Just A Thought

So if Al Gore had taken the presidency after he won the election in 2000 (and he did win, make no mistake about it), assuming that his presidency would have been successful -- like him or not, you have to believe that he would not have missed the warning signs of 9/11, would not have blustered and lied us into an unending, criminal war in Iraq and would have had a much better and more humane response to hurricane Katrina, among other things -- he would now be at the end of his eight years in the White House and thus termed out. Would we now be looking at a presidential campaign by his vice president to continue his legacy?

In other words... would Joe Lieberman now be heading up the Democratic ticket for 2008?

GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

These Answers Are Hot

I had no idea that so many of my readers are fans of Gregory Tuva and the Throat Chanters. Really, I thought this would be an easy one for most everybody, but even Eric B missed two out of eleven (#5 and #6, for those of you who are keeping track). (Oh, and #5 was the repeat here, just in case anyone was wondering -- also, #3 can't be called anything but a gimme, can it?). A few of you knew two or three; I honestly expected a bit more. Which just demonstrates yet again how completely clueless I am when it comes to this thing.

The theme, of course, was hot hot heat, but apparently it didn’t light too much of a fire under anyone. Here’s the key, if you’re scoring at home:

1. Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care. Fever; Peggy Lee (also many others, notably including Elvis Presley, The Neville Brothers and Ray Charles)

2. When I get home from my job, I turn on the TV, but I can’t keep my mind on the show. The Fever; Bruce Springsteen

3. Well, my temperature is rising, got my feet on the floor, crazy people rockin’ ‘cause they want to go more… Gimme Some Lovin’; Spencer Davis Group

4. Together we’ll stand, divided we’ll fall, come on now people let’s get on the ball… Let’s Work Together; Canned Heat

5. I ain’t stoppin’, fingers keep boppin’, swing band rockin’ from the street to the bar. The Heat In Harlem; Graham Parker & the Rumour

6. In a far, far cooler light this could seem too deep a bite, but the day’s too bright, tonight’s the night. Hot You’re Cool; General Public

7. End of the spring and here she comes back, hi, hi, hi, hi there. Hot Fun In The Summertime; Sly & The Family Stone

8. Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring. Ring Of Fire; Johnny Cash

9. New York was cold and damp, TV is just a blank, looks like another dead-end Sunday. She Was Hot; Rolling Stones

10. What I’ve got you’ve got to give it to your mama, what I’ve got you’ve got to give it to your papa. Give It Away Now Red Hot Chili Peppers

**Bonus** Every single day I got a heartache coming my way, I don’t want to say goodbye, but look at the tears you made me cry. Fire And Water; Wilson Pickett

We’ll be back at it next Tuesday, and then we’ll skip the following week while Mrs. Generik and I take a much-needed vacation off in the beautiful eastern Sierra.

Another Letter The SF Chronicle Won't Print

Editor --

Now that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan has confirmed what most of us who had been paying attention all knew -- that the Bush administration used lies and propaganda to take us to war ("Former loyalist's memoir stings Bush," Chronicle, 5/29) -- can we expect Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally put impeachment back on the table? This administration has spent the past seven-plus years committing high crimes and misdemeanors with impunity, and has not yet been called to account for any of them. What more evidence is needed to investigate this criminal crew than McClellan's insider's view of the run-up to war with Iraq and the deceptions, the outright lies and the behind-the-scenes manipulation of Congress, the media and the American people?

Even Speaker Pelosi herself is quoted in your paper commenting on McClellan's book, saying that she "totally agree(s)... this war is a big lie. It was a lie to begin with, and it continues to be a lie..."

If that's the case, isn't the president guilty of a war crime? Both George Bush and Dick Cheney should not just be removed from office, but indicted, tried, and, if found guilty, imprisoned. To do anything less would be to admit that the laws of this great nation have been rendered meaningless by the most criminal administration to ever take office, with the full complicity of Congress.

-- All my love and kisses,
Generik

On The Good News Front...

There is good news today on the Marriage Equality issue: a new Field Poll shows a majority of Californians are now in favor of the recent California Supreme Court ruling striking down the gay marriage ban. By a margin of 51 to 42 percent, with 7 percent undecided, Californians said they support the new ruling. Nearly the same percentages said they do not agree with the proposed initiative to strike down the ruling and ban gay marriage in the state.

The tide is turning -- indeed, you could probably make the case that it has turned. I like the prospect of this Court ruling standing once the smoke clears after the November election.

Tell Us Something We Don't Know

Well, well, well. Former Presidential spokesliar li'l Scotty McClellan has just released a book that blames his former boss for an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" to sell the Iraq war to the American people. He also goes on to indict the U.S. media, calling them "'complicit enablers' in the campaign to manipulate public opinion." Li'l Scotty seems to be just a tad bit disgruntled at having been used to help catapult the propaganda for the Prevaricator in Chief. Huh.

George W. Bush and his minions lied and manipulated the media to sell the Iraq war! How about that!

In other news, the sky is blue, the sun rose in the East this morning and water is wet.

Whose Opening Line Is It, Anyway: You're Getting Warmer

Okay, I’m giving you a break because of the long weekend. Here’s perhaps the easiest-peasiest quiz I’ve ever presented. Hell, there’s even a repeat here for those of you who are really paying attention. Seriously, if you don’t get at least three of these right off the bat, you must’ve been listening exclusively to Gregorian chants and Tuvan throat music for the past forty years.

Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, and anyone who wants to do a quiz on either of those subjects is not going to get many correct answers from me, but… come on, these are almost all just a bunch of gimmes. Aren’t they? I think they are.

1, Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care.
2. When I get home from my job, I turn on the TV, but I can’t keep my mind on the show.
3. Well, my temperature is rising, got my feet on the floor, crazy people rockin’ ‘cause they want to go more…
4. Together we’ll stand, divided we’ll fall, come on now people let’s get on the ball
5. I ain’t stoppin’, fingers keep boppin’, swing band rockin’ from the street to the bar.
6. In a far, far cooler light this could seem too deep a bite, but the day’s too bright, tonight’s the night.
7. End of the spring and here she comes back, hi, hi, hi, hi there.
8. Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring.
9. New York was cold and damp, TV is just a blank, looks like another dead-end Sunday.
10. What I’ve got you’ve got to give it to your mama, what I’ve got you’ve got to give it to your papa.

**Bonus** Every single day I got a heartache coming my way, I don’t want to say goodbye, but look at the tears you made me cry.

Don't cry, the answers will be up on Friday, just like they always are.

In Memoriam

I'm of rather two minds on Memorial Day. For instance, I have a hard time uttering the phrase "Happy Memorial Day," as this really isn't an occasion for celebration, but for remembrance. And I'm all for remembering and honoring American veterans. But the person I most remember on this occasion is my uncle Gary. He was only five years older than me, and in 1972, right around the time of what would have been his 21st birthday, he was killed under somewhat mysterious circumstances in Vietnam. Gary was about the smartest, most talented guy I ever knew. He played a number of musical instruments (clarinet, guitar, piano, organ), all of them quite well, and he was very adept at picking up languages. He learned Latin at an early age, spoke Spanish, French, German, Greek and Russian. Language skills proved to be his downfall, however, as he opted to become a translator in the Army. He ended up first in his class, learning Vietnamese and a couple of Chinese dialects. For his skill, he was sent not to the relative safety of Saigon -- which is what he thought would happen to the best translators -- but to where the fighting was, the inaptly-named demilitarized zone, or DMZ. During that time, he endured a number of firefights and close calls. and after nine months in country, was sent home for a brief bout of R&R. That was the last time I saw him, as after his two weeks stateside, he returned to Vietnam to finish his tour of duty, even though he was not a supporter of the war effort. He told me while he was here that he spent much of his time there intercepting radio transmissions from the Viet Cong and listening to communications from the U.S. and South Vietnamese Army. He said that, because of what he knew about illegal tactics (think Laos and Cambodia), he was more afraid of the CIA than he was of the Viet Cong. Not long after he returned to Vietnam, on Easter Sunday, in fact, a sergeant came to our door (Gary's wife and adopted baby daughter were living with my mother and me at the time). He told us that Gary was missing in action, and presumed killed. It was months before we got any more information than that, and even then, it was all rather confused and confusing. The story that eventually came out was that Gary's unit had been involved in a particularly intense firefight, and that an attempt had been made to evacuate the bunker they were in. Gary was the last one to have gotten out, but before he could, a rocket allegedly blasted into the bunker and exploded inside it. I've been told that the odds of this happening are extremely high, but we've never received another explanation, and there was never a body or any remains to confirm his death.

What bothers me now -- what has always bothered me, and always will bother me -- is that he died in a war that was based on a lie, a war that didn't have to be and never should have been started. He died not defending his country -- Vietnam was no threat to the U.S., revisionist right-wing history aside -- but in the service of the corporate lies of the military-industrial complex. So forgive me if I don't swell with pride and patriotism on this day of remembrance, because it's not that I don't have pride in my late uncle and patriotism for the American ideal, but when I think of how so many U.S. military personnel have been killed -- and continue to get killed and hurt in a war based on lies even today -- so that Bechtel and Standard Oil and Halliburton and KBR can fill their coffers, well, it hurts. It makes me sad and upset and increasingly frustrated that we obviously haven't learned from our mistakes and continue to make them with alarming -- and fatal -- regularity.

Happy Memorial Day indeed.

Sign Up Now

Here's another online petition put together by David Neiwert, Jane Hamsher and the good people at firedoglake for those of you who are so inclined. This one has to do with investigating the recent Pentagon practice of embedding military propagandists in the corporate media to spread their own lies and distortions Bush White House-approved narrative. The text reads as follows:

Dear Congressperson:

We write to you today on a matter of great national urgency.

On April 21, 2008, the New York Times exposed a quiet military campaign to infiltrate U.S. media with propaganda. According to the article, top Pentagon and Bush administration officials recruited dozens of military officers to serve as pro-war media pundits for major news media.

These pundits appeared more than 4,500 times on cable and broadcast networks to press the administration's view on events in Iraq, Afghanistan and, increasingly, Iran. While many spoke directly from White House talking points, they did not disclose their direct ties to the administration.

By covertly spinning America's involvement in the war, the Pentagon is in violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. The mainstream media's role in enabling this propaganda also raises legitimate concerns about its ability to present a full and open debate about the war and other issues of national concern.

