exposed the far right of the republican party as a dangerously stupid lunatic fringe bent on nothing more than making all the rest of us be good. The whole fetid bunch eventually succumbed to Mitt Romney who will be the nominee. Not that the republicans really wanted Romney. In fact if they had found anyone who could put together two coherent sentences at one sitting, Romney would currently be writing the memoir of his second failed run at the presidency.
There were other things during these first hundred posts. Whimsical things like people on Fox News accusing the muppets of socialism and some clown in the Indiana legislature claiming that the Girl Scouts of America promotes abortions, homosexuality, and encourages sex. Then there was the guy who claimed Dick Nixon and Bebe Rebozo had a flaming gay relationship. It was and is an image so mind shattering and awful that just talking about it might turn some of us to stone.
There was of course the, pardon the pun, aborted effort by the Susan G. Komen Foundation to cut the funding of Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screening program. It was a move so intensely unpopular that it took the Komen people all of about three days to reverse themselves and remove some of those responsible for it. For just an instant there was Joseph Kony, the baddest of the bad in Africa, but he is a long way away and the guy who started that fad went severely off his nut in the most public way.
And now the focus is on Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. The first trial of the century in the twenty-first century is looming somewhere in the near future. Zimmerman is out on bail and Martin is still dead. He was shot because he was young, black, had a hood on, and was scared enough to run from an unidentified man as he tried to get back to where he was staying. Zimmerman claims he was simply defending himself from the kid he was chasing. The feeding frenzy is unlike anything since O.J. Simpson went into the dock. There will be a final outcome, but whatever it is huge portions of the public will be outraged. Large numbers of people will not do the right thing.
Sonny and Cher once sang, "the beat goes on." I prefer to think of it as The Big Parade. It never ends, well at least not until that fantastically huge asteroid slams into us. It is for now an ageless montage of all that is us. All that is good and evil. All that is brilliant and horribly stupid. In this new era of social media and world wide instant information we have never been so connected, yet had our differences so dramatically exposed. We have never been as well informed and mis-informed. We have never been exposed to such a flood of data. The deluge challenges us to the point of meltdown. We ultimately are human and we choose to believe what we want to believe despite all evidence to the contrary. It is the nature of the beast.
May God save the Internet and may God damn it also.
In everything there is duality.
4-24-12
Shortly there after former Penn State assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky was arrested in connection with multiple incidents of child molestation. Very quickly it became apparent he'd been running amok for years and the powers that be at Penn State had been turning a blind eye to it all. I suppose they were hoping against hope that his behavior would some how turn out to be not true, or, naively, stop all on its own. His fall precipitated the fall of Joe Paterno, who was up until that moment, one of the most revered figures in all of American college football. Sandusky, who has a home patio that overlooks an elementary school playground, has yet to be brought into court and maintains his complete innocence.
The body of Alina Fitzpatrick was then found in far east Oklahoma City. She was nude, covered with bruises and abrasions, and had a paper like gag stuffed in her mouth. The medical examiner came to the conclusion her death was probably caused by an overwhelming amount of meth in her body and listed it as suspicious. After a while the police said they were keeping an "open file," but not investigating it as a homicide. Then they clarified themselves by saying the investigation was on going into the circumstances of her death. To this date there have been no arrests and once again the local media appears to have forgotten she ever existed.
Then came that gruesome circus known as the republican primary season. Never have so many grossly incompetent people spent such extravagant amounts of money campaigning for an office they were utterly unqualified for. The field was so breathtakingly grotesque that for a while there was even a dalliance with a Donald Trump candidacy. The names charged in and then fell out like some dreadful roll call of right wing hacks. Bachman, Perry, the sex mad pizza magnate Herman Cain and Huntsman. Then finally there was the closet racist Ron Paul, the serial philanderer Newt Gingrich, and the anti contraception fanatic Rick Santorum. All of them wild eyed bumblers who exposed the far right of the republican party as a dangerously stupid lunatic fringe bent on nothing more than making all the rest of us be good. The whole fetid bunch eventually succumbed to Mitt Romney who will be the nominee. Not that the republicans really wanted Romney. In fact if they had found anyone who could put together two coherent sentences at one sitting, Romney would currently be writing the memoir of his second failed run at the presidency.
