Here's to You, Mr. Robinson

Although I'm not much of a sports fan (and yes, that is an understatement), my husband is a major sports fiend. He's a Dodger fan mainly because the Brooklyn Dodgers were the first to integrate baseball.

And today is the 60th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson's debut on the team on April 15, 1947, breaking the color barrier in pro baseball and launching a legendary Hall of Fame career.

Of course, my interest in this date in part relates to my husband, as well as the story of Jackie Robinson, who as a person exemplified professionalism and character and courage. As George Will said, Remembering Jackie Robinson's day:

Robinson died of diabetes-related illnesses in 1972, at 53, the same age Babe Ruth was when he died. Ruth reshaped baseball; Robinson's life still reverberates through all of American life.

As Martin Luther King Jr., who was 18 in 1947, was to say, Robinson was "a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides." "Robinson," writes Eig, "showed black Americans what was possible. He showed white Americans what was inevitable."

By the end of the 1947 season, America's future was unfolding by democracy's dialectic of improvement. Robinson changed sensibilities, which led to changed laws, which in turn accelerated changes in sensibilities.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson's middle name was homage to the President who said "speak softly and carry a big stick."

His stick weighed 34 ounces, which was enough.

Robinson's own words, via Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, from an essay Jackie Robinson wrote in 1951 for Edward R. Murrow's radio show, "This I Believe" express his spirit:

"Whatever obstacles I found made me fight all the harder. But it would have been impossible for me to fight at all, except that I was sustained by the personal and deep-rooted belief that my fight had a chance. It had a chance because it took place in a free society. Not once was I forced to face and fight an immovable object. Not once was the situation so cast-iron rigid that I had no chance at all. Free minds and human hearts were at work all around me; and so there was the probability of improvement. I look at my children now, and know that I must still prepare them to meet obstacles and prejudices.

"But I can tell them, too, that they will never face some of these prejudices because other people have gone before them. And to myself I can say that, because progress is unalterable, many of today's dogmas will have vanished by the time they grow into adults. I can say to my children: There is a chance for you. No guarantee, but a chance.

"And this chance has come to be, because there is nothing static with free people. There is no Middle Ages logic so strong that it can stop the human tide from flowing forward. I do not believe that every person, in every walk of life, can succeed in spite of any handicap. That would be perfection. But I do believe — and with every fiber in me — that what I was able to attain came to be because we put behind us (no matter how slowly) the dogmas of the past: to discover the truth of today; and perhaps find the greatness of tomorrow.

"I believe in the human race. I believe in the warm heart. I believe in man's integrity. I believe in the goodness of a free society. And I believe that the society can remain good only as long as we are willing to fight for it — and to fight against whatever imperfections may exist.

"My fight was against the barriers that kept Negroes out of baseball. This was the area where I found imperfection, and where I was best able to fight. And I fought because I knew it was not doomed to be a losing fight. It couldn't be a losing fight-not when it took place in a free society.

"And in the largest sense, I believe that what I did was done for me — that it was my faith in God that sustained me in my fight. And that what was done for me must and will be done for others."

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a special multi-part series on Robinson, including that of the sorry legacy of the Phillies -- as the last major league team to integrate. See also Major League Baseball: Jackie Robinson Day.

(Via The Quaker Agitator)

Tags: Jackie Robinson, Dodgers, Racism

Cartoon of the Day

* R.J. Matson

Tags: Political Cartoons

In His Words

Speaking about 'XPN and Michaela Majoun, see Live Art, I also discovered that she interviewed Jon Stewart on Friday the 13th, Michaela Majoun interviews Jon Stewart, about his upcoming show at the Tower Theater on April 27 -- which I am of course attending, see He's Coming.

Interesting interview. He discusses Don Imus (big surprise) and his excitement over the end of racism. Majoun asked him about crossing the line and if he's wary after this incident. Stewart says he's not concerned, because he uses his own sense of humanity and hopes that the "internal decency monitoring" will work. He also notes the fact that the issue is not a 1st Amendment or censorship issue.

Tags: Jon Stewart, WXPN, Philly

Live Art

Today one of the LLWL* & I went on a tour led by WXPN Radio Host Michaela Majoun. We went on a Mural Arts Tour through West Philadelphia, highlighting some of the murals in that area of the city.

It was interesting for me because I moved to Philly just about when the program was starting, as part of the Anti-graffiti Network. I have followed it over time, and it's nice to see the evolution of the program.

We of course ended the tour with a lunch at the 'XPN Studios.

For more of our tour, see:

XPN Mural Art Tour

* LLWL = Lady Lawyers Who Lunch (my officemates)

Tags: Philly, WXPN, Mural Arts Program

Yes, We Have No Bananas

During my recent trip to South Florida, see Hot, hot, hot, we stopped at a nearby Costco to pick up a few items. As we were leaving, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye that made me stop dead. If my end had literally occurred in that discount wonder, I (or, I should say, my surviving relatives) would have been in luck.

Passing the various displays lined up by the exit, my parents and I were chatting about life in Florida, when I noticed in the midst of the booths was a coffin display. I realize South Florida is retirement heaven, but caskets for sale at Costcos?? After I stopped laughing, I snapped a picture, since I was sure that no one would believe me:



Then, I happened upon this piece by Mark Morford, who always has an entertaining column in the San Francisco Gate, Your Shiny Happy Discount Death -- Amongst the bulk cheese and the plasma TVs, a slew of coffins, now at Costco. Bargain!

He too found the casket display at Costcos:

If you feel your life is just too boring, if you feel you are lacking sufficient gobs of wicked surreality and ironic humor and morbid perspective combined with a strange sense that this planet is actually some sort of warped dreamlike petri-dish experiment run by scaly hyperintelligent lizards possessing savage and incomprehensible senses of humor, well, I have a suggestion.

Simply march your happy overfed American butt over to Costco. Not just any Costco, mind you, but Costco out in, say, the Palm Desert region of California . . . .

Do this: Walk the massive air-conditioned aisles and ogle the giant slabs of meat and the enormous bins of imported Guatemalan fruit and the economy packs of adult diapers and the two-gallon bottles of vodka, much of it generally aimed at the happy retirement crowd that lives here six months out of the year.

