Monday, July 21, 2008
Vern "Dick" Johnson, April 1, 1942-July 15, 2008
J-7--Vern Johnson was a dear friend of the family who died on the 15th of this month. "Dick"--as he preferred to be called--was a nice man, and a best friend of our step-father, Robert Myers.
Bob & Dick were neighborhood kids in the River Park section of South Bend, a one time working-class area that counted Studebaker and Uniroyal employees as its residents. Both companies are long-gone from Michiana.
Dick was a machinist most of his life, and hooked-up with my step-father after both had been through their first divorce, it was the early-1970s. Both of them loved hitting the bars and seeing movies, and partying.
They were both quiet and ordinary men with their own interests. Dick loved cars, and Bob loved collecting art. It was Bob who got me to take the final plunge into the world of Kurt Vonnegut. Dick loved 50s rock-n'-roll, an interest I shared with him. I still do.
In 2002, Dick contracted Legionnaire's disease, and miraculously survived until last week. He died or an aortic congestion of the heart after leaving an appointment with his doctor in Fort Wayne, he was driving.
Somehow, he managed to pull his car over in what might have been a selfless act. I'd like to think that Dick realized he was having some kind of attack, and thinking of others, pulled over to avoid the possibility of hurting anyone if he was no longer able to control his car. That's as good an epitaph as anyone could hope for. He was a good man, and he is redeemed.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Today's Oprah: David Letterman & Lisa Marie Presley
"And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?"
--William Blake, "Jerusalem," 1804
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?"
--William Blake, "Jerusalem," 1804
tv--Is there anything more evil than American television? Yes: the people who own the media companies and outlets.
Being a graduate of Ball State University--legendarily known as a major party college, as I can attest, this was a lot of fun. David Letterman went to BSU in the late-1960s, the very same time that my late and beloved step-father did.
My step-dad never liked Letterman, and I think they may have crossed-paths during that turbulent period...well, except that Muncie was a pretty sleepy town at that time. When I was there, it was a seedy little dive with no jobs and a local population of hustlers and crooks--and that's outside of the corrupt Democratic party located downtown.
Once Ball Corp. (yes, the jars) began pulling-out (pun-intended), it was every man for himself. And yes, the "Middletown" sociological study was done there for a few decades, chronicling the demise of...well, not a great town, more like a former KKK citadel populated by bigots. No future is right.
Letterman also had a radio show on campus during the time he was there that was so notorious he was kicked-off of it. I'd like to here some tapes of that. His grades were average, and for a long-time he had few good words to say about the school, the town, or the state of Indiana. It's hard to blame him.
But a few-years ago, the Telecommunications Department finally got off their asses and named their new building after him, which considering his substantial donations to them was an idea whose time had come. I should add that during the early-to-mid-1990s, he considered ending his funding of the David Letterman Scholarship (established in 1985, applicants had to have a "C-average," making George W. Bush eligible, but too old) due to the fact that professors weren't allowing students to use any of the high-end equipment that Dave had paid-for in their classes.
Sooooo, it was fun to watch Dave on Oprah today--he's tried to be on there for years, and how often is he ever on someone else's show? Yeah, it was showbiz schmaltz, and all that, but it was actually heartwarming and funny.
But then...
Lisa Marie Presley came on and did what can only be described as a so-so version of a song that I really think is bordering on racist: "In the Ghetto," written by Mac Davis. The original title was called "Vicious Circle," which is telling. CNN spoke with Roger Semon about the song on June 16, 2002. You think he's biased as an "Elvis Expert" (what's that?!):
PHILLIPS: Wow, truly his first protest song, wouldn't you say?
SEMON: Most definitely, and I think one of Elvis' purest performances. There was a lot of controversy at the time when this song was first brought into the studios. Elvis was recording back in Memphis for the first time since he'd recorded there at Sun in the mid '50s, and there were some brilliant songs that were brought into the studio at that time and there was a new young songwriter that had been creating some stir during that time, and his time was Mac Davis.
And Mac Davis submitted "In the Ghetto," which was originally entitled "The Vicious Circle," and I believe at one time it was rumored that it was meant for the Righteous Brothers, and certainly wasn't written for Elvis. But Elvis really loved the song, really wanted to record it, and there was some concern by other members of his entourage because of the political nature of the song.Except that Elvis loved President Nixon, hated the antiwar movement and the counterculture, and wasn't exactly that progressively-minded about the civil rights movement. I don't recall any accounts of him attending any marches. Granted, he didn't write the song, but it's pretty wrong-headed from my own perspective. No, it's not openly-racist, and I'm not accusing him of being one. But he could have done more, and there's a strong reason for this.
But I think realistically, Elvis when he sang it realized that he'd also come from a very poverty-driven background and that he could really relate to the lyrics.
So at the time, people were suggesting that he shouldn't do it, but thank God that he did do it, because it's such a superb recording and this very early take of the song was included on "Today, Tomorrow & Forever" for obvious reasons, because it is so beautiful. ("Elvis News-Interview With Roger Semon, Elvis Expert, CNN/KKI.pl, 06.16.2002)
A good percentage of his sales were with the Black audience. Elvis was loved by a lot a Black Americans during his lifetime, and he most-assuredly was a maverick in his time to embrace Gospel, R&B, and the Blues so openly.
In the 1950s, that was a very big no-no, and he was called a "nigger lover" over-and-over by a lot of so-called Americans.
But then, there's this goddamned song:
People, don't you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or hell grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way
But:
Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
Tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries
("In the Ghetto," words & music by Mac Davis, 1969)
I don't think Elvis consciously wanted to exploit the issue, or the music of Black Americans. But I think that's the reality at times, and it's a very common feature of our business-dominated culture to use these social horrors as grist for the entertainment media's mills. It also used to sell a lot of newspapers, and still sells a lot paperbacks.
Elvis's biggest sin, then, is his craven lust for money and influence, and it's disappointing. Welcome to life. It was disappointing in 1977, watching him die a broken-man who felt he had always been "faking it," as he stated to an audience at one of his last concerts. It was a very sad moment that most fans tend to ignore.
Even Elvis was exploited by the music industry and this daemoic economy--just look at how the former loner, the maverick, who dressed like the Black kids and elevated their culture ended-up. Sometimes Blake's "satanic mills" are pressing-plants.
