Deep Throat!!!

Sorry, guys, not here to talk porn, that's Steve's site. Today, W. Mark Felt, the former #2 at the FBI in the late '60s and early '70s, declared publically that he, in fact, was the informant on "deep background" to Bob Woodward. For those of us who have read the book and seen the film, Deep Throat has always been that Mark Twain of a guy, Hal Holbrook, and in a sense, I've always pictured Holbrook being the guy in the parking garage talking shop with Robert Redford. Many names have floated regarding the anonymous informant such as White House counsel John Dean, speech writer Pat Buchanan and even White House correspondant Diane Sawyer (how's that for a title, eh?). As the news has broken, the history revisited and the naysayers trying to gain press as syncophants to the Nixon-era White House or Hoover-era bureau (why in Hell would you want to associate your...nevermind) the Bay Area has been inundated with reports as Felt currently resides in Santa Rosa. Hero or Brutus? Depends in what you believe in. Did this guy withold information that could have stopped a terrorist attack or another threat to national security or blow the whistle on a man's administration that neurotically pursued power at all costs, including the stability of the Constitution? I visited Nixon three years ago and asked him myself. Granted, Tricky Dick's been dead for eleven years, but I did stand at his grave and talk with the ghost, asking, "why were you so insecure that you felt that you could have sold the entire country for four more years?" That's like asking Judas something similar, only knowing the response that you'd receive would be one of utter truth and total bewilderment at the same time. All I hope for is a wave of interest into American history and that some of my students would do just a little more to investigate for themselves this fascinating era of our collective past.

Just received a copy of Bruce's Tower Theater show in Philadelphia from 5/17. Good recording, great to hear the live stuff. While he pulled out some true goodies (Iceman, Incident, Real World), I personally prefer the show that I caught. Mainly, because Bruce consisently forgot a chord in "Jesus Was An Only Son" that resolved each verse and brought about the true gospel beauty of the song. Also, there seemed enough frustration and anger in Bruce about the response of the audience and the tension between artist and audience made for some great music. I believe that the element of the viewer does play a part in the creation of art, especially popular music, and Bruce's music is no different. I believe that the newness of the Devils songs with the new arrangements of the classics kept the audience on edge, which gave the artist enough room to navigate a two hour show without having material that people were too familiar with. Each song kept the listener questioning, "what's coming next?". Anyone interested in a copy? Float me a line; as long as I receive your B&P by next Thursday, you're in luck.

McCullough's 1776 is an enjoyable read, and like his other books, I need a good 100 pages to be totally absorbed by the content. By the time I will have finished the book, I will be sad to have finished it. Reading John Adams from 2001, I was stunned and saddened of the news that Adams died an old man in 1826; I read about it like it had just happened. Only good writing can recreate such an experience or historical era such as the founding of the nation.

Speaking of writing on myths, I saw the latest Star Wars over the weekend. I think I liked it; at least I liked the experience of seeing another movie with the familiar group in it. Totally bad acting, terrible dialogue, stilted plot development, but overall, a fun time. I think I'll go and see it again, but this time, to see whether or not the special effects warrant anything to look at other than busy-bee eye candy that feeds most viewers' ADHD syndromes. My complaints are the sterility of Lucas' worlds and the pure lack of real human emotion in the characters. The emotional depth and breadth came straight from a sixth-grade production of Hamlet. Hell, a twelve year old could write more profound dialogue than George Lucas, but we must give him credit; he's created a media machine that will continue to draw viewers as long as new parts of the Star Wars saga comes out.

Only seven more class days...

Guilty Pleasures

Well, Carrie won, she looked great, sang alright, and Bo was totally dissed tonight. That's okay; we'll see him around more. Isn't funny to think that prefab popstars like this can actually make hits and careers out of this? I wonder whether anyone will go their own way, write their own music, and set their own trends. Anyway, I watched all season, got hooked again, enjoyed myself and look forward to next season.

