I am Proud to be a Liberal

Just in case anybody has any doubts on that score. I am a liberal, I'm proud of it. Anybody who wants to call me a Liberal should go right ahead. I'm also proud to be called a progressive. Calling me a progressive does not conflict with calling me a liberal. They aren't exactly synonyms, but in political terms they are similar.

Rush Limbaugh made a lot of hay yesterday out of a quote by Rob Reiner in which Reiner said . . . Well I'll just print the quote.

"I don't believe that there is a bias in the mainstream media. I think you have a fairly balanced mainstream media and I think you do have certain outlets, whether it's Fox or Rush Limbaugh or certain other outlets that are heavily tilted the other way. That's not to say now that there's now more progressive outlets being formed."

From that statement Rush Limbaugh discerns that Mr. Reiner is embarrassed of his liberalism. If he wasn't he would say "Liberal" outlets rather than "progressive" outlets.

In other news President Bush has said that "Results Matter" in this election. I'd agree, which of course is why I'm voting for Future President Kerry. Who replied to President Bush's attacks with this accurate observation, "They don't have a record to run on so all they can do is attack."

Round the Horn and back again

Some people say that Happy Furry Puppy Story Time has revealed a great new rhetorical device certain to win any argument. 

Gamers Nook returns us to those halcyon days of yore with a musical selection.

All Facts and Opinions relays why she will not be voting for Ralph Nader.

Left is Right explores the possibility of a new political party arising at this time.

Archy has a great pitch for a political comedy with one minor drawback; it's happening in real life.

Bark Bark Woof Woof has actual reporting from the Democratic convention floor.

The Invisible Library has a discussion of the conditions protesters have been met with at the Democratic Convention.

Respectful of Otters has a book review of what sounds like a fascinating book, called Beyond Fear.

Well that's enough for this week--busy morning, but hopefully I'll be back later.

Cartoonish villains and Revenge Fantasies

Went and saw "I, Robot" last night. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be, so I was reasonably satisfied. But that's not what I want to talk about here. Instead I want to talk about an trailer I saw before the main movie started for a forthcoming movie called "Paparazzi."

Apparently the movie is about some big Hollywood action star who finds himself the subject of the Paparazzi. They take pictures of him and his wife naked, and also pictures of his kid. Then he punches one of them, and, well, why don't I let the official synopsis tell what happens next.

"The paparazzi become increasingly relentless, ruthless - even criminal. One night they trap Bo and his family in a high-speed chase that ends in a terrible accident, sending Abby into intensive care and 6-year-old Zach into a coma."

Yep, a reporter (of sorts) becomes transformed into a cartoonish monster, people who kill without mercy. You have to watch the trailer to look at how cartoonishly evil they look as they flash their cameras again and again into the stars eyes as he drives. One of the paparazzi literally says "let's box them in."

And guess who is one of the producers of this movie is? That's right, it's Mel Gibson.

This is a revenge fantasy movie. Revenge fantasies are pleasant enough, I guess. But they always involve dehumanizing your victims. The hero is totally justified in what he does by the very inhuman nature of his enemies. The Paparazzi are evil, pure and simple, and so killing them, taking the law into your own hands (as the character in this movie apparently does), well, that's totally justified.

I mean it's only murder if your victims are human, isn't it? I mean if we thought that the Paparazzi was so aggressive because he was about to lose his house, and his marriage was on the rocks, if we knew that he took these pictures because he is angry at a Hollywood that betrays the huge rewards given him, if we know that he cries and laughs and feels pain, in short if we know that he is Human . . . Well it takes all the fun out of the revenge fantasy.

You know, now that I think about, I'm not so sure I like the idea of enjoying revenge fantasies. Seems pretty destructive.

The West Wing

There's an article over at Salon which contains interviews with Rob Reiner and Richard Schiff, who plays Toby Ziegler on NBC's The West Wing. A good interview, well worth checking out.

"What issues matter to you?

Retaining our claim to democracy is one. President Clinton gave an incredible speech the other night -- you know, "forming a more perfect union." We've been fighting, living and dying for 200 years to continue the tradition of forming a more perfect union. Sometimes we regress, but it's all formulated on the dialectic and discussion. It's not dictatorial and not based on rigid pillars of ideology."

Anyway, you have to watch a little ad to see the interview, but he also comments on the direction the show has taken since the departure of Aaron Sorkin, if you are interested in that.

Suzi Registered Voter and the Commentators

Suzi Registered Voter had certainly enjoyed listening to the Big Democratic Dog and other speakers at the Democratic Convention. As she was walking around she saw Conservative Cat talking to a group of very odd looking creatures.

