Riveting Coverage on MS-NBC Until

After hearing the news that Michael Jackson had, indeed, passed away, I was glued to the TV for several hours. Keith Olbermann was on earlier, instead of the usual Hardball replay and I watched most of Keith's coverage - up until the helicopter carried MJ's body to the 2nd hospital, the one with the coroner. MS-NBC's cameras were there to get the money shot, the corpse being carried from the chopper to the hospital door. As much as I like Keith and his news-commentary, there was something very unseemly about it, wasn't there? When they started showing that same shot over and over and over, well, I gave up. What had seemed like genuine sharing of a human interest story had become trash tv. It was the 90's all over again. It didn't help that Keith had Diane Dimond there to fake some kind of empathic humanity when she, perhaps more than any other psuedo-journalist, had doggedly pursued the Jackson story for so long. Even before trials which found MJ to be not guilty, and in fact exonerated him as a victim of extortion plots, she had pronounced him guilty. For you younger people who missed the Diane Dimond stuff from the 90's, think of Nancy Grace with a darker hairdo. And, somehow, less charm. Keith, I still like ya, but there's a reason Rachel Maddow is seen as a more serious journalist.

Sad, Bewildering Day

I wasn't a fan of the Charlie's Angels series and I didn't watch The Burning Bed or any of Farrah's other movies. I knew her from talk show appearances, mainly on the Johnny Carson version of the Tonight Show and later on Letterman's late night talk shows. So, it's kind of odd that my most vivid memory of Farrah is that of her sitting on the couch with Ed McMahon - who, of course, also passed away this week.

At this writing, things don't look good for Michael Jackson who was rushed, not breathing, to the hospital after an apparent heart attack. My first album - the first album I ever wanted - was The Jackson 5's ABC. In spite of his weirdness through the years I was always a fan of his work. The J5 song "Stop, the love you save may be your own...." has been running around in my brain the past few days. Less than a month ago I had the most vivid dream that MJ was on a talk show, kind of like a Merv Griffin show, and he was just a normal guy. No sign of plastic surgery. In my dream he looked more like Christopher 'Kid' Reid (of Kid n' Play) than Wacko Jacko - and he was just ... well, normal. Fun. Easy going. I don't know. Maybe it means nothing. But I wonder if I had accidentally picked up on something MJ was hoping he could get to again. Some reports this hour have said it was a suicide, overdose of pills. Others say it was a strain on his heart from working out, getting in shape for a comeback tour. In spite of everything, in spite of all the weirdness, the man brought a lot of joy into a lot of people's lives.

Star Power: Nurse Jackie to the Rescue

WASHINGTON (AP) — Award-winning actress Edie Falco, cable television's no-nonsense "Nurse Jackie," delivered a stern message to lawmakers Thursday: fix health care.

"I'm here because I've traveled through the health care system and there are some holes," Falco, a breast cancer survivor, told a Capitol Hill rally for health care overhaul. "I'm here because I care about the people in this country and I know that we can do better, that we must do better." ... full story HERE.

I've watched the new Showtime series "Nurse Jackie" starring Edie Falco - mixed emotions about it. I'm a long time "E.R." watcher and it's tough for me getting into this show with no real heroes to root for. It's entertaining but I hate thinking about Doctors and Nurses as people who are either too busy to care too much or just too uninterested in their patients to worry about caring. People tell me it's more true to life than "E.R." which, frankly, scares the hell out of me - especially knowing they're probably right.

All that being said, it's good Edie Falco is out there in the real world trying to make a difference. I just hope we don't wind up with a system like the one President Obama campaigned against before he won the election. You know, the system where you get fined if you're not buying your own health insurance. If people could afford it, they'd already be buying it. And yes, the goal is to lower costs so it's affordable to more people - but fining people for not having it seems counter-productive. It seemed so to Candidate Obama, as well, didn't it? That's how I remember it, anyway. It's one of the reasons I was for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

Iran, Peru

As I mentioned in the earlier post, I feel for the people of Iran. I really do. But I'm fearful that some of the outpouring of sympathy for their nation is being manufactured by certain powerful people who want the US to go to war with Iran. I'm hoping this doesn't happen. The US and Britain have tried "regime change" in Iran many times and it's always blown up (sometimes literally) in our faces.

