Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

My libertarian friends are fond of trumpeting all of the alleged failures of the Obama administration. For the record I find myself becoming disillusioned as well for his less than sterling performance in a few specific areas. "Obamacare:" this was not healthcare reform - this was insurance re-form. What we needed was a single-payer system, like Canada. What we got was bullshit. I don't care what they say, this was a giant french-kiss to the leviathan that is the insurance industry in this country. FAIL. Copyright and Intellectual Property issues : the Music and Movie industries (RIAA and MPAA) have lots of money and absolutely no shame.These are the people who have attempted to argue that the musicians who record albums produced " work for hire ," who use their ratings system to lock out independent filmmakers , who use their army of attorneys to shut down websites without any sort of due process, who work to erode *your* rights under copyright law. Obama ...

Boys and girls, here's the socialist indoctrination message your right-wing nutcase parents didn't want you to hear: 12:06 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today? (Applause.) How about Tim Spicer? (Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. (Applause.) I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right n...

Today is Barack Obama's 48th birthday!

Well, the great Whitehouse beer bash is over. Obama, the " bartender-in-chief ," had a Bud Light and Crowley, the arresting officer, had a Blue Moon.  Henry Gates initially asked for a Jamaica Red Stripe but switched to a Sam Adams . Joe Biden (designated driver) went with a non-alcoholic Buckler. In a written statement , Obama thanked Gates and Crowley for "joining me at the White House this evening for a friendly, thoughtful conversation." Predictably, Fox News criticized the president's choice of beer.

It would appear the blow up over Black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr .'s recent arrest by Cambridge police for disorderly conduct is about to settle down . Exact details of the incident seem to depend on who is recounting them, but most agree on the following: Gates was hauled off in handcuffs after bitching out cops who showed up when he broke into his own home. Several black writers have suggested Gate's outrage over his arrest may have been fueled as much by social stature as race. Regardless, given the fact that 58 year old Henry Gates is a diminutive figure-- hardly threatening, the charge of " disorderly conduct " seems overstated at best. His offense was more likely that unwritten law, "contempt of cop." Gates was later released without being charged and the Cambridge police department termed the episode "regrettable" (a non-apology apology if I ever heard one). During Obama's recent health care press conference, a reporter aske...

Barack Obama and right-wing French President Nicholas Sarkosy find that if they look hard enough they can find common ground on at least some issues at the G-8 Conference. Well done, gentlemen.

Hear that howling sound in the distance? It's the sound of entrenched interests realizing we may actually see some healthcare reforms come down the pike. The usual suspects: the Republicans and their friends in the immense healthcare insurance industry are making most of the noise. The noise is still faint and distant but it will get louder, much louder, as the debate warms up. Cries of Socialism, fraud, rationing of care and third hand horror stories about places where universal healthcare is the norm will abound. Bogus grassroots organizations, bank-rolled by huge corporations will miraculously spring up. Tons of postage will be spent sending out handsome glossy color mailings. Of course the Libertarians are squawking since they don't want to pay for anything, even though when push comes to shove none of them ever seems to turn down any of the government's supposed largess. You'll hear things like: Government healthcare will create a huge bloated bureaucracy Fact: in ...

The first time I ever experienced nitrous oxide was as a college junior back in the mid-70's. I went to a dentist within walking distance of the campus to have a filling made (it should be noted at the time my hair hung halfway down my back). "Do you want novocaine?" he asked. "Never use it," I replied. He glanced at my hair. "Ever tried nitrous oxide?" Without missing a beat, I said, "No, but I'm game." They laid the nose piece on me and turned on the gas. After a few minutes the nurse came to check on me. "How are we feeling?" I shrugged, not really sure what I should be feeling. She called the dentist over, who looked at some knob or valve out of my view and frowned. They turned away from me and consulted in lowered voices. "Sometimes," she smiled, "If you are a heavy drinker or smoker it takes a little more." I rolled my eyes. She patted my arm. "We can tell." The dentist turned something and ...

