So Long, 2004

It's New Year's Eve and I'm ready to head out to a party, but not before I post one last time this year. Not that I can't tomorrow, but there's so much arbitrary importance about Saturday, right?

2004 was a great year; great concerts, great vacations, I survived my first year at my new high school, I celebrated seven years of marriage, and of course, my son was born. On the national level, 2004 was a disaster. Good riddance to the 2004 on a national level, au revoir to the year on a personal one.

Last rants of the year: House Republicans now want to change the rules for the ethics panel to launch investigations into Congress members' egregious affairs and are also considering sacking the chairman of the committee who oversaw the latest round of investigations of illegal activities by one particular member. All of this is being done to protect the ASS of one Tom DeLay, the GOP House Majority Leader, who has been the target of at least three investigations, each of them finding that he's at least linked to, if not a key player in, several goings-on that are either unethical, unconstitutional, or illegal. So here's how I see it: members of the opposite party are fair game for name-calling, libel, slander, or any other bullshit "offense" but your own turf is off-limits. So, fabricated claims of Congress members' war records and impeachment efforts for blow-jobs are in; using the Constitution to protect itself and purging those who use their positions in government illegally is out. Reason 450,698,608,608,356,093,804,368,309,683,406,346,346,09 and 4 why the Republican Party deserves to rot in Hell and why I will NEVER consider anything it does as helpful to the nation. Tom DeLay, go to Hell, the GOP, go to Hell, and may you never return. I wish I could exclaim "good riddance" to you, but most Americans, in their fashionable ignorance, have been lied to convincingly enough to keep you around just a little longer.

Give, give, give all you can to the relief efforts in south Asia. They are people like you and me, except that they're not Republican, Christian, or white, and while that may matter for many Americans, it should not. Our basic human kindness and generosity needs to kick in to help by all means possible. Please do your part; I'm doing mine.

Let us all pray for a peaceful, acrimony-free (yeah, right), harmonious New Year.

All I Know...

I learn in magazines and newspapers. The year-end Newsweek with Barack Obama on the cover teaches me (and countless millions of other readers):

Alberto Gonzalez, Bush's pick for Attorney General, is one of the criminal masterminds behind the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The article points to Gonzalez as Bush's brain on the issue of ignoring the Geneva Conventions and helping develop the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war with ANY nation with or without evidence of support of anti-U.S. terrorist activity. This is the man who is succeeding John Ashcroft.

Donald Rumsfeld stated (or gaffed) that the U.S. military did shoot down Flight 93 over Pennsylvania on 9/11/2001. Oops, he didn't mean what he said. Doesn't matter; cat's out of the bag. Newsweek states that he'll "retire" after the January elections in Iraq as a way to "go out on top" though it's his handling of the war that now has six out of every ten Americans opposed to it

George Bush is spending twice as much on his second inauguration as he is on the natural disaster crisis in the Indian Ocean. I'm so glad this man's a Christian; he sure is living the Christian life of serving others, giving to the needy, and not making a spectacle of himself, all while getting defensive when the U.N. calls the U.S. "stingy". Am I the only one that sees that the emperor is getting 'nakeder'?

The GOP leadership sees itself as mandated to dismantle the New Deal entirely, and Social Security will be the next program to go. However, when the talking heads at a corporate-owned conglomerate media source are saying that the president is an idiot for what he's doing, we're pretty much getting the truth with the facts. Yet, what we'll see is more smoke and mirrors about 'values politics' and why this nation needs to erase not only the New Deal but most Enlightment ideas such as republican-based democracy, the First Amendment, and communistic evil-promoting ideas such as church/state separation, the right to privacy, and education. Rick Santorum believes it's his jihad (my label) to jam values into the heart of Americans because Republicans now dominate the Senate. Last time I checked, bub, it's the same people who voted for you and Bush who are the ones who watch porn, get abortions, use birth control (something your mom should have done), swear, shoot each other, use God's name to carry out acts of violence, and challenge the policies of this government. Now, tell me, Rick, how you're going to legislate the reformation of just the people who didn't vote Republican?

