arse poetica

Worst.President.Ever.

Harper’s: “Worst. President. Ever.”

“It would be difficult to identify a President who, facing major international and domestic crises, has failed in both as clearly as President Bush,” concluded one respondent. “His domestic policies,” another noted, “have had the cumulative effect of shoring up a semi-permanent aristocracy of capital that dwarfs the aristocracy of land against which the founding fathers rebelled; of encouraging a mindless retreat from science and rationalism; and of crippling the nation’s economic base.”

[snip]

“No individual president can compare to the second Bush,” wrote one. “Glib, contemptuous, ignorant, incurious, a dupe of anyone who humors his deluded belief in his heroic self, he has bankrupted the country with his disastrous war and his tax breaks for the rich, trampled on the Bill of Rights, appointed foxes in every henhouse, compounded the terrorist threat, turned a blind eye to torture and corruption and a looming ecological disaster, and squandered the rest of the world’s goodwill. In short, no other president’s faults have had so deleterious an effect on not only the country but the world at large.”

“With his unprovoked and disastrous war of aggression in Iraq and his monstrous deficits, Bush has set this country on a course that will take decades to correct,” said another historian. “When future historians look back to identify the moment at which the United States began to lose its position of world leadership, they will point—rightly—to the Bush presidency. Thanks to his policies, it is now easy to see America losing out to its competitors in any number of areas: China is rapidly becoming the manufacturing powerhouse of the
next century, India the high tech and services leader, and Europe the region with the best quality of life.”

I don't even know who to shake my fist at first.

Sometimes I Cannot Believe What We Have Allowed to be Done in Our Name

For about 12 minutes db and I tried to watch "24." We like spy-type shows (too bad "24" isn't produced by the BBC; then I'd probably watch it), and it'd been recommended countless times by many folks, so we tuned in. Good lord, that is a load of tripe! Firstly, it's completely nonsensical, which can be OK in a mind-numbing teevee kind of way--but if that's all it is, it needs to be a lot funnier for me to stick w/ it.

"24" is not so funny--not intentionally anyway--it's superficial and posturing and underwritten and had, for the short time we watched it, this odd macho, right-wingish thing working, and I simply have no time for fictionalized versions of that when our current gubmint is replete with multiple redundant examples of disastrous macho posturing.

We cannot see the backs of these criminals fast enough. If there is any justice on earth, they will have to answer for their crimes. And I don't just mean the Bush madministration. Journalists, j'accuse!

How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the (Ticking) Bomb

I discovered that when I gave interviews to major media on this subject, any time I used the word “torture” with reference to these techniques, the interview passage would not be used. At one point I was informed by a cable news network that “we put this on international, because we can’t use that word on the domestic feed.” “That word” was torture. I was coached or told that the words “coercive interrogation technique” were fine, but “torture” was a red light. Why? The Administration objected vehemently to the use of this word. After all, President Bush has gone before the cameras and stated more than three dozen times “We do not torture.” By using the T-word, I was told, I was challenging the honesty of the president. You just couldn’t do that.                                                                                                              

In early 2005, I took a bit of time to go through one newspaper—The New York Times—to examine its use of the word “torture”. I found that the word “torture” was regularly used to described a neighbor who played his stereo too loud, or some similar minor nuisance. Also the word “torture” could be used routinely to describe techniques used by foreign powers which were hostile to the United States. But the style rule seemed very clear: it could not be used in reporting associated with anything the Bush Administration was doing.

So yeah, Scott Horton found that what used to be the tool of the enemy--that is, torture--is now the tool of Jack Bauer. This he finds troubling, as do I.

We should start with a frank question: has “24” been created with an overtly political agenda, namely, to create a more receptive public audience for the Bush Administration’s torture policies? I think the answer to that question is now very clear. The answer is “yes.” In “Whatever It Takes,” Jane Mayer has waded through the sheaf of contacts between the show’s producer, Joel Surnow, and Vice President Cheney and figures right around him. There is little ambiguity about this point, namely, if the torture system introduced after 9/11 can be traced back to a single person, it is Vice President Cheney. He pushed relentlessly for use of the tools of the “dark side,” and he ruthlessly took out everyone who stood in his way. He also worked feverishly to disguise or cloak his intimate involvement in the entire process. I take it as a given that Surnow is working to develop public attitudes which are more accepting of torture; to overturn centuries-old prejudices against torture. He is a torture-enabler.

Jeebus H.

Robber Barrons Unite

Dear lord!

Report Says That the Rich Are Getting Richer Faster, Much Faster.

The increase in incomes of the top 1 percent of Americans from 2003 to 2005 exceeded the total income of the poorest 20 percent of Americans, data in a new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows.

The poorest fifth of households had total income of $383.4 billion in 2005, while just the increase in income for the top 1 percent came to $524.8 billion, a figure 37 percent higher. (emphasis mine)

The total income of the top 1.1 million households was $1.8 trillion, or 18.1 percent of the total income of all Americans, up from 14.3 percent of all income in 2003. The total 2005 income of the three million individual Americans at the top was roughly equal to that of the bottom 166 million Americans, analysis of the report showed.

The report is the latest to document the growing concentration of income at the top, a trend that President Bush said last January had been under way for more than 25 years.

Shut yer lying piehole, you vile huckster.

Earlier reports, based on tax returns, showed that in 2005 the top 10 percent, top 1 percent and fractions of the top 1 percent enjoyed their greatest share of income since 1928 and 1929.

