I know my comments are broken. I'm going to switch things up soon. Until then, I will dictatorially control the dialogue here, m'kay?

Quotes from HST in late 1969:

I've been reading "Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist," which is Hunter S. Thompson's collected correspondence from 1968 - 78. Here are some choice bits I came across last night that seemed to echo with contemporary relevance:

On The New Journalism:

But the whole concept of "new journalism" is bogus -- unless we admit that honesty in a journalist is something new. The old, Hearst-style journalists had a privileged relationship with power -- and they paid fr that privilege by keeping a lot of warts and chancres off the public record. This tradition is still strong, especially with big-city newspapers, TV news departments and national newsmagazines...

So the "new journalism" is nothing more than a repudiation of the whole concept of privileged communication between newsmen and their sources... Nixon learned this lesson in 1960 and '62. This year he treated the press like a bunch of scorpions, playing "influential" reporters off against each other and awarding private interviews like gold stars for good behavior. I spent 10 days following him around New Hampshire and by the time I was finally granted an audience I felt almost lucky. This feeling passed very quickly, however, and now -- on the basis of what I wrote -- I have no illusions about getting a job as a White House correspondent. For the same reasons, I'll have a jaundiced view of any correspondent who seems "close to Nixon."

On The First Freak Power Campaign

Hunter and his Aspen-based cohort of anti-development refugees from the coastal cities launched a spur of the moment takeover bid, and came within a few votes of installing a 29-year-old hippie lawyer and motorcycle racer as mayor. This near victory set the stage for Hunter's own campaign for Sheriff.

The idea was to first mobilize our hidden vote -- Freak Power -- and then, using that as a power base, go after the small but very vocal "liberal vote." I was convinced that we could win by putting these two blocks together... and as it turned out I was right: That combination would have won by at least 100 votes out of 1,200 -- but it never occurred to me that most of the local "liberals" would back off at the last moment, leaving us with what amounted, in the end, to an "under-30 vote" and a hundred or so defectors from the old, failed-liberal camp who said, "Fuck it, let's run flat out this time..."

...

Electoral politics is such a foul and rotten game that only a fool would play it except to win and move on to something better.

Quotes from HST in late 1969:

I've been reading "Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist," which is Hunter S. Thompson's collected correspondence from 1968 - 78. Here are some choice bits I came across last night that seemed to echo with contemporary relevance:

On The New Journalism:

But the whole concept of "new journalism" is bogus -- unless we admit that honesty in a journalist is something new. The old, Hearst-style journalists had a privileged relationship with power -- and they paid fr that privilege by keeping a lot of warts and chancres off the public record. This tradition is still strong, especially with big-city newspapers, TV news departments and national newsmagazines...

So the "new journalism" is nothing more than a repudiation of the whole concept of privileged communication between newsmen and their sources... Nixon learned this lesson in 1960 and '62. This year he treated the press like a bunch of scorpions, playing "influential" reporters off against each other and awarding private interviews like gold stars for good behavior. I spent 10 days following him around New Hampshire and by the time I was finally granted an audience I felt almost lucky. This feeling passed very quickly, however, and now -- on the basis of what I wrote -- I have no illusions about getting a job as a White House correspondent. For the same reasons, I'll have a jaundiced view of any correspondent who seems "close to Nixon."

On The First Freak Power Campaign

Hunter and his Aspen-based cohort of anti-development refugees from the coastal cities launched a spur of the moment takeover bid, and came within a few votes of installing a 29-year-old hippie lawyer and motorcycle racer as mayor. This near victory set the stage for Hunter's own campaign for Sheriff.

The idea was to first mobilize our hidden vote -- Freak Power -- and then, using that as a power base, go after the small but very vocal "liberal vote." I was convinced that we could win by putting these two blocks together... and as it turned out I was right: That combination would have won by at least 100 votes out of 1,200 -- but it never occurred to me that most of the local "liberals" would back off at the last moment, leaving us with what amounted, in the end, to an "under-30 vote" and a hundred or so defectors from the old, failed-liberal camp who said, "Fuck it, let's run flat out this time..."

...

Electoral politics is such a foul and rotten game that only a fool would play it except to win and move on to something better.

Quotes from HST in late 1969:

I've been reading "Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist," which is Hunter S. Thompson's collected correspondence from 1968 - 78. Here are some choice bits I came across last night that seemed to echo with contemporary relevance:

On The New Journalism:

But the whole concept of "new journalism" is bogus -- unless we admit that honesty in a journalist is something new. The old, Hearst-style journalists had a privileged relationship with power -- and they paid fr that privilege by keeping a lot of warts and chancres off the public record. This tradition is still strong, especially with big-city newspapers, TV news departments and national newsmagazines...

