Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Breaking... Cheney Impeachment
HR 333 was voted on today, with most Democrats voting to "table", but the Republicans voted against... Because of the Republican judgement, the bill will now move to the House Judiciary Committee.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Special Comment - The Levin Revelation
Keith Olbermann's Special Comment for 11/05/2007:
Finally tonight, as promised, a Special Comment on the meaning of the story of former U.S. Acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin.
It is a fact startling in its cynical simplicity and it requires cynical and simple words to be properly expressed:
The Presidency of George W. Bush has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.
All the petulancy, all the childish threats, all the blank-stare stupidity;
All the invocations of World War Three, all the sophistic questions about which terrorist attacks we wanted him not to stop, all the phony secrets;
All the claims of executive privilege, all the stumbling tap-dancing of his nominees, all the verbal flatulence of his apologists...
All of it is now -- after one revelation last week -- transparently clear for what it is: the pathetic and desperate manipulation of the government, the re-focusing of our entire nation, towards keeping this mock president, and this unstable vice president, and this departed wildly self-over-rating Attorney General -- and the others -- from potential prosecution for having approved or ordered the illegal torture of prisoners being held in the name of this country.
"Waterboarding is torture," Daniel Levin was to write.
Daniel Levin was no theorist and no protestor.
He was no troublemaking politician.
He was no table-pounding commentator.
Daniel Levin was an astonishingly patriotic American, and a brave man.
Brave not just with words or with stances -- even in a dark time when that kind of bravery can usually be scared -- or bought -- off.
Charged -- as you heard in the story from ABC News last Friday -- with assessing the relative legality of the various nightmares in the Pandora's box that is the Orwell-worthy euphemism "Enhanced Interrogation," Mr. Levin decided that the simplest, and the most honest, way to evaluate them... was to have them enacted upon himself.
Daniel Levin took himself to a military base and let himself be water-boarded.
Mr. Bush -- ever done anything that personally courageous?
Perhaps when you've gone to Walter Reed and teared up over the maimed servicemen? And then gone back to the White House and determined that there would be more maimed servicemen?
Has it been that kind of personal courage, Mr. Bush, when you've spoken of American victims and the triumph of freedom and the sacrifice of your own popularity for the sake of our safety? And then permitted others to fire or discredit or destroy anybody who disagreed with you -- whether they were your own Generals, or... Max Cleeland, or... Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame… or Daniel Levin?
Daniel Levin should have a statue in his honor in Washington right now.
Instead, he was forced out as Acting Assistant Attorney General, nearly three years ago, because he had the guts to do what George Bush couldn't do in a million years: actually put himself at risk for the sake of his country, for the sake of what is right.
And they water-boarded him and he wrote that even though he knew those doing it meant him no harm, and he knew they would rescue him at the instant of the slightest distress, and he knew he would not die -- still, with all that reassurance, he could not stop the terror screaming from inside of him, could not quell the horror, could not convince that which is at the core of each of us -- the entity who exists behind all the embellishments we strap to ourselves, like purpose and name and family and love -- he could not convince his being… that he wasn't drowning.
Water-boarding, he said, is torture.
Legally, it is torture!
Practically, it is torture!
Ethically, it is torture!
And he wrote it down.
Wrote it down somewhere, where it could be contrasted with the words of this country's 43rd President: "The United States of America... does not torture."
Made you into a liar, Mr. Bush.
Made you into, if anybody had the guts to pursue it, a criminal, Mr. Bush.
Water-boarding had already been used on Khalid Sheik Mohammed and a couple of other men none of us really care about -- except, Sir, for the one detail you'd forgotten -- that there are rules, and even if we just make up these rules, this country observes them anyway, because we're Americans, Sir, and we're better than that.
We're better than you.
And the man your Justice Department selected to decide whether or not water-boarding was torture, had decided, and not in some phony academic fashion, nor while wearing the Walter Mitty poseur attire of flight-suit and helmet.
He had put his money, Mr. Bush, where your mouth was.
So, your sleazy sycophantic henchman Mr. Gonzales had him append an asterisk suggesting his black-and-white answer wasn't black-and-white, that there might have been a quasi-legal way of torturing people, maybe with an absolute time limit and a physician entitled to stop it, maybe, if your administration had ever bothered to set any rules or any guidelines…
And then when your people realized that even that was too dangerous, Daniel Le Vin was branded "too independent" and "someone who could (not) be counted on."
In other words, Mr. Bush, somebody you couldn't count on to lie for you.
So, Levin was fired.
Because if it ever got out what he'd concluded, and the lengths to which he went, to validate that conclusion, anybody who had sanctioned water-boarding, and who-knows-what-else… anybody -- you yourself, Sir -- you would have been screwed.
And screwed you are.
It can't be coincidence that the story of Daniel Levin should emerge from the black hole of this secret society of a presidency just at the conclusion of the unhappy saga of the newest Attorney General Nominee.