There were other things during these first hundred posts. Whimsical things like people on Fox News accusing the muppets of socialism and some clown in the Indiana legislature claiming that the Girl Scouts of America promotes abortions, homosexuality, and encourages sex. Then there was the guy who claimed Dick Nixon and Bebe Rebozo had a flaming gay relationship. It was and is an image so mind shattering and awful that just talking about it might turn some of us to stone.
There was of course the, pardon the pun, aborted effort by the Susan G. Komen Foundation to cut the funding of Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screening program. It was a move so intensely unpopular that it took the Komen people all of about three days to reverse themselves and remove some of those responsible for it. For just an instant there was Joseph Kony, the baddest of the bad in Africa, but he is a long way away and the guy who started that fad went severely off his nut in the most public way.
And now the focus is on Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. The first trial of the century in the twenty-first century is looming somewhere in the near future. Zimmerman is out on bail and Martin is still dead. He was shot because he was young, black, had a hood on, and was scared enough to run from an unidentified man as he tried to get back to where he was staying. Zimmerman claims he was simply defending himself from the kid he was chasing. The feeding frenzy is unlike anything since O.J. Simpson went into the dock. There will be a final outcome, but whatever it is huge portions of the public will be outraged. Large numbers of people will not do the right thing.
Sonny and Cher once sang, "the beat goes on." I prefer to think of it as The Big Parade. It never ends, well at least not until that fantastically huge asteroid slams into us. It is for now an ageless montage of all that is us. All that is good and evil. All that is brilliant and horribly stupid. In this new era of social media and world wide instant information we have never been so connected, yet had our differences so dramatically exposed. We have never been as well informed and mis-informed. We have never been exposed to such a flood of data. The deluge challenges us to the point of meltdown. We ultimately are human and we choose to believe what we want to believe despite all evidence to the contrary. It is the nature of the beast.
May God save the Internet and may God damn it also.
In everything there is duality.
4-24-12
Friday, April 20, 2012
Anders Breivik and Tim McVeigh: The Oklahoma City Connection
The first shot was extremely difficult.
Anders Breivik
Yes, but then it got easier and easier. Breivik is the Norwegian berserker who killed a total of 77 of his countrymen last year in a bombing and shooting spree the likes of which the Scandinavian country hasn't seen since World War II.
First he built a bomb that killed eight and then took a ferry out to Utoya Island where the Norwegian Labor Party was hosting a youth summer camp. By the time it was over another 69 were dead. According to Mr. Breivik he thought about wearing a swastika on his chest, but then decided not to because he didn't want people to think he was a nazi. Of course not. We wouldn't want others to think bad of us, would we. After all appearances are everything. Instead of wearing the swastika he dressed in a police uniform, luring several of his victims out of hiding by saying he was there to help, then shooting them.
We are assured by him he isn't a nazi, but he does claim to belong to an anti Muslim, "Knights Templar" organization. The only time he has shown emotion during the trial was when the court played a propaganda video he had made that railed against Islam. As far as I know none of the 77 people he killed were Muslim. They were, in his eyes, however race traitors. He claims he shouted, "You will die today Marxists." What Marxism and Marxists have to do with Islam is still a bit vague, but one can't worry about details when looking at the big picture.
In perhaps the most chilling moment he went all present tense in his testimony. "Some of them are completely paralyzed. They cannot run. They stand totally still. This is something they never show on TV. It is very strange," he said. There is no mention if he had an erection while uttering these words, but I'd put my money on it. Beasts like these don't have sex the same way the rest of us do.
In Oklahoma City yesterday there was a memorial service to commemorate those lost in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building. On the 19th of April, 1995 Tim McVeigh pulled a rental truck up to the front of the building and walked away from it while wearing ear plugs. He didn't want the noise of the explosion to impair his hearing. When the truck blew it killed 168 people and wounded 600. Some of those who died were babies and children who were in a child care center. As the service was being held, Anders Breivik was testifying he studied the Oklahoma City bombing closely and drew inspiration from it.
