Disenfranchised?
Does it strike anyone else as ironic that the people who say “Bush wasn’t elected” because he didn’t win the popular vote in the last election are the same ones who are getting Nader thrown off the ballot in every state that they possibly can? I understand why they are doing it and if I were in a battle, I wouldn’t want some spoiler coming in and ruining my chances either, but this bit of ridiculousness is going wholly unchallenged.
Four years ago, votes were recounted. Some votes were thrown out based on technicalities. The whole system in Florida worked to disenfranchise lots and lots of people. This is a fact. People’s voices were not heard and their votes were not counted properly. As a result, the Democrats have been talking about this process for the last four years. (If I could go the rest of my lifetime without hearing the word disenfranchised, I would be quite happy.)
So now in a veritable hurricane of ironic action that makes “The Day After Tomorrow” look like a sprinkling rain the Democrats are proactively working to disenfranchise an entire group of voters. The Democrats can’t deal with Nader splitting votes with John Kerry like he did with Al Gore they are engaging in a huge systematic campaign of disenfranchisement nationwide. They are denying the right of Green Party members, supporters of a three party system, and anyone else who would have wanted to vote for Nader.
I do understand what they are doing and why they are doing it, and I also understand that Nader does nothing more than skew the results of the election on the democratic side. I also understand that Nader supporters can still write their guy in, but we all know that isn’t the same thing as being on the ballot. Nader is well within his rights to run and it appears that the Dems are going to all new levels of effort to get him knocked off the ballot in states where possible. This process more actively disenfranchises voters than anything that the Republicans did four years ago because it removes a visible choice from millions and millions of voters.
As long as it fits their purpose, I guess it is ok.
Is this moral relativism? Am I off base here?
NFL Week 3 – Welcome to the Basement
Before I post the graphic updating you all on the NFL pool, I would like to welcome my good friend Justin to the basement. Oh, and due to an unfortunate alphabetical loss on Justin’s part, my name gets listed above his.
Opie and Anthony are Back
After being inactive for over a year now, Opie and Anthony are going to be back on radio. They have signed a deal with XM Satellite radio and will have a show Monday through Friday from 6 am to 10 am daily. That is a time slot shared by none other than Howard Stern. I don’t have XM Satellite radio, so the decision will be an easy one, but I wish I could listen to those guys. They used to make my day in the afternoons when they were on 92.3 here in Cleveland from 3 pm to 7 pm.
Then that ill-fated show, when they “encouraged” listeners to do a very explicit act in a very famous cathedral in NYC, took them off the air. I know that was a stupid thing to do, but I really miss their radio show. They were totally off the hook all the time and had some of the funniest people in the studio. Jim Norton who is a regular in the studio is one of the most grotesquely funny guys I have ever listened to.
I will never forget the one time they had a guy on the phone who ran a business that would test your significant other’s undergarments for signs that they were cheating on you. The interview was quite raunchy, but turned an ugly corner that went about 25 steps over the line. It was about one of the grossest things I have ever heard, but it typified the “nothing is sacred” style of the Opie and Anthony show. Jim Norton spoke up and asked the man on the phone if he had ever tested any underwear that had positive signs of “blood and girl scout cookies?”
The man on the phone didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I have heard some outrageous things in my day, but this was about the most shocking, ever. This is what made their show so great. You never knew what you were going to get and despite what some people say, the shock value alone was worth the listen in my point of view.
So, welcome back to radio boys. Let’s hope someone is recording the show and putting the MP3 files up on the internet so I can supplant the XM Proprietary Satellite Radio thing. I am not going to spend all that money for one show, unfortunately.
Emery – The Rhythm Room – Cleveland
This is the last song we’re going to play tonight and a couple friends are going to help us out.” These were the words of Toby Morelle of Emery last night at the Rhythm Room before launching into “Walls,” the song that opens Emery’s debut album on Tooth and Nail Records. As the band and audience readied themselves for what would come next, Josh Head, drummer, keyboardist and backup vocalist for Emery came to the front of the stage. With a crazy look in his eye, he spun away from the crowd hunched over, with both hands on the mic and screamed at the top of his guttural voice, “Are you listening?” There was no place left to go but down.
Emery was back in Cleveland this weekend after a relatively big year from the upstart southerners who transplanted themselves to Seattle where they eventually signed with Tooth and Nail. Earlier in the year they had supported The Beautiful Mistake on a nationwide tour, but after touring most of the summer and taking August off, they are headlining their current tour with Brazil and Name Taken. Although the band is one member shorter than their last stint in a van, they still have five members. Their drummer apparently got married and couldn’t do the band touring thing anymore. Josh Head, the keyboard player, who had never played keyboards before joining Emery, moved back to his more familiar perch behind the drum kit.