Many in Congress have called on the Pentagon and media to provide a full explanation. We the undersigned urge you to take the next step. Congress must move quickly to launch a full investigation and convene hearings to determine the extent of wrongdoing.

This is not a partisan issue. An administration and media working together to manipulate public opinion is a violation of every conceivable standard of journalism -- and possibly of federal law. A much-needed congressional inquiry will shed light on this national scandal. The American people have the right to know.

Head on over there and put your John (or Jane) Hancock on it, won't you? We can't stop this sort of thing unless we make a lot of noise about it.

True Story

Mrs. Generik and I had dinner with our good friend Scott the other night (and coincidentally ran into our esteemed BARBARian colleague Victor Shystee, who happened to be dining in the same restaurant, but that has nothing to do with this story), and Scott was telling us about some friends of his. It seems the daughter of a woman he's known for many years married a man whose last name is Coe. They moved from San Francisco to Colorado a while back, but missed the city terribly. Recently, they had a son, and they named him Samuel Francis Coe.

That's right, Sam Francis Coe.

Okay, I thought it was amusing.

I (Heart) These Answers

Okay, still a little fuzzy from our very enjoyable BARBARian gathering last night, so let me shake out the cobwebs and give you the answers to this week's College of Musical Knowledge quiz. Bonus points to mrgumby2u for coming up with Jackson Browne's In The Shape Of A Heart and Scout for Heart's Heartless in comments. The standard gold medal to Eric B for getting all but #4, #6, #10 and the Bonus line (hmmm... that's actually a little substandard for him, isn't it?).

Anyway, here they are, take them to heart, kids.

1. Sick at heart and lonely, deep in dark despair, thinking one thought only… Heart Full Of Soul; The Yardbirds (also acceptable, but just barely, Chris Isaak)

2. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak. Heart-Shaped Box; Nirvana

3. Well, you gassed her up behind the wheel with your arm around your sweet one… The Heart Of Saturday Night; Tom Waits

4. Every story has to be about something, I suppose, this one says I lose my head. The Doors Of Your Heart; English Beat

5. Didn’t I make you feel like you were the only man, well yeah… Piece Of My Heart; Big Brother & The Holding Company (You get credit if you said Janis Joplin, who was the vocalist for Big Brother at the time. Also acceptable – and some would say the superior, though not as well-known, version -- Erma Franklin.)

6. Ooo, you say you’re feelin’ bad ‘cause the least thing makes you cry, sounds like a real bad case of a girl who needs a guy. Take This Heart Of Mine; Marvin Gaye

7. There’ve been so many girls that I’ve known, I’ve made so many cry, and still I wonder why. Heart Of Stone; Rolling Stones

8. Hey fellas, have you heard the news? You know that Annie’s back in town? Heartbreaker; Led Zeppelin

9. You know, sometimes, I don’t know why, but this old town just seems so hopeless. Here Comes My Girl; Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

10. Sometimes they ask me if I’m really happy now. I say sure, I never loved her anyhow. There’s A Heartache Following Me; Pete Townshend

**Bonus** Baby wants to get in the money, oh, she wants to share it with me. Kicking The Heart Out; Rogue Wave

We'll try again next Tuesday!

Turdblossom Subpoenaed

It was announced today that the House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed that treasonous, notorious, fat White House fuck former presidential adviser and current pundit Karl Rove in the matter of the Governor Don Siegelman case down in Alabama -- a case that has Rove's traitorous, blood-stained handprints all over it. Good on Chairman John Conyers for attempting to bring that bloated, bloviating slime-mold into the sunlight on this issue, but will it work? It seems to me that Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten have successfully ignored Congressional subpoenas for quite some time now. Won't KKKarl use the same stalling technique in an attempt to play out the string until the 2008 elections and hope for the best in '09? Virtually no one in the Bush administration has yet been held to account for any of the myriad crimes and misdemeanors that have been committed on their watch, why would Karl be the first?

Still, I hold out some modicum of hope -- unreasonable though it probably is -- that we'll get to see him have to answer a few hard questions under oath and cover himself in flopsweat in public at some point in the near future. Handcuffed and frog-marched off to stoney lonesome would be even better, but even I'm not that much of an optimist. Not yet, anyway.

Thirsty? Crave A Little Conversation? BARBARians Are Waiting To Take Your Call!

For those of you who may not have received the numerous emails about this event, and are in the San Francisco Bay Area, and want to get together with me and a whole passel of local bloggers to talk politics and drink beer, there is an event tonight starting about 6-ish at Glen Park Station, 2816 Diamond Street in SF (just a hop and a skip from the Glen Park BART station), and anyone within eyeball's length of this post is more than welcome to come and join us. Be sure to look for the identifying BARBARian (Bay Area Resident Bloggers And Readers) helmet, and if you mention this post, I'll buy you a beer. Come on down! You have nothing to lose but your dignity and the price of a glass of suds.

Quote Of The Day

Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe
that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded
by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder
each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could
anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no
more ridiculous than the world we are living in.

- Sam Harris, author (1967- )

Empire Or Humanity?

Here's a fabulous piece of animation featuring the words of Howard Zinn as read by Viggo Mortensen. Big hat tip to my good friend nashtbrutusandshort for this.