He also took to heart the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and from all places, al-Qaida. Despite his supposed hatred of Islam he finds al-Qaida a shining example of revolutionary force. In fact he claims one of his aims was to create a European version of it. If there is a strong taste of irony there it is probably because guys like Breivik not only don't have sex like the rest of us, they don't think like we do. Make no mistake about it, this guy is as deranged as they come. When they strap him into the "are you rabidly crazy psycho meter" the needle goes straight to the top.
One official diagnosis is that he is nuts another says he is sane. It is good to know psychiatrists everywhere can never agree on anything when it comes mental health issues.
Breivik himself says he either wants to be executed, or set free. Well we know the second option is off the table and it appears the first is also. The Norwegians haven't executed anyone since their post nazi liberation days. I'm sure many of them are hoping for an exception to that rule right now, but the feeling here is that Mr. Breivik is going away for the maximum of 21 years. At the end of that term he will, hopefully, still be considered dangerous and they will remand him for the rest of his unnatural life. You never know though. A couple of decades down the line some shrink is liable to decide that, yes, he went a little funny in the head once, but he is all better now. Psychiatrists and lawyers are gruesome brotherhoods.
As for now the trial continues and all of Norway is aghast at a monster they never dreamed they could produce. It just goes to show that no country is immune from deadly insanity.
In the United States we look at all this and in the back of our minds there is this nagging thought. If a Norwegian is capable of this, what sort of American Grendel is plotting a brutal outrage right here, right now. After all we have a long history of this sort of thing and we're better armed. While Norway may have only one Breivik, we have scads and scads of McVeighs.
Who says western civilization isn't great? It all makes that extended stay in Belize look good. Yes indeed, take cover in the jungle where the only thing to worry about is the occasional jaguar. At least they never kill more than they can eat.
4-20-12
Anders Breivik
Yes, but then it got easier and easier. Breivik is the Norwegian berserker who killed a total of 77 of his countrymen last year in a bombing and shooting spree the likes of which the Scandinavian country hasn't seen since World War II.
First he built a bomb that killed eight and then took a ferry out to Utoya Island where the Norwegian Labor Party was hosting a youth summer camp. By the time it was over another 69 were dead. According to Mr. Breivik he thought about wearing a swastika on his chest, but then decided not to because he didn't want people to think he was a nazi. Of course not. We wouldn't want others to think bad of us, would we. After all appearances are everything. Instead of wearing the swastika he dressed in a police uniform, luring several of his victims out of hiding by saying he was there to help, then shooting them.
We are assured by him he isn't a nazi, but he does claim to belong to an anti Muslim, "Knights Templar" organization. The only time he has shown emotion during the trial was when the court played a propaganda video he had made that railed against Islam. As far as I know none of the 77 people he killed were Muslim. They were, in his eyes, however race traitors. He claims he shouted, "You will die today Marxists." What Marxism and Marxists have to do with Islam is still a bit vague, but one can't worry about details when looking at the big picture.
In perhaps the most chilling moment he went all present tense in his testimony. "Some of them are completely paralyzed. They cannot run. They stand totally still. This is something they never show on TV. It is very strange," he said. There is no mention if he had an erection while uttering these words, but I'd put my money on it. Beasts like these don't have sex the same way the rest of us do.
In Oklahoma City yesterday there was a memorial service to commemorate those lost in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building. On the 19th of April, 1995 Tim McVeigh pulled a rental truck up to the front of the building and walked away from it while wearing ear plugs. He didn't want the noise of the explosion to impair his hearing. When the truck blew it killed 168 people and wounded 600. Some of those who died were babies and children who were in a child care center. As the service was being held, Anders Breivik was testifying he studied the Oklahoma City bombing closely and drew inspiration from it.
He also took to heart the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and from all places, al-Qaida. Despite his supposed hatred of Islam he finds al-Qaida a shining example of revolutionary force. In fact he claims one of his aims was to create a European version of it. If there is a strong taste of irony there it is probably because guys like Breivik not only don't have sex like the rest of us, they don't think like we do. Make no mistake about it, this guy is as deranged as they come. When they strap him into the "are you rabidly crazy psycho meter" the needle goes straight to the top.