The band is still touring in support of their debut, “The Weak’s End” which strikes up a cacophonous balance of melody and torture. Judging by the audience reaction they aren’t sick of it yet. Emery came onstage and blasted their way through most of the songs from the album including, “Fractions,” “By All Accounts (Today was a disaster),” and others before finishing the show with the aforementioned “Walls.” The whole time, the band played with an unmatched intensity and drove the crowd into a frenzy time and again screaming and singing along with every utterance from the three people who sing at various points during their live show.
So, they blasted into “Walls” with a couple guest musicians from some of the opening bands. Instead of the usual five people onstage there were now at least 8 musicians. In the frenzy of the performance of this song, the entire place erupted. The crowd was insane and was starting to fall on the knee-height stage before picking themselves up. The song continued and the band started to fall all over each other while finishing up the song’s histrionics. By the time the song ended it seemed like everyone had fallen to the ground.
As Toby Morelle and Devin Shelton arose to see if everyone was ok and thank everyone for coming out the smiles were priceless. There was no place left to go but down and nobody would have wanted it any other way.
Albums of the Week
American Idiot – Green Day
I wasn’t expecting to like this album very much, but it is really the best thing Green Day has done in a while. If you think about Green Day, they have been one of the most consistent bands since I have been listening to music. This album has plenty to keep normal Green Day fans interested, but it also extends beyond a lot of the punk that the band has been known for with added instruments, and song structures that they might not have explored in the past. Check it out. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) – Chevelle
I really loved this band’s debut, “Wonder What’s Next” with the single “The Red” among others. This is a lot more of the same type of music, but they do modern rock with a whole lot of emotion and their attention to melody is probably what I enjoy most. The band is three brothers and their band is so cohesive. Pete Loeffler is one of the better dynamic vocalists in rock right now and Joe (bass) and Sam (drums) are one hell of a formidable band all together. My prediction is that this will be a big album this year and rightfully so. The last song, “Bend the Bracket” is beautiful.
See You Dead (Single) – Helmet
Helmet is one of the cooler bands that I listened to growing up. I saw them play their last tour with the Melvins at the Middle East in Boston and they just rock. They don’t stop often and they don’t eff around. They come out and just riff heavy from beginning to end. They haven’t been around for a while, but they got back together for a tour and this single is really good. It is from the forthcoming “Size Matters” album. This will have you bouncing your head as if Unsung came out yesterday.
Hopes and Fears – Keane
This band is on a lot of hot lists right now. Piano rock with a lot of melody. Ben Folds without the goofiness. Muse without the progressive rock influence. This is just good rock music and you will want to hear more after the first track. Check it out.
Hot Fuss – The Killers
I honestly expected this to suck completely and totally. I was wrong. This is infectious poppy rock with a bit of an edge. Never ignores the melody and with just enough irony and cheekiness that it will impress you in the face of the mindless garbage that persists in much of rock and roll today.
Beneath the Medecine Tree – Copeland
This album is from 2003 so it isn’t new, but I would imagine that it will be new to a lot of you. It is definitely one of the better albums I have heard this year. The vocals are amazing and the songs are very sweet and pretty without completely delving into the junior high aspects of love and relationships. The material does come off as immature occasionally, but the rawness and beauty will keep you singing along.
NFL Week 3 – Nicknames Abound
I have now announced my official mascot as the Effing Ostriches try to make some sort of a comeback from last place.
So, now… without further ado… Ezekiel the Effing Ostrich! (He is sooo ill-tempered.)
Now for the picks.
Jaguars (+6) at Titans - There is a theme this week and I am not sure that I am going to tell you what it is. The Titans are a damn good team and even though the 6 point spread seems kind of high, I am going to go with Air McNair and company at home.
Browns (+3) at Giants – Homer in the house hating on the Giants. I am picking the Good Guys despite the fact that a team plane crash might have decimated the team less than the injuries last week to Kellen Winslow Jr, The Nimbus Cloud, Courtney Brown and Gerard “Small Change” Warren.
Bears (+9) at Vikings - Bears had a big win over the Packers this week and I really don’t think they can repeat, but they are being given 9 points. The Vikes are good and especially good in a vacuum, IE their dome on turf. Are they 9 points better on the turf? We will find out. I will take the Vikings and the over.
Packers (+6) at Colts - Packers are demoralized. They are overrated and the Colts appear to be the best team in the league not named the Patriots. I go with the Colts at home. I especially hate the thought of Brett Favre on turf and I think the speed of defensive backs on this turf is going to hurt him. Look for him to throw two interceptions trying to force the ball.
49ers (+11) at Seahawks - 49ers + 11? Smart money would see this game and just run the other way. How do you pick a game with a spread of 11? At the same time, the 49ers are poised to become the next Cardinals. They have nobody and they let Terrell Owens go bye bye. I will take the Seahawks even though it is huge points. Mark my words, a “meaningless” field goal drive by the 49ers followed by a failed on-side kick will ruin this game for me.
