I Found Love

I could be angry that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen the very homophobic and fundamentalist Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration ceremony next month. It's also no secret that the LGBT community came out in favor of his candidacy back on November 4th. And it's no secret now he's punched them hard in the gut.



Some pundits view this decision by the President-elect as yet another move towards healing the divisions that plague our nation. Sorry, in the name of some good friends and family, both with us and not, I can't turn the other cheek.

I could be really angry that neither Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) nor Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) have publicly stepped up to the plate to call for impeachment hearings in the wake of both President Bush and Vice President Cheney for lying to the American people about the decision to invade Iraq and for approving the torture of prisoners. Senator Levin (D-MI) has his eye on the ball.





I could be angry that dysfunction and stupidity are alive and well on the Isle of Long; the place I currently call home. When I learned that a 44-year old PTA mom from Baldwin, NY was found half-naked, making out with a 13-year old boy, I jokingly asked Skippy "where was Mrs. Tuckruskye when I was 13?" But the humor quickly passed as we thought about how this is yet another in a long line of embarrassingly dysfunctional acts committed by a Long Island resident (think Wal-Mart trampling on Black Friday) that didn't stop to think of the consequences of her actions, let alone the psychological damage she could cause.

Right or wrong, it's one thing to cheat on a spouse. Rarely does any good ever come from that. What two adults choose to do and why they choose to do it is a private matter. But this is incorrigible.

I could be angry with those Southern Senators, led by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) who shot down the bailout of the American automobile industry, blaming the United Auto Workers for the demise of the Big Three automakers. The hubris of these assholes astounds me, especially when you consider their states are home to foreign, non-unionized car makers like Toyota, BMW, Honda, and Nissan. But several of of them could vote for a $700 billion bailout of investment banks that conveniently allows executives to pad their compensation with taxpayer money.

I could even muster some angry, fist-jabs into the air towards New York Governor Patterson for his drastic budget cuts and tax increases because his financial wizards didn't accurately anticipate the Wall Street meltdown and it's effect on New York's economy. C'mon Dave. A tax on naturally sweetened soda and fruit drinks as an anti-obesity measure? Are you kidding me?

But I can't be angry.

Not today.

That's because this morning I woke up to find three notes taped to the mirror in my closet.














Noodle... I love you, too, baby. And Skippy and Zeb and Rick and Chester. Thanks for the lift, sweetie. I'm leaving the notes up there as a reminder of where I can always find somebody to love.

Dear Senator Obama

Dear Senator Obama:

I voted for you this morning. I did so in the hopes that you will live up to the promises you made regarding "Change."

I had no doubt about the choice I made this morning, as I waited in line at the Lindenhurst Snails Firehouse on Heling Boulevard, a quarter mile from my home. I was the 24th voter in my Election District (110th E.D.), which, I hope, is one of thousands cast in my town. Sadly, we are represented in Congress by Peter King (R-NY). I voted for his opponent, Graham Long, largely because of King's unwavering support for George Bush policies, and because you're going to need all the votes you can get in Congress to effectively fulfill your vision.

It pleases me that you have articulated a vision for our nation in print; that you have developed a lasting and enduring record to which we can refer should you waver from it. If you are sincere in this Senator, then I want what you want. These are my top five issues you promised to address, in no particular order:

• Tax cuts for the middle class
  
• Health care reform
• An end to the Iraqi occupation
• More government investment in infrastructure and education
• A more regulated financial market that keeps Corporate America from the rampant speculation that put us in the mess we're in now. And while you're at it, please find a way to restructure the disastrous bailout deal that provides zero accountability for those investment banks that are literally feeding at the U.S Treasury trough.
  

But please bear that I will not view your election to President as a coronation. Nor will I celebrate it with wild abandon as if to say "our problems have been solved." You know as well as I do Senator that your election would be but a baby step in the right direction and a tenuous one at best. I am taking a gamble with you, playing a hunch using the best information I have available to me at this moment. Please take this in the spirit it's intended Senator, but I intend to hold you accountable to both your promises and your actions.

Presently, I am not happy with your vote to provide retro-active immunity to telecommunications companies that spied on Americans at the behest of the President without a warrant. They knowingly violated a Constitutional right and you let them slide.

Not am I pleased with your vote for the Wall Street bailout. If Naomi Klein's recent article in Rolling Stone magazine doesn't convince you that Corporate America has no intention of making good on their promises in exchange for our help, then I will make a point of letting you know that this is the case. Sir, I am adamant on this point. Please close the trough.

Finally, I am also not enamored with you decision to continue President Bush's Faith-based initiative to provide needed public services. While I view the public assistance provided by the religious faithful as a good thing, then they should have no problem doing so under the aegis of a government program that prohibits religious proselytizing of any kind. Finding God should not be a pre-requisite to being helped.

Senator Obama, please know that with my vote you will have my support. Indeed, my support is conditional, but know, too, that you have it. I place my trust in you, not just for myself, but for my children. Unlike me, they have yet to realize the American dream as articulated in your plan and what's worse, they are captives to the votes I cast this day.

Please don't let us down.

Sincerely,

John Nieves
Lindenhurst, NY

Noodle Dishes

I promised Noodle I would not post about her anymore. Apparently, she's grown a bit self-conscious about me writing stuff about her. Yet, she's got the Facebook thing covered like nobody's business. I don't get it. But then again, I'm her Dad. I'm not supposed to.

Still, I could not help but write about a recent, but brief, political exchange we had, while she was driving herself to work last Sunday.