Feeling Woozy

I want to point your attention to an amazing post from my good friend... well, they call him Fishstick, among other epithets -- who has a very cogent piece up about the current government practice of fucking drugging people who may or may not be illegal aliens into insensibility before shipping them off to be dropped unceremoniously somewhere in the world outside the American border to fend for themselves... at best. This link from Yahoo News, included in Fishstick's post, just makes it that much more legitimate -- and at the same time, more chilling.

I mean, think about it -- the US government, at this point in time, with no bones made about it, no plausible deniability, not even a mostly-transparent, manufactured fig-leaf of cover other than a shrug and a Dick Cheney side-of-the-mouth growl of "So fucking what?", drugs people against their will; uses "extraordinary rendition;" tortures. Tortures. They invade and occupy sovereign nations that have not attacked us and posed no threat to us with no provocation, and threaten to do so again. They spy on their own citizens illegally. They ignore the rule of law and the will of Congress and the people. What's left? What ever happened to the country I grew up in, the one I used to think of as "the land of the free"? Where did it go, and who took it away? Dick Cheney? George Bush? Halliburton? ExxonMobil? All of the above and more?

I honestly don't know.

McCain In His Own Words

For more check out TheRealMcCain.com.

Whose Opening Line Is It, Anyway: Organic

Another mix of easy and obscure lines this week, with some that should be gimmes to most of you and a couple that even Eric B might not get. (I expect he'll come in with about 8-9, plus a few suggestions of songs that I could have included with this week's theme.) The theme, again, will be pretty obvious if you can identify even just one or two. Here's a hint: look deep inside yourself, the answer will come from within.

1. Sick at heart and lonely, deep in dark despair, thinking one thought only…
2. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak.
3. Well, you gassed her up behind the wheel with your arm around your sweet one…
4. Every story has to be about something, I suppose, this one says I lose my head.
5. Didn’t I make you feel like you were the only man, well yeah…
6. Ooo, you say you’re feelin’ bad ‘cause the least thing makes you cry, sounds like a real bad case of a girl who needs a guy.
7. There’ve been so many girls that I’ve known, I’ve made so many cry, and still I wonder why.
8. Hey fellas, have you heard the news? You know that Annie’s back in town?
9. You know, sometimes, I don’t know why, but this old town just seems so hopeless.
10. Sometimes they ask me if I’m really happy now. I say sure, I never loved her anyhow.

**Bonus** Baby wants to get in the money, oh, she wants to share it with me.

Answers on Friday.

It's Not The Sex!

Over the past few months, other than a very few posts (like this one, for instance), I've tried to stay away from the Democratic primary pie-fight. I still believe the focus should be on defeating St. McCain and his assured continuation of the Bushco Destruction of America Tour (now in its seventh year!), not our own intramural squabbles. But this post from Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast was so good, I thought, that it should be shared. Her basic point is that Hillary Clinton has not lost the nomination because she's a woman (and make no mistake about it, she has lost, and has no chance of coming back at this point), but because she has made numerous mistakes in her campaign, many of which are illustrated very concisely in Jill's post. Whether you support Clinton or Obama for the Democratic ticket, this is worth reading.

(Apologies as necessary for that shameless attempt to draw in readers by giving this post a mildly racy title.)

GYWO!

New page of Get Your War On up! Check it out, kids.

M-M-M-Monday Random Flickr Blogging-ing-ing-ing

"Are you there, God? It's me, Marvin. Yo, what up, homey?"
*lightning strikes seconds later, Marvin is left a charred and blackened smoking husk of a person*
"Well, you don't have to get snippy about it!"

The Bush administration has proposed a slight change to the look of the Great Presidential Seal...

Intestinal fortitude, $2.99 a pound, now at all Raley's and Ralph's Markets. Congressional Democrats, please take note!

Unclear on the concept of her duties, Maria the nanny puts the binky in her own mouth and gently rocks herself to sleep.

A rare shot of the legendary Abominable Snowbird.

"Throw your hands up in the air! Throw your hands up like you just... don't... aw, goddammit, you guys... you care, don't you? All three of you guys care!"

(Original images, #1427, posted here, here, here, here, here and here. Random Flickr Blogging explained by the very caring Tom Hilton here.)

Charged-Up, Plugged-In Electrifying Answers That Will Shock You

Easy theme this week, though most of you struggled a bit with the lines themselves. And as Eric B (who got all but #1, #2 and the Bonus line) pointed out, I really missed a bet by not including a song from Wayne County & The Electric Chairs. Also – full disclosure – the Son Volt line could possibly have a mistake or two in it, as I was unable to find a transcription of the lyrics to that song and had to rely on my own admittedly dyslexic ears. (Dyslexic Ears? Isn’t that an album by Cream?)

Okay, here you go, don’t touch the bare wire.

