Media & Politics | Broadsides

Catch-Up Blogging

July 13, 2009 By M. Colby 3 Comments

I’m back. Sort of.

Because I spent a lot of time trying to relax and now I feel like I need some more time trying to fend off all the nonsense that made me not relax. (Note to ex-therapist: I know, I know, no one or nothing can “make me” do anything, but…whatever.)

Goddamn vacations. But I guess someone has to do it.

Pick me! Pick me!

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Thanks, Dad, for a great retreat.

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Politics, American Style: So, having been privileged enough to have the New York Times within a short walk’s distance every morning last week, I can report that the political status of our nation is… well…fucked.

And, as usual, I’ll keep my sharpened pen pointed at the good liberals – who certainly should know better.

The liberals, of course, have been focused on their kindergarten-like fixation on all-things-Sarah-Palin while continuing to ignore the rug that that their electoral-season hero, Obama, has been pulling out from under them.

If you don’t believe me, just pick up one of the last several columns by the liberal darling Maureen Dowd of the Times. Here, I’ll summarize them for you: Palin is an idiot and I am a clever genius for repeatedly pointing it out. Okay, okay, we get it: Palin is a dimwit. Not to mention an easy target.

But how about a little focus on the issues of the day – especially those that Obama and his Democratic accomplices in Congress are fumbling and/or ignoring daily? You know, things like the war, health care and economic justice (read: where’s the economic relief for those who truly need it?).

Oh, but it’s nice to see that Goldman Sachs is about to post record profits, isn’t it?

Making daily fun of Sarah Palin is a no-brainer. Been there. Done that.

What needs to be done now is to put a spotlight on the Democratic Party’s back-pedaling on nearly every major issue of the day. For years, these same Democrats fed the populace lines about “not having the White House,” or “not having both houses of Congress,” or “not having a filibuster-proof majority.” Well, those excuses are long gone. So what are they waiting for? Courage? A belief in their own electoral-season rhetoric?

Forget Sarah Palin. She lost. You won. Now give us some results.

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Having said that, I will now break the rule. Deal with it.

I actually like it when the right-wingers start pouncing on Sarah Palin. Mostly because I love a good catfight. Meeeeeee-oooooooow.

The right-wing diva Peggy Noonan recently penned a piece in the Wall Street Journal in which she poked Sarah Palin for being an intellectual lightweight. Noonan insinuated that Palin should just disappear so as to protect the image of the Republican Party.

Oh yeah, the party of Ronald Reagan and Dan Quayle must protect its deep intellectual image…

Give me a break.

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Speaking of liberals (well, a while ago), Vermont’s Secretary of State, Deb Markowitz, is touting her office’s plans to give each member of the Vermont National Guard who is about to be deployed to Afghanistan for Obama’s War a 100-minute Verizon phone card so they can more easily phone home.

Fine, make it easier to phone home. But what about the bigger picture here? You know, like the unnecessary nature of the war?

Markowitz – a Democrat – is ginning up her soldier-phone-home effort as an early public relations move in her bid to become the Democratic candidate to unseat Governor Jim Douglas. See, she supports the troops.

But wouldn’t it be better for Democrats like Markowitz to be speaking out against the deployment orders and the wars rather than slipping those sent to fight a phone-home card?

Oh Democrats, you never cease to infuriate me.

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ATV comments: Last week, the Burlington Free Press reported that the comments submitted to the Agency of Natural Resources about its proposed rule to allow ATVs on state land were running between 3 and 4-to-1 against the proposal.

Well, what do you know, I was right: ATVers can’t write. But they sure can get in their monster trucks and drive, drive, drive to a public hearing. Perhaps if they put a motor on those pencils…

Bravo to Broadsides readers who certainly contributed significantly to the more than 1000 comments submitted the ANR. Now let’s see if the agency does the right thing. Don’t hold your breath.

Personally, I’m hoping for a good old-fashioned Conservation Law Foundation lawsuit on the matter. Those folks get things done.

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Reading: Paul Auster’s “Man in the Dark,” a slim novella that is as engaging and as hard to put down as any of Auster’s other masterful works. And this one’s got a Vermont connection, too, as its protagonist – August Brill — is a retired literature critic who moves to the Green Mountain State to be with his daughter.

Brill, his daughter and his granddaughter share a Vermont home and a common affliction: broken hearts as “the weird world rolls on.”

