Music?

As always, look to Womblife for some great thoughts on music–and insight into film. I’ve been spending the majority of my time writing for Foxy Digitalis and, Yog-Sothoth help me, my f[r]iction.

Of course, motherfuckers, I’m in love with each and every one you.

Borderline

Refer to Womblife for cogent analysis

h/t to Lee for letting me know how a bad song can go good.

You Might Think I Have Something To Say About Palin

…but I really don’t. Some of the best jokes happen in the silence between the lines delivered.

Or maybe she fucked Mark Sanford at a John Birch Society orgy.

Further explorations into the damage of Leo Strauss

A recent exchange between myself and Cognitive Dissident (link on my blogroll) led us to a glance at the trail of tears originating from the myopic eyes of one Leo Strauss. In addition to the wiki entry, Alternet also did a story called “Leo Strauss’ Philosophy of Deception.” While there are critical articles scattered throughout the Internet on the devastation of this man’s curiously fascist thought, Cog Dis recommended a book to me by Dr. Shadia B. Drury, citing that she may be the leading scholar and critic of Strauss’ thought(lessness). I say curious because the man fled Nazi German, yet came to America only to spread anti-liberal, freedom-inhibiting thought.

Famously a fan of the western, Strauss was so quick to diagnose America’s ills, as he perceived them, in such a crude, Manichean way that anyone with one whit of sophistication must reject his writings as the risible tripe it is. His is a philosophy of power, anti-individualism, fear and suspicion and one of maintaining that power (by deception–including the employ of religion) and is marked by an overwhelming Machiavellian flair which both explicitly and implicitly undermines American civil liberties through bromide, risible logic and and suspect analyses of a culture with which he understood little.

Staunchly anti-liberal, it was Strauss who laid the foundation for the Neoconservative, so the more exposure he gets, the more we get to the root of how America has been so far skewed to the Right that some commentators have referred to FDR as evil, and others Obama is a socialist or communist.

In addition to the books listed at Drury’s site, I would also like to recommend the BBC documentary ““The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear.”

For those of you with Netflix accounts, you find it here.

by Shadia B. Drury

Rebuttal of the quotes used in the Oklahoma Travesty (below)

“Tyler Douse, a research assistant at the US Senate, offers the following rebuttal to some of the quotations used by Sally Kern in her ‘Oklahoma Citizen’s Proclamation for Morality’.”–The Morality War

Thanks to The Morality War and Tyler Douse for clarifications, and another h/t to Eden for the link.

Teh Oklahoma Morality Proclamation

My good friend Eden, resident and student in Tulsa, forwarded me this for some late night comedy. I’m going to post it in full, sans editorializing, and let the reader be the judge. I will say that there are the usual lard-assed misappropriations of our Founding Fathers. Without further adieu:

OKLAHOMA CITIZEN’S PROCLAMATION FOR MORALITY

We the People of Oklahoma, Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to
secure and perpetuate the blessing of Liberty; to secure just and rightful Government; to promote
our mutual Welfare and Happiness, do establish this proclamation and call upon the people of the
great State of Oklahoma, and our fellow Patriots in these United States of America who look to
the Lord for guidance, to acknowledge the need for a national awakening of righteousness in our
land.