Another patriot somewhere, listened as Judge Mukasey mumbled like he'd never heard of water-boarding, and refuse to answer in words… that which Daniel Levin answered on a water-board somewhere in Maryland or Virginia three years ago.
And this someone also heard George Bush say "The United States of America does not torture"... and realized either he was lying or this wasn't the United States of America any more, and either way, he needed to do something about it.
Not in the way Levin needed to do something about it, but in a brave way nonetheless.
We have United States Senators who need to do something about it, too.
Chairman Leahy of the Judiciary Committee has seen this for what it is and said "enough."
Senator Schumer has seen it, reportedly, as some kind of puzzle piece in the New York political patronage system and he has failed.
What Senator Feinstein has seen, to justify joining Schumer in rubber-stamping Mukasey, I cannot guess.
It is obvious that both those Senators should look to the meaning of the story of Daniel Levin and recant their support for Mukasey's confirmation.
And they should look into their own committee's history and recall that in 1973, their predecessors were able to wring even from Richard Nixon, a guarantee of a Special Prosecutor (ultimately a Special Prosecutor of Richard Nixon!), in exchange for their approval of his new Attorney General, Elliott Richardson.
If they could get that out of Nixon, you -- before you confirm the President's latest human echo tomorrow -- you better be able to get a "yes" or a "no"… out of Michael Mukasey.
Ideally you should lock this government down financially until a special prosecutor is appointed -- or fifty of them -- but I'm not holding my breath. The "yes" or the "no" on water-boarding will have to suffice.
Because, remember... if you can't get it, or you won't... with the time between tonight and the next presidential election likely to be the longest year of our lives, you are leaving this country, and all of us, to the water-boards -- symbolic and otherwise -- of George W. Bush.
Ultimately, Mr. Bush, the real question isn't... who approved the water-boarding of this fiend Khalid Sheik Mohammed and two others.
It is: why were they water-boarded?
Study after study for generation after generation, sir, has confirmed that torture gets people to talk, torture gets people to plead, torture gets people to break, but torture does not get them to tell the truth.
Of course, Mr. Bush, this isn't a problem, if you don't care if the terrorist plots they tell you about, are the truth... or just something to stop the tormentors from drowning them.
If, say, a President simply needed a constant supply of terrorist threats to keep a country scared…
If, say, he needed phony plots to play hero during, and to boast about interrupting, and to use to distract people from the threat he**didn't** interrupt…
If, say, he realized that even terrorized people still need good ghost stories before they will let a President pillage the Constitution…
Well, heck, Mr. Bush, who better to dream them up for you… than an actual terrorist?
He'll tell you every thing he ever fantasized doing, in his most horrific of daydreams -- his equivalent of the day you "flew" onto the deck of the Lincoln to explain you'd won in Iraq.
Now if that's what this is all about -- you tortured not because you're so stupid you think torture produces confession -- but you tortured because you're smart enough to know it produces really authentic-sounding fiction -- well, then… you're going to need all the lawyers you can find… because that crime wouldn't just mean impeachment, would it Sir?
That crime would mean George W. Bush is going to prison.
Thus the master tumblers turn, and the lock yields, and the hidden explanations can all be perceived, in their exact proportions, in their exact progressions.
Daniel Levin's eminently practical, eminently logical, eminently patriotic way of testing the legality of waterboarding… has to vanish -- and him, with it.
Thus Alberto Gonzales has to use that brain that sounds like an old car trying to start on a freezing morning, to undo eight centuries of the forward march of law and government.
Thus Dick Cheney, has to ridiculously assert that confirming we do or do not use any particular interrogation technique, would somehow help the terrorists.
Thus Michael Mukasey, on the eve of the vote that will make him the high priest of the law of this land, cannot and must not answer a question, nor even hint that he has thought about a question, which merely concerns the theoretical definition of water-boarding as torture.
Because, Mr. Bush, in the seven years of your nightmare presidency, this whole string of events has been transformed…
Finally tonight, as promised, a Special Comment on the meaning of the story of former U.S. Acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin.
It is a fact startling in its cynical simplicity and it requires cynical and simple words to be properly expressed:
The Presidency of George W. Bush has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.
All the petulancy, all the childish threats, all the blank-stare stupidity;
All the invocations of World War Three, all the sophistic questions about which terrorist attacks we wanted him not to stop, all the phony secrets;
All the claims of executive privilege, all the stumbling tap-dancing of his nominees, all the verbal flatulence of his apologists...
All of it is now -- after one revelation last week -- transparently clear for what it is: the pathetic and desperate manipulation of the government, the re-focusing of our entire nation, towards keeping this mock president, and this unstable vice president, and this departed wildly self-over-rating Attorney General -- and the others -- from potential prosecution for having approved or ordered the illegal torture of prisoners being held in the name of this country.
"Waterboarding is torture," Daniel Levin was to write.
Daniel Levin was no theorist and no protestor.
He was no troublemaking politician.
He was no table-pounding commentator.
