This is getting ridiculous

John McCain was a POW, part MMDCXLVII.

For chicken little

First contact

There's a reason they sequestered her away from the press:

Enabling, but not fully explicable

People’s practices have variable possibilities, democratic as well as nondemocratic. They draw their energies and orientations from the social imaginaries and institutional arrangements within which they are embedded at a given historical juncture. One might, following Charles Taylor, define “cultures of democracy” as a regional subset of the larger social imaginary, the enabling but not fully explicable symbolic matrix within which a people imagine and act as world-making collective agents. This regional imaginary is further marked by the primacy of the “political” in a people’s engagement with the world. In our times, not abruptly but following an enduring historical trajectory, a people’s mode of being political is imagined and constituted primarily within a democratic idiom. Nowhere is this more evident than in the unshakable link forged since the onset of modernity between the idea of democracy and the doctrine of popular sovereignty. Therefore, the boundaries of the political, always under contestation but not always identical with the democratic, are expressed in and through the practices of the people. The stress on “practices” is deliberate because they are, aside from their pragmatic and phenomenological valence, inscribed with (as in a habitus) and articulate (as with symbolic forms) a people’s collective values, sentiments, and understandings (as with theories). In short, a people’s practices might be regarded as an indispensable hermeneutic key to deciphering their political imaginary.

- Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar, "On Cultures of Democracy" in Public Culture 19 (1).
(Note - I am okay moving from talking about "politics" to talking about "the political (as such)"... but I am not sure about the definite article in "the democratic.")

New Poll -- Borrowing Without Asking!

Hey all,

Go ahead and give us some feedback in the new poll up on the right. I'm looking to take the temperature of the OGians on illegal media downloads. I have a feeling we will have a diversity of opinion not seen since we all weighed in on the Biden pick (good times, I remember them fondly).

I also ask because I recently stepped up my downloading (or 'renting, as some would have it), as I missed the first half of the new Battlestar season and have no interest in waiting for it to come out on DVD, amongst other things. My daughter got wind of this and was all over my gravy about it. What do you all think, should I amend my ways, get back on the straight and narrow, wait a year to pay $79 for some BSG action?

Poll results will published Monday, so vote today!

Department of Hookers and Blow

All this time I've been thinking the action was in the Crystal City hotels across the interstate from the Pentagon. Who knew that the party was happening over at Interior? Next I suppose we'll be learning that the BLM actually stands for Booze, Lechers, and Meth.

Let it go Learn to read wobs

The media has gotten so hooked on the cheap high of the Obama/Hillary tiff that they'll try to spike a vein with any low-grade junk that comes their way:

Joe Biden told supporters at a town hall Wednesday afternoon that Barack Obama might have been better off choosing Hillary Clinton as his running mate.

“Make no mistake about this, Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight,” Biden said testily when a voter told Biden he was glad the Delaware senator had been chosen and not Clinton.

I'm sorry, the only way to read Biden's statement is as a self-effacing pol speaking in defense of a colleague. You've got to be incredibly desperate for a fix in order to twist that into an admission that the Democratic campaign would be "better off choosing Hillary Clinton."

I know that detox is a bitch, but people really need to let this one die.

[updated]: per ez in the comments, I'm an idiot. How's that for self-effacing!

Welcome To My World

Sometimes it is nice to know that others are having the same problem as you, even if it is small consolation.

YouTube/Falsh videos stop working for me after 2 seconds in both the Firefox and the Chrome.

Work just fine with the IE.

As long as I am here, let me say that I liked the new Seinfeld-Gates surrealist commercial. Which I can't link to. Because I can't open youtube videos.

Is Anything Weirder than Liberalism?

Human history is full of earlier, hierarchical regimes…But the progress of what we call modernity, in its different forms, undermines all these traditional ideas and eventually makes them incredible. In the end, the only basis for stable legitimacy we can fall back on turns out to be that we should obey our rulers because in doing so we are really obeying ourselves.
- Charles Taylor, "Cultures of Democracy and Citizen Efficacy" in Public Culture 19 (1).