And so, Oprah also fits-snugly into this nexus of runaway consumerism and the resulting spiritual void of alienation and emptiness. She just doesn't have the naiveté that Elvis did. She knows it's all a game for money. Today, Lisa Marie "sang" "In the Ghetto" with her dead father...only she didn't, because he's long-gone, and so is the spirit of sincerity in American life and culture.
It's all product, and culture doesn't exist otherwise in a country that values nothing but money and power. Watching the music industry die isn't sad at all, it's a relief. Oprah has a lot to learn about what's real, though I doubt she ever will when it comes to the American disease of greed.
Americans need to retake their souls, it's time. I love Elvis and this nation, contrary to what others might think. Let's celebrate what was good about him--that shy, sincere young man who loved the music of Black people, and who really did admire them. Something got lost along-the-way. Money tends to do that.
Poland Loves Elvis: http://www.kki.pl/elvisal/elvisnews_june15june19.htm
Australia Loves Elvis: http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_not_racist.shtml
William Blake's "Jerusalem," 1804: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/26.html
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Intelwire.com publishes U.S. Postal Service files of DC Madam's early-1990s bust
WWW--Freelance reporter J.M. Berger's site--Intelwire.com--is a treasure trove of declassified and primary documentation of the war on terror and American involvement in global politics. On July 8th, he posted around 40 pages from the early-1990s federal investigation into Deborah Jeane Palfrey and her first escort service, which also included the use by the late madam of money orders, credit cards, and a generally criminal misuse of the postal system.
The documents are included with commentary from Mr. Berger, who has written and researched for the National Geographic Channel, NPR, and numerous other media outlets. His work looks pretty sound and unbiased, and the site is a good place to start for researchers looking into far-ranging topics as 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing, FBI misconduct, our intelligence community and their links with known international terrorists, government informants running amok and committing profoundly violent crimes--and that's just for starters.
My own question is: why post it on a site dedicated to "the War on Terror, domestic and international extremism, and Middle Eastern politics"?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) review
Prince Nuada: "The world will be a poorer place when we are gone."
The above quote from the screenplay of Hellboy II: The Golden Army could have come from the pen of Jorge Luis Borges, the famed 20th century Argentinian writer. Guillermo del Toro's newest film is a fantastical genre treat of a similar kind: a massive visual feast of epic scale that's well written and has a very interesting story to tell of the eternal archetypes.
There aren't many films made like this today, coupling the new technology of computer graphics with the old school approach of sets, makeup, an imaginative look, and an actual storyline. A great script helps, and the Mexican Del Toro is a real force to be reckoned with in this area.
Once again, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and Del Toro have teamed up for an altogether new--and uproariously funny--movie that's bound to please the most discriminating fan of action hero comics, and lovers of high art in cinema. Characters are the real focus, even with the rapid-fire action and the lavish visuals.
As in his recent "Pan's Labyrinth," and his other films, Del Toro's love for pagan imagery and its mythos is on display, and there are echoes of almost the entire history of the fantastique in cinema: from Georges Melies, to Luis Feuilliade, to Federico Fellini, to Terry Gilliam, and more. Careful attention is given to composition that expresses the emotional and narrative tone of the story, a rarity in movies these days. But it's all just so much fun, a real genre treat that other directors should aspire to, and while audiences don't know all the terminology of cinematic language, they understand it and enjoy it when it soars. That's exactly what it does in the hands of Guillermo del Toro.
The film begins with an impressive prologue on the ancient wars between humanity and the elven race, done very closely to the style of Brothers Quay, but with a budget they've never known. The elven king created a golden army of magical robots that were unstoppable, and could only controlled with a crown made in three-parts.
We find out that a truce between humanity and the elves was eventually struck, and that the golden army was shelved down in the underworld, and that parts of the crown were split between the parties. Only through the uniting of the parts of the crown will awaken the golden army, and it must be done by an elven monarch. An underlying theme of the film is a war between the magical world and the world of humanity, but it could also be seen as imagination versus a "rational," scientific and materialistic reality.
"Imagination" is embodied in the character of the elven prince Nuada, who seeks to awaken the golden army to annihilate humanity. Part of his motive is to save the magical underworld, and nature itself. It's not an especially evil motive, and makes for a very potent parable on our times, but audiences don't necessarily have to read it on that level to enjoy it. Even Hellboy seems torn at times when battling his so-called enemy, making for a very refreshing story where there are mostly shades of gray, rather than the usual "good guys vs. the bad guys."
The prologue makes a good case that there's a hole in the spirit of humanity that always needs to be filled, that it's something innate to us, and that we are a deficient species. Looking at the world today, it's a theme that resonates very strongly in light of ecological devastation, widespread alienation, emptiness, and a general spiritual malaise--particularly embodied by America, but not exclusive to it.
These themes get aired very openly by the characters, and it's very hard to disagree with the elves on this count. We lost something when we moved away from our pagan roots, and with the advent of technology and industrialization. Eden couldn't be much farther away, and we are a race of assassins in many respects. But we have our good sides, and we are a part of nature, especially in our dreams. The creatures in Hellboy II are aspects of ourselves, of humanity.
We see "tooth faeries," a cat-eating troll disguised as an old homeless woman in one of the film's funniest scenes, a pagan vegetation god, and a lot of other bizarre creatures that beggar description--that's what art and the movies are for. Del Toro's ability to create a believable world is so effective that the experience is an immersive one. Even as ridiculous as it all seems, it's hard not to accept it as a genuine world of its own. And once again, Ron Perlman is absolutely convincing and hilarious as Hellboy, with his sidekicks catching-up to him.
Mignola and Del Toro have added a German "Dr. Krauss," an ectoplasmic entity that walks around in a ridiculous body-suit, spouting some really funny one-liners. He could almost be Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove. In the hands of most directors, Krauss would be one-dimensional. However, there are some very good scenes of physical humor between the Krauss character and Hellboy that would do Buster Keaton and the Three Stooges proud.
The film sports a theme of love that gets a good wink and a nod for laughs while being serious. Barry Manilow's "Can't Smile Without You" is trotted-out with spectacular comic effect in a number of key scenes, with a very funny reprise. And yet, there's a sadness to the movie in number of areas, particularly with Hellboy's destruction of the vegetation god in a battle next to Brooklyn Bridge (wanna buy it from me?). There's a lot of slime and glop in "The Golden Army"--Del Toro has topped himself here, including the first Hellboy film.
