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April 17, 2012

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Crissa

Your wanker of the decade link goes to wikipedia. I don't think that's what you meant.

More in the morning, when I'm awake.

Sir Charles

Crissa,

Many thanks. It should be fixed now.

Paula B

Half-past dead.

Sir Charles

Paula,

Thanks for that link. I was listening to the Band's version of Dylan's "Blind Willie McTell" last night and Levon's voice just blew me away.

Joe S

I think that everybody on the Left has to chill out about a possible third party run by a Bloomberg type. Ruy Texeira broke down the numbers and it turns out the Tom Friedman types make up about 7% of the electorate and they split 51% to 41% between Democrats and Republicans. Unless the Democratic portion votes overwhelmingly for the American Elect nominee and the Republican leaners vote overwhelmingly for Romney (and not the third party nominee) it isn't going to make a difference. My guess is that most of that 7% will ultimately pull the lever for the major party candidate that they would have anyway.

Paula B

You can post farewell comments to Levon on his Facebook page. His family says they are reading all of them to him today.

I like his voice,too, but for me, Levon's importance is tied The Band, which helped me get over a strong desire to bolt for Canada, during times Pierce describe with surgical accuracy.

Sir Charles

Joe,

I don't think Bloomberg will run, so I am not really worried about it. But I think if he did, the impact would be to help elect the nominee of a party that even Friedman admits is basically crazy in matters of policy at this point.

But with Tommy as with all of the Beltway types, you always have to then indict the Democrats for some small flaw that is then used as a sin equivalent to being nuts too.

T.R. Donoghue

I heard rumors of Levon being sick for a couple of weeks now. The confirmation has just really bummed me out. A true American treasure.

Here's another youtube, should be right up your alley Chuck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCBeoChZig0

btw - wiki is showing he has already passed

Lex

Jason Linkins has a response to the Friedman column that might make you feel better: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/thomas-friedman-satire_n_1433408.html?ref=tw

It reminds me of Mark Twain's brutally funny takedown of J.F. Cooper, "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses." http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/indians/offense.html

Paula B

Someday everthing is gonna be differnt, when i paint mymasterpiece.

Sir Charles

T.R.

How are you guy? Thanks for the leak. I haven't seen confirmation of his death yet although it sounds like only a matter of time.

Lex,

Oh my God is that Linkins piece awesome. I may have to link to it in the post.

Amusingly enough I have to run over to the pitted roads of Union Station to pick someone up coming in on the train. I'll have to check to see if they keep a wise taxi driver in reserve there in case Friedman comes in.

Paula,

Nice. The sounds of the vinyl at the beginning are a very nostalgic sound. Levon's voice works really well with Dylan songs. And Garth's accordion is quite festive.

Sir Charles

T.R.

That would be link not leak. God knows what is on my mind.

I was thinking of you today as I heard Bruce playing "Bobby Jean" live with Phish this morning.

T.R. Donoghue

Ha! That was a bit of a trainwreck, though the Mustang Sally is pretty good. 6 phish shows on the agenda for me this summer. Are we there yet?

All is well, just out there fighting the man and trying to scrape together the occasional win for workers. Emphasis on occasional.

Hope you're doing well buddy

low-tech cyclist

My tax plan's a lot like Sir Charles', but I keep the 10% bracket at 10%, and I start a 60% bracket at $2.5 million. We raise about the same amount of revenue.

Paula B

L-tc and SC---would one of you two consider running as an independent?

nancy

The other day I mentioned that we should grab the narrative of the GOP war on women and expand it. I think Amanda has done just that by figuring the horrible Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and her remarks, if that's what one wants to call them, about having no tolerance for students and their cavalier approaches to college debt, into an increasingly clear and hateful picture -- a 'war on the young'. Foxx -- *back in her day* and all that, you know.