A part of my suspicion of manufactured sympathy is that there seems to be absolutely no attention to the atrocities in Peru. Is it because Peruvians haven't mastered the art of Twitter? Does Iran make a better news story? I hate to sound like a paranoid conspiracy guy but sometimes it's good to ask questions. At least while it's still legal to ask questions.

Update: Here's another excellent article about the Peru situation.

More thoughts on the "Fire Letterman" controversy

I've been watching Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show a lot since he and Andy took over the reigns. One of the recurring funny themes of the show is that they portray Max Weinberg, their drummer (also drummer for Bruce Springsteen's band) as a sex crazed pedo. It's a funny gag. No one really believes Max is this way. They've been doing the bit for many, many years now. If this crowd of people is so, so outraged at Letterman for telling jokes about sex with minors, as they claim to be, why aren't they protesting over at Conan's house? I think they need to own up to the fact that they're only doing this to Dave because Sarah Palin was involved in the joke. Stop lying, people. It's not about morals, it's not about a joke involving young girls and sex. It's because Sarah's not in the White House. And you're just whiny, phony, lying, crybaby brats.

Sam Seder with the "Fire Letterman" crowd

Here ya go, Olive Garden. These are the people you caved to, in all their Palin-lovin' glory.



Watch Sam Seder and Marc Maron on their Breakroom Live internet show, weekdays 3pm Eastern.

Coulter jokes about Dr. Tiller's Murder

I'm not going to embed the youTube video here but if you go to this link you can see Ann Coulter on Bill O'Reilly yucking it up about Dr. Tiller's murder. "He died in his 203rd semester". Gee, golly. I love how these folks cherish and respect every life. Nice example for self described pro-lifers to set.

Judge Chastises U.S. over Gitmo Detainee: Orders Release

Story found here.

The discovery of suicide martyr videos seemed certain proof that Abd al Rahim Abdul Rassak was part of al-Qaida. A closer look at his video, though, showed he was actually being tortured by al-Qaida.

The confusion over the video collection found in an al-Qaida safehouse is one of the stranger twists in the unusual case of Rassak, a Guantanamo detainee. On Monday, a federal judge ordered Rassak released, chastising the government for claiming he was still part of the same terror network that tortured, imprisoned and abandoned him.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon emphatically rejected the government's claims against Rassak, even going so far as to add punctuation to get his point across.

Federal prosecutors had argued that even though Rassak was tortured by al-Qaida as a suspected Western spy and imprisoned by the Taliban for a year and a half, he still maintained some kind of allegiance to his tormentors.

"I disagree!" wrote the judge, adding that U.S. officials are "taking a position that defies common sense."

The judge said the government and the U.S. media initially mistook Rassak as one of a number of suicide martyrs, based on a videotape captured at an al-Qaida safehouse. Further investigation found the tape actually showed al-Qaida torturing him.
In a 13-page written decision, the judge heaped scorn on the suggestion that Rassak could be part of the same terrorist organizations that had abused him.

Haliburton Workers Alleged to have Raped & Terrorized nearly 40 women

The Bush/Cheney administration's favorite "no bid contract" company, Haliburton, seems to have some really horrible skeletons in their closet as women are coming out to testify that they were raped and terrorized by employees of the company so they wouldn't become "whistle blowers". Well, the sh#t is starting to hit the fan .

Ultimate power corrupts ultimately. Can we, once and for all, do away with no-bid government contracts? More oversight would be in order, too. Is that too much to ask?

And speaking of Neocons...

Andrew Sullivan says they're not "all" bad...

Some, he says were "appalled" by torture, for instance.

Oy.

What is a Neocon?

Even my most educated friends have asked me, "What is a neocon, anyway?" I found this on Craigslist, uncredited, this morning. Thought it was a good summation:

a neocon - strictly speaking - is someone who believes in pre-emptive military strikes against percieved agressors

anyone can be a neocon but the ability to look at past mistakes and not learn from them is a desirable trait

it also helps to believe that human rights are only afforded to middle aged, white, heterosexual males

no moral compass is needed to be a neocon

they are overwhelmingly conservative Republicans and are now feeling the backlash of thirty years of empire building while they and theirs abandoned the Republic

they are never wrong in their methods and belief systems and just need 'more time' to carry out their agenda to an effective end

I think the author meant to say, "they never admit to be wrong". Not "they are never wrong." Otherwise, excellent and brief summary. Anything you'd like to add to this?