Me: So, if you could vote for President, who would you vote for?

Noodle: I would vote for Obama-Biden.

Me: Good choice. I'm be voting for him, too.

Noodle: I knew that Dad. But I can't vote yet. I did work on a project on the election at school, where we had to make a placard for the candidate of our choice.

Me: That's great!

(Pause for an awkward 3-second silence)

Me: Sooooooo...who would Rachael vote for? (Rachael is Noodle's BFF)

Noodle: She likes McCain and so does her Dad.

Me: Really? Why would her Dad vote against his best interests like that? I don't get it.

Noodle: There's really nothing to get Dad. It's a democracy. People vote for who they like.

Me: You're right. But don't your differing viewpoints cause friction between you and Rachael?

Noodle: Well, we disagree on this, but we agree on alot of other stuff Daddy. We don't always have to agree on everything. That's just stupid.

Ouch! It was a humbling experience for me because for the last month as I watched the election coverage on the dreaded MSM, and I could feel my level of vitriol rise with each "you betcha" from Sarah Palin and each "my friends" from McCain. In fact, in reading your blogs, I conclude that many of you feel as I do.

But Noodle set me straight. Dissent and disagreement are the foundation of our republic and if we brow beat people into voting one way or another, we are no better than those fascist regimes where people still die for a chance to vote.

So in the spirit of friendship, I leave you with this....

By Their Bootstraps?

I've written several posts about my father since I've started blogging. Here's another.

Come November 25, my father will reach the ripe old age of 85. I can say with all honesty that he's probably been through more and worse shit before the age of 15, than I did in all my 45 years.

He grew up poor on a finca in the mountains of Utuado, Puerto Rico during the Great Depression. He told me on many occasions that his worldview was shaped by his experiences of doing without during that period.

Like many young men his age, he tried to volunteer for military service during World War Two. But he was rejected for medical reasons. Instead, he took a job in a mental institution in San Juan until the war was over, and migrated to the lower 48 like many of his compañeros in 1946. He packed his meager belongings and moved to New York City in the hopes of good jobs and opportunities. There weren't many; particularly for off-the-boat Puerto Ricans.

But Dad was a hustler. He worked in the sweatshops on Broadway near Broome Street, where he met my Mom in 1948. He drove cabs and cut hair. He even tried his hand at running a grocery store. He had help along the way; people who were willing to take a chance and give a job to a hard-working guy with a 6th grade education. It wasn't always enough.

It wasn't until he was employed by the New York City Housing Authority that his fortunes took off. I'm not sure when he exactly landed the job with the NYCHA, but not long after I was born in 1963, we moved from a shit-hole tenement on Broome Street to a huge four bedroom hi-rise apartment on the corner of Pitt and Delancy Streets. By 1969, we were on the road again; a short ride uptown to 6th Street and Avenue D, where in exchange for being an on-call employee, we got to live virtually rent-free in a three-bedroom apartment.

From what I can tell, my Dad was quite grateful for this opportunity. During the 1977 blackout he risked life and limb to pull people out of stuck elevators, walking up countless flights in pitch black stairwells in unbearable heat with nothing but a flashlight, a pocket knife, and a fireman's key to open the doors. Not only that, he had to stop on each landing to yell out to determine exactly where the elevators were stuck. Sure, he acted out of a sense of duty to his job. It was what he signed up for. But given the extraordinary conditions, I doubt any of his bosses would have blamed him if he had stayed home.

What I find fascinating is my father's generosity. He is a giving man, almost to a fault. My sense is that this trait has its roots in the opportunities he got when he first landed Stateside. His journey challenges to some extent the do-it-alone, lift-yourself-by-your-bootstraps mentality because the fact of the matter is that he had help. In fact, his plight is no different than many other immigrants that came before him who thrived on a combination of individual charity and government assistance.

This combination of assistance is what enabled him to save enough money to buy a really nice two-family house in Richmond Hill, (Queens) NY in 1978 and retire to a huge three-bedroom, two-acre ranch home in 1994. And to this day, his generosity still knows no bounds. He has taken in countless relatives and provided food and money to people with little expectation of getting anything in return. In his mind, I think it was an investment that gave returns not in interest-accrued monetary compensation, but in the notion that an investment in people is a good thing for this nation because it creates a cycle of economic prosperity that comes from a large middle class.

What troubles me is how the children and grandchildren of these immigrants have forgotten where they came from. These are the same people -- many with very ethnic last names -- who refuse to admit that their successes were built on the shoulders of their ancestors. These are the ones decrying the coming "socialism" of an Obama Administration because they feel they're being robbed of their hard-earned wealth, but who themselves are the direct beneficiaries of a Keynesian economic model. I ask them: Where would they be were it not for the breaks their parents, grandparents and great grandparents received along the path to middle-class prosperity?

From the Homesteaders who were given Indian lands to farm, to the Irish immigrants who were given jobs by Boss Tweed; From the turn-of-the-century Italian and Jewish immigrants who built the streets, subways and bridges of New York City, to the dispossessed who were employed by the New Deal; from the soldiers who benefited from a very generous GI Bill following World War Two, to men like my Dad who worked the menial public sector jobs that provided decent housing to millions of New Yorkers, all these "bootstrappers" could not have succeeded without getting a hand up along the way.