Bill Frist lost some oompf in his presidential sails this week. At least he's got a medical career to fall back on. He can be the next Dr. Phil; watch someone over a video for two minutes and then pontificate to the nation on how to behave.

Amnesty International, which I am a member of, blasted the U.S. government as the worst example for torture and treatment of prisoners. Not on actual track record (which hasn't been great since George Bush declared a holy war on non-white people), but as an example for nations it does business with - Egypt, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan. If being a compassionate conservative means treating others like the Romans treated Jesus, then maybe ol' Georgie et al need to re-watch Mel's movie.

Took my boy in the pool again. He played on the steps and splashed. Gag, I know.

Two weeks until school gets out. Thank God. I need a break. I'm looking forward to David McCullough's 1776, which I'm getting tomorrow.

The Usual Stuff

The Senate didn't go nuclear, but was I the only one who noticed the photo of William Rehnquist being brought into the Court's chambers in a wheelchair?

Congress is staring a Bush veto in the face over stem cell research. The discarding of "unneeded" embryos is tantamount to murder, so the right wing says. Should we ban contraceptives, or hell, for that matter one night stands?

Republicans like Lindsay Graham caught flack from Focus on the Family's James Dobson for standing as one of the Group of 14 to compromise the Senate's non-nuclear outcome. Further proof that democracy means nothing and that totalitarian control of the American political system is all Dobson and his ilk wish for. Theocracies don't work; at least the ones this government has done its best to topple: Afghanistan and Iran (one down, one to go). Whenever theocratic ideologues take charge, the public squares of towns become funeral pyres and execution sites. Lest anyone think I'm paranoid, find for me the last doctor who was targeted and assassinated for refusing to perform an abortion based on his conscience. Liberals (not radicals) don't kill their political opposition (at least in my ignorant view of American history) yet we have a three hundred year history of watching radical reactionaries killing those who pose a threat to their order and belief system. Let me amend my previous statement; patriots surely killed and abolitionists surely killed for their beliefs. For me to say that liberals equal Crusaders is ignorant and foolish, yet I think my point is clear enough; if we all don't watch out, PBS will become the PTL, public schools will teach Genesis chapters 1 and 2, newspapers will either print Jesus' return or hatred for faggots, Jews, inter-racial marriage or Democrats, and freedom of thought will be something history classes teach were responsible for bringing about Sodom and Gemorrah.

American Idol, at least, has been an opiate for the last couple of months and tonight's final competition was entertaining. Bo, the hot Southern rock bad boy, and Carrie, the gorgeous girl-next-door country popster, both have had a good run. I wonder if both will enjoy a summer tour of singing to twelve year olds, their parents and my favorite sixth grade teacher in the world.

David McCullough's 1776 was released today. This will be my summer treat. One of my favorite authors, McCullough is like grandpa taking you upon his knee to tell you a tale of adventure, yet his history is impeccable. His name being brought up among a rash of historians accused of plagiarism or sloppy footnoting aside, I have learned an immense amount of knowledge from his books. I still remember the summer I tackled Truman and still "Give 'em Hell Harry" is one of my favorite presidents. I plowed through John Adams in less than a week and it's one of the best memories I have of Riverdale (and I can tell you I have countless tales). I'll surely read 1776 while students take their finals in honor of this great historian. I just hope that the text explores the workings of the American Revolution and doesn't serve as a mouthpiece for political consensus that our past is always better than our present.

My son is approaching his ninth month of life. He is the joy of my life. My wife and I agree that we never thought that parenthood would be this rewarding. This morning, as I parted from my wife who was lying in bed with my son, my little boy scrambled across the bed after me and cried, wanting me back and only settling down after I picked him up and kissed him. The more I play with my son, the more I believe in God. I've been taking him swimming lately as well. He loves splashing in the water and watching daddy blow bubbles under water. I dunk him and get him used to being under the surface. He doesn't like it but is getting used to it. Soon, I hope that he can master the butterfly by July.

