Lies, damned lies, and presidents

I demand a recount -- he told more than that just in the State of the Union...

Beyond the pale

I mentioned this blog to an acquaintance the other day and she allowed as to how she'd considered starting one herself, but was afraid she'd end up posting one rant after another, to her eventual regret. It's certainly a temptation, but one I've tried to resist -- so far.

Sometimes, though, a rant is simply what's called for.

The tragedy in the Heath Ledger story seems obvious on its face -- young, talented actor and father passes away without warning. The appropriate responses are contemplation of one's mortality, sincere condolences to the family left behind, and respectful silence.

Appropriate, that is, unless you're a screaming fundamentalist nutjob.

Yep, the Phelps clan and their "church" -- the same hatemongering, spittle-spewing little Hitlers who've been protesting at soldiers' funerals, claiming the deaths of American soldiers are the acts of a vengeful God punishing America for tolerating homosexuality -- are planning to protest at Ledger's funeral, because he had the temerity to portray a gay man in a movie.

It's just about the most disgusting, immoral, anti-family, un-American and, yes, un-Christian behavior imaginable. This much seems certain -- if these SOBs are right about the existence of Hell, when the time comes they're going to be the hottest show in town.

Birthday wishes

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered so many remarkable, inspirational statements in his lifetime that it's hard to pick just one to highlight on the day we have set aside to honor his memory and achievements. Still, his letter from the Birmingham Jail, reprinted in this morning's Sacramento Bee, is one of history's most pointed and profound arguments for nonviolent resistance to oppression.

I only wish on this day that there was a political candidate able to reach inside themselves and deliver that sort of principled eloquence, that kind of wise, unyielding and inspirational call to action. Oh, wait: there is.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy

There is one principal reason that, despite being a Political Science major and dedicated/opinionated follower of current events, I would not recommend politics as an avocation to anyone I care about: it's a dirty, dirty, dirty game. Just ask John McCain and Barack Obama.

Strange days indeed

Today's headlines feel like an episode of "News of the Weird," even when they aren't trying to be. First, for the geek squad we'll include the thinnest notebook ever. (Too thin for a CD drive? Hmm...) Then we move to the cops pepper-spraying and arresting unruly sports fans... at a tennis match. And of course we also had the Dems struggling to play nice, while the Reeps fell into complete disarray. Meanwhile, California voters may be grouchy about any number of things, but they still love their celebrity guv. In the Dept. of Strange Bedfellows, we find the ACLU leaping to the defense of Sen. Larry Craig. And finally, it seems the problems we are experiencing with health care for humans are merely the tip of the iceberg.

Ah, but then there's the news you really care about (if you live in my household, anyway). Unfortunately, Sam Warburg's terrific run at the Australian Open came to an end yesterday as he fell 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2 in a hard-fought match with the impressive Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Regardless, Sam's four straight wins will give him a nice bump in next week's rankings and a nice check to take home. A great way to start 2008!

Shameless nepotism : a plug

My nephew Sam Warburg is in his second year on the pro tennis tour and is currently ranked #172 in the world. Or at least he was, until he won three straight qualifying matches to get into the main draw of the Australian Open and then on Monday won his first-round match against #97 in the world, Juan Pablo Brzezicki. Coming off his first-ever match play win in a Grand Slam tournament, Sam is set to go up against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, ranked #38, at 3:00 pm Pacific today. Watch for scores here and don't forget to check ESPN2 for possible coverage. His new ranking will come out next week here -- and it will jump quite a bit. Meanwhile, GO SAM!

Like Nixon to China?

I do love irony, so it didn't take long to grasp the significance of this story: "Solider: Policy on gays may be shifting.”

It seems that as the Iraqi conflict drags on, the all-volunteer U.S. military can no longer afford to pick and choose which otherwise fit-to-serve soldiers it will keep. As a practical matter, it appears that all willing and able Americans are now being permitted to remain in the service of their country, regardless of sexual orientation.

So yes, as a friend put it last night, it now appears to be an indisputable fact that “George W. Bush is responsible for allowing gays in the military.”

A long road ahead

Well, New Hampshire sure made things interesting on both sides of the presidential primary process. And the happiest people in the nation today? Thanks to our pay-to-play campaign system, that would be a dead heat between political fundraisers and television advertising salespeople.

Where reality and fiction blur

Time to address the biggest story of the new year so far (and no, I'm not talking about The Return Of Jon).

Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses and appears to have big mo in the upcoming New Hampshire primary. The reasons why are complex but fascinating. Yes, as an Illinois senator he had an advantage in Iowa. Yes, he put together a great ground game with highly disciplined field organizers. Yes, Clinton and Edwards each have significant deficits of one sort or another that handicap their ability to sustain momentum.

What seems to be driving the Obama surge, though, is something so unimaginable in postmodern, hyper-cynical, 24/7 ironic America that it has columnists as sage and grounded as Frank Rich and Bob Herbert sounding positively giddy.

