Tim Russert, I Miss You Man

I just finished watching Keith Olbermann on MSNBC give a special remembrance of Tim Russert, on the year anniversary of his death. Every once in a while, usually when the vitriol is subdued, Mr. Olbermann has the ability to deliver a sermon that hits me deep.

When the footage of Mr. Russert started to run, immediately images of my father appeared in my heart, for we spent every Sunday watching Tim, and then root against his Buffalo Bills.

We would watch Bill Moyers, David Brinkley and Sam Donaldson, Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer, Charles Kuralt and even the absurd McLaughlin Group. Throughout all of these, weekend after weekend, it was Meet the Press with Tim Russert that made him chew his cud. My dad didn't just trust Tim to ask the hard questions, he knew he would follow up until he got an answer.

Or, maybe, it was because my dad was a Giants fan, and any other team in New York was acceptable, as long as they lost. As my dad would say, Tim's probably a Mets fan, too.

These Sundays with my dad and Tim were such a part of my life, that when my father passed away (he was 51 and I was 21), I continued to watch religiously, both because it made me feel close to dad, and because my father was right; Tim Russert was infectiously curious. Mr. Russert made me want to sit where he was, asking the real questions, and not letting up until he got real answers. Whether Tim and my dad were alike, I will never know, but the similarities of his sudden passing and the void left by this loss were uncanny. As soon as I heard that Tim had died, my first thought was of his son, Luke. Then of my dad. Then me.

I will forever miss those Sunday's; playing chess, watching Tim, eating my dad's infamous Chicken a la Sam, and watching the Bill's lose, again. For me, when my father died, it was an end of innocence. An end to the belief that everything works out. And when Tim died, I couldn't help but notice the slow death of real journalism.

Luke, if you ever get a chance to read this, your father brought my relationship with my father to a deeper level. Thoughtful, curious, funny and so openly loving of his father and his family; Tim Russert was a part of my life, a part of my family. And I miss him, as I miss my own father; with gratitude and a smile, and the occasional tear.

Free Speech And Homeland Security

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security issued a booklet on extremist/subversive groups within the country, and found itself apologizing for including radical, right-wing, conservative groups like anti-choice protesters and white supremacists. After the last two shootings by a couple of christian, right-wing radicals (religious extremists), Rachael Maddow, Keith Olbermann and others on the left, have been throwing around the term "home grown terrorist" very loosely.

What ever happened to crazy, or criminal?

We tread a slippery slope indeed, when we start calling one group, or another, 'terrorists'. This terminology is precisely what has given us Patriot Act I and Patriot Act II, FISA, and a host of MASSIVE bureaucracies like the Department of Homeland Security, (Hi, boys). And it is the very reason we have witnessed the shredding of the Bill of Rights, The U.S. Constitution, the Geneva Convention and a myriad of other treaties and civil and labor rights abuses and assassinations. We have seen the end of print media, and the conglomeration of news outlets like Wall Mart, I mean FOX. And now we have MSNBC calling out FOX for being terrorist inciters and sympathisers. Unfortunately, I listen to Rush and Hannity, as well as Schultz and Stephie, and they are all in the tank. Seems like they all drank the Orwellian Kool Aid.

The conversation should never stray from the atrocities being committed in our name, with our money, by our brave and desperate and naive infantry. Seems like we are all a little too head shy from the 60's protests; a little ashamed of how we treated the soldiers when they came home, to say what we all know to be true:

You do not kill for an idea. A concept. A belief. A fear. Even the grunts figure that out after a couple of tours. It is not who we are. It is not Human. War is in- Human.

The way I see it, the biggest obstacle to having a complete police state is the progressive movement. But the so-called left is calling out the Department of Homeland Security for removing these extremist groups from the "terror watch list". Now that they have to answer for that, how easy is it for DHS to justify putting anyone on that list? (I seem to remember, not that long ago, certain voter groups and non-profit groups - labelled as subversive - in Maryland, were being targeted by the DHS.)

And isn't that really the point? Once the Department of Homeland Security responds to these pressures, it's very existence is accepted as a given.

I protest.

The only reason we have the DHS is because of September 11th. And if September 11th was...

