My views on politics, life, death, the army, and other things too miscellaneous to mention here. This is a personal blog. This blog is 100% factual.
Bill Duckwing
Poet, Author, Journalist
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Your Super-Cute Daily Terror Alert Update Will Be Forevermore:
|
|
|
|
|
|
  
"There are some myths and untruths surrounding the role God plays in our daily lives. To say that religion and politics do not mix, is certainly a myth, unless you ask a liberal. Anything that affects a Christian (and voting is one of them) — enters into the religious realm. Trying to separate the two is like trying to separate oil from a glass of water, it's impossible to do. "
|
|
| |
Thursday, January 29, 2004
No Story for Tonight...so Here's a Story
I had a couple of ideas that still need a bit of fleshing out for Prime Time, so instead I'd like to link to a real knock-out story from Adam Mathes. I wish I could recommend all of his stuff over at Texty texts, but for some reason I really liked this story of his, even if he admits he was trying to sound like Ben Brown.
I will hash on this weekend.
-duckwing, at 11:11 PM
|
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
I went to...
From a Fark photoshop contest. And No, I haven't forgotten to update this week -just been distracted. A new story will be up tomorrow.
-duckwing, at 10:24 PM
|
Friday, January 23, 2004
Going off the Rails
Damnit, I promised not to laugh, but this is just too funny. Link via Atrios.
Update: Here's a link to Dean Goes Nuts, where you can listen to all the Dean Scream remixes you want.
-duckwing, at 10:48 AM
|
Thursday, January 22, 2004
The New Hapshire Debate was Doomed, Fair, and Balanced
Rather than knock Fox News for some really stupid and pointless questions, and the snickering of the questioners, I'm just going to go through and try to gauge some of the performances.
Clark: Totally missed the Michael Moore question. Damn. Overall, I think he really had to ignite, and he didn't. All in all, the thing that bugged me most: he really does need a good explanation on why he voted for Ronald Reagan, and coincide that with why he believes in what he believes in now.
Dean: He definately picked up some points tonight. The only misstep was the Head/Heart question, which is actually an impossible question to really answer, but he gave a strangely competent answer even on that. It's not impossible for him to revive his campaign from here, but it's definately going to take a little more.
Edwards: Not a strong performance by any means. But I'm biased. But most of his talking points were repeats of past performances. He didn't blow my mind. Edwards does blow a lot of Democrat's minds, though, and he seems able to generate spin for poor performances. He's like Clinton, only made of sterner teflon.
Kucinich: Not bad. Got ragged on for talking about unemployment by the questioners. Signs too small. Boo-questioners. Yay -Kucinich.
Lieberman: Did absolutely nothing to help his campaign.
Sharpton: A poorer performance than most. He looked as if he was about to throw in the towel. To bad.
Kerry: About what we'd expect. Boring, but big talking points. Yay, Kerry. New Hampshire awaits.
Overall, I was expecting a little more magic, but it turned out to be just another lackluster debate. None of the performances knock me off my feet, and I doubt they knocked the New Hampshire voters either. But I still gotta say -there are some good guys here that deserve to be President -too many. I'm glad that Maryland votes like next to last in the Primary season this year. I don't think I could pick just one.
-duckwing, at 10:13 PM
|
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Week of Doom Continues with SOTU
Something is going on here this week. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's big.
George Bush put together one of the most yawn-inducing and irrelevent State of the Union's I've ever seen. For the first time, him and his administration seem to lack a true direction for where this country needs to go for the next year.
That is huge. SOTU's are susposed to be that. By turning it into a campaign stump speech, with the typical Republican talking points, he essentially reduced himself to just another candidate in the 2004 Election race, rather that a President with the vision necessary to continue to lead America for an additional four years.
New proposals included rehabilitating ex-con's and cracking down on professional althetes using steroids. Not horrible ideas to bring to the fore-front, but kinda inessential ideas for a State of the Union, too.