Daniel Levin was an astonishingly patriotic American, and a brave man.
Brave not just with words or with stances -- even in a dark time when that kind of bravery can usually be scared -- or bought -- off.
Charged -- as you heard in the story from ABC News last Friday -- with assessing the relative legality of the various nightmares in the Pandora's box that is the Orwell-worthy euphemism "Enhanced Interrogation," Mr. Levin decided that the simplest, and the most honest, way to evaluate them... was to have them enacted upon himself.
Daniel Levin took himself to a military base and let himself be water-boarded.
Mr. Bush -- ever done anything that personally courageous?
Perhaps when you've gone to Walter Reed and teared up over the maimed servicemen? And then gone back to the White House and determined that there would be more maimed servicemen?
Has it been that kind of personal courage, Mr. Bush, when you've spoken of American victims and the triumph of freedom and the sacrifice of your own popularity for the sake of our safety? And then permitted others to fire or discredit or destroy anybody who disagreed with you -- whether they were your own Generals, or... Max Cleeland, or... Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame… or Daniel Levin?
Daniel Levin should have a statue in his honor in Washington right now.
Instead, he was forced out as Acting Assistant Attorney General, nearly three years ago, because he had the guts to do what George Bush couldn't do in a million years: actually put himself at risk for the sake of his country, for the sake of what is right.
And they water-boarded him and he wrote that even though he knew those doing it meant him no harm, and he knew they would rescue him at the instant of the slightest distress, and he knew he would not die -- still, with all that reassurance, he could not stop the terror screaming from inside of him, could not quell the horror, could not convince that which is at the core of each of us -- the entity who exists behind all the embellishments we strap to ourselves, like purpose and name and family and love -- he could not convince his being… that he wasn't drowning.
Water-boarding, he said, is torture.
Legally, it is torture!
Practically, it is torture!
Ethically, it is torture!
And he wrote it down.
Wrote it down somewhere, where it could be contrasted with the words of this country's 43rd President: "The United States of America... does not torture."
Made you into a liar, Mr. Bush.
Made you into, if anybody had the guts to pursue it, a criminal, Mr. Bush.
Water-boarding had already been used on Khalid Sheik Mohammed and a couple of other men none of us really care about -- except, Sir, for the one detail you'd forgotten -- that there are rules, and even if we just make up these rules, this country observes them anyway, because we're Americans, Sir, and we're better than that.
We're better than you.
And the man your Justice Department selected to decide whether or not water-boarding was torture, had decided, and not in some phony academic fashion, nor while wearing the Walter Mitty poseur attire of flight-suit and helmet.
He had put his money, Mr. Bush, where your mouth was.
So, your sleazy sycophantic henchman Mr. Gonzales had him append an asterisk suggesting his black-and-white answer wasn't black-and-white, that there might have been a quasi-legal way of torturing people, maybe with an absolute time limit and a physician entitled to stop it, maybe, if your administration had ever bothered to set any rules or any guidelines…
And then when your people realized that even that was too dangerous, Daniel Le Vin was branded "too independent" and "someone who could (not) be counted on."
In other words, Mr. Bush, somebody you couldn't count on to lie for you.
So, Levin was fired.
Because if it ever got out what he'd concluded, and the lengths to which he went, to validate that conclusion, anybody who had sanctioned water-boarding, and who-knows-what-else… anybody -- you yourself, Sir -- you would have been screwed.
And screwed you are.
It can't be coincidence that the story of Daniel Levin should emerge from the black hole of this secret society of a presidency just at the conclusion of the unhappy saga of the newest Attorney General Nominee.
Another patriot somewhere, listened as Judge Mukasey mumbled like he'd never heard of water-boarding, and refuse to answer in words… that which Daniel Levin answered on a water-board somewhere in Maryland or Virginia three years ago.
And this someone also heard George Bush say "The United States of America does not torture"... and realized either he was lying or this wasn't the United States of America any more, and either way, he needed to do something about it.
Not in the way Levin needed to do something about it, but in a brave way nonetheless.
We have United States Senators who need to do something about it, too.
Chairman Leahy of the Judiciary Committee has seen this for what it is and said "enough."
Senator Schumer has seen it, reportedly, as some kind of puzzle piece in the New York political patronage system and he has failed.
What Senator Feinstein has seen, to justify joining Schumer in rubber-stamping Mukasey, I cannot guess.
It is obvious that both those Senators should look to the meaning of the story of Daniel Levin and recant their support for Mukasey's confirmation.
And they should look into their own committee's history and recall that in 1973, their predecessors were able to wring even from Richard Nixon, a guarantee of a Special Prosecutor (ultimately a Special Prosecutor of Richard Nixon!), in exchange for their approval of his new Attorney General, Elliott Richardson.
If they could get that out of Nixon, you -- before you confirm the President's latest human echo tomorrow -- you better be able to get a "yes" or a "no"… out of Michael Mukasey.