I'm beginning to regard the righties' motivations in a different light. It's war on young people, women especially, but because the young are the children of the hated hippy-boomers, who brought them up so disgracefully and, well, the infections of the sixties have been spread upon the land, second generation, the zeal intensifies.

Punishment. That's important. Even without scarlet letters. Hippy-boomers also get to absorb more overdue body blows as they try to help their youngsters stay above water. So there's a two-fer built into the thinking. Pain all around.

The more reactionary Mormons I know are all on board with this and always have been. Perfect alignment of folks -- so like KN, this election has me worried. I'd bet the Swiftboat ads will look like beanball.

kathy a.

thanks for that link, nancy. back in the day, it was possible to get through college without enormous debt -- i got my BA and JD with almost no parental support. then, the costs were much lower, there was far more financial aid in the form of grants/scholarships, and i was able to patch together a bunch of jobs. so, my total debt was under $10,000, payable over 10 years at 2-3% interest. and i was employable, because -- can't stress this enough! -- there were jobs then.

everything has changed, from vanishing support for public and higher education, to the unavailability of jobs during and after school, to the astronomical costs of college now, to high interest rates on student loans. and i know that because my daughter just finished college and cannot find even low-level work -- there are too many more experienced people flooding the job market. at least in the long run, there is a chance for her to find something above burger-flipping.

but i don't think it's just a war on women, or a war on young people. it's a war on working people, and a war on seniors, and a war on poor people, and a war on sick people. it's a war on everybody, and the overall strategy is divide and conquer -- make one group mad at another; divest them all of opportunities and dignity.

beckya57

I first became aware of the problem of "debating" ideologues who are intellectually dishonest when I read Debra Lipstadt's book "Denying the Holocaust" years ago. She wrote about being asked over and over again why she wouldn't debate "the other side," and being accused of being unwilling to listen to their "point of view." She would explain each time that "the other side" couldn't be debated in any meaningful sense of the word, because they refused to acknowledge facts that conflicted with their ideology. In her telling, a lot of the people she was talking to couldn't grasp what she was talking about. Many of them seemed well-meaning, but just couldn't get their heads around the idea that debating with people who deny reality just gives their ideas publicity and credibility that they don't merit. A lot of people seem to still be having difficulty with the concept. I'm currently reading Chris Mooney's book "The Republican Mind," and will have more to say when I finish it; it's certainly apropos in this context.

The both-sides-do-it nonsense always makes me think of a basketball game. Imagine that Team A decides to foul more often and more flagrantly in order to see if that gains them an advantage. Now imagine that the refs are bound and determined to be seen as "evenhanded." Their likely reaction would be to overlook some of Team A's fouls and call more fouls on Team B, so that they wouldn't appear "biased" against Team A. A rational response to this by Team A would be to foul even more. If the refs persisted in trying to look "unbiased," Team A would gain a huge advantage from being more willing to foul. That pretty much explains what the guys at Balloon Juice like to call Our Failed Media Experiment to me.

nancy

kathy -- i meant my emphasis to be on the word 'expand'. they are in a relentless rhetorical as well as legislative war on many of us, but the rationales change, day by day, and are consistent with 'we have no care, empathy or concern' for all of you across-aisle untermensch, who didn't quite take care of business and earned your problems. and deserve them. subtext -- you poor losers. too bad. maybe.

as sir c wrote -- i hate these people.

Crissa

Your newsweek link is still broke, tho ^-^;

Sir Charles

Crissa,

Thanks again. Should be fixed. Clearly I didn't do a very good job here of keeping track of links.

becky, nancy, and kathy,

I think once again we are dealing with a substantial amount of the white population in the U.S. whose politics are purely resentment based. It seems to be a resentment against anyone they perceive as enjoying themselves too much or having an unacceptably unconventional life or just having sex lives that they envy or despise.

It's not really a policy based world view, so debate is rather difficult. It's really a hate-based world view -- these people can't really stand their fellow citizens and sharing the country with them is painful for them.

