MOVING BACK TO PHOENIX WAS THE BEST DECISION EVER
WAY TO GO B AND C
tonight i called a bunch of people to share the news, picked up water and a truck to take to the border, listened to abe recording in our basement, ate delicious pitacos with preston and vegged out and binged on 30 rock.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
annoying.
there is a meme growing in the press, encouraged by lots of republican/conservative thinkers, pundits, writers, and speakers:
"obama did what?! what if BUSH tried to do this?"
ignoring the juvenile nature of this invitation to argument, in many cases, bush has done the same things that obama did, in many cases. with regards to questionable nominees, there were several - i wasn't politically aware during his 2000 inauguration, but i do at least remember the harriet miers fiasco, one which should've been way more avoidable, as it dealt with the level of support of one's own party, and not the relatively private issue of backtaxes or pending grand jury indictments.
memory is short, though, and obama has had a larger problem getting his cabinet in place than seems prudent. these arguments, puerile though they may be, carry a little bit of water - although i'd argue in return that the press has certainly been critical of obama's choices.
the wall street journal's attempt to cry foul at obama's method for calling on reporters is ridiculous, though. are they really going to try and compare obama's pre-list of reporters he wants to call on with bush's numerous exclusionary tactics?
he didn't call on helen thomas for three years, for starters. then, there was the infamous republican-hired, soft-ball-throwing, reporter-cum-gay-male-escort Jeff Gannon (nee James Dale Guckert). (if you haven't read up on this story, i strongly encourage you to do so - if it weren't so sad, it'd be hilarious)
i could go into extensive detail about the bush administration's gutting of foia and flagrant disrespect for public records law and honest reporting in general, but i frankly don't feel like expending the energy.
finally, the practice of picking which reporters you want to ask first is hardly pre-screening. there is a limited amount of press passes given, and there is already an arduous process to go through to get one (a process that the illustrious Bush White House circumvented to get Gannon in). all presidents "pre-screen" reporters out of necessity.
this wall street journal article is disappointing - they are usually a respectable voice for conservativism, and i hope they don't devolve into fox news lite.
"obama did what?! what if BUSH tried to do this?"
ignoring the juvenile nature of this invitation to argument, in many cases, bush has done the same things that obama did, in many cases. with regards to questionable nominees, there were several - i wasn't politically aware during his 2000 inauguration, but i do at least remember the harriet miers fiasco, one which should've been way more avoidable, as it dealt with the level of support of one's own party, and not the relatively private issue of backtaxes or pending grand jury indictments.
memory is short, though, and obama has had a larger problem getting his cabinet in place than seems prudent. these arguments, puerile though they may be, carry a little bit of water - although i'd argue in return that the press has certainly been critical of obama's choices.
the wall street journal's attempt to cry foul at obama's method for calling on reporters is ridiculous, though. are they really going to try and compare obama's pre-list of reporters he wants to call on with bush's numerous exclusionary tactics?
he didn't call on helen thomas for three years, for starters. then, there was the infamous republican-hired, soft-ball-throwing, reporter-cum-gay-male-escort Jeff Gannon (nee James Dale Guckert). (if you haven't read up on this story, i strongly encourage you to do so - if it weren't so sad, it'd be hilarious)
i could go into extensive detail about the bush administration's gutting of foia and flagrant disrespect for public records law and honest reporting in general, but i frankly don't feel like expending the energy.
finally, the practice of picking which reporters you want to ask first is hardly pre-screening. there is a limited amount of press passes given, and there is already an arduous process to go through to get one (a process that the illustrious Bush White House circumvented to get Gannon in). all presidents "pre-screen" reporters out of necessity.
this wall street journal article is disappointing - they are usually a respectable voice for conservativism, and i hope they don't devolve into fox news lite.
back.
the overbearing gravity of the death of one who is close to us completely outweighs our ability to express anything of comparable significance, comfort, or meaning, and reminds us of the tragic shortfalls of relationships expressed in the terms of objective language.
got word on sunday that a friend of mine - and a very close friend of the no more deaths program - died this weekend. i haven't really talked to anyone about it yet, aside from corinne, laura, and steve, because i don't know what to say about it. just like when brant and jason died, talking about a death and then continuing to talk about other things leaves me numb and feeling generaly dissonant with my surroundings. i'll probably have a few drinks tonight and ramble about it in one forum of conversation or another.
on a completely different note: i want to start a band with all my friends.
also, i'm going to continue updating this, i think. not every day, though. i've started a journal for that. it makes me sad that i didn't do more to write over my year in chicago. i wrote a grand total of one-and-a-half songs in the entire year, didn't write any prose, or do any journalist-y type stuff either. yay depression! meanwhile, in the few months i've been back in phoenix, i've written eight new songs, published an article, and started three short stories. i'm starting to get an itch to take photographs again, too. yay ranch market!
got word on sunday that a friend of mine - and a very close friend of the no more deaths program - died this weekend. i haven't really talked to anyone about it yet, aside from corinne, laura, and steve, because i don't know what to say about it. just like when brant and jason died, talking about a death and then continuing to talk about other things leaves me numb and feeling generaly dissonant with my surroundings. i'll probably have a few drinks tonight and ramble about it in one forum of conversation or another.
on a completely different note: i want to start a band with all my friends.
also, i'm going to continue updating this, i think. not every day, though. i've started a journal for that. it makes me sad that i didn't do more to write over my year in chicago. i wrote a grand total of one-and-a-half songs in the entire year, didn't write any prose, or do any journalist-y type stuff either. yay depression! meanwhile, in the few months i've been back in phoenix, i've written eight new songs, published an article, and started three short stories. i'm starting to get an itch to take photographs again, too. yay ranch market!
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