Long Walk Home

Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary, suddenly had a John Dean conversion and decided to tell the truth. Good for him. While it's only in the interests of his publisher to release the book officially at the peak of the campaign season, may it do nothing but continue to shred the veil of deception and failure of the Bush Administration and all of those who supported it for political gains.

Hillary's lead in a couple of states is beginning to shrink. We can thank the personality-driven media covering this in horse-race fashion and maybe to some of the flesh-pressing of other candidates. What appears to be happening, either for the sake of keeping the 2008 election from being a runaway(who'll read?) or a putsch from the large media corporations, is something of Howard Dean-like proportions: taking a front runner and cutting him or her down at the knees. Conspiratorial I am not; however, how can Hillary have gone from media darling to that word used at the McCain town hall just a couple of weeks ago?

My heart hurts and I've honestly been in a funk the last day from this. This sad news just makes the two shows I caught last month all the more special. Generous postings on YouTube such as this have also shown the support amongst fans and bandmembers alike. The guy's not a family member; I don't claim to know him. I'm just touched by his contribution to the music I love so much. Speedy recovery, Phantom.

On a completely selfish note, the band will be back in northern California in early April. San Jose and Sacramento. I'm there, baby. The Sacto show will fall on the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King; I wonder what Bruce may do.

Rudy says that he'll appoint activist judges like Scalia and Thomas to the bench. Either he's a moron or a panderer. Or, maybe, just a bunch of both. Originalism is the greatest intellectually ridiculous Constitutional interpretation to emerge since the 1880s when the Court saw to it that corporations were protected under the 14th Amendment. Oh, and the 18th Amendment. How could Rudy pull this off among most respectable GOPers, much less the entire voting public? What a fool. What a chump. Maybe he should start an smear campaign against himself, calling and attacking his Catholicism, marital problems and political pandering. Apparently, it's working for Mitt right now.

Catch the Alterman gig at U.C. Davis last week. It's not the most entertaining and he's much more boring a public speaker than a politcal analyst, but his points are salient and his new book will be worth it. I'll be buying it and giving it to certain students that I believe, give me hope for the future.

Finally, shame on Newsweek magazine. Hiring Karl Rove as a political contributor simply to "balance" out the Daily Kos? That would be like balancing a church sermon from my pastor with Charles Manson. My response, which is based on economics as well as principle:

Editors of Newsweek:

I write this letter with sadness and anger after receiving the latest issue of my beloved magazine. I have subscribed to Newsweek for over a decade and have come to rely on its insightful journalism and poignant opinion articles. For the last two years I have also shared Newsweek with my students classroom subscriptions and have found that today's youth seek to be informed of current events. Throughout my readership of the magazine, I always felt that Newsweek strove to remain above trends and the political fray of the twenty-four cable news networks. Thus, I was disgusted to see that the magazine has recently hired Karl Rove as a political contributor.

From a marketing perspective, I understand why the magazine would do such a thing; with subscriptions diminishing and journalism evolving into the digital realm, print-based periodicals such as this are searching for whatever can bring in and maintain readership. The hiring of the 'blogger from the Daily Kos could, rightfully seen, be "balanced" by a conservative polar-opposite. One would imagine the pool to draw from, those witty and intelligent as staple George Will but on the "inside" enough to be edgy and controversial to draw attention. However, Karl Rove is beyond the pale of not just acceptable journalism but political behavior and civic mindedness in this nation. Partisanship aside, what Mr. Rove and others like him have done to the political atmosphere is appalling; no longer do majority parties have a "loyal opposition"; the Rove-led Republican strategy of the last seven and a half years has been to destroy the Democratic Party and the credibility of any political camp other than his version of conservatism. With that, the historical record shows that Rove has stopped at nothing to achieve victory, all the while destroying truth along the way: Senator John McCain's presidential bid in 2000; 2002 congressional candidates' lambasting as "unAmerican"; Senator John Kerry's presidential bid and allegations of disloyalty. "Swiftboating" has only entered the American lexicon out of spiteful revenge-based political maneuvers by Rove and his ilk; will this nation ever recover from such post-truth politicking? Highly unlikely if Mr. Rove continues to be under the employ of Newsweek magazine.

Mr. Rove's political career may make many people cynical of politics based on his strategies. However, the most egregious act in the nation's system of government of placing partisanship over principles, which is what Mr. Rove and other high-ranking White House officers, including, apparently, the President and Vice President of the United States, did, with the CIA leak scandal, "Plamegate". This was not just simply politically damaging, it was illegal. While Mr. Rove did not eventually face charges, his close connections to such a shameful and disgraceful act make him damaged goods; that Newsweek, at the risk of alienating so much of its readership, would hire Mr. Rove is not only beyond rationality, it is beyond acceptability and reproach. My subscription, therefore, pays his salary, and I can not be party to this in good conscience.

Therefore, it is with great sadness and dismay that I will be allowing my subscription to this erstwhile respectable publication to expire. I will also be cancelling my classroom subscriptions as well and justify my actions to my students that integrity and honesty are values that many Americans still cling to in this divided country. In this case, please understand that it is not partisanship but principle. May this publication learn from this action that there exists more than a fine line between controversy and the rule of law, truth and deception, and the bottom line versus bottom of the barrell. As a patriotic American, let me end my relationship with this magazine with a verse by a folk singer who espouses the values of honesty and integrity over profit, partisanship and divisiveness:

...that flag flying over the courthouse
means certain things are set in stone
who we are, what we'll do
and what we won't.


Sincerely,

Paul Taylor


Happy turkey day, everyone. Let us count our blessings and all that we have that keep us safe and sane in this world.