- Jayson aka mystic23 on Twitter

Best "New Rules" Segment of the Season - Bill Maher

The gist of it being, something I've been saying for many, many years now. Decades, even. That the fanatics in the GOP have moved the Republican Party so far to the right they're now, officially, off the charts. But since they're so good at their own hype, their bullying tactics have moved the Democratic Party to the right, as well. So now, the Democrats are more of a "centrist right" party while the GOP is just too insane to be believed, or trusted, about much of anything. So now what do we have? One conservative party (The Democrats) and another party that's just bat-shit crazy.

That's not to say Republicans in general are this way. Most Republicans are just as reasonable & intelligent as are most Democrats - but the fringe on the right has succeeded in making both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party very conservative - leaving Liberals with no real representation.

I'm still happy Obama is President. And I'm sure I'll continue to support him and will be happy to vote for him again. But when I hear Republican and/or Conservative talking head pundits going on and on about how Liberal the Democrats are - I will continue to think, "would that it were."

- Jayson Tanner

Follow me on Twitter - mystic23

President Obama - very funny last night at the Press Dinner

Now this guy is funny! But, even without turning on the TV, I can just hear the Obama haters "OUTRAGED!!!" about many of his jokes. How DARE he?? Blah, Blah, Blah. Their constant over-the-top critiquing of this President has become one long Swift Boat ad. It got old before it started.

Oh, and P.S.:

"Socialist? He's not even a Liberal!" - Bill Maher on HBO's Real Time last night.

- Jayson aka mystic23 on Twitter

Boycotting Olive Garden

I've never been one for boycotts. I'm just not a joiner, really. But when I heard the news yesterday that Olive Garden had pulled their ads from the David Letterman "Late Night" show on CBS, I was livid. That anyone would bow to pressure from the Sarah Palin crowd, even after Dave had apologized profusely for the crime he had not committed (the jokes he told were directed more at A-Rod than Palin or her Alaskan clan), well, they just don't deserve my business.

I mentioned this on Twitter and I got a ton of response - most of it had to do with how Olive Garden sucks anyway so it'd be easy to boycott them. I kind of like Olive Garden - well - liked. No more. Sorry, folks. If you're siding with Palin you're no friend of mine. And more importantly, if you're not siding with Dave.... you can go the way of Circuit City and Linens & Things for all I care. Good riddance.

Jayson Tanner aka: mystic23 on Twitter

War from the Right? War from the Left.

Sympathy and good will to the Iranian people. We share in your disappointment if the election did not turn out the way you had hoped. We know what that's like in America, that feeling that something wonderful was going to happen but someone pulled the rug out from under the wonderful. I felt that way in 2000 when a lot of ballots in Florida seemingly destined for Al Gore were (due to a jumbled up, misguided voting page) instead marked for Pat Buchannan. And this threw our election to George W. Bush.

To my liberal and progressive friends who empathize with the plight of the Iranians who are marching for a true Democracy, please realize that there are forces at work in the world who very much want to encourage war with Iran - and will use any avenue. When they want to drag us into war from the right, they prey on our fears. They fill our heads with horrible scenarios of imminent nuclear annihilation, bloodshed, death and turmoil. They create and exploit anxiety. They say we have to go to war otherwise we'll be attacked. We cannot be made vulnerable, we must be diligent and ever on the offense.

When they feel the nation is more liberal and progressive, for instance, and under the leadership of a more thoughtful, compassionate President - they have other ways. They'll appeal to our humanitarian instincts. They'll tell us that we must go and stand by others in the world who want freedom. That we must help them in their struggle. It's the right thing to do.

When they want to drag us into war from the right, they prey on our fears. When they want to drag us into war from the left, they appeal to our higher angels. Please keep this in mind. Either way, war in Iran has been on the agenda for certain powerful people for many years now. They don't care how they get us into war - it's war they want. How it happens is no matter to them.

Sympathize with the Iranians, yes, but always remember that our own Democracy here in the USA is also very fragile, vulnerable and imprecise.

- Jayson Tanner

Follow me on the Twitter: Mystic23