A Quart of Milk, a Dozen Eggs, and Peace of Mind

I had the radio on this morning, as I was examining my countenance in the mirror in preparation for a hard day of answering and sending e-mails and pointless meetings. I was listening to the local ESPN station providing glowing highlights of Monday Night Football. My beloved Steelers trounced the Baltimore Ravens. AM radio is increasingly a pointless enterprise. It is an endless round of commercials and more commercials intermittently interrupted by snarky and mean spirited call-in shows. I do wonder who are these people who have the time or inclination to wait with phone in hand to ask a question or to argue with radio show host?

Anyways, a particular commercial got my attention. Local sports radio always has interesting ads that appeal to a particular demographic including mail order male enhancement products, hair replacement pills or lunch specials at local strip clubs. This ad was a little different. It was female voice that had a touch of resignation in it. It went something like this: “I know my husband questions if he is the biological father of our daughter. It really nags at him. I keep telling him Heather is our daughter. He says he believes me. I can tell he still has doubts.” I kept listening and ask, “Where is this ad going?”

She goes on. “Anyways, a friend of mine told about a new DNA kit that you could buy at any Meijer Supermarket. It’s easy and inexpensive. You just bring it home, swab the inside of your cheek and send it away to the lab. Within a few weeks you receive the results in the mail. The results are 99% accurate. I know this will give my husband the peace of mind he is looking for.”

Wow! Paternity validation in aisle four! Meijer truly has become a one-stop shopping experience for food, clothing, cosmetics or to resolve your past indiscretions. I thought you had to go on the Maury Povich show to discover if you are the father of your girlfriend’s or cousin’s twins! No longer. When you stop by the local supermarket for that quart of milk you can also find out if your DNA chain continues or was broken after your girlfriend went to Las Vegas with her friends a few weeks before your got married.

We truly do live in amazing world! I turned off the radio and headed out to vote. Interestingly enough one of the ballot initiatives in Ohio this November is a referendum to limit the hours of operations of strip clubs. The initiative also wanted to restrict physical contact between patrons and dancers. Naturally, I voted against it. I have stock in Meijer. I am against any ballot initiative that will hurt the burgeoning DNA home testing kits market. I may be a softheaded liberal, but I’m not stupid.

The politics of pppppandering!

Pander as a Verb

-to pander (third-person singular simple present panders, present participle pandering, simple past pandered, past participle pandered)
-(intransitive) To offer illicit sex with a third party; to pimp.
-(intransitive) To tempt with, to appeal to (improper motivations etc.); to assist in the gratification of.
"His latest speech simply panders to the worst instincts of the electorate."

The Iowa Caucuses are not until January. Already, we had to live through a least 100 Presidential Debates. Or it seems that way. Most of the candidates have been fund raising since Gutenberg invented movable type.

I am suffering from campaign fatigue. Obama, Hillary, Mitt, Rudy and the rest of the wannabees are overexposed, overanalyzed and are over-reaching. We continue to hear from the talking heads on cable news that this campaign started way too early and money raising will ultimately define who will win the nominations in either party. Yet, the same nitwits invite these money vacuums on to their shows for interviews and dissect the good and the bad of the various campaigns ad nauseam. At the same time they bemoan how this new era of Presidential campaigning has become a circus of sound bites, fundraisers and gotcha moments. It is a never-ending cycle of fawning, castigating and then more fawning.

Frankly, most of what all the candidates are saying on the stump or during their contrived debates is irrelevant to the grit and reality we are living in right now. The Democrats and Republicans pander to their base voters who actually will go to the caucuses in Iowa and vote in the primaries. These people who watch these debates and are actually paying attention to what these candidates say reside in a parallel universe. They have no children, trouble falling asleep at night or no mortgages to pay.

In a recent poll of so-called evangelical white voters, the top two issues were Iraq and health care. Same sex marriage, immigration and abortion were at the bottom of the list of concerns. Yet, if you watched any of Republican debates or stump speeches, all the candidates climb over each other to express their hatred of illegal aliens, gay people and their love for the so-called unborn. These folks in the conservative base of the GOP apparently will only vote for candidates who love fetuses and hate any foreigners south of Texas, homosexuals north of Mexico, and anyone else who doesn’t believe our ancestors rode on dinosaurs.

The Democrats pander in different ways. Although they don’t play the race or fear card like our Republican counterparts, they make proclamations that are unrealistic or downright stupid. Almost all Democrats want out of the Iraqi morass and regret deeply the present condition of our foreign policy and standing in the world. Barack Obama, John Edwards and others proclaim if they are elected they will withdraw from Iraq immediately. There is no way in hell we can pick up and leave Iraq within 3 months, 6 months or a year. Their policy people know that and yet the candidates pander to our naive wishes. It is pandering. Perhaps not as bad as the seven dwarfs on the GOP side but it still is pandering to the very narrow corner of the Democratic Party that will take an active role in the upcoming primaries.

Let’s commit ourselves to ignore the next three months of Presidential politics. We have Halloween candy, Thanksgiving Turkey and Christmas cookies to focus on. Personally, I prefer to learn more about salacious details regarding Larry Craig’s wide stance, Paris Hilton’s difficulty buying an airline ticket to Rwanda, or why Ellen DeGeneres can’t house train her dog. These are real stories, affecting real people with real pathos. That Presidential political stuff is all puffery, posturing and pretense.

“People in Hollywood are not showmen, they're maintenance men, pandering to what they think their audiences want.”
Terry Gilliam, movie maker and original member of Monty Python.

The "Let's Help Dick Nap Campaign"

Yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney once again made some rather bellicose claims about Iran. Apparently, he is ready to send in the marines or the cruise missiles to bomb them back to the Stone Age. Later that same day, he found time to take a quick cat nap during a Cabinet Meeting. Dick is either filled with paranoia and rage or shuts down for a few winks. There apparently is no middle ground for our Neo-Con shoot them first Veep. He’s either ready to shoot now and aim later or rollover and snore.

Here some recent examples of the Vice President nodding off into dreamy land.




For most of us who still have a few reservations and concerns about the viability and rationale for war with Iran, we need to encourage more of Dick’s latter behavior rather than the former. What can we do to ensure Vice President Cheney’s sleeps through the next 16 months of W’s Presidency? If we can find ways to help Dick to get drowsy eyes, the more likely we can avoid WWW III in the Middle East.

Here are some ideas that I have cooked for what I label my “Let’s Help Dick Nap!” Campaign.

1. Tie him up in a chair and force him to watch any recent movie featuring Lindsey Lohan.
2. In the same chair, have him watch reruns of George Stephanopoulos interviewing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
3. After watching Condy Rice, force him to listen to excerpts from his wife’s novel, “The Body Politic: a Novel.”
4. Serve him hot turkey and gravy sandwiches for lunch followed by large piece of New York Cheese Cake.
5. Force him to watch W’s most recent State of the Union Address.
6. Keep him tied up, put him in an airplane blindfolded and fly him to REDACTED for an intense but entirely legal interrogation by the CIA. Oops, I’m sorry I want him asleep not comatose!
7. Force him to watch one of the recent Republican Presidential Debates. Any of them!
8. Have him take a hot bath and then have a professional manicure and pedicure. (It may not make him fall to sleep, but it will make him a nicer person.)
9. Force him to watch CSAPN when Joe Lieberman gets up to address the Senate.
10. Slip some Rozerem into Dick’s daily IV drip.

If you have some suggestions, please forward them to Fatboy Tom’s new “Let’s Help Dick Nap” campaign.

Chartered by Whom and for What?

In a parallel universe, the state of Ohio is handing over nearly $540 million of tax money to 300 private enterprises providing basic services that also are provided by state and locally financed agencies. The intent is to create greater competition and choice so that the consumer is not solely dependent only on the publicly supported agencies. Because of competition and choice, the privately run enterprises should in theory provide better services. There is little or no oversight of the business and management practices of these enterprises. They can operate with a much larger degree of flexibility and independence that the state supported ones. Given our undying faith in power of the marketplace and need to offer choice, one would assume that the privately run agencies would provide better service and outperform the state run enterprises.

