Hy-Vee Dateline 6-29 (remote report)

From a remote report by June to the Hy-Vee Dateline information headquarters, last night around 9:15 p. m.:

1) Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours - Stevie Wonder

2) You're So Vain - Carly Simon

I know it's been an insufferable secret for 30 years, and no one but Carly knows for sure who the subject of "You're So Vain" is. In spite of fact, I think I'm finally ready to eliminate Snip from contention. It's been a good, vain ride, Snip; you cracked the top thirty...

He forgot to mention, "I am not a crook..."

Last night President Bush gave a half-hour speech designed to prop up support for the Iraq war, which is becoming remarkably unpopular in spite of the lack of a real visible opposition to the Administration's plans. Before the speech last night, 57% of Americans felt that Bush and his cabinet actually deceived the country into the war in Iraq, and for the first time since the spectre of 9/11, Bush's favorability ratings on the terrorism and national security issues is in danger of falling below 50%.

I noticed Bush doesn't even have a 50% approval rating in South Dakota, for crying out loud (it's steady at 48)! And, his approval rating amongst independents is 17%. Seventeen! I suspect you can get seventeen per cent approval for things like Bubonic plague and the Detroit Lions; it's pretty embarrassing territory for a recently-victorious president.

In looking over the speech, it seems pretty obvious that the White House spin machines are looking to recreate some of that 1969 Nixon magic. With support for Vietnam flagging, and just two weeks removed from what was then the largest peace demonstration in U. S. history, Richard Nixon delivered his famous "silent majority" speech, laying out a vague plan to "win the peace" in Vietnam. The public went along with it, for a while, and Nixon got a 16-point jump in his approval ratings along with a letter of bipartisan support signed by over 400 legislators in the Democratic-controlled Congress.

It won't work this time, for about three reasons that seem sort of obvious. Because they seem obvious to me (and I haven't even been paying all that much attention lately), I suppose they're quite obvious to many other folks too.

The first thing: Nixon was a new president in 1969, just elected. Vietnam was still associated with LBJ, and Nixon used the "silent majority" to introduce his Vietnamization policy, which resonated with a public desperate for any new plan with a name. The sheen of Vietnamization wore off when it was clear that it wasn't working, and the 1970 Kent State massacre certainly didn't help, but throughout the rest of 1969, Nixon was given the benefit of the doubt.

Bush won't be given the benefit of the doubt, not by most of the public, anyway. They've already heard about "Iraqification" and the training of the Iraqi security forces, and the progress toward democracy, blah blah blah. The country of Iraq is closer to civil war than at any point in my parents' lifetime, and although the press is still giving Bush the benefit of the doubt, the public is trending towards the "leave me alone, this was YOUR idea" approach. "You spent HOW MANY billion?"

Secondly, Nixon was framing his speech in opposition to a clearly identifiable, visible movement, the hippie peacenik counterculture generation of the late '60's. People dug the tunes, but in 1969, most Americans were still pretty unkeen on the hair and the free love. By equating "withdrawal" with "hippies," Nixon very effectively cornered just about everybody to the right of Timothy Leary into backing his plan, however tentatively.

Again, Bush doesn't have a group like this to pick on. Right-wing talk radio types have been frothing about liberals for years now, even though all the levers of government are controlled by conservatives. We're numb to it, but the conventional wisdom still posits that it MIGHT work on part of the electorate. I think this is what led Karl Rove to make such desperate (but calculated) remarks last week. It's not that he's a genius, it's just that he's ruthless, and even that isn't working, so he's going back to the Nixon playbook for another go-round. Equate liberals with traitors. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Fox News called Chuck Hagel, the conservative senator from Nebraska (one of the reddest states in the union) a "liberal" after his remarks that we're losing in Iraq and that the president is disconnected from reality. It takes quite a leap to equate Bill Kristol and Chuck Hagel with Michael Moore, but the illogic isn't important. Rove is desperate, and he needs all the typical liberal bogeymen in place (media, academics, Democrats, dissenters, whatever) if the rest of his Nixon tricks are going to have any effect.

So Bush can't blame this war on another president, he won't announce a new strategy, and he doesn't have an obvious political force to blame the wavering support on, as much as the right-wing talkers might try. This brings me to the third point: the "silent majority" appears to be opposing Bush, very quietly and very bitterly. As much as the news channels have been desperately promoting the various turning points of the Iraq war, not one of them has panned out. Again, my depressing little win streak comes to mind, the one where I take whatever the Pentagon says is happening and bet that in fact the opposite thing is happening. So far, so good! But one-on-one, it's hard to find an individual, conservative or otherwise, that's real gung-ho about this war right now. This doesn't make me happy. In fact, it sort of amuses me and troubles me that I still have to defend my view that a diplomatic solution to the problem of Saddam Hussein was far preferable to the current situation (and if Iraqis had more than about ten hours of intermittent electricity a day, they might e-mail their agreeance with my stance). Oh well.