Rather Impeachable
I am not sure that all the people around the country understand the gravity of this situation with Dan Rather and the National Guard memos. It seems that many people are overlooking the seriousness of this “mistake.” In a sense, I don’t blame people for losing perspective because this race has been so hotly contested and there has been so much mud-slinging between Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore, Swift Boat Captains and MoveOn.org. It is enough to make you turn your brain off to this stuff. You can read the paper with a general anesthesia to all of the trash.
I would say that this is one time when we need to snap back to reality. This isn’t like any of those other people that I just named. This is Dan Rather, CBS news and 60 Minutes. This is someone who considers himself a real live journalist and he has sullied his name and CBS’ name. Dan Rather has never been considered a propagandist like the others, but this looks like a case where he (or one of his producers) was playing a partisan role in an election that is about as close as close can be.
He called his source “unimpeachable” when it turns out that this guy, Burkett, is well known for bumping up against Republicans, specifically GW Bush. This guy apparently lied about the source of the documents. Is that any surprise to any of you sitting here now knowing who this guy is? Would you trust the owner of a McDonald’s to give an honest report about the quality of the Whopper sandwich from Burger King? And Rather called this guy “unimpeachable?”
This isn’t to say that there isn’t a story in there somewhere about Bush being a bad member of the Texas Air National Guard. I am quite confident that he was not a very good soldier. I am quite confident he had special connections to get him into the guard. I don’t think there are many people out there who are defending Bush’s military service. Yet, it seemed important enough for Dan Rather to go out on a limb with this “big time exclusive” type of a story to risk his reputation as a journalist? And the producers of 60 Minutes and CBS news were willing to risk their reputations over all of this too?
This just screams of partisanship. Someone at CBS decided to forego truth and probability in the name of their personal beliefs at worst and sensationalism at best. How else do explain this level of risk over a story and a source that was so suspect?
The bottom line is that we can’t gloss over this. Dan Rather can’t be let off the hook. It isn’t even all that important to the election as far as I am concerned. It is the greater necessity of having our news programs not be this suspect. We know about opinion mongers like Bill O’Reilly and Al Franken. We know about liars/propagandists like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore. Just as we know about these impeachable sources of information, we must also be confident about our news sources like 60 Minutes, which are supposed to dwell in the realm of factual news reporting.
Dan Rather and CBS have struck a blow to that and that shouldn’t be so easily forgivable.
Bookies, Dreamers and Paycheck
Here are three movies that I rented recently. Two smaller name movies and one Blockbuster.
Bookies
This could have been my story in college. We, I mean, “some friends of ours” enjoyed sports betting in college, so my roommate and I spent some time thinking about what it would be like to open our own sports book. We thought about running the lines, taking the calls, but we got stumped with how to execute collections and payouts. This movie answers that question pretty creatively. Anyway, in the movie, of course, the mob enters the scene and it gets scary. Kind of makes me glad we never got that scheme going. Movie was pretty good, but not great. It had David from Roseanne in it and Rachel Leigh Cook is so cute with her character in this movie it is ridiculous. You will wish you could date her in real life.
The Dreamers
Seriously, was that Leonardo DiCaprio? Nope, just the poor man’s version. Despite the gratuitous nudity and sex, this movie just didn’t make me care about the characters enough to call it good. Maybe it is all about expectations though. If I had been expecting B-quality po*n I am sure this movie would have ruled. It wasn’t what I was expecting and I wasn’t really digging anything about it. It made me feel dirty and depressed. There was a little too much brother/sister weirdness for my tastes. If you watch this movie you will know why. Also, I felt like the moviemaker really wanted to use all the stuff he learned in film school. I don’t care what you know about old movies to be quite honest and if you are going to go with schtick like this, make sure it is effective.
Paycheck
Who would have thought out of these three movies that I would like Paycheck with Ben Affleck the best? I mean Affleck was the BOMB in Phantoms, YO! Sorry, did I just say that out loud? Anyway, this movie was good. It had a creative story line. Uma Thurman makes every movie she is in better. Affleck didn’t do anything to kill this one. Affleck is like that quarterback in the NFL who could win a superbowl, but not with his own talents. I think of Trent Dilfer who took the (hated) Ravens to the promise land, just by not screwing up too badly. That is how Affleck is in movies. He was somewhat successful doing that in Paycheck. I would recommend this to anyone in need of a quick escape.
NFL Results Week 2
I am just not good. I am not sure what is going on, but I might need to change my strategy. What a dismal Sunday.
New Songs New Location
I posted these two songs here recently, but if you didn’t get a chance to listen to them and you don’t want to download like crazy, you can check out My new PureVolume site. There, you can listen to my music streaming, or download it if you have the high speed internet. I am not sure what this additional exposure will do for me, but I think I am going to keep the music stuff over there because it will be much easier than uploading all the MP3’s to this site.
