Friday, February 06, 2004

 

Groping for the right answer

 

They're definitely fishing for appropriate responses.  The smell of desperation is in the air as it's been announced that Bush will subject himself to an appearance on "Meet the Press" this Sunday.  Maybe he's confused (for a change) and thinks he'll be appearing on the Food Network in a show called "Press the Meat".  I hope he's wearing an apron. 

 

I also hope the questioners are given free rein and not subjected to a list of "off limit" questions.  Somehow, I sincerely doubt the Prez's handlers will allow him to be subjected to a potential barage of damaging questions.  But I'd just like the moderator to make it clear if that's the case.  Even conservative D-bags on CNN have brought up the possibility of his military record (or lack thereof) being questioned, which would certainly seem to be a natural at some point in the hour if the session is unrestricted.  I would also imagine that the White House is negotiating which spin doctors will be on the show afterwards to "explain what the President REALLY meant when he said ______."  A speaker who displays the incompetence that Bush does when attempting to answer questions absolutely MUST have "fixers" to polish up the rough spots (of which there are usually many)

 

I've only glanced at this so far, but it looks interesting perhaps:

What Went Wrong   

....At the first meeting of Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board after 9/11, there was consensus that the United States should take out two regimes: Afghanistan and Iraq. It was deemed necessary to show American power, and Saddam was the perfect target. It's not clear how fast this view took hold within the White House, or when exactly the intelligence community digested it. What is clear is that to fight a pre-emptive war, you need evidence of a significant threat; suspect intentions alone are not sufficient.....

 

~*  They're claiming that no matter what weapons are or are not found, we've liberated an oppressed people.  Well, I'll agree that we've liberated SOME of them.  There's a whole lotta folks who may disagree however:

 

WORLD VIEWS: Were Iraqi women better off under Saddam?

 

With the increasing influence of Iraq's religious establishment weighing heavily on their concerns about work, family life, education and opportunities to take part in politics, many Iraqi women have been thinking -- and are now giving voice to -- the unthinkable: Could it be, some are asking, that they were better off under Saddam Hussein?

 

The main reason for their consternation lies in a decision made last December by Iraq's Interim Governing Council (IGC), which was then headed by the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, "to scrap secular family laws and place them under Muslim religious jurisdiction." Those 1959 laws were "once considered the most progressive in the Middle East, making polygamy difficult and guaranteeing women custody rights in the case of divorce." (Al Jazeera.net)

 

 

  Here's a local issue with national ramifications.

 

THE DEVIL is always in the details of a federal budget. President Bush packed a cruel little surprise for San Francisco by proposing to raise the rent for Hetch Hetchy Reservoir -- now $30,000 a year -- to $8 million.

 

......Could there be a touch of politics in this budget maneuver? Bush, of course, will not be carrying San Francisco this fall even if he started tossing fresh currency into the air in Union Square instead of toward Halliburton and other favored contractors in Iraq.

 

~* As we all enjoy our "tax breaks", city and state government services are what's paying the price.  That's a fact of life ALL over the country.  But here's a novel way to help put a band-aid over the red bleeding out of the federal deficit.  Just "raise the rent by more than 2,500 percent without a hearing or even a heads-up to the elected officials representing the area that will bear the burden.".....and choose an area that hates you anyway!  This will have the added effect of tying up money that otherwise may have been earmarked for political support of the loyal opposition.  Actually brilliant, but in a decietful way.

 

All part of the reason..... "Bush Earned Our Hate"
VIEW FROM THE LEFT 

 

"The point I hope to get to in this little essay is that those of us who dislike Bush did not simply get up one morning and decide we were going to hate him. He had to earn our antipathy."

 

 

I'm going to climb down from the soapbox for now....

 

Last night's performance by McCoy Tyner and Co. was outSTANDING!  Pharoh Saunders still has a set of leather lungs, coaxing sounds from his tenor sax that at times echo on the verge of primitive cultures.  My friend, Mike, pointed out to me that McCoy sort of looked like Brando in the Godfather, dressed neatly in a black suit and shirt with a white tie.  He too, plays with the dexterity displayed in his younger days.  A buzz went through the crowd when Ravi Coltrane walked out because he looked so much like his father.  And he has the chops to back it up.  It has to be tough to be the son of a legend....as I suppose Elliot will find out.  But this is the equivilent of a son of God!  Ravi, playing alto and sopranno, called up the spirit of John many times.  Kind of like Dweezil sometimes does of his father, Frank (Zappa).

 

Supplying the bottom they took-off from were two serious craftsmen.  Charnett Moffett on bass and Eric Harland on drums.  The whole ensemble was a perfect fit.  This was McCoy's 2nd week appearing there.  Last week he played with a different band!  

 

One of our party of three required assistance and handicapped seating, which provided a great spot for us ALL to enjoy the show....despite the temporary hassle from the apparent floor manager.  I'll skip the minutae of the evening..... like the lady at our table who had to occasionally express her enjoyment by keeping time on the table (which didn't seem to bother anybody not leaning on the table like me)....or her companions grand plan to meet up with someone between shows who will provide them with access to at least part of the next show from backstage.  I saw them leaving as we approached our vehicle.  It was a night WELL spent.

 

Listened to Wavy Gravy again as he is regularly calling Bob Fass to plug a NY benefit he's trying to construct.  He told the story of his recent arrest at the protest outside of San Quentrin (which we passed on our way to the show) concerning the next scheduled death row inmate to end his tenure here.  I'm unfamiliar with the details except to know that there are many questionable ones....including (but not limited to!) the arresting officer later getting busted for stealing 5 pounds of heroin from the evidence locker..... the only eye-witness descibing 2 Mexicans as the culprits....and one of the victims clutching blond hairs in his hand (the accused is black.  Surprise!)  He's been on death row for the past 18 years.  Anyway....Wavy got roughed-up after he ripped open his coat to show the cops he was actually Santa Claus.  They weren't impressed.

 

Wavy also mentioned a movie that sounds interesting...at least from an historical point of view.  It's called, "Pull My Daisy"  Check out that link.

 

While following links associated with that one, I came across this...!

 

Letter from Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac(March 7, 1947)

 

I also found another related movie:

The Last Time I Committed Suicide

 

I'd like to see both of those efforts.  It sounds like "5 Minutes to Live Video" material.

 

I wanted to also forward an intersting article La Brahmarina sent in, but this post is getting dangerously close to  too long, I'm sure.  If not for the MSN limitations, then your's.  So allow me to wrap this one up and I'll post that seperately.  So......

 

I bid you goodnight

~Brahma* 

posted by ~Brahma 1:45 AM