Yes, nature and imagination have their destructive side, but they're essential to the survival of humanity. Whether they need us to continue is the real question. The irony is, that they survive through Hellboy, the one still fated to annihilate the human race and purify the planet by film's end. Expect another chapter in one of the more satisfying genre sagas going, but we're probably going to have to wait until Del Toro has finished the next two Hobbit films in New Zealand. This is hands-down, the must-see movie of the summer.
Impeach the Vice President and President by following the link below
Having repeatedly demonstrated their cowardice in every possible
respect, is it any surprise that approval ratings for Congress are
now less that 10% for the first time ever? And the epitome of that
cowardice is their craven dereliction of duty in not holding
immediate impeachment hearings for the many war crimes and crimes
against the American people of the Cheney/Bush administration.
Again, Dennis Kucinich has thrown down the gauntlet, today
introducing another article of impeachment, this time wrapping up in
one singular package the greatest crime of all, intentionally lying
the American people into attacking Iraq. While former White House
operatives continue to laugh off congressional subpoenas like the sad
joke they have become, Congress is still afraid that people will not
vote for them if they stand up for our principles.
They need to hear we will not vote for them UNLESS they start
standing up for our principles.
Impeachment Hearings Now Action Page:
http://www.shirleygolub.com/petitions/pnum863.php
This action page is being done by Shirley Golub, the first person in
20 years with the courage to challenge Nancy Pelosi in her own
Democratic primary. And while she did not win the first time, she got
11% with hardly any news coverage whatsoever, and has already helped
to inspire other primary challengers out there even now.
Yes, Shirley Golub is still out there speaking out and organizing.
And we want to encourage her to continue to do so in every way. We
got the word that Shirley still has some of those cute orange "On The
Table" tote bags. And Shirley will send you one for any donation of
any amount.
"On The Table" Tote Bags:
http://www.shirleygolub.com/donations_tote.php
So if you would like a memento of the her ground-breaking campaign,
plus a great conversation piece, why don't you pick one up while they
are still available. And then when people ask you who Shirley Golub
is, you can tell them.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at
http://www.shirleygolub.com/in.htm
Or if you want to cease receiving our messages, just use the function
at http://www.shirleygolub.com/out.htm
Friday, July 11, 2008
Alex Cox.com has free PDFs of nearly all of his screenplays (and more!)
AlexCox.com--They're nearly all there--"Repo Man," "Sid & Nancy," "Walker," "Straight to Hell" ("More COFFEE!"),"Death and the Compass," and even a couple written by Peckinpah-scribe Rudy Wurlitzer (one co-written with Cox). FREE. Just download them, print them, and read them.
Aspiring screenwriters could learn a few tricks. Reading screenplays is a good start, and aids in understanding the conventions of screen-writing. Starting with Mr. Cox's texts is a good place as any to begin. With a crashing world economy, FREE is as good as it gets!
Get it-get-it-get-it:
Congressional approval ratings at historic low of 9%
Washington D.C.--No surprise there, they won't hold the executive branch accountable, and the legislation they're passing isn't in the best interests of the people. But it's definitely the fact that they won't stand-up to the Bush administration.
The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category. ("Congressional Approval Falls to Single Digits for the First Time Ever," Rasmussen Reports, 07.08.2008)The public wants accountability. Not just for the White House--regardless of which party they're in--and in Congress. We're not seeing this, and we're seeing inaction on important social issues. This was to be expected under a Republican administration that had the luxury of a GOP majority in Congress for a short time.
For five decades, they were the minority party. Americans are learning the hard way why. So much for the much-vaunted hope of improvement once the baby boomers held power. What was unique about them was the affluence they were able to live through, when labor was strong and the citizenry was more politically aware and active towards the common good.
To be polite--and this writer is being far too polite--they haven't lived-up to the good side of the WWII generation who warned of a catastrophe once their children assumed control (they were correct). Welcome to that moment, and thanks for nothing. Nonetheless, it all leads-back to the Republican Party, the party of business and runaway wealth, and little else. The Democratic Party is scarcely different.
When it's clear that the economy has finally crashed due to a lack of substantial oversight and regulation of the business and financial sectors, they're going to feel the love in a way they haven't in over 65 years. Democratic incumbents are equally-to-blame, and have been historically in the United States. They just talk a better talk.
That "love" will continue for decades since they have historically never shown a tendency for change. Democrats will also suffer for their systematic inaction. For these reasons, it's time for the third party solution, and time to wake up. "Conventional wisdom" isn't going to cut it anymore.
They say when you get rich, you become a Republican. There's going to be a lot of ex-Republicans soon, and nobody's going to be able to "fix" it...unless we get our own candidates out there. The American people have always been the real corrective-element in our system.
The Rasmussen Reports poll on congressional performance: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance/congressional_performance
CNN: UFO at Bush's Crawford Ranch ends mystery?
Stuck in your Crawford, Texas--This is underwhelming, especially considering there's no indication or evidence that anything strange was really going on here. How many UFO sightings were there in the 19th century, before the proliferation of aircraft? Not many.
How many were there before Orson Welles's "War of the Worlds" broadcast on Halloween, 1938? Barely detectable in any respect.
Face it: this is a psychological and cultural phenomena, otherwise known as wishful thinking.
We're alone in the universe, for all intents. It doesn't even matter if there are life forms light-years away from us--none of it affects our daily lives in any real respect. In other words, it's bullshit, grist for the tabloids and conspiracism websites (eat it Alex Jones) to sell you things you don't need, like any other kiss-ass business.
When there's no belief left, the imagination takes over. Then you get crazy ideas like the "trickle-down theory" of economics, and stupid things like trusting the president--any president--about anything at all. Or that you shouldn't eat an hour before swimming, or that the American Dream is real and Duran Duran were ever good.
