Another Tuesday Night At The Abbey Pub Open Mic

Another Tuesday night at the Abbey Pub open mic. The glorious redhead Erin O’Toole made an appearance and lent her mischievous magic and winsome voice to the proceedings. Rick Wells, Greg Steele, Jay Reynolds, Herbie Gaines—lots of regulars out. Rhiannon was in from Fort Wayne. She told stories of being a democratic poll watcher in a Red State, real front lines stuff. A good night of music making. I spent the end of the evening doing a run through of a new song by Kris Nichols called “Guantanamo”; a powerful, powerful song. It is gratifying to hear someone making a penetrating statement of artistic self-expression as the political sickness we are infested with runs its bloody course. An excerpt:

”…and we did not believe in torture
and we still believed in hope
but we just sang along on Sundays
as they built Guantanamo”

Yes, that is totally new stuff. Kris is mulling over debuting the piece next week at the Abbie. We want to get togther and finalize and arrangement. The entire song is quite compelling and sincere. We are looking to record the piece.

If anything is to save us on our present wild trajectory, it is voices such as this that will help affirm our inhumanity—humanity apparently dulled and seemingly dim-witted at present. It is heartening to know that sentient individuals are trying to put into music the truth laid bare about our condition. Art is compelled to respond with force to such provocation as Guantanamo.
If too many people feel little or nothing, than tragedy is not only probable, it becomes mundane. On one small corner in Chicago, we are fighting the fight once a week on Tuesdays. And if the occasional song gets mangled in the process, so be it.

Read more!

The Governor and I

The Governor and I were hanging out again today. Back on election day we exchanged greetings at the polling place, which is not so unusual as we both reside in the 28th Precinct of the 33rd Ward. He wished my wife and I luck as we went to do our level best to beat the bloody bush regime and, as fate would have it, the luck didn't quite hold.

This afternoon I picked up my daughter from ballet class and we went across the street to play at the park. Gov. Blagojevich, who like me lives a few blocks from the park, had his two daughters out. He busied himself with his toddler and after a time his daughter Amy began a spirited game of tag with my daughter, which I tried to officiate. Gradually, we were the only ones left in the park and we fell into some Sunday afternoon chat. I mentioned how we had met recently at the polling place and he seemed to place the encounter. He is, as I suspect most politicians are, very personable and genuinely interested in meeting people.

He asked a number of questions and we discovered our daughters go to school in the same neighborhood; his at a Montessori school, and mine (for the moment) the Waldorf School. I talked about my wife's work in the Chicago Public Schools and how as an actress she has managed to squeeze the world's longest play into a 50-minute class period. He asked me what I did for a living and I said I was unemployed. I
did not know quite what to say beyond that. It is not a subject I enjoy talking about or can
even rationalize easily.

He said to me, "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." Well, there we were: 
two dads from a world away in circumstance in a park on a November afternoon while our daughters caromed around the playground getting ready to talk turkey; except I chickened out. Me with literally only hours left remaining of unemployment benefits and no real prospects. I couldn't close the deal. I was cognizant that we were simply two guys trying to spend some time with our daughters and I didn't want to bring my whole tale of woe into the thing right at that point. So, I thanked him and we shook hands, collected our charges, and went on our way.

On the way home I was kicking myself pretty hard for not at the least passing along my lack-of-business card, but a short while later I concluded I should be offering to help him. A kind of 'ask not what your Democratic Party can do for you, ask what you can do for your Democratic Party' type of thing. I wrote him this letter:

November 14, 2004

Dear Gov. Blagojevich,

It was a pleasure speaking with you yesterday in the Manor. My daughter had a wonderful time playing with Amy and I will say, in confidence, that I let them beat me in tag. It is either that or I am not as quick as I should be. 

