Willful Ignorance

It is a dark and gloomy Wednesday afternoon in New York City. We find ourselves in the office of Irving H. Picard, the Trustee for the liquidation of the Bernard L. Madoff fraud case. He is meeting with Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff who are the owners of the New York Mets baseball franchise. Evidently, the Wilpons invested - and withdrew - large sums of money with Madoff before he went belly up leading some to believe they knew it was all a Ponzi scheme.

Let's listen in:

Give me a check for a hundred grand plus three hundred in cash and I guarantee you walk on the conspiracy charge. But they're gonna come back at us on a tax evasion, and they'll get it.









So, what am I looking at here?











Five years. You'll be out in three. Maybe less, if I can make a deal.









Three fucking years! For what? Washing money? The fucking country was built on washed money.









It can't be that bad. It's not like Cuba.









What the fuck you talking?











The jails here are like hotels.









You kidding me or what? You fucking high or what?







I'll delay the trial. A year and a half, two years. You won't even start...









Fuck you, man! I'm not going back in no cage, okay? No way. I been there. Okay.






















Look, Irving, I go another four hundred grand. That's 800,000 dollars. With that kind of money, you can buy the supreme court.







Fred, the law has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. I'm an expert at raising that doubt. But when you got a million three undeclared dollars staring into a videotape camera, honey baby, it's hard to convince a jury you found it in a taxicab.

I know I'm not convinced.

Will you please just sell the team already?

Larry B

When Night Falls

Special Agent Kay: Humans, for the most part, don't have a clue. Don't want or need one. They're happy. They think they have a good bead on things.

Special Agent Jay: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.

Special Agent Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals…and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody KNEW the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody KNEW the Earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago, you KNEW that people were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.

from Men in Black (1997)

August 5, 2002

I'm not sure Jeff.
Larry B

The Key

He Started It All

In an attempt to broaden myself, as well as try to understand the madness that surrounds us, last week I began reading The Bible which is, by most acounts, the foundation book of western civilization. I finished “Numbers,” which is the fourth book of the old testament on the train this morning and I am starting to formulate some ideas. Here is a (partial) reading of verse 16:

1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; 2 and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. 3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?"

4 So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face; 5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him. 6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; 7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!"

8 Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; 10 and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? 11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?"

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come up! 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us? 14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!"

Numbers 16:1-14 (NKJV)

It continues from there and, needless to say, homeslice, homepiece and their followers all get smoked.


My Interpretation:


At the time after the deliverance, there was a lot of discontent among the tribe. Yes they were brought out of Egyptian slavery but they had not prospered at all. In fact, they were suffering many hardships trying to survive in the wilderness as compared to the relative security of being the low men on totem pole in a thriving empire. The whole Hebrew population (Over 600,000 by Moses’ census – hence the book title “Numbers”) left Egypt in mass. Out of that group I would bet that a certain percentage of them had it actually good in “the old country” because ancient slavery was not as barbaric as the American system of the 17 and 1800s. Many slaves were part of “the family” and more akin to the modern day servant. That would explain the “250 congregational leaders” (Who were possibly representing maybe 25 % of the total population) that rose up to challenge Moses’ leadership, clearly upset about their new lot in life Lord or no Lord.

Look how this passage is written and what it stresses. The rebels are seen as doubting blasphemers who deserve to be plunged into a pit created by God splitting the earth under their feet…which does happen to them and over a thousand of their followers. But what are these rebels actually saying? They are questioning authority. Here are the notes associated with these lines from the study version I am reading:

Dathan and Abiram, two allies of Korah, were so arrogant that they would not even come to stand before Moses. They attacked Moses, claiming he acted like a prince. These two approach absurdity when they charged Moses with leading them away from the land that flows with milk and honey. Possibly they were blaming Moses for the fact that the people had to turn away from the land after the rebellion at Kadesh (Numbers 13 & 14). In addition, they charged Moses with brutality. “Will you put out the eyes of these men?” Nothing in the story of The Exodus leads us to think that Moses might have done such a thing.