We need to believe, we don't merely want to. Great, "UFOs" (the anagram only meaning "unidentified flying object"). Who cares? I don't, and you don't if you still have reasoning abilities left. No, the real truth here is that extra-dimensional beings are simply taking the Bush dynasty and Ted Nugent back to the hell planet they came from, it's really that simple. Suck it, Jesus, there are no fucking aliens. No, UFO are from England, everyone knows this.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Songs from the Site Meter: The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate is doing searches on Montgomery Blair Sibley
Site Meter--You gotta love those third party site meters!
| Domain Name | senate.gov ? (U.S. Government) | ||||||||||||||||
| IP Address | 156.33.35.# (U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms) | ||||||||||||||||
| ISP | U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms | ||||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Language | English (U.S.) en-us | ||||||||||||||||
| Operating System | Microsoft WinXP | ||||||||||||||||
| Browser | Internet Explorer 7.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; InfoPath.1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) | ||||||||||||||||
| Javascript | version 1.3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Monitor |
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| Time of Visit | Jul 10 2008 4:35:55 am | ||||||||||||||||
| Last Page View | Jul 10 2008 4:35:55 am | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Length | 0 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Views | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Referring URL | http://www.google.co...g supreme court 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| Search Engine | google.com | ||||||||||||||||
| Search Words | montgomery blair sibley ruling supreme court 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Entry Page | http://chickasawpick...ling-could-free.html | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Exit Page | http://chickasawpick...ling-could-free.html | ||||||||||||||||
| Out Click | | ||||||||||||||||
| Time Zone | UTC-5:00 | ||||||||||||||||
| Visitor's Time | Jul 9 2008 4:35:55 pm | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Number | 37,968 | ||||||||||||||||
Obama and FISA: Fallout
The Campaign Trail of Tears--As predicted by many, Sen. Barack Obama voted "yea"--in-favor--of passage of the FISA bill (H.R. 6304) that grants retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies who aid and abet renegade administrations and a free pass to any president who authorizes surveillance of any American citizen without a warrant. Surprisingly, Sen. Hillary Clinton voted against the bill, but she no longer has the Democratic nomination for president in her sights, while Obama has it in-hand...for now.
Had Sen. Clinton won the nomination, she would have assuredly voted for passage of this unconstitutional legislation. How much will they use it and abuse it? That's assuming these programs are anything new. They are not. Passage of a bill without the Dodd, Feingold, and Specter amendments can be expected to open a Pandora's box.
The Bush administration was more-than-willing to travel down the rabbit hole, just as the Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and even the Reagan administrations did when they spied illegally on American citizens.
What we know about the passage of the bill today is that during the yearlong proceedings those who voted in-favor were receiving heavy donations from the very telecommunications companies who helped the president break the law.
Notably, John McCain did not vote for the bill, and his comments yesterday criticizing the rival candidate raises the question of whether Obama has walked right into another "Roveian" trap.
We all knew that the wiretap lawsuits were going to go nowhere, and that this legislation was never necessary. But what happens if there is another successful attack on the continental United States anyway? Ted Kennedy did not vote on the legislation either, which is not to his credit, but also predictable. John Kerry voted against the bill. Unbelievably, Arlen Specter voted "yea."
Here's a rundown, mark it well:
| Akaka (D-HI), Nay Alexander (R-TN), Yea Allard (R-CO), Yea Barrasso (R-WY), Yea Baucus (D-MT), Yea Bayh (D-IN), Yea Bennett (R-UT), Yea Biden (D-DE), Nay Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Yea Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brown (D-OH), Nay Brownback (R-KS), Yea Bunning (R-KY), Yea Burr (R-NC), Yea Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Cardin (D-MD), Nay Carper (D-DE), Yea Casey (D-PA), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Yea Clinton (D-NY), Nay Coburn (R-OK), Yea Cochran (R-MS), Yea Coleman (R-MN), Yea Collins (R-ME), Yea Conrad (D-ND), Yea Corker (R-TN), Yea Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Craig (R-ID), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Yea DeMint (R-SC), Yea Dodd (D-CT), Nay Dole (R-NC), Yea | Domenici (R-NM), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay Ensign (R-NV), Yea Enzi (R-WY), Yea Feingold (D-WI), Nay Feinstein (D-CA), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Yea Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Yea Johnson (D-SD), Yea Kennedy (D-MA), Not Voting Kerry (D-MA), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay Kohl (D-WI), Yea Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Leahy (D-VT), Nay Levin (D-MI), Nay Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Not Voting McCaskill (D-MO), Yea McConnell (R-KY), Yea | Menendez (D-NJ), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Murray (D-WA), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea Obama (D-IL), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea Reed (D-RI), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea Salazar (D-CO), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Nay Sessions (R-AL), Not Voting Shelby (R-AL), Yea Smith (R-OR), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Yea Sununu (R-NH), Yea Tester (D-MT), Nay Thune (R-SD), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Yea Warner (R-VA), Yea Webb (D-VA), Yea Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea Wicker (R-MS), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Nay |
http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00168
I want a Black president, just not this guy. It's time for a choice, a real one, and that choice is Ralph Nader. There are no long-shots in this political climate, no total wins for the public. What we must do is pressure the candidates. If they don't respond, we must take the responsible route and begin the work of creating third parties to apply pressure on our own terms.
You have to hand it to John McCain on this one, though it's even money that he supports H.R. 6304 wholeheartedly. Sen. Vitter voted "yea," but being the subject of wiretaps that were carefully suppressed for partisan reasons, he's just a tad biased. Of course the president "relishes" signing the legislation--he's not going to jail now. Wouldn't you? Barack Obama: he's probably already lost the race for the White House.
