Prairie Fire

The Great Roll Call: A Journal of American Political Thought in Election Year 2008

2008-02-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

To all my friends and any strangers who may have stumbled upon this blog by mistake, I am moving my musings to a new site:

http://thegreatrollcall.blogspot.com/

effective February 4, 2008.

If you have enjoyed reading my posts or if I have pissed you off with my opinions, well, at least you're not dead, yet! I describe the new site as A Journal of Progressive American Political Thought in Election Year 2008.

I look forward to sharing plain talk and progressive ideas with you as this incredibly important election year unfolds. Remember tomorrow is Super Tuesday, so get off your ass and do something to help change this country for the better. Otherwise, quit your whining!

As then candidate Jimmy Carter said in 1976: “I want a government as good and as honest and as decent and as competent and as compassionate as are the American people."

Amen.

Giants Kill Patriot Act

2008-02-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Finally, a game worthy of the name and hype. While I was rooting for the underdogs throughout, I would have been happy for ex-Viking Randy Moss and Gopher great Laurence Maroney had the Patriots pulled it out.

Now my friends out in Providence know how we felt in Minnesota in 1998 when the Vikings' great, 15-1 regular season team lost to Atlanta in the NFC championship game. (A game Greg and I watched at Pat O'Brien's Bar in New Orleans the day following Roomful's show at the House of Blues.)

Eli Manning was certainly worthy of the game MVP. Manning's cool leadership under pressure made Brady look like the rookie and Eli the seasoned all-pro rather than vice versa. A collective MVP should go out to the Giants defensive unit for their ferocious pass rush and spectacular secondary play. Play of the game goes to the immaculate, helmet reception.

There'll be a high time in the Big Apple tonite! Hopefully Mayor Blomberg won't take this as some kind of divine sign from above and enter the race. After all, two New York Miracles are enough! (Remember Hillary's come from behind win in New Hampshire?)

To Watch the Super Bowl, or Rally for Hillary, — that is the question:

2008-02-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous (political) fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles (Iraq War),
And by opposing end them? (Republican Presidency) — To die, to sleep, —
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd (Universal Health Care). To die, to sleep; —
To sleep, perchance to dream (Obama's candidacy of Hope): — ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong (Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib), the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay (continuing illegal spying on U.S. citizens, Justice Dept. in disarray and obstruction of congressional oversight)
The insolence of office (George Bush), and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes (Wall Street fraud, obscene oil companies profits and tax cuts for wealthiest)
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life (the dwindling middle and working classes),
But that the dread of something after death, —
The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns (New Passport Requirement for North American travel), — puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know naught of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all (McCain's rhetoric on opponents to surge);
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.

*Sampling credit: Wm. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, scene 1

Hillary Clinton brings her Solutions for the American Economy to Minneapolis today,
Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM at Augsburg College -- Melby Hall
725 23rd Ave South.

Exclusive Super Bowl XLII Coverage of Patriots vs. Giants begins at 5:17 P.M. (Central Time) on Fox.

(Note: Bill Clinton will be watching the game with former candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson in New Mexico.)

Groundhog Day 2008: Same As It Ever Was

2008-02-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

This morning I awoke to the cackling of my clock radio informing me that we have six more weeks of winter ahead. Well, no shit! As a resident of Minnesota, I really didn't need the prognostication of Punxsutawney Phil to tell me that. Alot like the irrelevance of weather coverage on local television news programs, I can simply stick my head outside to see what the weather is and I am enough of an adult to figure out by myself what the appropriate outer wear for the day is, thank you very much.

Well another year has gone by but the news just seems to be recycling itself. Bombs exploding in Baghdad with horrific casulties, coups and inter-tribal murder in Africa and Republicans trying to buy another election with promises of ill-advised tax cuts and the continuation of the big lies from the Reagan era: that supply side economic theory works and that the Democrats are the party of taxation and deficit spending.