Ideally you should lock this government down financially until a special prosecutor is appointed -- or fifty of them -- but I'm not holding my breath. The "yes" or the "no" on water-boarding will have to suffice.
Because, remember... if you can't get it, or you won't... with the time between tonight and the next presidential election likely to be the longest year of our lives, you are leaving this country, and all of us, to the water-boards -- symbolic and otherwise -- of George W. Bush.
Ultimately, Mr. Bush, the real question isn't... who approved the water-boarding of this fiend Khalid Sheik Mohammed and two others.
It is: why were they water-boarded?
Study after study for generation after generation, sir, has confirmed that torture gets people to talk, torture gets people to plead, torture gets people to break, but torture does not get them to tell the truth.
Of course, Mr. Bush, this isn't a problem, if you don't care if the terrorist plots they tell you about, are the truth... or just something to stop the tormentors from drowning them.
If, say, a President simply needed a constant supply of terrorist threats to keep a country scared…
If, say, he needed phony plots to play hero during, and to boast about interrupting, and to use to distract people from the threat he**didn't** interrupt…
If, say, he realized that even terrorized people still need good ghost stories before they will let a President pillage the Constitution…
Well, heck, Mr. Bush, who better to dream them up for you… than an actual terrorist?
He'll tell you every thing he ever fantasized doing, in his most horrific of daydreams -- his equivalent of the day you "flew" onto the deck of the Lincoln to explain you'd won in Iraq.
Now if that's what this is all about -- you tortured not because you're so stupid you think torture produces confession -- but you tortured because you're smart enough to know it produces really authentic-sounding fiction -- well, then… you're going to need all the lawyers you can find… because that crime wouldn't just mean impeachment, would it Sir?
That crime would mean George W. Bush is going to prison.
Thus the master tumblers turn, and the lock yields, and the hidden explanations can all be perceived, in their exact proportions, in their exact progressions.
Daniel Levin's eminently practical, eminently logical, eminently patriotic way of testing the legality of waterboarding… has to vanish -- and him, with it.
Thus Alberto Gonzales has to use that brain that sounds like an old car trying to start on a freezing morning, to undo eight centuries of the forward march of law and government.
Thus Dick Cheney, has to ridiculously assert that confirming we do or do not use any particular interrogation technique, would somehow help the terrorists.
Thus Michael Mukasey, on the eve of the vote that will make him the high priest of the law of this land, cannot and must not answer a question, nor even hint that he has thought about a question, which merely concerns the theoretical definition of water-boarding as torture.
Because, Mr. Bush, in the seven years of your nightmare presidency, this whole string of events has been transformed…
Getting "In Denial" E-mail from an ASS
This was a reply e-mail from CongrASSman Jon Porter about the Dennis Kucinich H.R. 333 to impeach Darth Cheney:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H. Res. 333, a resolution calling for the impeachment of Vice President Richard Cheney. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this very important issue.
As you may know, my colleague, Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), introduced H. Res. 333. This legislation calls for Congress to set forth articles of impeachment against Vice President Cheney. While reasonable people can disagree about the policies the administration has pursued, our Constitution provides for a clear separation of powers between the branches of the government. Just as the President and Vice President have no authority to punish or reprimand Congress or its members, the Congress does not have the authority to pass judgment on the ordinary actions of the President and Vice President.
Only in the rare case of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors does the Congress have any authority to issue public judgment on the Executive. In that regard, I do not believe that the actions of the Vice President warrant the pursuit of articles of impeachment as outlined in this resolution.Presently, H. Res. 333 is awaiting action in the House Committee on the Judiciary, of which I am not a member. Please know that I will be sure to keep your views in mind when this legislation is addressed by the full House of Representatives.
Again, thank you for writing. Please feel free to contact me in the future with any additional issues or concerns you may have.
Sincerely,
Jon C. Porter
Member of Congress
Just a thought...
Had "60 Minutes" and other media outlets did their fucking jobs before we invaded an unarmed country, and had the CIA, and all the other "alphabets" pressed harder, we wouldn't be in George W. Bush's fucking mess today!!!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Beneath, Between and Behind
Back in 1997 I was very involved with Toastmasters, which is a public speaking organization. I was going through some old speeches and thought this one was a good one. I gave it back in 1995, and in my opinion, one of my best - even if it makes me sound like a dirty fucking hippy:
I was born in 1968 – the year Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In began; the Vietcong launched the TET Offensive; Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated; Hair opened on Broadway; Simon & Garfunkel scored number one with Mrs. Robinson on the music charts; Robert Kennedy was assassinated; poor people marched on Washington; Richard Nixon was nominated for President by the Republican Party; the Soviets invade Czechoslovakia; there were riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; Jackie Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis; Richard Nixon was elected President; The Beatles White Album was released; and the Apollo 8 circled the moon.
This may not have any significance to my growing up, but is does. What ever happened in the late sixties when I was born had a great impact of what was to come in the seventies where I was growing up – learning about life from people who had lived through that period. Whether it be television, radio, music, politics, or world events, they had a great impact on what I am today. I really never gave it much thought until I actually started writing this speech.
