Testification! A Crocker & Trey Adventure

Where’d I put that remote…?

I can‘t wait until the big screen version starring Keanu Reeves and Philip Michael Thomas comes out.

It is Pat!, I be thinking George Clooney is busy along mit one of his waitress girlfriends. I am but dumb, thickheaded Norgie - I am able to play President Bush. I ja sure speak English as godt as he does. Maybe better.

Oh, and you’ll have to lose the “Oof dah”. Not even a Connecticut Cowboy like Bush would say that.

Click 2008, and then click April 8

Mr. Bentsen, it is spelled “uffda”.
Gillian, there’s nothing better (okay, there are three things better, but you know what I mean) than maple syrup. Good thing it’s all done here too, it’s gonna snow another 10″ or so in Minne-snow-ta. Kjell, go get more beer, we are getting low.

So…off topic (big surprise) but I came across this quote from the Reverand Dean Snyder (who happens to be the/a senior pastor from the Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington that the Clintons attend). I just thought it was a wonderful example of true community/spiritual leadership and wished that this sort of a response got as much press as the outraged talking heads. (No word on whether he’s spoken to the Clintons on their use of the Wright clip as a divisive political tactic.)

“The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is an outstanding church leader whom I have heard speak a number of times. He has served for decades as a profound voice for justice and inclusion in our society. He has been a vocal critic of the racism, sexism, and homophobia which still tarnish the American dream.

“To evaluate his dynamic ministry on the basis of two or three sound bites does a grave injustice to Dr. Wright, the members of his congregation, and the African-American church, which has been the spiritual refuge of a people that has suffered from discrimination, disadvantage, and violence. Dr. Wright, a member of an integrated denomination, has been an agent of racial reconciliation while proclaiming perceptions and truths uncomfortable for some white people to hear.

“Those of us who are white Americans would do well to listen carefully to Dr. Wright rather than to use a few of his quotes to polarize. This is a critical time in America’s history as we seek to repent of our racism. No matter which candidates prevail, let us use this time to listen again to one another and not to distort one another’s truth. ”

Amen to that.

Damn, gillian, I think you’re on to something.

My former colleague who moved to Vermont calls the locals woodchucks. I think his point is the similarity in personality. I know it’s not intended to be derogatory. Hope it’s not something the locals would find offensive.

Maple syrup fits Franklin’s description of beer.

Extra thanks for posting that comment, Becca. Jeremiah Wright didn’t say anything I haven’t said among people I trust, especially when the bastard in the White House ordered the invasion of Iraq, or when we sprayed agent orange in Viet Nam, or when we secretly went on a bombing binge in Cambodia (fuck you, Kissinger). I think we managed to kill like a million people. I’ve forgotten the estimates, but then as Colin Powell loved to say, We don’t do body counts (I guess especially when we take out entire villages).

If there is a just god, we will be held accountable, as will every other nation which has pursued “national interests” through military aggression, proxy wars, lethal sabotage, and/or the overthrow of other governments. And duplicitous proclamations of benevolent intent ain’t gonna cut it. Mercy, I think, will be reserved for the grunts in uniform who believe the lies of their leaders and are personally willing to risk their lives, because they personally are trying to do the right thing, and in countless individual acts do, even in the context of this unholy, misbegotten invasion and occupation of Iraq. Actually, I honor them for all the individual acts of good, but they are carrying out a mission they have no business being on, just as we had no business participating in the war against Viet Nam.

Fanatical Apathy–Land of opportunity! The only person I even bothered to tell my favorite election year anecdote loved TV gavel-to-gavel convention coverage and, like me, enjoyed roll call votes. She found this hysterical:
When my husband was pounding Dukakis/Bentsen signs into the soil in Fort Worth, a man approached him to say “I thought Lloyd Bentsen was a pretty good guy until that Dukakis turned him into an animal.”