The new Springsteen album has really grown on me. While some tracks will take years for me to either appreciate or like, at least half of the album ranks up there with any of his best work of the last two decades. It's definitely the most diverse album he's made; while it'll be a long while before another comes out, I'll be very happy trying to make sense of just who Leah is, contemplate the humanity of Jesus, and whether he is in love with Mary or Maria.

Happy 64th, Zimmie.

Happy 8th, sweetheart.

Going Nucular

The U.S. Senate broke into factions and each side sat down to discuss whether or not the Republican-led group would alter the rules strictly because the GOP is whining about not getting its way. A 217-year old rule of the filibuster (a pretty bizzare but admittedly needed policy) is blocking the Senate from being able to name a handful of federal judges to positions promised by Bush. Any historian worth her or his salt can tell you that the filibuster has often been used for backwards-minded and bigoted means; Strom Thurmond attempting to stall civil rights legislation by reading the Bible comes to mind. However, the filibuster exists for one reason and one very good reason: to prevent a tyranny of the majority. Anyone reading her or his copy of the Federalist (The Federalist Papers, to us civics students) knows that James Madison thought well in advance about one "glitch" in a democracy. When the majority begins carrying out mob rule is when those in the minority have the legal option of "applying the brakes", so to speak. The filibuster can be used to stall or slow up any due process the majority would otherwise attempt to ramrod into law. While this makes for "sausage-making" in the Senate (thankfully, good things can come to those who wait patiently) the process also keeps zealots from burning down the Reichstag, so to speak. Currently, the Senate is dominated by the conservative right-wing of the Republican party which thinks it has the mandate to shovel the Old Testament down the throats of the country whether the majority of its citizens do not. Now I'm not going to argue the democratic merits of the Senate (allow Rick Hertzberg in his brilliant Politics, released last fall, to do so), it is a shame to think of how a few Senators from sparsely-populated states (the radical right-wing makes up for really only about ten percent of the nation's population - look at those Mid-Western and Southern states; seventeen people live in Nebraska) can hijack the nation's judiciary, or laws protecting people's rights, or approve the Patriot Act. Now isn't the time or place to remodel the Senate, though I would be the first to suggest it, but it is the time for the GOP to slow down, take a deep breath, and see that by playing the "nuclear option," they will be the target of a knee-jerk wrath of voters in the 2006 midterms that the conservative agenda being laid out would be totally derailed. Americans like a swinging pendulum; what they don't like is self-righteous demagoguery posed as traditional values burning witches and snooping for communists in the army. Be forewarned, Bill Frist, or you'll be running for re-election to the Senate in 2008 instead of taking the nomination for president.

Boys and Men

Off-topic post today, but something I don't want to forget: Yesterday, my son took communion for the first time in his life. Yes, he's only eight and a half months old, but my wife slipped him a little of her grape juice and he "partook" of the wine, so to speak. To me, communion is the most visceral and personal part of my church-going experience. It can mean whatever the participant wants it to mean, but for me, even one with shaky faith, it is the one opportunity to fathom a mystical, personal connection with Jesus. Whatever that means, I'm still not sure, and I guess that's a part of why on Sundays when the bread and the cup get passed, I always partake. Even when I doubt, I am sure that communion helps me connect.
A student of mine told me that his father died over the weekend. This news hit me very unexpectedly and I have been emotionally fragile today. Taking this news home with me as I played with my son on the family room floor, I often wondered what would happen if I ever lost my son or he lost me unexpectedly. I had to rush those thoughts out of my mind but that split second of clarity, of which I have occasionally, reminded me of life's true gift of time and experience. I'll always want more time to spend with my family, but I also have learned to enjoy every single second with my loved ones. Not to be morose but to be real; my son giggled with delight as I tickled him today. He threw his head back, squinted his eyes and laughed the laughter of a child who knows that he is safe and happy and in familiar hands. I grow older and wiser in the presence of my child and yet experience every gifted second because I know that it, too, is gone.