Unfortunately, that isn't the case. This Ohio experiment has been an abysmal failure. The privately run agencies with public funds, charter schools, have been an enormous disappointment. Fifty-seven percent of these schools are either in Academic Watch or Academic Emergency and the State Attorney plans on closing 30 very soon because of illegal business and management practices. Of our publicly funded schools, only 12% are either in Academic Watch or Academic Emergency. Over $2.7 billion have been allocated to charter schools in Ohio for past 10 years and this is the result.

If these were not charter schools that were receiving the funds, can you imagine how loud our cave man caucus (state legislature) in Columbus would be screaming about wasting tax dollars? Somehow because our Republican led house and state senate hold on to specious notions that school choice works, they continue to pour money down this rat hole of educational failure.

On the national level, charter schools have not faired any better. In a recent study compiled by the Department of Education, fourth graders attending charter schools in urban settings consistently tested lower in math and science than did children from the same socioeconomic setting in publicly-funded urban schools. These disparities are consistent when comparing students by race, income or geography.

Millions of tax dollars are turned over to these schools, and in most cases, to private companies who run charter schools with no oversight by the state of Ohio. These schools are not required to meet many of state requirements that do public schools. If students are not performing or are expelled for behavioral issues, they are disappeared. They become the problems of the public schools.

The wing nuts that continue to advocate for choice in schools will ignore these data or trash these studies. They really don't want to come out and admit that their support for private or charter schools has very little to do with improving student performance. Their irrational advocacy for school choice is grounded in their suspicion and mistrust of all forms of public education due to their religious or personal beliefs. Don't bother them with the data or the facts, competition and choice is just one-way to dismantle the common good public education has brought to this country. Deregulation or competition may work in particular areas to reduce costs and improve some efficiencies. Unfortunately, it does not and will not work in schooling or airline travel. Schools are just too important to leave up the whims and vagaries of the marketplace. And airline travel? Has anyone recently flown out of JFK in New York? What a nightmare!

The Swiftboating of Johannes Kepler

A Recent Program on a Reputable Cable News Station:

TV Talking Heads Show Host: “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. There continues to be a great deal of controversy about Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize. To ensure fair and balanced coverage of this recent announcement and implications for public policy in this country and the world, we have invited 2 experts to come to the studio to discuss the fallout from the recent Nobel Prize announcement. Is global warming real? And will Al Gore’s new celebrity help advance the cause to combat global warming?

We are fortunate to have Dr. Johannes Kepler, a well-regarded astronomer and mathematician, is recognized for first advancing the theory that all planets including the earth moved in an elliptical orbit around the sun. His mathematical computations were a major scientific breakthrough in the 17th century. His theory changed science and astronomy forever.

And to make sure we cow tow to the right wing nut cases in this country under the pretense of being fair and balanced, we also have on our show, Dwayne Fuchs, a lifelong Republican, a state representative from Salinas County, Kansas, and a co-chair of the Brownback for President Committee. Mr. Fuchs refutes Al Gore’s assertions that global warming is man made and doesn’t believe the earth rotates around the sun.”

Dr. Kepler: “Thank you, Mr. Talking Head. I am really not a climatologist and have been dead for over 400 hundred years. Nevertheless, I do believe in the scientific method and reject superstitious beliefs. Therefore, when there is scientific evidence that is substantial and there is a established consensus among almost all scientists that global warming is real and a danger to our world, I believe we should be concerned.”

Mr. Fuchs: “This is another example of the moveon.org’s and secular humanists’ efforts to undermine the American way of life. Everyone knows life started in the first chapter of Genesis and the earth is only 6,000 years old. I know many authors that I can cite on the World Wide Web who believe the earth is flat and the sun is stationary in the sky.”

TV Talking Head: “Mr. Fuchs makes a good point there Dr. Kepler. He has his experts and you have yours. Which set of experts can the American people trust?”

Dr. Kepler: “I am not familiar with the experts Mr. Fuch’s references. Remember, I am dead and don’t know anything about the World Wide Web. Is that a new institute in Vienna?”

Mr. Fuchs: “Once again we have a European telling us Kansans what to believe and what not to believe. The American people know God. They don’t what Europeans or other foreigners telling us their crazy theories about gravity, the earth is round or car exhaust is melting glaciers in Switzerland.”

TV Talking Head: “Once again, Mr. Fuchs makes a good point Dr. Kepler. Isn’t this effort by Al Gore and the UN to combat global warming a way to erode USA sovereignty and a slippery slope to a one world government?”

Dr. Kepler: “I am not familiar with this UN or a one world government. I lived in Styria under the influence of the Bundesländer of Austria. I thought I was asked to appear today to provide my support for good science and why we need to support advances in scientific discovery. I lived in an era where people were governed by fear, their prosaic religious beliefs and superstition. Astrology was often confused with astronomy. In my small way, I helped to show that science and math could help us learn much more our world and the solar system. I believe Mr. Gore is trying to do the same thing.”

Mr. Fuchs: “Once again, Kepler is belittling my religious beliefs and the beliefs of many other God-fearing Americans. If he is the kind of person who supports Al Gore, then we are really in trouble. My beliefs are just as valid as his. After all didn’t you, Mr. TV Talking Head, invite me on this program to provide a fair and balance debate?”

TV Talking Head: “That’s right Mr. Fuchs, on this network we try to make sure that both points-of-view are properly represented. I am not in a position to judge which opinion is more valid than the other. Do you have any closing comments Dr. Kepler?”

Dr. Kepler: “Not really. I’ve been dead for four hundred years and my throat is a little dry. Do have any wine to drink?”

Mr. Fuchs: “Kepler keeps avoiding the issue. When he is on the hot seat he apparently needs alcohol. He knows and we all know George Soros and his fellow travelers are behind this global warming scam. I am introducing legislation in the Kansas House tomorrow morning to deny visas to any Swedish citizen who tries to visit this country. If they want to welcome Al Gore to their country, by God we don’t have to let any of them into our country.”

TV Talking Head: “Thank you, Mr. Fuchs and Dr. Kepler for visiting with us today. I think we have shed some important light on this very controversial topic.”

Dr. Kepler: “What? No wine? You only have water? We don’t think water, it carries bad bile. Don’t you have some hard cider or beer? I am very thirsty.”

Autobahn Driving

My wife and I have been to Germany many times over the past 25 years. We have witnessed many changes during that time. One that is most obvious is the increasing congestion on all the roads including the famed German autobahns. I can remember in the early 80s many autobahns posted no speed limits.

We were driving a VW Jetta at the time. It was designed to American specifications because we were shipping it back to the states once we returned after living in Europe for about two years. Many autobahns only had two lanes then. You either were stuck in the slower right lane with trucks and 3-wheel Citroens or you would use the passing lane. Using the passing lane was something you did not do without some degree of caution.

Once in the passing lane, it was not uncommon to be driving faster than my American speedometer could measure. Back then, my speedometer only went to 85 mph. On numerous ocassions, the needle inched up to 85 and stayed there. I really had no idea how fast I was going. This was often the case just to stay in the traffic flow.

It was not uncommon, even at that speed, to have large a Mercedes or BMW pulling up behind you with flashing lights apparently from hyper space nudging you back into the right lane. Once they passed, you then would return to the left lane with a horizonatal reading on your speedometer. My Jetta handled this kind of driving remarkebly well. At 75 mph the car would vibrate a little and would remain vibrating for a short period of time. Shortly after passing the 85 mph threshold, it would stop vibrating and apparently float very comfortably down the highway.

In the past twenty years, things have changed along German highways. Although German roads are built to the highest quality and are constantly under repair, there is too much traffic to have many places with large tracks of unposted speed limits on the autobahn. Even with the price of gas inching up to about $5.50 a gallon, the Germans love to drive their cars and so do the French, Czechs, Poles, etc. Apparently everyone in Europe is driving on the German autobahns.

