Hoo-boy! (No Matter Who You Vote For, The Government Always Gets In)

Flame away, I do not care.  I am going to stand by my positions:

David Simon, and TBogg, and others have got this right.  It was us, you and me, and our numbskull "public servants" who signed off on all this PATRIOT ACT/FISA bullshit.  Why everyone is clutching their pearls, and/or rending their garments in the Trad Media/blogosphere and on both sides of the aisle politically is nearly as disgusting as all the spying.  We, you and me, signed off on all this shit! By either approving it, or allowing to happen.  Why the heck is anybody surprised here? The spying does not even constitute a crime.

Daniel Ellsberg, his friends, and wife.

But heads must roll, and that knucklehead GED kid (who somehow lucked in to doing the right thing) will most certainly have to pay.  And, while I have your attention, too: 

Just saw Gibney's We Steal Secrets, and Assange is not the amazing hero so many portray him to be.  Why the heck is nobody talking about Bradley Manning? But, then again, no one seems to be holding the NYT or The Guardian responsible, either.  Just Assange.  (And, it appears he sold out on a few of his own personal Core Values, too.)

Man, watch The Most Dangerous Man in America again.  Ellsberg; Chomsky; and Zinn, those guys are the badasses.

Those in power will always hate the whistleblower, and they will always collude with other people or institutions of similar power to find the most vulnerable link in the chain to publicly humiliate, incarcerate, torture, or kill said weak link.  Why is any of this so shocking?

No Matter Who You Vote For, The Government Always Gets In.

Reform

David Simon, the creator of the fabulous, groundbreaking programs; The Wire, Treme, and Generation Kill, was on the Bill Maher show recently.  No one let him get a word in edgewise.

One of his biggest interrupters was one of my heroes, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, of the great progressive mag, The Nation.

Ms Vanden Heuvel, like I said, is one of my fave progressives alive, but it pained me watching her fight with Simon, constantly butting in to his long-view perspective with her short-term political solutions.

There was a time when Ms Vandel Heuvel prob thought like David Simon.  Indeed, she still might think like him now.  But her position as Editor-in-Chief for a national political magazine does not allow her the freedom such as the one a writer/creator of many popular HBO series' might enjoy.

Simon's point was one that I have been stressing here on this blog for ages.   To wit, That it is not enough to reform capitalism, or any of the systems that are part and parcel of it.  That any tweaking of the system that capitalism holds over this country is not nearly enough.

Until we are ready to look ourselves in the mirror, as a nation, as citizens, and ready to face up to the fact that we need to treat ourselves better, more equal, and with empathy, then no amount of tweaking to the interest rates or tax rates are going to mean a goddammed thing.

The day this country wakes up, and realizes that it is only as strong and powerful as the homeless folks living in The Tenderloin is the day that America might finally be on the right track.

There is a very disturbing trend, even amongst Democrats lately -- eager to win re-election, natch -- that those of us who have been dealt a shitty hand are moochers, scofflaws, and losers.  This kind of thinking is supremely detrimental to the very idea of what this country is all about, and it disgusts me.

I do not want to reform Capitalism, I want to change life.

Once we change the way we look at life, and our relations to its citizens, then will the reformation begin re sytems, politics, etc, ...













Michael David Spitler

Omar Little Loves Them Myths

And Bird loves flashing his pistol.

Greatest Show Ever

Renee is on her way to Baltimore in a few weeks for work.  So, we have been watching a lot of The Wire lately to get her ready.

It is near time to saying

She was a fantastic foil for Phil Hartman

Goodbye to Treme for at least a year.  HBO signed on for a third year but the ratings have not been very good, despite the excellent Game of Thrones lead-in.

Still, I expect that David Simon's cache should be enough to let him see his way to a proper conclusion of the series.  At least, I hope so.

The second season has been better than the first and I think hit its peak about halfway through.  It stalled a little bit then unloaded an absolute Masterpiece Mardi Gras episode and has then been getting just a tad bit gushy and sentimental in the last couple of episodes regarding two arcs in the same family.

I would like to throw out some heavy props to two of the actresses in the series:  Foul mouthed Oscar winner, Melissa Leo keeps showing the world what an amazing talent she is and Khandi Alexander, who has been severely under-appreciated her whole career, are both absolute joys to live with every week.

The Back of Town blog and Dave Walker's Treme Explained are absolute essentials for cultists.

The second season of Treme

Has gotten off to such a wonderful start.  You know, I have noticed that when I start nitpicking tiny little things about movies or books as I am enjoying them that that tends to be a good sign that I am witnessing something of great value or beauty.

One example would be The Kids Are Alright.  Julianne Moore's monologue near the end of the film, rambling about literature fell flat on my ears as I sat in the theater.  Still, it is a fantastic motion picture.

The Treme example was episode one where the Parish Head (?) of Police was talking to the New York press about the situation in NOLA at the time.  It was so expository it made me cringe a little.  But it still had a nice linking phrase at the end to take us to Greenwich Village a couple of scenes later.

Perhaps these "failures" stand out because they are surrounded by such greatness, or perhaps it is just a question of my super-high expectations?

Treme, this season, has been all about greatness.  This season is really reminding me of John Sayles and City of Hope; all the arcs linked together as the arcs literally bump in to each other in the street.

Love it love it love it.  Keep it coming, bros. & sisters.

This was amazing to learn and is essential reading for any serious fan of David Simon's TV work.

Countdown continues:  Got the rings today.  Eleven days.  It is a new kind of magic number.


Mwah, ...