And you see this in reactions to people and things as diverse as President Obama or Sandra Fluke or Trayvon Martin or undocumented workers, gay marriage, or reproductive rights.

kathy a.

part of the agenda, though, is clearly focused on fostering resentment of anyone allegedly "taking" what is "theirs." so we have vehement protests about taxes (used to support all kinds of people and community infrastructure and community services).

it is the big dogs who don't want their taxes raised, but they get people riled up who will NOT have their taxes raised because they do not make much. (and per capita, they do not realize they are benefiting a good deal from public services.)

it is quite striking to see those lazy college students (!) lined right up with the "welfare queens" and the public employee "bloodsuckers" as members of the enemy.

Paula B

Nancy, Kathy, Becky, Sir C---I think you've nailed it but when you step back, you can see that the GOP resentment is against any of the groups that might back Obama---the young, the old, women, people receiving Medicare/Medicaid, students, unions, ethnic and racial minorities, you name it. The idea may be to attack each group individually to stir up civil strife and confusion, then while groups are fighting each other, waltz right in to victory -- a battle plan straight out of the Peloponnesian Wars. The GOP was never known for innovation.

Paula B

Peoria bishop compares Obama to Hitler/Stalin and foretells end of govt social services to Catholics. Culture war heats up!
http://on.msnbc.com/HVMhAX

Meanwhile, nuns on the run. http://on.msnbc.com/HVMhAX and today's news item in the WashPost

So, Catholics will go Mormon this time, to keep the upper hand with parishioners, while deflecting anger off pedophile priests and the hierarchy that enables them. Makes sense. That awful Obama! It's bloody easy to jump on the bandwagon against him, but very hard to admit wrongdoing.

This just complicates the War on Women, which now includes nuns ignoring abortion and contraception issues, in favor of civil and human rights. The army of angry females grows.

oddjob

Peoria bishop compares Obama to Hitler/Stalin and foretells end of govt social services to Catholics.


Words fail....

...If this is a totalitarian attack on religious freedom, then I am a proud heterosexual.

What it actually is is a dyspeptic eruption from an all-male "celibate" hierarchy about the loss of its power over its employees, Catholic and non-Catholic. And it is a terribly depressing sign that the Catholic hierarchy, like much of the evangelical leadership, is now in danger of becoming a front for one political party. - Andrew Sullivan


The rest of the link is just as good, or better.

advocatethis

And now Levon's gone. I remember after the movie "The Last Waltz" came out there was a lot of chatter about how it was going to make Robbie Robertson a star. I thought he was alright in the movie, but the guy who commanded your attention, who knew how to tell a story and project his character, was Levon. I don't know that he was really much of an actor - he always seemed to be just playing himself, but the character he inhabited and was projected on the screen was always worth the price of admission.

And oh yeah, one hell of a musician.

kathy a.

crackdown on those wild and crazy american nuns. i could not possibly make this up.

as it happens, my dad's first cousin and the leader of my book club are both drop-out american catholic nuns, ca. 1960-70's. if you are going to get into a fight with the vatican (or anybody else), my advice is to have former nuns on your side, because they are well educated, extremely caring individuals, and tough advocates. the vatican seems to be grooming former nuns.

Sir Charles

advocatethis,

Good insight. Helm just seemed like some sort of quintesential, almost mythic, American character.

kathy, nancy, Paula, and oddjob,

These are the children of John Paul II in full ascendancy. I think that they too are following a GOP like strategy, one that is going to drive people away from the church in droves.

KN

nancy at 04/18 10:26

The LDS have their own agenda which is very much akin to the agenda of the ARC nutjobs. It is just that they are not the same people so there is an intrinsic conflict there.

You have to wonder if they are having meetings now to try to reconcile their fundamental differences to the greater goal of taking over the whole country and turning it into a throcracy that would make Iran look moderate. I am hoping they can't find a reconciliation and consequently self-destruct. But that is a faint hope.

