Fox in MSNBC's clothing

"The collapse of the administration’s rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. … In this case, the ‘liberal media’ didn’t live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served.”

-From former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan's new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.

After Jesse “The Body” Ventura finished as Gov. of Minnesota in 2003 he signed on to be an MSNBC analyst. It was not widely known probably because he was not on the air much. Sunday April 13, 2008 I watched him talk about it on Fox News with Geraldo Rivera. He spilled the beans about MSNBC’s censorship.

Ventura said MSNBC almost never used him and finally let him go, “Why?” Rivera asked. “I was against the War” Ventura replied. The network was confused because, as Ventura put it, “I am a former Navy Seal, so they thought I would be for the War.” Let this be a lesson to all of us.

Many articles were written about MSNBC “coming out” as the left leaning version of Fox News in 2007, but I am not sure that ever happened. MSNBC has tried to brand themselves as the antidote to Fox News. Mostly on the back of Countdown With Keith Olbermann and his “special comment” segments bashing the Bush Administration. Friday May 16, 2008 Air America radio host Thom Hartman referred to Olbermann as “the voice in the wilderness.” He meant that Olbermann is the only liberal voice with his own show on all of cable news.

Can MSNBC claim to be the liberal station in 2007 when they were beating the drums of war in 2003? Hell no. Here are a couple reasons why: their over use of Pat Buchanan. He has been more conservative and racist than anyone on Fox News for so long that maybe it is no longer shocking and just a comfortable routine. I remember watching Hardball host Chris Matthews gushing after the 2004 vice presidential debate, “Cheney is such a heavyweight” he said.

Once a friend said, “Fox is conservative, MSNBC is liberal and CNN is right down the middle, right?” Although that opinion may be from a “low information voter” or someone who is not a news junkie, I think generally that is how the public views the three big cable news channels.

The three cable news stations want and need the War for ratings. I watched a lot CNN’s Gulf War coverage in 1991 because it was the only English language channel I could get while living in Presov, Slovakia. CNN was not a player until that war. After thinking about the last sentence it makes sense that none of the networks would allow many dissenting voices towards the War if any.

That is why I started out with what Ventura said. His words were straight up, easy to understand and further proof that much of the main stream media was in cahoots with the Bush Administration to make sure the War happened. The media may be as big a player as any in keeping up with our aggressively violent culture.

I am not sure if it has been subliminal support of these violent foreign policies by broadcasters and reporters or something more sinister and blatant. I tend to lean towards the latter because my experience in the broadcast media is that lifers are not ideologically driven to their jobs but instead “do formats.” Tony Snow used to work for Fox News and is now with CNN. Bill Hemmer used to be with CNN and now is with Fox News. The list goes on. It is just a job to many of these guys and that is why they can jump to stations geared towards different demographic audiences.

What I am trying to say is that the media cheer led us into war and we should know that and be aware of that. It may be just as bad an act as pushing the button to drop the bombs. Rationalizing the killing of mass amounts of civilians on the airwaves is a terrible thing to do and if you shrug it off five years later and say you “changed your mind on the War,” well that is even worse because you did not take other lives seriously.

No D in Denver

“Allen Iverson is the modern day Cassius Clay.” - Id the Squid

In 2008 the Year of the Rat, the wild west saw the Denver Nuggets swept in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers. Everyone knew it would be a dicey proposition. Denver plays no defense and Carmello Anthony has a history of tuning out. He has a low threshold for failure and when things aren’t easy things become painful. That is something that creeps up on talented people sometimes; if the win is tough giving up is an easy thing to fall into. This is called defeatism.

