Pete Seeger

People don't believe me when I tell them, but I once sang "We Shall Overcome" with Pete Seeger. He sang and played guitar. I sang along, with a girl named Heidi.

It was about 9 years ago, down in Georgia...

Nevermind, you don't believe me either.

But that doesn't mean it isn't true.

Chrystler

So, right, there's something deeply wrong with me. But this was my favorite song when I was a kid (Before I was sent to school and entered society. Blame my parents.):



Memories resurrected by this.

Something nice about Bush

I rarely feel anything but venom for our 43st President, so when I feel otherwise, I should probably point it out.

The speech he gave the day after Obama won the election was heartfelt, generous, and reflective of his true feelings about race in our society.

Many people have commented that Obama wouldn't be possible without Bush's epic fail. And that's true. But he also wouldn't have been possible without Bush's consistent anti-racism. It's not merely the fact that Bush appointed two African-Americans to head his State department. It's also the fact that Bush was the first Republican since Nixon to win without appealing to racism.

(The ghost of my Father says: what about dis-enfranchising black voters? I say, of course they do that, Dad, but they did that by targeting people they knew wouldn't vote for them, not by legitimizing racism in the public sphere.)

American politics is fundamentally tribal. People don't vote based on issues. They vote based on party*. How many people over the age of 30 ever change parties? Bush used his platform as the leader of the Republican party to legitimize black leadership in the eyes of the half of the country that looked to him for cues.

When the history books are written, 50 to 100 years from now, Colin and Condi are going to be viewed like we view the protoceratops in light of the triceratops**. Bush's heart, in this one little thing, was in the right place.

P.S. Of course, the Republican party is now the "Barack the Magic Negro" party. But that wasn't Bush's party.

*What about independents? Easy: They're liars. 90% of American voters vote for the same party that they voted for in the last election. Partisan ID is decided in the first three general elections that a person votes in. But that's another story.

**I, of course, prefer Styracosaurus.

Stuck in the Matrix

In the first Matrix, a character raises a philosophical dilemma that is seemingly unique to the Matrix environment:

Tank: Here you go, buddy. Breakfast of champions.
Mouse: If you close your eyes it almost feels like you're eating runny eggs.
Apoc: Yeah, or a bowl of snot
Mouse: Do you know what it really reminds me of? Tasty Wheat. Did you ever eat Tasty Wheat?
Switch: No, but technically, neither did you.
Mouse: That's exactly my point. Exactly. Because you have to wonder now. How did the machines know what Tasty Wheat tasted like. huh?. Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tasty Wheat tasted like actually tasted like oatmeal or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken for example, maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything. Maybe couldn't figure out...

February 1st will mark six years of vegetarianism for me, and aside from a few brief instances (most notably, 10 days in 2005 that I spent in Mexico), I've maintained a strict meatless diet for the duration.

I have, during this time, eaten a lot of fake meat products, mostly made with soy. They have improved greatly in quality, taste, and variety over the past half decade. As far as replicating the taste of real meat, the quality varies. Hot dogs are perfect, and one assumes that this is because they aren't very "real" in the first place. Most fake chicken products are reliably tasty, and chicken-y, the taste like I remember chicken tasting, for the most part, and different brands taste like each other, so I'm pretty sure that they're right. From here, however, it's downhill. Burger quality varies widely, and soy doesn't simulate fat very well. Sausage tastes like sausage, but doesn't have anywhere near the right texture. Tofurky is delicious, and fake bacon tastes like turkey bacon, according to my mother.

But tonight Madelyn and I are going to try something new out: Match Meats Pork.

And I have no idea how pork tastes. I haven't eaten it in over 6 years, and I was never a big fan of pig when I was an omnivore. I have no memory of it. And I have no intermittent fake pork memories either, as this is the first fake pork that I've ever seen. I have no idea what pork tastes like, and I will have no idea if this stuff is accurate at all.

I guess I'll just have to trust the computer to get it right.

The Mustache of Green

Tom Friedman wrote a new book. Matt Taibbi wrote a review.

Obama's People

Fascinating Photo spread in the New York Times magazine. Don't miss Axelrod or Orszag.

New Blog

Of Geopolitical interest: Lexi's Blog!!!!!!

Coates on Michelle Obama

Everything I know about black people I learn from Ta-Nehisi Coates. His new story in the Atlantic:

When Michelle Obama told a Milwaukee campaign rally last February, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country," critics derided her as another Angry Black Woman. But the only truly radical proposition put forth by Obama, born and raised in Chicago's storied South Side, is the idea of a black community fully vested in the country at large, and proud of the American dream.

Filling Rahmbo's Shoes

Geoghegan would be an excellent choice. I often pretend to have read the books that he's written.

Gaza

I'm starting to seriously question Israel's Right to Exist.

Afghanistan

The solution to our lingering occupation of Afghistan is simple: just convince the Taliban to change their name.

All the big Al Qaeda guys are hiding in Pakistan anyway. The only reason we can't just pull out and hand the country over to the Taliban, which is an alliance of Pashtun, the country's largest ethnic group, is because of the link between their name and the 9/11 attacks. But all of the Taliban higher-ups who were involved in that are dead or captured.

So change your name to "The Pashtun Anti-Terrorist Alliance" or something, and you can have the country back.

I'm totally serious about this. In fact, I'm pretty that it is what's going to happen.

And I hate Nixon!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

Adam Walsh's Killer

I've been following this case for years, basically because I think John Walsh is a fucktard, and his right-wing kill-the-bastards-and-let-god-sort-it-out thoughts on crime in this country have hurt way more people than they've saved. That being said, he really did deserve to know.

EBONY

I, like many of you, have been waiting with baited breath, trying to guess who Ebony Magazine will name as its person of the year.

The suspense is over.

BlagoLand

I haven't really commented much on my Governor's current legal battles. The reason is simple. Larry does it better.

Archpundit is a close personal friend... why, we've even had a beer together before!

And I just want you to know that I voted for the bastard twice. I did not, however, vote for him in the primary.

And I'd do it again. What was I supposed to do, vote for the Republican?

Primaries are important. Before this little bit of fun, I was thinking Jackson for Senate, and Madigan for Governor. But Quinn is super fun, a crazy in the Kucinich mold. Let's see how that works out.

Madigan v. Jackson for Senate? I love that our top Senate candidates are both in politics because their dads are important.

Whenever the Senate primary is, I plan to vote for the farthest lefty with a chance to win. That worked out last time, when I voted for a nutty black reformer from Chicago with a funny name.

There's only one Republican in Illinois who can win statewide office now. His name is Pat Fitzgerald.