And then notice, as you leave, your cart crammed with drums of olive oil and 10-foot plasma TVs and 80-packs of frozen cream puffs, that strange display you apparently didn't notice when you came in, the one right by the front door next to the tires and the lawn furniture and the hot-dog stand, the one you seem to have blocked out because it was just too weird and your mind couldn't really get around it.

Yes, they are coffins. They are enormous, shiny caskets for sale, at Costco. Would that I were making this up.

This is what you see: A seemingly innocuous, nondescript display featuring corner sample pieces of giant kitschy caskets (alas, there are no full-sized models to climb into to test for comfort/fit/sex/morbid humor), all made by something called the Universal Casket Company, and they apparently come in all manner of glossy finish and silky crepe linings and fake gothic handles and pink rose filigree and all available for immediate overnight delivery because, well, you just never know.

Yes, you can now buy a coffin at Costco. Six, actually, different styles and qualities and color schemes to match your lifestyle and your sofa and your love of mauve and fake lion's-head handles and it is, all at once, funny and disturbing and creepy and yet, somehow, entirely appropriate. You want shameless target marketing? You want life and death and commerce and capitalism and convenience all rolled into a little ball of gloomy consumer joy? Here is your nirvana.

~ ~ ~ ~
Yes! We have no bananas
We have no bananas today!
We have string beans and onions, cabBAges and scallions
And all kinds of fruit
and caskets at Costco but
Yes! We have no bananas
We have no bananas today!

Tags: Costco

Cartoon of the Day

* Pat Olipant, NY Times

Tags: Political Cartoons

Oh, Unlucky Day

Instead of black cats bringing bad luck, we have a dog named Ginger to do the honors.

I've mentioned before that we live in Mount Airy. We are fortunate to have a big back yard, which is fenced in all around. This allows our dog, Ginger, free rein to roam in the yard.

However, much like our daughter, she likes to test the limits. Of late, she had begun digging under the fence and taking off in the neighborhood. There are several busy streets, including Lincoln Drive, nearby. We have been more vigilant watching her when she's out back, so she can't plot her escape.

This morning, at about 4 a.m., she barked to be let out. Insomniac that I am, I was awake, so I let her out in the back yard & watched out the window.

Unfortunately, I forgot that today was Friday the 13th.

The back gate was slightly ajar, so off she went. I quickly realized that she was gone from the yard, so I went looking for her. I found her around the corner & called her name. But no, she wasn't ready to come home. She came over to me, then quickly scooted by me and ran off. We played this game as she frolicked around the block. I went tiptoeing through neighbor's yards, trying to catch her, with no luck -- of course not -- it's Friday the 13th. We circled the block and I ran in to my husband, who heard me in the front yard, beneath our bedroom window.

So now there were two. Two silly people chasing a dog at 4:30 a.m. around the neighborhood. Dave went one way and I went the other. She finally circled the block again, ran through a neighbor's yard, ended up alongside our back yard & Dave caught her.

Finally -- home again. It's now nearly 5 a.m. and I've had my workout for the day. And the thought comes into my head -- it's Friday the 13th! I guess it could have been worse, at least none of my neighbors mistook me for a burglar rustling around and called the police.

Happy Paraskevidekatriaphobia Day. See also, Friday the 13th Facts.

Tags: Friday the 13th

So It Goes

In Memory of Kurt Vonnegut, his last appearance on Jon Stewart.

At the end of his interview, Vonnegut wanted to read a List, but they ran out of time. Here's the List:

LIBERAL CRAP I NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN

* Give us this day our daily bread. Oh sure.
* Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Nobody better trespass against me. I'll tell you that.
* Blessed are the meek.
* Blessed are the merciful. You mean we can't use torture?
* Blessed are the peacemakers. Jane Fonda?
* Love your enemies - Arabs?
* Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. The hell I can't! Look at the Reverend Pat Robertson. And He is as happy as a pig in s**t.

(Via onegoodmove)

The NY Times, Kurt Vonnegut, Writer of Classics of the American Counterculture, Dies at 84, obit notes:

His last book, in 2005, was a collection of biographical essays, “A Man Without a Country.” It, too, was a best seller.

In concludes with a poem written by Mr. Vonnegut called “Requiem,” which has these closing lines:

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.

See also, PBS' NOW. Arts & Culture. Kurt Vonnegut and NPR's Remembrance: Novelist Vonnegut Remembered for His Black Humor

~ ~ ~ ~

"Though he was a vocal religious skeptic, Vonnegut wrote in that final essay collection that 'if I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: 'The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music.''"

~From NPR's Remembrance

Tags: Daily Show, Jon Stewart, Quote of the Day, Kurt Vonnegut, Video

Cartoon of the Day

* Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant

Tags: Political Cartoons

An Ode to Imus

My farewell to Imus the Idiot.



And, of course, since stupidity is contagious, a Stroudsburg, PA radio DJ, Gary in the Morning, decided to emulate Imus, asking listeners to call in and say, "I'm a nappy-headed ho" for the show's "Phrase that Pays" contest.

Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, he too lost his job. Gary silenced over Imus flap.

Tags: Comedy, Daily Show, Jon Stewart, Racism, Video, Imus

Cartoon of the Day

* M.e. Cohen

Tags: Political Cartoons

Where's the Outrage?

Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course.”

Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I’ll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?

I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged…. Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them — or at least some of us did. But I’ll tell you what we didn’t do. We didn’t agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn’t agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that’s a dictatorship, not a democracy.

From the Carpetbagger Report, Iacocca: ‘Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason’, the words of former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca, who was a Bush supporter in 2000, excerpted from his new book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?.

Read the rest, as TCR describes what Iacocca calls the “Nine Cs of Leadership” and how Bush is lacking in each category.

(Via Suburban Guerrilla)

Tags: Commentary, Bush, Quote of the Day, Lee Iacocca

Head's Up

Katrina vanden Heuvel editor of the Nation discusses the media and the Iraq War on The Colbert Report. She describes The Nation's coverage of and opposition to the Iraq War with an inspired quote:

We never lost our head — while too much of the media gave head. And I think that is a really dangerous thing in this country. We need watchdogs, not lapdogs.