Lipstick Hot

and good on us for making it the entire 24 hours or whatever it was WITHOUT having had to comment. (h/t: dylan matthews as ezra klein - good read, btw.)

Your New Job

Not bad, huh? But it's 3 minutes long, so where it is supposed to run?

Enter the Strawman

Anyone else notice how McLame/PaLIEn aren't campaigning against any known arguments?

McLame/PaLIEn: My opponent wants to teach babys sex ed... we oppose.
McLame/PaLIEn: My opponent wants to raise everyone's taxes...we think that is unwise.
McLame/PaLIEn: My opponent doesn't even want us to drill for water...we like very much.
McLame/PaLIEn: My opponent thinks we should coddle all terrarists...we would liquify them, my friends
McLame/PaLIEn: My opponent supports all earmarks (even Alaska's)....we have always opposed all thing earmarkish.
McLame/PaLIEn: My opponent wants to put lipstick on all pigs....we are against it.

Is there a trend? How does one combat such tactics?

EZ POLLING- LATE EDITION

results of the past week(and a half)'s polling are as follows:

14


I believe Dave will be conducting the next poll....

but I shall return to polling in a few weeks
(much like Macarthur only without any troops)

Hillary Never Would Have Done This

In case you all missed it, Obama gave teachers the ol' "Fuck you" yesterday calling for more charter schools, merit-based pay, and making it easier to fire teachers who "aren't up to the job."

Obviously, Obama is pandering to the "independents" who, along with a great many Americans, have bought into the idea that by the very act of giving birth (or completing adoption papers), a person automatically acquires the knowledge to know when a teacher or school is "good" or "bad." Coupled with this intuitive skill is the fact that God conveniently correlates a teacher's crappiness with the performance of little Johnny or Sally in the classroom. When Johnny gets bad grades or does poorly on a test or (and you know I am just joking here) gets sent to the principal's office, a parent is able to know that this is a crappy teacher in action.

Obama's actions are stupid, stupid, stupid. He just threw teachers and teacher's unions under the bus. The Democratic Party now supports merit pay. Oh, I know that he will try to weasel when he's talking directly to the NEA and AFT. He'll try to say that "merit pay" can be based on any number of criteria. He'll try to say it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with testing. "Charter schools" could mean any number of things. "Vouchers" can mean any number of things. The important thing is we "reach out" and move into a "post-partisan" education policy.

Somehow Barack Obama thinks that the collective bargaining rights teachers in America should be modified or curbed or abridged or taken away so that it is "easier" to fire a "bad" teacher. Which is, of course, the subtext here. Obama needs to show that he's independent of those evil, evil teacher's unions who are dragging down education in this country with their insistence on quality at all schools. Their recognition that which kids from what background end up in their classes is not up to them, so paying them based on how these kids do on standardized tests is ludicrous. These crazy teacher's unions that believe that if employers want to fire their workers, there should be a written process as to how that gets done and that process needs to be negotiated.

The Democratic Party candidate for President just bought a whole host of right-wing talking points. And for what? Do you think that the Republicans are now going to stop attack the Democrats as being in the pocket of the teacher's unions? Does Obama think that joining with the Republicans in demonizing teacher's unions will mean that the Republicans will stop demonizing teachers? Does anything in Obama's experience lead him to believe that the Republicans will accept his proposals as fair compromises between two positions? That they will meet him in the middle?

Of course they won't. The goal of the Republican party is to smash public education in the US. Education is the great equalizer. The Republican party does not want equality. Hell, I think that's their official motto. They are not going to suddenly abandon that goal. They are not going to reach across the aisle.

The conversation in about education in America just took a giant leap to the right. Thanks to Barack Obama, who stood up to his allies instead of his enemies.

Moral Relativism

You all know that I am not a smart man, so help me out here.

Having sex outside of marriage is a sin, yes? But apparently, not that big of a sin.

From what I understand, abortion is murder, which is a huge sin. Big time. Not having an abortion qualifies someone to be vice president and definitely overrides the sin of having premarital sex.