There is still a very big assumption inside the beltway, an assumption that the U. S. can't withdraw from Iraq. I disagree. People argue that Iraq will become chaotic and a breeding ground for terrorism and a bedfellow with Iran. Well, all three of those things are happening with frightening speed right now, and the number one reason they are happening is our continued occupation presence. Period. Iran's foreign minister visited Iraq last week, and for some reason, his trip wasn't dangerous or threatening. Meanwhile, every time one of our government leaders pops by Baghdad, the town has to shut down to prevent mass political assassination attempts. The assumption that the situation would automatically worsen BECAUSE we left is arrogant and increasingly incorrect. Oh, and Iraq went from zero international terrorist attacks from 1994-2000 to 32 last year. We're running Iraq now. Obviously, then, if we left, it would go up? I'm afraid I don't understand. No serious foreign affairs expert would argue that the U. S. presence in Iraq is LIMITING the interest in jihadist terrorism; quite the opposite. And, of course, the Iraqi insurgency, which is providing bundles of daily attacks on U. S. and Iraqi security forces every day, would cease attacking us... if we left. I know, I know, the Sunnis and Kurds and Shia might shoot each other, but the odds of that are higher with us there, I think. Plus, right now WE'RE shooting at everybody, too, and we have lots of fancy guns.

As for the two tired arguments in rebuttal to my last paragraph: no, young Iraqi men aren't going to come to New York and blow themselves up if they are denied the chance to do it down the block in Baghdad. That's ridiculous, and if it wasn't repeated so often by the administration, it wouldn't even merit a serious reply. In fact, and I know this will come as a surprise to some, the nation of Iraq has never attacked anything in America. Inconvenient, perhaps, but true. Also, I really can't be criticized for distinguishing between "terrorists" and "Iraqi insurgents" because the president has started to distinguish between them. He has to, because the only possible way to make any security progress in Iraq is to negotiate with the leaders of the people trying to kill U. S. troops. Everybody knows that, but Republicans have been busy calling Democrats traitors for months now for suggesting exactly that. Anyway, our government is negotiating with Iraqi insurgents; our government is also lying about it out of political panic.

Seriously, read the speech from last night. Bush is no longer a "with us or against us" guy. He's started to equivocate on all of his statements about the resistance in Iraq. Read the speech. It's fascinating, and you'll have to read it yourself, because nobody at CNN is going to challenge the guy... (Let me clarify: I'm in favor of negotiating with the various factions of the resistance in Iraq, just as I am in favor of eliminating those factions that are engaging in indiscriminate killing. Both things are very hard to do, but necessary, and the president should be challenged by the press due to his brazen hypocrisy, not due to his tentative foray into the actual real world of geopolitics).

One final thought: Do any of you know anybody, anybody at all, that doesn't "support the troops," whatever that means? I say whatever that means because Russ Feingold's amendments to restore veterans' benefits to the 2005 and 2006 budget keep getting defeated by conservatives. I don't know what "support the troops" means. I don't want them to be killed. Is that support? Life, especially faced with the violent loss of it, is pretty crucial, right? I don't want them to be maimed, and I don't want them to be used for cynical political or business pursuits, ever. I'd prefer that our reserve forces be kept in reserve, rested and ready for a real threat from a real nation. Is that support? I know people that have been in Iraq, and they seem to have returned in one piece, without haunting nightmares, and for that I'm EXTREMELY grateful. I don't wish that on anybody. Drug addiction and low morale are plaguing some of the divisions in Iraq that are enduring their second extra summer of dangerous work in the desert. They still don't have the armor they complained about two years ago. Is that support?

I'm no military expert, and I don't wish to be, but I'm pretty sure the soldiers in the field didn't make these war decisions. They're just following orders. Many of them have exemplary motives for serving their country. Some are dolts, some are misogynists, and some are racists, but, as with any group, I think you can teach them if they live long enough. Some are a lot like me. They're all human beings, just like their enemies/friends in Iraq, and I have no quarrel with them. Is that support? I don't have a ribbon on my car. Is that support?

In the instances I've heard it lately, "support the troops" has become a code phrase for "shut off your brain." I don't support that.

No, no, it never happened...

UNESCO's World Monuments Fund just released its annual list of the world's most endangered cultural sites. The entire country of Iraq was listed (the first time an entire country was listed...).