Tags: Commentary, Stephen Colbert, Humor, Video, Quote of the Day

Hats Off to Helen

My friend Susan visited the office today to join the LLWL Gang* (for lunch, of course), and mentioned that she read a short Q&A with Helen Thomas in a recent Vanity Fair, Proust Questionnaire: Helen Thomas.

As my most loyal (and pretty much only) blog fan, she knows I'm a big admirer of Helen Thomas, see, e.g., Thomas the Terrible and No Gentle Good Night for Her. She said as she read the interview, she was reminded of me (I'll assume she wasn't referring to the "old Arab" Ann Coulter line).

I will say that it's probably true that I do share many of Thomas' interests and values.

Here are my favorite questions and answers:

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Timidity when I should have spoken up. Missed opportunities.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Cruelty. Lack of heart and soul.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Wardrobe.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Silence—when words were needed.

On what occasion do you lie?
I prefer "No comment." It's not necessary to lie.

Which living person do you most despise?
Dislike, not despise. Those with a lack of compassion for their fellow man and the downtrodden.

What is your greatest regret?
Not studying enough, not reading enough.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
All the great and inspired people who crossed my path.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A deeper, more interesting, thinking person.

What is your most treasured possession?
Good memories, long friendships, and beloved music.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Directness. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

What do you most value in your friends?
Compassion and good conversation.

How would you like to die?
With my boots on.

What is your motto?
"Know when you are happy. Know yourself. Know your enemy. Ask not for whom the bell tolls."

Now Susan would say that we both share wardrobe as an extravagance, but I have to say that jewelry is the ultimate extravagance for me (and I don't think Helen is far behind on that one either).

And I the motto works for me as well.

* LLWL = Lady Lawyers Who Lunch (a/k/a my officemates)

(I finally found it, Susan. You knew I couldn't/wouldn't give up)

UPDATE (4/15): Another Interview with Helen Thomas can be found at CorrenteWire, in which she discussed journalism and politics. Blogger chicago dyke, who conducted a phone interview, notes:

Ms. Thomas had two words to answer my question, ‘what is the biggest problem facing good government today?’ “Lousy leadership.” The follow up question about what is different today compared to when she first entered the business was hardly more reassuring. Back then, and unlike today, people understood the true meaning of public service, and followed in the tradition of Lincoln. People in previous governments have wanted to “make a contribution” and help “the sick, the poor, those without shelter” and had concern for issues like fairness and health care. She stressed that this isn’t found in the Beltway today, and she blames much of our current situation on Reagan, “when all this began.”

Tags: News & Media, Journalism, Helen Thomas

Cartoon of the Day

* Dan Wasserman, The Boston Globe

Tags: Political Cartoons

Cartoon of the Day

* Jeff Danziger, NY Times

Tags: Political Cartoons

The List

One of my major pet peeves (if you can characterize a desire to uphold our constitutional rights as a pet peeve) is the TSA's "No Fly List." My main objection is that The List is a secret list, with information gathered by the government from various sources (including, no doubt, the various illegal spying efforts that the FBI and others have engaged in), that has information about you that you are not permitted to see, challenge or be removed from. More Power than Law. The true size of The List is unknown. See, Big Brother Run Amuck: 435,000 Americans in "Terrorist" Database. Numerous errors have been reported, to no avail.

Mark Graber of Balkinization, in Another Enemy of the People?, published a letter from Professor Walter F. Murphy, emeritus of Princeton University, who is a scholar of public law in political science, constitutional theory and judicial behavior, who had problems on a recent flight:

"When I tried to use the curb-side check in at the Sunport, I was denied a boarding pass because I was on the Terrorist Watch list. I was instructed to go inside and talk to a clerk. At this point, I should note that I am not only the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence (emeritus) but also a retired Marine colonel. I fought in the Korean War as a young lieutenant, was wounded, and decorated for heroism. I remained a professional soldier for more than five years and then accepted a commission as a reserve office, serving for an additional 19 years."

"I presented my credentials from the Marine Corps to a very polite clerk for American Airlines. One of the two people to whom I talked asked a question and offered a frightening comment: "Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that." I explained that I had not so marched but had, in September, 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution. "That'll do it," the man said. "

"After carefully examining my credentials, the clerk asked if he could take them to TSA officials. I agreed. He returned about ten minutes later and said I could have a boarding pass, but added: "I must warn you, they=re going to ransack your luggage." On my return flight, I had no problem with obtaining a boarding pass, but my luggage was "lost." Airlines do lose a lot of luggage and this "loss" could have been a mere coincidence. In light of previous events, however, I'm a tad skeptical."

"I confess to having been furious that any American citizen would be singled out for governmental harassment because he or she criticized any elected official, Democrat or Republican. That harassment is, in and of itself, a flagrant violation not only of the First Amendment but also of our entire scheme of constitutional government. This effort to punish a critic states my lecture's argument far more eloquently and forcefully than I ever could. Further, that an administration headed by two men who had "had other priorities" than to risk their own lives when their turn to fight for their country came up, should brand as a threat to the United States a person who did not run away but stood up and fought for his country and was wounded in battle, goes beyond the outrageous. Although less lethal, it is of the same evil ilk as punishing Ambassador Joseph Wilson for criticizing Bush's false claims by "outing" his wife, Valerie Plaime, thereby putting at risk her life as well as the lives of many people with whom she had had contact as an agent of the CIA. ..."

Irony of ironies -- the fall Princeton Lecture that Murphy was speaking on was titled: "The Constitution, Dead or Alive?," as part of James Madison Program on American Ideals & Institutions. Silly lecture, that -- the answer is obvious.

Of course, the Bush apologists (all 10 of them) are pooh-poohing Murphy's claim, saying there is no evidence that this sort of thing is occurring. A follow up piece on Balkinization, What Professor Murphy's story tells us about the no-fly list, says that although Murphy's recitation is no doubt accurate, there may be other explanations for what actually got him on The List. Such as? Perhaps it was for another reason, Not so Friendly Skies, such as being getting caught up by US Marshalls who place innocent people on the Watch List to meet quotas.

