Monday, December 31, 2007

Mr. William Kristol's Reward

I just learned of Mr. Kristol's promotion to the the Op Ed pages of the 'Greatest Newspaper in the World' TM.

Why not? I believe balance is necessary to a great mainstream media outlet like the Times. Accuracy and sanity? Not so much. I could fill the rest of this page [and a few more] with the peerless prognostications [Ed. note - I looked for a font that was called sarcastic/ironic but settled for italics] of Mr. Kristol but that has been done better by better bloggers than I.

Since the NY Times seems determined to add voices of Mr. Kristol's calibre , I offered the resume of my nephew Ben as a columnist specializing on sports, particularly the NFL. Some of his highlights; he finished last in his NFL Fantasy league, he regularly touts the Detroit Lions as Super Bowl contenders, and has annually predicted the return of Barry Sanders [to various teams] to the NFL since his retirement in 1999.

But no, it is in the name of balance that Mr. Kristol has been added. As if the redoubtable group of Brooks, Cohen, Dowd, Freidman, Michael Gordon, Judith Miller [oops-my mistake], and their various enablers on the Editorial staff are not enough to offset the partisan, left wing ravings of Mr. Krugman and uhhh, Mr. Kristof [wherever he is].


Surely, in the name of balance and incompetence, the flagship of the fourth estate could fit in a few more contrary voices to add to their list of right wing leaning pundits, reporters, and editors?


Monday, January 15, 2007

Martin Luther King: Wish You Were Here

It seems to me that today the necessity of peaceful protest and civil disobedience as practiced and taught by Rev. King is clearer and more compelling than ever. Today, thanks to some great posts at some outstanding blogs [Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Firedoglake] I was able to read and actually hear Martin Luther King Jr.'s great speeches on frighteningly relevant topics. These inspiring words link the past and present. The impact of the Vietnam war then, is eerily identical to the impact of the war in Iraq now.

Reverend King's words call out across the decades to us now, reminding us of the price that will be paid if we continue to rely on violence and force to settle our disputes, or worse, attempt to impose our will on others.

Now, I love the internet and I am grateful for the information and contacts that it allows me without having to leave my comfortable chair....but, I see it as a potential hindrance [a cop out if you will] to meaningful action of large groups of people to effect change in the world. I wasn't even ten when he was assassinated, but even then I believe we could all feel that something special in the world had been lost. How would Rev. King have used the internet to mobilize the diverse group of people who shared his dream to make the world a better place?

This is the challenge that those of us who are sick of the direction that our leaders are taking the world in must face up to and act on, to live up to the legacy that Rev. King has left us.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Dedicated to George Will

This is my first post as a blogger. I was inspired to do this by none other than George Will. One of his latest rants regarding the great unwashed masses and our infiltration of the political comment arena via the internet finally pushed me over the edge to satisfy my narcissistic, egotistical urges to share my thoughts with the world at large.

It made me wonder what are the qualifications for a political pundit and why did the invasion of amateurs into Mr. Will's private domain cause him such anger?

Qualifications? Lets see; Dictionary, Thesaurus, Book of Quotations [I received all of these in a handy set courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica about twenty years ago for enduring a ninety minute hard sell. I also got a migraine for my trouble.] , I read a lot [science, history, politics, mysteries, Literature, Comic.. I mean Graphic Novels], I watch the news and listen to it on the radio [CBC, NPR, BBC], surf the internet, and talk to people regarding the events of our times. What else could a guy need? Oh, yeah, writing skills. I have been told by more than a few people that I write fairly well [for an Engineer] and I am happy to agree with their opinion. So, I seem to be eminently qualified to be a political commentator.

Now, part two of my question. Why does Mr. Will go off the deep end over the effrontery of bloggers and their comments on the events of our times? Could it be that he and his cohorts [Carville, Kristol, O'Reilly, ad nauseum] are embarrassed by how wrong they have been and how correct the amateurs have been? I doubt it. They still believe that things should be as they forsee and that they sometime [or somewhere] will be that way.

Are they afraid of the competition for their highly paid gigs? I doubt it. They have the connections that they will always be employed for ridiculous fees for providing the propaganda that the rich and powerful want us to hear/read.

No, I think he just hates the idea that real democracy is actually invading his little world. Mr. Will seems much more comfortable with the elites and their continued control of the world as he knows it.

So thanks for hearing me out, and tune in for other diatribes/rants/sermons on an irregular basis.