So, to all of you proponents of laissez-faire, trickle-down economics who like to point to the immigrant story as a testament solely to the spirit of unfettered, rugged individualism, I say this -- don't forget where you came from. Indeed, it took a great deal of individual sweat equity and effort to make the most of the opportunities given to your ancestors. But let's not forget that these opportunities were given by generous people both in and out of government, and you owe it to the nation and to yourself to pay it forward and give one to those who will follow you.

The Last Thing I'll Say on Sarah Palin...

Maybe....




I'm still trying to figure out why John McCain would shoot his campaign in the proverbial foot by choosing this woman as his running mate.














He could have chosen this woman. She's pretty hot and Katie Couric could never make her look like an idiot.









Was it her wink?






Or how good her ass still looks at age 44.






I don't think so. He's not that shallow, is he?

Then it hit me after this song came on Fred on XM as I was driving to my touch football game this morning. He's got a thing for Mayors!



XTC - The Mayor of Simpleton

Who says Republicans aren't romantics?

Somewhere in a cave...

.... in the mountains of Afghanistan there's a tall, bearded man smiling at the destruction he has wrought.

Watching MSNBC yesterday morning, sick as dog from a head cold and stomach virus, I listened as Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Christopher Cox, and Jim Lockhart squirmed to explain to the Senate Banking Committee why the credit markets need a $700 billion dollar blank check, courtesy of the American taxpayer. I could not help but imagine the bogey-man of our worst nightmares point at his huge flat-screen television and laugh to his cohorts, "Dude, look what we did!"

I know I'm being a bit too simplistic about the Bin Laden connection. What's happening now to our financial markets has it roots in events and circumstances that go back much further than the moment America became aware of Osama Bin Laden. As I was researching information for this post, I came across this article that appeared in The Washington Post back in June:

Anatomy of a Meltdown: The Credit Crisis

Do you think Messers. P., B., C., and L. read the story? How about Bin Laden?

I can't help but wonder: Is he smiling? I'll bet a king's ransom he is. As our country hemorrhages money out every orifice like some poor soul suffering from E-bola, he is smiling because he probably pushed the first domino that set us on this ruinous path.

The cost of fighting terrorism now stands at $581 billion and counting:

###
Iraq War Cost


But that doesn't count. That's the cost of taking the fight over there, so that Americans can be safe here.

Ha! Safe. I feel it. Don't you?

In meantime, while the country's attention was transfixed on the war, the Bush Administration purposely turned a blind eye, as men like Paulson, who was the head of Goldman Sachs before his government gig, gutted the banking industry.

And now they want us to pay for their fuck up.

Listen to Paulsen, Bernake, Cox, and Lockhart as the beg.... BEG!... the Senate Banking Committee for the $700 million dollars.




They look like a bunch of junkies begging a dealer for another fix. Even after Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) suggested that the money be paid off in installments, they we're adamant in stating that they needed the money now, much in the same way, that Bush was adamant about need for cash to fight the war.

Let's do the math folks:

$581 (Iraq war cost)
+
$1,100 (A.I.G., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Bear Stearns)
+
$700 (All the rest)

= 2,381*

* - figures in billions

That's alot of cheddar for a fix.

Now that the shaft has been inserted into our collective asses with the war, the Bush Administration now wants to give it a nice shove for good measure with this bailout.

What angers me about our present predicaments is the fact that the warning signs were there.

The warnings leading up to 9/11/01 were obvious. Bin Laden had been trying to goad us into a fight for the longest time, blowing up embassies and ramming a bomb-laden boat into the USS Cole. You can blame President Clinton all you want for his administration's tepid reaction to those events, but I quite admire his reserve. Why commit military resources to what is essentially a job for Interpol and the FBI? As we know now, it would have cost us billions to use the military to catch him, and with no guarantee of success. Instead Clinton chose to focus on the economy, on building relationships with foreign nations, and making government run more efficiently. Is it any wonder we had a budget surplus on January 20, 2001?

Listen to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) take the motley crew of financial gurus to task over the warning signs of this financial crisis:



But it's too late now, I'm afraid. As Congress figures out what to do about Wall Street, people are losing jobs and homes left and right; our infrastructure is crumbling as we speak, and our military is stretched to the point of breaking.

I hate to say this folks, but the wolves are circling the carcass and shooting them from a helicopter won't help.

Russian navy ships head to Venezuela

Our once great nation has fallen to its knees and is holding the ropes taking an eight count.

And somewhere, in a cave in the mountains of Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden is smiling.

Grown Up Tag....

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Not Another Peep? Heh Heh

I hated being teased growing up. Fuck did I hate it. I even wrote a poem about it once... sort of. But like all things in life, eventually you get your karmic justice. I got mine. Growing up in a large family in a three-bedroom apartment as I did (I was the second youngest of seven), you develop a full appreciation for the word co-habitation. That was the operative word for me for several years in the 1970s, when I shared a room with my brothers Ralph and Louie. Ralph and I shared a bunk bed, while Louie had the twin bed next to ours. I used the top bunk. Being the oldest of us three, Louie took charge of the room. He's a natural leader to begin with, which at the age of 16 translates into "really bossy." Most nights, we watched what he wanted on our little 19-inch black-and-white television. He also told us when it was time for bed. And he meant it. You see, Louie was also our "A" student. Part of the reason he did well in school was because he stuck to a routine. That meant lights out at 10PM, no exceptions. Me and Ralph had other plans. Lights out for us meant keep Louie up all hours of the night. We'd make up stupid songs or make noises that would drive him bonkers. The sound he hated most was "peep." Here's how a typical weekday evening went in our room:

Louie: Would you guys shut the fuck up! I'm trying to sleep. 

