brainrow

On November 22, 1963, the regular teacher for our sixth-grade class was off in Columbus for some sort of state-wide teachers’ meeting, so it was the school’s principal who took us out to the school playground for phys. ed. We played a disorganized style of soccer that consisted mostly of running, running, running, and occasionally flailing at the ball if it came near. Then we came back inside, and a substitute teacher had us open our science books to an illustration of piano strings, with special emphasis on their different lengths and thicknesses.

In a few minutes, the principal came to the door to ask the teacher to turn on the classroom intercom, which was carrying a radio news report. President Kennedy had been shot. I still remember looking at that drawing of piano strings and listening to the voices on the radio.

On April 4, 1968, I was in the living room at home. The television was on, but I don’t think I was paying much attention until the bulletin flashed on the screen: Martin Luther King, Jr. had been killed. We had never heard the famous civil rights leader called Jr. — could this be his son?

At breakfast on the morning of June 6, 1968, the kitchen radio carried the news that Bobby Kennedy had been shot late the night before. He had just won the Democratic presidential primary in California. He was gunned down in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He died the next day.

On Monday I saw the new Emilio Estevez movie, Bobby. The movie was disappointing — Grand Hotel, but set at the Ambassador on the day RFK was shot.

The movie invites comparisons to the present day, but what really struck me was how antiquated and quaint the politics of 1968 seem when seen from today. Can you imagine any modern politician of either party standing up for migrant farm workers? Not just talking to poor people, but listening to them? Caring more about a coal miner than a coal company?

It wasn’t just Bobby Kennedy. The whole country has changed, and the ideals of 1968 have been sacrificed for stock options and 401Ks.

It’s the big shocks we remember — the assassinations, the terrorist attacks — but societies change mostly by millions of erosive increments, each one so small we don’t even notice it; all together, transforming us beyond recognition. The Party of Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the party of Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld. The Party of Lincoln becomes the party of Strom Thurmond and Trent Lott and Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush. The Bill of Rights becomes a mere inconvenience:

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a “different set of rules” may be needed to reduce terrorists’ ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

…

Gingrich spoke to about 400 state and local power brokers last night at the annual Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment award dinner, which fetes people and organizations that stand up for freedom of speech.

We lost this country by millions and millions of bad decisions over many years.

Can America be saved? It’s going to take years, and millions upon millions of better choices.

On September 26, I made the following prediction on this blog:

I feel a psychic prediction coming on: gas prices will stay low until election day, but will be significantly higher three weeks after election day than they were on election day.

It’s now three weeks after election day. So, how did that work out?

Here are the posted prices from four gas stations near my house on election day:

Here are the posted prices at the same four stations today.

Somehow, my prediction was wrong. I can think of three possible explanations:

1. Even before taking office, the newly-elected Democratic Congress is somehow correcting six years of Bush and Cheney letting Big Oil run roughshod over consumers.
2. The oil companies are reading this blog, and deliberately manipulating prices to make me look stupid.
3. I’m stupid.

I’m inclined to go with “a” or “b”.

If “c” is true, does that mean that Mr. Rumsfeld was right all along? That it’s just too complicated for me to understand, or for him to explain? That things really are going well in Iraq?

Nah. I’m not that stupid.

Update: I’ve been informed that real psychics never remind people of their incorrect predictions. Live and learn.

(This is a slightly modified re-run of an earlier post.)

V-J Day, marking victory over Japan and the end of World War II, came on August 15, 1945 — 1,347 days after the United States was drawn into the war by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Today, it’s been 1,347 days since the Bush Administration invaded Iraq. It was, in George W. Bush’s own words, “military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing.” The war that began that day has now lasted as long as U.S. involvement in World War II. The administration has often invited comparisons to World War II and the “greatest generation.” So, how have we used our 1,347 days?

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, we were surprised, and ill-prepared for war. Americans across the country rushed to volunteer, and the military draft brought in more. There weren’t enough guns, so recruits drilled with broomsticks, or with dummy wooden rifles.

Taxes were levied to pay for the war, and money was borrowed through the sale of War Bonds. Old factories were converted to wartime production, and new factories were built. We built ships, planes, jeeps, trucks, tanks. New designs moved swiftly from the drawing board, to the factory floor, to the field of battle.

Soldiers, sailors and pilots were quickly trained to use the new weapons. Our British allies had invented radar, and we learned to use it. We sought and exploited countless advances in science and engineering.