1. We went through the fifth straightaways after, tracked for days on end, turnin' away from faster... Picking Up The Signal; Son Volt

2. The Minus is loveless, he talks to the land, and the leaves fall and the pond over-ices. Electricity; Joni Mitchell

3. You didn't mean to do it but you did it again. The night started out fuckin' around with your friends. Little Electric Chair; Iggy Pop

4. Now in the street there is violence, and, and a lots of work to be done. Electric Avenue; Eddy Grant

5. Can you raise both your hands and clap 'em? Can you say, "Sure, I'll always try"? Mickey Mouse; Sparks

6. I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend but I'm a little glowing friend... Birdhouse In Your Soul; They Might Be Giants

7. Last night your shadow fell upon my lonely room. I touched your golden hair and tasted your perfume. I Had Too Much To Dream; The Electric Prunes

8. I saw your friend 1st. That's who I danced with. All the time I was watchin' U. Electric Chair; Prince

9. Got love, if that's what you need. I got three or four babies sittin' on my knee. Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle; Electric Light Orchestra

10. I was feeling sick, I was losing my mind. I heard about these treatments from a good friend of mine. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment; The Ramones

**Bonus** Karen blows the smoke across the table to the seat I'm in, and blood is passed around in glasses, "Vintage year," she says again. Electric Chair; Luce

We'll try again next week, so study up!

Pushing The Campaign Buttons

Big hat tip to our esteemed BARBARian colleague fubar at Needlenose for the images. Feel free to spread these around wherever appropriate.

Pride In California

I am so proud to be a Californian right now. Today, May 15, the California Supreme Court struck a blow for equality by ruling that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. People who are committed to each other and love each other are now free to legally marry in our state, no matter what gender they are. Honestly, I had hoped that this would be the outcome, but I have worried for many months that the ruling would go the other way. This is truly good news, and I personally couldn't be happier -- not just for myself, because I've long believed that the institution of marriage should be available to all individuals, but also for my mother and her partner, for my niece and for all Californians.

"The California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples," Chief Justice Ronald George wrote in the majority opinion.

Allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry "will not deprive opposite-sex couples of any rights and will not alter the legal framework of the institution of marriage," George said.

In addition, he said, the current state law discriminates against same-sex couples on the basis of their sexual orientation - discrimination that the court, for the first time, put in the same legal category as racial or gender bias.

This is really a red-letter day. I think I know just how these people feel.

China

A some of you know, my brother spent a few years living in Chengdu, near where the recent 7.9 magnitude earthquake was centered. He is now back in the US, but his wife still has family in Dujiangyan, which is where the epicenter was. After a day of worried attempts to contact them, she finally heard from her mother via cell phone this morning. Apparently everyone in her family is all right, but their apartment is trashed and they don't know yet how badly the building is damaged. They've been sleeping outside because of fear of the aftershocks, some of which have reached between 4 and 6 in magnitude. It's a rather helpless feeling sitting here safe in San Francisco and knowing that people in that area are so badly hurt and the cities and towns devastated, especially when some of those people are, by extension, family. Mrs. Generik and I traveled through that area in 2004, and so have a little better appreciation for the terrain and the people than we otherwise would have.

Like many of you, I'm sure, our thoughts and sympathy and good wishes go out to all who have been affected by this terrible occurrence, with hopes for the best in the near future. Probably the best thing to do at this point is to donate funds to an organization that you trust* to help with the recovery and rebuilding of the Sichuan area.

*Also here, here, here and here.

Blowhard On Display

This has been going around the Intertubes the past few days, so many of you may have already seen or heard it, but if you haven't, it's well worth checking out. It seems that Bill O'Reilly was captured blowing up at the end of one of his stints on the program Inside Edition (back when he still had poofy hair). The clip was on YouTube for about a day before getting pulled, but fortunately the folks at Wonkette have preserved it for posterity and our vicarious enjoyment. O'Reilly gets a little bent out of shape here and screams at his crew, going so far as to say "fuck" more than once. What a big colostomy bag of wind that guy is... and apparently has been all his life.

Whose Opening Line Is It, Anyway: Don't Be Shocked

I daresay there are a few tough ones here this week, though the theme shouldn't be too hard to discern. Ready, steady, go!

1. We went through the fifth straightaways after, tracked for days on end, turnin' away from faster...
2. The Minus is loveless, he talks to the land, and the leaves fall and the pond over-ices.
3. You didn't mean to do it but you did it again. The night started out fuckin' around with your friends.
4. Now in the street there is violence, and, and a lots of work to be done.
5. Can you raise both your hands and clap 'em? Can you say, "Sure, I'll always try"?
6. I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend but I'm a little glowing friend...
7. Last night your shadow fell upon my lonely room. I touched your golden hair and tasted your perfume.
8. I saw your friend 1st. That's who I danced with. All the time I was watchin' U.
9. Got love, if that's what you need. I got three or four babies sittin' on my knee.
10. I was feeling sick, I was losing my mind. I heard about these treatments from a good friend of mine.

**Bonus** Karen blows the smoke across the table to the seat I'm in, and blood is passed around in glasses, "Vintage year," she says again.

Answers, as always, on Friday.

Bumper Snicker

Saw this on a car parked near the ballpark Saturday:

"I hated Bush long before it was cool."

Heh.

Random, Tasteless And Offensive Flickr Blogging

Although the victim has not yet been identified, a cursory dental inspection reveals with almost 100% certainty that he was British.

Is it just me, or are SUV drivers getting a lot more defensive these days?

"I'm drawing a picture of how Uncle Wayne bad-touched me last week."
"Me too."
"Then I'm gonna go pour bleach in his vodka."
"Me too."
"And Drain-O."
"Me too."