“Arrogant”? Why because they demanded self determination? “Claiming he acted like a prince”? Moses did. Reaching "absurdity”? Compared to the desert Egypt WAS the land of milk and honey and the only reason why it sounds “absurd” to our ears is because the lot of the people making the claim were slaves in that system and, again, our view of slavery is awfully skewed because of our own disgusting institution. Back then the practice was much more “civilized” and, quite frankly, a way of life. Remember, there are whole passages in the Bible that deal with the proper treatment of slaves and the laws governing slavery…Spoken by God himself!

And then the annotator (I believe it is Ronald B Allen Th.D - and remember this is a modern perspective) writes the last line, “Nothing in the story of Exodus leads us to think that Moses might have done such a thing” which, to say the least, is incredulous. Here is what happened when Moses discovered HIS OWN PEOPLE dancing in front of the Golden Calf:

27 And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’” 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

Exodus 32: 27-28 (NKJV)

This is not an important knock I know because this scholar is drinking the Christian Kool-Aid and I am only using his notes for clarification or counterpoint purposes. My main focus is squarely on the actual text. But, still, I can’t stand it when someone attempts to prove their argument by telling me 2 + 2 = 5.

The reader of the Book of Numbers is clearly supposed to side with Moses because he DID speak with God and to question him is to question HIM. The only reason why we think in this way is because we KNOW Moses to be righteous. And the only reason we know of his righteousness is because he is taking orders directly from God and the only reason why we know that he is taking orders directly from God is because Moses told us he did. The deck is stacked.

Granted, if I witnessed the whole parting of the Red Sea incident, as the Hebrews this passage eludes to have, I would have no doubt of Moses’ claims. In fact, I would be the first one yelling “If the Lord wants some stoning then let’s stone somebody!” But did this miraculous event ever happen (as well as the plagues, the burning bush, etc.)? I would say they did not and that those stories were exaggerations and/or concoctions of the people through the years as they orally passed on these stories from generation to generation…like a child’s game of “Telephone.”

So what are we left with: The idea of obedience. Questioning authority will cause you to die or even worse. Submitting to the Lord is the only way to survive…Doubt equals death. And THAT concept, combined with the enlightened ideas of Jesus (I did not get to the New Testament yet) i.e. move away from the insular attitude, dietary code and strict animal sacrifice rituals and move towards turn the other cheek, do not cast the first stone and love each other are the foundation of Western Society. Authoritative government, either the monarch or the priest – more often then not both side by side - telling the people what to do and having the moral sanction to keep order at any cost, which was usually by the sword.

And THAT situation is what The Enlightenment started to overturn. We are in a great transitional period in human history, starting with the ideas of the Philosophes and bolstered by incredible advancements in, first, industrial production and second, and most importantly, technological and communications. One day we will not need any of the hocus-pocus to live in a “moral” society but probably – no definitely - not in our lifetime. Until then we have to start with ourselves and try to teach our children not to rely on superstition. Teach them to use reason and observation to inform their beliefs and decisions. If we can not do it by our words then at least show them in our actions - but preferably do both.

THAT is how WE are going to move forward as a species.

Larry B

Still want that blue suit?

Yeah, button up that collar. Suck in that gut. Tuck in them big black lips. Lighten your skin. Shrink up that nose. Let me tell you something, boy. You can march like the white man. You can talk like 'em. You can learn his songs. You can even wear his suits. But you ain't never gonna be nothin' to him but an ugly-ass chimp in a blue suit. So the white man give you a couple of stripes next thing you know, you hollerin' and orderin' everybody around like you the massa himself. Nigger, you ain't nothing but the white man's dog.

from Glory (1989)

With the downturn in the economy, and the scarcity of employment, I have been minding my p’s and q’s at the job. Gone are the days of trawling the net or flapping my grape for hours on end. I no longer have a lackadaisical attitude towards my work and I take very seriously the completion of any tasks that are assigned to me. I am no longer satisfied with the all too common result of having my work product blocked or corrupted by the myriad of on-payroll masons who immediately build a wall whenever some goal of mine is close to being accomplished. I try as hard as I can to eliminate as much as possible any third party involvement in my cubicle dwelling day. In fact, my only real rest time during the day is when I’m deucing.

