'TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
The Sphincter Election
By Baron Dave Romm
The 2004 election was decided by fear. Bush won by making people scared. People voted with their sphincter. They didn't vote with their hearts and heaven knows they didn't vote with their brains. The majority of Americans disapprove of Bush and his policies but were convinced to vote against their own best interests by fear. An emotional reaction driven by incessant, droning, fearmongering by the conservative news media. Nattering nabobs of negativism ruled the airwaves.
The 9/11 terror attacks, in retrospect, did not provoke the reaction of Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor shocked and united a nation. We panicked and sent Japanese Americans to relocation camps but we tightened our belt and made sacrifices as the attack brought out the best in America. We responded immediately and spent the next four years ridding the world of three evil empires.
By contrast, more than three years after the attack, Afghanistan is a bigger mess than when we went in, Iraq is in the middle of a bloody civil war, al Queda has more members than ever, terror attacks are increasing throughout the world, and the Bush administration doesn't even know who the enemy is much less how to find them.
9/11 spurred a reaction more like Kristallnacht. In 1938, an incident against a Nazi official was used as incitement for the larger hate-filled agenda of Hitler and propaganda minister Goebbels. In orchestrated attacks against their own people, Jews and anyone else out of favor with the religious right was vilified, attacked, thrown in relocation camps, and their property seized and/or destroyed. The Nazis whipped up their base and used the excuse to deprive Germans of democracy in the name of religion. They spent the next seven years as mass murderers, warmongers and religious nutjobs.
The Pearl Harbor attack did not cause Americans to fear the Japanese: it sent waves of outrage against Tojo, Mussolini and Hitler. We reacted quickly and precisely and we fixed the world with the help of many allies. In contrast, the 9/11 terror attacks caused fear and panic that persist to this day. Terror attacks are designed, by definition, to induce terror in a populace. Because of the weakness of George W. Bush, the goals of Osama bin Laden have been met. Americans are scared. The US pulled out of Saudi Arabia, another key bin Laden demand. And we took out Osama's hated enemy Saddam Hussein while increasing the amount of terrorists on the world stage. Right down the line, Bush has fallen prey to the wishes of the terrorists.
The Sphincter Election was a very slimy election. America is not Nazi Germany, but we're not Roosevelt's America either. Voter suppression and vote-rigging were rampant, though not as obvious as in 2000, and some of the voter manipulation is still coming out. The 2004 election proved that Republicans don't believe in Democracy. They want a theocracy, just like the Taliban. Fortunately, we are still a Democracy, or at least a Republic, and the neocons might want to remember that 55 million people voted for John Kerry, labeled as the #1 Liberal in America.
People voted their own sphincters, and they voted against the sphincters of others. Once again, the extreme right is more concerned about other people's sex lives than they are about values like love and commitment. Personally, I approve of committed monogamous relationships between people who love each other. But to give the devil his due, the evangelicals have made their point. We should define marriage just like it's defined in the Bible: Arranged marriages to multiple partners with concubines on the side.
The aftermath of the Sphincter Election has left me with one marriage option: Before the next terror attack, I have to find a woman with a large dowry.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, you can order Shockwave Radio Theater CDs, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm continuing to collect extra-weird stuff.
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Reader Comment
Re: 'Unity'
59 Millions Idiots CAN be wrong - dead wrong!
I hope their kids are the first ones drafted.
Does that cousin-loving trailer trash really believe that Bush Co. gives a rat's ass about them?
And Monkey Boy can stick his calls for "unity" where the sun don't shine.
Hey, they can't lock ALL of us who oppose him away!
Terry C
NJ
Thanks, Terry!
Reader Suggestion
Bumper Stickers
Why Are People In Blue States So Much Smarter Than People In Red States?
Don't Misunderestimate The Lack Of Intelligence Of The American Voter
Proud Member Of The Loyal Opposition -- Loyal To The United States, Loyal To Democracy, Not Loyal To George W. Bush
Tolerance: An American Value (Void Where Prohibited By Red Voters)
Thanks, Bruce!
Purple Gene Reviews
Dinner With Harold Ramis
Purple Genes' review of Harold Ramis' ("Ghost Busters" - "Groundhogs' Day" - "Analyze This" - "Analyze That") hosting Zen Hospice fund raising Dinner for the Dying at Atrium Restaurant in San Francisco - 11/07/04:
Anybody who doesn't know who Harold Ramis is should have their head examined. He wrote and directed "Analyze This" and "Analyze That", "Caddy Shack" and "Groundhogs' Day"! He wrote "Animal House", "Stripes", "Meatballs", "Ghost Busters" - Screenplay for "Bedazzled" - has produced and acted in many movies ...on and on and on........This guy flew out from Illinois to to San Francisco last night to be the Guest Host of one of 25 Dinner Parties throughout the Bay Area supporting Zen Hospice - a place for people to care for the DYING......OK so this guy is a BIG MOVIE DUDE!
He is on his way to wrap up directing a movie with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton called "Ice Harvest"....He came all the way out here to talk about Dying and Compassion with a bunch of Zen Buddhist Democrats who were Dying from last weeks elections!!!!.........