You were kind enough to say in parting to let you know if there is anything you can do to help. I am writing to say it is me who should be offering a hand to help in the work you are doing for the State of Illinois. I believe in what your administration is accomplishing, from extending health care to more kids to trying to spur job growth. If there is anything I can do to aid the Democratic Party, I would be happy to volunteer. I have done some minor work for an aldermanic candidate and other things of that sort. Years ago I even played guitar and sang for a few Republican rallies in Indiana, but please do not hold that against me. They are a tough crowd to suss out. Incidentally—Rocky Top, of all things is what they wanted to hear. 

Enclosed is a demo DVD of The Shakespeare Project’s “50 Minute Hamlet” featuring my wife Laura as I had mentioned. She has worked for the last twelve years integrating the arts into K – 12 curricula and she loves seeing a classroom come face to face with Ophelia and Claudius. 

Once again, I am happy to help the Party in any manner I can and I look forward to seeing you around the neighborhood. 

Very truly yours, 

obelus

Today, Illinois sent off a promising Junior Senator to Washington. We have elected a Governor who is trying to roll back prescription drug costs and is trying to plug a budget gap brought about in large part by Federal indifference to a meaningful domestic agenda. Illinois sang the blues while much of the country saw red. Two dads at the park—one with a job, one without—but who really needs the help? For the past year or so, I have added my voice, my efforts, my dissent, and my vote to further the Democratic cause. The last time I bumped into Gov. Blagojevich it looked like things were beginning to pay off. But later that night on November 2nd at The Abbey Pub as I spit out the lyrics to Nick Lowe's "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding" as the clock ran down, it was obvious that the payoff is yet to come and a long way off.

In the meantime, the Democratic Party may still need whatever meager help I can provide.

Read more!

The Command Post - Iraq - 37 Coalition Troops Killed in Operation Dawn

Who would have thougt Falluja would not be thoroughly pacified by now? Back in April The White House said THIS in regards to Iraqi Security Forces battling the insurgency. Who would have thought that 7 months later we would be suffering 80% more battle fatalities than the Iraqi's?

Who would have thought Iraqi security forces would up and switch sides to the north in Mosul as mentioned HERE?


Who would have thought that Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Sheik Abdullah al-Janabi would have escaped as mentioned HERE?

After Rumsfeld told a news conference, "Innocent civilians in that city have all the guidance they need as to how they can avoid getting into trouble," who would have thought children would be getting slaughtered?

"There aren't going to be large numbers of civilians killed and certainly not by U.S. forces," Rumsfeld said. Who would have thought the man would be so wrong?

Who would have thought that "our" Harvard MBA president, who had estimated the costs for this war to be around $50 - $60 billion (less than Gulf War I), would miss the mark by $200 billion or so?

Actually, anybody who thought any of these thougts aloud in the presence of "our" president was likely fired.

Read more!

Global Warriors Battle For New Riches

What if providing China with low cost energy is part of the overall plan? What if "deficits don't matter"? What if we the administration is reasonably anticipating a war with Iran based on the assumption if they keep poking her with a stick she'll snap at it.

The curious thing about hearing the names Bush, Cheney, Powell and Rumsfeld is that the same names were prevalent during Nixon's term(s). What would have become of that second term anyway? After Nixon's foray into China and Russia with bold plans being made for the reductions of tensions, equally bold plans were being made for expanding trade.

Cheney and Rumsfeld were toiling away in something called The Office of Economic Opportunity with Frank Carlucci (Chairman of the Carlyle Group). Colin Powell was a White House Fellow. The AEI, The Hoover Institute, The Hudson Institute, The Scaife Foundation among others were looking for ways to expand the base of trading partners and get really, really rich while doing so.

Imagine some of those folks getting together back in the early seventies. I believe the presentation went something like this:

"Gentlemen, our forefathers opened the West to development and industry and left a legacy for all succeeding generations. They also got rich. It took over 100 years to get the job done.

In the developing world, we need to accomplish the same thing in the next thirty years. Got it?

China, Russia, and other parts of our world are shifting from an agrarian based economy to an industrial base much like we did in the 19th Century. There is wealth to be created and capital needs to be put to work. These regions need to be valued trading partners and we will split profits with them for access. They are a needed source of raw materials and cheap labor and we are running out of these things. If we don't assist them with capital, then they will own 100% of equity in the new frontier of industry, and we will own declining shares of the old one.