Charlie wished and wished that he could stand at the end of the race with the checkered flag just once, instead of always being stuck halfway through with the yellow "contestant just peed himself" warning flag, but alas, it was not to be.

"Are they safe to eat? I don't know... go ask Alice. But wait until she puts her clothes back on and stops screaming at God about that damn rabbit."

(Original images, #3392, posted here, here, here, here and here. More examples of Random Flickr Blogging linked to here. RFB explained by the always tasteful and rarely offensive Tom Hilton here.)

Bait And Switch

A common practice among right-wingers is to take a quote or a story or a picture that casts their side in a bad light and attempt to reframe it as a slam at those of us on the left side of the aisle. A few years back, I remember seeing plenty of emails full of Dan Quayle quotes (and dumb-ass quotes from other Republicans) attributed to Al Gore. Here's one of the newer examples of this practice that I've seen.

This picture was taken at a VFW meeting in Salt Lake City on August 5th, 2005, when Preznit Torquemada Bush was addressing the group. The man's name is Bill Moyer, he is a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam wars and he was 73 years old at the time this picture was taken. He put those ear flaps on specifically to protest the Criminal in Chief.

The email I got today, which had been forwarded numerous times before it reached me, had this same picture in it, but the identifying caption claims that the picture was taken while the
man was listening to "Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton address the VFW." (No dates or locations are given, of course, and anyone with a semblance of a brain would think that an address to the VFW by the two major Democratic candidates and a well-known Democratic Senator any time in the past few months just might have been reported in the news somewhere, but apparently wingnut minds don't work that way.) To quote a phrase, "Sadly, No!" You could look it up, as I told the senders of that email in a reply-all correction. I did my little part to help amend the misinformation being spread to the people on the immediate distribution list of that particular email, but many of the people who had seen it in its previous forwards, and many of the people to whom it will undoubtedly be sent, will most likely accept it as gospel and nod their heads in agreement at this courageous, plain-spoken old gentleman who had the courage to stand up to the damn lib'rals out there. *sigh*

Well, we do what we can when we can, I guess, but it sure seems like we're fighting against the tide sometimes, doesn't it?

The Initial Answers

Okay, so most of the songs were fairly easy this week, but the theme was obviously far too obscure for even the most learned among you. Even Eric B, who checked in with all but #4 and #7 correct -- including the all-important theme-revealing Bonus line -- couldn't figure it out. Combining the esoteric with the egocentric, this week's theme was just this: The first letter of each song title, in order, 1-10, spells out my name. Is that lame or what? (Still -- I'd like to see George Yatchisin or Fred Coppersmith try that.) I know, I know, you all are right now going "Psssh, I knew that!" and slapping your foreheads. Right? Am I right? Sure you are.

Anyway, here are the answers so that you can all see the very obvious vertical anagram and shake your heads at my self-centered lameosity.

1. When Johnny comes marching home again, hurrah, tra-la, he’s coming by bus or underground, hurrah, tra-la… English Civil War; The Clash

2. My head is spinning and my legs are weak, goose step dancing, can’t hear myself speak… Radio Sweetheart; Elvis Costello

3. When you climb to the top of the mountain, look out over the sea, think about all the places, perhaps, where a young man could be… It Ain’t Easy; Long John Baldry (also acceptable, and probably more familiar: David Bowie, as pointed out by Tom Hilton)

4. While the music played you worked by candlelight, those San Francisco nights, you were the best in town. Kid Charlemagne; Steely Dan

5. Well, I’m dressed up so nice, an’ I’m doin’ my best, an’ I’m startin’ over… What A Day That Was; Talking Heads

6. You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue; Bob Dylan (Bonus points to Rey Fox for correctly identifying The Byrds and Them [w/Van Morrison] as among the notable cover artists.)

7. Well, my room has got two windows, the sunlight never comes through, I’m so sad and lonely, baby, since I broke off baby with you. Lonely Avenue; Ray Charles (Also very ably covered by Van, as Melville pointed out, both live on A Night In San Francisco and in the studio on Too Long In Exile)

8. Ooh, let’s get down tonight, baby, I’m hot just like an oven, I need some lovin’. Sexual Healing; Marvin Gaye

9. I’ll start this off without any words, I got so high I scratched ‘til I bled. On A Plain; Nirvana

10. Billy, he’s down by the railroad tracks, sittin’ low in the back seat of his Cadillac. New York City Serenade; Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

**Bonus** What the hell is wrong with me? I’m not who I want to be. I tried spot cream and I tried it all, I’m crawling up the wall! What’s My Name?; The Clash

Next week's theme will probably be easier. And all about someone or something else.

President McCain = War On Islam

While the corporate media (especially Faux Noise) cannot stop commenting on the self-aggrandizing Rev. Jeremiah Wright, John McCain gets virtually no scrutiny of his choice of "spiritual guides." John Hagee is probably better known, but Rod Parsley might be the more dangerous of the two. These are endorsements that McSame has actively sought and continues to embrace, despite the well-documented crazy talk issued by these two religious lunatics. Why isn't the same attention paid to them as has been paid to Wright? Is it all simply a matter of IOKIYAR?

Do something.