Brill also finds the nights challenging, often waking to an over-active mind and left with the challenge of directing his mind’s conversations away from the sad thoughts about his life’s losses and toward the more soothing make believe.

The result is a wonderful tale of a certain Owen Brick, a man who lives in the competing – and colliding – worlds in which Brill creates. And the only way Brick can put an end to it is if he find and kill Brill himself. Unless, of course, Brill kills off Brick first. Storytellers do get bored with their creations, you know.

Auster is a superb writer and this little novel matches the prowess he’s displayed in my particular favorites of his, “The New York Trilogy,” “The Music of Chance,” and “Leviathan.”

Read it.

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Last week a young man with a cheap sailboat took my father, my daughter and me out for a sailing lesson on Lake Champlain. It wasn’t really a lesson though. We were mostly too mesmerized by his sea ballet to focus on or retain much of what he was teaching. He called out the terms and performed the actions – tacking, watching for “luffing,” monitoring the jib, and beating – as we sailed back and forth on a mostly calm lake. It was a fine show. And a wonderful afternoon.

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Congrats to Greenpeace for its creative action against President Obama over his willy-nilly approach to global warming solutions.

More of that please.

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Thanks for playing. Now get back to work.

Filed Under: activism, blog, media & politics, vt media, war & peace

Pop Goes the Obama Balloon, part 1

January 16, 2009 By M. Colby Leave a Comment

Please people, no more invites to your little inaugural celebrations next week. I’m not interested. If I want to stand around with a bunch of doe-eyed believers, I’ll go to church. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as excited as the next semi-conscious citizen about the end to the national nightmare known as Bush II, but I don’t think it’s time for idolatry. It’s time to turn up the heat. And, thankfully, we’ve got many good folks out there who are trying to do just that despite the cold shoulder and news blackout they’re receiving from the true-believing masses. Case in point: Karl Grossman.

Grossman’s an old friend of mine from my activist days. He’s the real deal – a journalist like journalists should be: unafraid, unshackled and undeterred in his pursuit of the next great story. If you want an idea of how long – and how deeply – Grossman’s been digging, just check out his website . Lucky are his journalism students at SUNY/Old Westbury.

Below is part one in my “Popping the Obama Balloon” series, a fine piece by Grossman that originally appeared – I believe – on CounterPunch . Well, it’s actually just the introduction. If you want the entirety of it, click here and spread the linking love.

Nice work, Karl. And wake up, people.

Chu, Holdren and the Nuclear Lobby
Obama and the Military – Industrial – Scientific Complex

By KARL GROSSMAN

Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address as president 48 years ago is famous for his warning of the rise of a “military-industrial complex” in the United States. In fact, the original draft of the speech warned not only of a “military-industrial complex” but of the “military-industrial-scientific complex.” Only because of the plea of Eisenhower’s science advisor, James Killian, was the word “scientific” eliminated.

The “military-industrial-scientific complex” was the far more accurate description of the complex of vested interests manipulating the U.S. then—and now. As the incoming president, Barack Obama, draws from this federal scientific establishment for appointments, the warning needs to be sounded again.

Obama has named as his secretary of energy Dr. Steven Chu, a physicist and director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a staunch advocate of nuclear power—typical of the sentiment of those in the national nuclear laboratory system. At his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Dr. Chu declared that nuclear power “is going to be an important part of our energy mix.” He also spoke for an $18.5 billion loan guarantee program for new nuclear power plants.

As his science advisor, Obama has appointed physicist John Holdren, who in 1970 “started my career working on nuclear fusion” at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he noted in a speech last year. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is where the hydrogen bomb, based on fusion, was developed. But, said Dr. Holdren in his January 17, 2008 talk on “Meeting the Climate-Change Challenge,” he “decided” that fusion “was not going to work by the time I died” in terms of non-military use. So he “started looking at approaches to meet our energy needs that could help more quickly.” He has long considered fission, how atomic bombs and nuclear power plants work, as a source of energy particularly to deal with global warming. This despite the overall “nuclear cycle”—which includes uranium mining and milling, enrichment, fuel fabrication and disposal of radioactive waste—having significant greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming.

Dr. Holdren, although he moved on to teaching positions at the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard and the directorship of the Woods Hole Research Center, remained “an active consultant until 1994” to Lawrence Livermore, stated a press release issued by Woods Hole upon his nomination by Obama last month as science advisor. (For more on Holdren see Jeffrey St. Clair’s profile of the scientist and his promotion of nuclear power in Born Under a Bad Sky.)