Folks, these regions are going to need access to cheap energy to build their industrial base and produce goods. They have abundant cheap labor. Anyone here have a problem with cheap labor? I didn't think so! We got to figure out a way to strike deals with the governments, pacify the Arabs, and get them the energy they need. Once we are cut in to some of the ownership, when the growth occurs we will be sitting pretty.

Now hear this. Any imbecile who allows labor unions, environmentalists, and equal rights activists in there anywhere close to the action and spoils the party will be persona non grata. This is our due. Our forefathers could see a good thing like Manifest Destiny when it looked them in the eye and so should we.

Who's in?

Well, Bush Senior was--he went to China to help set the whole thing up. Lord knows the Carlyle Group have been "in the pudding" for a while. If Rumsfeld and Cheney were handcuffed to a post and unable to carry forth Nixon's strategies they'd chew off their arms.

From sea to shining sea America's main streets are flooded with cheap goods from China and elsewhere where capitalists are exploiting the vast pools of cheap labor. Container ships are backed up out past the horizon waiting to offload more manufactured goods to be transported to Wal-Marts and other big box retailers. Once American consumers are tapped out, these big boxes will shutter and close and big boxes will spring up overnight in Malaysia, India, and Mexico. If the average American consumer is financially ruined due to poor economic circumstance, the global overlords are not really going to be hurt much. What did Mr. Bush say during the debates to the unemployed American? "...I say, here's some help, here's some trade adjustment assistance money for you to go a community college in your neighborhood, a community college which is providing the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century."

The skills necessary to fill jobs of the 21st Century are quickly becoming the skills necessary to live at a subsistance level.

Iran is bracketed now by permanent military bases to the East an West. The Mideast is essentially under new management as far as the Neo-cons are concerned. The energy is heading West to China and multi-national corporations are well esconced to enjoy the profits. And...my oh my...that labor is so cheap it is sweet!

Now, the crybabies who don't like war or the chill on the American economy due to high energy prices, declining standards of living, and competition from abroad, they may whine all they want. We live in a global economy now and the global warriors are living large.

Read more!

This About Sums It Up...Dontcha Think?

Thanks to jprotzman at Daily Kos. 

Read more!

Hello, Welcome To The 'Ownership Society' Luncheon

"Welcome to the Ownership Society Luncheon", said the docent faced hostess with the Lee Press On smile in a chirpy voice. "If you want to have a seat over there at that table, we have some paperwork for you to fill out." She then scrunched up her little nose and said, "It will only take a second."

I sat down at the table and puzzled briefly over the neatly arranged pile of inscrutable authorization forms. Best that I could make out, I was pledging my productivity as an indentured servant to the monied classes while providing wide access to probe my credit history, my past, and any skills I may possess that would be useful to the Principalities. My knawing hunger and the smell of warm bread compelled me. I licked the end of my pen and begun scribbling hurriedly.

A Captain of Industry strode purposefully through a VIP entrance, gushed some pleasantries at the fawning, over-eager hostess and breezed into a cordoned off area amid a retinue of intensly focused security personnel and PA's. I instinctively tried to look busy. Signs stating "Peon" and "Patrician" hung above two opposing corridors. The Captain of Industry briskly swaggered into the one marked "Patrician".

The Captains of Industry would invest my meager earnings for me, provide me and my family with sustenance as would profit the enterprise as a whole and as long as was calculated to be sufficient for them, and protect property rights and the status quo with fierce displays of might if need be. All I needed to do was sign and date and submit fully to them.

I motioned to the hostess and she paced toward me like a concerned hen looking over an egg ready to hatch. "Is there anyway to preserve an iota of personal dignity with this?" I queried.

"Why, no ones ever dreamed of asking," she blinked. "If you would like, I would be happy to check with someone and get back to you."

I nodded and she turned, quickly notated something beside my name on the check-in list, and turned beaming to the next person waiting in line.