And I know the media attention on the Iowa caucuses and the Democratic Presidential Race overshadowed this by quite a bit. Call it a case of bad timing -I'll buy that. But watching the journalists after the SOTU was kinda funny:
Reporter: Well, how did Bush do?
Pundit: Not his best performance, but he did seem to lay out his agenda for the next year.
Reporter: So...what do you think about what's going on in NH this week?
Wow.
-duckwing, at 11:20 AM
|
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
State of the Union
I am going to watch the State of the Union address.
And then I am going straight to bed.
Goodnight, y'all.
-duckwing, at 8:55 PM
|
Morning (After) in America
What's the new face of the Dean Campaign? Josh Marshall reports from Manchester, mentioning an either paranoid or curious Joe Trippi looking over Josh's writing shoulder.
Josh also mentions a forum-type atmosphere at a Manchester hotel with lots of old people, that I mentioned previously was going to be crucial for Dean to kick-off NH, and he's taking a much toned down message. Also good.
Probably all the better he leaves behind the rock n roll vote for good. Put those orange hats away, guys, and hope Dean develops larangytis.
Joking -I was going to expound a little on the myth of the rock n roll vote, and why perhaps young people aren't going to the polls in droves, as the Dean campaign (and lets face it, the rest of us) had hoped.
But that is a longer story, to tell at a later time.
-duckwing, at 4:27 PM
|
Well, This Clear's Things Up!
Why bother with finding out the candidates positions on the issues, when you can just take a gander at the Political Compass?
For the record, I'm a right winger, about aligned with Wesley Clark, but way way more down-stream on the Libertarian side (big surprise!).
It also is kinda weird that John Kerry is the farthest left out of the "mainstream candidates," but is a tad right of center.
What?
There's a link on the page that allows you to take the test as well, if you're so inclined.
-duckwing, at 8:52 AM
|
Holey Jeebus Mudda o' Gawd!
Damn, it's a cold one today. Mount Washington is a pretty bitter -51 degrees C, and the real Washington ain't much better.
There was no joy in Mudville as the Dean campaign strives to put on a "perky face" in the ensuing bleak turmoil before the New Hampshire primary, at least according to the Washington Post.
And Art Buchwald is his usual self in this mesmirizingly inexplicable but oddly pertinent short today.
-duckwing, at 8:10 AM
|
Monday, January 19, 2004
Gephardt beyond Super-Doomed
My friend S. just called to tell me Gephardt has withdrawn from the race. Seemed kinda ticked off that it interupted her regularly scheduled CSI, but pretty sad about it all the same.
I kinda agree. I liked Gephardt -he talked a pretty good game, and if he did win the nomination I probably could've voted for him without holding my nose too too much.
My reservations about him are a little too complicated and convoluted to write down, just to say he probably would've had a hard time raising enough enthusiasm for people to flock to the polls for him in the General Election.
On the other hand, if the current MSNBC trash-fest on Howard Dean isn't enough to get you to the polls, then you probably don't have enough Starbucks coffee flowing through your veins yet. Latest atrocity: Dean's "rally the troops" speech after the Iowa Caucus.
Chris Matthews: "Terrible."
Some other pundie: "Stupid. Soft on issues, just like always (insert sarcastic sneer here)."
Joe Scarborough: "Fucking evil nonsense."
Okay -screw this. I'm going to get my news straight from the Dean for America website from now on.
UPDATE: The feeling I'm getting from the other blogs and comments around the Web is that most people thought the speech sucked. And that Edwards, with his speech, was good (I didn't catch Edwards' speech). That may be the spin for this week. But I think Dean did what he had to do, which was to rally his troops for NH and beyond, and not necessary convince others to come into his camp just yet. That's later this week -Dean has to lower the tone down a bit now, and get back to his message. There might not be enough time to get the numbers back in NH, but it might be enough to win back some of the crowd with a consistantly positive message. Dean works his mojo best in public forums. I would suggest that he hold as many grass roots forums as possible, hopefully televised locally. Better campaign ads could also be a plus, as I've heard that they sucked as well. It's tough to come back from a fall like this, but it's doable. Positive message, forums. Smoke 'em if you got 'em. That's all.