Me: I'm sorry. We'll shut up. 'night Ralphie (snicker...) 

Ralphie: 'night Johnny. Me: 'night, Ralphie....

It was at this point Louie would jump out of bed and threaten us with bodily harm.

Louie: I swear if I hear another peep out of you. 

Ralphie: Sorry.

Moments later......

Ralphie: Peep. 

Me: Peep. Peep 

Ralphie: Peep. Peep. Peep. Peep. Peep. Peep 

Me: Peep. Peep,Peep. Peep. Peep. Peep.Peep. Peep

Louie would pummel us both with punches after that and try as we might to feel the pain of being hit on the arms, legs, and chest, we would simply laugh our asses off. Years later, Louie still can't live it down. What makes telling this story even more fun is that my brother Louie is a died-in-the-wool Republican. We haven't had a chance to discuss the selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP running mate, but I can't imagine him not being energized by her selection. No doubt, he's one of the "base" who admires her hot fucking body media savvy, and is up in arms over how the liberal media is digging up all manner of information not showing her any respect of deference. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear he thinks Palin is getting peeped. So, here's my advice to Obama's campaign team: Keep peeping her. Peep her until she fucking cracks. Then laugh your ass off while you take your lumps. Trust me. It works.

Remembering 9/11/01

I've grown weary of all the 9/11 remembrances, especially the big ones.

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day seven years ago, most here in New York. So, it's right to remember them and recall how their lives enriched our world in ways large and small. I lost no one that day. I had two close calls with a brother who was supposed to be in Tower One that morning and a sister who witnessed the second plane crash into Tower One as she was merging onto West Street from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. I lost no one, still, I felt the loss that day, as every American did.

What has me so weary is not so much the many remembrance ceremonies, but this inescapable notion that some of these gatherings, particularly the televised ones, have become more important than the event it commemorates. Is it any wonder that fewer and fewer family members of the victims of 9/11 even bother to attend them?

Why is that? Could it be that they're tired of bullshit politicians picking at the scabs of their wounds for the sake of political gain?

Rudy Giuliani is one such bullshitter.

I can't begin to describe the loathing many victim's families have for his "9/11" antics, particularly those of the 343 FDNY firefighters who died that day. Buried somewhere in his "I'm-the-hero-of-9/11" show, is the fact that Mayor Giulani's inaction in replacing the outdated FDNY radios probably cost those firefighters their lives. Many who went into the burning towers died in the collapse because they never heard the call to evacuate. Two years ago, Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins wrote a scathing critique of America's Mayor called Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani. If you haven't read it, you should.

George Bush is another one. Here's what he had to say today at the Pentagon ceremony:

Since 9/11, our troops have taken the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home... Thanks to the brave men and women, and all those who work to keep us safe, there has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days.

Indeed. But at what cost? Since 9/11, we've lost over 4,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and caused the deaths of a million Iraqi and Afghani civilians. And, we're now were on the verge of sacrificing more lives in an attack on Iran, when it all could have been prevented, had Bush acted on intelligence reports handed to him on the 6th of August 2001 indicating a 9/11 attack was imminent. Because of his failure to act, we now live in a nation so jacked up about the need for security, that few if any understand just how much our civil liberties have eroded since 9/11/01.

We had one such gathering in my town of Lindenhurst, NY. It was a rather subdued ceremony to honor the six residents we lost in that attack. But like many of the local town officials standing on the dais tonight, I did not know Susan Clyne all that well, just as I did not know either of the Joe Angelinis (father and son FDNY firefighters), or Geoffrey Guja, or Gary Lee, or Lawrence Nedell.

A color guard was on hand to present the flag, and someone gave a poorly-sung, but heartfelt, rendition of "God Bless America." Various town officials and religious leaders spoke to the crowd, none missing a beat in calling the attacks cowardly and lauding our dead as heroes.

But unlike Rudy Giuliani who milked the 9/11 tragedy dry for personal profit, and George Bush who used fear of another 9/11 to shred our Constitutional rights, what I witnessed and felt tonight in Lindenhurst was a genuine sense of unity.

What I heard them say to the victim's families is something you'll never hear from Giuliani or Bush or any other politician coat-tailing these events. What my neighbors say is "I'm sorry for you loss"?

What's The Big Deal?

This is a post about fear.

It seems lately every news item on TV, every blog post I read, even recent conversations with friends are couched with a sense of fear and imminent danger. It's enough to make me scream.

There was plenty of manufactured fear surrounding Tropical Storm Hanna in these parts. Dire forecasts predicted winds in excess of 60 miles per hour, and flooding rains of 6 inches or more. You would think we were done for.

But she came and went leaving us a few inches of rain, a few broken branches and, for Casa Spartacus, garbage cans blown across our yard. That's it.

Then there's the fear surrounding the election. Whether your persuasion swings Democrat or Republican, it's amazing at how much fear plays into their Presidential campaigns. Lately, it's focused on Amendment XXV of the Constitution, which outlines our nation's Presidential succession plan. Apparently, people think Obama has made a good VP choice and McCain a bad one, because no feels they'll last a full term in office, if elected.

But are we overstating this fear? Like the weather forecasts here in the New York area, are we engaged in a form of hyperbole that is not necessarily meant to warn anyone of impending danger, but to lure us into buying more newspapers or repeating a message so that those events we fear become foregone conclusions?

Certainly, those fears are founded in fact.