OK, It’s Pat!, you try speaking Norwegian with a Texas accent, after being dead for almost 2 years! (Geez,Yankees!!!)

Of course we should trust them, Sam. After all, they’re from the government. They’re here to help.

None taken, Jim.

I just think it’s funny how our friend Sam says we’re supposed to “trust” the military … and, of course, the administration, and the DOJ, and the interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, and the “military commissions,” and the NSA, and the FISA court, and the FBI, and whoever else is out there mining data, tapping phone lines, harshly interrogating “terror suspects,” and so on, and so on, and so on … because, um, they only have our best interests in mind, right? I mean, they wouldn’t eavesdrop, or torture, or consider secret evidence, or, y’ know, invade friggin’ Iraq, or do any of that nasty stuff unless it were totally, absolutely necessary to, um, keep us safe ‘n stuff … y’ know?

It’s just funny, is all, when the Bush administration’s defenders tell us we should “trust” them … the same folks who wanted to drown the government in the bathtub just a few years ago …

So, you’ll have to forgive me for throwing the ol’ “we’re from the government - we’re here to help” line back at ‘em.

I just loves me some irony, is all.

Yes indeed, Jim. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophesy.

By the way, I re-read my last comment and I thought it sounded eerily like a certain Talking Heads’ song from way back when … something about how “we’ve got computers/we’re tapping phone lines/I know that that ain’t allowed …”

Damn. I wish I’d have thought to name my blog that … “Life During Wartime” … how freakin’ sweet would thata been, huh?

Now that damn song’ll be running through my head all night. Sigh.

Ethan hath done a marvelous job re-moving the stones from our area. When I returneth home, Pops didst have nothing to hurl at me save pillows from the bed, which we both didst pick up and hurl back many times. From some reason this didst bring a smile unto mine father’s face and at that one brief moment, all was well. Pops must have done what I had often heard the citizens of lesser hygiene refer to as “taking a chill pill” and he didst give me a hug and laugheth and laugheth. I took the opportunity to grabbeth mine stash and did leave the house before reason returneth to mine father. Verily, that wast spooky!

The Talking Heads were channeling the French absurdists. Makes them tops in my book.

The Beatles weren’t just a musical group, they were a movement. We’re talking apples and oranges here. Bob Dylan was not only a movement, he was the movement of a generation.

Poll questions:

Was Bruce Springsteen just a very popular singer/songwriter, or was he a movement?

Who, if anyone, is a movement from the world of popular music today?

Another reason to vote for John McCain 2008:

John McCain believes that the right of law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms is a fundamental, individual Constitutional right that we have a sacred duty to protect. We have a responsibility to ensure that criminals who violate the law are prosecuted to the fullest, rather than restricting the rights of law abiding citizens. Gun control is a proven failure in fighting crime. Law abiding citizens should not be asked to give up their rights because of criminals - criminals who ignore gun control laws anyway.

Vote John McCain!

Since we are talking about music, John McCain’s favorite recording artists are those swinging Swedes of Scandinavian soul pop - ABBA. You should see him become emotionally unleashed by “Dancing Queen”! Come on, admit it, you like that song, too!

Aunt Sam … yes, the Clash were political, at a time when we needed political rock. Very few bands ever could pull off the overtly political stuff they did, but they did it brilliantly.

When Joe Strummer died, I e-mailed a local DJ, Lin Brehmer of WXRT in Chicago, and I asked … “What are we gonna do now?” He wrote me back and said “Death or Glory” was his favorite song …

Every gimmick hungry yob/Digging gold from rock ‘n roll/Will grab the mike and tell us/He’ll die before he’s sold/But I believe this and it’s been tested by research …

I won’t write the next line on such a family oriented blog as this.

And, by the way, the Clash were more than a punk band. They were also the best white reggae band ever.