However, doesn't this just prove what the problem is? Isn't the problem that The List is secret, and is compiled without being given any "due process" rights to challenge the evidence (or even be apprised of the charges) that places one on The List (before or after the fact)? Perhaps The List is being abused as a way to stifle dissent. Who knows? You know -- like those cases where lists were complied by the FBI of anti-war protesters? The New Black, the Color of Anarchy. Fact is, I believe this government is capable of doing just that. See also, Concurring Opinions, Criticize Bush, Get Extra Airline Screening?

Let the government prove me wrong.

Tags: Civil Liberties, Law, TSA, No-fly List

Happy Easter

Inside Verse:
It's fun to nibble on their ears,
but then you find out their heads are hollow.
Happy Easter

(Via The Agonist)

Tags: Religion, Humor, Easter

Cartoon of the Day

* Mike Lane

Tags: Political Cartoons

Keep the Church out of the State

Blog Against Theocracy

It's Easter Sunday. A day my religion celebrates as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A day I am free, but not obligated, to celebrate.

Religious freedom to worship without fear of governmental interference is the essence of the concept of Separation of Church and State. Over the past few years, it seems as if those walls have come tumbling down.

If we were going to pick a state sponsored religion, what would it be? I know Muslim is out. Jewish? I doubt it. Catholic? Probably not. Protestant? Most likely. If so, which denomination? Christian is too big an umbrella for many "true believers," so that would never do. It would be a wicked battle, as each group tried to show that God was on its side.

Would the state religion change as the majority changed? Evangelicals may think they rule, but they are in the minority population-wise. If it came to a vote, they would lose.

Would we have faith-based political parties? We have a hard enough time with political differences, all we'd need to do is introduce religion into the mix. We'd probably end up with a new Civil War -- the War against the Churches.

Sounds like the whole issue is much too complicated to deal with.

Even more so, it sounds un-American.

It's ludicrous that we are even arguing the issue. I seem to recall a day, not too long ago, when religious freedom was a founding principle. Now religious freedom is code for protecting the rights of the religious right. Now we have a marriage between the fundamentalist Right and Government. When the White House sponsor faith-based initiatives or the Department of Justice sponsors bible readings, things are seriously awry with our government.

And for the best discussion on the issue of all, see One True God, with Stephen Colbert & Steve Carell discussing the One True Religion.

America is (was) the land of religious freedom. That's the way it should stay. Protect religious freedom -- support separation of Church and State.

For more information on this issue, see First Freedom First.

(Via The Quaker Agitator and Indigent A-hole)

~ ~ ~ ~

"Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?"

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner on the Ten Commandments ruling, June 27, 2005

Tags: Civil Liberties, Religion, Blog against Theocracy, Quote of the Day

Cartoon of the Day

* Henry Payne

Tags: Political Cartoons

Easter with Noni

I think the reason that I was born & raised a Catholic was so that I would have Catholic school stories to tell as an adult. And I do -- and I do.

I also have my portfolio of "Noni stories," which are remembrances of my favorite grandmother (of course, my father's parents died when he was young, so she was my only grandmother).

Holidays are a time to remember both, Catholic and Noni. Noni was the catalyst for getting the family together, especially at the holidays. As a holiday drew near, Noni confided to each of her grandchildren that she did not think that she would live another year -- she was too old to live much longer. We were too young to know if she was right or not, so we believed her. Because of that, it was important that we come to her house for the holiday dinner, since she wouldn't be around the next year.

Even as we grew older and joked that she would live forever, her request that we come for dinner was honored. Noni ended up living until she was 96, so there were a lot of years that she was wrong. Yet, the whispered premonition of her untimely death worked. No one ever missed holiday dinners at Noni's. We always came home for the holidays.

Easter was the time for her Easter Bread, see Holy Saturday & Easter Bread. We had an early dinner, shortly after mass. Easter dinner was a combination of an American and Italian dinner. We had ham and turkey, potatoes and pasta. Lots of food. We also all had a glass of red wine with dinner, old and young alike.

Like her Easter bread, she was the thread that bound the family together. Still does, through our memories of Noni.

The Face of a "Loyal Bushie"

The expression "all hell is breaking loose" seems to be the most fitting (in more ways than one) way to describe the evolving story of Attorneygate. There are daily revelations of the machinations of the Bush White House to turn the DOJ into yet another arm of the GOP, such as the resignation of Monica Goodling, see Close, but no Cigar.

Via Think Progress, Gonzales’s Former Assistant Causes Turmoil As U.S. Attorney, is the other side of the purge story -- the new replacement US Attorneys out of the ranks of "loyal Bushies." And what a bunch they are! For example:

The U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota demonstrates the havoc that ensues when the Bush administration places politics over justice. Four top staffers to Rachel Paulose, the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, have voluntarily demoted themselves in protest of Paulose’s “highly dictatorial style” of managing. Paulose has also “earned a reputation for quoting Bible verses and dressing down underlings.”

According to news reports, the staffers’ dramatic moves were “intended to send a message to Washington — that 33-year-old Paulose is in over her head.” The Bush administration tried to prevent the resignations by sending a “top justice official to Minneapolis Thursday to mediate the situation. The mediation failed.”

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has been the lead on this story, reporting on the upheaval in the Minnesota office:

There've been a few hints that something fishy was up in the Minneapolis US Attorney's office where 34-year old Rachel Paulose was sworn in to office last month in a lavish 'investiture' ceremony some have called a 'coronation'. Paulose's predecessor left under murky circumstances.

Coronation is right! Pomp, circumstance and a choir and color guard too. Only thing missing was her predecessor, Thomas Heffelfinger. The local ABC affiliate, Kstp, has the story and video as well. Unfortunately, it seems like Ms. Queen for a Day didn't want to give up the crown, and her imperial style didn't sit well with the career prosecutors in the office. Reporting on the latest bit of bad news, the NY Times, in Deputies to a U.S. Attorney Step Down, notes that "Ms. Paulose’s defenders at Justice Department headquarters said the criticism of her was unwarranted. They said older lawyers had difficultly dealing with a young, aggressive woman . . . ."