Uncle Jer's Random Ten: Sunday Classical Edition

For all of you who long for the nostalgic evenings when your parents would force you to listen to classics on public radio on Sunday morning:

1) Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, op. 8 - Johannes Brahms (performed by Van Cliburn with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra)

2) Symphony No. 1 in E-flat, op. 1 - Igor Stravinsky (performed by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting)

3) Fountains Of Rome: IV. The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset - Ottorino Respighi (performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, Istvan Kertesz conducting)

4) Opening from "Nixon In China" - John Adams

5) The Planets, op. 32: Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age - Gustav Holst (performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis conducting)

6) First Little Serious Piece - Silvestre Revueltas (Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting)

7) Symphony No. 6 - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting)

8) Ave Maria, op. 52, no. 6 - Franz Schubert

9) Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah" - Leonard Bernstein (New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conducting)

10) Selections from the ballet "Fancy Free" - Leonard Bernstein (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman conducting)

This list has a pretty good mix, some safe war horse classics (Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Holst); the Schubert, where you can almost hear him attempting to come out of the closet in a way that was acceptable in 1823; some Bernstein, who at the time he was writing Fancy Free had a famous crush on the same male concert pianist that his daughter was chasing; and then there's the edgy modern stuff, the "Nixon In China" opera and a little piece by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas.

Revueltas is really pretty terrific. His music is light and bouncy, but full of some sort of controlled rage, like you're watching a cartoon that's much deeper than you anticipated. And no, Snip, I don't "The Family Guy."

Special bonus #11: Scenes from "Porgy And Bess": My Man's Gone Now - George Gershwin. This one would probably speak to either Schubert or Bernstein.

While I'm on the repressed sexual desires theme, it's worth noting that Tchaikovsky tried to get married once. He thought if he could just give it a go, everything in his body might turn to normal. The marriage lasted only days, and Tchaikovsky ended up devastated and suicidal. And prolific...

What kind of a tree are you?

I'm a poplar. June is a maple.

What kind of a tree are you?

Hornbeam?

funny and a feeler

On one of the mornings following the 2000 Presidential Election our friend Chad woke up to the radio screaming, "No more Chads! No more Chads!" He was quite terrified and wondered where he was.

Also, we here at Fish On Toast have been throwing around an idea that needs some feedback. What if Spooncat:, Wumpus, Prozac Rat, and possibly Sleepeater tried a 24 hour CD project? Everything would be set up in advance and once the clock strikes midnight we begin to record an album. By midnight the next day the album needs to be done except for mastering. All overdubs, vocals, mixing. It has been brought up to bring the press into this and last night DSSTM mentioned selling tickets. Since all of this would be done at the PAC in Brookings, there would be an auditorium full of seats where people could watch the process unfold. When the lights are white you can make a small amount of noise, when they turn red the recording button has been pushed: shhhhh.

The main goal of the album would be letting instincts run wild, which should be right up our collective bands' alley. Some of the songs would be rough sketches one of the groups have been working on, finished by the efforts of others. Yet a few could be completely made up and recorded that day in the studio.

Any thoughts?

I Ran

A quick, cleverly-disguised two-theme post:

First, the Downing Street Memo, the famous (I guess perhaps not nearly as famous as it should be, or might become) memo where British minutes from a meeting clearly indicate the Bush administration had already initiated military operations in Iraq as early as summer 2002, and that the "facts were being fixed around the policy. Of course, this is damning evidence of wrongdoing and deception at the highest levels of United States government, but that hardly matters, since the notes were taken by British leaders, and not Linda Tripp.

But what interests me about the memo is that it indicates the timeline very clearly... for 2006. We're already in Iran, you know, "softening" up their airspace. This is what the U. S. Air Force was doing in Iraq in 2002. It was recently declared illegal and a war crime by both British and American intelligence in recently-released assessments, but that hardly matters, since the notes were taken by... oh, never mind.

So, Iran's coming, folks. Did you notice the national elections in Iran over the weekend, and the allegations of fraud? Are you aware of how many of your tax dollars, roughly, have already been used to "further democracy" in Iran by covert means? Me either.

Speaking of Iran, how about that timeless media method: the SUMMER DIVERSION! An all-Eighties Random Ten...

1) Say You, Say Me - Lionel Richie
2) Hot Girls In Love - Loverboy
3) Tempted - Squeeze
4) Dance Dall Hays - Wang Chung
5) Another Brick In The Wall (part two) - Pink Floyd
6) Throwing It All Away - Genesis
7) She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
8) There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
9) I'm That Type Of Guy - LL Cool J
10) When The Lights Go Out - Naked Eyes

This Random guy has a sense of humor today. But not enough of a sense of humor to actually put the Flock Of Seagulls song in the first ten.

Bonus #11) Your'e A Friend Of Mine - Clarence Clemons with Jackson Browne.

Hot in herre...

Again, a big round of applause for Nelly for that introduction. Let him hear it!

Seriously, does anybody dispute the fact that global warming exists? Do any of you readers dispute that? If you have any evidence that global warming isnt' occurring, or that human activity isn't involved in irreversibly affecting our habitat, please let me know. I'd love to read it.