To my dismay my beloved Iverson, a very hard worker, walked off the court a few times this year to leave the team with minutes left in the game. I hate that because it means my quote from the top of the page must be defended instead of just accepted as the gospel. If you saw the first episode of Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith then you know why I compared Iverson with Ali; he is strong and true like a sports version of Reverend Wright, proud and unapologetic for telling it like it is. It sucks that Iverson quits sometimes, but I would say he only does to make a statement when the win is truly out of reach, like leaving the battlefield to fight the war another day. Plus I blame all the Nuggets and Sonics woes on George Karl and it serves him right for defecting to Denver after suffering the Sonics worst moment in franchise history when Robert Pack looked like Tony Parker and Dikembe Mutumbo cried clutching the ball at center court.

Watching the second game of the first round between the New Orleans Hornets and Dallas Mavericks “Ron Paul is sick” I said. Cod chuckled to himself and looked at me, “Ron Paul?” Yeah Ron Paul had like 33 points and 15 assists last game and he is even better tonight. He is a Libertarian from Texas, I said. I know the difference between Ron Paul and Chris Paul, but I purposely like to root for Ron Paul when I watch the Hornets. Maybe it is because there are “Ron Paul for President” signs with a blue background and whites letters and a red underline with one white star posted at every freeway on ramp in western Washington. A few months back I would routinely drive by Microsoft employees holding up a Ron Paul Revolution banner on the Montlake Bridge, University Bridge and on the 45th street I-5 overpass. For some reason a lot of Redmond tech yahoos supported Ron Paul. For good reason he is the only Republican candidate that talked like a normal human being about the Iraq War and American foreign policy in general and he is logical when it comes to the economy.

Back to my main point about rooting for Ron Paul in a Hornets uniform, actually it is Chris Paul whom I root for now. He is fun to watch and there is something comforting about an NBA team having success in New Orleans. It has been 20 years since the Jazz moved to Utah. I have never understood why Utah did not change the name to something that has to do with Utah or the Mormons or white people. Is Jazz even allowed in Salt Lake City? It seems like a mean joke that these freaks kept the name. The team is as white as a KKK hood. But anyway, some are predicting a meeting of the New New Orleans team and the Old New Orleans team in the playoffs, and as good as Ron Paul, oops I mean Chris Paul looks against Jason Kidd and Dallas, historically if you look at the numbers and the game tape, he struggles and gets dominated by Derron Williams, the Utah Jazz point guard.

I don’t know what this means, but I root for the New Orleans Hornets, the city , the coach Byron Scott and the Brothers Chris and Ron Paul.

Today, as I turned on sports talk radio 950 AM, Sir Mix A Lot was on the radio with Groz and Gas talking about the NBA playoffs. Mix A Lot said things are so different culturally now, not race matters but just in general, now everyone one is the same and there is no difference and exciting rivalries. He said the old Celtics were ugly physically like welders or laborers or blue collar heroes, with a flashy tinsletown rival. Now, there is nothing like that in the NBA. Everyone has braids and tattoos and it is all about celebrities and...stuff. I agree to a certain degree, but honestly it was just nice to hear an unexpected visit to Groz with Gas by a Seattle legend. Unplanned radio is always best. What Mix A Lot was articulating was profound. He put it all in perspective; Multiculturalism is not about being black or brown, but it is about difference and that is something we are suffering from. Too many people in the U.S. are scared to be themselves.

Ok for now.

The black thing haunts Barack

"I'm not sure America is ready to have a black president.
I think they might kill him." - 50 Cent on Obama as President.

That is something many wonder about but no one wants to talk about it openly. It was brought up once when Ted Kennedy was on The Early Show. It was eluded to, not overtly but still, the issue was poked at. Kennedy was asked if he was worried about Obama’s safety because he is a “JFK-like-figure.” It was a crude question, but how do you approach the subject? Michelle Obama has said she worries for her husband’s safety and he was reported to have the biggest secret service detail out of all the candidates. Or maybe he was the only candidate with any at all. Colin Powell’s wife had the same fear when Colin’s name was being floated as a possible candidate to run in 2000.