Please think of, pray for, and help assist the millions of people affected by this week's natural disaster in Asia. They deserve our help and we owe it to them as fellow humans to see to it that disease does not spread as quickly, that starvation doesn't set in as quickly, and hopelessness doesn't occur as quickly as it would if the world did nothing.

Merry Christmas, Baby!

And you better be good for goodness' sake! May everyone find and experience peace of mind in their hearts and we as a nation and world find it among ourselves. I choose to do so in the name of Jesus, who blessed those who strive for peace, for those who help the helpless, and those who seek to make this world a better place. Whether we find faith, hope, love, or guidance in a supernatural presence or not, may we all just take the time to strive to contribute to the premise of peace on Earth, goodwill towards men. Happy belated Channakuh, Ramadan, greetings! for those celebrating Kwanzaa, and a very happy Saturday for those who will sleep in and not celebrate anything.
I love the holiday for religious reasons as well as the time to spend with people I love. This year has been much more profound, as I have (literally) added one more person to my list of those I love. My little son brings me more joy than anything I've ever experienced, and tomorrow morning, I will spring from my bed, scoop him in my arms, and visit the presents under the tree that Santa Claus left for little W.T.H. and, with my wife, thank God for my family.

Peace on Earth, goodwill towards all people.

Mission Accompli.......er......

I woke up after a long night with my son by an obnoxious nasaly whine coming through my radio speakers this morning. After stirring, I realized that whine was coming from the mouth of the President of the United States and the man was attempting to give a live news conference before Christmas (the one day of the year the government officially ignores the First Amendment and Thomas Jefferson's philosophies about it). Here's what the clown said:

We will provide every tool and resource for our military, we will protect the homeland [no battle armor, though; troops over-drafted, over-extended, under-paid, and yet reports are showing HUGE cutbacks for the military in next year's budget. In protecting the homeland, yet ANOTHER missile defense system test failed. Bush, in wanting to live out Ronald Reagan's dream of playing video games in outerspace with taxpayer dollars is showing to be a disaster while those who wish to wreak havoc on Americans by detonating a nuclear device just need to smuggle one across the border. Cargo ships, suitcases, hell, airplanes seem to work well, too].

He said he would "maintain strict discipline in spending tax dollars. [Yet then why has he wracked up the largest amount of deficit spending and national debt in his term than any president? Please, someone, correct me if I'm wrong, because I really want to make sure I get my facts straight. No veto of any GOP-based bill, all jammed with pork, and yet it seems that the propaganda machine still paints the Democrats, THE MINORITY PARTY, LET US NOT FORGET, as the taxers and spenders. I'm just frightened of the tax cutters and spenders].

he will submit a federal budget that will cut the deficit in half in five years and maintain strict spending discipline [as my good friend, Spencer, pointed out, notice that he'll be out of office in five years? What will any of this matter, anyway? Read between the lines on strict spending discipline: environmental cutbacks, educational cutbacks, military cutbacks, social security cutbacks. Need I go on? The dismantling of the entire concept that the federal government owes something to the people it protects, aids, guides, drafts, threatens, taxes, demands, and sometimes kills. Imagine that].

Bush defended his Pentagon chief.

"Beneath that rough and gruff no-nonsense demeanor is a good human being who cares deeply about the military and the grief that war causes," Bush said, batting away criticism that Rumsfeld had not personally signed condolence letters to the families of troops who have died [remember the Pottery Barn Adage: You broke it, it's yours. How's Iraq doing? Looks like the Reconstruction South in 1973 but instead of the rise of the KKK with guns its fundamentalist jihadists with nukes. Nice going. Name a neoconservative policy that was carried out successfully that brought positive results. Keep thinking. Give yourself some time, you'll be here a while].

Bush pointedly acknowledged that Iraqi troops are not ready to take over their country's security, and cautioned that next month's elections there are only the beginning of a long process toward democracy.

"I certainly don't expect the process to be trouble-free," Bush said

I would call the results mixed [remember how long the Marshall Plan took to implement. FIVE YEARS and troops are still there. I hope that May 1, 2003 will be the date inscribed on Bush's and Rumsfeld's tombstones; it is the day that buried much of the U.S.' reputation in the Arab and Muslim world. Mission Accomplished, my ass].

