Cover Art

Taking it in a slightly different direction -

Mat Weddle covers Hey Ya

Really Dead

So the immigration bill died again. I think they mean it this time. While conservatives seem to be really happy about this, I'm not that sad.

Ha Ha

Democrats rule! Republicans drool!

Even id there's "all-out war between the United States and various radical Muslim groups worldwide"

Even in a Foxnews Poll.

Pet Issues

Ah, here is a story in Slate that gets right at one of my pet issues: The ridiculous tendency to try and turn all pop-culture manliness into homoerotic.

But sophisticated critics routinely dismiss this sort of quasi-heroic cinematic friendship as "homoerotic," and they do so with such offhand certainty that it's easy to miss how doltishly unimaginative this interpretation is. Indeed, claiming a macho film friendship is not-so-secretly gay has become its own kind of silly convention, a fake-subversive cliché. It is better—sounder both aesthetically and sociologically—to view the masculine pathos in films like Point Break in light of the tradition of heroically minded philosophy that runs from Aristotle to Nietzsche.

I always have to be careful about this, least it be interpreted as homophobic, but this effort to turn all male friendships into hidden gay subtext really does put the squeeze on the space in which guys can relate to each other. If every form of male friendship is "gay" then all we are left with is Bachelor parties and Beer commercials and other over the top "I'm extra heterosexual" kind of activities.

Most Cool

From Julian Sanchez comes this great find: Political themed Magic: The Gathering Cards. Politicians, events, think-tanks, and more.

Cracks

So as the war grows more and more unpopular, Republicans are starting to show the strain:

Thirty percent of Americans polled say they favor the war, the lowest level of support on record. Two-thirds are opposed.

Anti-war sentiment among Republican poll respondents has suddenly increased with 38 percent of Republicans now saying they oppose the war.

Moreover, 63 percent of Americans are ready to withdraw at least some troops from Iraq. Forty-two percent of Republicans agree.
...
But there are some other cracks starting to show in the Republican wall of support -- most dramatically Monday when Republican Sen. Dick Lugar rose to speak in the Senate.

"I speak to my fellow senators when I say that the president is not the only American leader who will have to make adjustments to his or her thinking," Lugar said.

Lugar's assessment: "In my judgment, the costs and risk of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved."

I highly recommend this post from TPM on the dynamic involved. No Republican wants to be the first to jump ship, there is a stubborn, vengeful President and a stubborn vengeful Conservative base out there, that will punish early jumpers. But there is a wider electorate out there that is going to nuke the Republican Party down to the bedrock if they don't get away from Iraq.

Back to Powerless VPs

A top noch proposal. Let us return the Vice Presidency back to its original Constitution worth. A Pitcher of warm spit and/or piss.

Bong Hits for Jesus Banned!

So the earlier noted Bong Hits for Jesus case has been decided by the Supreme Court and the kids lost.

So it is legal to suspend a kid if he puts up a sign that makes no sense but is vaguely related to drugs. Apparently if the sign was a reasonable defense of making pot legal for medical purposes that would be the kind of speech that gets defended.

Apparently, the 1st amendment on protects speech that makes sense.

Sparks

Understanding the world in two easy steps.

#1. Current event - Lake Tahoe wildfire burns 200 homes, threatens hundres more.

#2. Deeper understanding - Josh McDaniel on how cuts in funding and more homes built on the edge of the wilderness are going to lead to more of #1.

Stunned

Check out an amazing look at Vice President Cheney's efforts to make torture the official policy of the land. This is where torture comes from. Cheney is powerful like no Vice-President before him. He has the ability to set policy, but none of the accountability that goes with that power. People just don't pay that much attention to the office of Vice President. Cheney will never run for office on his own, so he will never be accountable to the voters. Power plus No Accountability equals torture.

For Lorena

A Little Something

The John Popper Project - Lapdance

Evil Now Has its Own Branch of Government

Holy Founding Fathers!:

Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

So in order to avoid revealing what they are up to, the office of the Vice-President now claims that they are their own branch of government, something other than the executive. They are up to no good, so I understand the need for secrecy, but really!

Rahm Emanuel reponds by asking Cheney to Please Get The Heck Out Of The White House

26

Down:

Only 26 percent of Americans, just over one in four, approve of the job the 43rd president is doing; while, a record 65 percent disapprove, including nearly a third of Republicans.

Soldiers Pay

14 U.S. troops killed in Iraq in 48 hours

Bloomberg?

So NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg switched from Republican to "unaffiliated" yesterday. First let us celebrate one less Republican in the world. Bloomberg of course, didn't have what you would can a deep attachment to the GOP, having joined the party in 2001 so he could run in an easier primary in the Mayor's race.

Of course everyone is speculating that Bloomberg intends to run for President as an independent. He could spend billions on a race. Think of a less nutty Rose Perot. That could really scramble up the race.

Digby's a Girl

Digby's a Girl

Trinity: My name's Trinity.
Neo: *The* Trinity? Who cracked the IRS d-base?
Trinity: That was a long time ago.
Neo: Jesus...
Trinity: What?
Neo: I just thought... you were a guy.
Trinity: Most guys do.

Digby.

A Saga of Note

I don't think I've highlighted a truly amazing story to come out of Northern California lately is the arrest of a dozen people over a plot to overthrow the Communist government of Laos. Most of the group consists of members of the local Hmong community here. Very, Very predominate members of the national Hmong community, as the Capitol saw large protests yesterday in support of the arrested. Also indited in the plot was a former Army Ranger, Vietnam veteran and National Guard Officer who my day job just hired as an Ombudsman(!?)

The plot was a hum-dinger. Buy weapons, including stinger missiles and the good old AK-47, hire former US special forces guys as mercs and take the Country. Of Laos. The group is charged with something called the US Neutrality Act, which forbids acts of war by US citizens against Countries with whom we are at peace. Which, when you think about it, makes a lot sense. But still, it does seem like something the CIA would be ploting in its spare time eh?

Ocean's 13

Ok so this post has been sitting in draft since I got back from Sin City, about time I hit publish.

Ocean's 13 marks the first movie trilogy I've managed to see this summer, having missed both Shrek and Pirates 3. I managed to see this movie four days into a Vegas vacation, which I highly recommend. There is something deeply emotionally satisfying about watching people so much cooler than you rob a Las Vegas casino blind. And after the movie, you can go wander the strip and see all the location and make like you're George Clooney. Or in our case, try and figure out where the fictional CGI casino would be located in relation to our own hotel.

Anyway, to the movie: Many, many people pulling many, many cons with great style, both personal and cinematic. Lots of moving parts in this one. The full cast, lots of supporting characters, everyone gets their 30 seconds. Nothing quiet as smart as the first movie, but no massive clunkers like the second (Julia Roberts plays someone who looks like Julia Roberts!) Al Pachino's dayglow tanned Willie Bank just doesn't seem as smart or as menacing as Andy Garcia's Terry Benedict. And where is the fun in beating the B-Team. Putting the moves to Ellen Barkin , however, will always be fun.

So to sum up, Las Vegas, Cool, Hey the French Guy! Slick, Casino robbing - somehow ok, style, Elle Barkin - still hot, fun, gadgets, just how many people are in this movie and did I mention I just got back from Vegas.

No Language Panic

A lot of anti-immigration sentiment these days revolves around language panic. As in - oh my god do you know that these people don't speak English! Ezra Klein shoots this idea in the head. With a study. And you can't stop a man with a study.