R Blog

TiVO, Sunsets and Erectile Disfunction

Our TiVO blew up and we are not going to replace it. In fact, we aren’t going to have a TV. We’ll watch DVDs and what the internet has to offer on iTunes downloads or free shows on our iMac 24” screen. But for the last three weeks I’ve been watching TV with commercials, something I haven’t done for years and am most impressed and surprised at the number of happy middle aged couples I’ve seen who lounge smiling blissfully waiting for his Cialis, Levitra or Viagra to kick in. Or maybe she’s smiling hoping for some of those horrible side effects to manifest thinking that it really isn’t fair that pharmaceuticals have given her geezer a surge of new urge. In one commercial the couple waits watching a sunset in separate outdoor bathtubs which raises many questions about what will happen later. What’s that one about, anyway? Why two tubs? I’m missing the metaphor.
The commercials clearly tell us that ED pills will save and enhance a relationship but there does seem to be a lot of waiting involved. Perhaps the drugs teach patience which is always useful in a relationship. Or, in the case of the female participant, the lesson of resignation and acceptance. For once the pill is popped one must assume an inevitability, an unnatural, unspontaneous unfolding of predictable events. And what does one do if the result is not happy sunset but the dreaded priapism,the very nasty sounding word describing a six hour erection? Do you just stay in your tub waiting for the sun to come back up? ED is obviously a problem (was going to say a “big” problem but that sounds inappropriate) as evidenced by the amount of spam finding its way to my email inbox offering all manner of medicines, prescription and otherwise, intended to extend (probably not the best word choice either) one’s sexual life. The point is, it wasn’t something I worried about when I had TiVO. Now I have to figure out where to put the two bathtubs.

Betray Us

    MoveOn.org has been famously censured for a New York Times ad where they rhetorically posed the question about General David Petraeus, a general who had spent two months preceding his Congressional testimony trying to convince Congresspersons and the media that his surge was working. MoveOn.org raised the question and it was a valid one. Now the American Conservative Magazine tries to give the answer in an article titled,
Sycophant Savior—General Petraeus Wins a Battle in Washington, if not in Baghdad”
Money quote:
“David Petraeus is a political general. Yet in presenting his recent assessment of the Iraq War and in describing the “way forward,” Petraeus demonstrated that he is a political general of the worst kind—one who indulges in the politics of accommodation that is Washington’s bread and butter but has thereby deferred a far more urgent political imperative, namely, bringing our military policies into harmony with our political purposes.” Col. David Hunt, Fox News contributor has written a piece titled: “Top Military Officials, a Disgrace to Those They Lead.” Glenn, Greenwald of Salon.com (subscription required but worth it just for Glenn Greenwald) 
spells it out: “So to recap the Hunt/Fox argument: our Generals and other military commanders currently leading our Nation at War are "betraying our troops." They put their own selfish desire to advance their reputations and careers ahead of the welfare and lives of the soldiers they lead. The corruption and betrayal of these brave American Generals are preventing us from winning. These "poor excuses for officers" should be put on trial.”
Gee. MoveOn.org just asked a question and brought down the wrath of the right. The right accuses the general and the generals of actual betrayal and there’s not much noise. But what about General Petraeus? Jesse Wendel at the Group News Blog helps us understand the General’s distinguished career by analyzing his ribbons and his Wikipedia entry. (Most people don’t understand military decorations and when one sees a chest full like the General has it is most impressive). Jesse points out that
ribbons fall into these categories:
   Valor (including I Forgot To Duck)
   Everything Else
   Atta Boy,
   I Wuz There,
   We Wuz There,
   You Can Do X e.g: Shoot a rifle without blowing our balls off, jump out of an                         airplane, eat snakes, wear girl  scout hats (and girl scouts too).
   We're cooool.
   Your Unit Did This Eons Ago So Be Proud you fool
   And the ever popular Identification Badge We Hope Will Impress the Rest of The             Army With Where We   Work aka "We're So Stupid We Have To Remind                         Ourselves Where We Work"

and tries to answer the question that MoveOn.org didn’t ask: Is General Petraeus a REMF?

Best Person in the World, Not.