I know this may frustrate many Germans who love high performance cars and speed. This frustration is very apparent among many German drivers. When they have those short stretches with no posted speeds, they go like a bat of hell! Even if is just for a few kilometers, they drive like it may be their last time to push the accelerator past 220 klm. They invariably must slow down very quickly due to traffic snarls or posted speed limits. It's brief periods of incredible speed followed by long interludes of road construction and congestion,

We flew back to the states last Sunday from Frankfurt. We were visiting relatives in Stuttgart and left about 7:30 AM for a 12:00 Noon flight. Stuttgart is about 210 km from the airport. My German cousing drives a brand new E-Class Mercedes. The trip took only about an hour and 30 minutes. Although there was some traffic, posted speed limits and much road repair, he was able to inch the speedometer past 230 klm once or twice. In mph, that's nearing 144!

I must admit at 144 mph the view out the car window is quite different. Individual trees become impressionists' palates of fuzzy Autumn colors. Sunflower fields appear to be carpets of yellow. It really is hard to carry on a normal conversation with others in the car. My wife sitting in the backseat avoids looking at the speedometer. Her hands are locked on the sidedoor handles as if somehow that will protect her from the various G forces we are all feeling.

Not surprisingly, we got to the airport in plenty of time. My cousin is a great driver who loves his car like most Germans. The traffic jam or "stau" is a way of life in the US and Germany.

Returning Home

Fatboy has been out of the country for the past two weeks. We were visiting relatives in Germany. I have some impressions of my trip that I will be sharing soon.

No Wide Stances in Iran

Among many of the bizarre ideas emanating from Mr. Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, is the noton that there no homosexuals in his country. He made these comments at his speech at Columbia University yesterday.

His appearance at Columbia provides a compelling argument for openness and the freedom of speech in this country. Providing Mr. Ahmadinejad a platform to extoll his rather extreme ideas, the more he is properly exposed as a religious zealot with crazy notions about the world. I really believe the powers that control Iran, the mullahs and military, are happy Ahmadinejad is diverting attention from their intentions. He has been a failed President inside Iran. He was elected on a platform of social and economic populism and he accomplished little or nothing during his tenure in office. His grandstanding moments at Columbia or at the UN are just window dressing.

By the way, I am sure there are many right wing religious zealots in this country who would like our country purged of homosexuals. Apparently, there are no homosexuals in Idaho, only men with wide stances.

Umbrage Fatigue

Ed Gillispie must be chortling right now. Ed is Karl Rove’s replacement at the White House. He is not really Bush’s brain but more like his spleen. The recent manufactured outrage over the Moveon.Org ad is the wunderkind of modern political pugilism. The Senate actually took a vote yesterday to denounce the ad! And 22 Democrats had to vote with the Republicans to repudiate it.

With the relentless carnage and misery, political stalemate and low-grade civil war in Iraq, what is the most important issue at hand? Whether or not Moveon.Org’s ad was objectionable.

Ed knows that his job over the next 18 months is to divert attention from the Iraqi morass. Bush is going to hand over this fiasco to the next President. Ed’s and Republican “sound bite gotha” machine’s job is to fill up talk radio, cable news and internet blogs with any white noise that blocks out substantive discussion and debate about what are we going to do to extricate ourselves from Iraq.

It really is manufactured umbrage when I hear all these talking heads, bloggers, and right wing pundits picking on the Moveon.Org for taking on Gen. Petraeus. And tired umbrage at that!

This is a classic example of how the beltway DC bottom feeders get their panties bunched up over irrelevant crap. Accusations and then counter-accusations are all about a stupid newspaper ad. The news cycle feeds on it because it provides good one-liners and the pretense of conflict. All good for ratings and leads.

Bush and sycophants have given up on most of their unrealistic goals when they invaded Iraq. Fundamentally, the Iraq debate boils down to when and how we will leave. This vapid, false outrage over a newspaper ad is only a distraction. While Ed is chortling and Rush Limbaugh is branding Moveon.Org as a fellow traveler with Osama, Iraqis and American soldiers are dying.

No Shows Once Again

"if they don't have the cahones to attend a forum to address African Americna voters, how can they say they have the cahones to stand up to the Islamofacists?"

Our Republican Presidential candidates have once again opted not to participate in a debate or forum designed to address African American and Latino voters. Apparently, they have other more important commitments. The same candidates other than Tom Tancredo could not find time to address the national NAACP meeting recently in Detroit.

Increasingly, the Republican candidates are caught in a shrinking echo chamber. They must all appeal to the conservative wing of the party because these are committed voteres who are deciding factor in any of the primaries. This hard-core voting bloc still believe we can actually win in Iraq, we can build a wall long and high enough to protect against illegal Mexicans from flooding into the USA and Terry Shiavo can still play a damn good game of chess! It's parallel universe that promulgates a pathological fear of the other, a warped version of the United States in the 50s, and a need to use military force whenever and whereever we can.

The candidates rather be fund raising, getting their nose hairs trimmed, or looking for George Soros in the bushes that take the time to participate in a voters forum dedicated to black and latino issues. Let's all remember their lack of interest when the real votes count next November!

Exploiting the Working Poor: a Very Profitable Business

In the Cincinnati Enquirer today:

"COLUMBUS - More than 300,000 Ohioans are trapped in a cycle of debt to payday lenders and are paying more than $318 million in payday loan fees each year, said a report released Wednesday.

The average Ohioan who uses payday lending takes out 7.4 two-week loans each year, beyond the five that researchers consider the trigger to becoming trapped in debt, according to the report from the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending. Studies have shown the average payday borrower uses more than one company annually, making the average number of loans likely higher.

The Ohio Financial Services Association, which represents payday lenders, contested the report's data because it estimated Ohio lending using information from four publicly traded payday companies and statistics from other states.

'People use this product because they have a short-term need,' said Darryl Dever, a spokesman."

I went to the PayDay website to learn more about their business practices. If an individual borrows $100, he or she must pay the principle and additional charge of $18.92 within 14 days. If the person cannot pay until 21 days later that amount increases to $27.93. The article reported that the average borrower takes out over 7 loans a year. If each loan is about $100, the borrower would be responsible for $132 in interest payments. That's if they are able to pay it back in 14 days! After that magic day, the charges to the borrower go up. Even with the risk of defaults on repayments, it appears this is a rather lucrative business for PayDay. Who says you can't make money off the working poor? I wonder if PayDay will lower their repayment rates given the Fed lower the discount rate a half a point? I really doubt it.

You've Got Your Experts! W's Got His Own

In dissecting Bush's speech last evening on MSNBC, Chris Matthews said, "Bush’s claim of ‘36 countries’ in Iraq is ‘ludicrous.’"
In his address to the nation, President Bush said, “To the international community: The success of a free Iraq matters to every civilized nation. We thank the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq and the many others who are helping that young democracy.”

In the MSNBC post-debate analysis, Matthews went on and said, "The fact we have 36 countries fighting on our side in Iraq must be news to the soldiers over there. I don’t know who these people are or how many divisions they have. All we read about in the papers are American GIs getting killed by IEDs and terrible accidents and all kinds of enemy action over there. … The idea we’re one of 36 countries fighting the war I think is ludicrous and why the President would throw that out there, I think it only opens him up to ridicule."

Perhaps Mr. Matthew did not know that one of W's key advisers and speechwriters was Miss South Carolina from the Miss Teenager USA Pageant. Some of you may remember, Miss South Carolina appeared to be a bit "geographically challenged" when asked to describe why most Americans cannot find particular countries on the world map. I believe she was the one who had the important duty of counting all the countries that have ground forces in Iraq. Let's take a quick look at her expertly crafted list:

1. South Africa
2. North Africa
3. Hot and Humid Africa
4. Poland
5. Ralph Lauren Polo
6. New York
7. China
8. Japan
9. Latin America
10 Greek America
11. California
12. Hawaii
13. Paris, France
14. Paris, Tennessee
15. Beverly Hills
16. England
17. New England
18. Old England
19. Albania
20. Transylvania
21. Canada
22. North Pole
23. South Pole
24. Puerto Rico
25. India
26. Spain
27. Spanish Harlem
28. Grease
29. Florida
30. Texas
31. Mesopatamia
32. Vatican City
33. Asia Minor
34. Asia Major
35. Columbia
36. British Columbia

That's her list so far. She still is counting.

She just wanted to talk to him.

