Nixonland: the end?
So I'm finally reading Rick Perlstein's Nixonland, and aside from all the outbursts of "oh my god" and plain "ugh"s that are guaranteed to annoy my fiancee when I'm reading and lead to me reading...
View ArticleReal America (an elegy for Rockford, Ill., and how real people suffer)
I grew up in Rockford, Ill. A smallish city, 160k in the city limits as of the last census, about 300k in the "metro area." I was lucky enough to get out of there -- went to public high school, a son...
View ArticleStand up for executive pay limits!
Slinkerwink posted a great diary this morning about the reticence of the Obama Administration to stand by Sen. Dodd's amendment to the stimulus package requiring a $500,000 limit to compensation for...
View ArticleJust a short happy diary
So tonight I was hanging out on the front stoop of my building, smoking a couple cigarettes and drinking some beers with a couple friends, and lordy lordy, what did I see?
View ArticleAn open letter to President Johnson... errr.. Obama
Afghanistan is unwinnable.From a strategic point of view, there is no victory in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai is a fraud. He won reelection through outright fraud. Afghani democracy is a myth your...
View ArticleShort point on Egypt and the Need for Independent Media in the USA
I'll keep this brief, since I think most of the wonderful individuals active in this community are well aware of the desperate need in the United States for non-corporate media. But having been glued...
View ArticleOn "Same-Sex Marriage" v. "Marriage Equality," a Rant
This is going to be fairly brief, but I hope raises an important point. There is a substantial difference between referring to yesterday's epic win in New York as a victory for "same-sex marriage" and...
View ArticleWhere the Left Goes From Here
I've been thinking about Utah Phillips a lot lately, specifically in the context of a fantastic diary by eastern619 which I commented on. We can all agree that not only our nation, but our world is in...
View ArticleThis goes beyond Obama
Obama is the compromiser-in-chief. The guy who, when presented with alternatives, gives the opposition what they want in the naive belief that doing so will win points with the media and succor favor...
View ArticleThe right's allergy to facts
Now, it's pretty much common knowledge around these parts that the American right isn't exactly the most empirical of organizations. From the mythologizing of Saint Ronald to the deluded belief that as...
View ArticleMy 62-year old father was let go yesterday
Yep, my father, who is the hardest-working person I've met in my 26 years, was let go by his firm yesterday. Not because he didn't do his job well -- he did, saved the company money, and generally...
View ArticleThey're not "entitlements," they're a promise
I posted a diary a while back on why it's important to frame same-sex marriage as "marriage equality" instead. Not because "same-sex marriage" isn't factually true -- it is. That's what it is. Framing...
View ArticleMy ex is the reason I'm alive today
Warning: This is a piece I'm working on for Longshot Magazine -- their "24-hour" mag contest is open until 3 eastern tomorrow. Check it out if you're interested! As far as I'm aware, they take fiction,...
View Article"Network" and Our Current Epistemic Crisis
Sidney Lumet's 1976 masterpiece Network (written by Paddy Chayefsky) remains one of the most prescient and chilling films in American cinematic history. Everyone on this site -- and presumably the vast...
View ArticleThe Neoliberal Order Has Discovered a Crack in Its Armor
For the first time in a long time -- at least in the dozen or so years I've been old enough to be politically aware -- a space has opened up for real radical change. The evidence is global -- panic on...
View ArticleI will Certainly Miss Meteor Blades, But...
Let me start by saying that Meteor Blades' writing was one of the factors that got me hooked on this site initially. I started reading and lurking in 2004, while deeply involved with the Kerry...
View ArticleColbert is the Most Relevant Person on TV
Now, some of you may know this about me, but I am a diligent and very-tough-to-please media critic. I spend more time than I should watching TV news on all three cable networks as well as Stewart and...
View ArticleVery Short Response to Bachmann's Victory (nt please)
I've always had a good deal of respect for my fellow corn-loving flatlanders to the immediate west, but Iowa Republicans are really insane enough to pick Michelle Bachmann as their preliminary favorite...
View ArticleEurope's right-wing populist problem and American parallels
I've spent my morning and early afternoon reading all sorts of cheerful things about the rise of the right in Europe, as if the rise of the right here weren't cheerful enough. Specifically, I've read...
View ArticleAll the Single Ladies
I'm struggling with this list published by the New York Observer. Basically, I can't decide if it's an honest celebration of fifty truly remarkable single women, or blatant exploitation of women living...
View ArticleThe Paradox of No Choice
Fair warning: this diary was inspired by markos's twitter war last evening, of which I was a willing participant and discovered to my chagrin that many individuals don't distinguish ≠ from =. Anyway.We...
View ArticleTroy Davis Matters. A lot.
Troy Davis will, in all likelihood, be put to death by the state of Georgia tomorrow. His request for clemency was denied by the Georgia State Board of Pardons a few hours ago, which was pretty much...
View ArticleSupreme Court temporarily halts Davis's Execution
Georgia will murder Troy Davis within hours, unless the Supreme Court stops his execution. For now -- at the moment -- they've put a hold on GA's Justice Department in order to consider whether or not...
View ArticleNot One More Troy Davis
Not one more. In the United States of America, we do not kill women or men who might be innocent. Or women or men who are guilty; we give them justice, but justice doesn't include killing individuals....
View ArticleA Personal Story for National Coming-Out Day
Gay people are evil. Not bad or misguided, but evil. What they do, male or female, is not only disgusting but a one-way ticket to burn in hell for eternity. Gay "rights" is a meaningless phrase,...
View ArticleThe Occupy Movement and Dealing with Corporate Media
Writing this not as a guide, but hoping to start a conversation with sisters and brothers here as well as learn better how to navigate maintaining a cordial relationship with corporate media...
View ArticleIllinois-16 for Wanda Rohl
I haven't written here for some time — a flaw I intend to remedy, as I highly value both this site and this wonderful community — but wanted to share some information with you all, and with anyone who...
View ArticleImportant: #JobsForVets
Dear friends: Heard a really disturbing thing shortly ago that's really got my gander up. A friend who's active duty in the army reserves told me that having that experience on his resume has made it...
View ArticleRound One: Rope-a-dope
Muhammad Ali brought this wonderful term into our national lexicon thirty-eight years ago when he fought George Foreman. I hadn't been born yet (my parents hadn't even met, hell), but the Rumble in the...
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