The German army was the best in the world. U.S. soldiers were mauled in their first major encounter with crack German troops at the battle of the Kasserine Pass in north Africa. “You go to war with the army you have,” but we understood we weren’t yet good enough. We learned from our failures. We got better.

We fought massive naval battles and fierce island battles across the Pacific, demolishing the Japanese navy and closing in on the Japanese islands.

With our allies, we captured Sicily and landed on the Italian mainland. We fought German and Italian fascist forces as we drove up that country. We landed at Normandy in northern France on D-Day, the largest amphibious assault in history. We liberated France, driving the once unbeatable German army of occupation back mile by brutal mile. We suffered Germany’s devastating counter-attack in the Battle of the Bulge, and we surmounted it.

At home, women worked factory jobs to replace men who had gone to war. Scarce resources were rationed. There were scrap metal drives. Every American was asked to make sacrifices to help win the war. Nearly every American did. In secrecy, tapping the talents of European scientists who had fled Nazi oppression, we developed the atomic bomb.

Americans, British, Canadians, Russians all pushed into Germany. Hitler, trapped, killed himself and the German government capitulated. In the Pacific, Japan’s empire collapsed. American forces were poised for invasion. Russian forces were expected to join the assault, too. Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Tokyo, a military coup was attempted to prevent Emperor Hirohito from surrendering. It failed. The war ended.

World War II was a long hard struggle, and the path was not always as clear as it may seem now in hindsight. But we saw what needed to be done; we didn’t seek diversions. We were realistic; we knew we couldn’t win without a plan. We did not seek dominion; we knew we couldn’t win without our allies. We were humble; we learned from our mistakes. We shared sacrifices; the wealthy were not exempted. Congress investigated reports of war profiteering. The government made post-war plans to bring our defeated enemies back into the community of civilized nations.

All in 1,347 days.

What kind of use have we made of these 1,347 days?

I saw a TV show years ago where Pete Townshend of The Who talked about the first time he saw Jimi Hendrix. A friend had told him about this new American guitarist who was swiping Townshend’s trademark “windmill” arm-swinging stage move. After watching Hendrix perform, an awed Townshend said, “He can use it.”

Hendrix is remembered mostly for his stage performance — both for his incredible skill, and for silly touches like playing with his teeth or setting his guitar afire. But he was a songwriter, too, and several of his songs have had a life beyond Hendrix’s own recordings.

Here is a young Korean woman playing the Hendrix song “Little Wing.”

There’s a different version, with guitarist Monte Montgomery on a hollow-body guitar, here.

Maybe I’ve been paying too much attention to the ongoing saga of If I Did It.

That’s the title of O.J. Simpson’s book and TV special, in which he talks about the brutal murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in June 1994. Nicole was O.J.’s ex-wife and the mother of two of his children. She was butchered just outside her house while the two children slept inside. Goldman, apparently returning a pair of glasses Nicole had forgotten at a restaurant earlier that evening, was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and was stabbed over and over and over.

In If I Did It, O.J. tells just how the two murders would have happened if he had done them, which he didn’t, but if he had, it would have been like this.

What an imagination!

This week, responding to public outrage, Rupert Murdoch pulled the plug on both the book and the TV special, even though his companies had reportedly already paid Simpson $3.5 million for them.

As I mentioned, I’ve been following this closely. I wonder how this cancellation will affect my own books. See, I’ve been working on a series of detective adventures featuring O.J. Simpson.

After the criminal trial, Simpson famously pledged that he would never rest until he had tracked down the real killers. Nobody took him seriously. Not long after the trial, when Simpson was seen playing golf, Jay Leno joked, “He must suspect a caddy.”

In fact, Simpson is relentless in pursuit, and that’s the premise of my novels, with the series title “O.J. Simpson, Manhunter.”

See, I happen to know that ever since the murders, no matter where the killer has gone, O.J. Simpson has always been right there.

Knowing that, I really don’t know how the killer sleeps at night.

A Connecticut woman tried a unique court-packing scheme:

Cookies mailed to the U.S. Supreme Court last year contained enough rat poison to kill all nine justices, retired member Sandra Day O’Connor said at a conference last week.

Barbara Joan March, a 60-year-old Connecticut woman, was sentenced last month to 15 years in prison. She sent 14 threatening letters in April 2005 — each with a baked good or piece of candy laced with rat poison — to a variety of federal officials: the nine Supreme Court justices; FBI Director Robert Mueller; his deputy; the chief of naval operations; the Air Force chief of staff and the chief of staff of the Army.

Any justice who had succumbed to March’s poisoned treats would have been replaced by a nominee picked by George W. Bush.