WHEREAS, “It is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon
which Freedom can securely stand” (John Adams); and
WHEREAS, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with
human passions unbridled by Religion and Morality” (John Adams); and
WHEREAS, “Our Constitution was made only for a Moral and Religious people” (John
Adams); and
WHEREAS, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the
power of government…but upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity
of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to
the Ten Commandments of God” (James Madison); and
WHEREAS, “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that
belongs to us by the laws of God (Benjamin Franklin); and
WHEREAS, “God who gave us life gave us liberty and can the liberties of a nation be
thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the
people that these liberties are of the Gift of God” (Thomas Jefferson); and
WHEREAS, “Whether any free government can be permanent, where the public
worship of God, and the support of Religion, constitute no part of the policy or duty of the state”
(Joseph Story); and
WHEREAS, “We hold sacred the rights of conscience, and promise to the people…the
free and undisturbed exercise of their religion” (Roger Sherman); and
WHEREAS, “This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians”
(Patrick Henry); and
WHEREAS, “When you…exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be
impressed upon your mind that God commands you to choose just men who will rule in the fear of
God” (Noah Webster); and
WHEREAS, “The principles of genuine Liberty and of wise laws and administrations
are to be drawn from the Bible” (Noah Webster); and
WHEREAS, the people of Oklahoma have a strong tradition of reliance upon the
Creator of the Universe; and
WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national
moral crisis; and
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion,
pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and
many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking
the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and
WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused
to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of
Prayer; and
WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States
disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to
an immoral behavior;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we the undersigned elected officials
of the people of Oklahoma, religious leaders and citizens of the State of Oklahoma, appealing to
the Supreme Judge of the world, solemnly declare that the HOPE of the great State of Oklahoma
and of these United States, rests upon the Principles of Religion and Morality as put forth in the
HOLY BIBLE; and
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, believers in the One True God and His
only Son, call upon all to join with us in recognizing that “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the
Lord,” and humbly implore all who love Truth and Virtue to live above reproach in the sight of God
and man with a firm reliance on the leadership and protection of Almighty God; and
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, humbly call upon Holy God, our
Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, to have mercy on this nation, to stay His hand of judgment,
and grant a national awakening of righteousness and Christian renewal as we repent of our great
sin.
Signed on the second day of July in the year of our Lord Christ Two Thousand and Nine

You say Somali, I say Israeli…let’s call the whole thing off

As Mike Malloy went to great lengths during last night’s broadcast to point out, there isn’t what we might call a real effort to examine the Israeli Navy’s crunching of an aid ship headed for Gaza (the second time Cynthia McKinney has had this happen to her) and why they might want to try and sink what amounts to a small luxury cruiser carrying building supplies and children’s toys.

I second Malloy: get off of your collective fattened asses mainstream media and report both sides of this story for a change, you cowards. Or does AIPAC just love the smell of Wolf Blitzer’s colon that much? And does he really like it?

A Word On Posts, Recent Activities etc.

I’ve been posting a lot more videos and such lately and a lot less writing. I think the blog peaked back during the election. However, I’ve been writing so many record reviews and working out interviews that I just haven’t had the time to address other concerns; and there was that whole move from Floriduh to Texas. I’ll jot down notes about cultural, economic and political issues, but rarely flesh them out, and I hope that this will change as I’ve settled in quite nicely into my new home.

There is an interesting interview coming up with Erik Scott, former bassist for Flo and Eddie and Alice Cooper. He’s doing some cool solo work now, so I’ve been entrenched in research the last two days for that interview. It will go up at Foxy Digitalis when it’s done, and it is progressing quickly.

Also, I was reading a lot when I first arrived but that has also slowed down. These things are cyclical for me, and I have a stack of books waiting on me. I was supposed to review Douglas Rushkoff’s latest, “Life, Inc.” but haven’t gotten around to that. My apologies to Douglas on that front.

I was considering compiling a list of about 50 or so of what I consider to be the best fiction of the 20th C. I started that list, but realized that I hate lists. I’ve never enjoyed doing top 10’s, forever on the fence and undecided about what I like best and why.

So, there’s a quick rundown of recent stuff, and as I write this I also realize that sometimes it’s nice to sit back and observe without commentary. That way, when you jump back into the fray, you do so with fresh legs. Plus, some of my writing is too personal for the blog, though I do sometimes cross that line as well. The blog began as an outlet for liberal ripostes to conservative ideologues, but in keeping with my frenetic lack of focus, it quickly became many things.

Welcome to my [fuzzy, cuddly] Nightmare.

This is appropriate for such a convoluted blog as mine:

Mr. Lonely (assholes)

And since this is an upcoming release, may as well promote it:

“Herb Diamante with Alan & Richard Bishop, Eyvind Kang & Jessika Kenney. Recorded by Randall Dunn, Seattle WA. Out soon on No-Fi Records. Filmed & edited by Owen Godbert & Ewan Faichnie.”

As I said when Sir Richard first posted this yesterday (on my murdered Facebook acct. [RIP]), I didn’t want to cry first thing after I got up.

But then I don’t have to…Heh..Ha…AH…HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HAAAA.

Heh. Heh. Ha. Ha. Ha ha ha. Ha haha. Ha ha hahaha…HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

Spit.