Happy Easter

An interesting way to interpret the story of Jesus for those who, like me, have struggled with doubt and are now wondering if there is a way to reconcile the Christianity of our youth with a new found progressive spirituality, that to understand Jesus as allegory is to accept him, that it isn't necessary to reject him totally because his story has been bastardized by those who twisted it to their own ends.

Maybe Jesus is just alright.

Welcome, Cupcake

I've added a link to my friend Lee's blog, Cupcake Monster. She is a fabulous cupcake baker, a great writer, and a dear friend.

Wright and the Right

Does anyone want to talk about Pat Buchanan and this brand of racial ignorance/prejudice?
Of course, he didn't listen to anything Obama said in his speech. They don't listen and then rant that no one listens to them. I wouldn't care if this guy wasn't still given air time.

"First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American."

Like a Prayer

Or Good Friday mass:

How did Madonna manage to give such a long-winded, trite, and boring acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony?

Provocative? Outrageous? Infinitely entertaining? No longer. Hope the records better.

Bono she ain't. (Who, btw, has given probably three of the best speeches in the ceremony's history, inducting Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen and U2's acceptance. At least since they've started airing it. Which I understand, ruined it.)

And why the hell doesn't Iggy Pop wear a shirt?

Quote of the Day

"In a free market, there's going to be good times and bad times. That's how markets work." -- President Bush (Hotline)


Thank you, Milton Friedman. What a jerk.

How Are the Mighty Fallen

Atlantic Monthly did an article on Eliot Spitzer in October 2004. (Note the reference to Barack Obama).

Make no mistake: Spitzer is the Democratic Party's future. Or, at the very least, a significant part of it... But, along with Michigan's governor, Jennifer Granholm, and the soon-to-be Illinois senator Barack Obama, Spitzer represents the cutting-edge model of the post-Clinton Democrat, drawn from a generation of politicians whose formative experience wasn't the civil-rights movement, who are tough on crime, and whose foreign policy isn't shaped by Vietnam.

Lucky?

Of all people, Geraldine Ferraro is the one to say that Obama wouldn't be where he is if he weren't black? Come on.

Hillary's response? "I do not agree with that....It's regrettable that any of our supporters — on both sides, because we both have this experience — say things that kind of veer off into the personal."

Yes, his advisor called her a monster, which was a stupid thing to say and she should have had to go. It's more than personal, though to state that it's only because of his race that he's gotten this far. I assume she means that only a black man would be paid attention to? She certainly didn't mean it when she said, "He happens to be very lucky to be who he is." Luck to be a black man in America? Lucky to be handsome? Lucky to be smart, articulate, inspirational, motivational?

I won't go down the "if she weren't married to him she wouldn't be here" argument. If he were to do it, I'd be pissed.

To argue that the only reason he's in this race is because he's black is to dismiss not only him, but also everyone who is inspired by him and who clamor for change. To my mind, not the way to win over any converts. And, continuing on this path, the way to lose some.

Pog Mo Thoin

Went to see the Pogues last night for an early St. Patrick's Day party.

Shane McGowan and the boys are pretty great live, as promised. Shane managed to make it through most of the set, leaving the state every third song or so to refill his coffee mug and light another cigarette. (Smoking ban? Feck off.)

I noticed that there wasn't much interaction among the band members. Most are getting on, have got to be in their 50s. Holding up well, thin, fit, and still playing for a living, so great. Drinking water. I noted a few times when Spider Stacey (who also fronts a band with a great name: Filthy Thieving Bastards) looked at Shane with an unmistakable look of "I can't believe this drunken bastard is the one with all the talent."

This is how James Fearnley (who plays accordian) described one of their shows:

And, like a gig of old, was the way we played the rest of the show – by the seat of our pants, with almost bemused looks up from our instruments – or even not bothering to look up at all – when Shane neglects a cue, or rides off digging his stirrups into the flank of one of the verses after an instrumental break in Fiesta and would, at one time, have left us a mess of limbs, scrabbling in the dust. Nowadays, however, we’re cheek-by-jowl with his frothing steed and heading it round toward the paddock, or crashing into the barn..."

I wonder: if McGowan wasn't a great songwriter and poet and a classic rock character, would we put up with, giggle in fact, at him when he slurs and stumbles and rocks back and forth cause he's so loaded?

Eliot Mess

And then you make a left on Connecticut Avenue, go into the Mayflower and take a left at Skank Road.

You learned nothing from Bill Clinton??

For the record, Bill's activities were not a crime. Except against good taste. And morality.

I Can't Handle the Truth

There is nothing on this earth sexier, believe me gentlemen, than a woman you have to salute in the morning. Jack Nicholson, "A Few Good Men

This line is in a clip of Nicholson video of movie quotes endorsing Hillary Clinton. If you've seen the movie, you know the rest of the quote. It is among the most sexist ever.

(I won't get started about my view of the movie as a whole. Whatevs).

N.B. Red quote marks courtesy of Time.

Headline of the Day

From the venerable Washington Post:

Va. must contend with Calif. to see who will be first to get convicted murderer to death chamber.

And who will be second?