It's bad enough Rush Limbaugh would rather have us suffer than see Obama successful. He's just a bloated loudmouth. But Pete Sessions? He's an elected official, sent to Washington by his Dallas constituents to represent their interests. Do they really want him to play Texas Taliban ? "Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," sez Pete. "We need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with." He goes on to say, "If they do not give us those options or opportunities then we will then become insurgency..." In other words, despite the fact we got our asses handed to us in the 2008 election, if we don't get our way, we're going to be as disruptive as hell . As usual, Stephen Colbert sums it up better than I ever could. The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The Word - Loyal Opposition Colbe...

Just when I thought it was safe to start talking about computers, my cat and other harmless trivial things, I hear about stuff like this: All I can say is, Oh my f**king God! From Governor Sarah's Frequently Asked Questions: Gov. Sarah Palin believes all Americans must work together for the future, regardless of their party affiliation. Gov. Palin is the honorary chair of SarahPac, and its supporters are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and those unaffiliated with any political party. Want to see her supporters?

The Recording Institute Association of America (RIAA), primarily four media conglomerates that control or distribute thousands of private labels, was formed in 1952 to administer several technical standards used in manufacturing vinyl records. Nowadays they sue grandmothers and teenagers, threaten universities and internet service providers with lawsuits, and argue their right to profit overrules any and all privacy concerns. In other words, generally acting like a bunch of pompous overweening pricks. Unfortunately, these thugs have found numerous friends in the halls of Washington, including California Senator Dianne Feinstein. Vice President Joe Biden has had a long history of sucking up to both the RIAA and MPAA, sponsoring legislation that would restrict people's rights to record satellite performance, and urging the Justice Department to go after alleged file sharerers. Barack Obama, once endorsed by the likes of copyright reformer Lawrence Lessig and opponents of the RIAA...

Goodbye.. Three of the sweetest words I know: "Former President Bush." Still, in the interest of saying something nice about the man, I was pleasantly surprised to see he didn't issue a last minute pardon to Scooter Libby, or much of anyone else, for that matter. Boo-yah, Scooter. ...and Hello Meanwhile, all of Washington and a large percentage of the rest of the world came to see Obama inaugurated. Popular Science magazine has an amazing satellite photo of the crowds. Chief Justice John Roberts manage to flub his lines during the oath of office. Obama paused, then repeated the flub back to Roberts. This gave Chris Wallace , smirking simulacra of a journalist, the chance to opine sonorously on Fox News as to whether the 44th President was indeed the 44th President. Memo to Chris -- he retook the oath later, so fuck you . Wednesday, Hillary Clinton was confirmed by a 94-2 vote of the Senate as Obama's secretary of state, despite John Cornyn's insistance he was n...

Andrew Sullivan, who write a blog for the Atlantic Monthly called The Daily Dish , has an excellent piece on TimeOnline entitled " Can Barack Obama fix it? Yes he can ." I was turned on to Sullivan by my defiantly Libertarian friend, the Whited Sepulchre . Quote: If you close your eyes and imagine what this combination of fiscal and foreign policy realism portends, you will come to a pretty obvious conclusion. This Democratic liberal is actually, when it comes down to it, a man almost entirely within the mainstream spectrum of the European centre right. Imagine a Cameron-style Tory becoming president of the United States and try to come up with something he would do differently. Worth a read!

Looking back, 1968 was when I stopped being a child. I was in 8th grade that year, at Hubbard Trail Junior High, in Crete, Illinois, just outside Chicago -- a clueless 13 year old. Events would take place that year -- terrible events -- that rocked our society and would force me to stop seeing the world through innocent eyes. The first of these was the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968. At the time, I still lived in a community largely uninhabited by people who were not white. In fact, despite the segregation that still gripped the south where I was born, I had much more exposure to African-Americans growing up in as a young child in Texas. On April 5th, the day after Dr. King's assassination, our usually wise-cracking U.S. Government teacher (or was it history?--memory fails me here) dropped his lesson plans and instead poured out his despair over the soul of a nation where such a heinous act could take place. As I listened, I realized this made as little sense to...