The 1970’s were different times from what we are seeing today. As opposed to the 1960’s when we were involved in a war which we had no business in – and ignoring the troops when they came home, we tuned in–turned on–dropped out, we envisioned peace and love through rose colored glasses. The 1970’s sort of left us wandering around in a haze of smoke left over from the hippie generation, which in turn, gave us a nation of greed in the 1980’s.
Our world back then was skimming along politically. We had three Presidents during that time, and the only significant event to come out of their combined terms was the end to the Vietnam War on April 30, 1975. But the question on everyone’s mind at the time was (and still today) – who really won the war?
Richard M. Nixon was involved in one of the greatest scandals of the century involving any US President. His involvement in Watergate was, in any effect, an abuse of his power as President. Mr. Nixon resigned in the office of President, in disgrace, on August 8, 1974, to be effective as of August 9, 1974.
Gerald Ford was sworn in as President as Richard Nixon left Washington, DC. Ford, in essence, was our only president to hold office without having gone through the electorate process. Mr. Ford could be considered a Lame Duck President. What he did, that people in America will never quite forget, is pardon Richard M. Nixon in September, 1974, for any wrongdoing, which may have occurred while he was in office. Former President Ford saw the pardon was in the best interests of the nation. In any event, pardoning Richard Nixon cost him the next election.
Former President Jimmy Carter could also be considered a Lame Duck President, seeing that he had no support throughout his term of office. When he ran for President, he won the Democratic ticket by popular vote – but had little or no support from members of his own party. He often zigzagged on many issues, also. But behind this quiet man, there could be found no dirt.
Also during this decade, we had the Apollo 13 disaster. This happened in April 1970. It has been made into a major motion picture in 1995. One aspect of the decade we’d like to forget is the hostage crisis in Iran, where they held our people for 444 days.
Musically, there was a diverse selection to heard from, also. Easy Listening, Bubble Gum, and a mix of Folk Music were topping the charts, while Hard Rock and Heavy Metal were in their early stages. (Later on, John Travolta’s Urban Cowboy would give Country Music the limelight for a short time). And, who can’t forget Disco?!?!! But there were many achievements made in the 1970’s that we tend to overlook.
There are many things to look at when you’re researching music of the Seventies. There are awards, charts, and individual artists. Much of what I’ve learned had my head spinning, knowing I actually owned a great deal of the record breakers. Of the top ten albums sold of all time, six of them were release in the Seventies – the other four were from the Eighties. Of the six, one was Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours LP – this album not only was one of the best sellers of the decade – it was formerly in the Guinness Book Of World Records® for most sales (until 1982’s release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller LP), selling in excess of 14 million copies worldwide. Also on this list was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon LP. This album was released in 1973 and stayed on the Billboard® Top 200™ for the next twenty years (or a total of 741 weeks) – finally falling off the chart in early 1994, but still appears there occasionally to this day). And again making resurgence because someone decided that the music fits in with what’s going on during The Wizard Of Oz. Another interesting fact was a record set by the group Boston – their self-entitled album was the biggest selling debut album, until 1985’s release of Whitney Houston’s self-entitled album. The biggest selling single for the decade was You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boone in 1977.
The top film for the 1970’s was Star Wars. The film to win the most Oscars® for the 1970’s was Cabaret, winning a total of eight awards (in 1972) – but the film to win best picture that year was The Godfather.
On television, we had All In The Family bringing forth a new dimension into our homes. Sure, we had Science Fiction, Westerns, Police Dramas, but we didn’t have Archie Bunker. What All In The Family brought into our homes was a strange bite of reality. All In The Family broke new ground when they actually used taboo words and discussed forbidden subjects, thus changing they way in which we all watched television. All In The Family can boast by being the first video taped show. It was also the first show to actually have the sound of a toilet flushing. Archie and his brood was the highest rated shows from 1971-1975. Another award winning show to come out of this decade was M*A*S*H, depicting life during the Korean War by Army doctors and nurses in humorous ways.
On the Las Vegas front, 1973 saw the purchase of the Golden Nugget by Steve Wynn. Summa Corporation owned the majority of hotel/casinos in the valley. Without Mr. Wynn as a major catalyst in the gaming industry, there would be no modern day Golden Nugget, no Mirage, no Treasure Island, or any other major strip resort – just a lot of desert and a grind joint with a very big neon sign hanging overhead (which, while standing, was the most photographed sign in the world).
It’s all in one’s perception. Regardless of how one pictures the Seventies, there are going to be critics of it, and there are going to be people who loved it. I lived through it, and I am quite happy with most of what came out of those ten years.
But to look back in perspective, it wasn’t all that bad.
