Columbus & Blackwater

October 8, 2007 By Michael Colby Leave a Comment

Sorry, but it’s Columbus Day and I can’t stop thinking about Blackwater. And I finally figured out why: They’re one in the same. Columbus was the original rogue mercenary and Blackwater is simply the modern perfection of what he started: bullies running roughshod on foreign soil in the pursuit of obscene profits and the complete subjugation of the native people. So, Happy Blackwater Day!

But, don’t worry, the Bush administration has got the whole Blackwater thing under control. With a straight face and all the confidence in the world that the American public remains in a deep slumber, the Bush team announced on Saturday that they would be sending members of the State Department to monitor the activities of the Blackwater thugs. And the mainstream media ran with the story – sans laugh track – as if it really was a solution.

What the Bush team – and the media — forgot to tell you was that the State Department and Blackwater are about as synchronized and connected as your right hand is to your left hand. And boy do they love to clap together: Go team, go!

Blackwater receives, for example, most of its nearly billion dollar governmental income from…drum roll please…the State Department. So, when Bush announces that the State Deparment will be monitoring Blackwater, he’s basically announcing that the fox will be guarding the chicken coop.

It’s also not surprising that the Democrats don’t have much of a solution for the Blackwater mess, either. The best they’ve got so far is to propose that the total legal amnesty these Rambo-wannabes are acting under while in Iraq should be lifted. Well,  duh. But the Democratic proposals for lifting the amnesty remain mired in a Columbus-like mercenary haze, whereby the Blackwater thugs would be subject to U.S. law while serving in Iraq. Sorry, but that’s nothing but yet another slap to the face of the Iraqi people and the so-called sovereignty the U.S. government is pretending to give them.

Sure, lifting the legal amnesty for all mercenaries in Iraq is a must. It should be done today – if not yesterday. But if the Democratic-controlled Congress isn’t going to completely do away with the mercenaries all together, they need to make sure that these hired loose cannons are subject to IRAQI laws. That way, if they want to do the Iraqi crime, they can do the Iraqi crime. And I’ll bet the thought of sitting before an Iraqi judge and jury and the threat of a Baghdad prison will do a lot more to rein these folks in than the current so-called solutions to the Blackwater mess.

If, as the Bush administration and the Democratic enablers claim, things in Iraq are getting better, why not prove it by either letting the U.S. visitors being guarded by Blackwater security agents go unguarded or let the law-breaking mercenaries be among the first to test Iraq’s new judicial system?

Imagine if one of those Democratic presidential candidates would come out with something like that on Columbus Day? It would almost be like they were opponents to this war and the Bush administration’s nonsense. Imagine that.

Filed Under: blog, national media, us politics, war & peace

Friday Random Bloggin

October 5, 2007 By M. Colby 2 Comments

Hmm, let’s see, it’s 75 degrees. Sunny and clear. Little wind. No bugs. To hell with a long blog entry, I’m staying outdoors. So consider your little brat-selves lucky to be hearing a damn thing from me on a day like this. On with the show…

I just picked up Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “Poetry As Insurgent Art.” I was browsing at the bookstore and became captivated by the size and design of the elegant little book. Sure, I’ve always been a fan of Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books and Beat fame, but I’m also a sucker for design. And so up into my hands it went. The commitment to buy it was sealed when I read the quote he had in one of the opening pages from Subcommadante Marcos:

“We apologize for the inconvenience, but this is a revolution.”

Ah. Right on. Now, would someone please tell the peace ninnies standing around at the post office – you know, the one’s who’ve convinced themselves that standing around is going to stop the war – that a little inconvenience is what’s necessary for real political and cultural change. And they could start by taking their activism seriously enough to inconvenience THEMSELVES a bit more than standing around like drones for a half-hour every week with little more to say than “Bush is Bad.” Whatever. And here’s a free suggestion: How about you take your anger to the offices of Welch, Sanders and Leahy who continue to vote for billions and billions more for the Iraq out of some kind of fear that to do otherwise will be branded as an act “against the troops.” Get over it. Besides, at some point – a point we passed years ago – we’ve got to stop supporting the troops and start blaming them. And perhaps we can’t start with the Commander-in-Chief. Time’s up.