Oh, those sexist old pigs (and I guess that includes the woman as well)! Now, I have, on occasion, been called an aggressive female lawyer (as well as a few other terms of endearment that I won't mention), so I am hardly someone who would not defend one of my brethren (or the female equivalent of brethren). However, it does not sound to me like that is the problem here. It's the part that goes with coronation. It's the part that goes with someone who cannot tolerate any disagreement (sound familiar?). No, these staffers (including one woman) are professionals who acted even after Justice officials tried to mediate the situation and took a pay cut to do so. People in these positions are generally "team players," so things had to be extreme for them to take this kind of action. See the update from Talking Points Memo.

The other interesting part of this story related to her predecessor, Thomas Heffelfinger (the only person who wasn't invited to the ceremony). According to St. Paul Star Tribune, Nick Coleman: If Heffelfinger hadn't quit, would he have been purged?, it is unclear whether her predecessor was a purge target. See also, Minnesota Campaign Report, Heffelfinger's resignation and the U.S. Attorney "purge", which presents evidence that supports a linkage, despite denials by the former US Attorney.

And there's more. Consortiumnews, in Did Rove's Protégé Puff Up Résumé?, has the word on another replacement, Tim Griffin -- who's chief claim to fame was opposition researcher for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign -- noting:

Little Rock’s interim U.S. Attorney J. Timothy Griffin – already at the center of a firestorm over whether the White House has put politics ahead of prosecutorial integrity – made claims about his experience as an Army lawyer that have been put in doubt by military records.

The 38-year-old Griffin claims on his official Web site that he prosecuted 40 criminal cases while at Ft. Campbell, where he was stationed from September 2005 to May 2006. But Army authorities say Ft. Campbell’s records show Griffin only serving as assistant trial counsel on three cases, none of which went to trial.

* * * *

Cherith Beck, a Griffin spokeswoman, suggested that Griffin’s higher number might refer to all cases he worked on in any capacity.

“Just wanted to clarify, make sure you had an understanding that prosecuted means it’s a case he handled while he was there; it doesn’t mean that it went to trial necessarily,” Beck said. “Prosecuted means he handled those cases in one form or another.”

Griffin’s prosecutorial experience at Ft. Campbell is important in evaluating Griffin’s fitness to serve as the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Arkansas since the bulk of Griffin’s legal career has been in political operations, such as opposition research on Democrats or work as a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill.

See also, Depends on the Meaning of the Word “Prosecuted” by All Spin Zone.

TPM, in Wisconsin Case Raises Eyebrows, and The Carpetbagger Report, in One of the 85 ‘loyal Bushies’ comes under scrutiny, discuss the case of the Wisconsin US Attorney, Steven Biskupic, who's conviction against an official in the administration of Democratic governor Doyle, which occurred right before the re-election of the governor in a closely contested race, was overturned with extraordinary speed. The appellate court dismissed the charges against the official after oral arguments on the case and ordered him immediately released from prison. This is unbelievable -- this NEVER happens. Talk about speedy justice.

As Carpetbagger Report, who also compiled a list of other questionable investigations, said:

Just to be clear, I know of no evidence to suggest that the U.S. Attorney in this district was trying to influence the election. I have no idea if Karl Rove gave Biskupic a call and said, “You know, it’s a close race. Anything you can do would be helpful.”

We do know, however, that shortly before a close election, Biskupic brought extremely thin criminal charges against a top Doyle administration official who apparently did nothing wrong.

It’s one of the lasting problems of the administration’s purge scandal — there are now constant suspicions about prosecutors’ political motivations. Now that the nation has learned that several U.S. Attorneys were pressured to bring politically-charged cases for Republicans’ benefit, and some of those who refused lost their jobs, it’s inevitable that prosecutions like this one will garner fresh scrutiny.

I think these faces need a little scrubbing.

Tags: Law, News, Attorneygate, Politics

This is Not Justice

The story:

Last Labor Day weekend, he and a buddy entered a neighborhood friend's unlocked townhouse when no one was there. Trading cards, a video game, a game controller, and $340 in cash were reported missing by the homeowner.

A month later, Ramos was charged with first-degree felony burglary. The Plumstead Township resident admits trespassing but denies taking anything. . . .

It might be just another incident buried in the local police blotter. Except that Joe Ramos is an 80-pound fifth grader who was 10 years old at the time of the alleged crime. And the aggrieved homeowner, T. Gary Gambardella, is a high-ranking prosecutor in the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.

See, Larry King, 1st-degree felony, 5th-grade defendant. The Inquirer article also notes that, despite the rarity of bringing charges against someone so young (I know my daughter at 10 wouldn't have had a clue what stealing was), the D.A.'s office ignored the apparent conflict of interest in the case and brought charges against the kid. It was over 3 months before the District Attorney Diane Gibbons decided to get the state Attorney General's Office involved to assign an independent prosecutor.

And who is this incorrigible hoodlum?

Joe, who turned 11 in January, is a dark-eyed, athletic boy whose father died when he was 3. His teachers, coaches and friends have lauded his manners, diligence and kindness in glowing reference letters, and his school recently nominated him for a district award given for caring about others.

"He unconditionally helps those who need it, without being asked, and never asks for, or expects, anything in return," wrote Briana Derry, his teacher at Groveland Elementary, in a letter she gave to Joe's mother. ". . . I would love to have Joe as my own child."

Yes, we definitely need to keep people (and kids) like this off the street.

The case was resolved earlier this week when a consent decree was entered, Bucks boy, 11, gets probation over burglary, which does not call for an admission of guilt, but places Ramos on probation and requires community service. Despite the plea, Ramos still denies having taken anything from Gambardella's home.

However, the story is not quite over.

After getting some flak over the prosecution of a 10 year old for a minor offense and ignoring the apparent conflict of interest, Gibbons responded in true Republican fashion. She personally attacked the kid, claiming he was accused twice before of similar conduct but not arrested. See Child's arrest becomes issue in judge race. It's the guilt by accusation rule of law. As the Inquirer noted:

After The Inquirer published a story March 18 about the handling of the case, Gibbons was quoted in two other newspapers that the boy had been involved in two previous burglaries. However, she gave no specifics, and The Inquirer could find no evidence to support her claim.

Yesterday, Schneider called on Gibbons to correct those statements.

"What Joe has done, he doesn't deserve a reward for, but he also doesn't deserve to be held up to ridicule and shame," Schneider told reporters. "He has suffered as a result of what has happened here, particularly with respect to remarks made about his having done this for the third time.

