"It" being a painful knot, that is. I wrote earlier that my eyes had begun to their/my age. Well, now my back is angling to get in on the act, with some stiff competition from my knees. It’s funny. Twenty years ago, I was probably barely even aware I had a back.
It all started innocently enough one morning this week. I was getting ready to head out the door with Parker.
Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for July 28th through July 29th:
Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for July 27th through July 28th:
In the metro-D.C. area, if it isn’t electricity it’s the water. The wind shifts direction or a simple summer storm is all it takes to knock out one or the other — and, many times, both. But we don’t just have a problem with power. Our biggest challenge is the politics of powerlessness, and the problems it leads us to steadfastly refuse to solve.
Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for July 22nd through July 27th:
Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for July 20th through July 22nd:
Steven D, at Booman, notes that Bill O’Reilly is still attacking Shirley Sherrod.
Bill O’Reilly, the first
entertainerpropagandistnews analyst on Fox News to run the edited, out of context Breitbart clip of Shirley Sherrod, walked back his intense criticism of her today. He framed it as an apology. You decide if that’s what it really was, because frankly I call B*llsh*t on you Mr. O’Reilly for daring to call what you said an apology. Because by God it was worse than if you had done nothing at all:Fox News host Bill O’Reilly offered a rare mea culpa Wednesday, apologizing for airing a controversial tape of a speech given by a black U.S. Dept. of Agriculture official that was edited to make it appear she was racist. […}
“I owe Ms. Sherrod an apology for not doing my homework, for not putting her remarks into the proper context,” he said on "The O’Reilly Factor," adding that his own words had been taken out of context by critics in the past. “I well understand the need for honest reporting.”
Sounds good right? Well until you get to this part:
On Wednesday, the host said that he “did not analyze the entire transcript, and that was not fair.” Still, O’Reilly called her a "longtime liberal activist" and said the language Sherrod used suggested that she “very well may see things through a racial prism." He said she belonged in the private sector, not working for the government.
It gets worse from there. Read the rest of Steven’s post for that.
Meanwhile, I was inspired.
"It hurts me that they didn’t even try to attempt to see what is happening here, they didn’t care."
Shirley Sherrod – on her forced resignation from the USDA within hours airing of a heavily edited video of Sherrod speaking at an NAACP event by right wing media, in an attempt to portray her and the NAACP as racist. The full video of Sherrod’s speech showed otherwise.
Mr. President,
With all due respect, it’s time to man up. It is time, way past time for you to grow into the job you were elected to do, and promised to do. It is time to stand up and be the man we hope we elected. It is time to justify that hope, and the trust that was placed in you. It is time to pick up the mantle of history that has been entrusted to you and prove yourself worthy of carrying it forward.
Too much is at stake now. Too many people are beginning to think their faith in you was misplaced. What’s worse is you are proving them right.
Strike one was Van Jones.
Strike two was ACORN.
And now Shirley Sherrod had become strike three.
Right now, there are about three or four things, news items and such, that I’d like to write about. Some I’ve wanted to write about for more than week. In the meantime, I’ve actually had to read what everyone else has written about those topics — as I’ve been trying to find time to write about them — and realized it’s taken me so long find time to write about them that if I managed finally managed to do so now, I’d pretty much just be repeating what everyone else had time to write while I didn’t.
And, as I’m writing this, I’ve already thought of something I’d like to write about the Shirley Sherrod story that I probably won’t be able to find time to write about until sometime next week — when it’s not likely to be news anymore, and almost nobody will be talking about it. I’d probably be better off just linking to what everyone else has (and will) write about in a couple of digest posts.
And I find myself asking, what’s the point? Is there a point in me writing what most people can and probably have read somewhere else? Is there a point in just posting a link and a blockquote? (Again, something most people can and will read elsewhere before they find their way to this particular blog?) Is there a point to me writing an extra thousand words or so — as I have many times — in the course of even trying to find an angle or an insight that’s even just kinda sorta unique? When it comes to blogging, is there value to just being a voice in the choir? Does it help?
Lately, I’ve also experience deja vu upon reading about a story or topic that’s caught fire, that I wrote about weeks or even months earlier. (Sometimes I attempt to resurrect those posts from oblivion, by linking to them in a new post.) I’m reminded of the philosophical question, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Is there a point at which having something to say is really having nothing to say? Is it the point at which it’s already been said over and over again? Does only become something to say when a somebody says it? Or is it nothing to say when a nobody says it?
Is there anybody out there?
Where’s the Tea Party when you really need them? There’s a bit of investigative reporting from the Washington Post that ought to have launched a Tea Party protest, complete with signs, slogans, and speeches (from the likes of Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and Rand Paul — just to name a few.)
Tax dollars spend on a Mercedes? For someone on the government payroll? It seems right up their alley. Come on people. The placards and impassioned speeches practically write themselves.
So far, though. Nothing. Maybe they’re too busy demanding that the government hold BP accountable for the oil disaster in the Gulf.
Oh. Wait.
Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for July 12th through July 19th:
Apparently, according to this website.
Like Michael Tomasky, this pretty much sums up my mood right now.
It would be funny, if only it wasn’t reality. That’s what I thought when I came across this while perusing videos on my iPhone recently.
It’s a pretty good compliation of the recent insanity. It’s good political satire. If it was an obvious parody, I could laugh. But it’s not. And as good as it is, the video doesn’t begin to capture the breadth and depth of the present political insanity. (After all, there’s only so much one can cram into three minutes or less.)
There are times when you wonder a politician actually believes what he’s saying, is just seeing how much he can get away with saying, doesn’t know how reality-challenged he sounds, or doesn’t care. In Mitch McConnell’s case, his statement that "there’s no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue" is probably a bit of all of the above.
Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for July 10th through July 11th:
Just keeps getting stranger and stranger. “Triple Murder Suicide Plot”?
Ooops. So much for teaching kids to “always tell the truth.” Apparently, toddlers who tell lies make for more successful adults. I’m not sure if that says something important about child development, or something sad about the kind of society we live in.
I’m chaperoning the first grade field trip to the national zoo this morning. Wish me luck!
I can honestly say, I didn’t know any of these things.
Speaking of bearing grudges, while Wall Street bonuses were up 17% in 2009, nearly 25% of mortgages are “underwater.”
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