A Brief Revival Of Wednesday Joementum Blogging

The invaluable Glenn Greenwald has the scoop on Harry Reid's claims that "Joe Lieberman votes with us on everything except the war," and exposes it for the bald-faced lie it is. Why the Dems haven't jettisoned Turncoat Joe (this year's Zell Miller) long ago, I have no idea. The droning war-lover actually plans on speaking at the fucking Republican convention this summer!

After listing a number of votes that Lieberman cast with the wingnut side of the Senate, Greenwald has this to say:

Obviously, Reid's repeated claim that Lieberman "votes with us on everything, except the war" is demonstrably false. But when he repeatedly makes that claim, I don't think Reid is consciously lying. It's just that, in Harry Reid's world (and in the world of the Democratic leadership generally), things like warrantless eavesdropping, the abolition of habeas corpus, telecom amnesty, the corrupt politicization of the Justice Department, chronic lying under oath, and the legalization of torture just don't exist. They don't matter. They're non-issues. And that is precisely why those radical, destructive measures are continuously permitted -- approved and endorsed -- by the Reid-led, Democratic-controlled Senate.

I suggest you read the whole article, though, and see just how far out of the mainstream -- and how far away from what Democratic politics should encompass -- Joementum is these days.

It's Over

After tonight, there's no way Hillary can get the Democratic nomination. It's over, all but the shouting. Now, let's focus on keeping Angry St. McBBQ from continuing the destructive, divisive, disingenuous policies of the Bush administration by somehow gaining office.

John McCain = George W. Bush III.

Friends don't let friends vote Republican. Especially in 2008.

Tom Waits For Us All

Tom Waits is going on tour!



The Glitter and Doom Tour starts June 17th in Phoenix, Arizona. So far, no Bay Area dates have been announced (dammit!). I'm sure he'll get around to us eventually.

Woohoo!!

Whose Opening Line Is It, Anyway: It's All About Me

Should be a pretty easy quiz this week, but the theme will very possibly elude even the most clever of you out there. Of course, I think that every week, and every week I'm amazed at how astute my readers are. But seriously, you're going to have to figure out more than just a couple of these to have a clue about the overlying theme. I think.

1. When Johnny comes marching home again, hurrah, tra-la, he’s coming by bus or underground, hurrah, tra-la...
2. My head is spinning and my legs are weak, goose step dancing, can’t hear myself speak…
3. When you climb to the top of the mountain, look out over the sea, think about all the places, perhaps, where a young man could be…
4. While the music played you worked by candlelight, those San Francisco nights, you were the best in town.
5. Well, I’m dressed up so nice, an’ I’m doin’ my best, an’ I’m startin’ over…
6. You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
7. Well, my room has got two windows, the sunlight never comes through, I’m so sad and lonely, baby, since I broke off baby with you.
8. Ooh, let’s get down tonight, baby, I’m hot just like an oven, I need some lovin’.
9. I’ll start this off without any words, I got so high I scratched ‘til I bled.
10. Billy, he’s down by the railroad tracks, sittin’ low in the back seat of his Cadillac.

**Bonus** What the hell is wrong with me? I’m not who I want to be. I tried spot cream and I tried it all, I’m crawling up the wall!

Answers Friday, as usual.

Practice What You Preach

Morans.

Rather Rude Random Flickr Blogging

With apologies as necessary this week...

o/` "All in all, you're just a-nother prick and two balls..." o/` "Pssst! Just another brick in the wall! The line is 'brick in the wall'!" "Look, you sing it your way and I'll sing it mine."

After demonstrating extraordinary bravery by surviving that harrowing Richard Gere ordeal, Stuffy was crowned King of all the Gerbils and Guinea Pigs.

That snot your Big Gulp, honey.

Bunzapoppin' with this cheeky lass!

...So the first sperm asks, "Are we almost to the uterus?" and the second sperm answers, "Uterus? Hell, we just passed the esophagus!"

(Original images, #1671, posted here, here, here, here and here. Random Flickr Blogging explained in a very genteel manner by the rarely-rude Tom Hilton here.)

Choice Of Veggies

Take the Bush-McCain Challenge and discover how little difference there is between the two. Do you want four more years of George W. Bush? Or do you want four years of Bush policies on steroids? Because that's pretty much what McCain is offering.

Answers In A Van Down By The River

Thought maybe I had you folks there for a little while on Tuesday with the all Van Morrison list, especially when the mighty Eric B checked in with only three correct answers (#3, #4 & #6), and young Fred confessed to being completely lost. Then along came Melville, closely followed by ahab, to let me know that I’m not the only Vanatic in the blogosphere. (Hmmm… Melville. ahab. Melville. ahab. Hmmm. Curioser and curioser…) Well done, good sirs!

By the way, the “What is this, rent an audience?” quote comes from the often-irascible Van the Man himself, a rather rude comment he blurted out during a show back in the early ‘90s at the Great American Music Hall when the audience’s whooping and hollering during a couple songs made him rather testy. (I believe that’s even the title of the bootleg CD of that particular performance.) I was lucky (?) enough to be in the audience for that, and it was probably the most petulant tirade I’ve ever seen a rock star throw while onstage. Somebody replied to him, saying, “We love you, Van!” or some such, and he went off. “Well, shut the fuck up, then! Let us do the work!” Despite that, I still think he puts on some of the best shows I’ve ever been privileged to see. I was definitely lucky the night I sat in the audience at the Masonic Auditorium in December, 1993, for the show that eventually got captured on the album A Night In San Francisco. I don't believe in religion, but I believe in transcendence. On that night, and a few others before and since, I experienced transcendence. Rapture. Ecstasy. And even if I’d never seen him perform, how can you listen to his music and not love it? As my sister once delicately put it, “He is a goddamn fucking genius.”