But, volunteering to participate in a war of conquest and killing someone (be they combatant, or, as is more likely, innocent civilian) is not murder nor a sin.

Do I have this right? Because, if so, it seems to me that it is fair to say that the decisions one makes are influenced by a particular set of circumstances and what is "right" or "wrong" can depend on those circumstances or even a particular point of view.

Hmmm.

What happened to good drug etiquette?

Thanks to the NYT, I spent the evening familiarizing myself with the whole genre of Salvia trip YouTube videos (as an added bonus, it's also the first time I recall having seen the word "bong" appear in the Times). Back in my younger and wilder days, I was no stranger to all manner of psychedelics, and to be perfectly honest, I enjoyed them. Salvia, however, was my least favorite - I tried it once and had the worst experience of my life. It wasn't a good time. Some people enjoy it, and that's fine by me, but it's definitely not my cup of ('shroom) tea.

Watching the videos, though, made me realize we were downright civilized in our little adventures. A few thoughts:

• Tim Leary always talked about "set and setting" in having a good trip. We always managed to either be outside in a safe environment, at a show or club, or some comfy place to chill out. Watching these jokers get blasted in their dingy apartments doesn't seem like a lot of fun to me.
• You know what sucks when you're tripping? People pointing and laughing, and some jerk trying to "trip you out" with some sort of nonsense. People, just let the person enjoy their voyage.
• You know what would've sucked even more? Someone waving a camera in my face and documenting my trip.
• And really, posting it on YouTube? I don't care if the shit's legal, broadcasting to the world how fucked up you were is one of the stupidest uses of technology I've seen.

Take the advice from someone who's "been there," kids - turn off the camera, light up a doob, put on Dark Side of the Moon, and just relax. It's much easier on your constitution.

< /cranky old man >

Oh, fuck it. This one's pretty fucking funny.

The RNC in One Minute

From 23/6:

Presenting Matador Recording Artists...

Sonic Youth!!!?!?!? Talk about an idea 'whose time has come.' We'll see if it works out better than their previous stay with Gerard "CantStopTheBleeding" Cosloy over at Homestead?

Crap/Not Crap - Craft Union Voluntarism

The Federation adopted an equally interesting political strategy, for Gompers sought to make voluntarism and the craft unions' nonpartisan civic education a source of political strength rather than weakness. Trade unionists would debate and deliberate political issues within their own councils, formulating a cohesive set of policy demands. They would then present labor's agenda to each of the political parties, and educate their members on the parties' response. The AFL, as in the past, would not affiliate with a political party; in fact, the strategy would only work if they did not. Gompers itended to forge unions into a highly knowledgeable, independent bloc of swing voters, so that all parties seriously contesting elections would have to address labor's needs. Organized labor would not be apolitical or partisan but would pursue "aggressive nonpartisan political action." As he explained it, "labor does not become partisan to a polititcal party, but partisan to a principle." - Schools of democracy : a political history of the American labor movement by Clayton Sinyai

Part 2 of the Sub-Saga/Around L'Horn

• Today I will meet with an anthropologist whose book about the labor movement i like a lot. This will entail my first jaunt outside of the house in many, many hours/days. After so much traveling, I am overcome with the odd sense of beginning the regular season. I hope it's a championship season (insert semi-finals reference here for all the sewanee blokes and women.)
• How can it be possible that there will be a Ghostbusters remake with the Office people writing it?
  
• Speaking of Ohio Rock Gods, do we all know the New Bomb Turks, whose first two albs rank alongside your Rockets to Russia and your Fun House and (especially) your Pink Flag? If you don't, get to know them with this well-written bit by the main man from Last Days of Man on Earth. It situates their music within the larger, overlooked Columbus scene.
  
• And speaking of Last Days of Man On Earth, this post dedicated to the wide variety of left and right- political postures that accompanied the Great Punk Seven-Inches of 1986! It is a must-see.
• Oh, and Wobs.... the Greatest-Ever, Better-Than-The-Velvets-Maybe? first Pere Ubu 7", over at the already-missed Detailed Twang.