Oprah had Mary Winkler on your show yesterday. Mary was the minister's wife from Tennessee that shot her husband and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. This case received a great deal of national attention.

She was released from prison after serving 7 months. Clearly, Mary's husband physically, mentally and sexually abused her. She fits the profile of a battered wife. Here is her description of the events that led up to her killing him. I do find it rather interesting how folks in Tennessee try to get someone's attention. Let's start the conversation with a loaded shotgun!

From her comments on Oprah's program:

"Mary Winkler says she doesn't remember getting the shotgun. She says she thinks she held the gun to get his attention. "I just know I was terrified of him, and I just wanted to talk to him," she says. "It was my fear. I was afraid of him. I never in a million years would have dreamed that there would have been something in that…in the gun being loaded. I just thought that was a rule that he always took [the bullets] out."

Mary Winkler says she was afraid for her life but that she only wanted to talk to Matthew and tell him "just to stop, just be happy. He just, he had to be miserable the way he acted, and just to stop being so mean," she says. "I'm safely sitting here right now thinking of what I wish I could have said to him. In the heat of the moment that was not realistic."

Mary Winkler says she doesn't remember aiming the gun at Matthew. "When I heard the boom I just thought that it would have hit the ceiling, the window, and I just thought, 'Oh my goodness, he's going to think I meant to do that on purpose,'" she says. "And so I took out. I just took out of there and took off running. And then at some point I just realized he wasn't chasing me, and I just had to go back in and face the realization."

According to the autopsy report, the single shot Mary Winkler fired sent 77 pellets into Matthew's back. He survived for several minutes, but without medical attention, he bled to death."

The Decider has Decided to Become the Delayer!

Spin, Spin and More Spin

General Petraeus has entered the halls of congress with medals and pins emblazoned on his uniform to give his report. What does it really boil down to after all the spin, hyperbole and obfuscation? Hey guys, he just wants another 6 months.

This is not about creating the conditions for the Iraqi government to resolve differences and move forward.

This is not about is the surge working or not.

This is not about winning the war on terrorism.

This really is not about accurately reporting whether levels of violence are up or down in the neighborhoods of Baghdad.

This is not about our military’s capacity to maintain troop levels in the foreseeable future.

Petraeus's testimony and his efforts to curtail sectarian violence in Iraq is primarily a stall tactic. Although the NCAA does not allow it anymore, Bush and his American Enterprise brain trust have put together a four corners offense to slow everything down. Fatboy has repeatedly written in this blog that the Decider has decided that he will leave office without resolving the mess he created in Iraq. Whoever is elected the next President will be left with auspicious duty of putting an end to our involvement in Iraq. Although much blood is on W’s hands, he will not be one be in office when the full-fledged Iraqi Civil War breaks out.

If we decided today to leave Iraq, it would take at least a year or more to extricate our military, support forces and contract workers. Bush and his minions know this and are using Petreaus and the surge, and any other political tactic available to cover their tracks.

We needed six months ago to see if the surge is working. Guess what? General Petraeus is asking for another six months to once again solidify whatever progress is had made in the past six months. Before you know it the November Presidential elections have occurred and the whole Iraq debacle will be thrown into Hillary’s, Rudy’s or God Forbid, Mitt’s lap.

This Decider has decided to become the Delayer!

Hillary's Prayer Circle

A very interesting read in Mother Jones Magazine: Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics.

New Math

To celebrate the arrival of Ann Coulter in Cincinnati today, I thought I would offer up some interesting math problems. She will be speaking at Xavier University this evening.

Here goes:

(Katherine Harris x Michelle Malkin) / Keira Knightley = Ann Coulter

(Roy Cohn x Gary Bauer) / Alan Simpson = Larry Craig

(Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper x Allen Dulles) / H. R. Haldeman = Dick Cheney

(Mark Hanna x Michael Deaver) / Lee Atwater = Karl Rove

(Norman Poderantz x Fred Barnes) / Ari Fleischer = Bill Kristol

(Tom Tancredo x Donald Wildmon) / Edgar (from Men in Black) = Tom DeLay

(Rush Limbaugh x Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker) / Morton Downey = Bill O'Reilly

Speaking Truth to Power

Doesn't Kristol Clear Bill look like someone selected last in a pick up game of baseball? As a child, he was relegated to play right field. Somehow he's overcompensating for his past childhood traumas by asking our men and women in the military to put their lives on the line in Iraq. I am sure he does sleep like a baby at night completely confident that he is right and most importantly, he doesn't have play right field anymore.

Lessons Learned from the Right Wing Blogosphere

I've been trying to keep up with the hysterics and reality deniers that comprise most of the right wing blogosphere for the past several months. Believe me at times it really is rather difficult for many of them to sustain a coherent and reasonable argument. Permit me to offer my quick and dirty analysis of their stylistic approaches.

1. Yesterday's news cycle is yesterday's news cycle. If new information emerges through actual reporting that doesn't support a particular argument, ignore it and move on to another argument. When factual information contradicts a particular point of view, the only reasonable approach is to find another topic to write about. Apparently it isn't necessary to defend a particular position when facts may refute it. Just move on to another topic that pushes the visceral buttons of your readership. As a blogger, your job is only to validate particular prejudices and beliefs.

2. Conspiracies abound everywhere! Your job as a right wing blogger is to repeat them over and over again. Global warming? An Al Gore led attempt to corral and stop free enterprise. The lack of progress in Iraq? Individual disenfranchised soldiers make up stories. The left wing media ignores all the good news. Health care crisis? Democrats are socialists in disguise and want to us to go to the doctor in Havana. Corruption and ethical challenges in the Congress? George Soros used his "dirty money" to help the Democrats win in majorities in the last congressional elections. Clinton and his minions had Vincent Foster murdered so what is the big deal about a little pedophilia and trading congressional votes for cash?

3. Play the martyrdom card. There continues to be this subtext among most right wing zealots on the internet that they are the beleaguered and marginalized. Liberal forces in the mainstream culture are overwhelming this country with secular, socialistic and sinful ideas. Ironically in a recent Gallup poll, only 21% of Americans label themselves as liberals compared to 41% who considered themselves conservative. Corporations with a quarterly profits mentality own all the major media sources in this country. News and how it is packaged and communicated is increasingly done by fewer and fewer people beholden to larger corporate interests.

I am constantly amazed how the right wing frame all their arguments from a perspective that they are the persecuted and put upon group. Nefarious forces are in control and are out to get them. What a bunch of b-shit! Conservative voices abound in this country!

4. Blame the Clintons. Whenever the news tends to refute particular right wing talking points, the only reasonable approach is find some way to blame the Clintons. Hillary and Bill can always be dragged out as the culprits for whatever mess that is the topic of the day. Corruption in congress? They started it with the pardon of Marc Rich and firing of the employees in the White House Travel Office. The mess in Iraq? Clinton's weak kneed no flight zone over Iraq empowered Saddam. They can always find a way to blame Bill and Hillary for almost anything-even fluoride in the water! How pathetic.

5. Repeat over and over again that liberals have no original ideas. This canard is repeated more times than Rush Limbaugh blamed the residents of the Ninth Ward in New Orleans for the levees breaking. Institute tax cuts for wealthiest Americans during a time of war. Privatize Social Security. Invade Iraq to create democracy in the Middle East. Endorse torture as a means to interrogate alleged terrorists. Encourage state laws forbidding same sex marriage. These are so-called big ideas of conservatives.

6. Never present an complete argument to counter another argument. The best way to attack a liberal perspective is either by disparaging the individual's character or finding some arcane fact that that may be unverifiable or open to doubt. Drill down on that obscure factoid in an effort to refute the entire argument. These tend to be the tactics of the evolution and global warming deniers. Even though there is a growing consensus of the experts, the right wing blogosphere looks for that one disputable element in the argument thereby rejecting all the other compelling evidence that may be fully substantiated.

7. Any news source that attempts to deliver an objective story is biased. Unless the so-called news or the interpretation of the news is not presented and packaged by particular conservative sources, the right wing blogosphere dismisses it outright. This tendency to label any news other Faux News as biased has worked very well for the right wing. This right wing distrust has forced the major networks and cable outlets to overcompensate to court those conservative viewers. They scramble to find conservative hired guns to offer analysis and perspective.