So the "new journalism" is nothing more than a repudiation of the whole concept of privileged communication between newsmen and their sources... Nixon learned this lesson in 1960 and '62. This year he treated the press like a bunch of scorpions, playing "influential" reporters off against each other and awarding private interviews like gold stars for good behavior. I spent 10 days following him around New Hampshire and by the time I was finally granted an audience I felt almost lucky. This feeling passed very quickly, however, and now -- on the basis of what I wrote -- I have no illusions about getting a job as a White House correspondent. For the same reasons, I'll have a jaundiced view of any correspondent who seems "close to Nixon."

On The First Freak Power Campaign

Hunter and his Aspen-based cohort of anti-development refugees from the coastal cities launched a spur of the moment takeover bid, and came within a few votes of installing a 29-year-old hippie lawyer and motorcycle racer as mayor. This near victory set the stage for Hunter's own campaign for Sheriff.

The idea was to first mobilize our hidden vote -- Freak Power -- and then, using that as a power base, go after the small but very vocal "liberal vote." I was convinced that we could win by putting these two blocks together... and as it turned out I was right: That combination would have won by at least 100 votes out of 1,200 -- but it never occurred to me that most of the local "liberals" would back off at the last moment, leaving us with what amounted, in the end, to an "under-30 vote" and a hundred or so defectors from the old, failed-liberal camp who said, "Fuck it, let's run flat out this time..."

...

Electoral politics is such a foul and rotten game that only a fool would play it except to win and move on to something better.

Park Slope is a little different from Gpt/Wburg, not to mention the 'Shwick. It's older, all buildings stone and brick, no siding and few "new" looking places. It's more racially mixed, yet also more yuppified. Williamsburg has money pouring in -- just an obscene amount of real estate development, seemingly a lot of upper-class foreigners, and the third wave is definitely on -- but the Slope has been a destination for young urban professionals, especially couples, for more than a generation.

And, oh yeah, there are babies everywhere.

So I sit in the coffee shop and make funny faces at this ultra-cute toddler while his mother goes on to her friend about her husband (who she never mentions by name) and her various exes (who she does) and how it's sad that they haven't yet "gotten their act together."

"Which Barnes and Noble does he work at? ... Yeah, I think he's still bitter..."

It's going to be an interesting couple of months living here. Who knows? Maybe I'll like it enough to stay, though I find myself leaning more towards joining Operation Snowflake back out in the East Wburg/'Shwick area.

The first line of attack but the GOP against the "Scalito" meme seems to have been that it was an anti-Italian slur. Chris Matthews carrying the water there, original credit to right-wing smear ace Matt Drudge.

Of course, it won't work. I mean, really... the Left opposes Alito because he's a stinking wop dego? Come on. Y'all are slipping.

I'll be getting into my own place today, down on the slope. First permament address in 7 months. Yeehaw.

Watched a little BattleStar Galactica last night with Luke and Steve and Julia. Re-runs for me and luke, but new stuff for the others. We went out around the corner to a lovely restaurant (kind of incongruously lovely for the 'Shwick... seems to be leapfrogging the neighborhood development) called Northeast Kingdom. Vry tasty organic chicken pot pie, $12. Cans o' Pabst, $2. Works.

Anyway, I'm reminded what a good show that was and I'm looking forward to picking up some Season Two action. Luke's got it on his HD. I can't imagine what it would be like to try and watch with commercials.

If TV people have any brains, they'll get behind initiatives like this Video iPod thing that let regular people do what us Nerds do when we use bittorrent, external hard-drives, some adaptors and couplers and a little patience to watch our favorite episodic video content at our leasure and without consumer propaganda interrupting it every 10 minutes.

So the guy Bush puts up for the Supreme Court -- Sam Alito -- is roundly anti-abortion, thinks a husband is legally a co-owner of his wife's uterus, gets the nickname Scalito, etc. I'll be fighting this, but the odds are that he will be confirmed. Sorry.

Meaninful reisistance to movement conservatism is going to have to take place on the state level. They won't directly overturn Roe v. Wade in the sense of making a national ban on abortion, but they will continue to weaken federal protections for privacy, and push the strong stuff (things approaching outright bans) through state and local law. We can and must fight back in the same places.

That means organizing a whole lot more people. Luckily we've got some nacient organizations in place which are working on chapters. In the long run, I think we'll win. In the short run, things look pretty tough.

Bill and Patti got married! Congratulations!

My Aunt Janis had inadvertantly tipped me off about this over the summer, but I think that Pa wanted it to be a surprise. They had originally planned this I think for their trip to the Adderondacks, which got nixed because Patti busted her leg. Anyway, I'm glad they didn't let that stop them. Really lovely to see.

While I'm at it, I should also note that my cousins Sam and Terry were also recently married. I believe I was on the road, and they happened to plan them for the same weekend (that's my family! <g>), and that my man David and his special lady Jessica are getting hitched in a couple weeks back in Oregon. 'Tis the season, I suppose.