Political Amusements, or Not!
Originally we wrote that these irregular musings aren’t easily described, then realized the high risk of inviting easy descriptions. Let us just note that so far, this grab bag has been totally inept at recruiting the influence of cascading conglomerates, whether owners or advertisers, and does not enjoy largess from being in the pocket of a political party’s well-heeled leadership. Corruption, influence peddling by the big money and engineered dysfunction are often unavoidable tangents. Such a broken system, who would bother, but for occasional glimmers of hope? A Hobson’s Choice now and then, perhaps a snipe hunt for Washington DC’s moral high ground.
This is not an open invite for PR companies pushing their clients’ brilliance, but for T-Boy readers and contributors who’d like to express a well-thought-out viewpoint on our interesting times. If you’d like to throw us a pontification for consideration, send it to Skip Kaltenheuser. Political topics relevant to travel are welcome, but as you can see from the past menu we’re very free-ranging…
These money-back guarantee scribbles comprise a kitchen sink that keeps getting thrown about. Perhaps a topic or two might be of interest. Given the tangents, most include themes with an ever-green shelf-life. If nothing else, you might enjoy frequent appearances of dagger-sharp political art, courtesy of the kindness of Nancy Ohanian, who’s just published one of the most mischievous coffee table books that will cross your path: Between The Tweets, Editorial Cartoons by Nancy Ohanian.
Read ‘em and weep.
For more on politics, see below:
Attending as press, alas, not as a member, I first crossed paths with the Patriotic Millionaires several years ago at one of their events in Washington. At a dinner they hosted afterwards, I had the added treat of Alan Grayson at my table, and was mighty impressed with both the group and with Grayson’s witty comments about naked influence-peddling on the Hill and Congressional hypocrisy.
Dance with the one that brought you – BERNIE! As Bernie changed the national dialogue on critical issues and transformed large swaths of the Democratic Party, that’s my bid for his slogan.
Tick Tock. The good folks at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have returned to wind their Doomsday Clock. Last Thursday at the National Press Club a group of well-credentialed speakers, including former California governor Jerry Brown and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, underscored the organization’s warning that we have established residence in “the new abnormal.”
Despite democracy’s diminishment by gerrymandering and the playbook of suppression, your vote is still your best Hail Mary defending against the Big Money’s low art of the thinly disguised bribe. It’s your best chance to sink the oligarchy floating in on the tides of captured government.
Attending the National Press Club for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s impassioned speech on corruption, my mind drifted to an intoxicated phone call I made to Chris Mathews. It was during the Mondale/Reagan campaign, when Mathews was chief of staff to House Speaker Tip “All politics is local” O’Neil. Mathews was phenomenally gracious, given that he didn’t know me from Adam, I woke him at midnight and my tequila-fueled exasperation fell short of diplomatic grace.
Anyone who’s had the pleasure of knowing Tom Dunkel knows he’s an adept and fair observer of unique Americana who readily turns phrases that do his subjects justice. His book "Color Blind: The Forgotten Team that Broke Baseball’s Color Line," about a Depression-era integrated semi-pro baseball team out of North Dakota, is regarded as a top-tier sports book deftly matching cultural insight with entertainment.
I don’t want to genuflect to Robert Mueller as if his sainthood is imminent. Plenty of others are already busy at that task. Separating him from his legal environment is a challenge, as it’s difficult to ignore a stench floating above many aspects of the US Dept. of Justice.
Allow me to introduce a friend, Elliott Negin, who writes for the Union of Concerned Scientists. The UCS, marshals volunteers and a network of twenty-thousand scientists for a variety of objectives including fighting misinformation and attacks on science, on matters from global warming to pollution to nuclear weapons.
Allow me to offer a few additional thoughts on the recent Economic Inequality Town Hall that triggered Howie’s post on job guarantees.
If you’re the Yes Men, you meet NRA lunacy head on with the ludicrous. If you don’t know the Yes Men, Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos, from their prior projects beginning in 1996, don’t take no for an answer. They’ve just released a twenty minute film on YouTube that underscores how the NRA’s steam is generated by fear rooted in racism.
