Alright. Even I have my limits. I can see and be charmed by iPod Socks, but iPod Hoodies?
November 2004 Archives
...when you've seen Orcs and hobbits fighting for the future of the world, it's a little hard to get excited about Persians and Greeks fighting over someone's imperial hubris 2,300 years ago.
A wonderfully snarky review of "Alexander" in the Washington Post. Oh, check out this lovely passage re: Angelina Jolie's performance:
Then there's Angelina Jolie as Mom. Really, words fail me here. But let's try: Give this young woman the hands-down award for best impression of Bela Lugosi while hampered by a 38-inch bust line. Though everyone else in the picture speaks in some variation of a British accent, poor Jolie has been given the Transylvanian throat-sucker's throaty, sibilant vowels, as well as a wardrobe of snakes. She represents the spirit of kitsch that fills the movie, and with all her crazed posturing and slinking, it's more of a silent movie performance than one from the sound era. Theda Bara, call your agent.
So how do we make use of this on a day to day basis?
Three simple things.
First, never let an attack on your trust go unanswered. Ever. It's like the stand up rule of "never let a heckler get the last word". So when a right winger says "liberal bias" of say "The New York Times", don't let it go unresponded to. Say "Nonsense. No liberal paper would be caught dead employing Judith Miller."
Second, cultivate trust. This means having empathy with people whose decisions really are in play. Talk to them calmly. Use calm words - not angry insults - but words that consistently paint the far right as, far to the right.
Third, erode the trust of the right wing. People trust you when you say things which accord with their experience. The right wing uses phrases like "big government", "tax and spend" and code words for peacenik to mean "quisling". People know the government is big, and they see taxes. Thus taking about big government and taxes are confirmed by their experience.
The left's code words point inwards all to often. Take "corporatist". People don't distrust big corporations. In fact, they wear "Coke" jerseys, and football team jerseys all the time. Saying "corporate" as a synonym for "distrust worthy" is cognitive dissonance. People will refuse to distrust corporations as such, because they could not function if they couldn't work for, or buy from, a corporation. "Christian" is another one.
Instead "regressive", "reactionary", "privileged", "out of touch", "extremist", "myopic", "excessive". Paint the other side as control freaks who are out of touch with ordinary people. Because that is something which corresponds with their experience.
Time to step up. I'm preaching to myself, as much as anyone. As I stare into the right-wing face of another Yule in Colorado, I'm hopeful I can be the voice of calm dissent. This offers some good advice.
So I find that recent socio-political events have called me back to more idealistic and subversive pursuits and ideas. One of these it a desire to re-read Atlas Shrugged.
So tonight I went to the shelf and pulled out my copy, and discovered that at some point in the past, I had affixed sticky note annotations on various pages, highlighting sections that presented quintessential representations of each major character. Interesting...
Giving Africa's HIV-positive children a cheap antibiotic could nearly halve the death rate, research shows.
So cool. Somewhere in the world, smart people are using their intellect and desire to do good to perform miracles. There's hope.
WASHINGTON - Arlen Specter on Thursday won the backing of Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) Republicans to be their new chairman, surviving complaints from abortion opponents after submitting an extraordinary statement underscoring his support for Bush judicial nominees.
Well, I guess we gotta take what we can get
Political news just gives me a headache these days, so here are a few tidbits currently diverting me:
Neurotically Yours. As dear Bonnie noted when she sent it my way, "Sick and Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!" Dip your toes in by starting with "Squirrel Songs" and "Jiggly Butt."
Recently bought the soundtrack from "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." Supremely groovy, with cool little bits of dialog here and there. Even a song composed by Johnny Depp ("Sands Theme")!
David Sedaris. Was reading Naked over the weekend, and recently got "Live from Carnegie Hall" as a gift when I joined up again with KQED (radio). Consistently makes me laugh my ass off.
Tonight IFC showed a documentary about the 1996 Cannabis Cup, called "Weed." I was there, baby. I was in a lot of those coffee shops, hung out with those same employees and fellow Cup judges. Those were, indeed, very different times in my life...
And the crowning glory, the book that's making me remember how good it feels to be on the wrong side of the Normals, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter speaks to me, calls me to the desert, to rocket down the highway in a giant red convertible, heads low to avoid the bats. Oh yeah.
Neurotically Yours. As dear Bonnie noted when she sent it my way, "Sick and Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!" Dip your toes in by starting with "Squirrel Songs" and "Jiggly Butt."
Recently bought the soundtrack from "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." Supremely groovy, with cool little bits of dialog here and there. Even a song composed by Johnny Depp ("Sands Theme")!
David Sedaris. Was reading Naked over the weekend, and recently got "Live from Carnegie Hall" as a gift when I joined up again with KQED (radio). Consistently makes me laugh my ass off.