Unfortunately, what my new spirit of production leads to is long hours at the office as well as bleary-eyed early morning and late-night subway rides. After spending a full day staring at computer screens, standing over copiers and organizing and reorganizing paper files, I some times do not have the energy to open whatever book I am reading at the time. There have been many a sojourn as of late when I just sit and stare into space, catching glimpses of the other tired commuters or the ever more frequently sighted lunatic shouting obscenities or singing to themselves very loudly filling the train with jaw droppingly offensive rap lyrics or just looking generally menacing. It is in these grey moments of consciousness, those times when I am no where near asleep but am not quite awake, that I feel as if I’m in a time warp. The sleaziness of the whole experience brings me back to my youth and a pre-Disnified City. A time when the bowels of the MTA felt like three AM all day.

The other day on the one train I actually saw someone wearing a three-fingered ring!

Along with the hooligans, junkies and freaks to stare at as you barrel through the underground one of the other sights caught in my mescaline-like vision during these rides are the abundant advertising that papers the inside of the cars. The posters are probably one foot high by three feet long, connected in a row. The row of pictures is then hung along a curvature between the wall and the ceiling which runs along the length of the car. Next to every door is a three by three square displaying another poster. Usually one entity purchases one side of the car, creating a block of pictures relating to one thing. The more clever companies/agencies create a running theme from 3 feet ad to 3 feet ad that tells a little story which is tied together by the big square by the door. The theory being that the straphanger, who is naturally looking up in this situation, can read the cute little things up top and then finally figure out what it is all about at the end and say to himself “Oh, how entertaining” and maybe, just maybe, remember the product in the future.

For example:

The first 3x1 can say in simple block text in front of a solid blue background, “Wouldn’t you rather be…” Then the next panel, in the same form, says, “If only your commute was this good…” and finally on a third tile, “Tired of reading a paper over someone’s shoulder?” As your eyes follow these three phrases from left to right they are funneled towards a 3x3 picture by the door of a bikini clad woman with a rack out to here and an ass out to there saying “Come to Bermuda” in bold type right below her crotch.

The same advertising formula can also be used for Michelob.

I assume that most urban centers have similar trains. Be it Paris, Tokyo, Moscow or St. Louis, when one rides a Metro, I imagine that one is subjected to commercials.

Which leads me to the point of this post. A few weeks ago, during one of my aforementioned zone-outs, I came across this particular piece of advertising. At first it gnawed at my sense of taste but nothing major and forgotten within seconds. But after being subjected to it five or six times since I feel it is worthy of at least a comment. And then after I sat down to write this I realized there was even much more than I thought. And after even further thought I actually think that this ad campaign could be the answer to all of my problems!

So here is the picture,

I want you to look at it for a few seconds, and just let the mind flow. Upon seeing this image, what are your thoughts? I have come up with four reasonable responses with the parenthetic mathematical equation to my soul.

1) That show looks pretty stupid and lame. (1 to 25 percent connection)

2) That show looks pretty stupid and lame. I wonder who would possibly watch a show like that? (26 to 50 percent connection)

3) That show looks pretty stupid and lame. I wonder who would possibly watch a show like that? I mean, the “reality genre” started many years ago with an original idea: Several “strangers” occupy the same house with their every move recorded by cameras so that the conflicts, actions and relationships of the participants create “real” drama which evolved to "contest" type shows which turned into "celebrity" participation which became plain narcissistic voyeurism which turned into shameless semi-scripted "docu-dramas" featuring empty headed ne'er-do-wells and, finally, stretched to the breaking point beyond contemplation. I can not see them making any more of these pieces of tripe. (51 to 99 percent connection)

4) Look at that fucking guy!

(100 percent connection)

And, of course, if you are actually interested in watching it, we probably have nothing in common.

So, is there anyone out there who sees it the way I do?

And what are you? So full of hate you wanna fight everybody 'cause you've been whipped and chased by hounds. That might not be livin' but it sure ain't dyin'. And dying's what these white boys been doin' for goin' on three years now. Dyin' by the thousands. Dyin' for you, fool! I know, 'cause l dug the graves. And all the time I'm diggin', I'm asking myself, "When? When, O Lord, is it gonna be our time?" Time's comin' when we're gonna have to ante up. Ante up and kick in like men. LIKE MEN! You watch who you call a nigger. If there's any niggers around here, it's you. Smart-mouth, stupid-ass, swamp-running nigger. If you ain't careful, that's all you ever gonna be.

from Glory (1989)

Larry B

Juices Wild

Oh Jeez...