Ralph Nader had this--and much more--to say yesterday on the passage of H.R. 6304:
 | July 9, 2008 |
Listen to Ralph Nader's audio message on the Senate vote on FISA - here. Good morning. This is Ralph Nader. Today is Wednesday July 9, 2008. And I'm listening now to the debate on the Senate floor over legislation that will give President Bush new warrantless eavesdropping powers. The bill will also grant immunity to telecom companies for cooperating with Mr. Bush in his illegal warrantless wiretapping on Americans - on any one of you. We were taught as young children that in our democracy, under our system of justice, nobody is above the law - nobody. But this bill puts the President and the telecom companies above the law. It also conveniently assures a coverup of Mr. Bush's past crimes in this area - of wiretapping and surveillance. On the Senate floor, Senator Feingold has just warned his colleagues that the Senate "will regret that we passed this legislation." As my home state Senator, Christopher Dodd, said: "If we pass this legislation, the Senate will ratify a domestic spying regime that has already concentrated far too much unaccountable power in the President's hands and will place the telecommunications companies above the law." What does it say that Senators Dodd, Feingold, Harry Reid, and Patrick Leahy have led the valiant fight against this bill, but Senator Obama has said he will vote for it? Again, this bill gives the President vast new warrantless eavesdropping powers and allows the government - for the first time ever - to tap into America's telecommunications networks with no judicial warrant requirement. President Bush and the Democrats who support him argue that the telecommunications companies were only doing what they were told by the President and were acting as "patriotic corporate citizens." This is pure hogwash. First of all, corporations aren't citizens. Second, the President can't order anyone - citizens or corporations - to break the law. This legislation, which the Senate is debating right now, sets up a double standard of justice. Break the law as a citizen, go to jail. Break the law as a corporation, go to Washington and get immunity. Remember, there were telecom companies, such as Qwest, that refused to follow President Bush's illegal wiretap orders and chose instead to obey the laws of the land. The Senate is now posed to bury the rule of law. What to do? Join Nader/Gonzalez - the candidacy that will shift the power from the corporations back into the hands of the people. We strongly oppose the wiretap surveillance legislation that Obama and McCain support. We stand strongly with the American people and for the Constitution. The Nader/Gonzalez campaign is now at six percent in the most recent CNN poll. We're in the middle of a fundraising drive right now to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in 45 states by September 20. Help us get there now. Go to votenader.org. Donate to your heart's content. For the Constitution. For liberty. For freedom. For justice. For shifting the power from the corporations, back into the hands of the American people. "We the people" are the first words of the Constitution - we should always remember. Thank you. PS: We invite your comments to the blog. Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.  | |
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
From Democrats.com: Fight the FISA Bill & Arrest Karl Rove
Defeat the Wiretap Bill
The Senate will cast its final vote on warrantless wiretapping late Tuesday or Wednesday, so we need to flood Congress with petitions and calls demanding a no vote on the FISA bill.
Call your Senators through the switchboard at 202-224-3121 or dial direct
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
or let BlueAmerica connect you for free:
http://tools.advomatic.com/7/fisa
Join a Facebook group for your state to lobby your Senators:
http://get-fisa-right.wetpaint.com/page/List+of+Senator+Specific+Facebook+Groups
If you support Obama (as we do) and plan to contribute, consider an informal "pledge" to our escrow fund until Obama demonstrates leadership on the progressive issues you care about most:
http://www.democrats.com/obama-escrow-fund
__________________
Arrest Karl Rove
Could you or I get away with defying a Congressional subpoena? Of course not. So why can Karl Rove? Like George Bush and Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, believes he is simply above the law.
It's time for Congress to prove them wrong by using its power of "inherent contempt" to send the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Karl Rove (as imagined in photoshop at left) and bring him before the full House to answer to the charge of Contempt of Congress, and to punish him to the maximum extent allowed by law, including prison.
Before Democrats won Congress in 2006, Nancy Pelosi said the most important reason to put Democrats in control of Congress was "subpoena power." But now Pelosi is quietly blocking the use of inherent contempt.
Tell your Representatives to Arrest Karl Rove:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/106
__________________
Lose those unwanted pounds on the FARC diet!
Southern Colombia--For well-over 30 years, Colombia has been involved in a civil war between the paramilitary and military forces (with American "advisers") of the narco-industrial Oligarchs to the North, and populist and Marxist Revolutionary forces in the South. Both sides traffic in cocaine, and sometimes in heroin and marijuana to fund their activities.
Both sides kidnap members of their factions, as well as the kidnapping of innocent bystanders and public officials. That's correct: there are no "good guys" in the civil war in Colombia, none. But the State Department's line on FARC is consistent: they sell drugs to fund their activities, while the Oligarchy doesn't. This is a lie.
The other lie held by those at State is that the Oligarchy and its paramilitary and military forces never kidnap or murder anyone, particularly anyone who expresses dissent within territory under their control, in the cities and the countryside. FARC opposes these activities, because unlike most Americans, they're capable of courage and sacrifice. They aren't perfect, and they have needless blood on their hands too. This is how a civil war works. The regime's crimes are far-and-away greater.
But that story doesn't fit when you're trying to extend your influence in the South American nation, especially when American "drug interdiction" troops and advisers are being misused for counterinsurgency purposes. You need a pretext. The State Department has had to make-due with the line that "FARC is to blame for everything bad happening in Colombia."
According to the American State Department, Colombia's Oligarchs also never systematically harass and murder the homeless in their cities. No, it's all big, bad FARC, never the Oligarchs and their decidedly criminal activities that get assigned almost completely to FARC. The rebels are no angels, but they're in a fight for their survival, just as much as their captives. Of course these released hostages are angry at the rebel group for doing what they did to them--it's their right, and it's a reasonable reaction.
What's unreasonable is to play into the lexicon of the American State Department's line that FARC--and only FARC--are responsible for the drug trade in Colombia. This is a fiction that's easily dispelled by a hard look at the internal politics and policies of that troubled nation.
The former hostages are right to be angry, and wrong to point their fingers in one direction at FARC, implying that the power structure to the North is blameless. For a number of them, it's nothing new. Recent years have amply illustrated through the atrocities of right-wing paramilitary employed by the regime that this is a lie. It's a lie that the former hostages are willingly perpetuating, but hey, don't they look svelte? Name one that looks fat.
It would behoove international citizens to consider who these hostages really are when reading their opinions. They're never going to look this sexy ever again. And speaking of the unsexy and the unattractive boor, what was Sen. John McCain doing down in Colombia during the 4th of July? Was this a botched "October surprise" on his part (and Karl Rove's?)? It doesn't matter. We'll never win in: Iraq, Cuba, Afghanistan, Central Asia, or anywhere else. That can only be good for the interests of the average American.
Monday, July 07, 2008
"No more fucking ABBA!"
ABBA--Drag queens, Toni Colette, and Throbbing Gristle are sad. Babs is glad, and I couldn't care any less (OK, I lied). When Terence Stamp made his historic proclamation in the sleeper, "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," a lot of us had to agree: no more fucking ABBA, indeed. Camp doesn't mean it doesn't stink.
Postscript, 07.14.2008: The Guardian's Ben Child has kinda-sorta quoted from my piece, making a similar observation! I'm sure that the Terence Stamp quote came to him as well--it just had to be said. I can recall being blasted daily by the neighborhood rednecks, over-and-over again, with that pestilence called "ABBA," that Swedish supergroup created by a millionaire...a little like KISS, that.