-duckwing, at 10:58 PM
|
Gephardt is Super-Doomed.
Well, if Dean is doomed in Iowa, Gephardt is Super-Doomed in America (sorry S., but Ha! I say!). I'm sure his endorsement of Kerry, Clark, or Edwards will be significant and huge as he goes into some dark spooky cave to lick his wounds.
Also, somebody kill that "Rosie the Riveter" commercial they play on every comercial break on the cable news stations. I'm sure it was annoying in the 50's (and I know it was), but it is excruciating horrible now. I mean, not to be an asshole, I mean I'll be forever in debt to those women who took up auto manufacturing when their boys were overseas fighting some goddamn awful foresaking war. Kill it.
Actually Gephardt's endorsement will be big, because his pick should end up being the Anti-Dean. Not so much as an influence, but I'm sure Gephardt will pick carefully based on who's got the biggest momentum. We will see.
-duckwing, at 9:53 PM
|
Strange Aeons and Fall Guys
It looks like Dean is doomed in Iowa. Wow. If you want to talk about quick falls -there you go. Early returns and "entrance polls" pretty much confirmed what I expected -that Dean was going to lose Iowa way harder than even last week's Zogby polls predicted -and that the nice guy dream team of Edwards and Kerry were going to take the Iowan cake with new ways both strange and twisted.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."
Dean makes a case that the pincushion effect is hurting him big time. Now, it takes a crybaby to get up and say, "Cut it out, Media Guys and My Other Democratic Candidates" but this is the big ticket in America. The media, and by extension the American public, likes fall guys. It makes ordinarily boring stuff like politics and policies seem interesting. Dean, like most outsider presidents, was in a way being set up to take a fall. The only way to avoid it is to become teflon.
And there is no way Howard Dean is ever going to appear teflon-coated this year.
The other candidates -who cares? I'm am personally not too engaged by Edwards' Rural Southern Trial Lawyer down-home charm, or Clark's 4-star right to the Presidency, or even Kerry's veteren yarns.
The media appear to be holding the dagger right at Dean's heart for the moment -ready to twist it in. The killer for me was watching MSNBC and seeing Republican pollster Frank Luntz assemble one of his crazy Machievelian "focus groups" of Dean turncoats. They might even have been Republicans, or Birchers (they certainly looked old enough to be involved with stuff at one point or another in their lives). The point is, they mimicked the media MSNBC talking points hook, line, and sinker. Dean was too mean. Dean was too unelectable. Dean wasn't nice enough. Dean hated his audience.
I compared that with a guy I had just watched in a forum on C-Span months before the Iowan caucus. Sponsored by Tom Harkin, before he endorsed Dean as his party's nominee, I was struck by a guy who seemed sensible, intelligent, and able to amend and revise his statements as he answered questions from the audience. He seemed cautious, but only because it looked like he wanted to weigh in on a question before he answered it.
I think the rise of Howard Dean, for the media, and again, by extension, America, was the prequel to the real race between Bush and the as yet unnamed Democratic nominee. I hope I'm wrong.
-duckwing, at 9:25 PM
|
Friday, January 16, 2004
New Email/No comments
My comments are screwed up again -usually I just attribute it to a server error and leave it alone, but it looks like there's something wrong with the script in my template, so I'll work on fixing that this weekend.
In the meantime, you can send mail to me at my new email address -billduckwing@yahoo.com. My Ducksanonymous account was getting way too much spam, so I closed that one out. I encourage anything and everything, but I seem to be a bit of a spam-magnet, so make sure your subject line is "unique" or references something about my blog, rather than just a "Hi" or "what's new" so I don't delete it without reading it.