The letters did not seem to pose much of a real danger since the threatening note told the recipients the food was poisoned. In court papers submitted with the plea agreement, prosecutors said each of the envelopes contained a one-page typewritten letter stating either “I am” or “We are” followed by “going to kill you. This is poisoned.”

And nobody took even one little bite? But it looked so irresistable!

You know, something about Ms. March’s plan sounds awfully familiar. I can’t quite put my finger…

Quick! Call the FBI! We need to find out whether Don Rumsfeld helped plan this.

I’m not a football fan, but I feel as if I live right in the heart of darkness, just about a mile from the Ohio State University’s famed horseshoe-shaped football stadium.

Whenever there’s a home football game, the whole neighborhood goes into lockdown. Fans from all over take every single parking space for miles around the stadium and litter our yards with their cans and bottles. On nights before a really big game, it’s difficult to get any sleep. The revelers arrive early and make a lot of noise, blaring marching band fight songs and shouting “O-H! I-O!” all night long.

The biggest game of the year is always the Ohio State – Michigan game, a classic rivalry dating back to the early years of the 20th century. This year the game is bigger than ever, because both teams are undefeated, and polls rank Ohio State as #1 in the nation, and Michigan as #2. I just went out to get some lunch, and already High Street is at a virtual standstill.

The Ohio State – Michigan rivalry is often represented as a face-to-face showdown between Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler, even though it’s been many years since either man coached. While I was out getting lunch, I picked up a copy of a free local paper called Columbus Alive. Right about now, I’ll bet they’re wishing they could take back this cover.

Bo Schembechler died today while taping a TV show about tomorrow’s game.

Ted Koppel on The Daily Show:

You remember the joke — it wasn’t that much of a joke — before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, we used to say in Washington, “We know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. We still have the receipts.”

…

That was back in the 1980s. When you think about it, the chemical weapons that were used by the Iraqis against the Iranians came from components that were sold to them by the British, the French, the Germans and the United States.

On George W. Bush’s trip to Vietnam:

It’s a sign of the times. Thirty-five years ago he joined the Texas Air National Guard to stay out of Vietnam, and now he’s going to Vietnam to stay out of Washington.

With globalization transforming so much of the world, I got curious. Could Bush be staying at this hotel during his stay in Hanoi?

Gee. When John McCain talks about the “Hanoi Hilton,” it doesn’t sound nearly as nice.

Oh, it’s a miracle for sure! From Boing Boing:

I got up this morning, and looked out the window I look out for hours every day. I looked up at the birdfeeder to the spot where a limb was chopped off and saw Charles Darwin.

In the wake of this discovery, breathless rumors circled the globe that anyone who touched the bark of the tree experienced heightened powers of observation and logical reasoning. Science fans around the world made plans for a pilgrimage to the site. Most of the plans were called off as, one after another, the potential pilgrims realized, “Really, this is kinda stupid.”

Interest in the enormous figure of a Native American listening to an iPod, carved by ancient Martians in the hills near Medicine Hat in Canada — that continues unabated.

What we are supposed to believe is this:

• That George W. Bush totally “gets it” that things aren’t going well in Iraq.
• That he is ready and eager to make the policy changes necessary to end the spiral of disaster there.
• That he cannot make those changes if they would cause him to “lose face.”
• That James Baker’s Iraq Study Group (ISG), a non-partisan group of the nation’s finest minds, will map out a new plan that will save face for Bush, and allow the nation a way out of the Iraq debacle.

Bush met with members of the ISG yesterday:

Bush offered little indication that he is planning to adjust his approach, telling reporters gathered in the Oval Office that “the best military options depend upon the conditions on the ground” in Iraq. The president also met for more than an hour with former secretary of state James A. Baker III, former representative Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) and other members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which is looking to chart a new course in the war.

…

The White House was extremely guarded yesterday about the round of meetings the study group held with Bush and other members of his administration, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley and Vice President Cheney. Bush said he was not going to “prejudge” the group’s report, which is expected in early December. He said that they had a “really good discussion” and that he was looking forward to “interesting ideas.”

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s my cynicism talking, or maybe it’s my years and years of experience watching this guy. But I’m thinking the ISG report isn’t going to make the slightest difference to Bush’s policies in Iraq. Well, maybe he’ll change some slogans: “Stay the Course” becomes “Maintain Current Heading,” perhaps?

Does this remind you of anyone?

The Al Franken Show has an audio tribute to Donald Rumsfeld:

We’ll miss you, Mr. Rumsfeld*

*this is not actually true.