Two or three months ago I was working hard to get the hell out of here and back to the US. Now I am looking seriously into staying. At least until after the next election. The US has potentially terminal cancer of thocratic politics. I want no part of it.

KN

that would be theocratic.

Paula B

On the church/misogyny front, be sure to read this.

Note, US women outnumber men in yet another arena:
American sisters do outnumber the priests, and it’s the women who have the troops, too – at schools and hospitals the bishops couldn’t close if they wanted to. The nuns no longer only empty the bed pans, you see, but now also own the institutions where they work. And you have to wonder whether that’s the real problem.

Come the revolution, men are toast. Guys out front!

kathy a.

thanks for the link, paula. i wouldn't really put it as "men are toast" -- the boys vs. girls thing is getting on my nerves.

but it is absolutely true that the nuns are out there delivering care and knowing the people, and the bishops sit around in their fancy-dress costumes, blathering about those damned feminists not being obedient enough.

i don't recall jesus saying anything about contraception or abortion. he said things like "do unto others" and "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." he talked about relieving suffering and forgiveness and stuff. he fed the hungry, and (am i remembering this right?) washed the feet of the unworthy, and one of his best friends was a prostitute. he raised some hell with the authorities -- he's famous for that.

KN - correct about LDS having its own agenda. a church that doesn't allow non-members to even attend weddings, and which posthumously baptizes ancestors (hello, does the word "consent" mean anything?) -- that's a church with a bunch of exclusionary rules.

this would not and should not be a problem, except for all these efforts to undermine the separation of church and state. there is extreme pressure for the GOP nominee to promise he will break that barrier. exactly whose church beliefs will then rule the roost seems to be a problem they have not worked out amongst themselves, except that women, poor people, gays, immigrants, and non-believers all seem to have bad prospects.

Sir Charles

I deleted a comment by nancy at her request because it inadvertently contained some personal information.

She is welcome to repost it if she feels comfortable that the information is now secure.

oddjob

WV Sen. Manchin (on paper a Democrat) makes life rough for himself by being too cute by half, but, his challenger, if anything, is worse.

oddjob

and (am i remembering this right?) washed the feet of the unworthy

During the last supper he washed the feet of his followers as a deliberate lesson to them (which he specifically stated while he did the washing) that each of them was to be a servant to others and that he who would be greatest must be least in the way he lived his life.

kathy a.

thank you, oddjob. i'm guessing the bishops don't do a lot of footwashing themselves. it would mess up the nice outfits, for one thing.

i don't think any of the nuns i've known (there are more than the ones mentioned above) has ever been into pedicures. they were busy doing things like working in an orphanage, teaching inmates, running soup kitchens, taking food and clothing to starving families, bringing caring to the condemned, etc.

aside from fictional nuns (the flying nun, the singing nun) there are only a couple of celebrity nuns i can recall: mother teresa and sister helen prejean. it is not an occupation that normally draws much attention. perhaps the bishops do not understand that nuns have gone where they would not go; that the people they serve have needs far beyond the "do as i say" pronouncements from the hierarchy.

nancy

Don't think I want to tempt the internet gods again by repasting the Gonzaga University graduation petition link. Sir C helpfully saved me once already.

It looks as though the right-wing Catholics will lose again though. No one at Gonzaga has any intention of rescinding the graduation invitation to Desmond Tutu. A lengthy letter from the president, anticipating the event, was published in yesterday's campus newspaper -- no mention of the manufactured controversy coordinated by the Cardinal Newman Society [quite the bunch]. It's interesting to read follow-up comments to his letter on-line. Some lizardry makes an appearance in stuff clearly not written by students -- bad grammar, misspellings and crudeness intact, and hating on the gays and baby-killers.

My sources indicate that after all this hit the headlines yesterday, the student body was generally outraged at the idea these right-wing pietists thought they had any business daring to interfere with their graduation ceremony. Also, students took note -- USCCB finally did something right, condemning the Ryan budget.