The Zuckerman Dilemma: Shhh…Don’t tell anyone but Dave Zuckerman, the Prog from Burlap, is moving. Yep. He’s the new proud owner of a very fine farm in Hinesburg, Vermont. And while he’ll still have his rental units in his old Burlington digs, the word on the street is that his primary residence will be in Hinesburg by the time the next election comes around. While the 100-plus acres of lush farmland he’s purchasing with his wife will more than occupy his time and energy, his move – and, I would assume, his resignation of his current seat in the Vermont House – could mean a fine time for a statewide run for the highest profile Prog to hold office. Zuckerman would be a much better candidate than Anthony Pollina, Vermont’s energy-less bunny who just keeps losing and losing. Zuckerman, you see, has done the work that Pollina hasn’t: He got elected at a local level, has done some fine legislative work, and he can speak in complete sentences. Given Zuckerman’s moving dilemma, let’s hope the Progs come to their senses quickly and convince Farmer Dave to take the statewide plunge.

Reading Around: Congrats to the Times Argus for making the move to haul in Ed DuFresne to write a weekly music column for its newly reformulated arts page, “Invite.” Bravo all around. Ed, of course, is a perfect choice to give readers the run down on the Montpelier music scene. He’s been smack dab in the middle of it for years. In fact, I remember seeing him running around Montpelier six years ago with his buddy, Wes Hamilton of Langdon Street Café fame, trying to ignite their dream to breathe some musical/cultural life into the quiet little town. They were looking everywhere – and anywhere! – for a place to get it all started. Now fast-forward six years and notice the difference. There’s now Langdon Street Café. There’s the Black Door. Positive Pie. And now even Vermont College is getting into the act for the bigger acts. Three cheers for dreaming…

Hide that Opinion: Speaking of the Times Argus, congrats to Louis Porter for his piece in today’s paper, “Douglas Stands Behind the President.” But the headline makes me wonder: What, exactly, is Douglas doing while “standing behind” the Prez? Never mind. I’m always amazed how Douglas gets away with being a Bush lap-dog with the Vermont media. But, thankfully, Porter has taken a stab at doing what should have been done for years: Paint Douglas as the Bush cheerleader that he is. Don’t forget, he was the chairman of Bush’s Vermont campaign committees. And he’s spent the night with the Bushies in the White House. So it’s about time someone took note of Douglas’ not-so-hidden right-wing tendencies. I’m just wondering why TA’s editor, Sue Allen, decided to bury Porter’s piece below the fold on page A7? Scared of something, Sue? It’s okay, the media’s supposed to criticize our elected officials. I know the Vermont media’s a little behind the curve on this but, trust me, it’s how democracy tends to work. More, please.

There was one little error in Porter’s reporting, however. While describing Douglas’ silly explanation that the Bush presidency is in shambles because it just seems to be the way things go in second terms (forget the war and the trampling of the Constitution!), Porter writes that Douglas pointed “to the Iran-Contra and Monica Lewinsky scandals late in President Bill Clinton’s term.” Sorry, but Iran-Contra was on Reagan’s watch. Not sure if Douglas or Porter got that wrong. But it is wrong. But not as wrong as comparing the Lewinsky “scandal” with an illegal war that has killed tens of thousands of people. Sorry, but I’ll take the blowjob over that any day. But – hey – that’s just me….

Okay, brats, you got more than you deserved. I’m getting outside. And may I suggest you do the same? Ready, set, go….

Filed Under: activism, blog, books, vt media, vt politics

Thursday Morning Grab Bag

October 4, 2007 By Michael Colby 2 Comments

Here, my friends, are some quick hits before getting behind the horse. I thought I had timed the advent of this little adventure with the kind of wet and miserable weather that normally accompanies this season – thus keeping me out of the woods. Instead, we seem to be living in Northern California-like summer weather. Nice. But weird. I feel like I’ve got an extra two hours in my day now that I can’t complain about the weather.

