Trivializing Greatness

Nothing has irritated me more today than an article I read in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that chose to concentrate on Michelle Obama's DRESS, rather than the woman's remarkable poise and self-possession.

Wanna read hogwash, just click here. What an utter waste of space, when the emphasis is on a dynamic woman's fashion sense-- but even moreso, the suggestion that the woman might be....."sexy"? Upstaging her husband? Too forceful in her chosen look? Haven't we gotten beyond this?

I've been a big fan of the Post-Gazette and its fine articles, but this rocked me back on my heels: what unfortunate choice of focus, and a woman as confident and comfortable in her own skin as Mrs. Obama deserves better than mentioning how the line of the dress 'followed the curve of her buttocks'-- that's impossibly gauche.


That's not what I expect of a newspaper.

If something like that had been written in an issue of "Elle" or "Cosmopolitan", I could understand-- I would consider the source and simply wonder why people have nothing better to do-- but in no way should this ever appear as true reporting on the dynamic personal presentation that Michelle Obama achieved on Monday night.

Unacceptable, Post-Gazette. Way below your normal incisive, well-targeted news articles.

More to the point, it just really pisses me off that in this day and age we're still ogling females like cuts in a butcher shop. In a Playboy magazine or in any stupid product-pushing advertisement...well...that's never going away because it sells; there's the buck behind that, and what appeals visually and viscerally will always ride front and center.

However, I do expect more when I'm reading about history in the making-- I expect intelligence, not gossip or silliness of emphasis. I want to read a story that reveals the person IN the dress...................and not what the damn dress reveals.

True Cross

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that it's unwise (if not ghoulish) to use steel from the destroyed World Trade Center to make things- commemorative or not?



There is a beam making its way to Shanksville Pa., that is to become part of a huge cross so we may remember the deaths of those on Flight 93. (Remember.....or seethe?) Do we really need salt poured into the wound by the constant reminder of twisted steel? The worst is a new U.S. warship named USS New York, whose hull is made entirely of WTC steel with the motto "Never Forget" painted on its side. To my mind, it's as emotionally manipulative as knights being sent off to the Crusades with pieces of the 'true cross' to fire them up. All of this smacks of "emotional patriotism"-- which is the most dangerous kind. It's what allowed us to invade Iraq. It's what's kept George Bush in office for 8 years.

It's a mixture of fear, fury and revenge- and it bothers me- a lot. I am sent emails fairly often with a 'support our troops' theme, and as lovely or heart-wrenching as the pictures are, I feel the manipulation behind it. I dislike ralliers; I mistrust things that are aimed at the tear ducts-- especially when they are wrapped in the flag.

What we need to combat terrorism is a cool, clear head. We need to use intelligence, and we need to move as silently as possible. The time has come to lay the anguish finally to rest, and pursue a safer world methodically and without propaganda (or props) of any kind.

Symbolism is too easily used to blind and to keep wounds open. A simple commemorative stone such as the Vietnam memorial in Washington DC would have been the most appropriate and dignifed way not to forget the names or the events: it fosters contemplation, not anger. It's a place to meditate and leave the wiser. It's sobering, but it does not give rise to vengeance. It's not made of shot-down helicopters or burned tanks.


It's a gravestone. A marker. A place to truly grieve- and go from there. I wish WTC memorials could have kept those things in mind, but then I remember that these are being constructed while still in the Bush era.....we're not out of the woods yet. We're still very much in the dark, and in many ways these WTC holy relics allow this Republican administration to feel justified in all the ways they've weakened this country. Too bad we can't see it. Yet.

Give history another 25 years. O Babylon, it will cry, we were so easily bent.

Recidivism and Escalation

This news item caught my attention today, and the outrage that followed my reading it is indescribable. When will we learn that these bastards cannot be rehabilitated? This particular bent never corrects itself, is not controlled or changed, and usually escalates. The only reason we have not seen the name George Feigley popping up anywhere since 1975, is because he's been behind f*cking BARS.


And now they want to release him?-- no registration as a sexual offender, no monitoring, no nuthin'?


When will we learn that the price of this kind of sloppiness in the system ends up in heartbreak and tragedy for some innocent walking around out there who has not yet met up with this son of a bitch? How many deaths and psychological maimings will it take until stories like this one, featuring the Duncan Edwards III- (ain't he the 'looker'. Christ.....makes my skin crawl)- continue to haunt us? If you read this article, please note:

"Duncan isn't new to the legal system. His past is littered with arrests and prison time for crimes ranging from car theft to rape and molestation."

There is no way out of the squirmy soup that is the internal workings of these madmen, and there is no way they can be changed outside of castration- (and forget the chemical kind....they don't take the medication)- so either lock 'em up and keep them there, or monitor CONSTANTLY with registration- which includes electronic surveillance with GPS capability and LOTS of man hours following and checking up on them. Both these options are needlessly expensive.

Nothing less than surgical castration is a surefire, suitable solution...cut off their nuts. It's better than risking even one more child. Otherwise, as in the case of Duncan, whatever sick gratification these monsters need will require another boost each time they commit an offence. And for some- that becomes total control of the victim, which translates to kidnapping, torture- and murder for some.

That's too high a price to pay. F*ck civil rights in these cases. They don't got 'em....they forfeited those when then became predators, and any society has the right and the obligation to protect the helpless.