Let us not forget;

-warrantless wiretapping,
-unlawful search and seizures,
-torture of non-violent (and known to be innocent) suspects,
-suspension of habeas corpus,
-viper squads in our airports, train stations and subways, and
-fully stocked FEMA camps, nationwide

How about

-a robot war in three countries
-indiscriminate bombing of civilians
-putting out "hits" on political opponents,
-using assassination squads all over the world
-hiring over 250,000 mercenaries (Hessians)

Where is the Fourth Estate? What happened to our democracy? Our republic?

Let us not forget these blatant abuses of our civil liberties. Let us prosecute, to the full extent of American Law, all sociopaths that violate our shared concept of Humanity. And let us not get swept up, once again, into surrendering our fought for freedoms, for "security" sake.

Lest we wake up neither free, nor secure.

States Rights, Or Get Off My Lawn

Two days ago, Dr. Tiller from Wichita, Kansas, was gunned downed in the church where he was ushering. He was assassinated by a lone gunman who was a part of an extreme, right wing, anti-abortion league. They call themselves right to lifers. They believe in the 'sanctity of life'. So, someone from their group kills a doctor who believes that abortion in some cases is medically necessary. So, who kills the guy, for killing the guy who "killed" babies? And where does that cycle end? And who makes such decisions?

It is my belief, and firm conviction, that this, among many countless other issues, is precisely why we created America. This is a country where I can believe whatever I want. And don't you dare come into my world and tell me what to believe or think or feel. If you don't like what I do, stay the hell away from me. I am not coming into your world and making you do what I believe. How in the world do these people feel they have any right to impose their will on me, or any other American, who doesn't believe what they do? It's righteous indignation and utter hypocrisy.

How about we live in a country where we can each believe in whatever we want? A country where we respect the reality that we are Americans first, and our personal beliefs come second to that hard fought for freedom. This is the ultimate price we each pay every day here; tolerance of differences out of respect for the foundations of our country.

But that freedom has a responsibility. We all live in this country together; Jews, Christians, Muslims, Pagans, Atheists, Democrats, Corporatists, Republicans, Greens, loggers, doctors, lawyers, carpenters, husband, wives, sons and daughters.

We have a system of government which allows for each town, city, county, state to have representatives that we vote into office; that closest resemble what we believe, so that our voice may be heard in government. We live in a country where, if you don't like the demographics of your surroundings, you are free to move to any area in the country that closer resembles your value system. That could be gambling and prostitution in Nevada, third term abortions in Wichita, Mormonism (polygamy) in Utah, Amish in Pennsylvania and even the Cowboys in Dallas. That was the whole point of forging America.

If you don't like the way this country works, go to school, enter the government and change it. Or move to Zimbabwe. Or Jakarta. In any case, whatever you do, get off my lawn and off of what's left of my personal freedoms.

Transparency, Indeed.

Cartoon by Daryl Cagle


Let me start this rant by apologizing, in advance, to anyone who might be offended by the language that ensues......it is my intent to offend.

For anyone currently feeling, as I do, as if their life is in a sort of limbo; I was reminded today of the butterfly.

Now, being a caterpillar is probably pretty cool. I'm not exactly sure what the upside would be, but if I was a caterpillar, I would find one, or two. And the coolest thing would have to be the butterfly you knew you would soon become. If only you don't get eaten by all the thousands of different entities that specifically want to eat you. And/or, all the thousands of different things that squish you, simply because you were in the way.

And that time that you languish on the underside of a leaf, the most vulnerable time of all, must seem like an eternity. Or at least as long as the Bush Dynasty. Just not as scary. Close, but not as scary as the Bush Dynasty.

We, my fellow Americans, my fellow humans, we are that pupae. It is a scary time indeed. The chances of death and despair far out way the chances of exceeding our potential. And yet, this feeling. This nagging fucking feeling like the other shoe is about to drop. It is unmistakable. The sky isn't falling, sheeple. It fell a long time ago. You don't construct over three hundred FEMA camps all over the country for shits and giggles.

We just handed Chrysler and G.M. 70 billion dollars. And now they are bankrupt. We knew they were going bankrupt. We gave them the money and then they went bankrupt. How does that work? Why, exactly, did we buy such an expensive bucket to bail out the Titanic? And where is the money?