The problem with this approach is very simple. In the minds of the right wing blogosphere, a news outlet striving to do objective reporting is always biased. You can never hire enough right wing talking heads to reshape reality. It continues to be a losing game. When the Washington Post or CNN hires conservative blow hards, it is just another example of a left wing organization admitting its liberal slant.

There are those liberal bloggers that also use some of these tactics. On balance if one really carefully examines the quality of the right wing vs. liberal perspectives emanating from the blogosphere, it's like comparing adolescent text messaging to a New Yorker short story. Oh yeah that's right, The New Yorker is a "liberal" publication, therefore anything in it must be viewed with suspicion.

The danger of self-determination is that we just can't control it!

The collective neocon nutcases that comprise the thinking man's club housed in Charles Krauthammer's brain are not happy with Nouri Al-Maliki and his government.

Our mission in Iraq as proposed by Bush et al was to get rid of Saddam Hussein and allow the Iraqis the opportunity to determine their own future. I remember the early promises of the Iraqi elections to approve the constitution and later to create the new gov't. headed by Maliki's coalition. Numerous right wing pundits and Republican congressmen held up their purple fingers in solidarity with Iraqis as they took the early steps to self-determination and democracy.

Unfortunately, it has become a rather messy and confusing business in Iraq. Maliki and his band of brothers and sisters are displeasing Charlie and his brain trust. Not surprisingly, Maliki's coalition is weak and has no control of sectarian forces that are killing each other and innocent bystanders. And probably the worst part, and Maliki keeps talking to the Iranians.

From the beginning, the neocon impulse to invade Iraq was a failed venture in seach of unintended consequences. Maliki's failures are our failures. We put the events into motion that got him elected him. If Charles and his keyboarding green berets have their way, they would disappear Nouri and replace him without another Iraqi leader who promises to do our bidding. Unfortunately, we don't get do overs after we invade a country and invite them to self-determine their future.

Charile and his ilk continue to redefine what constitutes success time and time again in Iraq. The goal posts have been moved so many times, you can break your ankle in all the holes on the neocon playing field. This time he doesn't want to move the goalposts. He wants to fire all the players on his team, find new players and start the game all over again.

Meeting benchmarks in Iraq: a .167 batting average. Not bad for a utility infielder, lousy for a country in turmoil.

I have a very simple question. Which version of reality would you believe? The General Accounting Office's (GAO) or the White House's version of progress in Iraq?

The GAO has leaked its report assessing progress in Iraq in advance of the White House's scrubing of Petreaus's and Crocker's assessment. Not surprisingly, the "reality-based" GAO reports that "Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress. The report concludes with "While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced," It goes further and states. "While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged." It also finds that "the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."

"Overall," the report concludes, "key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds...."

I can hardly wait for the White House's assessment, that shall I say, will be a tad bit "faith-based."

Let's Throw Him Under a Bus

The masters of blatant hypocrisy, conservative Republicans, want poor Larry disappeared faster than Mark Foley can check into a rehab center.



Mitt Romney's campagn website took down Senator Craig's endorsement a hour after the story broke about the Senator's funny business in a bathroom stall. Right wing bloggers and talking heads are calling for him to resign the Senate. Poor Larry is becoming radioactive. It's hard to find anyone willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Isn't funny that David Vitter, caught in the DC Madam debacle, didn't receive the same treatment by his fellow right wingers? Allegedly, little David frequented houses of ill repute in DC and New Orleans and had a particular fascination for diapers. Why is Larry's fall from grace more worrisome to the conservative brotherhood than David's sordid trysts?

It is rather obvious. In the right wing pecking order of sinful behavior, homosexual sex is far worse than paying for hetero sex. A virile hetero man can make mistakes and ask for forgiveness from his God and family particularly if he only strayed into another pasture. If Senator Craig is gay, he is no longer welcome on the farm! Homophobia reigns supreme among these Republican crazies.

Poor Larry will have to disappear just like Mark did. After all, there are no spots available for gays in Heaven or in the Republican Party.

Hooray! Poverty Rates Down by .3%

The Census Bureau just reported that levels of poverty in the US declined last year from 12.6% to 12.3%. This clearly is a victory for the Bush’s tax cuts imposed in the first year of his first term. Everyone knows if you cut the taxes of the wealthiest in the country, everyone benefits. Its obvious to any reader of the Weekly Standard, the Wall Street Journal and the National Review that cutting taxes leads to wealth building for everyone. It may have taken 5 and half years, but those tax cuts are paying big dividends now! A .3% decline is a clear example of the positive affects of trickle down economics.

For those who don’t know, the poverty line in this country is operationally defined as a family of four living on less than $20,444 a year. Low unemployment was linked to this modest decline. Unfortunately, those who live without health insurance increased last year from 15.3% to 15.8%. Folks living on the margins may have found some minimum wage jobs but without health coverage. In real terms, grinding poverty in this country still affects 1 out of every 10 families and 1 of every 4 children. And 47 million Americans cannot afford health insurance.

Maybe we need another tax cut for wealthiest in this country and we can bring poverty levels down another .3%!

Who speaks for the poor? They don’t write checks to political candidates. They don’t have lobbyists. And they don’t vote. And Bush’s fellow travelers in the Justice Dept. and in many states run by Republicans made every attempt to discourage poor people from voting in the past Presidential election.

Few Democrats and no Republicans are discussing this issue. To his credit, John Edwards is at least reminding the electorate about the two Americas-those with and those without. When will a candidate, any candidate running for congress, the senate or the Presidency ever focus our attention on trying to tackle the grinding poverty that continues unabated in this wealthy country? It took Bush's tax cuts 5 and half years to cut poverty by .3%! How shameless!

"Craig"back Mountain

Larry Craig, senior Senator from the great state of Idaho and in the picture between Trent Lott and John Ashcroft, was arrested and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He “paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation.” The incident occurred in a public restroom at the Twin Cities airport in June. Roll Call broke the story a few days ago. The details are rather sordid and pathetic.

Once again, we have a Republican Senator with a voting record that reflects a consistent disregard for the rights of gays to marry or engage in civil unions. He voted against a law that outlawed discrimination against gays who seek fair treatment in the workplace or housing. David Vitter likes hookers and diapers and Brokeback Craig likes public restroom anonymous sex. At the same time both men wrap themselves in the mantle of Christian Conservative values.

How repressed are these guys? They must live a dual existence. They somehow put on a self-rightous public face and hide a very private, troubled soul. Apparently, they have been doing it for so long, they really have accommodated to this bifurcated lifestyle. One wonders how many more of them are there? I also wonder if the Singing Senators will request a replacement?

It really is sad that Senator Craig must seek affection in an airport restroom. It's just the blatant hypocrisy that gets me. This would not be a story unless Craig and others did not expend their political capital denying rights to the gay community in this country. His private life is his own business unless he breaks the law or he uses his position of power to deny the rights of those who are margenlized and demonized by his fellow political travelers.

Why Do They Ask Questions Like This?

Let me see...South Africa is somewhere east of Nordstroms. Iraq is pretty close to the Gap.

The "Highest" Form of Male Bonding

Has anyone seen the recent ad for Viagra? It debuted recently on the NBC Nightly News. I guess our friends at Pfizer (makers of the wonder drug) know the demographics of who watches Brian Williams read the news.


This is wrong on so many levels! First, when the boys break into song I thought they would be heralding why they like their beer, love their new riding lawnmowers or how much affection they have for their four-wheel trucks.

No way. They are singing because they have overcome their collective erectile dysfunction with a magic drug-Viagra! I have some close male friends, but I rarely discuss my various levels of flaccidity or firmness with them. It just isn’t something guys in there 50s talk about. And I would never consider putting together a jam session to sing about why my soggy daily newspaper is slowly emerging as a folded up Sunday New York Times.

The very best part of the whole commercial is when the announcer cuts back to the ED bonding session to find the boys getting into their various modes of transportation. Apparently they are in a hurry to get somewhere. Tires are spinning out and dust is flying. Perhaps their Des Moines Registers are becoming the Sunday Times of London. And they need to make a delivery.