[Click here to read the rest of Grossman’s article.]

Filed Under: activism, blog, media & politics, us politics

The Dem Debate Charade

January 16, 2008 By M. Colby 4 Comments

How pathetic. The Dem debate last night, that is. The three blind mice – Clinton, Obama and Edwards – sat pontificating about change and justice for two hours while ignoring the fact that their Dem colleague, Dennis Kucinich, had just hours before lost an absurd court challenge to have his voice included in the debate. And not one peep from the “change agents” about the injustice happening right under their noses. Typical.

NBC “won” their efforts to exclude Kucinich from the debates by filing a true last-minute appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court seeking to overturn a ruling by a lower court judge that Kucinich must be included or the debates must be cancelled. But – get this – NBC declared in its brief to the higher court that its First Amendment rights were being violated by the ruling that forced them to include Kucinich.

And therein lies the problem, my friends: Corporations declaring Constitutional rights. Sorry, but that thumping sound you’re now hearing is Thomas Jefferson rolling around in his grave. Poor guy, he thought it was clear that Constitutional rights were for humans.

Indeed, NBC won because, according to a hundred years of court rulings, corporations are considered to have Constitutional rights. Thus, this nation has created thousands upon thousands of economic Frankenstein’s that have the same rights as humans but none of the responsibilities of citizenship or, for that matter, the moral compass of living, breathing beings. A corporation can, for example, assert its rights to produce a toxin but it will not go to jail – or feel sorrow – for the health and environmental mayhem that toxin causes. Like I said, economic Frankenstein’s.

Worse, we’ve become so accustomed to this absurd inequity of power between people and corporations today that few would find the sad irony in the fact that NBC’s First Amendment rights trumped the rights of a candidate to speak to the nation about his views. And don’t forget that NBC is operating on what is historically considered the “people’s airwaves.”

And so the doors were locked on Kucinich and the silence commenced. NBC certainly didn’t mention it. Worse, nor did the candidates. But they all carried on about change and the evils of special interests and the enormous power of corporations (Edwards) and the memories of MLK and the promise to fight for the little guy and girl. All without even a hint of a smile that should have acknowledged the absurdity of it all. These accomplices to the injustice of locking Kucinich out are going to “fight the power” and “change” America? Yeah right.

Good morning, America.

Filed Under: blog, essays & columns, media & politics, national media, us politics

The State of the Day (updated)

January 15, 2008 By M. Colby 2 Comments

Ladies and gentlemen, I have reviewed the day and I am pleased to report that the State of the Day is confused. A little of this. A little of that. But not much cohesion in purpose and/or goals. Therefore, a couple random bits:

I had this weird dream that a major media corporation was fighting in the courts to prevent a presidential candidate from appearing on its station’s debates. Oh wait, that’s no dream. Good morning, America.

Yep, MSNBC and its parent corporation, NBC, and the parent of that corporation, General Electric, are in a fast and furious legal battle with Dennis Kucinich over his involvement – or lack thereof – in the Nevada-based Democratic presidential debate. The network (a.k.a.: The Corporate Goliath) first ruled that Kucinich could, indeed, participate. But it quickly reversed itself and literally dis-invited Kucinich. He responded with a trip to the courts and won a ruling that ordered his involvement. And now The Corporate Goliath in control of what was in the good-old-days considered the “public’s airwaves” is now frantically trying to appeal the ruling in every legal venue it can think of.

This is just ugly. It’s repulsive enough that the NBC’s, CNN’s, Fox’s and the like routinely stifle true public debate on the public’s airwaves. But NBC has taken the exclusion of opinions to a new low by actually fighting court orders that are aimed at expanding public discourse.

There was a time, you know, when this nation’s founders feared just such a power grab and subsequent subversion of our democratic ideals. That’s why corporations were originally looked on very suspiciously. The original corporations were only granted a charter for specific time frames in order to complete specific functions deemed in the public’s interest (building a road, for example). When the task was done, the charter was gone.

There was an understandable concern that corporations – when left unchecked – could accumulate too much power and seek to monopolize not only the markets and the business environment but our democratic institutions as well. And here we are, in 2008, with a Goliath of a corporation that owns and controls everything from nuke plants to dishwashers to television and radio stations seeking to unilaterally decide which presidential candidates we should hear from. Like I said, it’s ugly.