Postscript, 07.15.2008: Toni Colette was more likable plump. Still, Colette wasn't as fat as my ex when she was in "Muriel's Wedding." No more fu...you know the drill.
NO MORE FUCKING ABBA: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/07/you_review_mamma_mia.html
Obama and FISA: Some thoughts from the Nation's "The Beat"
The Nation.com--You have to give some due to the public. We're nearly always ahead of the politicians and the business community on what needs to be fixed, changed, and deposed. This applies to economic policy, foreign policy, and most all of the rest. Frequently, we're wrong, but not nearly as wrong as the pundits and the politicians. In-keeping with this, politicians and Wall Street tend to move in the opposite direction on almost every issue dear to Americans.
Obama's recent, and brusque, shift to the right shouldn't be any surprise with this kind of a political context. America is a hard-right nation in a way that separates it from the rest of the developed world. Think about that when you hear someone on the radio using the terms "conservative," "liberal," "extremist," and all the other loaded catchphrases we're bombarded with daily by our corporate-owned media. What's extremist is the so-called "conventional wisdom" that most American voters disagree with.
Below are some comments from a poster at the Nation in-response to the issue of Obama's 180-degree turn on the FISA bill. This bill will grant the telecommunications companies legal immunity if they're asked by the President of the United States to break the law by illegally spying on all of us. Worse still, the bill will close the door on further investigations into the Bush administration's now-defunct NSA wiretapping program, an operation that violated the Fourth amendment to the Constitution by authorizing surveillance of American citizens without a warrant.
Senator Obama knows better, and he's making a very grave error that could cost him the election against presumptive GOP candidate John McCain, a politician who would most certainly abuse these new powers being granted to the executive branch. It's in the genetic-makeup of the Republican Party to do so...and the Democratic Party. In addition to granting wider, legalized surveillance powers, the Bush administration will be handed a free-pass by Congress on all of their misdeeds surrounding this issue.
The bill closes the door on any future recourse or investigations into the warrantless NSA program. We the people have a right to know out history if we're to remain a democracy. Instead, Senators Obama and McCain have decided to play a game of political calculus that's not likely to win them much support. Therefore, we presume that they're throwing in their lot with corporate American interests and unaccountable power. That's the same old politics in a new bottle.
"B Kool 66" wrote this on a thread addressing this issue at the Nation. "66" claims to be a veteran of the military, and his words were well-chosen. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/334933
SHOULD PROGRESSIVES VOTE FOR OBAMA?
That is the question.
Before you answer let's review some recent background.
Barack Obama sailed into June with the political wind at his back and riding the crest of a tidal wave of enthusiastic support, especially among his left wing progressive base who were convinced that Obama would --however cryptic he might often come off-- eventually deliver with a more or less progressive agenda. After all, isn't it rather obvious after Dubya that the time is ripe for a whole new agenda? What other change should we "believe in" if not a genuine change in direction?
We lined up eagerly with our money in hand to buy our tickets to the big race. Everyone knew that this was a moment for the history books. Big Brown was destined to go wire to wire, and we would all cash in our winnings and join the ticker tape parade to the sounds of triumphant music.
Only it didn't happen.
We were left standing with our losing tickets and tear streaked faces while the owners acted upset too. "Who is responsible for this travesty?", they said. It was the trainer, or the jockey, or perhaps the track conditions were not right.
Here is where the analogy must break down. In politics we all know that the game is so often rigged just like boxing and horse racing, but in this case I put the blame for our disappointment firmly with the horse. How could he so callously raise our hopes, and then so unceremoniously dash them as soon as the nomination was his?
This is the "old" politics we were promised would not be repeated.
And one of the ironies of the moment is that more disappointment has perhaps been raised in the so-called mainstream media then in our progressive media.
Philip Gailey, recently, in the St. Petersburg Times, "In ‘The Audacity of Hope,' Obama wrote: "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views." Someone is going to be disappointed. He can't be everything to everyone. If that's his idea of a new kind of politics, maybe he should just stick to the old politics he is beginning to master."
Katrina vanden Heuvel said on Stephanopoulos (6/29, viewable online), "I'm shocked, shocked that Obama has turned to the center."
Really?
Or is this just a sarcastic remark ala Casablanca? I'm not quite sure, but I'll assume, for her sake, that she really meant it -after all, a sarcastic remark would be a slap in the face to Nation readers since The Nation endorsed Barack Obama. And if she is indeed shocked, then where is the appropriate anger to go along with it?
I, for one, am grateful that George Carlin decided to die right at the moment when his words are most needed --and I'm not referring to the ones that have been played on television of late:
"Forget the politicians, politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you.
They own everything. They own all the important land, they own and control the corporations, they've long since bought and paid for the senate, the congress, the state houses, the city halls, they've got the judges in their back pockets, and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all the news and information you get to hear. They've got you by the balls.
They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying to get what they want. We know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else... but they don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They're not interested in that. That doesn't help them. That's against their interests. They don't want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table and figure out how badly they're getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard thirty fucking years ago....
The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care, good honest hard working people, white collar, blue collar, doesn't matter what color shirt you have on. Good honest hard working people continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don't give a fuck about them. They don't give a fuck about you... at all...
And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care, that's what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white, and blue dick being jammed up their assholes everyday.
Because the owners of this country know the truth - it's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."
On June 3rd Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, and today, July 3rd, is the anniversary of the ending of the battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Lincoln would deliver his Gettyburg Address in response and singlehandedly redefine what the nation stood for. "…Our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
This is the central tenet of the progressive movement, people. As Bill Moyers recently said at the Media Reform Conference, "Equality is the heart of Democracy."
In just one short month Barack Obama with his completely unecessary, but entirely calculated flip-flops –on NAFTA, FISA, campaign finance reform, the Israeli-Palestinian issue etc…-- has essentially declared war on the very causes he has thus far pretended to champion.
Obama appears to be just the latest act at Sea World. A black and white Orca performing incredible high flying tricks for his corporate masters.
We've been duped, folks. And it's up to us to resist the behavior that the masters have calculated we will exhibit. You see, they've got us pegged with their sophisticated statistical algorithms, and sealed in a prison of numerical calculations. As right winger Hugh Hewitt said on Stephanopoulos, "Progressives will ride the bus no matter how hard right it turns."
Will we, really?