The wonder of modern pharmaceuticals! Not only does Viagra help with ED. It’s a magnet for friends and makes you a better guitar player, singer and fast driver. Most importantly, you become the editor of your own Sunday newspaper with all the ads thrown in for good measure. Viva Viagra!

Throw Something, Anything on the Wall and See if it Sticks

Yesterday Bush offered Vietnam as a cautionary tale for those urging troop withdrawals today.

"Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left," Bush said. "Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps' and 'killing fields....Here at home, some can argue our withdrawal from Vietnam carried no price for American credibility, but the terrorists see it differently. We must listen to the words of the enemy."

In 2004 when asked if the growing insurgency in Iraq was comparable to Vietnam, Bush responded, "I think the analogy is false. I also happen to think that analogy sends the wrong message to our troops, and sends the wrong message to the enemy. Look, this is hard work. It's hard to advance freedom in a country that has been strangled by tyranny. And, yet, we must stay the course, because the end result is in our nation's interest.

A secure and free Iraq is an historic opportunity to change the world and make America more secure. A free Iraq in the midst of the Middle East will have incredible change. It's hard -- freedom is not easy to achieve. We had a little trouble in our country achieving freedom. And we've been there a year......And we're making progress."

In 2004, is was a false analogy, In 2007 Bush's speechwriters, desperately looking for rhetorical hooks, have come up with killing fields, boat people and re-education camps as the new neo-con battle cry.

Last month, another set of speechwriters repeated over and over again that we needed to remain in Iraq to defeat Al-Qaeda whose leaders were living in the caves in Northwest Pakistan.

Ignore history. Delete last week's talking points for new ones. Throw something on the wall to see if it sticks. Desperate men resort to desperate measures.

Any military historian will argue that Vietnam is nothing like Iraq. I would contend there are many parallels but NOT in the way Bush and his sycophants are trying to argue. Most importantly, our involvement in Vietnam was flawed and doomed from the beginning and our continuing efforts to reinvent our Iraq policy will fail as well.

Our secret "incursions" into Cambodia indirectly led to the killing fields. Our efforts to install, support and defend a corrupt military and unpopular gov't. in Saigon for over two decades gave the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong plenty of enemies needing reeducation or reasons for American sponsored Vietnamese to get on boats and flee. Vietnam in the minds of most Vietnamese was a war fought for liberation and unification. In minds of the vast majority of Iraqis we are fighting a war of occupation. History tells us that we clearly are on the wrong side.

In regards to the apparent buzz about the successes of the surge, permit me to offer a few simple reminders. I am not surprised that our military has been able to reduce levels of violence and kill many of the worst of the insurgents. The purpose of the surge, the goal of the surge, the justification for the surge was to create enough stability for the civilian Iraqi government to go about the important business of reconciliation among Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis. Reducing the level of violence in Baghdad and outlying Sunni Provinces was intended to create enough stability in the near term for Maliki et al to get their house in order. We do not have the troop levels or a trained and reliable Iraqi military to sustain in the future successes we have achieved in the in the past few months. The political benchmarks have not been met or will never be met.

So we have some military success and no political progress. Fatboy predicted that the surge ultimately is a cynical effort to keep the war going until the next US President is inaugurated. I also predict that many neo-cons will quietly look for ways to disappear Maliki and find fellow travelers who will follow orders delivered by strategists at the American Enterprise Institute housed in Bush's fuhrerbunker. Rumors are already swirling about a possible coup to dissappear the Maliki gov't.

By the time Petreaus makes his report, Bush and his sycophants will declare the surge a success and demand another six months to advance the political goals not attained in the past six months.

I will not be surprised to hear Bush's speechwriters come up with a new analogy, not to Vietnam or Korea, but to the Whiskey Rebellion on 1794. After all, Iraq, like early America, is a weak democracy that needs strong leaders to establish order out of chaos. Keep throwing, something will stick!

….just another murder in my little piece of heaven.

At 2:30 AM yesterday a 22-year-old locally known rap artist, Bryan A. Couch, was shot and killed during a robbery attempt that went very bad. It happened about 6 blocks from my house.

Mr. Couch did not have a police record. Apparently, Mr. Couch attempted to run away from the two assailants who shot him twice in the back. He was rushed to a local hospital and later died.

Last year, 89 homicides were reported in Cincinnati, the highest number ever recorded since the Cincinnati Police Dept has maintained annual statistics.

Guns and gun violence are destroying a generation of young African Americans in Cincinnati and in other urban areas in the USA. As John Edwards talked about the two Americas-those who have jobs, health care and a future and those who live at the margins with no health care, nominal employment and very limited education and skills. I suggest that there is a third America comprised of young people that have been thrown away by their families, the criminal justice system and our schools. This third group is disproportionately comprised of young men of color who are disconnected from our mainstream culture. Their support systems include gang membership, street codes, and territoriality. Their world is very narrowly defined in designated inner city neighborhoods where they struggle to survive through petty crime, drug dealing and hustling. It is a harsh, violent world where most conflicts are resolved with guns.

I am sure there are many sociologists and criminal justice experts who can provide some insights into how this violent street culture has emerged. They may be able to point to some of the root causes. Most city police can describe the consequences of this culture everyday as they send more body bags to the morgue. As doctors at hospitals try valiantly to treat the wounded, it seems to go on in an unrelenting manner. Almost everyday, some young person is shot intentionally or is caught in crossfire. Thankfully, most are only wounded. Sadly, some end up dead like Mr. Couch.

The carnage goes on at such a pace we no longer pay attention. Frankly, it only receives a brief mention by the local media. The future of our 401Ks and the volatility of stock market is far more pressing. The ongoing news from Iraq overshadows other depressing news.

And if we did pay attention, most of us, regardless of how well meaning, just don’t know what to do or how to respond. This violent urban world seems alien and dangerous. The rules are unclear. The faces and the locations blur together.

I contend that many of these young people are the after thoughts of the crack epidemic that overwhelmed many cities in the mid 80s. Many are the children of crack addicts that grew up in foster homes, with various relatives or on the streets with their parents. They lived in fractured violent places ignored and unloved. They are the throwaways with felony records, limited skills, and many psychological scars. Crime becomes a way of life. Incarceration is not a deterrent. Other families have been there and it becomes a right of passage. For some, incarceration probably provides the most structure and stability they ever have had in their lives. Once out of jail, choices and options are very limited. The cycle starts all over again.

I acknowledge that I may be oversimplifying the complexity of the problem. Institutional racism, the changing economics of our country, and divestment in our urban centers all contribute to the problem.

Unfortunately, I walk my dog or drive by the places where these young people are murdered. I see the remnants of the police yellow tape, the wilted flowers, or the gang markings as mementos. I cannot ignore it. It eats at me. It makes me sad. I extend my deepest sympathies to Mr. Couch’s family. What can I do? What can we all do? These are OUR children killed in the prime of their lives.

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's Time for Foreign Policy Amnesia!

Perhaps Dick's heart medications were working a little better in 1994. Apparently, more oxygen was getting to his brain.

Match the Perversion with the Traditional Values Republican

Can you match the pictures of the traditional values Republicans with their particular perversions?

1.____
2.____
3.____
4.____
5.____
6.____

A. Mr. Ted Klaudt, a former Republican State Representative from South Dakota, was indicted recently for raping underage girls.

B. Mr. Robert Allen, a Republican State Representative from Florida and co-chair of John McCain for President in Committee in Florida, was arrested for soliciting oral sex from an undercover officer in a public restroom.

C. Mr. Mark Foley resigned a few months ago after he admitted to soliciting underage male pages in the House of Representatives.

D. Mr. Glenn Murphy, newly elected as President of the Young Republicans Federation, is accused of sexually assaulting another man on July 29, 2007, while he lay sleeping in his bed.

E. Michael Flory, the former head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans, admitted today that he sexually abused a colleague during a national convention here last summer and pleaded guilty to sexual battery on the day he was to stand trial for rape.