Until we have the balls to put punishment like this to use-- LOCK 'EM UP AND THROW AWAY THE GODDAMN KEYS; no 'three strikes you're out' bullshit....one. One. With 20 years mandatory- and if the creeps survive that, then clamp a bracelet on 'em and follow their every step and have them report and report and report to make sure they're not still preying on the young.

To Da Bone.....

Another one 'outted'. This should come as no surprise, but so help me, it does. I personally believed this guy was on the up-and-up when it came to his devotion to his family, his wife- and his word-- but this time, we not only have another fella' who couldn't keep it in his pants, we have one who gave into his impulses while his wife was having a very public battle with cancer. How sleazy is that?

I remember the way the world reacted to America's horror over the Clinton debacle, and realize we're seen as ridiculously naive and puritanical, but with Clinton, we knew the man we elected had affairs before he took office, so when he was found still chasing skirt in the oval office and people were scandalized, that did seem a bit silly. But Edwards' devotion to his ailing wife and his public portrayal of a devoted husband appeared totally sincere; he was very public about that, and that's why this one is more heinous than most. It's the lying when you don't expect it, that's the ugliness in this story... much more than the affair itself.

With Clinton, I think we all knew he was probably getting away with something- because he'd done it before. But with Edwards, it's the betrayal way over and above the norm. It's cruelty and callousness in the extreme, and I say we write this Puckish choirboy off for good. I know I have. This one's a real rat- because he appears to be a sweet little gerbil, and that's a dangerous combination.

And think about this for a moment: what is 'character'?

If you can't trust a man will not lie to his wife and children, how can you trust him in other matters? This seems like a very simple concept to me. It may not be worldly or cosmopolitan, but it reads right as rain to these two eyes. Perhaps it's true that politics are dirty, and only dirty men succeed at it (as was pointed out to me today} and we shouldn't be shocked by any of this. But I am.

And I'm glad I am. Means there's something inside more than a jaundiced eye. Means there's hope. Means there's still the possibility for a truly upright person to come along and do the right thing all the time-- no matter who is watching.

Name-Calling

Damn Bush is at it again. Voicing more dumb rhetoric about evil-doers and telling Korea it can redeem itself and extricate itself from the 'axis of evil'- what ridiculous purple prose that is- and what is that from anyway...A BATMAN comic book?

The Koreans can become good guys, Bush postulates- if they try really, really hard, but so far........nada. So far they've racked up "crimes against humanity". That seems to top the list for both Korea and China, even as he is over there at the Great Wall 'making nice'. No doubt the HUGE potential consumer market of that emerging Capitalist monster makes just about any old crimes go down awful easy, but I think it's pretty bald-faced hypocrisy, don't you? I mean-- what greater crime against humanity might be conceived beyond the invasion of a foreign nation resulting in the deaths of thousands when it's based upon cooked-up allegations?

Did you see this today? The Bush administration forged a letter back-dated to July of 2001 that spoke of al-Qaida's direct connection to Saddam Hussein. This came about after Bush declared to his staff that he needed something more to 'make his case' for our disastrous military presence in Iraq-- once WMD were not found.

Now.........back to that question of 'evil-doers'......isn't this simply

  

the pot calling the kettle black? Damn straight it is. (A concept, btw, the Bush administration would be sorely challenged to understand.)

They are masters of the "goopball", as in...."to be effective, a hurler has to vary the speed and movement of his pitches. He can do this legally by changing his grip on the ball and the spin he creates when he throws it. A pitcher who's willing to break the rules can create other effects by doctoring the surface of the ball." The 'Bush GOOPBALL' has become the new national pastime.

Canadian Strange...

Because I don't want to go into it with specific names or more of the gory detail that has been splashing all over the net, some one just f*cking tell me why the Canadian police did not shoot that damned mad dog in the bus as he continued to defile a corpse?

Do they not have guns? The sick freak was in there for 45 frickin' minutes before they finally got him- and only when he was trying to escape by kicking out a window. What's wrong with you guys?

Canada is a more 'civilized' country- yes, yes I know- as I recall from watching "Bowling For Columbine": more guns per capita, less shooting deaths.


So what? When they still have the Pig Farm serial killer operating for years, and now this most loathsome of crimes witnessed by a bus load of people, surrounded by law enforcement in a standoff. It was one man and a knife- (against how many trained professionals?)- circling a bus full of WINDOWS as a ghoul continued to desecrate someone's son/ brother/friend. What a horrible event. What the hell happened once cops were on the scene?

I also know there is no death penalty in Canada. How about euthanasia? How about putting down a mad animal.....




Remember Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird"? Remember how it only takes just one upstanding man to get rid of the thing that's threatening the group? Why couldn't a dispatched group of policemen rush a bus held only by a knife-wielding man and the poor dead thing he was still playing with?

This makes me sick. The ineptitude and slowness to act leaves me speechless.

Sometimes there are mad dogs. When they appear suddenly in our midst- and despite reluctance- despite ideology or custom, those hyenas need to be put down quickly, in a way they'll stay down, so shame on the Canadians. In a place famous for their red-coated Royal Canadian Mounted police, they didn't get their man this time-- until he'd done his absolute worst.