d a m n . . .

well, well, well,
Time Mag pretty much nails it, eh?
the Decade from Hell;
and yourstruly couldn't agree more, 'specially most of the last couple of years. Dreadful months on end, one after another. Not so sure things are going to get much better soon.

jeebus...

William Jefferson to the rescue!

via the New Yorker online,
ol'dawg Willy C. saves the day.

and ain't that a truly fearsome duo pictured in the post below,
Dante and Ju Ju be striking the fear of Dawg into one and all.
AND just where in the hell is that lazy-ass chango tonto muckerfrikker?

The Master of Low Expectations: 666 Reasons...

Sentient Citizens are Still Celebrating the Long Overdue Departure of George W. Bush, courtesy Kotori Magazine...

viva la ukulele !

as timely a list as you will ever see...

by way of the estimable m. woods & his wood s lot, courtesy of Salon
(once you get past that ad blip thingie),
The 13 people who made torture possible

a hero to all of us who have long wished...

for the opportunity to fling something at that enormous waste of space known as G.W. Bush.
courtesy the NYT: Shoe-Hurling Iraqi Becomes a Folk Hero

In the newspapers I read, the supreme court decisions that have been, effectively, the Achilles heel of the president of the senate, have been:

Still reeling a bit from Mel's post, we're now home from watching the vp debate @ Galapogos - highly recommended as a debate watching spot.

A few things.

Winking? How many times? Four times I know I shouted when it happened.

Achilles heel. She doesn't know what the term means. Achilles heel and Bush Doctrine. Funny coincidence. For me, a coincidence too: a few years back I found myself a little obsessed with the Iliad, read a number of versions of it. The Rage of Achilles (Fagels translation):

"Achilles, dear to Zeus...
you order me to explain Apollo's anger,
the distant deadly Archer? I will tell all.
But strike a pact with me, swear you will defend me
with all your heart, with words and strength of hand.
For there is a man I will enrage - I see it now -
a powerful man who lords it over all the Argives,
one the Acheans must obey... A mighty king
raging against an inferior, is too strong.
Even if he can swallow down his wrath today,
still he will nurse the burning in his chest
until, sooner or later, he sends it bursting forth.
Consider it closely, Achilles, will you save me?"

Wink.
Wink.
Sigh.
Whatever. And I've finally made it to the epilogue of Woodward's book and am free at last to move on. Damn him for making Bush seem, uh, human. Ahab, but human. Obsessed with body counts rather than diplomacy, but human. Do it if you can, drag yourself through the book. You might then feel disqualified from any further discussion re the surge - you'll have way too many facts to weigh in easily - but really, that's OK.

And something Biden said toward his closing - "I have never since that moment in my first year questioned the motive of another member of the Congress or Senate with whom I've disagreed. I've questioned their judgment." Woodward gives you everything you need for that equation.

Anyway, having made it to the end of that book this morning and feeling like I needed something engrossing on my way to Galapagos, I jumped into a bookstore & opted for Jose Saramago's Blindness. 10 pages in. Not going to be funny, I can tell already.

But back to the debate: what I wanted to say was that the single most explosive reaction from the young (we could have sired most the folks there - individually, not in total) was something, I don't even know what, Sarah P said about women's rights. Every woman in the place erupted. Plosive and abusive. Woo.

Back to you, Katie.

sorry to be such a downer...

but the bad news only seems to get worser...
(me can say worser if me wants to, okay?)
two bits of chewy linky goodness that will make you want to spit up:
(provided us via the marvel that is wood s lot)...
With All Eyes on the Bailout,
House Passes Trillion-Dollar Defense Bill;
if that wasn't tough enough to wrap your tongue around,
Bush, economic crisis, and war.
much much more marvelous stuff there at mark's place,
much of it will lift thy spirits...

this last jessferdahalibut, The Arena via Politico;
archived topics located at the bottom of the current page.
News Flash: HOT off the presses:
New Yorker endorses BamBam

via NPR, some audio linky bits...

hey dere-
goshdarned american public (particularly those republican types) making me very very nervous with their gullibility and essential stupidity...