It must suck to be a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party. It’s the gang that can’t shoot straight, for sure. If you could sneak a look at their internal playbook I swear it would read something like this: Find out what the Republicans are doing and then imitate it without the passion. Or the principles, I might add.

Take, for example, this new nonsense revolving around Rush Limbaugh. In what is clearly a “me too” move by the Democrats, 42 of the Senate ninnies signed onto a letter that condemned the big, fat blowhard for – what? – exercising his right to free speech. Take that!

It was, of course, a silly little payback for what both houses of Congress did to MoveOn last week when they actually PASSED resolutions to condemn that group for – yep – exercising its rights to free speech. Fine times we live in, my friends.

And I should remind my fellow Vermonters that Senator Leahy and Rep. Welch voted in favor of the MoveOn scolding. Shame on them. But, lucky for them, the Vermont media sits in their laps like well-manicured poodles, drooling over their every move and completely unwilling and/or unable to challenge them (and that goes for the so-called alternative publication, too). Ain’t incumbency grand!

But let’s get back to the he said/she said free speech condemnations. Pretend for a moment that you’re one of those party hack ninnies who likes this kind of stuff. If so, it must really suck to be on the Dem side of the aisle. I mean, come on, the Republicans managed to actually PASS a resolution in both houses of (Dem-controlled) Congress while the Dem response was a measly little letter. It’s embarrassing.

Worse, look at how the “victims” of this nonsense responded. MoveOn basically cowered while playing the victim – well, that and powering up their fundraising machine. But Limbaugh reveled in the attention, throwing haymakers to the chins of the Dems that made a hell of a lot of sense: “The Democrats are only attacking me to take the attention off of their complete failure to stop the war in Iraq.” By golly, the fat bastard’s got a point.

Notice, too, that when the Republicans got their panties in a knot about MoveOn, many Dems joined them in both the official votes and the smarmy rhetoric against the group. But when the Dems attacked Limbaugh, the Republicans DEFENDED Limbaugh. Imagine that.

Like I said at the beginning, it must suck to be a card-carrying member of the Dems.

Now let’s dispense with the sporting news. Here’s the correction of the week from the New York Times online edition:

“An earlier version of this article misstated the location of a 2005 sexual encounter between Stephon Marbury of the Knicks and a team intern. Marbury testified that it took place in his truck, not in the trunk of his car.”

Whew. Thanks for clearing that up. Because sex with an intern in a trunk is clearly unacceptable. But the truck? Go for it.

And since we’re on the topic of sports, let’s get my baseball playoff predictions out of the way: Anybody but the Yankees. Red Sox? Sure, they fit the criteria.

Headline of the week: “Bush Vetoes Children’s Health Bill” (N.Y. Times). Interesting, isn’t it, that when the Cro-Magnons in the White House finally decided to rein in federal spending, they targeted children’s health. There is apparently no end to their evil ways. Now if the Dems just had control of Congress they might be able to counter some of this nonsense. Oh wait, they do. Never mind.

Have you been to the Blackwater “Pro Shop” yet? Check it out here. Unbelievable. Well, make that: Creepy. But I’m going to order up my Blackwater t-shirts and caps soon for Halloween. You’ve been warned Montpelier…

VPR vs. WDEV: I wonder if the new changes at VPR – dumping the afternoon classical music in favor of news and talk programs has the folks at WDEV a bit nervous. I know my dial has been wandering away from the 550 AM slot this week as I peruse the new options. Mark Johnson should be safe in the morning. He is – well – Mark Johnson. And if you like pure comedy masquerading as politics, Beaudry should be okay, too. Let’s face it, the guy is hysterical. Sure, he doesn’t mean to be but he just is. The left in Vermont should thank their lucky stars that Beaudry is all the right has to offer up in the form of an hour-long commentary show. But, then again, the right wing is thanking their lucky stars that the left keeps dragging Pollina to the microphone. Of course, Beaudry and Pollina are both paying for their airtime so, as we all know by now, the only one really benefiting from these two meandering mouthpieces is WDEV owner Ken Squier. He’s no dummy. But given the fact that both shows now have some actual competition at VPR (from people who can actually complete sentences, too!), I’ll bet old Ken will be looking for some program upgrades of his own. Just a hunch.