On Social Security, Bush said "The first step in this process is for members of Congress to realize we have a problem," [the problem is Bush's plan to take money away from people who need it and give it to people who don't need it who will gamble with it like they did when they bought Enron and Pets.com. The problem isn't how the people have spent their Social Security money; it's how poorly Republican presidents (remember, they've wracked up the greatest amount of post-WWII debt) have handled it. LBJ could've gone down in history as the the most effective president in the nation's history. He cut down poverty in half in just four years. While Vietnam wrecked him, Bush seems to be learning from Richard Nixon - imperial-style policies, opportunities to help the poor cut in favor of cowtowing to white Southerners, foreign debacles that have your cabinet members deemed war criminals. I can't wait to put together the lesson plan comparing Henry Kissinger and Donald Rumsfeld].

Bush also defended his failed nomination of former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik to be the Homeland Security secretary [mafia ties, criminal record, geesh, you'd think he nominated Dan Rostenkowski as department head. Anything to milk 9/11, though. Anything to milk 9/11. I'm surprised Bush didn't raise the terror alert level the day that Kerik's reputation got smeared in the press].

Chris and Steve - am I right at all about any of this? I know I'm preaching; I know I'm an indignant snot, but is there the slightest bit of truth in anything that I say? This navel-gazing gets depressing when no one gives you props. Subtle hint there, folks. Oh, so subtle. Do I need to land on an aircraft carrier to make my point clear?

Ten Years Burning Down the Road

Today marks the anniversary of my wife's and my first kiss; we decided that this day would mark the official beginning of our relationship; we have always looked back wondering just how happy our lives could be and what would happen if 12/20/94 turned out differently. The last ten years of my life have been the happiest. They've probably added another twenty. My wife has given me unconditional love, warmth, trust, a beautiful son, and another reason why I am to live my life for others. I can't wait to look back twenty years from today and be amazed at how great things are and how much happier we have been these ten years compared to the last ten. Thanks, Honey Bee.

A Little Known Fact

Anyone seem to catch the tiny little story about a Russian arms trafficker connected with U.S. contractors, several being in Iraq? One of the companies is KBR, which, goddammit, has been responsible for racking up the $10 billion strawman in Iraq. Which still lines the pockets of Dick Cheney. Which still has overcharged millions (probably now billions) American taxpayers for services provided or not provided, depending on the service the government was so willing to pay for that it gave the contract out without any sort of competitive bidding. Do your homework; this is truly another matter of "snuffing out the evildoers" unless those evildoers happen to be doing us a favor.

Even John McCain's beginning the chant that Rummy's got to go. Where the hell does that neocon chickenhawk have the gumption to underfund and underman a war and then lash out at a soldier (granted, asking a planted question) that the army that fights a war is the one available, not the army one wants. Geesh. I'd hate to see how Rumsfeld feels about missile defense. Why update the damn thing, then, if we'll need to use the one we have, not the one we want? When he's removed from office, I'll sing in my neighborhood street. Hopefully it will be the day after Bush and Cheney are indicted on war crimes charges. Speaking of, raise your glasses and toast General Augusto Pinochet of Chile. While he won't go to jail, he's finally earned the charges of being a bastard to society. Now, if we can just get Henry Kissinger named a war criminal before he dies, it'll be the last great nail in Richard Nixon's coffin. Let's see, Watergate, Vietnam, war crimes!

All's Fair In...

I have family members, like most of us, with disparately diverging political beliefs. My father, a moderately conservative Republican (we'll attempt to define that later) likes to forward to my brother and myself e-mails that circulate throughout the virtual netherworld, and most likely the same e-mails that end up in my inbox end up in everyone's. This time of year, being the time when Christians become religious and faithful and introspective, often float around tales, stories, and oft-apocryphal poems and prayers such as this:

Subject: Fwd: Nite before christmas written by a marine
>
>
> 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
> HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
> IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
> PLASTER AND STONE.
>
> I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
> WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
> AND TO SEE JUST WHO
> IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
>
> I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
> A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
> NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
> NOT EVEN A TREE.
>
> NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
> JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
> ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
> OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
>
> WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
> AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
> A SOBER THOUGHT
> CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
>
> FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
> IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
> I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
> ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
>
> THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
> SILENT, ALONE,
> CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
> IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
>
> THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
> THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
> NOT HOW I PICTURED
> A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
>
> WAS THIS THE HERO
> OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
> CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
> THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
>
> I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
> THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
> OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
> WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
>
> SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
> THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
> AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
> A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
>
> THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
> EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
> BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
> LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
>
> I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
> HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
> ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
> IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
>
> THE VERY THOUGHT
> BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
> I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
> AND STARTED TO CRY.
>
> THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
> AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
> "SANTA DON'T CRY,
> THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
>
> I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
> I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
> MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
> MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."
>
> THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
> AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
> I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
> I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
>
> I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
> SO SILENT AND STILL
> AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
> FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.
>
> I DIDN! 'T WANT TO LEAVE
> ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
> THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
> SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
>
> THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
> WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
> WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
> IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."
>
> ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
> AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
> "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
> AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."
>
> This poem was written by a Marine. The
> following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....
>
> PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending
> this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be
> coming soon and some credit is due to our US service
> men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities.
>
> Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make
> people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead,who sacrificed
> themselves for us.
> Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.
> The least we can do is light a candle and say a prayer for all who are
there,
> to help keep Peace on Earth.
>
> God Bless them and grant them many, many years...Amen


My younger brother, who is completing his doctorate in United States history in an Ivy League University, is not a moderately conservative Republican. In fact, he is not a Republican, nor a conservative nor a moderate. My brother's politics lie left of my own, and I respect his philosophical, political, and deeply-spiritual outlook on the world. As a response to the forwarded e-mail, my brother replied:


How about this for a holiday poem:

The Iraq war is a violation of international law
The USA should not have invaded
The American government lied to its
Citizen soldiers
By telling them honor and freedom
Are at stake
And that they could found in the
Sands and oil fields of the Middle East
Now
Brave and
Young and
Willing and
Unwilling soldiers
Are being killed and maimed
And grieved over
All for a
Lying liar of an American President
Lies
Lies
Lies
Hasn't the American body politic learned
Enough of war?
Why don't Americans
Treasure year-round the holiday
Peace
That they claim to cherish come
December 25, each year?
Shouldn't peace and the celebration of
Human life
Be a daily thing?
Not just a seasonal ad-campaign
That combines patriotism with sentiment
With material consumption?
Lies
Lies
Lies
Americans know too little about war
That they write sentimental poems
About how great it is
But also about how sad it is
... for Americans
And how lonely their soldiers are
In far away lands
Lands where they should not be
Lands where the local populations
Do not like them very much
Do not want them around very much
Wish very much that they would just
Go away
Go away
Go away
And quickly at that
But instead the lonely marine
Looking up at the starry night
Aims his automatic rifle at a
Formless sound in the darkness
And shoots
And shoots
And shoots
Lies
Lies
Lies
He is scared
He doesn't want to be at war
He'd rather be home with his
Family and friends
He'd rather be far, far way from
The killing fields
But instead he wakes up every morning
To find the dead people that
Inhabit his world
Some are his friends
Some are not
These are the civilians
These are those who would rather
Die
Than have him around in their world
They do like him
They hate him
Not because he has freedom
But rather because the USA means
Something very
Evil
To a great many people in the
World
Now
Millions have to hope
To simply survive in the
Warzones
That result when lying liars like
That control governments and
American Republics
Start wars but don't know how to
End wars
Lies
Lies
Lies
What does freedom mean when
Those who espouse it to others
Do so with an automatic rifle
That
When fired
Sounds more like
Hate and despotism
Hate and domination
Hate and misunderstanding
Hate and invasion
Hate and disrespect
To those who are supposed to be
Democratized?
Lies
Lies
Lies
I hope that all USA soldiers
All world soldiers
Would just stop killing for
Themselves
Their people
Their gods
Their governments
Their pasts, presents, and futures
And just wage peace with automatic
Embraces to strangers and loved ones
So that this world becomes a
Better place
Not one full of
Lies
Lies
Lies
Do not blindly support anybody who
Goes to war
Patriotism kills millions
Instead
Support those who go to
Peace


Those of you who do, thankfully, visit my 'blog, I would appreciate your viewpoints on the dialogue and debate at hand. As others reply, I, too, will contribute.