-duckwing, at 8:34 PM
|
The Stories You Missed in 2003
The biggest item in here seems to be the endorsements the media failed to mention. Endorsements are, or course key. Endorsements are everything. So when the press basically fails to report them, in effect censors them, it is an injustice to the Democrats running for President, as well as the American Voters. In other words, a trifecta of ignorance, laziness, and just pure evil.
Anyway, here's the stories you missed, both in the mainstream media, and in "Project: Censored."
-duckwing, at 8:19 PM
|
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Dean/Mosley-Braun/Iowa
It's looks like the heat on Dean is starting to have an effect, eh?
I'm not sure yet if Dean is going to lose the nomination yet, but I think it's going to be a tougher win for him now than even the latest Zogby polls suggest, at least in the short term.
The first factor that has influenced me is the DC Primary earlier this week. I really do think it should've been a much bigger sweep for Dean that it was. He did win, but the fact that it was by an even smaller margin over Sharpton that the polls suggested, suggests that the polls shouldn't be taken too seriously. And I think that, being the front-runner, most people with second thoughts may say they want Dean on the phone, but reconsider and back a more Washington candidate at the polls.
The second factor is the Black and Brown Iowa caucus debate thingy, which is probably the first debate this year I've watched beginning to end. And honestly, I don't think it was a great Dean moment -but probably mostly because of it's format. Dean is the frontrunner, and people expect him to be in the spotlight. He wasn't in that the debate, and some of his responses were definately cringe-inducing. I hated that way his question to a "member of the audience" played off. I didn't like the way to tried to gently reproach Carol Mosley-Braun by saying he could defend himself. And it's not the fact that he said or did these things in general, it's just that they don't play off very well. And I definately sympatheize with that.
I hope Dean wins for a lot of reasons, most of them not very political. I picked him from the start, and I feel a certain familiarity with his public persona that I've never really picked up in any other Presidential candidate. And that's what I most look for when I'm trying to decide who to vote for -a person I can relate to better than the rest. Most people don't look for that when voting. They look for someone who is bigger than them, who is better than them -someone who can lead the country better than they could. And while you can criticize both methods for their obvious shortcommings, I maintain that both are fine, it's just that most people tend to use the latter method.
And I think the latter method generally finds candidates like Clark or Edwards more appealing. I think my method finds greater appeal in candidates like Howard Dean, or Kucinich, or Harry Truman, back in the day.
And this is why Howard Dean is going to have a much tougher time that any other previous candidate for President in securing the nomination, if indeed he does finally secure it.
-duckwing, at 9:32 PM
|
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
A Land of Inconvenience.
Americans learned the hard way with the advent of Social Darwinism at the turn of the 20th Century that Science and Sociology don't mix all too well (unless you have a chaser). But the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics works so well as a Sociological tract (especially for pessimists) that it's hard not to invoke it every once in awhile. Especially when used in connection with a popular meme that is making the rounds once again, it's even harder to overlook because I have personal evidence for it.
The meme: Even though we live in a country of plentitude, and convienice -life sure is getting pretty inconvenient, isn't it?
The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics basically states that in work done in an open system yield a certain amount of disorder that cannot be regained. The theory states that eventually this disorder cane evolve into a state in which we are systemically boiled alive by our own disorganization, ie "heat death." The sociological corrollary to this is: we can perform "work" into a bureacratic system and generate "convenience" for a known quantity of supervisors, but doing so yields a known quantity of "inconvenience" into everyone else's lives -this inconvience accumilates such that eventually no known quantity of "convience" can be detected during these particular individual's lifespans.
