46 more days to go

1)

working folks stand up for themselves

the US in the icaran free fall

criminals scatter into the media

frost nixon makes it to the screen

the long cold winter, a prank phone call on democracy

presidency stolen, presidency returned

thieves alight, old economies topple down

london bridges falling like the value of the pound sterling

barber shops for car industry concessions

labor gets a hair cut and the banks go rolling down the hill

the carbon footprints 

all that remains of our old chemical economy

 

2)

republic windows and doors sit in

on the rachel maddow show, it’s monday, 12-7-08

and bank of america is refusing to give the company a loan!!!

workers negotiate with the bank that owns their factory,

gave its employees 3 days notice

before they shut its doors

and so the workers sit in

demanding their vacations and some severance pay

who controls whose assets? 

workers hold their old furniture, the office supplies, 

the windows of the republic, yes, its doors

as yet unbought and uninstalled

while bank of america gets our bailout billions

massive protests planned for chicago

obama expresses his support 

and when the president says he’ll get behind that

it's time for us to fight 

as long as its going to take, 

the rights of 17 years

the united electric

in work we stand.

Meanwhile,

9/11 suspects plead guilty 

the day obama wins.

What does this mean for martyrdom and the death penalty?

Does the state become their salvation

or ours?

Are we not supposed to be infuriated?

2)

sho-time weeds

wacky women fucking up in the suburbs

stepford scissorhands

jumpcuts in generations

children fucking cocaine

the degeneration of californication

the shift from absurdism to teenager soap opera

poppy edge

poppy edge

lost angeles

left coast, left handed

lesbian luscious vicious

sho time

sho enuf 

uncle tom cabins

a restaurant six feet under

cafe funeral palour games

straight men being good to women 

while completely objectifying them and at the same time worshipping them

as mommies

Are we not supposed to be infuriated by this?

3)

Admiral Shinseki stepped down when he was ignored by Rumsfeld

someone always has to be right about troop surges.

Obama’s new thumb in the eye appointment as the head of VA,

Privateer blackwater mauraders charged with manslaughter,

How many more insults to Rumsfeld can we muster? 

(It’s not like Mayor Ray Nagan as the head of FEMA.)

The Japanese-American Vietnam war vet with decorations

he lost a foot in battle, 

true heroism is always a lost limb or something lost....

Kennedy's war replaced another Asian racism

hip hop for the corporate set,

he’s so low profile, can he lead such a big obstacle?

The massive challenge of the VA

like the big 3 auto makers

behind the times, not receptive to the needs of their customers, 

failed to innovative, failed to experiment with new technologies

the VA needs its massive bailout too 

and what should we do about the private security contractors

guys with guns this deeply involved in our operations

will they get to visit the VA too?

what will end the rumsfeld era?

the stop gap measures

our addictions to hired guns

bad for the military, bad for civilians, bad for troops on the ground

the competitive 6 figure money dynamic

and the way that money sits among

a community of vets with their hospitals crumbing

and now the taliban are a semi permanent presence in 72% of afganistan

tell me again, why are we telling people 1/2 way across the globe

who should make their rules?

oh israel, oh zion

our addiction to that holy sand

the quality of the everlasting sun

the most blessed of all land

we all remember 

we all dream 

we want our right of return

and that salt of the dead sea

4)

there is always the poignancy of Ron Howard 

having voted for Nixon in 72

and after the whole watergate thing 

we realize that the person we thought would be the safe choice

turned out to be really wrong for the country

and how crushed we are to have been so wrong

so wronged

5)

Economy in a tailspin

the president pardons turkeys

his passive aggressive disappearance act

foisting the new guys into control

their trial by fire

flames licking our heels

the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire

they don’t need no water

let the motherfuckers burn

the t-shirt

When we were saying our goodbyes after the election party, Eileen asked me what I was going to do now with the t-shirt I was wearing.

And I realized that for the first time in my 41 years of life, I could and WOULD actually wear a picture of a US President and feel genuine and proud.

inspired Frontline World videos

Check out: Kenya: Sweet Home Obama

Expectations weigh heavy on Kenya's native sons

BY EDWIN OKONG'O

AND

Brazil: The Obama Samba

Brazilian politicians find inspiration a continent away

BY ANDRÉS CEDIEL

Alice Walker's open letter to Obama

An Open Letter to Barack Obama

from Alice Walker, published on  TheRoot.com   

Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

voting pix

Jimmy Carter's Malaise Speech, 1979

President Jimmy Carter - "Crisis of Confidence" on YouTube

text of Jimmy Carter's "Malaise Speech, July 15, 1979"

Was this the last time any US President spoke fully honestly and openly directly to the public and told them what they really see and what we need to do about it?  I heard some pundit call this was the speech that nailed the coffin of his 1980 2nd term run against Reagan.

There is a certain arrogance in Carter that feels off putting.  He's didactic and talks down in way. He's not inspiring the way that JFK could explain the state of things with poetry and up lift us to follow him.

The Rosenbergs

I watched Ivy Meeropol's documentary about her grandparents the other night, Heir to an Execution.  

Oh, to be a granddaughter of the Rosenberg's - lefty Jews from the lower east side executed by the state for supposedly passing secrets about the atomic bomb to the Russians.  They maintained their innocence for the crimes of which they were convicted through their electric chairs.  

Tony Kushner, who chose Ethel to be on of the Angels in Angels in America, was interviewed in the extras section.  The difference between an actual relative and a symbol is in the minds of the people who invoke them.  Terrorists to nazis, terrorists to McCarthy, terrorists to the news media, the mass hysterics we all become aided and abetted by our need to belong.

And then there is love. Love which binds you to action, to conviction, to belief beyond your children, acting for posterity, nobility, and grace into death.

psychic bedbugs

we've been invaded by psychic bedbugs.  I know how hard they are to get rid of... but it's time to throw our metaphorical mattresses out and clean house.

“the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull”

EWWWWWWW.  I don't know which is more horrifying: a veep who thinks that likening herself to a pit bull is a positive association or touting wearing lipstick as something that defines her!  Gross.

Guess we're signing on for 3 more months of culture wars.... 

From todays's NY Times front page article : Ms. Palin also displayed humor in one of her biggest lines of the night when she said that “the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull” was “lipstick.”

the cloud

cloud: location of all information, the infinitely accessible power, that through which we fly 

daedalus' project for human flight, the urge for limitlessness -  empire and the abdication of responsibility

david pogue's enthusiasm about me.com is troubling to me.  I think he too blithly believes in the benevolence of corporate america. yes, apple. one empire begets another. the smug satisfaction of the way that MobileMe dismisses Internet Explorer -- a put down ten years in the making: MobileMe won't work with Internet Explorer since it “has known compatibility issues with modern Web standards."  But, really, we're just being swallowed by a giant with a different name.  Minotaurs and mazes -- the trap of the human mind - we just can't help ourselves, drawing ourselves into a corner with our brain.

The apple v. pc war - a branding shift, like obama v. bush -- dominance can't believe it's here but it does believe its power and dominance is for the general good, since the idea of the general good has been so deeply corrupted into outright hypocrisy.  I think Marshall Curry's "Street Fight" told our story - Cory Booker is so much a parallel to Obama, albiet on our local Newark, NJ scale.

forget me not the farm