On a lighter note, it's finals week. I plan on getting no sleep, a bad cold, lots of flak from failing students and their parents, and finding joy in the fact that I will soon have a two-week reprieve from my occupation to spend with my wife and son.

A Confederacy of Dunces...

and a majority of tools. Anyone read the paper lately?

CIA reports conditions in Iraq to be worse than the Bush Administration publically admits to.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld skirted every direct question by the 2,000-strong audience of marines today, some of which who will die based on his poor war planning. Bush's war planning - now there's a damned oxymoron if I read one.

An intelligence bill that a Republican president (who originally opposed the idea) needed to persuade a Republican-led Congress to sign today. Sweeping changes to be made in how intelligence is gathered, processed, and shared. Probably all in the hands of Tom DeLay.

More "coalition" nations pulling their soldiers out of Iraq. I guess things are wrapping up nicely. See above.

Iraq's elections will be held beginning January 30, 2005, states the Bush Administration, though the same administration has publically praised the independence the Iraqi interim government has exerted over the last five months.

Another election passed where "tax-and-spend liberal" Democrats were lambasted by the GOP, only to see Bush's tax-cut-and-spend policy drive the U.S. further into debt, this time by a projected two trillion dollars. Where's Grover Norquist now? Last time I checked, the Democrats were the party that spent recklessly and expanded the powers of the federal government. You know that the GOP wonks are absolute geniuses when they can convince the majority of voters that they are exactly what they claim the enemy to be.

A brilliant article in last week's New Yorker magazine exposed the fake "values based" election results last month. The article points out that a small poll of approximately one thousand people (not even claiming to represent the electorate) was given a list of seven options that "most determined" which presidential candidate they voted for. When looking at the list, six of the seven options received roughly the same percentage of votes, just under twenty per cent a piece. "Values" earned twenty-two percent, only one percent higher than the second-place earner and still only the top reason out of twenty percent of the pollees, and yet the entire country has been brainwashed into thinking that John Kerry was rejected because his values were out of touch with average voters. It appears that the average voter's value system has yet to be determined on a nation-wide level, but based on some of the state elections, that's definitely something to brag about. Eleven states denied tax-paying citizens a fundamental civil right; a southern state elected a former white supremist; Oklahoma elected a representative that admitted to performing unconsented operations on unsuspecting people out of a personal desire; this state denied its citizens the fundamental right to health care. I could go on but I don't feel like vomiting until I've already drunk myself into a stupor.

Re-watching the finale Vote For Change concert that my friend Chris "Lefty" Brown made me, I still love Bruce's tirade in the middle of "Mary's Place" against the "swing" voter: "The man misleads the nation into war, he loses his job. It ain't rocket science." Apparently, with the spread of creation-based "science" spreading like wildfire, science is something that the average Californian and probably American, is afraid of. This issue is another rant I'll leave for a time when I have time to really freak out. Creationism taught in the public schools as science? Which version of creation? The Chumash version, where fish and humans are related based on the people who fell off the rainbow crossing from the Channel Islands to the mainland? The Roman version, where Remus and Romulus were raised by wolves (I know that's not a creation story, but close enough)? Or the most commonly-accepted Christian version, where life starts (everything fully formed without change) and the universe is created in six days. Has anyone noted that NOWHERE in the Bible did any scribe write that GOD spoke or inspired that story to anyone ("Moses" or whomever wrote the Pentatuch down)? The story just has to believed, though no one is sure of the source, the amount of time that passed from the creation of the universe to the time the story was written down, or whether or not the story closely resembles that of any other creation story of a neighboring tribe or people. Creation "science", "intelligent design" or whatever you want to call it: there's one problem, and that is its presupposing foundation is that God exists, He created the universe, and that He wants to have a personal relationship with you if you're white, Protestant, Republican, and hetersexual. Thank God (no irony there) that I don't teach science. I just get to deal with those that say everything about the United States was founded on the teachings of Christ. I don't remember Jesus commanding his disciples to ethnically cleanse North America of its indiginous population, start wars of conquest in His name, or any other idea like creating a nation based not on religious devotion to Him but the general principle (of the eighteenth-century mindset) that all men were created equal. Oh, crap, here's more proof of creation "science."