This battle for inclusion in the debates could be Kucinich’s shining moment. Well, if you want to ignore his feisty insistence that we end the war now, provide health care for everyone and put an end to the corporate stranglehold over our political and cultural institutions. But Kucinich’s battle for inclusion should put a spotlight on just how rotten the system has become – from the corporate ownership of the media right down to how the votes are being counted. And, if people are listening, it should inspire the pursuit of redress.

But I’m guessing we’re not going to read or hear much about Kucinich’s Sisyphean battle with the corporate Goliath. Most likely because the other corporately-controlled media outlets aren’t going to be too interested in undermining the systemic control they are all enjoying. In other words, it’s their ball. Their ballpark. And their referees.

Good morning, America.

[Tuesday afternoon update: As of 5:00 p.m., the matter of Kucinich v. NBC is still in the courts. The debate is supposed to start in 4 hours and the lawyers are currently giving oral arguments to a judge about -- get this -- whether a candidate who is running a national campaign should be included in the debate. But we should all notice how Kucinich's Democratic opponents are handling the situation. In case you missed it, they're ignoring it and him. If they had a political justice bone in their bodies, Clinton, Obama and Edwards would be joining together and speaking out about it. Better yet, they'd be releasing a statement declaring that if one of the them is excluded, all of them are refusing to participate. But don't hold your breath. Oh baby, feel the change...]

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Hillary on Meet the Press: Yikes. I saw it. We can’t possibly be looking for four more years of that bullshit, can we? The Clintons are robots. And they’re wired for only one thing: self-power. Worse, they think they are completely entitled to it. That’s why it’s so easy for them to slip and slide all over the political landscape in search of the most advantageous place to be. They can’t speak from their hearts because they are robots. I’m convinced of it.

During her Sunday appearance with Tim Russert, she was given one opportunity after another to look human and/or humble. But she refused. And, instead, talked in not-so-nice verbal circles that said this over and over: me, me, me, me. Worse, she wouldn’t let Russert talk on his own show. I am Hillary, hear me roar. And roar. And roar.

Until we change the channel. Click.

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Rinse Your Media Brain.

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Do Not Think Bad Thoughts.

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Do Not Stick Your Finger in the Plum.

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Wash Your Hands.

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And Get Back to Work.

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

Same. Old. Shit.

January 9, 2008 By M. Colby 5 Comments

Whew. Everything’s back to normal now. Hillary Clinton won. The Dems are acting like Dems. Change means status quo. The media is calling John McCain and Hillary Clinton the “comeback kids.” An apparent tear means more than a policy. Liberal bloggers are irrelevant. And, for course, none of us have to be bothered by the fact that we’re a nation at war. That’s sooooo last year. I feel so much better. Or, as Michael Stipe would say: “It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.”

Excuse me while I wring my brain out like a filthy washcloth. Because I don’t want the names Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney and the term “agent of change” lingering around in my mind together. It’s kind of creepy. I don’t want to have the image of Chuck Norris and Mike Huckabee there anymore, either. And I’m tired of the predictions and the pontification and the prognostication. Because it’s pretty clear that no one really knows what the fuck is happening out there.

You’d think that after nearly everyone blew it yesterday by assuring us all that a tidal wave of Obama-mania was inevitable that they’d take a few days to be quiet and lick their wounds. No such luck. Instead, at the very moment the facts were telling them that they were as wrong as wrong could be they began to spin how they now know why they were wrong and how they are now going to be right. The business of bullshit is a growth industry.

But I’m rinsing it all out. Wash, rinse, and wring. Goodbye sordid morsels of ninniness. Well, other than to say: The Dems deserve Hillary. Let the rotten ship sail….

Filed Under: blog, media & politics, us politics

Tuesday Morning Linkdump

December 11, 2007 By M. Colby 1 Comment

Celebrification of Politics Update: Never mind all that complaining I did about celebrities and politics yesterday. Because today I see the light. And it’s shining from none other than Sean Penn. Yeah, the same Sean Penn who recently made the best movie I’ve seen in a long, long time: Into the Wild. As you’ll see in the video below, Penn is endorsing Dennis Kucinich. And he has to put up with some hecklers in the process. Notice how Penn deals with the heckler – it’s a bit different than the Ann Coulter method of squawking like a hawk child (or something like that).

Speaking of Penn, you can also read one of his recent screeds at CounterPunch by clicking here. Unlike Oprah, he’s talking about issues. Imagine that.