If Obama is a Big Brown of disappointment, I challenge all of us to tap our inner Black Beauty.
It is up to us to show our corporate masters that we are not the emmasculated animals that they treat us as. Statistical calculations don't have the power to predict the impact of inspiration.
At a time that our nation is facing its darkest moment at least since the Civil War, we need to find the courage to shirk the reins that have been so carefully crafted for us.
If Barack Obama can't find it in himself to do the right thing and stand up for a progressive –and popular--agenda, then we need to do the right thing and vote for Ralph Nader.
Don't fear the election of John McCain, fear instead the machinery that would have us all in shackles with our noses buried in slop-filled troughs of fattening propaganda.
Should we vote for Obama?
As a former Marine First Sergeant of mine was fond of saying, "Not only no, but fuck no!"
Posted by b_kool_66 at 07/07/2008 @ 2:41pm
Friday, July 04, 2008
And if that weren't enough: Interesting claims about the lost hour of "The Magnificent Ambersons"
TCM.com (Turner Classic Movies)--An interesting couple of comments have been posted by an individual going under the name "Roberto" on TCM's page for Ambersons. "Roberto" is claiming that Warner Brothers has the complete print with the missing-footage, presumably making it Orson Welles's 1942 workprint he had flown down to Rio while he was filming "It's All True" for RKO and the State Department. Again, a long-shot, but who knows at this stage?
| roberto | ||||
| Date: 05/24/2008 | ||||
| Amberson film | ||||
Ambersons film sent to Welles at his hotel the Copacabana Palace. Film did not leave Brazil after that due to customs problems. Adhemar Gonzaga did not destroy fil[m] as directed[,] unclear why. So film ends up back at the Palace. Hotel finds film cans after the war and for whatever reason sends film to the Cinemateca. Sometime between 1946 and 1976(?) film probably in unauthorized private hands beacause if still at Cinemateca it would have burned in 1957 fires. It ends up at the São Paulo Cinemateque in 1976(?), cans labeled correctly but ignored by over-worked local perservation [sp.] staff which assumed it was regular print of film. In 2006 their archivist contacted Warner about film cans which turned out ot be complete print in poor but salvagable [sp.] condition. Film flown to US once Warner gets o.k. from Brazilan court.
And:
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Lost scenes of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" discovered in Argentina
Buenos Aires, Aregentina--It's not so hard to imagine researchers finding that lost hour from "The Magnificent Ambersons" after this week: film restorers at the German F.W. Murnau Foundation have been informed that a 16mm negative is in the possession of the Museo del Cine Pablo C. Ducros Hicken with all but five minutes of the original 1927 premier cut.
It's a windfall that nobody expected to happen, and now it actually has. This will inevitably raise hopes in the search for other lost films and lost footage from international classics of cinema.
Helmut Poßmann, managing director of the Murnau Foundation states that: “In continuance of the restoration from 2001, the Murnau Foundation would very much like to compile a complete version of the film together with the former partners and the Museo del Cine Pablo C. Ducros Hicken in Buenos Aires and to open it to the public, all the more because “Metropolis” is the first film which has been affiliated in this restored version from 2001 – safety lug Nr. 1 – to the Memory of the World register of the UNESCO.”It's going to get a full reconstruction, this, one of the greatest achievements in world cinema! What's out there, sitting in the world's archives and warehouses? We can only be surprised, because many of these films are found in a long-lost closet, drawer, vault, or storage room. Most of them have remained untouched in storage immediately after completion of production and release to the public.
“This sensational discovery places the Murnau Foundation into a position being able to restore the film to a very large degree. That way it could be achieved to come as close to the masterwork of Fritz Lang as never before possible and present it to the world”, says Eberhard Junkersdorf, head of the board of trustees. (http://www.murnau-stiftung.de/en/04-00-00-news.html)
The Argentine-print (accounts vary, calling it a "print," while the Murnau Foundation refers to it as a "16mm negative") was actually shown in the 1960s in the capitol city. It took a movie buff to prod the museum to finally rifle through their archives for the film materials:
In the 1980s, Argentine film fanatic Fernando Pena heard about a man who had propped up a broken projector for "hours" to screen Metropolis in the 1960s - but the version of the film he knew was only one-and-a-half hours long.For years, he begged the Buenos Aires' museum to check their archives for the man's longer version.This year, museum researchers finally agreed and in April uncovered the reels in the museum's archive. ("Long-lost Metropolis scenes shown," BBC News, 07.04.2008)
The irony is that the the Murnau Foundation worked with the Buenos Aires museum on the 2001 restoration of Metropolis, and that other missing footage might have been provided back then. Sometimes the channels of communication get crossed. How many times do you think this has happened to researchers looking for lost films and footage?
Finding many of these lost film materials will be a long-shot, but saving cultural artifacts like these films should be an international priority. Sadly, it isn't, but the DVD market is getting some results. It would behoove governments around the world to ensure these films are found and preserved for future generations. Rumors persist over comments by director William Friedkin that those lost scenes from Ambersons have actually been found. But wouldn't that be news, just like this discovery? It doesn't seem likely that Warner Brothers would sit on that information for very long.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
"White House says ruling could free detainees in US"
Washington D.C.--Is the Bush administration threatening to release individuals they seized illegally in other countries within the territorial United States? Granted, nothing 's illegal when you're a Republican in the White House, but wouldn't INS have to arrest someone in the executive branch if they did this? Nobody has yet, though there have been close-calls for Bush administration personnel handed-down from the bench in the EU.
Additionally, this recent statement on the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling that Guantanamo internees have legal rights under our laws undermines the GOP's ability to have a coherent immigration platform...OK, there wasn't much chance of this ever, but what the hell? No, these suspects--and that's all that many of them are--aren't necessarily going to be released into the streets of America unless it's expedited by the executive branch. It can't happen otherwise, so this must be a threat that they're going to do it.
How can the Democrats save face when they predictably acquiesce and allow it, especially in an election year? Oh yes, there will be hearings, but we know that won't go anywhere, anytime soon. Will the Democratic majority in Congress actually draw the line and exert some checks on an administration that has run amok for far too long? The public had enough long ago, and we're not about to forget anytime soon--certainly not this November. We're going to remember who enabled this administration and stood by and did nothing, allowing tragic precedents to have been established. The effects on public opinion are going to be long-term for the GOP and her allies within the Democratic Party. 2006 was only the beginning.