Since then, the Berlin wall has come down, giving world wide democracy a chance to live and breathe. There’s no longer a United Soviet Socialist Republic, no more Czechoslovakia (who separated peacefully), and no more Yugoslavia (but has been war torn in the name of religion). The only major communist power that are left are China, Cuba, and North Korea. The US is trying to have diplomatic ties again with Vietnam. The only wars or invasions we’ve been involved in had to do with the protection of Big Business for US corporations having foreign subsidiaries.
In comparison, there were good times back then. Down-sizing was not an issue, unions were strong, and people were not afraid to leave their house. Lovers didn’t have to be fugitives of the bedroom – AIDS was not in existence.
People make fun of the music that came out of the Seventies, but fail to realize that a good proportion of the hits on the charts now are synthetic – the synthesizer was in its early stages, but it never replaced a real musician.
If there was a choice for me to live in any decade, it would be the Seventies – sure people were for themselves, but they were much easier to get along with.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from the 1970’s, it would be to simply say to you — “Have a nice day!!!”
I was born in 1968 – the year Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In began; the Vietcong launched the TET Offensive; Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated; Hair opened on Broadway; Simon & Garfunkel scored number one with Mrs. Robinson on the music charts; Robert Kennedy was assassinated; poor people marched on Washington; Richard Nixon was nominated for President by the Republican Party; the Soviets invade Czechoslovakia; there were riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; Jackie Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis; Richard Nixon was elected President; The Beatles White Album was released; and the Apollo 8 circled the moon.
This may not have any significance to my growing up, but is does. What ever happened in the late sixties when I was born had a great impact of what was to come in the seventies where I was growing up – learning about life from people who had lived through that period. Whether it be television, radio, music, politics, or world events, they had a great impact on what I am today. I really never gave it much thought until I actually started writing this speech.
The 1970’s were different times from what we are seeing today. As opposed to the 1960’s when we were involved in a war which we had no business in – and ignoring the troops when they came home, we tuned in–turned on–dropped out, we envisioned peace and love through rose colored glasses. The 1970’s sort of left us wandering around in a haze of smoke left over from the hippie generation, which in turn, gave us a nation of greed in the 1980’s.
Our world back then was skimming along politically. We had three Presidents during that time, and the only significant event to come out of their combined terms was the end to the Vietnam War on April 30, 1975. But the question on everyone’s mind at the time was (and still today) – who really won the war?
Richard M. Nixon was involved in one of the greatest scandals of the century involving any US President. His involvement in Watergate was, in any effect, an abuse of his power as President. Mr. Nixon resigned in the office of President, in disgrace, on August 8, 1974, to be effective as of August 9, 1974.
Gerald Ford was sworn in as President as Richard Nixon left Washington, DC. Ford, in essence, was our only president to hold office without having gone through the electorate process. Mr. Ford could be considered a Lame Duck President. What he did, that people in America will never quite forget, is pardon Richard M. Nixon in September, 1974, for any wrongdoing, which may have occurred while he was in office. Former President Ford saw the pardon was in the best interests of the nation. In any event, pardoning Richard Nixon cost him the next election.
Former President Jimmy Carter could also be considered a Lame Duck President, seeing that he had no support throughout his term of office. When he ran for President, he won the Democratic ticket by popular vote – but had little or no support from members of his own party. He often zigzagged on many issues, also. But behind this quiet man, there could be found no dirt.
Also during this decade, we had the Apollo 13 disaster. This happened in April 1970. It has been made into a major motion picture in 1995. One aspect of the decade we’d like to forget is the hostage crisis in Iran, where they held our people for 444 days.
Musically, there was a diverse selection to heard from, also. Easy Listening, Bubble Gum, and a mix of Folk Music were topping the charts, while Hard Rock and Heavy Metal were in their early stages. (Later on, John Travolta’s Urban Cowboy would give Country Music the limelight for a short time). And, who can’t forget Disco?!?!! But there were many achievements made in the 1970’s that we tend to overlook.
There are many things to look at when you’re researching music of the Seventies. There are awards, charts, and individual artists. Much of what I’ve learned had my head spinning, knowing I actually owned a great deal of the record breakers. Of the top ten albums sold of all time, six of them were release in the Seventies – the other four were from the Eighties. Of the six, one was Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours LP – this album not only was one of the best sellers of the decade – it was formerly in the Guinness Book Of World Records® for most sales (until 1982’s release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller LP), selling in excess of 14 million copies worldwide. Also on this list was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon LP. This album was released in 1973 and stayed on the Billboard® Top 200™ for the next twenty years (or a total of 741 weeks) – finally falling off the chart in early 1994, but still appears there occasionally to this day). And again making resurgence because someone decided that the music fits in with what’s going on during The Wizard Of Oz. Another interesting fact was a record set by the group Boston – their self-entitled album was the biggest selling debut album, until 1985’s release of Whitney Houston’s self-entitled album. The biggest selling single for the decade was You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boone in 1977.
The top film for the 1970’s was Star Wars. The film to win the most Oscars® for the 1970’s was Cabaret, winning a total of eight awards (in 1972) – but the film to win best picture that year was The Godfather.