"That information is incorrect," he said. "The juvenile probation officer who investigated this case indicated that he has spoken with several chiefs of police, the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency, and there was no report that Joe had ever done anything like this before . . .

"I would hope that this would be corrected."

At an afternoon news conference, Gibbons said she would do no such thing.

"It's not untrue," she said.

Asked for specifics of the other incidents, Gibbons said she could not elaborate because Joseph is a juvenile.

Of course, Gibbons had no compunction about charging Ramos or defaming him in the press, but claims secrecy when asked for proof of the claims. That's justice, Republican style.

Best headline on this sorry affair, Bucks County DA Mad At 11-Year-Old For Stealing Her Lunch Money, Defames 11-Year-Old In Newspaper.

The story has a postscript.

Would it surprise you to learn that Diane Gibbons is running for Judge (on the Republican ticket) in Bucks County? Bucks D.A. declares her candidacy for judge. If she loses the election, maybe she'll be considered for the next U.S. Attorney spot by Gonzales and the White House. She has all the makings of the perfect choice.

Tags: Philadelphia, Philly, Law, News, Diane Gibbons

Close, but no Cigar

Last week at lunch, we were discussing the Attorneygate scandal, see It's a Crime, and began speculating when Gonzales would resign. Someone suggested that we should start a pool, to see who got the closest date to his actual resignation. Then, one of the LLWL Gang* said -- Good Friday. We all moaned, then decided that that would be the perfect day -- a Friday, the week-end of Easter, so no one would be paying attention. After that, we couldn't get any other takers to bet on another day.

So of course, I had to check the news at 5 pm today. No Gonzales. But -- MSNBC is reporting that Gonzales aide Goodling to resign. Yes, Monica "5th Amendment" Goodling is Gone. See The New & Improved 5th Amendment. As MSNBC reports:

Monica Goodling, the counsel and White House liaison to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, says in a letter that she will resign, effective Saturday.

Goodling has been on a leave of absence. Her lawyers have told Congress she would invoke the Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination if called to testify about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

* LLWL = Lady Lawyers Who Lunch, a/k/a my officemates

Tags: News, Law, Attorneygate, Politics

The Resurrection

Six months after the devastating attack on an Amish school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a new school -- aptly named New Hope -- opened its doors for the first time. The Inquirer, A new chapter begins for Amish, reports:

"In a dreamlike setting yesterday morning, with gray silos silhouetted in the milky fog and fields sparkling with dew, the Amish children who survived October's massacre were escorted by their fathers and state police to the first day of classes in their new school."

* * * *

"It's a bittersweet day, I think," said Herman Bontrager, spokesman for the nine-member Nickel Mines Accountability Committee, a group of community leaders appointed by the Amish to administer the school victims' fund. "It's a day where there's the excitement of a brand-new place, finally a real school. It's also a stark reminder of what happened, and who's not there." To help correct the gender imbalance, two girls were transferred from another school.

The Amish community chose the name New Hope Amish School as a symbol of the future, he said. "It's a symbol they're hanging onto, to help focus on the future and not only the past. But the past is keenly in front of them every day, when they wake up without their daughters or with their injured daughters."

Every fall for the past 30 years, my extended family has gathered for a long week-end in Lancaster County for a family reunion. Of course, I am not able to make it every year, but over a hundred of my extended family members, from young children to elder relatives, attend annually. I'm sure there are a number who have never missed a reunion. The family is scattered over the east coast, with a few coming from such outposts as California, so I enjoy the week-end as a time to catch up with family. I also enjoy my chance to spend some time in Amish country, as it's called. While it has certainly gotten more congested over the years, there are still stretches of beautiful countryside. Peace permeates the area.

School violence is always horrible to contemplate, but somehow it was even worse when it intruded on the Amish way of life. See Troubles in Paradise. They, of all people, didn't deserve it. The Amish intentionally maintain a quiet, private way of life, without any of the "modern conveniences." No TV, phones, electricity. They drive horse drawn carriages, not cars. They eschew "the English" as the rest of us are called, preferring to live separately; as a peaceable people, whose religious and cultural dedication to non-violence is absolute. Crime is rare, murder an abomination.

A week after the tragedy, the original one room schoolhouse was razed in the early dawn. The new school is on a different piece of land, down the road from the old school. Although it is a one room schoolhouse, it is built of a studier brick, rather than wood. New Hope for Amish children. And even though they considered adding additional security measures, in the end they did not do so. As the Inky noted:

Leaning on a shovel, a pen clipped to the pocket of his hand-sewn shirt, one of the other members of the Nickel Mines Accountability Committee said, "We were throwing around ideas about electrical devices for the new school. Some kind of alarm system. But they all just kind of decided we're going to do as we did before. Rely on God's protection for safety."

We can learn from these "plain people" in so many ways.

Afterward, they showed us what the true meaning of "Christian" is. They forgave the man, and his family, who shattered their peaceful existence and the lives of so many in this small community. See Gone, but Not Forgotten.

Remarking on the new school, mnpACT observed, in The Amish: Faith in Action:

It is a symbol of hope and resilience and determination.

Our country could learn a lot from these simple, Amish people. Their instinct was not to lash back. Compare this to the saber rattling of evangelicals like Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, James Dobson and Jerry Falwell. Bush, with the full support of these "Christians," has drawn Iraqi blood for five years, and what has it accomplished?

Calm diplomacy trumps visceral reaction. After five years of carnage, we're less secure, we've depleted our national treasury, and we've become an international pariah. Like the Nickel Mines' tragedy, Bush's war will haunt our collective conscience.

And today is a good day to recollect these thoughts.

Tags: News, Religion, Amish

Cartoon of the Day

* Mikhaela Reid

Tags: Political Cartoons

Don't Discriminate

Eddie Murphy
Born: April 3, 1961

You're in good company, Susan. Happy Belated Birthday.

~ ~ ~ ~

Forty is the old age of youth, fifty is the youth of old age.
~ Victor Hugo

Tags: Comedy, Eddie Murphy, Quote of the Day, Video

The New Black, the Color of Anarchy

The Washington Post reports on the FBI's involvement in the detention and questioning of anti-war protesters in 2002 in DC, Police Log Confirms FBI Role In Arrests. Despite their denials over the years:

A secret FBI intelligence unit helped detain a group of war protesters in a downtown Washington parking garage in April 2002 and interrogated some of them on videotape about their political and religious beliefs, newly uncovered documents and interviews show.