Gods and Generals

The best weekend of concerts, ever. Thursday night's Springsteen performance was spectacular. Two and a quarter hours, twenty-four songs, and a raw, bare show that shows Bruce's prowess as a single performer without the trappings and show of a band "concert." Highlights: Racing in the Street, The Rising, Land of Hope and Dreams and the best song of the night, Jesus Was an Only Son from his new album. Bruce began playing the progression to the song, explaining how he wanted to portray the relationship between Jesus and his mom and how he wanted to show a parent's perspective, that you always want to protect your child and make sure he is going to make it through; that in the context of Jesus walking up Calvary Hill and doing "His heavenly father's will" made for a stunning performance. He sang the first verse and interrupted himself by mentioning the choices Jesus made and the reasons why he did so, only doing what he ultimately felt was best even though it meant giving up so much. I thought of my son and his journey so far and the dreams that I have for him. I did all I could to hold back tears though I knew that when I heard sniffling from others behind me that crying would put me in good company.

Saturday I headed down with my great friends Steve, Lefty and Kelly to see the Allman Brothers Band in Santa Barbara. While Bruce is my all-time favorite, the ABB is my favorite band and concert. I discovered them in 1992 during my sophomore year at UCSB. How fitting that I see my favorite band on the eve of my tenth anniversary of graduating in my old stomping grounds. I felt like I had completed something begun a long time ago; a transformation that has brought me halfway across the state of California and now back, was done. Incredible performance, awesome setlist. It didn't hurt at all, either, that I was watching the show from the stage with a VIP pass thanks to Kelly. Hung out after the show with the band's bassist, Oteil Burbridge, who is genuinely a great individual. I've had other experiences meeting with this man before, but Saturday night was a true treat. Now I need a week of work to recover.

Happy Birthday to my friend, Steve Portela!!! Go check out his 'blog, it's on my 'friends' list. Steve has been slaving away at keeping up his journal and it's one of the best on the web. I learn so much from him every day as I check out his site. You'll be stunned at how up-to-date his entries are.

I Can't Wait!!!

Tomorrow evening I'll be in the Paramount Theatre with 3,100 other people listening to Bruce Springsteen sing many of his new songs as well as a host of his classics in a solo acoustic performance that will hopefully top his performance of August, 2003 that I saw with my beautiful wife. Looking at the number of songs that he's been playing and the old ones that he's revamping, tomorrow night should just be an amazing event. I'm rushing out of school, changing at home, flying to my mother in law's where I'll meet my family for a quick dinner, and then shooting off to the Paramount area where I'll have a couple of beers and a peek at the concessions before moving into the old theater where my mom and dad as newlyweds went to see matinees. When telling my dad that I was going to the Paramount, his response was an opening of floodgates of stories of films that he and my mom saw there; "I remember seeing 2001 A Space Odyssey" there, that was big stuff back in the '60s!" Having a family connection with the place will make tomorrow night all the more special. Of all the songs Bruce has been singing, I would love to hear him perform "This Hard Land" and "Racing In the Streets". News at eleven...

Lies, Damn Lies and

Statistics. Polls out showing a growing number of Americans upset at the Iraq War. New poll showing that 57% of Americans believing the Iraq War was wrong; I'd be curious to see those numbers if:

A. Bush told Americans in 2002/2003 that a U.S. invasion was for toppling a dictator of a tyrannical government
B. The Defense Dept. had created a more sound war strategy
C. War planners had considered a backlash in insurgency
D. All of the above

Amazing what would have happened if Americans were told the truth about Bush's intentions; maybe Americans would have supported an offensive military measure in order to change regimes.

Polls showing that a growing number of Americans upset at Bush's handling of the Social Security issue. I'd be curious to see those numbers if:

A. Bush actually presented a well-thought out plan before announcing his dismantling the most successful program of the New Deal.
B. The cap on income was raised to include the upper- and upper-middle class, considering these are the people (soon to include my family) that will demand their social security when retirement age occurs.
C. Bush's hare-brained privatization scheme wouldn't create a two to three trillion dollar drain on an already-broke federal government
D. All of the above.