F. Mr. David Vitter, Senator from Louisiana, admitted that he used the services of a Washington DC escort service and paid for services at a New Orleans house of prostitution on numerous ocassions.

Send your answers to HadleyTD@gmail.com. I will send you the correct matches by e-mail. For those who correctly match the perversion with the pictures, you spend way too much time watching cable news!

New Neighbors are Very Special!

It’s always interesting to go through your mail when you have been away for a few days. Other than the ubiquitous bills, promotions for various credit cards, and shopping bibles from the likes of Pottery Barn, Renovation Hardware, or Crate and Barrel, one of the very special postcards that we receive on a regular basis is the notification of sex offenders that have moved into our neighborhood.

This is one of the those advantages about living in my little piece of heaven close to downtown Cincinnati. We don’t receive these special announcements everyday. Nevertheless, these postcards do seem to show up in our mailbox on a regular basis. The local constabulary has become our pen pals alerting us that some sex offender has taken up residence within miles of our home.

If you have a special interest in learning more about your new neighbors, there is website at www.familywatchdog.us that will provide you with a map of their residences and their pictures, descriptions and criminal histories. You just type in your zip code and, wah la, like map quest you can find out far more than you really want to know about your new, special neighbors.

When I typed in my zip code, the map located all the residences of sex offender types including rape, sexual battery, offense against children and other. I learned that over 223 sex offenders have taken up residence within a few miles of my lovely home! No wonder those special postcards just keep coming and coming!

Now don’t get me wrong, I do have my bona fides as a good knee-jerk liberal. Fatboy is a firm believer in second chances, probation and rehabilitation. Most importantly, the vast majority of the convictions that trigger a sex offender label do not involve children. These men need a place to live and an opportunity to make their lives whole again.

Is this the kind information included in the real estate listings for properties in my neighborhood?

Here’s a recent listing: Four bedrooms, 2 and half baths, newly remodeled kitchen, wonderful views of downtown Cincinnati and friendly neighbors including doctors, teachers and 6 sex offenders.

The Amazing Power of African Americans!

Florida State Representative Bob Allen (R-of course) was caught trolling for a same sex encounter. Earlier this month he was arrested at Veteran's Memorial Park in Titusville for soliciting an undercover male officer inside the restroom after offering to perform oral sex for $20.

Allen, who also served as the McCain campaign's co-chairman in Florida, has decided that he would come out of this scandal looking better if he is perceived as a racist rather than as a homosexual.

State Rep. Bob Allen told police he was just playing along when a undercover officer in a public restroom and the legislator give him oral sex and $20 because he was intimidated, according to a taped statement and other documents released Thursday.

Large groups of black males intimidated Mr. Allen so much he felt compelled to offer his services for oral sex! It truly is amazing how many special powers African Americans possess. They can compel most white people to do anything. Here are some other examples:

Oprah Winfrey is known to have such amazing powers that millions of white people turn on their TVs in the afternoon to watch Oprah tell them how to live their lives, how to lose weight and what books to read!

Condoleezza Rice is known to have such amazing powers that she actually can hold W's attention on one subject for more than 5 minutes.

Tiger Woods (almost African American) is known to have such amazing powers that he has hordes of upper middle class white males follow him around every Saturday and Sunday for hours. And they must remain silent!

Barrack Obama (more African American than Bill Clinton) is known to have such amazing powers that he can ask white people for money and they eagerly hand over millions of dollars for the pleasure of hearing his voice.

Michael Jackson (not African American anymore!) WAS known for his amazing powers to induce white people to pay him millions of dollars for his recordings and his concerts. Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson has become so intimidated by little, white people that he no longer has those powers.

Yes, there is clear evidence that African Americans have amazing power over white people. No wonder white people are completely helpless when it comes to figuring out why African Americans are 38% more likely to receive the death penalty than whites.

-Or that that African Americans have twice the rate of infant mortality than whites.

-Or that black children are twice as likely not to be covered by health insurance than white children (Hispanic children still remain nearly three times as likely to be uninsured as white children).

-Or that African Americans are twice as likely to be victims of violent crime than whites.

Next time I need help, I won't ask a white person. They clearly are victims here.

Fatboy Tom Takes in Aida

Yes, Fatboy went to the Cincinnati Opera last evening to see Verdi’s Aida. In short, it was an amazing experience on many levels. I am still trying to digest everything from last night’s production. First, the entire performance with four acts and three intermissions lasted about 4 hours and half when you include the standing ovation and multiple curtain calls at the end.

Giuseppe Verdi knew how to put together a show, as Samuel Goldman would say. I am a neophyte and rube in terms of knowing and fully appreciating high culture, particularly opera. As someone who likes to cook and eat, Aida is the Thanksgiving Dinner of Grand Opera. If you are willing to open yourself up to the whole experience, you really need to loosen your belt so that you can breathe again. Aida is incredibly delicious and very filling. After four and half hours, you can't take anymore!

It is grandiose, bombastic, and rich with lots of whole cream and sweet butter. My arteries were clogged with arias, incredible orchestral sounds, choruses, over the top costumes, wild animals, and staging than rivals a Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas. I will be digesting it for a long time.

Although I am not worthy to evaluate the tonal qualities of all the performances, I must admit that I was completely enthralled with American soprano Lisa Daltirus who played Aida. Although her voice was not as powerful as others, her emotionality and passion created a remarkable and nuanced performance. I felt her despair and growing hopelessness as the Opera progressed.

Set in an idealized time in the land of Pharaohs, obelisks and happy slaves, Aida’s message continues to be very relevant today. Aida had to choose between her personal passions and the obligations she had to her father and country. Her dilemma is compounded because she is a slave beholden to the Pharaoh’s daughter. Aida was confronted with existential choices that overwhelmed her.

As a contemporary African American women, Lisa Daltirus, must negotiate through a world that struggles with the artifacts of oppression and racism. The parallels between Aida’s and Lisa’s choices are profound.

Great tragedies are often simple narratives with protagonists that are confronted with life changing choices. The narratives are incidental. It’s the choices played out in front of us by the singers and through the music that makes Opera such a great art form. Even Fatboy can find an artistic performance transcendent and timeless.

I was part of an audience of black, brown and white faces, young and old ticket holders, and Opera junkies and novices. I am a better person for attending Aida last night. Cincinnati is a better place for producing it.

The Air is Very Thin in Colorado

One of the very bright stars from the ranks of Republican presidential contenders, Congressmen Tom Tancredo from Colorado, offers some stern words to the Islamic extremists.

Mr. Tancredo is one of the Republican candidates who is made from Adam's rib because he doesn't believe in evolution. I think the next time Italy beats the USA in World Cup soccer, we should seriously consider strafing the Vatican!

The Big Time Messenger Blames the Small Time Messengers

Our sage of conventional foreign policy wisdom, Mr. Jim Hoagland offered these comments in his recent Washington Post column:

"The most vindictive bloggers and many others eager to push the mainstream media, established politicians or other remnants of the status quo off a stage that they want to occupy smash reputations with abandon to call attention to themselves. What do they have to lose in the unpoliced badlands of the ether? They contribute to a general deepening of cynicism in the land at no perceived cost to themselves.

But deeply polarized nations that devote an inordinate amount of their time and energy to hunting and prosecuting both real villains and convenient scapegoats -- at the expense of failing to recognize and respect heroes and helpers of the common good -- do pay an enormous collective price. Such nations descend into easily manipulated despair and resentment that inevitably lead to ever-greater destruction. Americans would do well to ponder that in a summer of doubt and division."

I am not one to deconstruct line by line the comments of our pundit class as other bloggers may. However, these comments do deserve some response from one of the so-called "vindictive” bloggers who promulgate "in the unpoliced badlands of ether."

Columnists like Mr. Hoagland have been found out. He was wrong about Iraq War. He was wrong about George Bush. I am not one to tar and feather someone for his or her views. I will not engage in name-calling. But he is wrong and for many of the conventional wisdom pundit class, this is a very hard pill to swallow. When the vast majority of Americans know that this Iraq thing is a "bad thing," are they being "vindictive" when they disagree with the administration's policies?