I'll just add that for some reason, the door to my office building lock automatically at 3:00 in the afternoon for some reason. This means, that when I leave to go smoke a cigarette after 3, I have to walk over (a nice 5 minute walk outside in the winter) to another building, that for some reason stays open past 3, take the elevator down to the ground floor, walk the underground concorse to my building, take the elevator back up to the 1st floor, and then walk down a few more hallways to get back to my room -which is located right next to the outside door I use to get out to smoke a butt. Nobody knows why they decided to do this -but I'm sure it makes somebody else's life a bit more convenient.
Update: I'm considering a run for the President of the United States. If I run, I will run as a Republican (I've been a Republican for at least 8 years now, ever since my fraternity convinced me to register as one in order to vote for Dick Lugar in one of the Republican Primaries that year. Dick Gephardt is also a "brother" in my fraternity, for those of you who are into that sort of thing. Seriously.) and challenge George W. Bush (who most definately was not in my fraternity). I'm working on a comprehensive platfrom which I will post very soon. In the meantime, if you want to help me raise a little "starter money" for the kids you can send it to:
Uncle Bill Duckwing
c/o Bill Duckwing for President
2831 Skull n Bones Way NW
Washington, DC 20008
Note: Make sure you make the check out to "Uncle Bill" -and be sure to include a return address on the envelope, so that some of my "sponsors" can welcome you to my campaign "personally."
-duckwing, at 9:57 PM
|
Setting Free the Bears
SomethingAwful's "Geist Editor" Zack Parsons rips Jeff Foxworthy a new one. Even funnier is SA's ALOD, which showcases Amazon's listing for Jeff Foxworth's "autobiography." The Amazon reviews start off stupid enough, but after Jan. 12, you start getting some comparisons of reading the book to "being stabbed in the face with glass..." I've leave it up to you to determine the truth of that statement.
Another thing to riot about if you're up to it -it looks as if the Washington Post has decided to cement itself as THE Biggest Right-Center newspaper in the nation by essentially endorsing Joe Lieberman to win the nomination. I certainly don't think Holy Joe is a "progressive" on most issues. On the three issues the Post lists as progressive, I think Lieberman has taken a middle of the road stance or worse. I know this is hardly a surprising stance for the Post to take lately, but when your alternative daily is the Washington Times, well, yknow...
-duckwing, at 6:18 PM
|
Broder on Dean
I think David Broder hints around in his Washington Post column today the reason why Howard Dean makes such a compelling candidate to some, as well as why he tends to infuriate others. He can be hard to pigeonhole.
I'm not always a big fan of easy-to-pigeonhole candidates. My own positions certainly can and do change -usually because of a new development or a new way of looking at the problem. I think the tendency to praise people who stubbornly cling to old positions in honor of consistancy, and criticize others who do change positions held ten or fifteen years ago and can cite legitamate reasons for the change, is foolish.
-duckwing, at 10:23 AM
|
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
I Opine From the Heart
I do. I opine straight from my heart and my words flow straight to your eyes like Cupid's arrows. Why do I do this? I don't know. All I know is that what I say feels true, because it comes right from the gut. I mean, the heart. Whether it be a knee-jerk reaction piece to a story that disappears two days after being outed, or a half-hearted dig into my deep cumalative resevoir of political or social knowledge, I know at the very least that what I write will be from a common source -my heart.
That outta the way, I think it's time to come to grips with a little secret of mine that I've been keeping to myself for too long. If it weren't for the goddamn liberal media establishment that corrupts and twists the minds of people like me, I'm sure I would've come to grips with this many a moon ago. Unfortunately, I can be a fool, as only fools enlist self-deceit in voiceing their opinions. Therefore, I might have to take my previous ascertation back. I don't really opine from the heart. I censor myself. It pains me to say this, really. The mind censors the heart -but thats it's job. If the mind didn't censor the heart, we'd be little better than the apes and chimps -perhaps worse off, because as humans we stand fully erect, and that might get a little confusing to us if the heart ruled our minds all the time.