Would ya look at this...

From the April, 2009 Issue of Details Magazine

When I come upon an image like this one, three simple questions immediately pop into my mind:

A) Which one of A-Roid's battery of publicists, spin-doctors, lawyers and agents came up with the idea for this shoot?

B) How much does someone get paid for dispensing such judicious advice?

C) How do I get his job?

I mean, seriously, given the facts of your client's situation and the massive negative ground swell directed against him, what kind of professional anything would recommend doing a magazine spread that features the client in a flamboyantly narcissistic pose kissing his own reflection in the mirror? Is there any accountability? Didn't any one of his high priced janitors turn to him and tell him that taking this picture is probably the single worst thing you could possibly do right now?

I have posted twice on this joker (Two Peas in a Pod and Baseball is the Constant) so my opinions about this man's standing in the baseball world are pretty clear: I would pick many other ballplayers to be on my club before calling this guy. I know my position is debatable but I have been saying it since 2000 and I feel there is no reason to change my mind. All A-Fraud offers you are stats and what he takes is your team's soul.

A little harsh? Maybe but I don't care. I'm in it for the entertainment and, boy, when it comes to spectacle, this boy can bring it!

For all of you out there who haven't seen, haven't cared or don't even know who I am talking about, I will sum it up. In the span of approximately one year this celebrity dilettante by the name of Alex Rodriguez, considered by many to be the "greatest baseball player…possibly ever" tested positive for Steroids and Testosterone tainting his phenomenal statistics and branding him a cheater. He has fallen from grace and is now considered a pariah. During this period, far from minimizing any damage by laying low, he has fed the media monster large portions of red meat. First he goes through a nasty divorce, brought on by his sleeping with the (also married) Madonna - fulfilling both stars Joe DiMaggio/Marilyn Monroe fetishes - and then was outed as a performance-enhancing drug user. The circus that ensued…and when I say "circus" I mean complete with overstuffed funny cars full of tabloid writers, cable clowns and radio saps …became as oppressive as a hot August Brooklyn night when you have no air conditioning and you're out of Piels. He was front page fodder for one-month straight and back page sausage for two.

This was my favorite:

New York Post 2/9/2009

I feel guilty sometimes when I think about how many laughs I've enjoyed at this guy's expense. It isn't right, wanting someone else to fail just so you can snicker at the messiness. I know that. I really do. But A-Bomb brings so much of it on himself it is almost excusable. The laundry list of ridiculum is rather long ranging from strictly baseball issues like his failure to hit in the clutch and being a truly disliked teammate in the clubhouse. Or from off the field shenanigans like all night poker games, strip joints, Kabbalah worshipping and Madonna chasing. There was that ridiculous scene in Central Park where he and his wife (who he was repeatedly cheating on) "happened" to be there with a pack of photographers who also "happened" to be there to take endless pictures of the shirtless A-Fool who just "happens" to normally stand around and pose knowingly for cameras who he "doesn't know" are there. And then there are the completely insincere press conferences and interviews where he is obviously lying through his teeth.

And now this photo.

I have no doubt, with all the over compensation and insecurity he displays that, in the end, all this guy wants is to be loved. I see it in his words and in his actions. In his mind he has said everything and has done everything right since he came here. And then after five years of that calculated image building, after five years of trying so desperately to carve out his place in immortality, he wakes up one day, looks at the paper and sees the word A-HOLE in bold type stretched across his grape.

What a true fucking human tragedy.

Larry B

Ironic Family Values

irony [ahy-ruh-nee] - noun

1) The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
2) An outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
3) The incongruity of this.

e.g. R. Reagan (POTUS - 1981 to circa 1986) and Nancy R. (POTUS circa 1986 to 1988). were considered a) strong military figure b) stalwarts of “traditional family values” c) big government reducer – but were in reality a) beneficiaries of a studio head pulling strings to get out of REAL military duty b) the only divorcee president and a woman who faked a pregnancy to trap a married man c) presided over the largest increase in government deficit spending in the union’s history

What was the over/under on this shit?