The White House making such obviously desperate statements expresses a very pure kind of irrationality that can only be described as breathtaking. It hasn't been the first time for this administration and their party, and it's not likely to be the last. It's going to be found to be indisputable that many of these terror-suspects currently being held were illegally seized in other countries under the flimsiest of pretenses, without a shred of solid evidence, something that is established as fact in the cases of several dozen Guantanamo internees released already.
Eventually, the civil suits are going to come, with ringing demands for war crimes charges in the backdrop. This will continue for years-to-come, a gift that's going to keep on giving it to American taxpayers, while appropriately dogging those who initiated a wave of politically opportunistic criminality in the wake of September 11th, 2001, easily eclipsing the atrocities of those attacks in short order. When will justice be served? It might have to come from state attorney generals, and there is a movement in that direction. Get the lead out, folks, and have a happy and safe 4th. I know I will.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter attempting to use campaign donations to pay for legal fees related to Palfrey case
Washington D.C./Metarie, Louisiana--Is it redundant to refer to the donors of Sen. Vitter's campaign as suckers? Never mind, the Advocate is reporting today that the senator from Louisiana has sent a letter to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) trying to recoup over $70,000 in legal fees he incurred, assessing and watching the Palfrey scandal through counsel.
This pleases myself--the editor of this site--to no end. The total amount is somewhere in the neighborhood of $137,000, a tidy sum for someone who never set-foot in a courtroom. Why just $70,000? Perhaps the senator doesn't want the public to know what all of the money was spent on, but much of it was probably expended on private investigators and legal research.
Vitter's present counsel, Jan Witold Baran--whom he's now incurring even more legal debts with--has made some striking admissions to the Advocate, but the message is coming from Vitter. Will anyone notice? The Advocate missed spelling-out who Baran is: one of the "top elections and campaign lawyers who was an "Executive Assistant" to the FEC, 1977-79, according to his own firm profile. He's an insider who even represented the RNC and the Bush Sr. campaign in 1988. (http://www.wileyrein.com/directory.cfm?attorney_id=399)
Vitter has paid $70,000 of the legal fees personally and is asking that the money be re-imbursed through the campaign funds, the letter says.
FEC officials could not be reached late Wednesday afternoon for comment. Through his spokesman, Vitter declined to comment on the letter. The latest FEC campaign contributions report for Vitter, filed March 31, shows he has $1.6 million in his campaign coffers.
Baran, in the letter, says Vitter had been monitoring the Palfrey case three months before the senator acknowledged what he called a serious sin in his past. A review of the Palfrey records shows Vitter’s number on the list five times between 1999 and 2001 when he was in the House. ("Vitter to seek help with fees," The Advocate, 07.03.2008)
Why should the campaign contributors have to pay for Vitter's continual lies and obfuscations? Baran conveying Vitter's acknowledgment that he was "monitoring" the case from as early as late-March makes it plain that the senator was well aware of his guilt, and moved heaven and earth to avoid responsibility.
But now, a woman is dead by her own hand, and for some perverse reason, he's still holding office, though not if Louisiana state Republicans can help it. Eight GOP incumbents in the Senate still appear to support the errant-genitals of Sen. Vitter and Larry Craig--and the rest of their bodies--when they co-sponsored yet another round in the feeble-attempt at a gay marriage amendment to the Constitution, banning it.
Will the FEC reimburse the senator for his legal expenses? It depends on how much of a liability he's become to the national GOP, how much control the party itself exerts over the bureaucracy, and whether Louisianans have any self-respect left. After Katrina, it's time to muster some.
Yet, it appears that some of them still do, particularly Nate Monroe of The Daily Reveille, and he's hardly alone in the Southern state. Monroe's observations on Vitter's proposal of another stab at a national ban on gay marriage and his behavior related to the Palfrey case are astute:
The self-righteous hubris that Vitter revealed during his scandal - that it happened a long time ago, that he was "sorry," that he allegedly apologized to God and that, finally, he will not resign because he is still the best man to save Louisiana from itself - is the same hubris that motivated him to cosponsor this ridiculous piece of legislation. And of course, this bill is coming at a time when Congress ought to be paying attention to more dire events. ("Senator Vitter is married to arrogance," The Daily Reveille, 07.03.2008)
Technically, he's married to Wendy...for now. It should go without saying that the FEC would vote "no" to Vitter's absurd request, particularly with the April 15th conviction of the deceased Deborah Jeane Palfrey. This means that Vitter committed at least five criminal acts of soliciting prostitutes, and that he did likewise in his own home state. There is a possibility that he violated federal white slave laws and the Traveling Act, since Palfrey's service crossed state lines in the D.C. region.
At-minimum, it would be a grotesque act of favoritism and injustice for him to be reimbursed even a penny. Taking responsibility means just that, and Vitter's just illustrating that he's never going to unless he's forced to by society, by the courts. It sounds familiar doesn't it? It sounds a lot like the Bush administration, but then, it should. We're talking about the national GOP here.
This story and the career of the senator should have ended when Vitter's name was found in Palfrey's escort service records on July 9th of last year by researcher Dan Moldea. But up is down and down is up when the Republicans control the bureaucracy in Washington. They're right: government doesn't work...when they're in power.
It's the hope of this writer that Sen. Vitter's private investigators and attorneys were paid very well indeed when they came to J-7, as they most assuredly did. Several high powered law firms visited this site during the period before Vitter's semi-admission of guilt in July of 2007, and afterwards. There's another thing he's wrong about: others in the phone records were retaining counsel, just as he did, and they certainly incurred legal expenses of several thousand dollars.
How do I know this? Because many of them came through this site, leaving a record of it on the third party site meter. It's all about David, naturally. The other Johns are their own concern, they don't even exist to Vitter--and cannot, if he's going to succeed in painting himself as some kind of martyr. Absurd, and he's failing.
Sen. Vitter's attempt at evading even more responsibility for his actions, 07.03.2008: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/22850554.html
The day after we learned Sen. David Vitter was a sinner, 07.10.2007: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070902030.html
"Senator Vitter is married to arrogance," The Daily Reveille, 07.03.2008: http://media.www.lsureveille.com/media/storage/paper868/news/2008/07/03/Opinion/Senator.Vitter.Is.Married.To.Arrogance-3387766.shtml
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