Tonight, on "Countdown With Keith Olberman", the Ashland (Oregon) City Council was listed on Keith's "Best Person in the World" segment because they had hired a counselor to try and mediate the personality disputes that have developed on the council since the last election. But if one reads the comments on the internet version of this news story you'll find that most of the commenters think certain Ashland City Council members should be designated "Worst Person in the World." One of the Counselors (Dave Chapman) apparently told another Counselor (Eric Navickas) to shut his fucking mouth when Chapman had the floor and Navickas was muttering under his breath. Chapman has stormed out of meetings in frustration on previous occasions. Some of the commenters believe that a time out may be more appropriate than having the Council spend $37,000 on counseling services. The Ashland City Council used to be dull. Not any more. The voters elected Eric Navickas and knew what they were doing. Most of the folks who supported him don't comment on Daily Tidings news articles but, apparently, just sit back and enjoy the havoc he creates. One presumes they wanted a bit of official havoc for Mr. Navickas has long been a well-known activist particularly where the expansion of the Mt. Ashland ski area is concerned—one of the most contentious city issues. Ashland seems to have developed a strong vein of conservatism if one is to rely on Daily Tidings commenters because Mr. Navickas is trashed on a almost a daily basis. However, I doubt that he will go away or that the counseling will have much effect as Navickas has always been ready to stand his ground, in the past going so far as to protest nude in front of City Hall, before his election. Since we are leaving town I could say that I'll miss the fun. But actually I won't because I can follow it on the internet and see how or if the counseling turns out or if Eric gets reelected next time around.

War Crimes?

It's not making much news but someone in the Spanish government leaked a transcript of a conversation Bush had with Spanish leader Jose Maria Aznar in Feb. of 2003 before Bush had his "authorization." Here's Professor Juan Cole's take:

"...The second claim that I made was that Bush was aware of, and rejected, an offer by Saddam Hussein to flee Iraq, probably for Saudi Arabia, presuming he could take out with him a billion dollars and some documents on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. Both provisions were intended by Saddam to protect him from later retaliation. The money would buy him protection from extradition, and the documents presumably showed that the Reagan and Bush senior administrations had secretly authorized his chemical and biological weapons programs. With these documents in his possession, it was unlikely that Bush would come after him, since he could ruin the reputation of the Bush family if he did. The destruction of these documents was presumably Bush's goal when he had Rumsfeld order US military personnel not to interfere with the looting and burning of government offices after the fall of Saddam. The looting, which set off the guerrilla war, also functioned as a vast shredding party, destroying incriminating evidence about the complicity of the Bushes and Rumsfeld in Iraq's war crimes.

Aznar asked Bush if he would grant Saddam these guarantees, and Bush roared back that he would not.

By refusing to allow Saddam to flee with guarantees, Bush ensured that a land war would have to be fought. This is one of the greatest crimes any US president ever committed, and it is all the more contemptible for being rooted in mere pride and petulance.

Note that even General Pervez Musharraf allowed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to go to Saudi Arabia with similar guarantees, even though Sharif was alleged to have attempted to cause Musharraf's death. A tinpot Pakistani general had more devotion to the good of his country, and more good sense, than did George W. Bush."

MoveOn.org's Americans for Exit

There's been a huge distraction from the war recently with the Senate passing resolutions condemning a newspaper ad by MoveOn.org. MoveOn.org is normally referred to by the media as a left wing organization. It's certainly progressive and liberal and on the left side of the political spectrum. I'm a long time member and contributor to MoveOn.org and certainly wouldn't describe myself as "left wing." Semantics, notwithstanding, MoveOn.org has more than 3,000,000 members, probably more active members than either the Democratic or Republican Parties. Our is not an organization that can be dissed, condemned or written off as irrevelant. MoveOn.org, along with progressive blogs, have proven they can raise massive amounts of money for favored candidates and have the ability to punish Congresspersons who say they will do one thing, then do something else. MoveOn's issues are chosen after polling the membership and getting out of Iraq is the highest priority.
MoveOn.org has launched a new project to show Congress and the media that the folks who oppose the war are a broad swath of Americans—and we’re going to keep speaking out until Congress brings our troops home.
It’s called “Americans for Exit” and here’s how it works: You send MoveOn a picture of you which shows how you feel about the war. Then you can also record a voice comment, by phone, to go with your picture.
It’s really easy and it’s a powerful way to send our message to Congress. I already joined in—you should too.
Click here to get started:
http://pol.moveon.org/photo