Obama seems to inspire people.

Yes, he's young and less experienced than many of the other candidates. No, he doesn't have all the answers. But unlike his competition, he doesn't necessarily pretend to. He doesn't claim to be more than he is -- a man whose profile embodies the multiracial nation America has become, and whose vision seems grounded in genuine affection for and belief in its promise. And that, coupled with a flair for self-deprecating humor and his notable skills as a public speaker, seems to be generating a wave of affection and yes, inspiration with him at its center. People really are tired of slimy lowball negative politics, and Obama offers a breath of fresh air.

There are of course still plenty of doubters, but really, the question of experience seems to have more traction than the most obvious question Obama's candidacy has presented to America -- the question of race.

And here's where my train of thought takes a turn for the fantastic. I decry the dumbing-down of television-sedated middle America as much as anyone, but really, you discount the pervasive nature of pop culture at your peril. I believe Obama has more than just Oprah to thank, though, for the fact that his appeal is reaching middle American homes that might not have been open to the idea of a nonwhite president just ten years ago.

Back in 2001 the producers of the TV drama 24 were searching for an actor who could project real moral authority in the role of Senator David Palmer, who during season one was was running for president. They probably already knew he would win the race and become president in season two and beyond. And they couldn't have chosen a better actor for the role than Dennis Haysbert.

It's tempting to think a co-starring role in an over-the-top spy thriller TV serial couldn't possibly change that many minds. But can anyone really doubt the role Will & Grace played in acclimating middle America to the idea of gay men as three-dimensional human beings deserving of fair and equal treatment? In the case of 24, for four years one of television's highest-rated dramas featured, with virtually no self-consciousness, an upright, eloquent and often formidable African-American president as the show's conscience and moral center.

There's no way to measure the effect that portrayal had on the nation's consciousness. But as one who believes in the power of our society's storytellers to influence not just the imagination, but our collective reality, I think Obama owes the 24 team as big a debt as he does Oprah. As for Haysbert himself, now there's a celebrity endorsement that would be rich with layers of meaning...

Happy(-ish) New Year

It's a new year and so far all we have to show for it is:

• Polls showing it's still anyone's race in the Iowa Caucus, especially on the Dem side.
• David Letterman and Conan O'Brien wearing "strike beards." (With scary pictures.)
  
• Nick Hornby's great young adult novel Slam (yes I finished it and yes it's wonderful).
  
• And the worst news of all: the San Francisco Giants have accomplished virtually nothing in what was supposed to be a substantial offseason makeover. Sigh.
  

R.I.P.

I was ready to wake up this morning and drop another funny on you, but I'm afraid all attempts at lightness or humor fled when I signed on and discovered a true horror: the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. A candidate in the scheduled Jan. 8 parliamentary elections in Pakistan, she served as the first female leader of a Muslim nation from 1988 through 1990, and was a brave advocate for democracy in a region that has known precious little of it. Pakistan weeps, and so should we.

Good listens: Chris Cubeta

I am a Chris Cubeta fan -- and if you like lyrics that sound like poetry and music that sounds like a combination of Bruce Springsteen and John Hiatt and a singer who sounds like he means it through every second of every song, you might be one day, too.

Cubeta is a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter who backs his perceptive, artful words with stirring roots-rock/alt-country arrangements, and sings with total commitment. In past reviews I've compared the quality of his lyrics to big guns like Springsteen, Dylan and Hiatt, and I'm not backing off now. Quite the contrary; his new Change EP is one of the most powerful, amazing discs I've heard all year and you should really go buy it right now.

Don't try this at home

Or at the airport, for that matter.

Holy Huckabee, indeed

In a spare moment this weekend I spent some time with Newsweek's profile of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the new man to beat in the Republican half of the Iowa caucuses. Disagreements on policy issues aside, he seems like a decent enough guy until you get to the part where he doesn't believe in evolution. Yes, it seems Pastor Huckabee (he's a Baptist minister) is a Biblical literalist, including on the subject of creation.

Now, personally, I've always found it puzzling why people on both the right and the left have so much trouble reconciling faith with science. The tale of creation as told in the Torah (a.k.a. the Old Testament) and the scientific narrative of the Big Bang and evolution have always sounded to me like two different ways of telling the same story. The conflict feels somewhat manufactured by the hardcases on both sides who insist they must be a hundred percent correct, and therefore the other guys must be a hundred percent wrong.

Be that as it may, it still startles me when an otherwise responsible, intelligent human being states with rock solid certainty that evolution is fantasy and creation fact, because the Bible told them so. (I've often wondered exactly how many bullocks these folks slaughtered on their stone altars that week.) And yet, in some parts of the country, there are actually schools trying to get accredited to offer master's degrees in science education for teachers who want to teach creationism. Which is fine, if you want to teach at a privately funded religious institution. But you don't teach tenets of faith as scientific fact in a public school -- at least, not in America. For that, you have to go someplace like Iran.