How about Citigroup? I heard on the news, in the shadow of G.M. going bankrupt, that Citigroup was also being taken off the 'big board'. And we just handed them billions and billions and....let's face it folks; we have been robbed.

Anyone out there ever come home to an empty house? Or worse, like me, have you ever been home and been robbed? Well, if the answer is yes, then you know the feeling of having your dignity handed to your heart by way of your asshole. You also know the rage that comes with being so totally violated on every level of human understanding. The social contract was ripped up in your face and all you can do is watch.

Well, what do you think is going on in front of our faces, sheeple?

Can I ask just one very simple question? Why in the hell would anybody write a check to the government ever again? We know exactly where that money is going. Obama campaigned on transparency. Well, my friends, it doesn't get anymore transparent than this.

Let's just say I wanted to buy a rug. So I go to the rug store and pick one out and pay for it. Only, I don't get the rug. In fact, they are telling me, I now owe more for the rug, that I didn't get, than when I paid for it. So, like an idiot, I pay the extra and hope to get out of there with the rug. Only, I don't get the rug. No, no, no. This time, they assure me, when I pay for the rug, it'll be a nicer rug than the one I bought two times ago. So, I leave the store vowing never to do business there again, only to discover I never got the rug. So I go back to the store and the store is now closed for renovations. There is a sign on the door and it says; Sorry for the inconvenience, we are too busy counting all the money we just stole from this idiot who thought we sold rugs.

So I ask you, why in the hell would you go back to that store and give them another dime? Now, or ever? They are bad businessmen and even worse people. All they have done is take, and all they plan to continue to do is take, and I really don't even have enough for myself and those around me.

As the time draws near, and the very construct of our society awakens to it's full potential, I will be, and have been, present to do the work that is required to make life's difficult changes. For if we do not evolve, then we will surely die.

Man, am I an impatient little pupae.

"I Heard The News Today, Oh Boy...."

When I was a child, growing up in Manhattan, Simon and Garfunkel put out a version of Silent Night. Under the music, the nightly news was being aired. I remember thinking how over the top that particular news segment was; everything from the Vietnam War, to the shootings at Kent State, to the killings of the nurses at the University of Florida. It goes on for several minutes, each story seemingly more outrageous than the last.

Then I watched Meet the Press this morning. On the show, David Gregory had the CEO of Xerox, the CEO of Caterpillar, and the CEO of Google. The interview takes place on the floor of the stock market in New York, on the day that General Motors announced it will file for bankruptcy.

Mr. Gregory asks each of these people their opinion on what the future of America, and specifically the future of economic wealth in America, will be.

It struck me: how similar to the parable of the three blind men; each one held a different part of an elephant. When asked to describe what an elephant looked like, each man had an eloquent and accurate description of the body part they were holding. And not one of them came remotely close to actually describing the elephant.

The CEO of Google was asked the scariest question: "What are the top searches on Google?" That he even had a response was scary.

The CEO of Caterpillar was asked what the future of American manufacturing looked like. His response was even scarier; the US must be a Global leader.

The CEO of Xerox was asked if she thought America would rebound economically; if corporations were starting to hire again. Her response; no. Then he asked her about American's wealth, and if that would return to the levels we have grown accustomed to. Her response; no.

Mr. Gregory started, and ended, by acknowledging the fact that they were doing the interview on the floor of the NYSE, because the corporations they represented were major players on the market, General Motors was about to be erased from the board and because the market itself is intrinsically linked to our economy.

Let that sink in real good.

The market itself is intrinsically linked to our economy.

Now, when I tell you that the multi-national corporations are running this country and this planet, do you think anyone will believe me?

And yet you have one senator openly stating that the banks own Congress. You have another senator saying the insurance companies own Congress. And we nod in fake understanding when our elected "representatives" tell us that certain companies are "too big to fail", so we have to open our Treasury and let them literally empty the banks. Literally.

The bottom line should be fairly obvious. Everything that we are seeing today is designed to prepare us for what has already happened.

We are broke.

The system is broke.

Never has there been a clearer time for action than now....."in order to form a more perfect union".