It is always the court jester that can speak truth to power – and to the masses:
“If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.”
“Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.“
“If we could just find out who’s in charge, we could kill him.”
“Just ‘cause you got the monkey off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town.”
“May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.”
“Not only do I not know what’s going on, I wouldn’t know what to do about it if I did.”
———
“I’m always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize I’m listening to it.”
Not this time George.
Thanks for giving us something to think about and a good laugh, even – and especially – when we realized we were laughing at ourselves.
We all just lost a little bit of our collective grip on reality. You’ll be missed.
George Carlin – 1937–2008
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“If it’s Sunday Morning, it’s Meet the Press”
Those words have been uttered by Tim Russert since 1991. And now, suddenly, he has left us in the midst of what must have been for him one of the most exciting times of his life – an historic election, the graduation of his son from Boston College, and the enormous popularity of his books Big Russ and Me and Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons.
We will remember him, of course, as “one of the good ones” in political journalism. Like anyone, he wasn’t perfect, but he was a voice and a face we knew and trusted. There he was, every Sunday morning.
Through his devotion to his family there is a particular poignancy to his passing on Father’s Day weekend, leaving behind both a father and a son.
Perhaps then the best way to honor Tim’s life and work is to honor our own fathers and the wisdom they have laid down for us as we make our way through life.
Tim Russert died at the top of his game. He seemed to relish his life and work. But it was all done too soon.
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A young man of conscious:
And the conscious of the King – in solidarity with his subjects :
Said with a straight face as if he has no idea, no idea at all, that the world would be a better place if he had stayed on the golf course and never set foot in Washington.
And what’s up with the jerk doing the interview? “Uh, Mr. President, was there a particular moment or incident that brought you to that decision, or how did you come to that?”
He “came to that” because you’re an idiot, Mr. Interviewer, the President is an idiot, and this country and the entire world will pay for it for years to come.
How is it that we have sunk so low as to take the president’s alleged abstinence from golf as some meaningful act of solidarity with those whose lives he has ruined? WHY IS THIS MAN STILL IN OFFICE??!!
If we get the leaders we deserve, then we have gone woefully astray my friend. January 2009 will come eight years too late.
ARRGHHHHHH!!!
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If you really wanted to help, you’d go run your foundation. I don’t like you as much as I used to. In case you care…
(By the way, could you not wave that bony finger in my face?)
Shaddup Already!
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Your great Odyssey sparked the imagination of this ten-year-old, all those years ago. It was a path shared by many others, young and old, and the world is less without the man the invited us all to imagine other worlds, times, and possibilities.
You are missed. Farewell – and have a great journey.
Holy cow, is it really so bad for Hillary that she’s willing to let this woman continue to speak on her behalf?
Gosh Gerry, we’re sorry you’re so offended.
But do you really think you’re helping anyone other than yourself? Many of us, you know – voters – are already pretty sure that there’s something about Hillary and her rabidly blind ambition that’s just a little, well…
… scary.
Everyone involved is a little too eager to scorch the earth for their own narrow interest for me to care much for any of it.
I’m not sure if you’re getting the message though. Perhaps I should give a call and explain it in more detail. What y’all doing at 3AM? Seems to be a popular time to call these days.
As for Ferraro: Gerry, me think ye doth protest too much…
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Where does the mind of George Bush end and that of Fox News begin? (It’s a trick question – implying that either is in possesion of one – or, to be fair, is using the one they possess)
Get your Bush Countdown Clock and count the days
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Character is much easier kept than recovered.
-Thomas Paine
Good ol’ Thomas Paine is always ready with a good quote, and this one comes to mind when considering the recent bruha-ha over Canada’s manual for diplomats-in-training –
What do Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Syria have in common with the USA?
Torture, baby.
I know from my jury experience, when I helped decide the fate of a man who cut-up and killed his father with a dull kitchen knife (and I’m going easy on the details), defining torture isn’t always easy or as it would seem. I have no doubt that what Jan did to his dad was indeed tortuous, but not legally torture. So the jury acquitted him of the charge of torture, opting instead for murder. It’s about intent. Jan intended to kill his father, not torture him.
It may be apples and oranges, comparing penal law with international law. But what if actions do, in fact, satisfy the legal definition – and intent – for torture? Dick and George may commit their own personal torture on the language in their attempts to justify those actions and nullify the law, but they cannot change the essence of what it means to torture someone.
On the other hand, does the US really belong on the same list with all those other countries so well known for their skill in torture? Say, for instance, the same countries to which send “detainees” in a process mysteriously called extraordinary rendition?
Well, there is that. At least one poor guy was innocent – and Canadian.
So after we’re done being indignant and outraged, it might be a good idea to check the arrogance and reflect a bit on what, if any, our own actions have in the situation we now find ourselves…
And then I woke up: Dick Cheney and George Bush were still president and Canada said it was sorry.
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Seven years ago today, December 12, 2000, the Supreme Court saw fit to forgo the continuation of the recount and probable tampering of the vote in Florida, handing the presidency to George W. Bush.
Al Gore had won popular election, and forever will remain serious questions regarding voter caging and suppression in Florida (and elsewhere).
Seven years ago – it seems like decades – George Bush said he’d be a “uniter, not a divider”.
Things went downhill from there:
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It’s not the job you do, it’s how you do the job you do…
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