Yes, yes he is.

Anyway, here is the key, along with the albums these songs can be found on in bold. If you don’t already own these and a lot more, well, all I can say is that I feel sorry for you.

1. Have to get back, have to get back the base. I need to talk to somebody I can trust. I’m Not Feeling It Anymore; Hymns To The Silence

2. I'm kicking off from centre field, a question of being down for the game. Bulbs; Veedon Fleece

3. We were born before the wind, also younger than the sun. Ere the bonnie boat was won... Into The Mystic; Moondance

4. How can you stand the silence that pervades when we all cry, how can you watch the violence that erupts before your eyes? Wonderful Remark; The Philosopher’s Stone

5. Chamois cleaning all the windows, singing songs about Edith Piaf's soul, and I hear blue strains of "no regredior" across the street from cathedral Notre Dame. Saint Dominic’s Preview; Saint Dominic’s Preview

6. You can take all the tea in China, put it in a big brown bag for me... Tupelo Honey; Tupelo Honey

7. Look at the ivy on the cold clinging wall, look at the flowers and the green grass so tall. Warm Love; Hard Nose The Highway

8. And I will stroll the merry way and jump the hedges first, and I will drink the clear clean water for to quench my thirst. Sweet Thing; Astral Weeks

9. Don't want to discuss it, think it's time for a change. You may get disgusted, start thinkin' that I'm strange. Domino; His Band And The Street Choir

10. Oh, the smell of the bakery from across the street got in my nose, as we carried our ladders down the street with the wrought-iron gate rows. Cleaning Windows; Beautiful Vision

**Bonus** Go for a ride in the still of the night and the morning brings forth all this wonderful delight... Flamingos Fly; A Period Of Transition (There is also a version, as Melville pointed out, on The Philosopher’s Stone.)

Back at it next week!

Comfortably Numb

Hey, speaking of Van Morrison...

The Gospel According To Matt

More from The Great Derangement, written by the man who is rapidly becoming my new hero, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi (h/t to TBogg at firedoglake for the quote and the link), talking about St. McBBQ's BFF John Hagee (who, just in case no one is paying attention, has received pretty much zero attention in the corporate media versus the interminable days and nights that they have recently spent parsing every single goddamn sentence Jeremiah Wright has ever uttered in his entire life and those of a few others). Hagee:

"This is the Pale Horse," he warned. "He is the color of rotting flesh. He will be given the power to destroy twenty-five percent of the population. This is going to happen during the Tribulation. You do not want to be there."

From here Hagee went into a long spiel about the difference between the Christ of the Gospels and the Christ of Revelation. This is an important point for people who are not fundamentalist Christians and want to undertsand them. The Gospels Christ is basically a long-haired, touchy-feely hippie who goes around being nice to people... The Christ of Revelations is built like the Rock and roams the universe braining sinners with lead pipes. Fundamentalists clearly prefer the Revelation Christ. Hagee explained:

"In Matthew he is the lamb being led to the slaughter. In Revelation he is the LION OF JUDAH! He is going to rule with a rod of iron!"

And when that rod-bearing Christ comes back, us unbelievers had better fucking duck:

"How is Jesus going to crush secular humanism and liberalism and anti-Semitism and atheism?" Hagee asked. "He is not going to ask the Supreme Court to put the Ten Commandments up in our courthouses. He is going to tell them, and they will bow down to him like children."

The crowd roared.

"And those judges who let men get married - he is going to cast them into the pit of Hell to be roasted for all of eternity like they deserve!"

I raised my hands in a full Freeze-Motherfucker. Go Jesus! Waste those judges.

But just when it seemed that Hagee had his crowd right where he wanted them, he switched gears and began talking about Iran and Israel. Hagee is a subtle operator. Whenever he mentions the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmandinejad, it is always not moments after a long tirade about Satan. He will give hints about the Antichrist's identity - he is not an American, says Hagee, but he is a smooth talker.

"He will come preaching peace," said Hagee, "and he will sign treaties that he has no intention of keeping."

"Like Muslims!" someone behind me whispered.

And just as the crowd was ruminating over the possible identity of the Antichrist, Hagee switched gears and dropped a bombshell on the crowd. "Iran's president is planning a nuclear holocaust, and how our empty-headed leaders in Washington don't see that, I don't know!" he grumbled.

From there he went on for a while about Israel and Iran. I felt the energy leaving the hall. The people in this church come to services for help in dealing with their own problems, which of course are legion. They are there to find a reason for living amid the financial struggle, the constant battles with sin and despair, or romantic disappointments, loneliness, abuse, addiction. They could give a shit about Israel and they could give a shit about Iran. And so, while Hagee worked himself up into a frenzy about Iran, the crowd only cheered politely. This was even true at the climax.

"And now comes a new Hitler," roared the pastor, "and his name is Ahmandinejad. Iran MUST BE STOPPED!!!"

Polite clapping from the crowd.

*Crickets*

Anniversary

Five. Fucking. Years.