Check Out The Fair Mike and his Seekers stylings here.

"On their debut album, Fair creates his own sonic identity instead of dipping his fingers into too many genre jars. The album shows not only what a capable songwriter Fair is but also what a strong, unique vocal personality he possesses. His singing is somewhere between Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and early-period Rod Stewart, and musically that comparison's not too far off either." (Mike Breen CityBeat)

Hillary Nixon

This, folks, may be the dirtiest trick yet:

"National Press Club president Sylvia Smith responded today to a Daily News article reporting that club member Barbara Reynolds, a Hillary Clinton supporter, organized yesterday's breakfast talk with Dr. Jeremiah Wright Jr...

It also turns out that Reynolds - introduced Monday as a member of the National Press Club 'who organized' the event - is an enthusiastic Hillary Clinton supporter...".

I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!

Update: Via The Tavern Wench...

NC robo calls...

These people have no shame, no decency what so ever. This is the Karl Rove playbook. This is the Swift Boating of Barack Obama, with Wright as the dubiously indignant fellow vets.

Let The Eagle Snore

It would seem that Republicans are pathologically unable to write decent music (this means The Nuge, too, though Alice Cooper seems exempt, though I'm not sure how long he's been a Republican). Witness Orrin Hatch's paen to America's favorite Grumpy Hero:

"Together forever
America is the country we all love
We believe our destiny
Comes from god above
Let's link our hands for all to see
Our country's majesty

Forever together
America is the land we're fighting for
There's a time in history
For a hero's destiny
Together forever more

Hey John
Say John
They're gonna hit you hard with ev'ry thing they've got

Hey John
Come on
They'll be calling you
Everything you're not!

But sure as heaven
We're gonna win
Start celebrating
Now let's begin

Together forever
America is the country we all love
Let's link our hands for all to see
Our country's majesty

Forever together
America is the land we're fighting for
There's a time in history
For a hero's destiny
Together for evermore"

During the 2004 Campaign, I suggested to a number of musician friends of mine that a compilation of different bands during another great Right Wing Hymn, in radically different styles, would be awesome. I'm not sure this one wants the same attention. What do you think?

My Exploding Head, Part II: Reports of The So Called Death of Theory are Greatly Exaggerated

Fish does pretty good again. Jesus, I almost feel guilty about calling him a jackass all this time.

Almost...

I would point out to anyone who has read, embraced, or hated Deconstruction that it is simply wrong to say that it does nothing, or has no political expression. Deconstruction is inherently political because it dismantles surfaces which are taken facts when they are in fact expressions of perspectives.

To paraphrase Derrida, a democracy is an end that is never reached. A democracy is always becoming a democracy. Our Creed, the Constitution of the United States and The Bill of Rights, is always in the process of fulfillment, thus we are always in the process of becoming a democracy. To fight for these things, to work towards justice in this country, is a process of perfecting this Creed that cannot be perfected. Yet, in recognizing this fact, we recognize the opposite, inertia, ambivalance, and the status quo are the structures to be dismantled.

So there...

Pennsylvania: The Afterthought

The Kos himself hacks through the spin:

"He was up against the machine. It's my theory that no endorsement matters except those that deliver a machine. Senators have no machine, so they're pretty worthless (like Bob Casey). Mayors and machine-state governors, like Nutter and Rendell, matter. Gavin Newsom in San Francisco, who has no machine, didn't matter, but Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles, who has one of the biggest machines in the planet, delivered strong for Clinton. Obama won Connecticut in large part thanks to New Haven's mayor John Destefano's efforts. In Pennsylvania, Clinton had the state's machine working on her behalf, and it clearly helped cut Obama's margins in the Philly metro area.


Demographics. Arguing that Obama's failure to win Pennsylvania points to inherent weaknesses is as silly as claiming the same for Clinton in North Carolina, or Idaho, or Wisconsin, or Maine, or Minnesota, or Mississippi, or Alabama, or Washington, or wherever else. Fact is, we have two fairly different candidates who appeal to different demographics. They both have paths to the nomination, but they happen to be different paths. Clinton runs the same old path that has served us poorly in the last two elections. Obama's is different, putting the Mountain West, North Carolina and Virginia in play.

Fact is, Obama does terrible in Appalachian regions, and that has been death to him in states that share that region. Just watch him get crushed in West Virginia and Kentucky. In the same vein, Clinton does terribly in regions that are overwhelmingly white -- like Maine, Vermont, Idaho, Utah, and so on, and she does poorly with large creative classes (Washington, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina), and of course she does terrible with African Americans. She's also had trouble with younger voters, independents, non-malicious Republicans, and so on.

To claim that Pennsylvania was the only state that mattered when its demographics (Appalachia, older, more blue collar, etc) were heavily slanted toward Clinton is absurd as would claiming that North Carolina is the tie-breaker for everything, given that it's solid Obama territory. Ultimately, Obama won because he won more contests all around the country, not just some single, randomly chosen state.


Home state advantage. Clinton has roots in the state, and local ties matter in politics a great deal. That's why Obama crushed in Kansas, Hawaii, and Illinois, and why Clinton crushed in New York and Arkansas.


Initial deficit. Obama came back from around 20 points back, and cut the deficit to 9 points in six weeks.


Name ID. Clinton isn't just a senator, she's a former First Lady. She isn't some scrub.


Multiple targets. Hillary Clinton has the advantage of running against a single candidate -- Barack Obama. Obama, on the other hand, is running against Hillary, against the former President of the Untied States Bill Clinton, and against a Republican machine (McCain included) that has focused its firepower on the frontrunner.


Rhetorical constraints. Clinton has nothing to lose, so she's thrown the kitchen sink and then some at Obama. Her path to the nomination necessarily requires her sundering the party in civil war, so if she pisses a few people off? Who cares! It's all part of the plan!

Obama, on the other hand, can't take that approach. He's already won this thing, so he has to tread carefully. He gets too aggressive with Clinton, he risks pissing off her supporters more than they are already pissed off (can you believe that Obama insists on staying in the race even though he's won?!). So he can't really open up on Clinton and make the same kind of arguments she's making against him. He's trying to maintain some modicum of unity rather than engage in the sort of slash-and-burn politics that now characterizes the Clinton campaign handbook. The inability to truly go negative is a real disadvantage in politics."

Update: The Popular Vote Spin.

Official History

Nice...looks like politicians, with no knowledge of pedagogy, are trying to censor the teachers in Arizona:

"Arizona schools whose courses 'denigrate American values and the teachings of Western civilization' could lose state funding under the terms of legislation approved Wednesday by a House panel.

SB1108 also would bar teaching practices that 'overtly encourage dissent' from those values, including democracy, capitalism, pluralism and religious tolerance. Schools would have to surrender teaching materials to the state superintendent of public instruction, who could withhold state aid from districts that broke the law."

I'll bet Horowitz is lurking in the shadows somewhere...

via Katie G.

The Right Wing

The Village Voice presents a handy guide to the Right Wing Bloggers.