I think the Bellagio in Vegas had it at six months from November 4, 2008. That was the date when the electorate of the United States tossed the McCain/Palin ticket onto the nationwide bonfire of reason. A 24-hour period when, this author at least, felt alive for the first time in a VERY long time. A date when half-erect human animals crawled out of their caves of ignorance and decided to use tools again. A moment in time when millions of people declared that they no longer wanted to have their backs urinated on…and told it was raining.

Oh, I'm sorry what, you may ask, am I talking about?

...and Romeo wanted Juliet

Bristol Dumps ‘White Trash’ Baby Daddy

BY BELL HUTCIHNSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The Teen Romance that prompted a pregnant pause in Sarah Palin’s bid to become U.S. Vice President is over.

Levi Johnston said last night that he will not be Palin’s son-in-law, confirming he and Bristol Palin, the mother of his baby boy, have broken up.

The 19-year-old hockey hunk told The Associated Press that he and Bristol Palin 18, mutually agreed to end their relationship “a while ago.”

He declined to elaborate.

Bristol Palin, who is still in high school, issued her own statement to the wire service, saying she is “devastated.”

Johnston broke his silence after his sister, Mercede, told Star magazine that the couple called it quits after Bristol Palin referred to the Johnston family as “white trash.”

Mercede Johnston. 18, said the daughter of Alaska’s Republican governor dumped her brother; Levi, an out-of-work high school dropout,

And she said Bristol Palin, who took her beau to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, has made it tough for him to spend time with his 2-month-old son, Tripp.
“Levi tries to visit Tripp every single day, but Bristol makes it nearly impossible,” Mercede Johnston told Star magazine.

“She tells him he can’t take the baby to our house because she doesn’t want him around ‘white trash’ she said.

In December, Levi Johnston’s mother, Sherry, was busted in an undercover drug sting and charged with six felonies involving the painkiller Oxy Contin.

“Bristol won’t even allow him to watch the baby for a few hours unless he’s baby-sitting,” said Mercede Johnston, whose brother was forced to quit his oil field apprenticeship in January after questions were raised about his qualifications.
The sister said Bristol Palin’s demeaning attitude has been bolstered by Sarah Palin.
“I used to love Sarah,” she said. “But I’ve lost lots of respect for her.”

New York Daily News
3/12/2009

In October of 2008 I bet LARGE on the under... and I fucking scored! Receiving five to one on my money I can now safely retire to my bedroom where stacks and stacks of cash fill my vision from morning to night. I look left - a pile of cabbage. I look right - a serious mound of slaw. I look dead center - I see nothing but a slew of portraitures depicting long-dead white guys, sporting funny wigs and silly beards, staring at me, winking knowingly, telling me that I have worth.

TAKE THAT you 1930s style bottoming out economy!

In all seriousness, although I did (correctly) predict the outcome of this "match made in heaven," who did not see this coming? This high school aged, pregnant girl's decision to marry this self proclaimed Lothario was so obviously politically driven that I think the priest who was even considering performing that sham ceremony should be defrocked. The only thing these two kids probably ever wanted from each other was a stiff shaft or a soft hole. That's it. There was no thought of "commitment," domesticity or love in their heads. They simply were just two teenagers fucking and sucking on a lime green Dacron sofa, or groping and roping in the back seat of an overpriced inefficient American car or signed into a sleazy hourly rate motel with a fake ID, pumping and stumping on a bug ridden lumpy mattress - i.e. they were being "normal."

There, of course, were two major problems with their, unfortunately all too common, situation. The first, and by far the most critical, was that they did not use any kind of birth control resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. The second, and most telling, is that the mother of the knocked up girl was an over-the-top moralist type, right wing governor, who had just been picked by the reactionary party to be their "front man" in the campaign to sure up the party's base: backward, sexually repressed, borderline psychotic, jingoistic control freaks. And the last thing that would guarantee the support of backward, sexually repressed, borderline psychotic, jingoistic control freaks would be an extremely close relative who is an unwed teenage mother who spends her days skipping school and her nights getting poked in the whiskers. Hence, the engagement of a boy who is…

… “a fuckin' redneck who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes. But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some shit and just fuckin' chillin' I guess. Ya fuck with me I'll kick ass."

from Johnston’s MySpace profile

…and a girl whose idea of responsibility is always making sure that the Vodka bottle is screwed on tightly before putting it back into the freezer, was announced.