Hanna could have stayed off shore, strengthened over the Atlantic to become a hurricane again, and flattened houses along the South shore of Long Island where I live. We haven't had a hurricane here since Gloria struck in 1985, but the memories of that storm and this one still linger.

An Obama assassination could set off unrest in this country the likes of which will make the Rodney King riots, or even the riots following the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., look like mild disturbances of the peace. Biden would be a capable replacement, but I'd hate to be in his shoes the day he becomes President should Obama be killed in office.

McCain's death, should he die in office, could give us yet another clueless, corrupt and hypocritcal former-Republican governor who most guys would not only want to have a beer with, but would want to fuck once the beer bong went empty and a moose is shot dead. I say "could" because Palin may also go the route of Senator Eagleton.

Truth is, we can make all the dire predictions we want, but won't know a thing until the event we fear actually happens. Hanna turned out to be no big deal, and I'll bet we'll get along just fine regardless of whether we elect and kill the young black guy or the old white guy.

We will endure. We will cope. We will make due until that inevitable moment we fear most comes to pass. It has been our fate since the day we were born.

We will die.

Stoking The Fires

I had one of my meltdowns this weekend. After I do, my tendency is to slink away from the blog for a while and get my shit together. That's kind of where I'm at now. I've got nothing for you guys. But rather than walk away without saying a word, I thought I light up your RSS feeds and let loose with some terrorist fist jabs.

I'm quite weary of all the Sarah Palin posts and the "stick-to-the-issues" bullshit that followed. Hey, she's a politician. Personal scrutiny is fair game. Just ask Bill Clinton.



By the same token, let's not forget that Barack Obama is no fucking saint either. Yes, I'm a Democrat and I will vote for him, but the man is not beyond reproach. After all, this is the same guy who voted for the re-vamped FISA bill which grants the giant telcos retroactive immunity for cooperating with Bush's warrantless surveillance program. He's also the same guy who wants to expand faith-based government programs.

No. I'm not up for any of that shit. I'd rather let Danny Wilson do my talking tonight...

Mary's Prayer

Not Too Important

I'm going to try and keep this short for you and let this MSNBC video speak for itself. Clearly, here's a man who is so out of touch with the electorate that it would astound me if he won in November.

Naturally, Sen. McCain's spin machine clarified his comment on the Today show with this statement:

"Sen. McCain has consistently opposed a timeline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. And our friends on the opposite side of the aisle have a long history of attempting to twist Sen. McCain's words on Iraq. The fact that Sen. McCain opposes a timeline for withdrawal and is principally concerned about the safety of American troops and the security of Iraq is pretty much "dog bites man."

Sure he is. But let's not forget that this was the same man who blithely quipped that he would keep our troops in Iraq for a thousand years and ten later stated that in a speech that our troops would be out of Iraq in 2013 after we achieve victory in Iraq.

But I thought we did that in May 2003 when it was Mission Accomplished?

Skippy's mom (the wife formerly known as E.) had a great way to express her exasperation. "Whatevah!" (translation from Lawnguylandese to English: Whatever!)

My sentiments exactly. It's stupid comments like this that got George Bush elected twice. I wonder if McCain deliberately makes these statements because they are stupid and are purposely garnering the pity vote. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people call in my neck of the woods call Democrats "elitist bastards" because they dared to opine intelligently on an important issue. Is there some kind of mass inferiority complex at work here?

It bears watching the polls the next few months because time will tell if this is indeed McCain's campaign strategy; if in fact, he's playing the idiot card.

Hey, why not?

It's a age old schtick that's worked well in everything from literature to television:



But politics is not like that is it? Is it?

All Aboard the 6:17: From Joba to Obama

Yesterday morning on my commute in to work, this guy gets on the train at Amityville and starts ranting about the New York Yankees pitcher, Joba Chamberlain. He's no stranger to me. I see him everyday and he usually talks sports with his riding buddy from Babylon. But for this ride, he put his vitriol in high gear and opened up loudly over the fact that the Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, pulled Joba from his first major league start after only 2 and a third innings. "How could he do that?" asked our intrepid man from Amityville. "He gave up two runs and only threw 62 pitches."

If you live in New York and follow sports, it's very difficult to avoid the Joba Chamberlain saga. Let me spare you the gory details -- he came to the Yankees in August 2007 with lots of high-praise and promise. He broke in as a reliever and was promoted to a starter. His claim to fame in the pros is being on the mound in Cleveland during Game 2 of last October's American League Division when he was attacked by a swarm if bugs called midges . Big deal, right?

What struck me about the whole scene was not the content of his discussion, but visceral disgust in his voice over what transpired. This guy was livid, blathering on to the guy from Babylon with phrases like:

"I can't believe this."

"This is outrageous."

"How could Girardi do that to him."

This went on for a good 15 minutes, within which he managed to work in a smattering of "In the old days, pitchers would throw doubleheaders..." statements, as if there was some lesson to be drawn from this nostalga.

Okay, dude, we get it.

What I wanted to know then and now is why all the hulabaloo? What vested interest does this guy have in the New York Yankees that compels him to tell everyone and his mother about his disgust with Joba being pulled from the game?

I never asked him these questions, but yet, there I was expecting the answer to reveal itself. From the volume of his voice, the only logical reason I can deduce from his tirade was that he is passionate about his team. I guess that's why we call them fans.

But the question I wanted to ask him, but didn't was, who gives a flying fuck?