Lawrence Lessig , one of my heroes, has an essay at Newsweek.com on why we should shut down the Federal Communications Commision. While this sounds a lot like something some of my loopy Libertarian friends would preach, I have a lot of respect for Lessig so I'm willing to reserve judgment -- for now. His main contention is that the FCC enables monopolies (bad) which stifle innovation. In its place, he proposes: Congress should create something we could call the Innovation Environment Protection Agency (iEPA), charged with a simple founding mission: "minimal intervention to maximize innovation." The iEPA's core purpose would be to protect innovation from its two historical enemies—excessive government favors, and excessive private monopoly power. Lessig has been mentioned as a possible head of the FCC ; he's known Obama since the two of them taught together at the University of Chicago. In the past Lessig has been a big proponent of net neutrality and has also w...

I'm a little late in linking to this, but here is Dave Barry's plan for national unity. Martinis . I did my bit: after the networks called the election for Obama, I made a round of martinis and brought them to my down-hearted Republican neighbors next door. "Celebrate or anesthesize: your choice," I said. We all relaxed as Obama gave his acceptance speech, sipping the sweet waters of forgetfulness and munching on olives. The future seemed to brighten even as our eyes lost the ability to focus. Postscript: going home afterwards, I entered the kitchen and tripped over the cat, launching the empty glasses into the air where they shattered in the darkness.

The election of Barack Obama has already jump-started one part of the economy: gun sales . Wild-eyed gun enthusiasts -- fearing the worst, have been busily adding to their personal arsenals since Election Day, according to the Dallas Morning News . Should gasoline prices spike upwards again this will give them something to pawn next time they need to fill up their pickups.

It's after 1:oo AM and the election coverage is dying down. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America. A little while ago, John McCain gave his concession speech. It was generous and classy -- the kind of speech the "old" McCain used to give. Ironically, it may have been the best speech he gave this campaign. The man's no fool -- in his heart of hearts he must have seen the writing on the wall weeks ago. Surely he's glad it's over. Obama's acceptance speech in Chicago's Grant Park reminded us of why so many were inspired by his campaign. Rather than being triumphant, it was inclusive. It never avoided the fact that there are daunting issues to confront, and indeed he made the point we will all need to work together as a nation to solve them. At times, he evoked Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech but now the dream was for all Americans: black, white, brown, old, young, gay or straight. (---After a good ni...

I was going to write one of my whining, witless screeds and happened to read the following by Andrew Sullivan: Obama for President . It is one of the most rational and chilling indictments of the criminal administration about to pass that I have run across. Sullivan leads by recounting the horror of the 9-11 attacks seven years ago and then makes the case that a far more insidious, damaging attack on our nation has taken place at the hands of George W. Bush and his cronies: their cynical disregard of the rule of law and contempt for the constitution. The biggest task Obama faces (should he win) will be to restore the unequalled damage to our nation and institutions done by the hands of the Bush, Cheney, et. al. It's recognition of this Katrina scale devastation that has caused so many thoughtful Republicans and conservatives to come out for Obama. Read the article -- then go vote if you have not already.

I watched the final debate tonight, thankful it was the last. Tonight instead of PBS, I happened to watch it on CNN where they again had a group of "undecided" voters with the instant polling gizmos. The men seemed to prefer McCain, the ladies liked Obama. Gimmicky but moderately interesting to watch. McCain came out with a roar but sort of petered out. Perhaps it was past his bed time. Obama did his usual slow and measured performance -- no fireworks but he made no discernible mistakes. Alas, my friend the Whited Sepulchre had not the time or will to liveblog it, but he did record his impressions after the fact. After a while I found myself sick of hearing about Joe the Plumber. I'm not sure Senator McCain served his campaign well by marrying himself to the image of a plumber's crack, since after the third mention that's what came to my mind every time he pulled ol' Joe out of his rhetorical rucksack.