Suzi had never seen such odd creatures in all her life. They were a little like moles and a little like jellyfish and a little like horseshoe crabs. After a moment she recognized them as Commentators. Note, dear reader, that the brave commentators of the Liberal Coalition look nothing like this. No, they look much more attractive and charming.

You see a television Commentator has to twist himself or herself into so many strange positions and has such a tiny area to do it in (particularly on those little handheld TV's people have), that they soon end up looking very strangely indeed.

Suzi Registered Voter was curious about these strange creatures and walked over listening to them commentating on the proceedings.

She heard one commentator growl out that the Big Democratic Dog had called half the people in America whackos. Suzi put her hand over her mouth. What a terrible thing to say about so many people. But then Suzi, being a very reflective person, considered what the Big Democratic Dog had said. Why, she couldn't remember the Big Democratic Dog even saying the word "Whacko."

Another one of the commentators hopped up and down and said, in a very quick voice, "The problem with John Kerry is John Kerry is out of the mainstream." Suzi thought about John Kerry's opinions on the issues, and concluded that he wasn't far out of the mainstream.

A third commentator walked forward, trying to look very formal and dignified (although his tie didn't really fit around his neck), and said that when the Big Democratic Dog was President, Ken Lay had stayed in the White House 13 times. Suzi Registered Voter had to put her hand over her mouth again, this time to keep from giggling. Everybody knew that that story was a bunch of baloney, and it was silly that this commentator brought it up again.

Suzi Registered Voter decided that the Commentators were being a bit silly and she walked off to hear another speaker. A very dynamic woman was standing, and one of the other conventioners said that she was the wife of the man who would be President. Suzi Registered Voter thought that she made many good and inspiring points.

"For many generations of people around the globe, that is what America has represented. A symbol of hope, a beacon brightly lit by the optimism of its people- people coming from all over the world.

Americans believed they could know all there is to know, build all there is to build, break down any barrier, tear down any wall. We sent men to the moon, and when that was not far enough, we sent Galileo to Jupiter, we sent Cassini to Saturn, and Hubble to touch the very edges of the universe at the very dawn of time. Americans showed the world what can happen when people believe in amazing possibilities.

And, that, for me, is the spirit of America - the America you and I are working for in this election. It is the America that people all across this nation want to restore - from Iowa to California, from Florida to Michigan, from Washington State to my home state of Pennsylvania. It is the America the world wants to see, shining, hopeful, and bright once again."

Suzi nodded at these words and thought they were much more interesting and important than all the fibs Conservative Cat and her Commentator friends were spreading.

Woe is Ann Coulter!

Oh what tribulations does Americans most well known leggy Conservative Commentator have to suffer?  After writing what could be her definitive column on liberals, USA Today spikes it.  Poor Ann.  Let us all shed tears in her general direction.

Fortunately she posted her mangum opus on her website, so that we don't have to miss out on her brilliance.  She opens her treatise with this brilliant paragraph.

"Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazened with the "F-word" are my opponents. Also, as always, the pretty girls and cops are on my side, most of them barely able to conceal their eye-rolling."

Note the immediate use of Biblical imagery. By calling Democrats the "Spawn of Satan" right off the top she places us in a black and white old testament context. We know who the evil doers are (they are Democrats). The second part of that sentence, however, throws a different light on her role in this Manichean Drama.

She describes herself and other conservatives as having to use covert signals, like gay men. In this biblical setting that Ann Coulter has thrust us into with her prose, one can only assume that doing anything like a "gay man" would be, in a word, wrong. Ann is defining the Democrats as evil "spawn of Satan," but she's not all that good herself apparently. One hears echoes of the one hundred forty sixth Psalm ("Put not your trust in princes") or of Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues ("Don't follow leaders / watch the parking meters.")

Ann brushes the implications of this statement aside almost immediately, as if, having raised the doubt, she is content to ignore it. Instead she begins describing her allies and her enemies in this Mephistophelian landscape within which she finds herself. Her allies are those who wear the cross or those who wear the American flag. Like the Florida delegates for example.



Perhaps I spoke to quickly about us returning to moral clarity. For these are pictures of delegates to the convention. Presumably they are Democrats and therefore the "Spawn of Satan." Is Ann saying that she is allied with the Spawn of Satan who adopt a more pleasing image? Or is she deliberately confusing her own role in this drama.

The line about people wearing T shirts with the F word on them is a bit coy, but the meaning is clear. Ann can't be literally talking about people with those shirts on, but clearly is talking about a metaphorical shirt. Finally she moves on to talk about pretty girls being on her side. One is reminded of another biblical passage, namely the second half of Isaiah chapter three, in which another group of "pretty girls" is mentioned. Truly Ann has plunged us into a spiritual minefield where nothing is exactly as it should be.

Or else Ann is just a sloppy writer and doesn't really think through the implications of what she is writing.