Can't have another Gilded Age. What should we call this one? Maybe the Gelded Age? Don't see the (neutered) Dems doing f*ck-all about B*shCo's rampant looting.

Dried by the Breath of Unicorns

When historians look back on the Bush madministration's legacy of heinous crimes and mind-boggling idiocy, will they also note that Bush, besting despots and buffoons the world over since the dawn of time, has somehow managed to kill satire dead?

President To Investigate Where Laundry Chute Goes.

What? Somebody tell a joke?

I Would Like to Live in a Country Where...

Glenn Beck could only appear on the NYT bestseller list if every other writer on earth took the year, maybe two, off.

Glenn Beck #1 on NYT List.

For the love of God, how is this possible?? That vacuous pretend bully yes man w/ the chip on his shoulder whose fanhood is obviously being questioned (every morning in the mirror, awww)? That guy?? Unbelievable.

That's it, nation. Pistols at dawn.

[photo credit]

Half-Awake in a Fake Empire

Dear God, it hurts.

Gore and Bush Chat About Global Warming.

This article is rife w/ astonishing (and not terribly well-written) observations--beyond sobworthy--and I wish I had it in me to dissect it line-by-line, but after 8 years of mind-boggling vacuousness, treachery, and treason, I'm an inch from jumping off a cliff every day, and I can't do it.

The look on dumbyass's face ... God. He might just realize how inadequate and illegitimate he is.

Something About Robert Plant's Voice...

... is making me fall in love with him in this song. I'm powerless, I tell you!

Robert Plant & Allison Krauss--Please Read the Letter.mp3

I got my hands on a copy of the Plant & Krauss album "Raising Sand," and though it is generally outside the strict parameters of my usual tastes, I love it. They harmonize incredibly well (as you'd expect), and the songs are varied and a little gritty at times, and they're so easy w/ the songs and w/ each other that it seems to me they must have had a lot of fun making this album. It feels like one of those "simple joys of making music" records, and how could we resist? The above song was my favorite from first play.

And this seems as good a time as any to talk about faves for the year. My favorite album of the year (by far): The National, "Boxer." Killing myself that I missed them in concert, but it couldn't be helped. Funny, this is one of those how-you-know-you're-an-adult moments, because were this high school, I would not have gotten over it. This album brought me no end of joy this year, and it is still my go-to, default record when shuffle just does not cut it in iTunes.

Nothing came close to the National this year, but I loved Peter Bjorn and John, Feist, Schooner, Arcade Fire, Editors, and lots and lots of Broken Social Scene, too. Also happy to discover Jose Gonzalez, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Hello Saferide, Basia Bulat, and The Cloud Room. So much Swedish pop this year, yaay!

[photo: ae | Richmond, VA | 11.3.07 ]

There Are Good Books and There Are Bad Books

And the government knows which are which. They also know where you're going and with whom you're staying. Now, don't you feel more safe love Big Brother?

Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented.

The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.

The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country. Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department's Automated Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists from innocent people entering the country.

Wow. I wonder what camp I'll fall into if I'm reading the Koran, Michael Moore's latest screed, and whomever was declared the Unpatriot of the Week.

I'm reminded of something...what is it? Oh, right, it's this: Fourteen defining characteristics of fascism.

[photo credit: Library of Congress, created back when the government functioned for (some) good.]

U-S-A! U-S-A!

I mean, W-T-F??

Student Arrested, Tasered at Kerry Event.

Peter Bjorn and John Blog Post

They even rock harder in my fantasy homeland! My pal Pablo and I ran out to catch Peter Bjorn and John's *sold out* show at the Cradle last night. And we don't care about the young folks talkin' 'bout the young style....

I thought Pablo and I would have a cool, relaxing evening and be carried away on a cloud of bright, cheery pop. Delightful pop it was, but more of the post-punk power trio variety. PB&J came.to.rock. Yeeooow!

They teased us w/ an electronica instrumental of "Young Folks" and just as we were lulled into thinking that some sweet melodic and slightly more sitar-ish version of the song would be their opener, they came on stage and launched into the rockingest intro I have had the pleasure to see in a long while ("Let's Call It Off"). God.Damn. John's military-precision drumming... Whoooo!

And as if I weren't already incredibly biased toward Sweden, they thanked us early in the set, saying it was great to be back in a "real rock club" because they'd just come from the VMAs in Las Vegas and it was "very weird." Yeah, the Cradle rocks! Even when I lived in NY and LA, I missed the Cradle. You can't beat the authentic rock club experience.

Highlights for me were "Paris 2004," "Amsterdam" (introduced as being about "friendship, love, dogs, and...stuff"), "Young Folks" (dueted w/ Meg from opening act The Clientele), the third song (I think), which they introduced as being from an EP that we'd never heard and which is one of those Reason To Live songs (must find this song), and the show closer, "Objects of My Affection," which rocked so hard and so right that I'll be able to ride the fumes of that for at least a week and a half.

Friends, if PB&J are coming anywhere near your town, go see them. Don't question it; just grab a friend and go! I have a crush on all of them, not least because they have serious Rock! Moves! They're precision musicians, funny, clever, have a great rapport w/ the audience, obviously love what they're doing. They put everything into it. Peter (on the right in the pix) lost at least 10 lbs last night, I'm sure.

[Post title is a riff on PB&J's habit of very helpfully labeling things what they are, as with the bass drum in the first pic. Sadly, they sold out of the t-shirt I wanted, which read (again, helpfully): Peter Bjorn and John T-shirt. Ha. V. nice use of Helvetica, btw.]