For years, law enforcement authorities suggested it never happened. The FBI and D.C. police said they had no records of such an incident. And police told a federal court that no FBI agents were present when officers arrested more than 20 protesters that afternoon for trespassing; police viewed them as suspicious for milling around the parking garage entrance.

* * * *

The probable cause to arrest the protesters as they retrieved food from their parked van? They were wearing black -- a color choice the FBI and police associated with anarchists, according to the police records.

FBI agents dressed in street clothes separated members to question them one by one about protests they attended, whom they had spent time with recently, what political views they espoused and the significance of their tattoos and slogans, according to interviews and court records.

The revelations, combined with protester accounts, provide the first public evidence that Washington-based FBI personnel used their intelligence-gathering powers in the District to collect purely political intelligence. Ultimately, the protesters were not prosecuted because there wasn't sufficient evidence of trespassing, and their arrest records were expunged.

When we were discussing attending the anti-war rallies in Philly (both in the run up to the war and after), my husband Dave expressed his concern that the FBI would be spying on the protesters. I honestly didn't believe him. After all, public sentiment was still in favor of Bush (and the war) at that time. Patriotism was the order of the day. Who cared about a few protesters? He said I was naive to think that the Bush Administration wouldn't pull a Nixon and spy on its "enemies."

The article continues:

The plaintiffs argue that the newly released police logs make clear that the FBI, working hand in hand with local police, is engaged in a concerted effort to spy on and intimidate U.S. citizens who are lawfully exercising their free-speech rights. They contend that this is a national effort that abuses the FBI's broad counterterrorism powers and equates political speech with a risk to national security.

"It really is a secret police: This is an effort to suppress political dissent," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice. "If this was happening in another country that the U.S. was targeting, U.S. officials at the highest levels would be decrying this as a violation of human rights."

See also, Mayor Defends Spying by Police Before G.O.P. Convention.

In Is Pacifism a Felony? and Smile, You're on Candid Camera, I discussed the issue of government spying on anti-war activities. As I noted then:

As though we needed another example why warrantless wiretapping should never be permitted by the government. The Washington Post reports that the FBI Took Photos of Antiwar Activists in 2002. The article reports that "[a]n FBI report from November 2002 indicates that an agent photographed members of the Thomas Merton Center [in Pittsburgh] as they handed out leaflets opposing the impending war in Iraq. The report called the group a 'left-wing organization advocating, among many political causes, pacifism.'"

Just another example of the abuse the government is capable of when not monitored.

More channeling of Nixon by Bush.

Tags: Civil Liberties, Law, Spying

Change Is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke, A Change is Gonna Come.
In memory of Martin Luther King.

See also, The Martin Luther King You Don't See on TV, at Truthout:

It's become a TV ritual: Every year on April 4, as Americans commemorate Martin Luther King's death, we get perfunctory network news reports about "the slain civil rights leader."

The remarkable thing about these reviews of King's life is that several years - his last years - are totally missing, as if flushed down a memory hole.

What TV viewers see is a closed loop of familiar file footage: King battling segregation in Birmingham (1963); reciting his dream of racial harmony at the rally in Washington (1963); marching for voting rights in Selma, Alabama (1965); and finally, lying dead on the motel balcony in Memphis (1968).

* * * *

But after passage of civil rights acts in 1964 and 1965, King began challenging the nation's fundamental priorities. He maintained that civil rights laws were empty without "human rights" - including economic rights. For people too poor to eat at a restaurant or afford a decent home, King said, anti-discrimination laws were hollow.

Noting that a majority of Americans below the poverty line were white, King developed a class perspective. He decried the huge income gaps between rich and poor, and called for "radical changes in the structure of our society" to redistribute wealth and power.

"True compassion," King declared, "is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."

By 1967, King had also become the country's most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War, and a staunch critic of overall US foreign policy, which he deemed militaristic. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech delivered at New York's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 - a year to the day before he was murdered - King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

* * * *

How familiar that sounds today, nearly 40 years after King's efforts on behalf of the poor people's mobilization were cut short by an assassin's bullet.

In 2007, in this nation of immense wealth, the White House and most in Congress continue to accept the perpetuation of poverty. They fund foreign wars with "alacrity and generosity," while being miserly in dispensing funds for education and health care and environmental cleanup.

(Video via Phawker)

Tags: Civil Liberties, Music Video, Racism, Martin Luther King

Cartoon of the Day

Tags: Political Cartoons

The Mighty Have Fallen

College campus protests? I feel like I'm reliving my youth (you know, the good old days). Except these protests are at places like Brigham Young University (of "bring 'em old, bring 'em young, just bring 'em white" fame) and American University. And the protesters are against such luminaries as Dick Cheney and Karl Rove.

The AP reported the shocking news, BYU campus protests Dick Cheney speech:

Some students and faculty on one of the nation's most conservative campuses want Brigham Young University to withdraw an invitation for Vice President Dick Cheney to speak at commencement later this month.

* * * *

The private university, which is owned by the Mormon church, has "a heavy emphasis on personal honesty and integrity in all we do," said Warner Woodworth, a professor at BYU's business school.

"Cheney just doesn't measure up," he said.

* * * *

The display of dissent is rare for a university that has been voted the nation's most "stone-cold sober" school nine years in a row in the annual Princeton Review of party schools.

Translation: Mormons to Cheney: Even We Hate You Now (via Wonkette).

Or, as Nicholas Pappas of The Daily Utah Chronicle, The devil went down to Provo, put it:

Why, of all the many places in the world, would our vice president end up at BYU? It can't be for the nightlife. The answer is simple, really. The Bush administration is in a slump. Its approval rating is hovering around 33 percent, which is about 33 percent higher than the amount of time it spends telling the truth. Utah holds the honor of being the site of the greatest Bush landslide in the 2004 election at right around 73 percent. The floundering Republicans desperately need someone to cheer for them. No doubt they believed the only problem in Provo would be Cheney falling asleep at the podium counting all the sheep in the crowd.