Iowa Update: My home state of Iowa is now less than a month away from delivering a shocker to the nation in the form of a surprise in its first-in-the-nation presidential caucus. On the Dem side, my guess is that the surprise will be a better-than-expected showing by John Edwards. He’s been able to be positive over the last several weeks as Obama and Clinton get down and dirty with one another. And, as history indicates, Iowans like the candidate who is positive at the end – even if it’s the long shot. Remember, in 2004 John Kerry was way behind Dean and Gephardt and then leaped over both of them when they started to sling the mud. (The “scream” came AFTER the caucus.)

Edwards is also said to have a very strong and deep organization in Iowa, led by a very enthusiastic union presence. That’s critical given the odd nature of the caucus process. Remember, Iowans don’t go into a voting both to quietly and anonymously mark their preference. Instead, they go into a room full of people and are instructed to publicly “caucus” with the others in the room who share their presidential choice. And if there aren’t enough of you with a certain candidate, you discuss amongst yourselves which of the leading candidates you’re going to join. Sooner or later, someone wins.

So if you’ve got a strong organization with deep support, these people will be strong, visible and vocal during the caucus. And if you’ve tried to remain focused on the issues and not cutting the throat of the other candidates, their supporters are more likely to swing into your camp during the caucus process. At this point, Edwards is hoping that the growing disdain between the Obama and Clinton camps will mean that he’s the second choice of both camps and, as a result of the caucus process, walk away with a victory. Got that?

The Obama campaign understands it. That’s why they’ve started going negative with Edwards, especially within the union crowd. And it wouldn’t surprise me to see Clinton follow suit real soon.

One thing’s for sure, Iowa is loving the attention. And the money. It’s better than ethanol.

Welch Update: It’s good to see that Vermont’s Congressman Peter Welch has come out against the latest Dem plan to trade some domestic funding for continued funding of the Iraq War. Hmm, I wonder if he had any thoughts about that Barre meeting with anti-war activists when he made that decision? Let’s hope Welch’s actions will match his rhetoric this time. But, more than that, let’s hope he does more than just vote against this ridiculous compromise. He could, for example, lobby the Dem leadership to scrap the entire plan. If he’d like some help leading a sit-in at Pelosi’s office, I think I know some folks who’d join him….

Defining Political Losers: Sue Allen of the Times Argus was one of the panelists on Vermont This Week last week. And while discussing next year’s campaign for governor, she said that Doug Racine had to be careful about entering the race and losing because another loss could ruin his political career. Okay, and why doesn’t the same standard apply to the Progressive Party’s Anthony Pollina? Pollina, of course, has done nothing but lose one campaign after another for one decade after another but media folks like Allen don’t bury his political career. Instead, they give his every utterance of “intent” a front-page story. But if Racine loses two races – after having won many more than that – he’ll be considered politically dead? I don’t get it.

Giuliani Update: Here’s a fun little summary of Giuliani’s appearance last Sunday on Meet the Press. I saw it and it was bizarre. Let’s hope the Republicans nominate him.

For more on Giuliani’s appearance, check out the Rude Pundit’s take.

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

Oprah Nation

December 10, 2007 By M. Colby 3 Comments

Whew. Thank goodness for Oprah Winfrey. Not only does she keep me informed about which books to read, I can now count on her to tell me whom to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. I love you, Oprah. Now, please, will you send me one of those free cars?

Bah-fucking-humbug on the Oprah stuff. Or, if you’d prefer: Enough already. Like everyone else who allows their self to come into contact with the mainstream media, I’ve been bombarded with the news of Oprah and Obama. For days I just let the Double O blather just pass me by with little more than a mental smirk and a large dollop of hope that it would all go away soon. No such luck.

Finally – as in, today – I decided to actually read a couple articles on the Oprah/Obama phenomena. Perhaps I was missing something. Perhaps the Double O Express was fomenting a new revolution that would address the issues that I hold near and dear to my heart. Maybe Oprah and Obama were outlining a way to end the war. Or perhaps they were describing how an Obama administration would be implementing single-payer health care. No such luck.

Nope. This is all celebrity all the time – with nary an issue in sight. Well, unless you consider “hope” an issue. Consider, for example, the Chicago Tribune article from this morning on the Oprah/Obama gathering in South Carolina yesterday. First, the headline: “Obama, Winfrey Draw Thousands.” And if you dive into the article to try to find out what they spoke about to those thousands of people you’ll be as unsatisfied as I was.