50 Cent is a successful businessman, has said he liked W. within the last two years, does not have a conscious message in his music, but still sees a problem with a black president. His instincts get right down to the nut of the whole thing. Will this man with the crazy name, almost like Osama but instead Obama, make it or get gunned down like usual? The anniversary of MLK’s assassination was just a little bit ago, have things changed enough in 40 years? It is hard to know, but we are thinking about it. We worry for Obama’s safety and root for him. We want to believe. We can taste it. We are ready for it. Let’s do this.

Bill Clinton knew exactly what he was doing when he brought up Jesse Jackson winning South Carolina twice and still losing the nomination. Bill is not dumb or insensitive to race, but that was his way of swatting down the black community. It was a signal heard loud and clear like “states rights” with Reagan or W.’s whisper campaign about McCain’s black baby in 2000. Or the rumor about Obama with his hand on a Koran during his senate swearing in ceremony in 2002, and the picture with Obama in traditional Ethiopian garb. Those were all lies but also signals to let White America know this one is not to be trusted. Chris Matthews believed the red phone ad the Clinton team put out was a classic ploy to show who will keep the kids safe, be scared of the black man he will not be the one to keep your family safe he lurks in the night.

50 Cent knows the limitations he has seen it too many times, the built up distrust and fear of blacks in the white community runs deep. Obama is half black, his mom is white yet he still is in the black column. A big part of me believes that The Establishment will make sure he is not the nominee. Watch, the Clinton’s will clamp down.

FOX has been attacking Obama and that usually means the rest of the news media is due to do the same. Recently ABC’s George Stephanopoulis used questions suggested to him by Sean Hannity and historically other networks fall in line behind whatever FOX is focused on. Not sure if there is an organized effort to do so or if it is cultural, a top down sort of thing, like proper etiquette, but in the 2000 election, all the networks declared Gore the winner and then FOX said it was W. and the rest flipped the switch.

The black thing looks like it may be the straw that breaks Barack’s back, early on in the 2008 primary I thought we might finally forgo beating a candidate purely because of his blackness, but it does not seem to be so, as the campaign drags on. Recently Bill Clinton accused Obama of throwing the race card at him, ironically Bill pulled out the freaking race card in the first place with his infamous Jesse Jackson South Carolina comments.

It has been hard to watch Obama as he refused to get down and dirty. He has been criticized for it, by me and many others, we think he should have been punching back much harder. Sheesh, I would have grabbed Hillary by her soccer mom mullet and thrown her off the stage ten debates ago, but Obama has been about as cool, calm and collected as a man can be with these charges being thrown his way. Remember John McCain has White Supremacist supporters and even as a Senator from Arizona, he has a history of not celebrating MLK Day.

I took the pictures of the Obama van near KeyArena when Obama visited Seattle during the 2008 Democratic primary.

Vietnam to Iraq: The guilt of not going

“I must say, I’m a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you . . . in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You’re really making history, and thanks.”
-W. to some soldiers right around the the five year mark.

Yesterday sitting in traffic I saw a bumper sticker that said “send the Bush twins,” and I thought about the quote at the top of the page. It is worth revisiting W.’s comments. When I read them, I immediately thought of the “Guilt of not Going”, a theory I came up with a while back. The “Guilt of not Going” is about men who did not serve in the Vietnam War but supported the War in Afghanistan and the Invasion of Iraq. Obviously I do not mean the “whole boomer generation” but a good sized chunk.

Two years ago I talked with my cousin Jim, a Vietnam Veteran, who said many of his male friends have expressed regret for not serving in the Vietnam War; for not serving their country. He speculated that the “regret” was triggered by some yearning for an epic life that all boys dream about. War is intertwined in a man’s DNA. So many have gone to battle, we watch movies about it, read about it and grow up playing with toy guns and GI Joes.

We have over 4,000 American deaths, who knows how many Iraqi’s are dead and how many In the Valley of Elah situations have come and gone without a line in a newspaper. How many American soldiers have committed suicide? How many have run away? How many have killed their wives? How many have kept torture videos on their cell phones?