Here's the Menu.....Start with crispy Maine Crab Purses, Butternut Squash cups, and Cremini Mushroom Caps - then a port poached Bartlett pear and mixed green salad...Entree of Confit Pheasant, celery root and parsnips puree, carrots onion in Natural Juice all with a tasty Sanford Pinot Noir and finishing with a chocolate torte with creme anglaise........Ahhhh ...now lets talk about DYING!!!!
Harold Ramis should run for public office - this guy was walking around the room of 100 people, gabbing, pressing the flesh and being a wonderful host....when he got up to talk ,he was asked about acting as opposed to directing and he told a story about Dying at an audition with Dustin Hoffman and that is why he would rather direct because of how demeaning it it is to read for parts and kiss directors asses and base success on your looks and last role!!!!!! He talked a little about the plot for "Groundhog Day" where the character keeps waking on the same day...over and over again in the same shitty small town and he actually tries to kill himself to get out (sounds like America with George Bush re-elected) ....well this evening was very inspirational because....as Harold pointed out in closing....we are all surely going to die....better to pick our ROLES wisely and don't lose track of how we want the story to END....Thanks Mr. Ramis....
Purple Gene gives Harold Ramis 10 Gashos (deep bows) out of 10 for his hosting of Zen Hospice Dinner!
Purple Gene
Thanks, Purple Gene!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Rainy morning, sunny afternoon.
Visits In Darfur
Mia Farrow
Award-winning American actress Mia Farrow toured a camp in Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur, expressing her shock at the threats and humiliation suffered by its inhabitants.
Farrow, who was accompanied by her 14-year-old son, Seamus, said she had been moved by media reports about the suffering of Darfur people and had wanted to witness first-hand what they were experiencing.
Some 1.4 million people have been left homeless and a further 200,000 have fled into neighbouring Chad as a result of the conflict, which the United Nations says has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Mia Farrow
No Mood for Tolerance
San Francisco
The summer of love has given way to the autumn of fear in San Francisco, a liberal stronghold where residents bitterly disappointed by the Bush victory are in no mood to reach out and mend divisions.
Rather, they are waving "United States of Canada" maps, redrawn to show Canada extending down to include California, New England and the other so-called "blue states" that voted decisively for Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry in the U.S. presidential race.
Some are canceling plans to travel to neighboring "red states," where Bush drew most of his support. They are asking serious questions about the future of American democracy. And the usual post-election bravado about moving out of the country when a favored candidate loses is sounding different this year. It sounds a lot more serious.
"Why should we believe we will ever have another fair election in this country?" asked one woman.
San Francisco
Gets Star On Hollywood Walk O'Fame
Robert Zemeckis
Director Robert Zemeckis, traveling on "The Polar Express," stopped long enough to pick up a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Zemeckis, who won an Oscar for directing "Forrest Gump," received the 2,268th star Friday.
Frequent collaborator Tom Hanks attended the ceremony along with hundreds of other fans.
The director of the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Cast Away" is known for using pioneering technology to create otherworldly action in his films.
Robert Zemeckis
16th International Film Festival
Palm Springs
Kevin Spacey, Samuel L. Jackson, Liam Neeson and Laura Linney will be honored at the 16th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival in January.
The awards gala takes place Jan. 8 at the Palm Springs Convention Center and also will honor Kirk Douglas with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Bryce Dallas Howard ("The Village") with the Rising Star Award.
Palm Springs
Picked Up For Full Season
'Kevin Hill' & 'Veronica Mars'
UPN has given the thumbs-up to critically acclaimed new dramas "Veronica Mars" and "Kevin Hill," giving both shows full-season pickups.
While neither series sprinted out of the gate, "Kevin Hill," starring Taye Diggs, and "Veronica Mars," starring Kristen Bell, received some of the best reviews for this season's new shows.
'Kevin Hill' & 'Veronica Mars'
Gives $1 Million to UCLA Law School
Bob Barker
Bob Barker is used to handing out prizes as host of the TV game show "The Price is Right." But officials at the University of California, Los Angeles, law school announced last week that Barker has given out a prize of another sort: $1 million for an animal rights law endowment.
Barker said he hoped the endowment would encourage more law students to get involved in protecting animals.
The Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights Law will pay for teaching, research, seminars and lectures. The effort will be led by UCLA professor Taimie Bryant, who teaches a course in animal law.
Bob Barker
Hate Radio Bigot Apologizes
Mark Belling
Mark Belling, a conservative talk-radio host has formally apologized for using a racial slur on the air, then joking about it for a week.
He sarcastically apologized on the air last Monday, then joked about the situation for days and polled listeners about whether he should have apologized.
The comment sparked a protest of 300 people Friday at Milwaukee's WISN studios, which broadcast Belling's daily radio talk show, and caused one advertiser to pull ads from the show.
In his apology released Saturday, Belling said he would "try to grow and be a better person based on the lessons my terrible mistake has taught me."