Much like Benjamin Franklin's wry reasoning well over 200 years ago, ("Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."); any American voting in the 2008 election who would sell their vote to McCain or Romney for the promise of another huge tax cut for the wealthiest among us (i.e. making the Bush tax cuts permanent) at a time when we are deficit spending on a $1 Trillion Dollar plus war of choice is neither a conservative nor a patriot.

“Uncounted": NOT the Celluloid Equivalent of Yelling Fire In A Crowded Theater

2008-01-31T16:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, 1/30/08, my sister invited me to attend with her the Minnesota premiere of “Uncounted, the New Math of American Elections" by David Earnhardt at the Riverview Theater in South Minneapolis (see http://www.uncountedthemovie.com/the-issues.html).

Although I was aware of many of the issues raised by the documentary, I was unaware of the lack of action in response to these issues. This is surprising and very troubling in light of all the problems experienced in the last four election cycles.

I am not a conspiracy theorist nor a fringe political junkie, but rather a mainstream Minnesotan and attorney and greatly troubled by the issues and uncontroverted facts highlighted in the film. The discrepancy between exit polls and eventual vote tallies alone demands greater scrutiny by the mainstream press.

Please use your voice and whatever privileged bully pulpit you may have to seek answers and demand change on behalf of all citizens. The integrity of our voting system is NOT a partisan issue. If democracy and the legitimacy of our political system means anything to you, YOU MUST SEE THIS FILM! Thank you for your consideration.

I'll Take You There...or Maybe Not

2008-01-30T07:35:00.000-08:00

Last night, my sister and I ventured out into a brittle 14 degree (f) below zero, 36 degree below zero windchill, St. Paul night to see our presidential candidate, John Edwards for what has turned out to be one of his last campaign appearances. With the strains of Springsteen's "The Rising" still ringing in my ears, I woke up this morning to NPR on my clock radio informing me that Edwards is bowing out of the race.

I must say that I can't help but feel a little whipsawed here. My progressive candidate, who pumped up an overflow crowd at the Carpenters Union Hall on St. Paul's Eastside last nite, speaking truth to corporate power and vowing to stay in the race to the bitter end, is calling it quits? Say it ain't so.

In reality, Edwards faced an insurmountable challenge. The only candidate who refused to take money from pacs and special interests, could not possibly wage the war of financial attrition with the public warchest when his opponents refused to abide by the public financing limitations. With such an uneven playing field, the candidate who had the superior message, issues and detailed plans on how to address this nation's problems got muscled out by the money of influence and ignored by a press more concerned with the personalities and egos of his bickering opponents.

Perhaps one of this campaign cycles biggest disappointments will be the loss of the Edwards' campaign taste in music. While his Democratic opponents used everything from Canadian Celene Dion to the Uk's Police and Ireland's U2, the Edwards people got revved up on good ol' American music, specifically soul music. Although Edwards was his customary, lawyerly 45 minutes late last night, the crowd, which was bundled up for the frigid artic cold and now getting uncomfortably hot in the packed union hall, was swaying to the beat of Sam and Dave ("Soul Man" and "Hold On I'm Coming"), the Isleys ("Shout"), Ike and Tina Turner ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough") and Mavis Staples' "I'll Take You There". Well, I guess not.

A First for Everything

2008-01-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

Well it has only been one year ago this month that I created this blog site and my profile before getting around to actually composing my first blog post.

What a long strange year it has been! Personally I have been in a holding pattern, bored with my profession and career, sick of the lies and distortions coming from the political right out of D.C. and the campaign trail, inspired by the campaigns of progressive candidates like John Edwards and Al Franken and saddened by the loss of my good friend, Bubba. Although 08 got off to a rough start with Bobby's death, I am hopeful of the changes to come as the year unfolds.

I finally got a new cycle, fuel injection with ghost flames on the pearlized white tank. I finally hope to get the chance to take a long road trip and reaquaint myself with this country's beautiful landscapes and people. I know both have changed dramatically since my last long road trip in May-June of 1986.

In a couple of Fridays I will hear whether I will be hired by a large corporation and trade in over twenty years of self-employment and identity for a reliable paycheck, medical benefits and the beginnings of a retirement savings plan. It's more than a fair trade. Now let's see what fate brings...