He was reading the newspaper you see to the left, which, like the other printed rags in New York and around the country rightfully blared on its front page the news of Obama's historic victory as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. I wondered why he didn't flip to the front cover of his copy of The News and talk about that. Given what's at stake in this election, you would think that the Obama-McCain match up is much more important than the fate of a rookie pitcher.

Boy was I wrong.

It dawned on me at that this is yet another example of how little politics is discussed in public circles. Yeah. We go at it here in blogosphere, and the discussion generated by our QWERTY keyboards is quite lively. But raise the point on the train or in some other public setting and you are likely to be branded a social pariah, a trouble maker, or a rabble rouser.

Don't get me wrong here. I couldn't tell this guy apart from Adam, if not for his rant on Joba. For all I know, he could be the nicest, kindest and most politically-active Obama supporter in the world. You wouldn't know it from the way he was dressed. He had a green polo shirt with a PGA Tournament emblem, complimented by a pair of tan khakis and soft leather uppers with the Dockers® logo. But given the fact that my wardrobe choice that morning was not that far off from his, it's a fathomable possibility.

Like me, he appears to be a person who is gainfully employed in a corporate job, a homeowner, husband, and father to great kids. He's probably someone who is feeling the pinch of the rising costs of goods and services, including $4.15 we pay for regular unleaded gasoline in Suffolk County.

You would think that he would rather discuss Obama (or McCain) because we're sinking in the same boat; that he would want to turn over his newspaper and smile (or rant) at the man pictured on the front page because finally, a viable candidate has emerged who is committed to taking on and reversing the destructive policies of current sitting administration. Finally, we have someone who speaks for those of us who are not in the top 1% (or even 20%) of income or accumulated wealth. Finally.

In my mind, I'm screaming, "SAY SOMETHING ABOUT OBAMA!"

But not my man from Amityville. Yesterday, it was all about Joba. With his newspaper open, he slapped at the picture of Joe Girardi, lamenting the fact that the Yankees let Joe Torre go. "I'm so disgusted," I heard him say. That's when I checked out.

But just as I was about to bury my head back into the CISSP study guide I was reading, I heard his buddy from Babylon ask him about how Hideki Matsui did that night.

Amityville: He went two-for-four with an RBI.

Babylon: Awesome. I have him on my fantasy team.

And there you have it. These two guys talk about sports non-stop because it's a concept that they can wrap their heads around. I'm not saying that these guys are dumb, but when you contrast the sports of politics and baseball, the differences are quite stark.

Politics is a sport that has real consequences to you and me. The rules are, at best, difficult to understand, and more often than not they engender a sense of hopelessness because for lots of people, like my man from Amityville, don't have the time and or the energy to make the leap between an issue like the Iraqi occupation and their personal lives. It's too much work.

Baseball is different. The rules are well-defined and there is always a definitive outcome with little or no personal ramification. It's easy to get mad or happily giddy about what's happening on the field of play because it's just play. Once the game is over you either head back home or turn off your television, momentarily happy or sad over the outcome. There are no long-term effects once the game is over.

As I was walking off the train at Penn Station, I happened to catch this Non-Sequitur cartoon in the newspaper left behind by the guy from Babylon, which sums up my man from Amityville's political apathy.












David Wiley Miller, you are a genius.

Wexler in New York

Tonight I had the pleasure and privilege to meet, speak with and listen to Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL, 19th C.D.) on his visit to New York City. He came to New York to speak to a mostly New York crowd to explain his position on why he is pursuing impeachment of both Bush and Cheney. The event was sponsored by Democracy for New York City, which is a local coalition group of the Howard Dean-founded Democracy for America.

He arrived at the K-Lounge on 52nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues at 7:05PM and immediately engaged the attendees on whatever questions they had. I know this because when I finally got around to shaking his hands, I told him I had three questions (the first of which I asked for Distributorcap).

1. Why is Congress waisting it's time on the steroids in baseball hearings?
   
2. What can I do to help with the impeachment process?
3. Why did it take so damn long to bring impeachment to the table?
   

He rolled his eyes on the first question and said to me "I know" in that "oy vey" sort of way. His exasperation was obvious. Secondly, he was grateful for the support I wanted to give this cause and pointed me to some literature promoting other impeachment efforts here in NY which he supports. On the final question, we engaged in a brief but animated conversation because this was one of the topics he wanted to cover in his speech. While his efforts are not lost on me, I wanted to hear from a genuine congressman why the President and Vice President have been given a "free pass", I said to him, "We know they lied about the war in Iraq, lied about outing Valerie Plame and now they're ignoring Congressional subpoenas. What took so long?"

I plan to post a longer and more detailed post about this event. I took about 12 pages of notes on his thoughts. He made three outstanding points that struck me:

1. It's our job to hold elected officials accountable for their actions, especially the President and Vice President.
2. If we do nothing, we are complicit in all of the crimes committed by Bush and Cheney.
   
3. The United States Constitution says that the U.S. government consists of three equally empowered branches.
   

Sorry to disappoint you all now, but it's been a long day and I'm tired. Suffice to say that Rep. Wexler acquitted himself nicely tonight. I just hope that whatever I write about here will do his words justice.

John McCain...Not Eligible?

And you think that all I did today is work? Hah!

This morning I was roped into a conversation with some very conservative colleagues who were discussing whether John McCain is actually eligible to run for President because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone. Here's the full story in the New York Times.

At issue is the interpretation of Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 5 of the U.S. Constitution:

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.