And what is the objection to gay marriage again?

On second thought, her crowd would have probably been more outraged if her son turned out to be a Jewish, left-wing, homosexual, pornopgrapher, card carrying ACLU member…with an extreme foot fetish, and definitely would have required more spin.

Anyway, I do not want to harp on the ridiculous pitfalls, the HUGE gaps between what they say and what they do or the base, petty, emptiness that - specifically - the Palins incarnate and that – generally - their whole wing represents. Because, their hypocrisy, shallowness and destructiveness have passed over from “point of view” to objective fact. Any third party neutral observer, any legitimate arbitrator, any alien from another planet, if given the information, incidents and rhetoric associated with Sarah Palin over the last ten months, would draw the same conclusion that I have – She is anti-progress, She is anti-reason, She is corrupt, She is a charlatan opportunist with no conviction, She is bad for America.

But, I really don’t care about her. I don’t have any interest in calling her incompetent, or idiotic, or unsophisticated, or an asshole, or a fool, or a fuck-face, or a scourge that should be removed from the body politic. I don’t. She could be the governor of Alaska to the day she dies and it would be absolutely no skin off my nose. I mean that sincerely. I actually want to look at this from a completely different angle because, mentioning the government graft, the misuse and abuse of power, the book burning, the mean vindictive cruelty towards rivals, the witch doctor advisors, the secessionist sympathizing, the jaw-dropping blown photo-ops and the draw-dropping family behavior, would be too easy. No, this story, although excruciatingly predictable, should be the final piece, the last straw, the rook to king seven checkmate move, that finally convinces you that the moral bankruptcy of the Republican Party is total.

“YO! YO BETTER SHUT YO FUCK’N MOUTH BOY! THAT’S MY DADDY YO TALK’N ‘BOUT!”

Let me try to clarify my, admittedly, absurdly general blanket statement because I know there are many reasonable Republicans out there who do not consider their philosophy as negative nor their party leadership as particularly immoral. At best, they think all politicians are assholes and the Democrats are no better. I, of course, disagree with this position but, for the sake of our country, I am willing to try to see a way that we could have common ground. As for the hardcores out there who still couldn’t see even if Vishnu himself showed up in a majestic display of lights and colors, stood erect and pointed his finger at them and declared “THE REPUBLICANS ARE WRONG!” I view as a fundamentalist Christian looks at me…eternally lost.

And let’s forget about McCain. He is a man who is steadily rising up the rather long list of truly tragic American characters. Fuck Dubya. Oliver Stone should make a movie about this cat. A terrible tale about a person who does not break during years of physical torture in a North Vietnamese POW camp only to make a Faustian deal with the Republican party, selling his soul, just for even a glimpse at the brass ring. I already have a treatment in mind that I could pitch Stone. The film would begin with McCain’s plane crashing spectacularly into the dense south East Asian jungle and ending with his phone call to Palin. The last vestige of dignity shed, the circle complete.

No. This party has been hammering the American public with some divisive rhetoric. Some of it, if not all of it, was flat out silly and just did not take. But there was one point of attack that was truly offensive. That was the point of view that if you are not from some small town, if you know a foreign language, if you can speak correctly, then you are not a real American. Even the word “cosmopolitan” somehow became a smear. I saw this idea being drilled into the submissive audience at the Lew “Jack Off” Dobbs show I went to, I saw it on the 24 hr CNN swill-fest they have playing on the jumbo HD TV in the lobby of my building and I saw it, and this is completely incredible, coming from Rudolph Giuliani the former mayor of…SURVEY SAYS…New York City which, for all you keeping score out there, the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the United States of America.

So, this party, feeling that the only way they could win is to vilify a large portion of the citizenry, trot out Sarah Palin. I am picturing the conversations that these maestros at the RNC were having before that fatal move.