The cynicism Mr. Hoagland decries was not invented by the bloggers from "the badlands of the ether." Its roots are in the false and erroneous reasons created to start the Iraq War invented by the neo-conistas and carried out by the Bushie sycophants. Every justification for the war, every policy adjustment during the war, and every benchmark established to measure progress has been either been proven false or is failing. Its not surprising that reasonable people watching this morass unfold become a little suspicious, little jaded.

Mr. Hoagland ends his piece with “Such nations descend into easily manipulated despair and resentment that inevitably lead to ever greater destruction.” I say who is manipulating whom? Again, his so called “despair and resentment” are not the result of bloggers. The deepening sadness and nihilism readily apparent in the body politic is because most Americans have lost confidence in our ruling classes to solve the Iraq mess. The bloggers of ether land are only an artifact of this deepening despair.

Instinctively, we know the Iraq morass will hurt our standing in the world for decades. We know the war has created more people who are willing to strap bombs on themselves, walk in to crowds and kill innocents. We see the carnage and billions of dollars lost or squandered. Our country is moving into unchartered waters with no one to guide us.

Mr. Hoagland and his ilk have led us to this dark and awful place and do not have the courage to stand up and admit they were wrong. Nor do they really have idea how to get us out. I find it ironic that one nationally recognized messenger, James Hoagland, uses the old canard “to blame the messenger.” This war and the lack of national leadership have created the despair and resentment he decries and not the Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo or Firedoglake.

A Little Irreverence to Start the Weekend!

The Beautiful People of Washington DC..An Classic Oxymoron!

The "inside baseball" publication for all those who need to know about politics in DC is "The Hill." The journal has just released its most important investigative article in years listing the 50 most beautiful people on capitol hill. Anyways, I just wanted everyone to know that 30 of the 50 selected in this prestigious competition were Democrats.


Unfortunately, Congressmen Steve Chabot and Congresswomen Jean Schmidt, both from my hometown of Cincinnati, did not make the list. I wonder why? Do Democrats have more cute genes?

It's a Fun Day, a Family Day

Our friends in the New Hampshire Republican Party are planning a fundraiser for the whole family. Participants are invited to come and learn how to shoot machine guns and Uzis. What a wonderful way to celebrate the 2nd Amendment! The organizer, Mr. Jerry Thibodeau, calls this outing "a fun day, a family day."

I wonder if Mr. Thibodeau will invite Dick Cheney to join the festivities?

ObBushcation-The Politics of Dismeaning

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004


Rather prophetic wouldn’t you say? I do not want to dwell on the stupid things that come out President Bush’s mouth. There are far too many websites that provides extended lists that continue to grow and grow and grow.

His misquotes, examples of incoherent logic, and, at times, fabrications have really served him well. His inability or unwillingness to provide a cogent, complete argument for any of his policies has permeated his administration for the past 6 years. It has severely damaged the ongoing political discourse in this country. We have such low expectations for him. When he ignores facts or makes up his own somehow we have been trained to give him a pass. When he changes his justification for the war in Iraq (almost daily), we have collective amnesia. Somehow we forget his spurious talking points about Iraq’s WMDs or nuclear programs, links to Al Qaeda, or need to create democratic institutions. They are in yesterday’s news cycle. And besides, we don’t expect W to have the ability to link today’s sound bites to yesterday’s sound bites. He has mastered the art of low expectations and intellectual dishonesty. W is winking at us as he reads the prepared statements some speechwriter puts in front of him. His frat boy demeanor only reinforces the notion that he is play-acting and bored with it all. We turn away fully aware that he doesn’t mean what he says.

The awful truth is that his limbo stick of intellectual curiosity is so low we don’t even try to reach down to pay attention anymore. And sadly, his administration is filled with others who have adopted his reality stretching tactics I call obBushcation. His bagman Alberto and our Attorney General is W’s master student. Tony Snow, Stephen Hadley, Condi Rice, and Fran Townsend would all get passing grades at W’s school of diminishing rhetorical returns.

They too have given up making a real sense. They now understand that the goal is just to say something, anything that promulgates fear or perpetuates the cult of low expectations. Intersperse hot buttons words such as Terror, Al Qaeda, 9-11, with non-sequiturs such as “fight them there so we don’t fight them here,” “We have confidence in (you fill in the blank), he/she did a marvelous job presenting the administration’s case,” or “Leaving now will create a haven for _____.”

The Washington Press Corp has given up trying to hold W and minions to any kind of intellectual standard. It really isn’t surprising that Lindsay’s, Brittany’s and Paris’ escapades are given as much print and air time as W’s policy pronouncements. They all are fluff and lack substance. The twenty-hour news cycle and the plethora of newspapers, magazines, talking head shows need to fill up the space.

W has created obBushcation. Is it premeditated or just fortuitous? Either way it continues to work very effectively.

"Iraq is a very important part of securing the homeland, and it's a very important part of helping change the Middle East into a part of the world that will not serve as a threat to the civilized world, to people like—or to the developed world, to people like—in the United States." —Washington, D.C., April 3, 2007

We just roll our eyes and groan.

Playing the Race Card

I recently had a heated discussion with some friends about race and how it affects our work lives, politics and the broader popular culture. Frankly, most everyone at the table was suffering from some form of “race fatigue.” We think of ourselves as reasonable and socially responsible liberals and yet, when the topic of race comes up our reactions and comments are grounded in those deeply rooted prejudices we all learned at an early age.

It is the nature of prejudice and how we have internalized so many negative stereotypes and fears during our developmental years that shape our reactions as adults. Whenever we have a “racially tinged” experience, we often throw out our adult reasoning and react to the situation in a manner that reinforces our collective prejudices. It’s insidious and very frustrating.

Once those prejudices are deeply planted in our collective psyches, they never go away!

I made the statement that so much is about race in all that we do or experience. Not surprisingly, I did not get a ringing endorsement from my friends. I heard, “I’m tired of people playing the race card.” “When will we ever get over it.” “How long will we need to live with affirmative action?” “How long will I have to be held responsible for all the past injustice?” “I am tired of all it!” It is race fatigue in all its shapes and forms.

Frankly, I sympathize with those sentiments. I too suffer from race fatigue. I was not advocating that we need to own all past injustice or permit race to be used as excuse when it isn’t appropriate. Although I didn’t do a very good job, my general point was that the issues of race continue to permeate all aspects of our lives. We cannot escape it.

Even when someone exclaims that the race card is being played out, this is again is a clear example of how race is still part of our collective experience. Prejudice becomes racism when those who hold power use their power to control those whom are the objects of their prejudices. The long years of institutional racism and oppression have left their scars on both sides of the equation-for the oppressor and the oppressed.

The race card can only “be played” in a racially, overheated context. The race card is not an invention of the oppressed. Its roots are in the nature of structural racism that has flourished in this country for over 230 years. Without that racial pathology, my friends and I would never so readily label a person’s actions as “playing the race card.”

As the dominant culture we grant privilege and dole out punishment. It is not surprising that the oppressed have defined their relationships with us by using our structural racism to their advantage. I probably would to if I could get away with it.

We all find our ways to rationalize our shortcomings. Who among us wants to confront our own deficiencies? Placing blame is easy. Children learn the behavior at a very early age. Politicians practice deflection everyday. Drug addicts and alcoholics have mastered the art.

Isn’t it rather interesting that whenever a person of color justifies his or her shortcomings by declaring racism, we are the first to label it? Playing the race card is just another American past time of placing blame and not taking responsibility.

When members of the dominant culture engage in inappropriate behavior, they often plead that they are not responsible for their failings. David Vitter blames the press for hounding him about his sexual indiscretions. Ted Haggard and his followers can always turn to Satan for a good excuse. Mark Foley can obscure his pedophilia by declaring he is an alcoholic. I am sure each of these guys would have used the “race card” if they could. Unfortunately, they are the ones who set up the rules in the first place. The oppressors can’t blame the oppressed for their collective failings.

Yes, the race card is played more often than it should be. Unfortunately, there are acts of racial injustice and discrimination that always give fodder for future card players. Without a legacy of institutional racism and our deeply ingrained prejudices, “the race card” would not exist.