*snip*

My feeling is that he is eligible. He was born to American parents in a territory, which at the time, was under the control and laws of the United States federal government. I prefer the looser interpretation for quite selfish reasons. Despite my very "American" birthplace, I am of Puerto Rican descent, and should a viable Puerto Rican-born Presidential candidate emerge sometime in the future, I would hate to see that person excluded because of some "strict" interpretation of the term "natural born."

However, my intent in raising this issue is not to further this idiotic debate of McCain's citizenship. Nor is it to endorse McCain's Presidential candidacy in any way shape or form. After all, what am I supposed to think of a former POW who was tortured by the North Vietnamese Army and was outspoken against torture, who then goes and votes against limiting the CIA to the 19 interrogation techniques outlined in the U.S. Army Field manual? This is not the same as Hillary Clinton changing her mind about the Iraq War. Not by a long shot.

What I want to know is why, all of a sudden, is John McCain's candidacy being vilified over his eligibility as a citizen? More importantly, who's behind it? Is he being swift-boated by his own peeps? It seems that way. Yesterday, DCup of Politits posted this missive on American Street about how the neo-cons, who once supported McCain, are now stabbing him in the back because he has disavowed their attack tactics on Democratic candidates. Et tu, Bill Cunningham? Indeed.

But there's more to it than that. Distributorcap has a great post up about the latest attacks on Obama, which alludes to a similar question of loyalty. In Obama's case, the question surrounds his Muslim-sounding middle name (Hussein) and the implication that, as President, he would be overly-sympathetic to Muslim terrorists at the expense of American security. In other words, he's disloyal. It appears that this new form of swift-boating of both the presumptive Republican and Democratic candidates is attempting to scare Americans into answering these insidious questions:

Do we trust a non-natural born or Muslim-named person to be President of the United States?

Given their pedigree, can they keep their promise to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?"

You and I know this is a bullshit, straw man argument. Apparently, the neo-con sect of the GOP doesn't think so. Here's a story in the Washington Post that seems to make this point. You decide.

My opinion is that the neo-cons are trying to tear down McCain because his campaign team sees them as a liability. Sure, he supports the war in Iraq and is willing to trade our Constitutional freedoms for the delusion of greater security. But could it be that McCain is repudiating their brand of "true authoritarianism", as DCup wrote? Could it be that he is seeing the light of what 8 years under Bush II has done to this country and is positioning himself -- ever so slightly -- as a different sort of Republican?

If I were on the McCain campaign team, I'd take seriously the President's 19 percent approval rating and stories like this one on the AP Wire that say the economy has slowed to a near crawl. While it's a long shot that John McCain will successfully walk the entire length of this tight rope and become President, given the current economic and political climate against the Bush Administration, I'd be distancing myself from the neo-cons, too.

Naturally, they're not very happy about this, and have exponentially ratcheted up their petulance in the form of this eligibility challenge. They'll do whatever they can to give even the staunchest McCain supporters pause, because the alternative is the loss of political power. They could be relegated back to the marginal place in the American political sphere they occupied in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and they don't like the prospect of this one bit. Can you imagine a world where Ann Coulter's 500-page rants are not on the New York Times bestseller list? They can't.

I wish all of you could have been flies on the wall while my two colleagues politely (imagine that) argued this point. I could not help but be drawn in because it was rather loud. What amazed me was how easily these two seemingly, intelligent, audit professionals could not see what was going on here.

Both are Republicans who will likely support McCain come November, should he be chosen as the Republican nominee. But to quote one of my colleagues, "I prefer a stricter interpretation of the Constitution. And if McCain is ineligible, he should not be allowed to run." If you're keeping score folks, give this round to the neo-cons because that's precisely the skewed logic they want prospective McCain voters to see.

On the one hand, it makes me laugh to see this GOP infighting happening. Shit, it's downright Democratic. However, I am waiting with bated breath to see if McCain caves and takes another swig of the neo-con Kool-Aid and gets back on message. After all, if he could change his mind on the issue of torture, there's no telling what he might do in response to this attack on his status as natural born American.

Okay, I've taken too much of your time. Get back to fucking work!!!!

Bobby Wexler Wants To Hang Out (With Me)

Rep. Robert Wexler is rapidly becoming one of my favorite people in Congress. Not only is he beating the shit out of the Administration with his impeachment efforts, but now he's asked me on a date (along with a few hundred other New Yorkers supporting impeachment.)


He even sent me a personalized e-mail invitation:



Dear (Spartacus),

I wanted to thank you for your great support these last months, and to let you know that I am coming to New York City for a free event, Monday, March 3rd, hosted by Democracy for NYC and Lewis Cohen:

"An Evening With Robert Wexler"
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
6:30 to 8:30PM
at
K Lounge
30 W. 52nd Street
(between 5th Ave and Avenue of the Americas)

I will be speaking and answering questions on many subjects, but would be happy to address questions on our Impeachment efforts, the recent Contempt of Congress citations, or anything else that you'd like to address.

If you plan to join us, please RSVP directly to Ruth_Benedict@comcast.net.

I hope you can come, and I look forward to meeting you in person.

Best,

Robert Wexler

I am a little nervous about attending the event. In one sense, I feel like one of those communists in the 40s that were called on the carpet by Sen. Joe McCarthy in 1953. Now that I know that the DHS wants me to carry a special license (well not now because I was born in 1963), I wonder if their operatives aren't keeping tabs on potential terrorists like me.

On the other hand, I am terribly flattered in that "school-girl-asked-to-a-dance" sort of way. I want to say yes, but I don't know what to wear. Should I wear my suit? Will he like my new beard? Does he say this to all his impeachment supporters?