Oops, I’m out of time. I’ll be back.

[Housecleaning news: I’ll be working on some of the links, tabs and pages that remain unworkable over the weekend. I’m all ears when it comes to feedback and suggestions. As you’ll notice, I’m allowing comments. So go for it. But if you can also write me directly by using the “contact” button at the top. All private correspondence (and tips!) will remain private and confidential unless I’m told otherwise.]

Filed Under: blog, us politics, vt media, vt politics

Welcome

October 2, 2007 By Michael Colby 2 Comments

Let’s get started. I could fidget and fuss about every little button and option on this new blogging machine until – well – it would be time to create a whole new character. Did I say “character”? Yep. Many of you dear readers will be migrating over from the site known as “Snarky Boy.” For those still unaware, I created that character a little over a year ago while playing around with a concept for a novel. Snarky Boy was the nickname for the main character and, in a late night whim accommodated by the ease of Blogger, I let him come alive as an Internet fella. Oh, what fun – well, for most of us anyway. There were, as Snarky fans will know, several targets of Snarky’s sharpened barbs who didn’t quite revel in the fun of it all. Whatever.

To make a long story short, the novel morphed into a collection of short stories, “The Adventures of Snarky Boy,” which is currently being polished up and readied for the humbling process of publication. We shall see. And, hopefully, you shall see it, too, after plunking down some cash for it.

But when the stories were complete, I felt trapped by the character. And then the big gaps in posting became bigger and, with it, the growing sense of writer’s anxiety became palpable for nearly everyone around me. It was time for a new chapter. In short, it was time to be me again.

Let me be clear, there was a lot of Snarky Boy in me and a lot of me in Snarky Boy. That’s why it wasn’t really hard for those who knew me to figure out the little game from the beginning. So, for those out there who are about to play the “gotcha” game whereby you declare the similarities between Snarky and Michael, get over it.

Interestingly, this new site is really nothing new. It’s merely a rejuvenation of a previous writing vessel, one that began as the official site of Food & Water, Inc., the non-profit shop that I run. This new and improved Broadsides site aims to bring some of the old Food & Water goodies back to life – you know, the eco-warrior and political rabble-rousing stuff – and be the nesting site for my personal blog.

Soon enough, the options that appear at the bottom of the front page will come to life, offering a host of nuggets regarding the issues of the day, activism regarding those issues, links to other sources and venues that tickle my fancy, and a clearinghouse for my essays and columns.

Almost six years ago I walked away from the world of publishing (Food & Water Journal and Wild Matters) and running a national activist organization. I was fried. I was sore from slamming my head against the wall. And I was still reeling from the death of my mentor, Wally Burnstein – a reeling that I’ve now accepted will always be with me. I told subscribers and members at the time that I’d be back in six months. Oops.

jimmike2.jpgBlame it on horses. I fell in love with them. Yep, in a state of not believing in much of anything, I stumbled into the world of draft horses – thanks in no small measure to my comrade in troublemaking and horsemanship, Boots Wardinski. After tagging along with Boots and his fine Belgian mare, Liza Jane, for many winter days, I took the plunge and got my own Belgian – Big Jim. And since Wally taught me that there’s no such thing as overdoing it, we now have five horses (four drafts and a Quarter Horse).

Big Jim and his teammate, Big John, both very large Belgians, work with me in a small business venture known as “Landkind Draft Horse Works.” We – well, they do most of the work – mostly do small logging jobs for land owners in Central Vermont who want their woods thinned, sawlogs or firewood drawn out, blow-downs removed or trails created. We also provide sleigh and wagon rides on our farm in Worcester. [Warning: Shameless plug about to happen.] If you want to visit the farm or – better yet – inquire about the logging services, drop me a line at mcolby@broadsides.org.

So, the reincarnation of Broadsides is about to begin. And to the people who pushed, prodded and propelled me to this new venture, I say: Thanks, I needed that.

Let’s roll…

Filed Under: blog
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