Mark Belling
Sues Neighbor Julie Newmar
Jim Belushi
Actor James Belushi has sued next-door neighbor Julie Newmar for $4 million in damages, accusing the actress of a "campaign of harassment" designed to drive him from his home. Belushi, 50, claims in the lawsuit filed Nov. 2 that Newmar destroyed a fence and landscaping at the home in the posh Brentwood neighborhood and repeatedly made defamatory statements about him to neighbors and friends.
Belushi says the actions of the actress who played Catwoman in the 1960s television series "Batman" caused emotional distress and harmed his reputation and career.
Jim Belushi
Allows Teaching Creationism
Grantsburg, Wisconsin
The city's school board has revised its science curriculum to allow the teaching of creationism, prompting an outcry from more than 300 educators who urged that the decision be reversed.
School board members believed that a state law governing the teaching of evolution was too restrictive. The science curriculum "should not be totally inclusive of just one scientific theory," said Joni Burgin, superintendent of the district of 1,000 students in northwest Wisconsin.
The decision provoked more than 300 biology and religious studies faculty members to write a letter last week urging the Grantsburg board to reverse the policy. It follows a letter sent previously by 43 deans at Wisconsin public universities.
Grantsburg, Wisconsin
4000 Colonies
Rome's Cats
Almost as much as the Spanish Steps or the Trevi Fountain, cats belong to the historic and cultural heritage of Rome, and Romans repay the compliment by taking good care of them.
Rome even has a municipal councillor in charge of animal rights, Monica Cirinna, for whom coping with cats is all part of the job: "In Rome, there are 300,000 cats, of which around 180,000 live in homes and 120,000 on the street." According to the most recent census carried out by the authorities, more than 4,000 cat colonies have been identified in Rome.
"The cat is a symbol of Rome and a citizen of the city," said Cirinna. Cat colonies are protected under a 1997 law brought in by the regional government.
Rome's Cats
In Memory
Gibson Kente
South African playwright Gibson Kente, the founding father of black township theater who announced he had HIV/AIDS last year, died in Soweto on Sunday. He was 72.
Kente was the first South African to tackle on stage the poverty, crime and politics of the country's sprawling townships under white rule.
The playwright, whose most famous works include anti-apartheid musical "How Long?" and "Sekunjalo," revolutionised African urban theater with his gospel and jazz-infused musicals.
He made headlines last year by shunning continued taboos over HIV/AIDS and announcing publicly he was infected, winning praise from former President Nelson Mandela. Kente's earlier works like "Manana, the Jazz Prophet" focused on social issues and were designed for township audiences -- for a long time the only form of entertainment for thousands of poor blacks. He became increasingly involved in the anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s, and many of his political dramas were banned by Pretoria.
Kente was born in East London, South Africa in 1932. He produced some 23 plays and three television dramas between 1963 and 1992, according to the National Arts Council of South Africa.
As well as staging theater, Kente also produced some of the country's top musicians from his garage, and trained hit artists like late pop diva Brenda Fassie.
Gibson Kente
In Memory
Howard Keel
Howard Keel, the broad-shouldered baritone who romanced his way through a series of glittery MGM musicals such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Annie Get Your Gun" and later revived his career with television's "Dallas," died Sunday. He was 85.
Keel died Sunday morning of colon cancer, according to his son, Gunnar.
Keel starred in Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals in New York and London before being signed to an MGM contract after World War II. The timing was perfect: He became a star with his first MGM film, playing Frank Butler to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun."
Keel's size and lusty voice made him an ideal leading man for such stars as Esther Williams ("Pagan Love Song," "Texas Carnival," "Jupiter's Darling"), Ann Blyth ("Rose Marie," "Kismet"), Kathryn Grayson ("Show Boat," "Lovely to Look At," "Kiss Me Kate") and Doris Day ("Calamity Jane").
His own favorite film was the exuberant "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
Keel was 66 and presumably nearing the end of his career when he suddenly became a star in another medium.
From its start in 1978, "Dallas" with its combination of oil, greed, sex and duplicity had become the hottest series in television. Jim Davis, who had played the role of Jock Ewing, died in 1981, and the producers needed another strong presence to stand up to the nefarious J.R. Ewing Jr. (Larry Hagman). They chose Keel.
When Keel was born in Gillespie, Ill., his name was Harold Clifford Leek. His father, once a naval captain, became a coal miner and drank to soothe his bitterness. During drunken rages, he beat his children. His mother, a strict Methodist, forbade her two sons from having any entertainment.
"I had a terrible, rotten childhood," Keel commented in 1995. "My father made away with himself when I was 11. I had no guidance, and Mom was six feet tall, bucktoothed and very tough. I was mean and rebellious and had a terrible, bitter temper. I got a job as an auto mechanic, and I would have stayed in that narrow kind of life if I hadn't discovered art. Music changed me completely."
He made it big in musicals, but also appeared in westerns: Waco," "Red Tomahawk," "The War Wagon" (with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas) and "Arizona Bushwhackers." After leaving MGM, he appeared as St. Peter in the unsuccessful "The Big Fisherman."
Keel was married and then divorced twice: to actress Rosemary Cooper and dancer Helen Anderson, with whom he had three children: Kaija, Kristine, Gunnar. In 1970 he married former airline stewardess Judy Magamoll. They had one daughter, Leslie.
Howard Keel