W.’s quote at the top of the page had two words that made me cringe; romantic and envious. What could possibly be “romantic” about running over a child with a truck? It’s peculiar he is “envious” of the troops, he had the chance to “serve” in Vietnam, he fled to Alabama and hid.

I want to know if there really is this undercurrent of guilt for not fighting in one’s youth that fuels this current blood lust. Is that a crackpot theory or is there something to it? Most men I have talked with in their 50’s didn’t want to go to Vietnam and are against the Occupation of Iraq. But some of those same men believe we went into Afghanistan and Iraq with good intentions.

I married the top W. quote with the “Guilt of not Going” theory together even if they don’t connect at first glance. Both the regret of boomer’s and W.’s detachment to the seriousness of war struck me. Even John McCain said “anyone who romanticizes war is a fool and a fraud”. I agree. I am struggling with how to make sense of this occupation and how it has been reluctantly supported by many Americans. There are mind boggling amounts of reason and speculation about “why we are there” and I don’t want to try and tackle them all one by one.


Picture (Reed Wacker): Sign was at the corner of MLK and E. Madison St.

Each candidate has questionable ties

Why did Obama have to make a speech explaining his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright? None of the other candidates had to. Each one has a dicey relationship with religion. This is so hypocritical.

George W. Bush never made a speech explaining or denouncing Jerry Falwell’s comments in 2001 blaming “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians” for the September 11 terrorist attacks.

And John McCain spoke at Falwell’s Liberty University in 2006.

McCain has not had to answer constant questions about his relationship with Pastor John Hagee. McCain said he was “very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement.” He also called Hagee “the staunchest leader of our Christian evangelical movement,” citing the minister’s pro-Israel stance.

According to the Catholic League president Bill Donohue “for the past few decades Hagee has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example he likes calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’

Why doesn’t Hillary Clinton have to make a speech about her membership in The Fellowship? A group that has close ties to people like former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Senator Sam Brownback and former Senator Rick Santorum.

Here is a couple lines from an article about Clinton and The Fellowship in Mother Jones:

The Fellowship isn't out to turn liberals into conservatives; rather, it convinces politicians they can transcend left and right with an ecumenical faith that rises above politics. Only the faith is always evangelical, and the politics always move rightward.

Jeremiah Wright’s “incendiary comments” and “fiery rhetoric” were neither to me. My freaking 85 year old Irish grandma didn’t think much of them. She didn’t think they were all that shocking or even much to speak of. Much ado about nothing. Two Sundays ago I watched Meet the Press as Bill Bradley danced around the comments denouncing them and yada yada yawn. I sat and watched and thought “geez I wish he would just cut through all the bull shit and say to Tim Russert: you know what, Wright is actually articulating what many Americans believe not just in the black community, but goddamn it, I believe that shit too, have for years.”

Here are my notes from the day of the now famous Obama Race Speech:

My neck hurts and I don’t know what to do. I missed the speech on race by Obama today all because I was soaking wet from fighting a massive dog with a power washer. I blasted the shaggy beast from every angle and after 4 hours and 10,000 gallons of water I was soaked to the bone and I retreated to my dark wooded bungalow up the hill from the shaggy beast. I poured a hot bath and turned the tv on.

All the news channels were talking about Obama’s speech. Fox News basically said it was all over for Obama because his “unfavorability” rating went up in the latest Rasmussen Poll.

Wolf Blitzer at CNN said the speech was a preemptive strike on Clinton, whatever that means. Blitzer is always good for analysis that says almost nothing and won’t get him in real trouble he is real safe and boring as fuck.

Turned to Race for the White House with David Gregory on MSNBC. All I can ever think of when I see Gregory is that he was in the background dancing at the White House correspondence dinner when Karl Rove rapped.