The article doesn’t, for example, include the words “war,” “Iraq,” “health care,” “economy,” “environment,” “global warming,” or “education.” Nor does it even hint at any of the issues that accompany these words. Instead, readers get a sugary-sweet verbal concoction of words that describe the scene. Like this:

Obama drew energy from the crowd, stretching out his arm and holding the microphone to the audience to capture its roar. At times, the metal bleachers behind him rumbled under stomping feet.

Oh great, Obama’s the new Jimmy Swaggart.

And when the article finally stops drooling over the entire celebrification (my word, not yours) of the event, it offers this passing glance to the issues and/or issue messages:

On Sunday, Winfrey and Obama delivered messages rich with references to faith, historical moment and the possibilities ahead, in effect urging the crowd to set aside doubts.

Okay. I’m all for setting aside doubt. But can it be based upon more than the fact that the man running for president is standing next to Oprah Winfrey and saying things like “my campaign is about hope and setting aside doubt.” Silly me, I was looking for the substance.

But, as we all know, none of this was about substance. It was simply the latest and greatest episode of political celebrification. It was about the photo-op. It was about the bright lights. It was about the aura of the moment – the great spectacle of money and the pursuit of power coming together. Issues be damned. Because the issues would have ruined the moment.

Of course, none of this was meant for a Chicago Tribune or New York Times article. It was meant and designed for the photographers at the Tribune and the Times. And, of course, the television cameras. Snap, crackle, pop – soak up the moment. Believe! Be happy! Have faith! And don’t – whatever you do – get all bogged down by those buzz-killing issues!

I give.

Filed Under: blog, essays & columns, media & politics, us politics

Vermont Media Blogging

November 20, 2007 By M. Colby 16 Comments

While the uptight and incumbent-protecting media in Vermont continues to whimper and opine about the “incivility” of the antiwar meeting with Peter Welch, the real Joe & Jane Vermonters are beginning to be heard on the subject. Take, for example, the letters section in Saturday’s Times Argus. In case you missed it, you can read the letters about the meeting here, here, here and here.

And, no, I didn’t cherry pick the letters that were favorable. I didn’t have the choice because there were no letters supporting the TA’s uptight editorial about “protecting Vermont civility.” Have these people ever read a drunken rant by Ethan Allen? Or, if you’d like to get more recent, can they remember a red-faced diatribe by Ralph Wright? Howard Dean could let it rip once in a while too. And, let’s be honest, those young Republican guns running the Douglas show can be pretty damn ruthless. It’s called politics, you ninnies. Get over it.

But the incestuous little Vermont media circle will always rush to defend the state’s incumbent politicians. They have to because they have to maintain some access. When there are only four big-time politicians and about seven reporters, well, it becomes a bit too close for what it’s supposed to be. Sadly, the fourth estate in Vermont has for the most part morphed into a cuddly little lap dog for incumbents of either party to pat and scratch. And the result? Lifetime political jobs. Quick, name the last time one of Vermont’s top four politicians – either party — was bounced from office. Hint: It was almost twenty years ago.

Speaking of lap dogs, I saw the blogger Philip Baruth’s appearance on Vermont Public Television’s “Vermont This Week” on Sunday. My goodness, the guy has his head so far up Welch’s ass I think he’s chewing the guy’s food. Or something like that. But, on the show, Baruth regurgitated the stale “civility” arguments and then went one step further in protecting the incumbent that he endorsed (earth to VPT: ever heard of a conflict of interest?).

Baruth acted like he had some kind of inside information regarding the meeting model that was used with Welch. It was, as the group openly publicized, the “Accountability Session” model that came from the Saul Alinsky-inspired Midwest Academy. Baruth reported that he went to the Midwest Academy’s website and found out that the group advocates – gasp – “empowering” the group that is holding the meeting. Oh-my-god, say it isn’t so. And if that’s not bad enough, Baruth continued, they also talk about “controlling” the agenda of their meetings! Off with their heads!

Baruth, however, was serious about condemning the group for these apparent etiquette infractions. But I guess we have to cut the guy some slack because he’s obviously more than a bit dizzy from playing the insider game. Remember, this is a guy who plunked down hundreds of dollars to be a part of the super-secret Vermont fundraiser for Obama last summer that netted the Illinois senator more than a quarter of a million dollars. Baruth even brought his camera, got Senator Leahy to take a fawning picture of him with Obama and then drooled all over himself as he told Obama that he was going to be using his books in his UVM English classes. Civil? For sure. But also kind of gross.