Warning: strong language in the site comments. No bad language in the audio file, though. (I was going to say “nothing offensive in the audio file,” but that is not actually true.)

Boy, Howard Dean wasn’t kidding when he said the Democratic victory was won with help from George W. Bush. From Daily Kos:

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that President Bush may have been the deciding factor that killed the GOP’s momentum in some key Senate races over the last week. One Republican consultant is convinced that Bush’s last-minute visit to Missouri on behalf of ousted GOP Sen. Jim Talent did the incumbent in. According to the network exit polls, Democrat Claire McCaskill crushed Talent among those late-breaking voters who decided in the final three days (a full 11 percent of the electorate). Bush also made a last-minute trip to Montana, where anecdotal evidence indicates the president’s rally for Republican Conrad Burns stopped the incumbent’s momentum in Billings.

Via Bob Geiger, political cartoonist Nick Anderson shows how the Democrats won.

If you’re a Republican member of Congress, the election results probably felt like a tsunami — after all, how can you squeeze the big bucks out of corporate lobbyists if you can’t guarantee that they get to write the latest legislation governing their industries? But considering just how horribly the Republicans have fouled up everything they’ve touched, I thought the voters’ rejection of the GOP should have been of more Biblical proportions — say, a hundred seats change hands in the House, eight or nine in the Senate.

Cartoonist Tom Tomorrow says that may become a Republican talking point:

Rove: Given the magnitude of this administration’s failures, the fact that voters were willing to vote for any Republican anywhere was actually a repudiation of the Democrats!

Bush: Snicker! Those losers!

Democrats won the Senate by only one vote, and Joe Lieberman is threatening to switch to the Republicans unless he gets his way in everything:

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut said yesterday that he will caucus with Senate Democrats in the new Congress, but he would not rule out switching to the Republican caucus if he starts to feel uncomfortable among Democrats.

(Say, wouldn’t it be nice right now if a couple Republican senators switched to the Democratic Party and stole Joe’s spotlight?)

Seriously, I worry. Why was the election so close? Well, cheating helped:

[T]he National Republican Congressional Committee was responsible for repetitive, often harrassing robo calls in more than two dozen districts across the country in the runup to the election.

In at least seven of those districts, the Democrat failed to unseat the incumbent by only a couple thousand votes. The NRCC’s calls may have been the difference in those races.

There’s always going to be cheating in elections. You don’t win in politics unless you win big enough to beat the cheat.

If this is the best the Democrats can do in a year when Republican failures are so inescapably clear, we’ve got a lot of work to do before 2008.

This time, the Republicans lost. Next time, Democrats have got to win.

Update: A contrary opinion — M.J. Rosenberg says the line that the voters didn’t vote for the Dems, but against Republicans is “a load of crap.”

Elton John has it all figured out:

Organized religion fuels anti-gay discrimination and other forms of bias, pop star Elton John said in an interview published Saturday.

“I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people,” John said in the Observer newspaper’s Music Monthly Magazine. “Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays.”

“But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion,” he said. “From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it’s not really compassionate.”

Yes, if history has taught us anything, it’s that the only way to fight intolerance is with more intolerance. That’s the sure cure!

Political junkies: feeling lost and forlorn now that the election is over, and the airwaves are no longer glutted with political messages? Do not despair! Via O’Reillynet: Apple’s iTunes online music store comes to your rescue with a collection of free political podcasts.

Ain’t technology wonderful? It’s like election season all year round!

It ain’t over:

Outspoken pop country artists the Dixie Chicks continue to stir up political controversy, with two TV networks refusing to air a commercial for a new film documenting the uproar that ensued after singer Natalie Maines spoke critically of President Bush during an overseas concert.

NBC … said it rejected the commercial for “Shut Up and Sing,” which debuted last week in New York and Los Angeles and opens nationwide Nov. 10. The network cited a policy against ads dealing with “public controversy.”

…

Directed by Cecilia Peck and Oscar winner Barbara Kopple, “Shut Up and Sing” examines the sometimes vicious backlash that resulted from Maines’ comment. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, Cumulus Broadcasting, the Atlanta-based owner of 262 radio stations nationwide, ordered all of its 42 country outlets to stop playing Dixie Chicks music. At a Cumulus-sponsored pro-war rally in Shreveport, La., a bulldozer crushed a pile of the band’s CDs. Many of the 1,225 radio stations owned by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications also banned the group’s songs.

Some country stations even refused to run ads for the Dixie Chicks’ current tour, leading the band to cancel some dates in the South and Midwest.