I think Gregory called the Obama speech a “hail mary” or maybe it was someone else, but someone said that. The best thing anyone called it was “gutsy.” Joe Scarborough, David Gregory and Chuck Todd agreed that this was the speech that may be Obama’s downfall because he did not throw his pastor under the bus. Rachel Maddow and Eugene Robinson had to fight just to say it actually was a good speech.

The Old Boy Network is actually a stronger pull than the true thoughts and feelings that instinctively come to the forefront. Or maybe its the same old thing where: white-guy-network-forever people are the true and serious gatekeepers. And this Obama craziness is scaring the fuck out of everybody in charge because they need to somehow take him down without a bullet and it is a little too close for comfort.

Why was Hillary out there that day of the Obama Race Speech? She said she did not see or read it, but still commented on it. What was the point? Did she just want the public to know she can’t waste her time listening to what her opponent says? She took reporters questions with this glazed over look on her face and talked down to everyone.

Bush "Waster" board taken by Reed Wacker with a fish eye. Bush in the vines.

Note to Obama: Fight like a panther

It is 7 in the morning and I look out the window to gaze at the gray sky, is almost white and blinding. This is the kind of city where the sun never comes up and never goes down and the horizon is met by never-ending gray. The cars are zooming by my window, a diesel motor is spitting as they tend to do, but instead of a car it is strapped to a man’s back: the leaf blowers are out. Like the machine gun man in The Predator movie mowing down a section of jungle with the pull of the trigger, the leaf blower man shoots dust and debris all over the street, moving it from one lot to the next, in constant motion for no reason. The haze of diseased material won’t go away, it just moves. Like a drunk wandering from one bar to the next all day. Existing, but not moving forward. Just being blown around by the fuel power, the liquid courage. Aha. Did I just hit the nail on the head? Surely sounds like it. Stumbled upon it of course. Now lets get down to business.

In The Scotsman Samantha Power, Mr. Obama's key foreign policy aide called Hillary, “A Monster...” because she had stooped so low in her attacks. What pisses me off is that today Power resigned from the Obama campaign probably because the Clinton’s called for her to be fired for the comments. Why? Who cares. She called Clinton a monster, she is a monster with eyes bulging and looking so desperate all the time, so tight faced, she looks like a balloon ready to pop.

No interpersonal skills to speak of. For some time now I have thought maybe she is some kind of speed freak. Her eyes are so big, Is she on Meth? Her face so tight. Remember 2004 when people piled on Kerry about possible botoxing? Well its 2008 and Hillary is definitely filled to the top with botox, look at her forehead, it looks like a clay teapot.

Larry David posted something on Huffingtonpost.com today and I think he keys in on something that we have all been seeing, but maybe people are too afraid to call her out on it. This is an interesting paragraph from the post:

How is it that she became the one who's perceived as more equipped to answer that 3 a.m. call than the unflappable Obama? He, with the ice in his veins, who doesn't panic when he's losing or get too giddy when he's winning, who's as comfortable in his own skin as she's uncomfortable in hers. There have been times in this campaign when she seemed so unhinged that I worried she'd actually kill herself if she lost. Every day, she reminds me more and more of Adele H., who also had an obsession that drove her insane.

Indeed. She seems to be completely unhinged to me. Scratching and clawing at the White House door like a sick puppy. Constantly pacing, nothing moving fast enough and no satisfaction ever. I thought with age came wisdom. I thought you learned to be a bit more philosophical. Veteran athletes force it less with more experience, don’t throw the ball away as much, live for another play. Brett Favre is old as McCain and in the playoffs this year executed precision shovel passes vs. the Seattle Seahawks in the midst of a blizzard at Lambeau Field. The Great Favre retired yesterday, but still kept repeating, “I know I can still play.”

I am not so sure Hillary ever learned how to play, never calmed down enough to be herself and confident with it, still trying to get her father’s approval. She has actually talked about and been pretty open with the public about her lifelong struggle of living up to her father’s idea of success. That is a skeleton in her closet, that may haunt her until the end.