Anyway, my secret: I like George W. Bush as a person. I hate to say that, because G.W. Bush is truly a stupid human being without any redeeming qualities, but I say that only because that's exactly what the people who decide programming at CNN or NBC or MSNBC would want you to believe. Maybe this isn't that much of a secret, as only last year I was proclaiming George W. Bush to be our new Messiah and Savior, but bear with me.
The reason I like George W. Bush as a person isn't so much his politics, or moral philosophy (although, I gotta admit it's pretty cool as far as it goes), or even his personality. Although I wish he was a wild-west John Wayneish kinda type, he doesn't have lung cancer.
I think the biggest reason I like George W. Bush is his almost singular passion for Tex-Mex.
Only a few American President can claim to be Messiah-ish in our History. But even those few have a flaw that prevents cannonization. Abraham Lincoln comes pretty close in my opinion, except for the fact that he hated the South. JFK was blown away, a clear-shot case for martydom as any, but he also liked sex. FDR was a cripple with polio. George Washington, as the Father of our Country, perhaps comes closest to what we'd expect in a Messiah, except for the fact that he was essentially a dim-witted moron who really just wanted to to be left alone to spend his life "farming" his estate (this same reason also essentially excludes Ronald Reagan).
But I think George W. Bush alone deserves consideration into our American Cannon. I like a guy who can go to any foreign country and ask for a plate of salsa with a side a curly fries. We need leaders like that.
And I hope our liberal media establishment eventually gets a clue and finally realizes that the American people want martyrs, not assholes, leading our nation. Just for once. For the gipper.
Sidebar: This is without a doubt one of the dumbest things I've ever wrote. You're Welcome. Just remember -I opine straight from the heart. With my mind holding the reigns tight. True.
-duckwing, at 9:16 PM
|
Monday, January 12, 2004
Generals and Majors
The Playoffs: I'm not a big believer in gut feelings, but here goes. I picked all four teams currently still in the NFL playoffs (Panthers, Eagles, Patriots, and Colts) to win their divisions. Wow -almost feel bad I didn't post that, but I think the bigger thing is that overall, my picks have hovered around something like .525 or so. Not bad for a batting average (not bad?! send that guy a bottle of champagne on my expense account!), and actually probably not too bad compared to the picks overall of the sports pundits, but about what you'd expect if you did away with your gut and just flipped a coin. So, given I got 100% last week (just trust me on this), I fully expect to lose one of my picks this week. I pick the Patriots and the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl. But those Colts look damn good right now, and the Colts-Patriots match-up will be a squeaker to win for both teams. Or the Patriots could just surprise me again and crush them 38-0. We'll see.
Eagles vs. Panthers a little easier to call. Becaue the Eagles, with home-field advantage, have fear on their side. Fear is good. Fear works. The Eagles are a little like the Red Sox of football -they've been a pretty consistantly good team over the last 20+ years since they stunk up Superbowl XV, the last time they won the NFC championship -just not good enough. But the fans in Philadelphia aren't like those pacifists in Boston -able to grind their teeth and suck wind. Expect the management over at Lincoln Center to unleash the lions onto the field should the Eagles lose to the Panthers this year, if only to satiate the fans until the next year. The alternative may be just too horrid for professional sports to endure.
Iowa Caucaus: The other thing I've found pretty much impossible to ignore. For Christ's sake, just get it over with already!
Paul O'Neil: If a tree fell in the woods a little over a year ago, and everybody heard it make a sound, but didn't say anything about it, and then someone from the other side of the woods comes over and asks if anyone else heard it, because it sure sounded weird from where he was standing, does anyone really care more about it than they did before?
My Month Off: Damn, I needed that. Ready to wreck some havoc this year. I actually plan on doing some real journalism this year, going to some conventions, asking questions, stuff like that. Hey, I live in DC, might as well make take advantage of the political capitol of the world while I'm here. I'll update you as I follow the election -in the meantime, if you want me to cover something or have a particular question -feel free. Happy New Year.
-duckwing, at 8:46 PM
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