Apparently USA today has decided that the latter explanation is more plausible, and I have to say, now that I've dropped my erudite critic voice, that I agree. Salon has a great article on how and why she was dropped that goes into her piece further. The piece contains a great bit on comparing Ann Coulter to Michael Moore (who USA Today has apparently tapped to cover the Republican Convention.

"USA Today editorial page editor Brian Gallagher, defending the choice, told a reporter Coulter "was a voice from [the conservative] side with standing and visibility." Notice how credibility was not a requirement. By contrast, for the Republican convention in August, USA Today has tapped Academy Award-winning director Michael Moore to file dispatches.

Are the two really compatible? Nowhere in his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" does Moore suggest, for instance, that Republicans hate America or that Bush's Cabinet members are akin to Iraqi terrorists. Moore is an accomplished and, yes, partisan filmmaker; Coulter is a factually challenged name-caller. Could USA Today honestly not tell the difference?"

Anyway, tune back in later when we continue the adventures of Suzi Registered Voter at the Democratic National Convention.

Suzi Registered Voter and The "Haters"

- with apologies to Cat Lovers. I am, of course, a Dog Lover.

One day Suzi Registered Voter was walking along. She saw a big crowd of people talking to each other excitedly. Suzi couldn't hear what they were saying but they were waving their arms. One person even got on his chair and raised his hands over his head.

While Suzi was looking at the crowd of excited people, a Conservative Cat walked up and said, "Look at all those people who are filled with hate."

Suzi looked down and saw Conservative Cat and said, "They don't look so hate-filled to me."

Conservative Cat sat on his haunches and said, "Oh they are trying to pretend not to be hate filled, but they all hate President Bush."

Suzi sat down next to Conservative Cat and said, "Oh. I don't like hate-filled people."

Conservative Cat purred a little to itself and said, "Oh well you wouldn't like those people than. You're better off just ignoring them."

Suzi Registered Voter thought a moment, and said, "But how do I know they are hate-filled?"

Conservative Cat looked up at this and said, rather brusquely, "Well I just told you they hate President Bush. They hate him so much they try to hide their hatred. That's why they are smiling over there." He waved a paw over at the crowd of people. "They are thinking of how much they hate President Bush and trying to trick people into thinking they are positive, upbeat people."

Suzi nodded sagely. "That's very tricky. But with your warning, perhaps I should still go over and hear what they are saying."

Conservative Cat leapt at this and landed right in front of Suzi. "Oh no, Suzi. Don't go over there. You don't want to be around such hate-filled liars and hypocrites."

Suzi stood up and said, "Well I can listen for a little while. Look the Big Democratic Dog (and dear readers, I'll leave it up to you to guess who this might be) is going to make a speech."

Conservative Cat hissed and said, "Oh don't listen to him. He's a liar and a cad and a murderer and all kinds of bad stuff. He's the worst of the lot." At this point Conservative Cat began foaming at the mouth. Cats can't usually foam at the mouth, but Conservative Cat managed it just the same. "I hate him. I hate him. I wish he had been killed for all the bad things he did."

Suzi Registered Voter didn't say anything.

After a moment Conservative Cat, in a sulky voice, said, "Anyway he's just trying to steal the thunder of their new candidate. He wants Senator Kerry to lose so his wife (who I hates and hates and hates) can be President."

Suzi Registered Voter didn't say anything, but wondered how Conservative Cat knew so much about what the Big Democratic Dog was thinking.

The Conservative Cat started pacing away, still a little sulkily. "Go over there with the Bush-Haters if you want. Anybody who even looks at those people must hate Bush already, Bush-Hater." Cats have many admirable qualities but they are rarely good sports.

So Suzi Registered Voter walked over just as the Big Democratic Dog was finishing his speech. So this is what Suzi Registered Voter heard.

"In the Civil War, America was at a crossroads, divided over whether to save the union and end slavery-we chose a more perfect union. In the 1960s, America was at a crossroads, divided again over civil rights and women's rights. Again, we chose a more perfect union. As I said in 1992, we're all in this together; we have an obligation both to work hard and to help our fellow citizens, both to fight terror and to build a world with more cooperation and less terror. Now again, it is time to choose.

Since we're all in the same boat, let us chose as the captain of our ship a brave good man who knows how to steer a vessel though troubled waters to the calm seas and clear skies of our more perfect union. We know our mission. Let us join as one and say in a loud, clear voice: Send John Kerry."

That didn't sound very hate-filled, Suzi Registered Voter thought, but she realized that she hadn't listened to very much at all. So she stayed and paid attention to the whole convention. And Conservative Cat, high on a perch in a tree in a park near the convention, scowled and made angry growls and hisses.

Let's all go to the movies!

I went to see Control Room last night. It was an excellent thought provoking movie.