Sorry, Philip, but we don’t all bend over like that when we’ve got a few moments with the seemingly powerful. Some of us, for example, would ask some tough questions. But most of us can’t plunk down that kind of money to run in those kinds of circles. So while you’re inside clinking glasses with the politicians you’ve given money to for access, just remember that some of us donned handcuffs (twice) for the same opportunity to have that kind of dialogue. In other words, we did it the old fashioned way: We earned it. You, my friend, bought it. Hook, line and sinker.

Besides, Philip, what’s so bad about a group trying to empower themselves? Isn’t that what all groups do when they hold such a public meeting? And that’s the problem with the insider-disease that infects so many of Vermont’s media and political elite. They begin to think that everyone has the access that they do. And remember, Baruth represents a most virulent strain of this disease because he’s both a member of the media AND a political contributor/endorser. (Shhh, don’t mention this in public, it’s not polite.)

The Vermont Press Bureau’s Louis Porter wasn’t going to go where Baruth was going on VPT, however. But, then again, Porter probably doesn’t have money invested in the Democrats like Baruth does either. Porter declared that he “understood” the antiwar group’s frustration over not getting straight answers from politicians. And he also admitted something that all the other pontificators on this issue have been slow to admit: He wasn’t there. Good for you, Louis.

But, like I said at the beginning, there’s a big gulf between what the elite media folks are saying and feeling about last week’s meeting and what the regular Joe & Jane Vermonters are thinking. Just look at the letters in your newspapers. Listen to the people on the streets. As Bob Dylan said, “you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Perhaps Baruth should step outside once in awhile to see for himself.

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Speaking of getting outside, congrats to Vermont’s real poet laureate, Peter Buknatski, for landing his poem about meeting civility on the webpages of CounterPunch. [Disclosure: I’m hoping the aforementioned poem and vaunted title will gain me a free cup of coffee from the cheap bastard.]

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What’s on your minds? Yeah, even you, Boots.

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

Suffering Through the Dem Debate

November 16, 2007 By M. Colby 2 Comments

I did it. I watched my first presidential debate last night. And, boy, do I ever feel stupid. What a mess. What a spectacle of nothingness. What an intellectual cesspool. I should have followed the advice of a friend who upon hearing that I was going to watch the debates said that he’d rather “spend two hours making sculptures with the cat litter.” Indeed.

As we all know by now, it was the Dems’ turn to take the stage last night and bicker, posture and pretend that they had a plan to clean up the White House after Bush has trashed it better than any Frat-boy party could have dreamed of. “Oh fuck, it’s morning, dude.” Yes, indeed, it’s morning in America, as Reagan would say. But this time we’ve got one hell of a political and economic hangover.

First, I’ll play the game of punditry and announce the winner as I saw it: Dennis Kucinich. Hands down. The poor guy was the only one who apparently understood they were at a debate with serious issues on the table and serious citizens looking for some answers and some truth. And so he said he’d end the war now, he’d vote to impeach Bush now and he’d roll back the terrible trade policies that are crippling the working class. But before he could get too far into his substantive answers, the moderator of the silly affair, Wolf Blitzer (is that really his name?), would cut him off and give him the kind of brush off that the crazy uncles at next week’s Thanksgiving meals will be getting all across the nation.

Blitzer and the other so-called journalists at the event, Donner and Dasher – or whatever the hell their names were, did their best to keep the riff-raff like Kucinich out of the debate from the very beginning. The media had already billed this as a not-so-kinky threesome between Hillary “Will She Recover?” Clinton, Barack “I’m So Smooth I Don’t Have Opinions” Obama and John “The More I Lose the Closer to the Truth I get” Edwards. The rest of them were basically treated like speed bumps to slow down the pseudo-fighting between the big three.

Kucinich, for example, didn’t even get to respond to a question until almost 30 minutes into the two-hour debate. And that was when Blitzer asked each one to declare – yes or no! – if they’d be willing to support the eventual Dem nominee. Like little yes-only bobble-head dolls, every one of them quickly and enthusiastically answered yes – with the exception of Kucinich. His reply? “Only if they oppose war as an instrument of policy.” Oh my goodness, did someone fart? Get him out of the room! Or at least remind him that this is about posturing and preening, not principles, you fool.

I was just happy that Peter Welch wasn’t there. Imagine the melee he would have caused by stirring up the hundreds in attendance by huffing and puffing over the agenda and the waterboarding-like insistence that politicians answer a question with either “yes or no.” Perhaps he could learn a little something from Kucinich who dutifully played along but – gasp! – answered the “yes or no” question with a little creativity.