On television, we had All In The Family bringing forth a new dimension into our homes. Sure, we had Science Fiction, Westerns, Police Dramas, but we didn’t have Archie Bunker. What All In The Family brought into our homes was a strange bite of reality. All In The Family broke new ground when they actually used taboo words and discussed forbidden subjects, thus changing they way in which we all watched television. All In The Family can boast by being the first video taped show. It was also the first show to actually have the sound of a toilet flushing. Archie and his brood was the highest rated shows from 1971-1975. Another award winning show to come out of this decade was M*A*S*H, depicting life during the Korean War by Army doctors and nurses in humorous ways.
On the Las Vegas front, 1973 saw the purchase of the Golden Nugget by Steve Wynn. Summa Corporation owned the majority of hotel/casinos in the valley. Without Mr. Wynn as a major catalyst in the gaming industry, there would be no modern day Golden Nugget, no Mirage, no Treasure Island, or any other major strip resort – just a lot of desert and a grind joint with a very big neon sign hanging overhead (which, while standing, was the most photographed sign in the world).
It’s all in one’s perception. Regardless of how one pictures the Seventies, there are going to be critics of it, and there are going to be people who loved it. I lived through it, and I am quite happy with most of what came out of those ten years.
But to look back in perspective, it wasn’t all that bad.
Since then, the Berlin wall has come down, giving world wide democracy a chance to live and breathe. There’s no longer a United Soviet Socialist Republic, no more Czechoslovakia (who separated peacefully), and no more Yugoslavia (but has been war torn in the name of religion). The only major communist power that are left are China, Cuba, and North Korea. The US is trying to have diplomatic ties again with Vietnam. The only wars or invasions we’ve been involved in had to do with the protection of Big Business for US corporations having foreign subsidiaries.
In comparison, there were good times back then. Down-sizing was not an issue, unions were strong, and people were not afraid to leave their house. Lovers didn’t have to be fugitives of the bedroom – AIDS was not in existence.
People make fun of the music that came out of the Seventies, but fail to realize that a good proportion of the hits on the charts now are synthetic – the synthesizer was in its early stages, but it never replaced a real musician.
If there was a choice for me to live in any decade, it would be the Seventies – sure people were for themselves, but they were much easier to get along with.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from the 1970’s, it would be to simply say to you — “Have a nice day!!!”
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Indeed
Couldn't have said it better myself!!!
Truthdig:
“Watch What You Say”: The Post-9/11 Dixie Chicked:
* Like truth, comedian Bill Maher was an early casualty of war. Discussing 9/11’s skyjackers on the Sept. 17, 2001, episode of “Politically Incorrect,” Maher stated: “We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly. Stupid maybe, but not cowardly.” Maher’s remarks prompted Bush’s then-spokesman Ari Fleischer to warn: “Watch what you say.” The Disney-owned ABC network canceled Maher’s show in June 2002.
Truthdig:
“Watch What You Say”: The Post-9/11 Dixie Chicked:
* Like truth, comedian Bill Maher was an early casualty of war. Discussing 9/11’s skyjackers on the Sept. 17, 2001, episode of “Politically Incorrect,” Maher stated: “We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly. Stupid maybe, but not cowardly.” Maher’s remarks prompted Bush’s then-spokesman Ari Fleischer to warn: “Watch what you say.” The Disney-owned ABC network canceled Maher’s show in June 2002.
* At a September 2003 fundraiser for presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, actor Ed Begley Jr. said: “There’s a boycott list on the Internet for all the people who spoke out against the war, to write letters to studios telling them you don’t want to see shows featuring Jamie Cromwell, [myself], Ed Asner, Tim Robbins. ... Janeane Garofalo [took] a big hit. They’ve suffered financially, can’t get work now. They’ve been blackballed. People don’t want to hire them. ... Janeane gets so much hate mail. ... I didn’t work from when that boycott list happened until just a few weeks ago. ... I’ve never only worked three days in nine months since ... 1967.” Reactionary Web sites, including celiberal.com and boycott-hollywood.net, urged boycotts of activist actors.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Screw kids... I want more death...
So says Bush about the latest version of the SCHIP bill that passed the house... He's more concerned about some guy covering his ass on all the illegal things he's doing and more concerned about buying more bullets - so sad!!
He also complained that the Senate has not yet confirmed Michael Mukasey as attorney general and scolded Congress for failing to approve more money for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Does Size really matter here???
Terror watch list almost 800,000 names... Does the size of the list matter or should the QUALITY of the list matter more??? Who is on the list any way - the dregs of humanity or people the Bush Crime Family doesn't like???
Intermission - Music by The Moody Blues
I saw a clip about this song on YouTube where they explained that this song was inspired by the Vietnam war. I knew it was about love and war, but didn't know the Vietnam conflict was its inspiration. I find the lyrics and song so relevant to everything happening now.
And now, The Moody Blues performing "Question".
And now, The Moody Blues performing "Question".