I think the greatest strength of the film is how it humanizes Muslims / Arabs / Middle Easterners. Instead of seeing the faceless villains or victims of other movies, we see them talking and expressing points of views. I know that's not a revelation or anything; but it is nice to have it brought home. I retain a healthy skepticism about Al-Jazeera (for about the same reasons that I retain a healthy skepticism about Fox News), but it is good to understand a little better where they are coming from.

More on Angry Democrats

Robert Novak writes an astoundingly myopic piece today on the current and constant Republican script; we Democrats have an irrational hatred of President Bush.  Of course it must be irrational; President Bush's actions deserve nothing but praise and admiration. 

The most myopic part of Novak's piece is his coverage of Max Cleland.

"Until 2002, Cleland had been treated gently by Republicans as a Vietnam War triple amputee veteran, and he never lost an election. This treatment enabled him to float in the Senate under the ideological radar, representing conservative Georgia while voting the straight liberal line. It ended two years ago with then Rep. Saxby Chambliss's Republican campaign, which pointed out that Cleland bowed to organized labor's demands to vote against the homeland security bill because of union representation questions."

Anybody familiar with the 2002 Georgia race in question has to know that there is a lot more going on than one vote. Indeed the Bush Administration set up an organized attempt to slander and slur Mr. Cleland. A more complete reading of that campaign might have included a certain ad put out by the Republican Party. Jim Boyd wrote an article for the Star Tribune on the subject.

"Take what they did to Max Cleland, for example. Cleland is a triple-amputee Vietnam veteran, former head of the Department of Veterans Affairs and for one term a U.S. senator from Georgia. Then the Republicans decided to do a number on him. In a hard-fought campaign for re-election, Cleland got everything the Republicans could throw at him, including the kitchen sink. His challenger was Saxby Chambliss, picked and managed by the White House's Karl Rove and Georgia GOP Chairman Ralph Reed. The absolute low point was a television ad which showed Cleland's photo together with those of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, equating the three. Cleland, the ad said, had shown his true colors by voting against homeland security. He was, the ad implied, unpatriotic.

Of course he wasn't. Through the long process of creating the Department of Homeland Security, Cleland had supported an alternative plan pushed by Democrats. It differed with the Republican version chiefly in the way it treated federal employees who are members of unions."

At any rate Mr. Novak is right that there exists a difference between the image that the party wants to portray to undecided voters and the image that the party loyalists would like to see. But this difference is not unique to the Democratic Party; President Bush is going to face the same problem when he finally holds his campaign.

The Block of the Writers

Nice to know that I'm not the only one suffering from a lack of inspiration. Jeff Jacoby has an article today in which he clearly wants to focus on how much we Liberals hate President Bush in the context of the ongoing election. So naturally he takes as his chief evidence an article written a year ago.

Because that's presumably easier than digging up a lot of hateful things we are saying right now. Granted that article, "The Case for Bush Hatred" by Jonathan Chait, published in The New Republic, was a bit extreme. But most Conservatives apparently believe that even mild criticism of President Bush, coming from liberals, can only be motivated by hatred. So you'd think he could find some examples.

Jacoby's not content to recruit an article from last November. Why not through in a deception while he's at it? Let's read this sentence and see if we can pick out the lie. "That was before MoveOn.org posted two videos on its website depicting Bush as Adolf Hitler."

Did you catch the deception? If you read that story it sounds like MoveOn posted two videos comparing President Bush to Hitler doesn't it? But the truth is somewhat different. MoveOn held a contest, entitled Bush in 30 seconds (if memory serves), allowing people to turn in ads criticizing President Bush. Two contestants turned in the ads which used Nazi imagery. MoveOn promptly removed the ads, saying that they had exceeded the boundaries of good taste.

Coincidentally, the Bush Campaign then choose to use those images in a web ad of their own, splicing the images of Hitler in between images of Howard Dean, Al Gore, and John Kerry. You'd think if these images were so bad and so beyond the pale, they wouldn't want to use them. But I guess this was a special case.

Let's take another statement. "Clinton-bashing got pretty intense, but rare was the Republican who was proud to call it "hatred." Many Bush-haters, by contrast, embrace the term enthusiastically." I guess Jacoby has a hard time telling the difference between one (Mr. Jonathan Chait) and many. He's also not adjusting for irony. After Hillary Clinton referred to a "vast right-winged conspiracy" more than one Conservative commentator or politician was happy describing themselves as members of this conspiracy.

Conservatives have been calling Liberals Bush-haters for a couple of years now. If some liberals besides Mr. Jonathan Chait have accepted the term (and Mr. Jacoby's article gives no evidence that they have (other than assertion)), than might not the same logic apply?

New Quote

I wasn't around at all yesterday, but here I am back with a new Quote.  And a new Quotes Page.