Polls showing that a growing number of Americans upset at the way Bush and social conservatives are attempting to not outnumber but silence and/or oppress political opposition over filibustering, rights of privacy, and the role of government. I'd be curious to see those numbers if:

A. The GOP actually stood for small government with less interference in people's lives.
B. People like Tom DeLay wouldn't act like fascists by threatening to impeach or defund the judiciary simply because he can't control the third branch of government.
C. Republicans like Bush's Attorney General and Senators like Rick Santorum (R-PA) believed that Americans have the fundamental right to privacy.
D. All of the above.

Polls showing that a growing number of Americans are livid over the Bush Administration's handling of prisoners of war (or whatever they're called depending on the political climate). I'd be curious to see those numbers if:

A. The U.S. wasn't abusing prisoners in Iraq.
B. The U.S. wasn't rendering prisoners to countries like Egypt or Uzbekistan that torture detainees.
C. The military showed that prisoners were giving up Osama bin Laden's home address, e-mail accounts or actual location.
D. All of the above.

Polls showing that a growing number of Americans are disapproving Bush's handling of the presidency, the war on terror, the economy, and the overall direction of the country. I'd be curious to see those numbers if:

A. Bush could talk in complete, coherent sentences at a press conference and not come off as the gimp that he is.
B. Bush didn't wag his "political capital" line in people's faces and then offend just about everyone except Condi Rice.
C. Bush would actually listen to the mood of the public, the majority of voters, the voice of history which will soon have a field day on his presidency, and moderate Republicans who are beginning to distance themselves from his policies.
D. John Kerry had won.
E (bonus). All of the above.

All I know is that next week, I'm teaching the Bush Administration in my U.S. history class next week and I am going to be unbelievably candid and analytical on his five years of office. I'm already hearing the witch hunt of "LIBERAL!" but if independent, objective analysis, comparison of Georgie to his predecessors, and the comparison of the Bush Administration with that of traditionally held values of liberty, freedom, justice and the rule of law, makes me a liberal, then I'm proud to be a Socialist.

Two days 'til Bruce.

Happy May Day

Whelp, if nothing else, this'll get me branded as a socialist. Not that there's anything wrong with it, :) The international day of the worker. Even mentioning this in the U.S. brands someone left of liberal. By the time I'll be finished posting this, someone in the GOP will have already passed legislation recognizing the day of the large corporation that pays its executives much more than they deserve. Fitting for it to fall on April 15, but I repeat myself.
Bush's social security campaign is failing, a supermajority (and growing) of Americans opposes Bush's handling of the issue as well as the private accounts thing, studies are showing that middle and upper income earners will earn less under Bush's plan than the one that seems to have been doing just fine until two right-wing nutcase presidents opted to spend the country into fiscal disaster, and yet the GOP is drawing up a plan to be passed in June? What about the will of the people that wants affordable health care and a social security plan that is solvent? On a much lighter note, George Bush and Kim Jong Il are in a war of playground insults while North Korea has successfully tested a medium-range missile. On a related note, the government found no collusion between Iraq and Syria which was claimed by the Bush Administration as reason to continue the ground war that has resulted in almost 1,600 American deaths and over 100,000 Iraqi deaths. Notice that Bush's Axis of Evil is seeing the wheels coming off?
Four days and I'll be fifteen rows away from The Boss. I have yet to reveiw the new album, Devils and Dust. It's a wonderful record. I've listened to it at least once a day and most of the songs are starting to hit their mark. The best song on the album by far is "Jesus Was An Only Son", a gospel number that's reminiscent of Tom Waits. Can't wait to hear it live. The record's nickname should be "The Ghost of Lucky Town" and my friend Chris "Lefty" Brown (read his blog NOW) has reviewed it as a mixture of Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie. Now, how can you go wrong with that?! More to follow...