Busy Time of Year

I have been so swamped with the holiday and the end of final examinations that I've struggled to maintain my 'blog. There's been so much to write about, especially since Bush has been sacking everyone that doesn't say "yes." Ukraine has been told by Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin to fall in line while President Bush has ironically pushed for a true democratic vote. No one's paying attention to the disaster in Darfur; the more the votes are counted in Ohio, the more "fuzzier math" keeps popping up; no international relief has been set up for the storm victims in the Philippines; and the Bush Administration has outright admitted that in order to privatize Social Security (and sack another New Deal program), the government will probably go into the hole by another $2 trillion.

I think my son is cutting a tooth and he's unfortunately crying a lot. While Will's only about the twenty-billionth human that's ever cut teeth, I've never experienced my own child in pain like he is. Bless his little heart, I wish I could take his pain.

My highlight right now is finishing up Rick Hertzberg's Politics. This book is a reader in traditional liberalism and progressive political thinking. A must read for anyone who believes that democracy, authentic politicking, honesty, and social responsibility should be promoted in this or any country. I should give it as a gift and I just may.

I bought my tickets for Derek Trucks in February. Can't wait.

I Ain't No Fortunate-Aaaaaa

I wish I could have blogged yesterday, but I was too busy, but here I am now. Two nights ago, my wife and I headed into the city to see John Fogerty in concert. What an absolutely fantastic night. I know, I know, people will say that it's fogey dinosaur rock, music from the past, blah blah, but John Fogerty in his heyday with Creedence Clearwater Revival wrote more hit songs in the time the band was active than anyone else. The man's ability to capture an essence, a feeling, or a story in two to three minutes with a great voice, a great band, and a great tune was and is amazing. A Stephen Foster for the Woodstock Generation. Springsteen raves at the man's storytelling abilities, so there. My wife and I have always been huge Creedence fans and had seen Fogerty seven years ago in an amazing performance in Fresno just before we were married. Wednesday's show was a killer; Fogerty's guitar playing was blistering, and not for his abilities but for anyone playing in the rock and roll genre. The 'less is more' approach in soloing and song structure readily showed how music doesn't need to be complex to be brilliant. The anti-war theme running through the setlist was easily sensed; his "Rain" songs, with rain as an anti-war metaphor; his new single "Deja Vu All Over Again", which he played in October at the Vote For Change Tour with the E Street Band backing him; the poignant "Wrote A Song For Everyone", and the earthquaking fist-shaker, "Fortunate Son". That has always been one of, if not the greatest anti-war protest pieces of twentieth century popular music and on Wednesday it rang truer than ever since 1973. I found myself pumping my fist in the air and singing the words more in a fit of righteous indignation than I did rock and roll passion. Ain't no Senator's son, no millionaire's son, no military son. Right now we're seeing them helping themselves and doing so without remorse or second thought. In a way it's sad that a fifty-nine year old man's four-decade old music is the most relevant, piercing, damning movement music in contemporary culture. While understanding and relating to the anti-war theme, however, I was blown away at the intensity and magic of John Fogerty's timeless songs. His voice was in phenomenal shape, the band was hot, and the evening was another night of magic that I'll never forget.

My son turned three months old today. I can't believe how so much has changed. When I was bottle-feeding him tonight, he grabbed my hand for the first time. I started crying. My little Willie dazzles me every day with his new discoveries and accomplishments, and to see a young child develop so quickly is a blessing that I'll never relive unless I have more children. What an incredible experience to understand that because of him, I won't die; I will live through him and so will my wife and so will my family members before me. That little William will grow to have a family of his own; that the future truly consists of nothing but the past are lessons that I learn daily through my son. Thanks, Will.