“In Iraq our national security interests and our national values converge. Iraq is truly the test of a generation, for America and for our role in the world. (Psst! Hey everybody, it’s me - Lemuel. I’m doing PR for the John McCain campaign. Believe me this was not my first choice. I tried to get on with the Obama campaign, but those guys are much too technically savvy. One internet search for Sam Kliggnet {my current nom de guerre}, the SSN I made up on the spot and a retinal scan told them that I should probably be wrestled to the ground and the police summoned. Fortunately, I’ve kept myself in pretty good shape, so I bolted for the door before those geeks could get their very fat asses out of their rolling chairs. I next went over to John McCain HQ and they welcomed me with open arms. You probably won’t believe this, but they still do most of their work with pencil and paper. Once I find a computer around here, I’ll hack into it and the games will begin. I’m the kind of genius that can be used for either good or evil, depending on the pay-off. I figure I can help John McCain like I did Mr. DeLay and we all see where Tommy is these days - “D” listed for “Dancing with the Stars”. I’ll keep in touch. Remember, mum’s the word!) Blah, blah blah…Iraq’s transformation into a secure democracy and a force for freedom in the greater Middle East is the calling of our age. We can succeed.”

-Senator John McCain

WXRT, by the way, was once the greatest commercial radio station in the world. When I was in junior high and high school, they’d play, like, the Beatles, Chic Corea, Bob Marley, Tom Petty, then, every so often, Mozart or Beethoven; then, the Clash or the Ramones; then the Grateful Dead, Naked Raygun (a local punk band), Led Zeppelin, the Who, Jimmy Cliff, Muddy Waters, Kraftwerk; it was unbelievable. They’d play rock, reggae, jazz, punk, blues, classical … basically, whatever the heck they wanted to play.

Actually, it was the way real people listen to records; but that’s what made it so remarkable for a commercial radio station.

Now, it’s more mainstream; but it’s still way ahead of the curve compared to the vast majority of commercial radio out there.

Oh, let’s go r&b. Temps “Ball of Confusion.” That really is what the world is today, hey hey.

Might as well evoke Vietnam-era pop; all the current Generals sound very period–”Light at the end of the tunnel:” They are stoppng just short of calling the situation “Iraqification” ala “Vietnamization,” but you can tell that’s what they are trying to sell.

ST…

very, very tempting! Might have to check out the train schedule and see what kind of vacation time we could get for a long weekend.

In terms of Adam being there, that’s what peer pressure is for, right? Plus we could always offer to babysit young Baz

B

How insulting is that to the folks who are working in those manufucturing, and blue collar towns. Does this mean they are not “intellectual?” These are people that sacrifice greatly so their children can go to college, and hopefully be able to carve out an easier existence for themselves and their grandchildren.

Damned well put, Acronym Jim. And the typo in manufacturing captures an essential truth about the current plight of these people who built this fucking country. Barack Obama too elitist? Please. Those critics of Obama are so utterly intellectually dishonest and the media folk who parrot that shit such pimps that to borrow part of a line from Springsteen’s “New Used Car,” “Tell ‘em all they can kiss our asses…”

Love the quote, hedera.

And I gotta agree, Dave, NEBRASKA is the best of a hell of library of great songs. One thing amazing to me is how few of his songs can be omitted. I first saw him in Lakeland, Florida in 1974, I think it was. Here was this kind of skinny, scrufty young guy with a dirty stocking cap on his head outworking James Brown. The only reason I knew about him at that time was because one of my students told me I had to hear and see him and his E-Street Band. I knew the student knew what he was talking about (he had talked the college into bring Bob Seeger to our quite small community college in 1973, back when Bob Seeger could sit in the college union and talk to whoever wanted to sit and chat with him before the concert). So off I went to Lakeland listening to Janis Joplin (she would kick my ass in a good way when I was troubled, god love her).

Well, I tried twice to post a link to a piece in Time magazine about Bruce Springsteen endorsing Barack Obama … Fanny musta thought it was spam.

By now, of course, it’s old news.

Sigh.

Thanks, Dan.