Well, if you're in NYC next week, I highly encourage you to attend. My representative, Pete King, won't be there. Neither will Charles Krauthammer who defecated this shit of a column today in the Washington Post (I saw it in Newsday, of course) about how, once again, progress is being made in Iraq, and how the Democrats are too delusional to see this. Blech!

But I will be. And I have the invite to prove it.

Screaming In A Disco

I hate blogging on politics. Not because I don't like to, but because sometimes I feel like I'm trying to score a conversational point while hanging out at a loud disco in the Meatpacking District on the West Side of Manhattan. Or, worse still, I get a severe case of apatheticus dormus -- which is Tex Avery/Chuck Jones Latin for I couldn't give a shit -- and shut my mouth because I sense the screaming is pointless.

There's also the fact that many of my blogging friends do a much better job of opining on politics than I ever could, and I would much rather be the guy running crowd control trying to get everyone to pipe down and listen to my peeps who can be found screaming loudly here, here, and here....and here.

But please don't mistake my intentional silence for apathy because I am very politically minded and capable of speaking to any issue on the table if and when I feel the need to do so.

For example, I live in Peter T. King's district. Good ol' Pete is that arrogant Republican congressman whose crawled so far up Chimply McFlightsuit's ass since 9/11 that you have to wonder if he fears being digested with what the President had for lunch yesterday. I get hives just seeing his fat-headed, smug fucking face as he spouts such memorable gems as:

"There are too many mosques in this country"

And my favorite:

"The world is safer today because of George Bush, 'cause of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya."

What the fuck?

The sad fact is that people in Pete's district, indeed my very neighbors, eat this nonsense up like those dried up microwaved potato skins they serve at the Applebees at the strip mall on Sunrise Highway near Wellwood Avenue. And why? Because he tells his constituents -- largely white, wealthy or upper middle-class, Wall Street whoring, NY Post readers -- what they want to hear. This is not to say that Pete King isn't vulnerable. Long Island is ground zero for the recent home mortgage market collapse and many people here are trying to figure out what to do now that their house payments have shot through the roof. Yet, he's said nary a word about it. Here's a guy who should be standing by his constituents and doing his all to help them out, and all he's got is:

"The world is safer today because of George Bush, 'cause of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya."

Again I ask, what the fuck?

Why Pete King gets elected year after year is because the people who vote for him, vote from their fears and not from their interests. Ask anyone in these parts what are the three biggest issues affecting Long Islanders and they'll likely say high taxes, illegal immigrants and safety from terrorism. Seriously.

Who wants higher taxes? I don't. Who wants illegal immigrants flooding our schools and hospitals? Not me. Who wants lax security at airports and other transportation hubs?

But as you scan our local newspaper articles and newscasts, you would be hard pressed to find a politician willing to discuss these issues rationally, especially Pete King. It's much easier for him to get people riled up about this minority aid program or that after school program because it's an easy and convenient scapegoat to explain their ballooning taxes. However, when you lift the veil off this ugly bride you'll the problem of high taxes is not the useful program that keeps a school open a few extra hours for working parents, but the excessive duplication of services that exists on Long Island. People are leaving in this area in droves for a for a low-tax McMansion in North and South Carolina simply because it's cheaper to live there. We're collapsing so quickly from the weight of the numerous fire, garbage collection, school tax districts that consolidating these services is not just a pie-in-the-sky idea but an urgent necessity. What does Pete King have to say about this? Anyone care to guess?

"There are too many mosques in this country"

And then there's the illegal immigration issue. It's died down somewhat in the MSM, but in these parts it's flaming hotter than an August day down at Robert Moses Beach. Pete King is never short on words to lather up his already xenophobic constituency on this point. "Build a wall," Pete King says. "Enforce existing immigration laws and kick them (read those spics) out." Yet, no one has the balls to ask him about the mass of Eastern European immigrants flooding these parts. I've taken to calling the town of Copaigue Polish town because everywhere you look another Polish deli opens up. But this "problem" of illegal immigration is a manageable one. We need to accommodate these people and help become contributing -- meaning tax paying -- members of society and not the social pariahs as they're now characterized. Once they understand that services such as schools and hospitals cost money to run and that all working stiffs in these parts need to kick in money to make it work for all, they are very willing to become tax-paying Americans. What does Pete King have to say?

"Build a wall! Kick them out!"

And what about 9/11? People in these parts also have some irrational and not-so-irrational fears about terrorism. So much so that many are willing to give up some constitutionally granted personal freedoms so that can ride with the delusion that their next ride on the LIRR to Penn Station will be a safe one. And the source of this worry? Why it's Pete King, of course. He can't help but constantly remind them of 9/11 and all the associated fear that comes with it. People in these parts are rightfully spooked by what happened six years ago because many good people -- some of them my friends -- lost their lives that day just for showing up on time for work. I know some who have been so scarred by what happened that day that they refuse to work in NYC again. Kids still have nightmares about this, including my youngest son who stops dead in his tracks whenever a 9/11 documentary is on TV. Pete King knows this fear all too well and plays this cheap piano like a virtuoso.

Trust me when I tell you that I have tried to engage people in my town about these issues on many occasions and have gotten nowhere. I even have a brother who has bought into the Pete King mantra, and all I get from him and my neighbors is that strange, queer look that asks "Are you fucking crazy?"

Perhaps I am because out in these parts, speaking rationally about the issues of the day is like screaming in a disco. It really is.