One wonders how the Church can withstand much more from its right. I see lots of future Episcopalians in the making.

oddjob

The only bishop I'm aware of where I'd make a small exception to your comments would be the present archbishop of Boston: Cardinal Sean O'Malley.

Not that I'm a fan of his beliefs or politics (please...), but when it comes to walking the walk my impression is he comes closer to it than bishops usually do. Before he was a bishop he was (& still is) a Franciscan-style monk (Capuchin, to be exact). He still wears his order's garb under his cardinal's robes. He's become something of a damage control specialist for the sex scandal. Prior to his Boston assignment (& elevation to archbishop and then cardinal here) he had been assigned bishop to two other dioceses where the Vatican's universal policy of (de facto) child rape enablement had created an ugly mess.

kathy a.

oddjob, i think i understand what you are getting at -- that at least cardinal o'malley got his hands dirty by helping expose the child sex abuse scandal and help the victims. that is something, for sure.

it does not come close to addressing many of the other problems that people face. it does look like he has backed the nuns, and perhaps he is sometimes able to use his position to advocate from within.

i have so much trouble understanding, though, how the bishops (my shorthand) can condemn not only the nuns but the families they serve, over family planning. if a mother can barely feed and care for those she already has, how can anyone tell her it is *most* important to keep pumping out babies?

maybe cardinal o'malley personally could do diaper brigade, creating food out of nothing, keeping the peace, doctoring, education for all ages, household security, dealing with bills and landlords and such, and a paid job or two -- at least for a few days. but my feeling is that if all the bishops tried swapping jobs for a month with parents around the world, they would quickly decide that family planning is something between a woman, her doctor, and her higher being.

KN

Kathy a. - well according to my understand of the LDS it is an essential doctrine that all members be subservient to the law of the church as interpreted by the elders. This gives me a problem with Rmoney.

His whole life he has professed this belief in a supernatural power that transcends the law of humans, yet now he aspires to lead a nation of 300 million humans most of whom do not subscribe to his particular type of superstition. So the question needs to be asked, which would sway his judgement?

Frankly I think the question is moot. In the first place he is a demonstrable liar. So he would lie. But that sets up the logical exercise of determining just exactly what he is lying about. Although, on that level, I would be inclined, nay, forced to reject him from any consideration at all. Like any number of republicans who seem to think that they can "make their own reality".

The best way to characterize me is something like a philosophical materialist. I can tolerate the low key religosity of an Obama, he doesn't so much dissemble as just gestures towards the priviledge of religion. The day he pronounces god has told him to nuke Iran, well....

Sir Charles

KN,

I guess I am like you in this respect -- I really don't want a president who takes any type of religious dogma too seriously -- especially its supernatural aspects.

A skeptical religiosity that takes some grounding in the more philosphical/moral teachings of the great religions -- think of Jefferson's New Testament, shorn of all miracles -- is something I can live with.

KN

SC - In a serious way I have a problem with my own behavior in this respect, going along to get along I guess you would say, but then again, yeah I too get hungry from time to time.

The thing is if it were just a matter of nuances, about to what degree we need to curtail polluting our atmosphere with fossil CO2, I might be able to joust some with the nay-sayers, but that is not the case. The nay-sayers claim the whole ediface of paleoclimatology is a massive conspiracy on the part of those greedy climate scientists to score more government grants. Never mind the fact that they only earn about $80k per year, which is chump change. And totally ignore the fact that every dollar of their grant money expended goes straight back into the overall economy. Yes in fact, expanding the scope of scientific research can create jobs.

For the present at least we have no choice but to live with a certain amount of magical thinking, but it does us no good at all to opt for more and more of it. The really strange thing is the LDS is just as dominionist and authoratarian as any of the other fundies, but I guess because Rmoney is made of teflon in the press and looks like a good guy wearing blue jeans, the nutjobs, or at least some of them, can embrace him. Boy howdy, wait until they find out what he is really all about.

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