Tonight IFC showed a documentary about the 1996 Cannabis Cup, called "Weed." I was there, baby. I was in a lot of those coffee shops, hung out with those same employees and fellow Cup judges. Those were, indeed, very different times in my life...
And the crowning glory, the book that's making me remember how good it feels to be on the wrong side of the Normals, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter speaks to me, calls me to the desert, to rocket down the highway in a giant red convertible, heads low to avoid the bats. Oh yeah.
Fascinating. Check out this comparison between the 2004 election results and the free/slave states pre-Civil War.
America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of Enlightenment values - critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences. Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what was then modernity. They addressed "a candid world," as they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, out of "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." Respect for evidence seems not to pertain any more, when a poll taken just before the elections showed that 75 percent of Mr. Bush's supporters believe Iraq either worked closely with Al Qaeda or was directly involved in the attacks of 9/11.
The secular states of modern Europe do not understand the fundamentalism of the American electorate. It is not what they had experienced from this country in the past. In fact, we now resemble those nations less than we do our putative enemies.
This excellent piece hits close to the mark with me as I try to sort out the feelings of love of and shame for my country.
The next dickwad who says, "It’s your money, not the government's money" is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the ten states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least... can you guess? Go on, guess. That’s right, motherfucker, they're red states. And eight of the ten states that receive the least and pay the most? It’s too easy, asshole, they’re blue states. It’s not your money, assholes, it’s fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago? Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: buy your own fucking stop signs, assholes.
Wow. This is one heck of a rant. Hope the author didn't have an aneurism or anything.
Dear Hellblazer shows us a new geographic perspective.
11/5/04
Dear Friends,
Ok, it sucks. Really sucks. But before you go and cash it all in, let's, in
the words of Monty Python, 'always look on the bright side of life!' There
IS some good news from Tuesday's election.
Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists:
1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.
2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since
Woodrow Wilson in 1916.
3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults
(Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always
wrong and you should never listen to them.
4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the
country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don't approve of the job George W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out. It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.)
5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the
Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the
Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do
their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one.
6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of
our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West
Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water,
all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in
lava. And no more show tunes!
7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any
old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut.
May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.
8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will
no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If
you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly
golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.
9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married
in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't
have to buy now.
10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress,
including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to
have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates
can't.
11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up!
12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.
13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3
chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state
legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the
2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53
chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47
chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber
(Montana House) is still undecided.
14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than
the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out --
and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work
that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th
grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the
next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the
ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his
point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.
15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very
dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two
scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the
Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear
that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that
history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for
too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and
arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such
major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from
office.
16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting
age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it
means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards
to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of
those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go
home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three
yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are
coming!!!
17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the
candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total
number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore.
Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for
a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time
since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has
always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is
that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact,
that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones
who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November
2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element of
surprise in 2008.
Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "My
Romanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a
wonderful country -- it doesn't even need a president!'"
But it needs us. Rest up, I'll write you again tomorrow.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com
Courage.
Already there are those in the party convinced that, in the interest of expediency, Democrats need to put forth more "centrist" candidate -- i.e., Republican-lite candidates -- who can make inroads in the all-red middle of the country.
I'm sorry to pour salt on raw wounds, but isn't that what Tom Daschle did? He even ran ads showing himself hugging the president! But South Dakotans refused to embrace this lily-livered tactic. Because, ultimately, copycat candidates fail in the way "me-too" brands do.
Amen, Arianna. As sad as I am about the election outcome, Daschle got what he deserved. As a leader in the Democratic Party, he presided over the massive spanking the Republicans delivered yesterday. Now if we jettison McAuliffe, Howard Dean can take over DNC leadership and help those clowns find their ideals again.
...that would be me. I felt the black cloud when I opened my eyes this morning. I had imagined this scenario, but frankly had preferred to spend more time contemplating the numerous other outcomes that could have been better. It's a sober day.
At lunch today, I went out and did some consolation retail therapy. Bought three CDs that seemed to fit the coming days: Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," Metallica's Black Album, and "OK Computer" (Radiohead). The latter has a song called "Electioneering." ha....ha...
I hereby decree a first class pity party and intermittant drunken binge for the balance of the week. Then it's back to the tough work ahead.
Oh great Bob, spirit of all that is Slack-filled, please oh pretty, pretty please make Hal's predictions right.
Here we are, Election Eve 2004. Spent most of today glad it will be over soon. Now that the early dark's upon us, however, I've started getting all philosophical, and that scene from ROTK popped into my head. You know:
Peregrine Took: It's so quiet.
Gandalf: It's the deep breath, before the plunge.
Peregrine Took: I don't want to be in a battle. But waiting on the edge of one I can't escape is even worse.
Yeah, it feels like that.
Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.
Vote. Please.