Anti-American #1: For Vice-President how about that hot bitch up in Alaska? She sure is folksy and those maniacs with the doomsday obsessions would definitely dig her “I am so proud to be just one ignorant piece of shit” thing.


Anti-American #2: “Yeah. These fucking rubes will eat up any feces we serve them.”

To be honest with you, I don’t think it was a particularly bad strategy…if your only concern was to retain power and you could not give a flying fuck about your country, your fellow man or your planet.

But here is the thing that is so offensive. The salient point of their “Hate everybody from a city and is smarter than you” schtick is that old faithful label they threw around: “Elitist.” “Obama is an elitist because he can think!” “Michael Moore is an elitist because he can produce a movie!” “That mother fucker sitting next to you right now reading anything over a second grade level is an elitist!” “EVERYBODY is an ELITIST who you feel vaguely threatened by!”

I remember during the actual campaign, there were leaks coming from the McCain and/or Palin camps that painted a pretty ugly picture – in pretty course terms - of the Wasilla Barracuda. There was massive dissatisfaction with her total lack of decorum, calling the whole clan as a bunch of “hillbillies” run amok. The image these CAMPAIGN INSIDERS spread was of an unsophisticated whore and her sycophantic hanger-ons rummaging through extremely upscale shops, pawing at anything they could get their mitts around. Stuffing endless amounts of designer shit into hefty bags while putting it all on the Republican dime. The way these whistle blowers – the same people who tried to sell you all the elitist crap – talked about their supposed champion it was obvious that they abhorred her behavior and felt completely superior. In other words, they sounded like elitists.

And now, from this article, I see this line:

“She tells him he can’t take the baby to our house because she doesn’t want him around ‘white trash’ she said.

I have no doubt…NO FUCKING DOUBT…that the Palin clan - the people with the clothes grabbing, the exorcisms, the teenage un-wed mothers, the illiteracy, the inquisitiveness of a deep water sponge – have nothing but contempt for the people that they serve. That is, of course, until they need your vote and then you will get the Angie Dickinson wink and the Janet Jackson tit flash.

Simply put, the Republican Party has nothing to offer you but fulfilling your darkest nightmares. Please stop going the way of McCain.

irony [ahy-ruh-nee] - noun


1) The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
2) An outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
3) The incongruity of this.

e.g. S. Palin (Gov. AK - 2006 to ?) considers herself a) a government reformer b) an unadorned straight shooter c) a true representative of REAL America – but is in reality a) a completely hypocritical shite-head who thrives on cruelty, a promoter of bigotry and intolerance, a petty grifter who never met a kickback she didn’t take, a liar…

You know, come to think of it…

Maybe irony is not the right word.

Larry B

What A Wonderful World

"We're trying to sell peace, like a product, you know, and sell it like people sell soap or soft drinks. And it's the only way to get people aware that peace is possible, and it isn't just inevitable to have violence. Not just war — all forms of violence. People just accept it and think 'Oh, they did it, or Harold Wilson [British prime minister at the time] did it, or Nixon did it,' they're always scapegoating people. And it isn't Nixon's fault. We're all responsible for everything that goes on, you know, we're all responsible for Biafra and Hitler and everything. So we're just saying "SELL PEACE" — anybody interested in peace just stick it in the window. It's simple but it lets somebody else know that you want peace too, because you feel alone if you're the only one thinking 'wouldn't it be nice if there was peace and nobody was getting killed.' So advertise yourself that you're for peace if you believe in it."

John Lennon
The David Frost Show - 6/14/1969

"Now, in the sixties we were naive, like children. Everybody went back to their rooms, and said, ‘We didn’t get a wonderful world of just flowers and peace and happy chocolate, and it won’t be just pretty and beautiful all the time,’ and just like babies everyone went back to their rooms and sulked. ‘We’re going to stay in our rooms and play rock and roll and not do anything else, because the world’s a horrible place, because it didn’t give us everything we cried for.’ Right?…well, crying for it wasn’t enough. The thing the sixties did was show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility."

John Lennon
KFRC RKO Radio - 12/8/1980

This is how that man had his life ended 28 years ago:

"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong."

John Lennon
1940-1980

Larry