War on Christmas update

So much for the war on Christmas; it seems Hannukah is in greater danger. Hopefully they'll throw the book at these clowns. At least the subhead to AOL's teaser -- "Muslim aids Jews attacked on train" -- offers some hope for humanity.

Will they call him “’Roider” Clemens now?

Surprise, surprise. The sportswriters’ golden boy Roger Clemens is reported to be prominently featured in retired Sen. George Mitchell’s forthcoming report on baseball’s steroids mess.

Actually, this is not much of a surprise to those of us who have observed Clemens doing the very same things that have repeatedly been used as evidence of Barry Bond’s steroids use, e.g. bulking up and maintaining strength in his late 30s and early 40s.

Oh sure, but in Roger’s case it must have been those legendary workouts. You know why? Because he doesn’t trash-talk reporters, that’s why.

I’m an advocate of the Golden Rule and Barry Bonds has dished out plenty of the scorn the media has thrown back at him these past two years. But if all those angry sportswriters are really going to claim that they consistently maintained their professionalism, that they never lost their objectivity, that they never made it personal, then I expect to see a rash of columns in the next few days raining approbation down on Clemens’ head, calling for asterisks on all his records, pledging not to vote him into the Hall of Fame, and generally holding him up as the new poster boy for all that is wrong in the land of baseball.

Waiting.

Writers' strike, day 44

So: writer, pop culture aficionado, Jon Stewart fan.

Those three clues should provide all the evidence required to figure out where I come down on the subject of the Hollywood writers' strike.

What has been shocking to my apparently sheltered sensibilities has been the number of comments I've found strewn across various message boards in recent days demanding that the lazy no-good commie bastard writers get back to their computers and get cracking on those fresh episodes of According To Jim right now, dammit!

Forget about fairness, forget about the networks and producers reaping literally billions in profits off of creations that simply would not exist without both the imaginations and the skills of the writers behind them -- we want our TV and we want it now! Like the surly, strung-out addicts they appear to be, middle America is quivering with outrage that there WON'T BE A NEW EPISODE of Las Vegas until further notice. It's almost like the outrage you might expect if our political leaders had lied their way into an unwinnable war and then destroyed what was left of our nation's moral authority by torturing prisoners -- oh, wait.

Be that as it may, I found it astonishing how many people -- many of them, apparently, regular working people -- seem to just want the writers to quit whining and get back to cranking out their (i.e. the viewers’) shows. Have none of these people ever sought (a) a raise or (b) fair treatment from their own employers? Or is it just that, in the minds of middle America, the writers who created all of these memorable characters and shows rate no higher than the proverbial million monkeys tapping away at typewriters in hopes of one day accidentally cranking out Shakespeare?

Good listens: Switchfoot

Sometimes you just want to rock, but sometimes you want to think, too.

Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman writes thinking person's rock songs. And while he writes from a Christian perspective, his songs are not evangelical; he chooses to ask the big questions about life and the universe without advocating one particular set of answers over another.

It doesn't hurt that his songs rock, too.

In any case, it was my great pleasure to interview Jon by e-mail recently; results are here. Enjoy, and if you're looking for album recommendations, Nothing Is Sound is amazing, The Beautiful Letdown is terrific, and Oh! Gravity is really, really good.

California the ungovernable

I often take columns from the SacBee's resident curmudgeon Dan Walters -- who skewers politicians of all ideological stripes with equal and unrestrained cynicism -- with a heaping teaspoon of salt.

That said, when he's right, he's right. And he's right about this:

"Government worked better four decades ago because California was a simpler, more homogeneous place then with more clearly definable priorities. A governmental/political process that requires consensus cannot function effectively when the society it serves has become the most complex on Earth and no longer can muster consensus on any issue..."

Those who think terms limits or redistricting reform or budget reform or any other sort of fiddling at the margins is going to solve California's governance problems are kidding themselves. The state has in actual fact become, through no fault of anyone in particular's, virtually ungovernable.

There are simply too many people with too many different opinions of the direction the state should take on any given issue, and this reality is not just a prescription for but a near-guarantee of political stalemate and paralysis. In that sense our Legislature really has evolved into a microcosm of the U.S. Congress; the ideological divide between the Right and the Left is so huge that you are sometimes left to wonder how meaningful conversation between the two is even possible.

Former Assemblyman Stan Statham's proposal for splitting California into three separate states might have seemed like a crackpot idea at the time, but it's looking better every day now.

Dept. of Some People Never Learn

The Great Prince Fan Site Rebellion of 2007 rages on, now generating coverage from the New York Times (that's prince.org webmaster Ben Margolin in the Times picture at right). By now the Purple One is surely seeing red, having ignored the most important maxim of the last 150 years: never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel (or bandwidth by the terabyte).