"Hello," she warmly murmurred. "Welcome to The Ownership Society Luncheon"

Read more!

It Ain't Over 'til It's...Actually, It Is Over

Even if Deibold was absolutely diabolical in Ohio...that does little to change the fact that Bush won a 3.1% plurality of the popular vote. As tight as the polling has been throughout the election cycle and as split as the country in general is, this essentially is a mandate.

Bush has a mandate for four more years of "peace through superior firepower", for "a faith based economy", for "a government of the free market by the free-market and for the free-market". Abu Ghraib? Fine by us. No Problem.

This is not 2000 when a significant portion of the population could muse that if not for a Supreme Court decision the dam had held. This is significant proof that the American people's voting habits have been altered by a poor diet of over-processed, starchy political rhetoric, sugary evangelical ideology, and spicy red-hot fear. Just as Americans have grown flabby and feeble in body, the mind and heart have largely followed.

There is no putting a good face on the loss for the Democrats. The party was ineffectual in opening up new constituencies with new voters. With well enough money to get the job done, the message was weak. What we got was a constant drone of how gawd-awful George Bush was, but missing was a clarion call to stiffen our spines and imagine a better way of doing things; a call to action. George Bush ran on a record of needless, reckless war, historic job loss, and welfare for the wealthy...AND WON! What has the Democratic Party done for you lately?

Analysts (may their putrid drivel be damned) say that Americans are driven by fears of terrorism. Rather, they are driven by a manufactured idea of terrorism. The people living in the major cities are the likely targets of terrorists. We aren't scared. The people out on the rural routes and in the small towns think terrorists are all but lurking out behind the corn crib at any given moment. They need someone to say "We will draw a line. They will not pass." Well, they did pass. Quite easily. On Bush's watch. And he simply sat there. He did not even whisper to his Chief of Staff to call a meeting. He just sat there. Makes you wander what he will do when it happens again.

What will the rest of the world do when they realize that America has forever changed and is no longer the "indispensible nation"? My guess is that the EU will link arms with no further reservation; the Korean Peninsula will reunify to marry the military might of the North with the economic engine of the South and say "thanks, but no thanks for the 50 years of protective custody"; China and Japan will exert pressure on our economic system through their shared ownership of our debt; and Muslims the world over will either find common cause or risk seeing their traditions crushed by American power that knows no proportionality and cannot respond to reason. If Bush pronounced that for some obscure reason we are forced to bomb Medina with ICBMs, 40% of the country would have no question at all of the decision.

Yesterday Americans decided that we need not do anything meaningful about the national debt; our health care system is exemplary; our corporate bosses know what is good for us and have our best interests in hand; America will rain down hell-fire on any perceived foe and we owe no explanation to anybody. Yesterday, evangelicals who perhaps thought they were voting for a leader who understands the meaning of faith in Christ, voted for a non-practicing "Christian" who would, as a friend has noted, "sell their children's futures for a few more barrels of oil."

The media proved to be laughably inane. It was so transparent how the monolithic corporate apparatus functioned according to the will of various fixers, mavens, gatekeepers, and plutocrats that the courtly intrigue ceased to be mesmerizing and was merely sick and disgusting. Fortunately, amatuer journalists came forth as if called by the ghost of Jefferson himself to raise facts to the surface and to key the smooth, polished finish of the media machine with a jagged "GO TO HELL."

There is a brutal class war that is devastating lots of people out here. I am one of them. For those who would make a glib chuckle over the mention of "class war", you better be prepared to fight the fight dirty and bare knuckled. Are you part of the symptom or part of the cure? Corporatist hegemony will not prevail over the individual. The monied affluence that seeks to make the will of a class into law for all will not stand. Your fortunes will dim. Tools to make the fight fair are easily obtained and are intrinsically democratic. The next time there will be no compliant media, no big money donors able to create their own reality with the force of their lucre. There will be no Terry McAuliffe. There will be an informed, engaged electorate made wise by our errors and bold by our solidarity. Never again.

Read more!