The Suckiness of Long-Term Memory

The Republican Party used to have a lot of grown-ups in it; Bob Dole, Howard Baker, Jim Baker, Brent Scowcroft, Gerry Ford, Bob Michael, Everett Dirkson, the first President Bush, etc.. Hell, people, I might even go as far as to say that the earlier incarnations of Dick Cheney had had some gravitas/common sense.....WHAT, PRAY TELL, IN THE HELL HAPPENED? I mean, I'm sorry, but, damn, I'm just not seeing a similar level of maturity in this current configuration/hodgepodge; the religious right, tea partiers, neocons, supply siders, etc. - not even remotely so. Not, mind you, that the Democrats have been necessarily wowing me, either (President Obama as the next JFK, paaaaleeeease!), but at least there seems to be a few of them seemingly still coherent. A few. A precious few, I'm saying.

A Scrub(bing) of History

I think that we've all gotten accustomed to Keith Olbermann's partisan presentations. But a comment of his last week went really, REALLY, over the top. He starts off by saying that the Republican Party won the Civil War, and then, in an obvious smearing of the grand old party, cuts it off at that. They haven't had an accomplishment in 150 years, in other words...........................................................................................I guess, folks, that he's forgotten about the six national parks that Teddy Roosevelt established, his signing of the Antiquities Act, his trust-busting rampages, etc.. Ditto, he evidently hasn't heard about Civil Rights Bill of 1957 that Eisenhower signed, the fact that he developed the interstate highway system and ended the Korean War. And, yes, what about Ford cutting inflation from 12.2% to 4.6%, the fact that he granted clemency to draft dodgers, Nixon normalizing relations with China and ending the draft, Reagan reducing inflation from 12.4% to 1.1% and signing the INF Treaty with Gorbachev, Bush 1 signing the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Clean Air Act, his brilliant conducting of the first Iraq War (yes, Mr. Perot, I know, he "created" Saddam Hussein in the '70s but, still)? Do not ANY of these things count as accomplishments? Hell, folks, even the second Bush did a good thing by tripling humanitarian aid to Africa (yes, there have in fact been questions as to how effectively the money's been spent)..............................................................................................Now, I am not in any way saying that the Republicans are perfect (they're certainly FAR from perfect currently). But for Olbermann to say that they haven't accomplished anything for nearly a century and a half is just plain ridiculous.....Here's to hoping that the programmers at MSNBC will at least consider a modicum of balance down the road.

Hit (A Lot) and Run (Extremely Fast)

I don't even think that the hard core baseball fan has truly appreciated what Ichiro (Suzuki) has just accomplished. I mean, just to get to 200 hits in a season once is an extraordinary accomplishment. The fact that this frigging guy has now done it for an entire decade (yeah, that's right, ten consecutive seasons of over 200 hits)/every single year he's been in the bigs - UNBELIEVABLE. And, while, yes, he has in fact been largely a singles hitter (he is, after all, a lead-off hitter), the rest of his stats aren't exactly shabby, either. In addition, folks, to his hit total of 2,242, he's also produced 1,046 runs scored, 257 doubles, 71 triples, 90 dingers, 556 RBIs, 382 stolen bases, 457 walks, and a .331 lifetime average. Add to that the fact that he's also won a gold glove for every year he's been in the league and, yeah, I think that it's totally fair to say that this guy is awesome.....Man, though, can you imagine if he had been able to play his entire career in America, the frigging statistics that the guy could have ended up with?..................................................................................................P.S. Still, though, even if he does slow down a tad - 5 more years at 150 hits a year - that pretty much gets him to 3,000. Not too bad, huh, for a guy who started out as a 27 year-old rookie?

"If This Song Doesn't Put the 'Cunt' Back in Country, I Don't Know What Will", Carlene Carter (Circa 1980)

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what's your all-time favorite quote from a female rocker?"

It's More Important to be....What?

How important is likability? I don't know. I guess that it all depends on who you're asking here. My suspicion is that it probably doesn't mean much at all to the bulk of these partisan radio and cable-news flunkies (Rush, Sean, Keith, Laura, etc.). I mean, come on, people, just the mere the fact that every other word from their mouths these days is an ad hominem/only people who lap it up large seemingly respect them.....................................................................................................Now, compare this, I ask you, to Daniel Patrick Moynihan. This, folks, was a fellow who literally everybody, not only liked but loved as well. And do you know WHY all of these people loved him? They loved him....BECAUSE HE WASN'T A DICK!! I mean, seriously here, this is not rocket science, folks.

To the Top of the Pile, Please!

I've decided that I need to primp MY resume, too. These, folks, are my NEW educational credentials. I have a Bachelors from Amherst, a Masters from Penn, and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon. Yes, I could have had a Rhodes Scholarship, too, but decided that it would be better to work with inner city kids for a year instead.....So, what do you think? Yeah?.... Let's just call it my brand new story and, yes, me-buckos, I am sticking to it like glue (which I invented, by the way).

High Praise

I think that we're all used to rock-folk-country-blues legend, Steve Earle, sharing with the folks his bold/controversial/unvarnished opinions/views. This, me-buckos, and, yet, rarely, if ever, do they cease to amaze/flabbergast (some of that shit about Lou Dobbs still has me cracking up). The latest quip of his that doubled me over came from one of his recent interview videos (I believe that it accompanies his Grammy-winning CD, "Washington Square Serenade"). In it, Mr. Earle referred to fellow icon, blues legend/pioneer, Robert Johnson, as "one lazy mother-fucker" (I guess because Mr. Johnson didn't want to pick cotton or something)." But, please, people, before you jump all over the guy, hear me out here. He meant it, folks, AS A COMPLIMENT. Whoa, huh? Musicians. LOL