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
$2.4 Trillion US Dollars down the Sh*thole!!!
The House Budget Committee met today to discuss the war spending. Only one Republican bothered to show up, and guess who it wasn't!!! Don't know?? I'll tell you... Our own congrASSman Jon Porter (R-NV03). I guess the ASS only cares about siding with the War party than his constituents and the American People!!!
Rep. Doggett: “I assume, by Mr. Ryan being here, that every member of this panel, including every Republican member on that side of the aisle where all the seats are vacant, received notice about this hearing about the cost of war in Iraq?”
Chairman Spratt: “I’m sure they did.”
Rep. Doggett: “And when was this notice of the hearing sent out?”
Chairman Spratt: “Seven days ago, as required by the rules.”
Torture, Government Cover-up and Law & Order:SVU
Tonight's Law & Order: SVU was quite interesting. It was all about Iraq, torture and cover-up byt the government and private security companies. Amazing how the teevee dramas such as the Law & Order franchises, Boston Legal and other shows aren't afraid to cover how fucked up things are with the current administration, yet, the MSM fails to cover it.
Cheney and his band of flying monkeys have pressured MSNBC to drop stories, FixedNoise is a the communications department for the Bush Crime Family and so many newspapers are falling to large corporations like the Review-Journal in Las Vegas. If The Las Vegas Sun was not distributed with the RJ, I would cancel my subscription as this is the only place one can get non-slanted opinions.
Cheney and his band of flying monkeys have pressured MSNBC to drop stories, FixedNoise is a the communications department for the Bush Crime Family and so many newspapers are falling to large corporations like the Review-Journal in Las Vegas. If The Las Vegas Sun was not distributed with the RJ, I would cancel my subscription as this is the only place one can get non-slanted opinions.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Bedtime..... Rock On!!
Found this on YouTube... One of REO Speedwagon's best songs... Whoever put this together should get an award!!! Only downfall, the creator didn't play out the whole song.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Getting Cryptic E-mail from an ASS
I wrote to congrASSman Jon Porter (R-NV03-BushAssLicker) about not allowing the Tel Com companies to have immunity for illegally helping the Bush Crime Family with their warrantless wiretapping of our phones, e-mails, etc... and this is what I get back - not his take on it, but a rehash of the Bill. One wonders why I call him an ASS!!!
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 3773, the Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 or RESTORE Act of 2007. I appreciate hearing from you and having the benefit of your views.As you may know, my colleague, Representative John Conyers (D-MI), introduced the RESTORE Act. This legislation seeks to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to provide that a court order is not required for the acquisition of communication between non-U.S. persons who are not located within the United States for collecting foreign intelligence information, whether or not the communication passes through the United States or the surveillance device is located within the United States.The RESTORE Act would also require the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Attorney General (AG) to jointly apply to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for an order, or the extension of an order, authorizing for up to one year the acquisition of communications of persons outside the United States who are non-U.S. persons. One of the more controversial provisions in this legislation concerns retroactive immunity. This legislation does not provide for retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that participated in the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP).Presently, the RESTORE Act is awaiting the completion of action in the House of Representatives. Please know that I will be sure to keep your views in mind when this legislation is addressed by the full House of Representatives. (in whose universe??)Again, thank you for writing. Please feel free to contact me in the future with any additional comments or concerns you may have.Sincerely,Jon C. PorterMember of Congress (Hopefully not for another term!!!)
Dumbass - 60 Minutes Edition!!
After watching the 60 Minutes interview of Valerie Plame-Wilson and her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, I've come to the assumption that Katie Couric is a complete idiot!!! Some of her lines of questioning were not only off-base, out of the fucking ballpark. She played the interview, in my opinion, not as an impartial journalist, but a partisan hack. I'm sure Keith Olbermann will do a much better job on Tuesday's Countdown.
CBS Transcript:
CBS Transcript:
"It was a mafia-like tactic. And the idea of going after your family, even in Washington, was an outrage. Nobody went after Karl Rove's family. Nobody went after Scooter Libby's family. They went after my family," Wilson says.
"But in all fairness, Karl Rove's wife doesn't work for the CIA," Couric remarks."How do you know?" Wilson says.
"Scooter Libby's wife doesn't work for the CIA," Couric says.
"How do you know? How do you know?" Wilson asks.
"I don't know for sure. But I think it's a safe assumption," Couric replies. (Note: You know what happens when one "assumes")
Says Wilson, "Yeah, you don't know. And we don't know what they did because nobody went after their families. And that's the way it should be. That's the way it would be. However you wanna play the game, the idea of going after somebody's family is an absolute outrage."
"You are still seething," Couric says.
"Oh, I think - absolutely," Wilson admits, laughing. "Absolutely. I'm seething because it was first and foremost a great betrayal of the national security of the country."
Friday, October 19, 2007
My new hero!!!
WaPo:
Desultory, that is, until Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) grumbled at Republicans: "Youdon't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to
blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
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