RNC — Real Nut Cases

D.F. Rogers has provided a copy of a mailing he received from the Republican National Committee. If you want proof the GOP is still infiltrated by the extreme Neocons spouting their nonsense, this is it.

RNC MailingRNC MailingRNC Mailing

With more than 80% of Americans supposedly feeling the country is on the wrong track, why vote for McCain? Just because Obama is black? C’mon, we’ve got to be bigger and better than that.

Biden His Time

After a delay in making his announcement, moments ago CNN claims it has confirmed that Obama has picked Biden to be his running mate. I don’t know what led him to make that choice, but I think having two senators on the ticket isn’t a great idea. I would be saying the same thing if Hillary were his pick.

At this moment, the Wikipedia entry for Biden says nothing about him having survived a brain tumor, which is an odd omission. I don’t recall if it was malignant. I know two people who had non-cancerous brain tumors and they have both been fine for over twenty years.

Music, Art & Politics In Western Massachusetts

Last Sunday we were at Tanglewood, in Lenox, MA, where the Boston Symphony Orchestra plays every summer. It was an all Mozart program, and well attended, although the age of the audience skewed decidedly 40 and up. I caught some of the applause on video at the end of the concert, following Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, “The Prague.”

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/AUG/Tanglewood.flv 440 330]

While waiting in line to buy a snack during intermission I happened to stand next to political consultant and former presidential adviser David Gergen, and I overheard him discussing — what else? — politics.

A few miles up the road, at the Norman Rockwell Museum, there’s an exhibit of political cartoons by leftist artist Stephen Brodner. I like Brodner’s work a lot. His style seems to show the influence of Al Hirschfeld, as well as Ralph Steadman’s earlier drawings, with perhaps a dash of Arnold Roth tossed in here and there.

And in North Adams, MA, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, aka Mass MoCA, Eric really enjoyed Jenny Holzer’s PROJECTIONS. It’s hard to say what it is. Here, watch and decide for yourself.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/AUG/MoCA1.flv 440 330]

A kid happened to be screaming, and his echo gives you an idea of how big the room is. The museum is in the former Sprague Electric factory, and that hall is the same one I mentioned last September, about a failed exhibit. However you want to describe PROJECTIONS, Holzer took good advantage of the space. This is the view from the other end of the room.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/AUG/MoCA2.flv 440 330]

There are huge bean bags on the floor, so you can lie back and look up at the projected poetry. A fascinating side effect of the exhibition were all of the sleeping children, totally zonked in the bean bags. Walking through the cavernous hall, with its weird lighting and echoes, it was as if the kids had become part of the exhibit.

Never Forget?

A friend sent me some pictures of the USS New York. The ship includes 7.5 tons of steel that were reclaimed from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

USS New York

The motto of the USS New York is “Never Forget,” as seen in this decoration for its christening, on March 1.

USS New York

Who was responsible for 9/11? Osama bin Laden. Never forget? A mere six months after September 11, 2001, on March 13, 2002, this is what President George W. Bush said about Osama bin Laden. Note: The link for this quote goes to the White House Web site.

“So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you.”
G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

Oh, by the way. Today is the seventh anniversary of the daily briefing that Bush was given, saying that Bin Laden was determined to strike within the United States.

Banana Fana Bo-Bam-a

This is so screwed up. A Hillary supporter, in Dearborn, Michigan who says she doesn’t trust Barack Obama because of his name:

“I feel John McCain is a true American and I want to support a true American,” she said.

But isn’t Obama a “true American?” she was asked.

“I don’t know,” she said after a measured pause. “I question it.”

Why?

“I don’t know — maybe because of his name?”

But gosh, what if she’s right? Obama rhymes with Osama, and Hussein is his middle name. That’s it! Barack is the missing Osama/Saddam link!