One official diagnosis is that he is nuts another says he is sane. It is good to know psychiatrists everywhere can never agree on anything when it comes mental health issues.
Breivik himself says he either wants to be executed, or set free. Well we know the second option is off the table and it appears the first is also. The Norwegians haven't executed anyone since their post nazi liberation days. I'm sure many of them are hoping for an exception to that rule right now, but the feeling here is that Mr. Breivik is going away for the maximum of 21 years. At the end of that term he will, hopefully, still be considered dangerous and they will remand him for the rest of his unnatural life. You never know though. A couple of decades down the line some shrink is liable to decide that, yes, he went a little funny in the head once, but he is all better now. Psychiatrists and lawyers are gruesome brotherhoods.
As for now the trial continues and all of Norway is aghast at a monster they never dreamed they could produce. It just goes to show that no country is immune from deadly insanity.
In the United States we look at all this and in the back of our minds there is this nagging thought. If a Norwegian is capable of this, what sort of American Grendel is plotting a brutal outrage right here, right now. After all we have a long history of this sort of thing and we're better armed. While Norway may have only one Breivik, we have scads and scads of McVeighs.
Who says western civilization isn't great? It all makes that extended stay in Belize look good. Yes indeed, take cover in the jungle where the only thing to worry about is the occasional jaguar. At least they never kill more than they can eat.
4-20-12
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Ted Nugent, Political and Constitutional Scholar
According to the eminent political scientist and jurist, Ted Nugent, the president of the United States, the vice president and Hillary Clinton are criminals. He was speaking at the NRA national convention in St. Louis which of course means he was doing nothing more than preaching to the choir. National Rifle Association conventioneers don't really represent the diverse nature of the American republic. Although if you're a white guy who is scared that if the government takes away your gun you won't be able to have sex with your wife you will generally fit in.
Mr. Nugent didn't specify which crimes the president has committed. In fact he failed to cite any charges at all. It could well be he considers Obama's most serious offense to be that one about not believing exactly what Ted Nugent does. I've run into this before. You are either with them or you are a traitor. Anyone who isn't a conservative can't be a patriot or a true American.
It is all hysterical horse shit of course, much of it based on race as much as politics, although none of them will ever admit that in public. As the white power structure shrinks and their grip on control continues to slip the shriller and more hateful they become. The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that some clown on Facebook posted a poll the other day. The question? Should Obama be killed?. Your choices of answers were, yes, maybe, if he cuts my health care (my personal favorite, since the president is for universal health care) and finally no. Over seven hundred people responded before the wonks at Facebook took the poll down. The results were not made available. The "pollster" apparently has been identified, but his or her name has not been released to the public.
Earlier this month a census worker in Kentucky was found hanging from a tree, the word, "Fed" written across his chest. I mention this just because some of these psychotic beasts take this sort of stuff to heart and act on their dark urges. By all reports the militia movement is growing once more as paranoia sets in and the possibility of four more years of Barak Obama grows. At some point one or more of them will commit some sort of brutal act. The nation will then recoil from them just as it did after Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols murdered a bunch of babies in a day care center in Oklahoma City.
But, back to our pal The Motor City Madman. Other Nugent bon mots noted that four of the supreme court justices hate the constitution and America. That if Obama is re-elected Nugent would either be dead or in jail by this time next year. That one can be interpreted in a couple of different ways I suppose. Either Nugent is going to attempt to assassinate the president and expects to be killed or caught during the act. Or, the current administration will consider him a dire enough threat that he must be dealt with in some conspiratorial fashion. Trust me Ted, if the Nixon thugs didn't get rid of Hunter Thompson you're safe. The White House only reacted now because it is an election year. The truth is. once assured of another term the Obama people are going to clump you right into that same group that includes the birthers. That would be the group too stupid to even sneeze at. In other words your self perceived political influence is as over rated as your music.
The secret service is supposed to interview Nugent tomorrow or the next day, if they can pull themselves away from the Colombian hookers long enough. They probably won't grill him about the previously mentioned statements. They might ask him about his final analogy though. The one where he said, "If a coyote comes into your living room and pisses on your couch its not the coyote's fault. Its your fault for not shooting him." That one gets pretty close to the line. Even Mitt recognized it and put a little distance between the campaign and rock and roll Nugent style.