Who cares what anyone thinks? Do whatever the fuck you want and don’t apologize to anyone for it. Family or friends. Be yourself.

Note to Obama: I know you are above the fray, cool, calm and collected, distinguished and academic, cut from a John Kerry cloth. I support you I just wish you would get a little bit more mad sometimes. Stand up and hit back. Or the least you could do is not fire or “let go” or “accept the resignation” of a campaign aide that is fighting back for you. Especially one hour after your rival The Clinton’s complained. They are the last people to be whining about attacks.

Note from the Editor: I was just thinking about this today...He is too focused on cleaning up America to be bothered with the pettiness of dirty politics, but isn’t that his appeal? Peace.

I took the pictures of the Obama posters under the Ballard Bridge.

The West is the best

“When I was a little boy I would take a bread knife out of the kitchen door and fantasize about cutting my cheek and having a scar on my face like one of the twin Cobra brothers in G.I. Joe.” - Id the Squid

Every boy who grows up in the West fantasizes about violence and war. Prince Harry is no different. That is why he went to Afghanistan. Now, Prince Harry is back in England and needs a haircut. I saw some footage on CNN about Harry in Afghanistan, the Americans had just arrived, “Now everything is alright in the Empire” Harry quipped. The Sun said Prince William might go as well. The whole thing is ridiculous.

Has anyone seen the movie: In the Valley of Elah? Jesus Fucking Christ...the movie hits the nail on the head. War fucks you up! Hello? Everyone knows that. We are not in some barbaric age where soldiers are heroes and have balls of steel. Fuck. These guys go to war. Run over a fucking toddler in a Humvee. Lose their innocence.

Start dehumanizing every Iraqi by calling them all the same name “Hadji” just like “Charlie” in Vietnam. Torture for fun. And turn into psycho killers. Come home. Kill puppies. Kill wife. Then kill best friends.

Indeed Kill Em All. It all happens in that order. And the sick thing is that it is understandable. When you are trained to kill you are paid to dehumanize a population. You are left to deal with this inhumane way of life all by yourself inside your own private hell. Sounds like any normal person would go fucking nuts even with a million hours of therapy from Dr. Phil.

Sounds real heroic John McCain, you fucking prick. He may bomb Iran and he may bomb Kosovo-- fuck he might just bomb Moscow, Russia and Moscow, Idaho just for good measure. So send the Royal Family of England, yeah...Ok, where do we go from here Bobo? We are Royally Fucked. Why fuck up the prince as well?...I mean I understand the peasants always go to die like dogs in the desert, but now the future king of England wants to get in on the action. Did he watch American Psycho and decide “Fuck Yeah! Lock and Load Baby.” Well Whoopee Fucking Doo. It must have been all the generations of inbreeding that made these geniuses want to kill some ragheads, huh.

Ok for now. I will be back later.

Last night I was talking on the phone with my friend Robbie. He has been involved in grass roots politics for most of his life. He asked me how I was doing and who I was voting for this year. “Obama.” I said. “But, I don’t necessareally think he will deliver on his promises or change much, he seems to be pretty middle of the road policy-wise. I think he could get the most out of the American people and we need an inspirational leader to lift up the general mood of the country. What about you?”

Robby said, “I am in the same boat as you Reed. This reminds me of the 1960 election where Kennedy was an elequent man, but the people pushed him to do things and that is why I am supporting Obama. He seems to be the most likely to listen and be persuaded by public opinion...you know because Bush doesn’t give a shit.” “Yeah Bush doesn’t give a flying fuck.” I said.

“Jacob's getting home soon.” I said. “Yeah on the 19th. We are going to be watching a lot of the NCAA Tournament.” Robby said. “I’ll see you soon then.” And I hung up the phone. C’est la vie.

I took the picture at the I-5 South Roanoke Exit.