some interesting stuff to share w/thee via Fresh Air on NPR:
someone you may be familiar with, Thomas L. Friedman, speaking about his latest book, Hot, Flat, & Crowded in this interview. Whilst ourowndamnedself has had plenty of occasion to take issue with some of Mr. Friedman's opinions in the past, we like a lot of what we heard about this book.
also from NPR recently, another well known author, a certain Bob Woodward, speaks about his latest work, The War Within, providing some not-so-surprising-insights into white house shenanigans alongside further revelations regarding the incompetence of a certain head of state via this interview.
Extra added NPR Fresh Air bonus, same show that brought us the B. Woodward interview, some good stuff on vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson & the reissue of his 1971 Blue Note/EMI album, Head On.

y'all maintain an even strain now, best ye can...

yea, verily...

and has been true for some while now.
Smart vs Dumb.
Will We Choose Wisely?

me am grateful to P.B over at the clusterflockers hangout for providing that chunk o' linky goodness

some good stuff to share

stalwart old-school weblogger Kevin Murphy has been covering the DNC and (currently) RNC over at his Ghost in the Machine. We salute thee, K.M., and have long appreciated the good stuff you share with us there at GITM. Muchas Gracias and keep up the great stuff...

back from something slightly resembling a vacation...

some pleasant hours spent in the Santa Cruz & Monterey environs, but me back at chez juju now. Ourowndarnedself caught a couple of very interesting interviews on the tube that we recommend to thee, hope you have opportunity to view them both, perhaps choosing to seek out the books mentioned in the interviews.

First, from Charlie Rose, an interview with Philip Gourevitch alongside one viewed only minutes ago whilst watching Bill Moyers Journal,
an interview with Andrew J. Bacevich.
Via Tom Dispatch, this extra added bonus, penned by Andrew J. Bacevich, Is Perpetual War Our Future.

This is what (50, democracy, your brain) looks (or sounds) like (sometimes modified by a mind altering substance or event)

Funny, I almost posted yesterday about Gloria Steinem's famous This is what 50 looks like remark along with the marching chant This is what democracy sounds like, but I was too pooped. Then Lori told me that GS was on TV explaining that Hillary's defeat was due to sexism, not addressing Hillary & her campaign's behavior and tone over the last year. The segment explaining that Rome's collapse was due to lead pots was apparently not aired or archived on CNN.

Hey, I'm reading Scott McClellan's What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception. About a quarter of the way through. Scott, I'll call him bubala, seems very sincere and pretty boring. Way right of you and me, left of where the Bushies turned out, and either suicidal or really driven by conscience. Anyway, bubala talks a good deal about the mindset of the permanent campaign and the replacement of governance with the altering of public opinion. He spreads the blame. But he also talks about how, pre shrub, the Clintons were the absolute masters of attack and psy-ops. (He thinks they've been bested by the current administration).

Personally, I'd always resisted of thinking of the Clinton administration that way - and I wonder if this was pure partisanship on my part. I mean, how likely is it that the ugliness they've shown in the past year is genuinely new? Depressed me to think of what judgements I might be setting aside in the interest of supporting the home team.

Anyway, here's the synopses of my thinking this last year:
Who is Obama? I like him, but do you vote for someone because you like him? Maybe you vote for someone you like if you believe he or she will uphold the platform of the party. The one thing I absolutely do not want is another president half the country hates. Please, Lordy, no more sick divisiveness. I start giving Bam Bam lots of fond nicknames, a sure sign. The only D I'm liking less than H right now is Lieberman. H slips below Lieberman. I have a dream that Larry Olivier has a dentist's drill in his hand and I am Dustin Hoffman and I'm strapped into the chair and screaming and Larry rips his own face off and underneath is Hillary's face.

reason # 4,687...

to feel a very particular kind of hopelessness:
the recent shenanigans of this insipid fool...


all me can say is "let ME chest bump that dullard..."

warm here on the left coast today...

and we speaking specifically 'bout the Northern Califa part of the left coast where we're expecting it to get much warmer tomorrow...

a nod of our increasingly salt&peppery shaggy head in the direction of Esteban's mention of E. Morris, as we came across this very interesting interview via those clusterflockers we made mention of last time around. Be sure to visit the source site, as Seed Magazine is mighty good brain food.

some linky goodness out of the pages of the local fishwrap, one noting the passing of local literary lion, Oakley Hall along with very affectionate tribute courtesy Leah Garchik; here's something about a beverage most of us consider an important part of our day, mornings in particular, Roast With The Most.

Alright, basta basta, datz enuf, we can feel your attention spans shortening muy pronto quickly. One last item, via Political Irony, something about that despicable waste of space in the white house, and jessferdahalibut, inspired by my bottomless pit of dislike for this shitehead, some fun to have with his visage provided here...