See, the G8 leaders are getting together next weekend, and Tony Blair is leading a charge to include talks on global warming and actions the industrialized nations can take immediately. The Bush administration has covertly and overtly sabotaged Blair's plan and his public statements on the matter. And Philip Cooney (the Bush staffer who complained that scientists are biased because if they scare the public into thinking that global warming exists, then the scientists can reap all kinds of research projects and grants to study the supposed problem) resigned from the Bush global non-warming team after it was revealed that he was doctoring the government's own reports to ignore the overwhelming evidence of global warming. Fortunately for Philip, he wasn't out of work long: he was just hired by Exxon-Mobil, a U. S. company that burns twice as much carbon dioxide as NORWAY.

Cooney has the same level of scientific training as an actual chimp. And yet the chimps are bright enough to build cooler huts...

jeremy live

jeremy live
Originally uploaded by xophersmith.

this is a picture of jeremy at the cinco (not) de mayo gig.

Saturday Random Ten

Jon, that's a good idea. I have a bunch of new stuff on my iTunes, so now's a good time for a little arbitrary music-listin':

1) Crosseyed And Painless - Talking Heads (Remain In Light)
2) Hard To Handle - The Black Crowes
3) Dewain's Song Of Liberation And Surprise - Michael McElroy
4) The Pond (Remembrance) - Charles Ives - San Francisco Symphony/Tilson-Thomas
5) Snowbound - Donald Fagen (Kamakiriad)
6) You Don't Know Like I Know - Sam & Dave
7) The Last Dynasty - Papa Vasguez
8) Woody Guthrie - Alabama 3
9) Things Aren't What They Used To Be - Jacky Terrasson Trio (Alive)
10) To Tame The Perilous Skies - David Holsinger - Tactical Air Command Band (Fireworks For Band)

Heh.

come join us...

Saturday night our offensive breed of music will be shielded by the tame and careful band Wumpus. Please come. Throw something. Throw Skip for all I care, or a 22 oz. malt liquor of your choice. Just beware of this: there will be music accompanying your throwing, and that music will throw something as well. Maybe DSSTM since he gets to play with both acts. Screw you all! Damn throwers. Throw your own shit.

SPOONCAT! & WUMPUS
PHIL'S PUB
SATURDAY, JUNE 11
music starts after the first object is throwed. Yeah, that's right. Throwed.

Hy-Vee Dateline: 6-7

The early hours saw the return of classical soul jams in Hy-Vee. Today's cut: "I'm Still In Love With You" by Al Green.

Somebody likes Marvin, Jon.

so it begins...

To continue it's blazing path across the online charts, Magic has cracked the top ten at Broadjam.com in the alternative folk section: less than a week after it was uploaded. And this is an older mix I did of it months ago. Oh well.

On a curious note a review has just been done of Come, from The American Jiggler. I suspect some bias forging its way into this anonymous process. You see the reviewer is apparently a 28 year old from South Dakota (exactly like me), and they gave this song all 5/5's. At least the positive reviews of Magic quite accurately pointed out the faults of the version they were hearing. And the incredibly positive review of Allison was right on the money with its pros and cons. This just flat out smells funny. And if it continues we may crack the top ten a few more times. So keep it up my friends.

"I got 7 out of 10 shoutin' U.S.A.! (and 5/5 on instrumentation from a singer/songwriter in Texas)

Here's a scary quote.

"We... are in great danger of slowly evolving into a proto-fascist state. It will be a different kind of fascist state from the one the Germans evolved; theirs grew out of depression and promised bread and work while ours, curiously enough, seems to be emerging from prosperity. But in the final analysis it's based on power and the inability to put human goals and human conscience above the dictates of the state... Of course, you can't spot this trend... The test is: What happens to the individual who dissents? In Nazi Germany, he was physically destroyed; here, the process is more subtle, but the end results can be the same... Huey Long once said, 'Fascism will come to America in the name of antifascism.' I'm afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security." --Jim Garrison, 1967.

Eek.

Maybe he was just joshin' around...

The news is bad...

So bad, in fact, that only unicorns can help restore some sanity around here.

Here's the exact conversation I had with the worker who processed my payment for license plate tags yesterday at the Courthouse:

I say, "It's been a wild day, hasnt' it?"

He says, "Mama told me there'd be days like these" (he's sort of singing), "That's in a song, isn't it?"

"I don't remember the name of that one," I say, "but John Lennon had a tune called 'Nobody Told Me There Would Be Days Like These.' It was a big hit after he died."

"That John Lennon was a real talent," says the man, as if he's speaking of the neighbor kid's accordion abilities. "It's too bad that some kook had to go and do something crazy like that..."

I was tempted to say "Crazy like what? Like releasing songs after you're dead? How do you think 2Pac feels?" but I just nodded as he gave me the tags and I gave him a check.