Although I've never threatened to shoot any metaphor for any president in my living room, I can, on a level, understand Nugent's anger. In many ways I feel exactly the same way about republicans and conservatives as he does about democrats and liberals. We both have that intractable feeling the other side is going to cripple the nation. Our outrage over it is our common bond. He is the enemy and he is in many ways me.
Maybe we should sit down and have a beer sometime. Actually that is a great idea. After all we are both fans of chef and professional snark, Anthony Bourdain. We'll all bring our guns and compare barrel lengths. It'll be a real guy's night out. Email me, Ted, or give me a call. I'll keep my calender clear just for you, buddy.
Until then, rock on dude and always remember, without guys like you there wouldn't be guys like me.
4-18-12
Mr. Nugent didn't specify which crimes the president has committed. In fact he failed to cite any charges at all. It could well be he considers Obama's most serious offense to be that one about not believing exactly what Ted Nugent does. I've run into this before. You are either with them or you are a traitor. Anyone who isn't a conservative can't be a patriot or a true American.
It is all hysterical horse shit of course, much of it based on race as much as politics, although none of them will ever admit that in public. As the white power structure shrinks and their grip on control continues to slip the shriller and more hateful they become. The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that some clown on Facebook posted a poll the other day. The question? Should Obama be killed?. Your choices of answers were, yes, maybe, if he cuts my health care (my personal favorite, since the president is for universal health care) and finally no. Over seven hundred people responded before the wonks at Facebook took the poll down. The results were not made available. The "pollster" apparently has been identified, but his or her name has not been released to the public.
Earlier this month a census worker in Kentucky was found hanging from a tree, the word, "Fed" written across his chest. I mention this just because some of these psychotic beasts take this sort of stuff to heart and act on their dark urges. By all reports the militia movement is growing once more as paranoia sets in and the possibility of four more years of Barak Obama grows. At some point one or more of them will commit some sort of brutal act. The nation will then recoil from them just as it did after Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols murdered a bunch of babies in a day care center in Oklahoma City.
But, back to our pal The Motor City Madman. Other Nugent bon mots noted that four of the supreme court justices hate the constitution and America. That if Obama is re-elected Nugent would either be dead or in jail by this time next year. That one can be interpreted in a couple of different ways I suppose. Either Nugent is going to attempt to assassinate the president and expects to be killed or caught during the act. Or, the current administration will consider him a dire enough threat that he must be dealt with in some conspiratorial fashion. Trust me Ted, if the Nixon thugs didn't get rid of Hunter Thompson you're safe. The White House only reacted now because it is an election year. The truth is. once assured of another term the Obama people are going to clump you right into that same group that includes the birthers. That would be the group too stupid to even sneeze at. In other words your self perceived political influence is as over rated as your music.
The secret service is supposed to interview Nugent tomorrow or the next day, if they can pull themselves away from the Colombian hookers long enough. They probably won't grill him about the previously mentioned statements. They might ask him about his final analogy though. The one where he said, "If a coyote comes into your living room and pisses on your couch its not the coyote's fault. Its your fault for not shooting him." That one gets pretty close to the line. Even Mitt recognized it and put a little distance between the campaign and rock and roll Nugent style.
Although I've never threatened to shoot any metaphor for any president in my living room, I can, on a level, understand Nugent's anger. In many ways I feel exactly the same way about republicans and conservatives as he does about democrats and liberals. We both have that intractable feeling the other side is going to cripple the nation. Our outrage over it is our common bond. He is the enemy and he is in many ways me.
Maybe we should sit down and have a beer sometime. Actually that is a great idea. After all we are both fans of chef and professional snark, Anthony Bourdain. We'll all bring our guns and compare barrel lengths. It'll be a real guy's night out. Email me, Ted, or give me a call. I'll keep my calender clear just for you, buddy.
Until then, rock on dude and always remember, without guys like you there wouldn't be guys like me.
4-18-12
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