Like all of their other decisions, it isn't going according to plan.

That is for sure.

Next up -- according to the Washington Post, Students Lie in Front of Car, Delay Rove After Speech, Rove was heckled and pelted as he was leaving the American University campus after a Young Republican Club speech.

However, despite reports to the contrary, it is not true that Four Hippies Toss Birkenstocks At Karl Rove's Car. (via Wonkette). Those sandals are way too expensive to waste on Karl. I should know, I own several pairs (of course, I live in Birkenstock heaven -- Mount Airy).

Oh how the mighty have fallen. At least this shows there's hope for the future.

Tags: News, Politics, Cheney, Rove

Cartoon of the Day

* Dan Wasserman, The Boston Globe

Tags: Political Cartoons

Rock On

As a follow up to my previous post about John Edwards' decision to stay the course (and stay in the race), Carry On, I had to include Chris Rock's skit on the candidates from a recent SNL episode, Road to the White House. It's hilarious.

My only other comment on the Presidential race is that John Edwards is probably my first choice at this point in time, so I was relieved to hear that he was staying in. He's a rich lawyer, so what's not to like? Having said that, I'd be happy with either Hillary or Obama. As Rock said: a black man or a white woman. It's so hard to make up my mind.

But of course, in the end I couldn't go with Hillary. I must admit that it's true, as Rock observed, everybody loves white women except white women.

Enough with my comments. Watch Chris Rock.

Tags: Comedy, Humor, SNL, Chris Rock, Video

Carry On

As always, Frank Rich distills the essence of the issue at hand in his column. This week was the news (and reaction thereto) of the return of Elizabeth Edwards' cancer, Elizabeth Edwards for President, and its impact on the Presidential campaign of her husband. As Rich says:

ELIZABETH EDWARDS’S choice to stay in the political arena despite a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about Elizabeth Edwards. People admired her before she was ill for the same reasons they admire her now. She comes across as honest, smart and unpretentious — as well as both devoted to and independent of her husband. But we have learned a great deal about the political arena from the hubbub that greeted her decision. For all the lip service Washington pays to valuing political players who are authentic and truthful, it turns out that real, honest-to-God straight talk about matters of life, death and, yes, political ambition, drives “some people” (to use Katie Couric’s locution) nuts.

And as Rich implies, and some people have said (me included), Couric was vicious in her interview of the Edwards. See, 60 Minutes. Of course, I could also comment on the apparent hypocrisy in the fact that Couric lived though her husband's illness and death from cancer while she continued to work at the Today Show. But I'm not Republican, so I would never suggest that she should have devoted herself full-time to her husband during his last days.

Rich addresses the "accusations" with the perfect response:

Whatever Mr. Edwards’s flaws as a candidate turn out to be, he is not guilty of the most persistent charge leveled since his wife’s diagnosis. As Ms. Couric phrased it, “Even those who may be very empathetic to what you all are facing might question your ability to run the country at the same time you’re dealing with a major health crisis in your family.”

Would it be better if he instead ran the country at the same time he was clearing brush on a ranch? Polio informed rather than crippled the leadership of F.D.R.; Lincoln endured the sickness and death of a beloved 11-year-old son during the Civil War. In the wake of our congenitally insulated incumbent, who has given our troops neither proper armor nor medical care and tried to hide their coffins off camera, surely it can only be a blessing to have a president, whether Mr. Edwards or someone else, who knows intimately what it means to cope daily with the threat of mortality. It’s hard to imagine such a president smiting stem-cell research or skipping the funerals of the fallen.

Indeed, of all the reasons to applaud Elizabeth Edwards’s decision to stay in politics, the most important may be her insistence, by her very action, that we not compartmentalize the harsh reality of death and the imperatives of public policy, both at home and at war. Let the real conversation begin.

Susan Madrak, who blogs at Suburban Guerrilla, also wrote about the reaction to the decision of Edwards to maintain his campaign for President at the Huffington Post, The Cancer Scolds Explain It All For You. She also has a thoughtful, insightful take on the issue:

We have such a strange, conflicted attitude toward death in this country. And when someone is stricken with something like cancer, we (the societal we) rush to the barricades and insist on an all-out fight - well, to the death, which seems to me is only a form of denial. How dare we have rooms in our lives for anything else?

We are a generation of control freaks, convinced we can master anything with enough effort. We can fix it, or we can wish it away. And when you get cancer, people seem to expect that it should become a full-time job.

We forget this is not a binary choice. We are not living or dying; we are living and dying. (As someone once wrote, "Life is a ship we get on, knowing it will sink." The only difference with a terminal illness is, we now have the advantage of seeing land on the horizon.)

So why is it so unthinkable that Elizabeth Edwards has decided to live while she is dying?

Why indeed? And why should we judge their decision, one way or another?

(Rich article also available at Welcome to Pottersville)

Tags: Commentary, Politics, John Edwards, Frank Rich

He's Coming

Anyone who knows me (or reads this blog regularly) knows that I'm a big fan of Jon Stewart. Poor Jon Stewart, he not only appeals to the coveted 18 - 30 year old crowd, but he apparently also is a favorite of middle-aged women, who think he's cute. See, e.g., The Boys are Back in Town.

Well, he's coming to Philly, at the Tower Theater on April 27th and, of course, I'm going. I would like to see him in a stand-up comedic role, rather than his usual Daily Show persona. My husband is not as enthused about Jon, so I'm going with my law partner.

For an interesting interview of Stewart, from June of 2006, see the video at TV Land, Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg.

Dan Kurtzman, who writes a Political Humor column at About.com, has details of his career, Jon Stewart. See also, Profile of Jon Stewart, Political Comedian.

(Video via Comedy Central Insider)

Tags: Jon Stewart, Humor

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye, with his own rendition of the National Anthem, at 1983 NBA All Star Game. Makes you patriotic just listening to it.

One of the greatest R&B singers, he died on April 1, 1984, a day before his 45th birthday on April 2.

For more Marvin, see What's Going On.

(Via LAist)

Tags: Music Video, Marvin Gaye

Cartoon of the Day

* Patrick O'Connor, LA Daily News

Tags: Political Cartoons