politics

So, Kellymundo has a subscription to Vanity Fair, which I happened to pick up (RFK cover story) in the bathroom today. This happens to be the issue with the crazy Miley Cyrus Photos!!!!! ZOMG BARE 15-YEAR OLD SPINE!!!!

Sometimes I’m ashamed of America. Sometimes it’s because we start pointless wars of choice that kill thousands and leave millions homeless and destitute. Sometimes it’s because we’re so collectively sexually confused, repressed, frustrated, nervous, and (updated inre Joe’s point in comments) desperately depraved, we can’t fucking tolerate the challenge of, you know, Art.

Annie Liebowitz is the real thing, and this photo is completely respectable.

America, you’re crazy baby but I love you.

Bonus Liebowitz: Sting portrait, and homo Arnold.

God we’re stupid sometimes.

Last night seems to (finally) have cemented it for Obama. Black President here we come. For those of you who’ve been in the trenches, Mike Lux has some good next-steps laid out. For those of you waiting for this nomination process to be over, well, it may take a few more weeks before it’s officially over, but you should start thinking about:

• How to explain to people that John McCain is a warmongering child of privilege who has no respect for women, no plan on healthcare, no grasp of economics, no idea how to address global climate change, and who’s publicly stated he wants to pack the Supreme Court with more extreme conservatives.
• How to explain to people that Barack Obama is not a terrorist, or a communist, or even (too bad) the second coming of FDR with extra melanin, but might in fact be just the guy to prevent Miami from being underwater in 100 years, keep Wall St. from completely fucking over homeowners, do something creative about the 2 million people we’re letting rot in jail, get some needy kids food and medicine (in the US as well as elsewhere), and prevent Comcast, Verizon and Rupert Murdoch from taking over the internets.

I have high hopes that Big O will close it out in Mighty Oregon. That would be solid.

Oh, and this:

Update: whoa.

Subcommondante Kos says Oregon should be the clincher:

If Clinton were to drop out this week, we’d face an uncomfortable situation in West Virginia, with Clinton likely crushing Obama. That would look terrible for the presumptive nominee.

Better than that would be to garner enough superdelegate commitments this week, so that Oregon can push Obama past 2,024. That way, it isn’t the supers who clinch it for Obama, but actual voters.

Mighty Oregon!

My man Joe is close to internet fame. Vote for him again even if you did before (1 vote per day is allowed apparently):

http://broadcasting.projectbreakout.com/media_page/entry_id/197

It’s internet democracy, Chicago style.

I’m pretty sure with a little work and little luck, this guy will be the president next year.

That’ll be cool.

(secred culture decoder ring here)

(On the other hand… heyo! It’s a win/win primary, as far as I can tell.)

Kellymundo succeeded in getting me to watch a few consecutive episodes of The West Wing on DVD the other day, and as someone who’s been steeped in politics over the past five years, it leaves an interesting impression. If 24 is the Dark Side of the contemporary political debate, The West Wing represents something of the sunny side.

The stuff I’ve seen is from Season two, which is something of a historical time-capsule, having been made prior to both the onset of the Bush Administration, and of course 9/11. It’s totally enjoyable, but also strikes me as anachronistically sanguine, a grown-up Schoolhouse Rock but with the benefit of excellent production values. The cast is strong, and the writing is excellent from a literary standpoint. On substance, though, I think the text reflects all too well the hazy miasma that surrounds our allegedly elite political discourse.

Two quick examples from the three or four episodes I’ve seen:

• In an episode concerning a jungle hostage situation in Columbia, the presidents strangely Rumsfeldian chief of staff delivers a strong appeal not to attempt any kind of invasion: “Mr. President, I fought a jungle war… and if I could have been there when our ships were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin I would have said, ‘Don’t do it.’” It’s a soft play on the consensus opinion that Vietnam Was Bad, but it ignored the widely-held belief (more or less proven in 2005) that the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” was as fake as the Maine.
• In an episode concerning the dangers (or lack thereof) of marijuana, the specific phrase, “doesn’t display the addictive properties of cocaine or LSD” was used more than once. LSD is among the most un-addictive drugs yet uncovered from both a physical and psychological standpoint. Ironically, the crux of the show revolved around the statements of the Surgeon general and “the duty of a doctor to tell the truth.”

Now, I’m not entirely sure whether these are nudge-nudge/wink-wink inside jokes for those in the know, or simply the natural result of having Peggy Noonan on as a consultant. The overall awe-shucks tone of the show suggests the latter.

This makes it a bit harder to suspend my disbelief and really inhabit the world of the show, but in a sort of Brechtian sense it heightens my appreciation for just how confused and unconsciously hypocritical our political discourse remains. The Verfremdungseffekt is strong. Also, as it is something of a time-capsule, it’s interesting to see how mainstream pop-culture re-defines and re-digests the political process.

I’ve been bored with politics and focusing on other things lately. The primaries are a drone for the most part. This, however, deserves attention.

House Democrats stood strong against immunity for Telecom companies that were helping with illegal wiretaps, and established meaningful oversight for domestic survalence going forward. Glenn Greewald explains:

As impressive as the House vote itself was, more impressive still was the floor debate which preceded it. I can’t recall ever watching a debate on the floor of either House of Congress that I found even remotely impressive — until today. One Democrat after the next — of all stripes — delivered impassioned, defiant speeches in defense of the rule of law, oversight on presidential eavesdropping, and safeguards on government spying. They swatted away the GOP’s fear-mongering claims with the dismissive contempt such tactics deserve, rejecting the principle that has predominated political debate in this country since 9/11: that the threat of the Terrorists means we must live under the rule of an omnipotent President and a dismantled constitutional framework.

This is a win for justice, but it’s all the more exciting in that it happened because Democrats (including a number of newbies) broke through the miazma of “war on terra” fear. Nice work. Feels good, don’t it? Winning is fun! Slapping down a shitty president with bad ideas is cool! Let’s do more like this!

It’s been a pretty good week so far. I would have more to say, but I’ve got to get ready to drive down to SF tomorrow, the better to fly to Boston for DrupalCon. So, here’s a video I endorse:

And the tiny corona:

My man Mike “Smiley” Connery wrote a book! It’s pretty exciting. He’ll be going on tour and doing the whole deal. It’s a natural continuation of the work we started at Music For America, and I’m looking forward to reading the final copy.

There’s more Mike at Future Majority.