Kucinich also mentioned the “impeachment” word, too. It came while the rest of the dawdling Dems were splitting hairs and putting the audience to sleep over their various long-winded plans for stopping Bush & Cheney from going to war with Iran. But Kucinich cut to the chase: “Impeach them now!” Oh no, another fart in the room! Don’t worry, though, Blitzer cut him off, but not before the audience roared with approval. And then the rest of the candidates dutifully doused the passion in the room by carrying on as if the mention of impeachment never even came up. Never mind.

But I guess I’m breaking all the rules by not spending all my time mentioning Clinton, Obama and Edwards. Okay, here you go: Clinton is awful and the Dems are total and complete fools for thinking they are going to get anywhere with her. If she wins the nomination, the Clinton fatigue will be so high that inspiring the base will be a near-impossible task – especially without the Bush-man around to knock around. Sorry, but when you put Hillary against a fresh little Republican prick, she’s going to start sounding, looking and acting really, really old and tired. Well, unless the Republicans imitate the Dems by nominating the Fred Thompson corpse.

Enough with the Clintons. Enough with the Bushes. They’ve had a family member in the White House continuously since 1980. And if Hillary gets the Dem nod, the aristocratic repulsion coupled with her hawkish distaste to the liberal base will make it really hard to counter the right-wing pummeling she’ll be facing. Let’s face it, Hillary’s soooo yesterday. And the more she pulls Bill out to flack for her the more yesterday her campaign looks.

And then there’s Obama. Poor Obama. The guy entered this race with so much hope but now has that pathetic look about him that says one thing: I forgot who I am and what I believe. Sure, he’s got the poise and the stature but he’s been so manhandled by his DC-elite-handlers in the last year that he’s basically morphed into a robot. And when you’re knocked so far out of your own political orbit and the handlers, pollsters and consultants have so clearly taken over, you never know what to say or believe. The result? A passionless puddle of confusion. Thanks, handlers.

Finally, we’ve got the pretty boy, John Edwards. Ain’t he pretty? Wasn’t that a good idea to get that growth removed from his lip? It makes him even prettier. Oh, issues? Sorry, but Edwards seems to have one policy when it comes to the issues: move to the left every time he loses. And the more he loses, the more he moves to the left. Remember Edwards in 2004? He was the typical centrist southern Dem. You know, kind of like Lieberman with a drawl. But then he lost and then he moved to the left. And now he’s losing and he’s moving more to the left. And while I’ve obviously got no problem with his tippy-toeing to the left, he makes it look so trial lawyerish (read: contrived). Whatever it takes to sway that jury, huh? No thanks, I prefer a little authenticity with my political meal.

Oh yeah, the debate. I almost forgot. Or maybe I was trying to forget. Kucinich won. The American people lost. And Blitzer, Donner and Dasher need to check in with Santa.

Happy Friday.

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

Friday Random Blogging (Part Two: Blackwater & Welch Edition)

October 26, 2007 By M. Colby 3 Comments

Damn, I wish I would have gotten together with some of my buddies on September 12, 2001 and made this video. Who knew that it would result in nearly a billion dollars in governmental “security” contracts? Frankly, it does look like something Paul Beaudry and his buddies at True North Radio would have put together while working themselves into a frenzy over some big, scary, lurking (and liberal!) danger out there. But, then again, it also looks like the kind of stuff I see in Worcester everyday. Let’s face it, those Blackwater guys are financial geniuses to be able to turn this low-rent video into a billion dollars worth of taxpayer loot.

Speaking of Blackwater, our man in Washington, Congressman Peter Welch, is getting a lot of traction for his sorta-kinda-maybe tough talk on Blackwater. As you’ll recall from yesterday, Welch is responding to the drunken murderous actions by these mercenary thugs by calling for “more governmental oversight” of them. Oh baby, that’ll show ‘em.

But how does our congressman respond to people peacefully showing up to his office seeking to speak with him: Arrest them! Yep, handcuffs and all.

So let’s review Welch’s political week: Oversight for Blackwater. Handcuffs for peace activists.

But don’t expect to hear any kind of meaningful discussion about this in the Vermont blogosphere. Here, for example, is what happened over at Freyne’s blog after he did a rather fine job of reporting on the Welch protest. Um, children, can we get back to the issue, please? There is a war going on. And our congressmen are continuously voting to fund it.

Damn, there I go again – getting all rude by mentioning the issues.

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