The Open Slather

Phil Gramm Needs to Be Quiet Now

2008-07-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

Phil Gramm Needs to Be Quiet Now

Ice-T disses Soulja Boy

2008-07-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

It's about time someone said this.

Father Pfleger, The Sequel--This Time It's Personal

2008-07-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

Father Pfleger, The Sequel--This Time It's Personal

Vets For Freedom Here We Go Again

2008-07-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

Vets For Freedom Here We Go Again

Didn't we go through this in 2004 already? Damn!

Bubba Froths At the Mouth Again

2008-07-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

Bubba Froths At the Mouth Again

Oniontown the New Compton

2008-07-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

Oniontown the New Compton

How to Improve Your Writing in Ten Minutes

2008-07-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

How to Improve Your Writing in Ten Minutes

GOP Uncle Tom Votes Obama to Counter Injustice

2008-07-02T22:06:00.000-07:00

GOP Uncle Tom Votes Obama to Counter Injustice

Rush Proves He Is Anti-Huckabee

2007-12-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

As usual Rush was on the air bragging about another "event" that he predicted. But today on his show, instead of accurately predicting something that happened, he actually tipped his hand and unwittingly revealed his disdain for Mike Huckabee.

Drudge had a story today about how the DNCwants Huckabee to win the nomination and they're laying off him because they think of all the candidates he is the GOP's "glass jaw." And there's Rush braggin' about how he's "on the cutting edge of societal evolution" because he "predicted" that the MSM wants Huckabee the most. But there's only one problem: this story didn't come the DNC.

But by telling his listeners that the mainstream media wants Huckabee the most he's essentially saying: 'See, I told you. The Drive-Bys are pushing Huckabee. (Can't you people see this is the nominee we don't want because he can't win?)

Funny thing is, he was corrected on the same program by a caller who pointed his attention to Jonathan Martin's blog at Politico.com. Karen Finney, a high-ranking member of the DNC, said, "Hey, this story about us creaming Huckabee on Drudge, it didn't come from us. It's nice to know that they're accepting spin from the Romney campaign." So that prompted Rush to say stuff like, "Now, look, the DNC doesn't speak with one voice. It could be any number of people at the DNC leaking this and Karen Finney wouldn't know about it. Plus, why should we accept the word of Karen Finney?"

Before the end he said reiterated something about how he doesn't endorse candidates during the primaries and blah blah blah. So two birds were killed with one stone: we learned the so-called thing you predicted actually was a plant to Drudge from the Romney campaign made to look like it was a viewpoint of the DNC, and two, we learned who you really don't want to win, if you can help it.

According to the polls, it doesn't seem like many people are listening.

Why Bush shouldn't listen to Baker

2006-12-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

The latest "solution" in the battle of ideas over how best to solve Iraq is "engagement," which means talking to Iran and Syria. This thinking is rooted in the notion that Tehran's theocrats are even interested in negotiation with us and that they are essential to a successful endgame strategy.

This is sheer fantasy. The lack of coherence about what is afoot is a reason why, as things stand, George W. Bush--if he heeds James Baker and the Iraq Study Group--stands to make the biggest mistake of all.

First, let's acknowlegde the simple fact that what began as a promising American enterprise--overthrowing Saddam's secularist dictatorship and inserting in its place a democratic and strategic buffer to secure our interests in the region--has been so badly mismanaged that our enemies have benefitted and are actually in a better position than they were before the war started.

It will be interesting after the many threats against the U.S. by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...not to mention the assassination of Pierre Gemayel in Lebanon ... not to mention last year's assassination of Rafik Hariri ... not to mention the Iranian president's very real desire to wipe Israel off the face of the earth ... it will be interesting to see if anyone the Bush administration, chastened by the results of the election, will persuade him to abandon the military option against Iran and surrender Iraq to the mullahs in exchange for the same kind of empty promises we got from North Korea a few years ago. See, right now the administration has its hands full trying to promote weak democracies in three critical Arab states--Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan--that form a regional "bracket" around our sworn enemies in the region. It's not going that well. Simply put, Iraq has become a proxy battleground for a larger war against Iran, even as Iran foments civil war between Sunnis and Shiites.

What I fear is that the Baker group persuade Bush to offer Syria-Iran axis a free hand in the region in exchange for a "peaceful" withdrawal from the quagmire in Iraq. Syria will darken its shadow over Lebanon. Iran will be allowed to pursue its nuclear energy program which everyone knows is a nuclear weapons program. But we will pretend not to know and settle on a strategy of containment. But how do you contain a government whose leader believes he is on a divine mission to eliminate you from the pages of history? Nevertheless Israel will be sold down the river, Bush will be allowed to claim victory as he leaves office, and this will be heralded as a triumph of pragmatism over ideology.

The neocons will howl because they know it means another betrayal of Iraqis by America. But the real tragedy is it will mark the beginning of the end of American preeminence on the world stage. Iran will launch an attack on Israel as its first order of business after joining the nuclear club. The rogue state views this action as necessary toward establishment of a new Islamic caliphate, a prospect fanatics around the world anxiously await.

Jay-Z: Rapper...Mogul....Icon?

2006-12-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

The results are in. Jay-Z sold about 680,000 CDs in his first week, topping the Billboard 200 for the ninth time in his 10-year career. In doing so, he tied the Rolling Stones for third on the list of acts with the most number ones in history. I didn't know that! That was never reported before the CD hit stores. I find it interesting that there has been so much about it in the press lately. It is a surprise. I've been thinking about it alot lately.

What it says to me is that even I had underestimated the impact Hov has had on the charts over these last ten years. I still find it hard to believe of all the different artists out there--and I'm thinking about white artists now--like Barbara Streisand, Led Zeppelin, so few acts have accomplised the feat of having nine number one albums. How in the hell did Jay-Z sneak up and take his spot on that short list without anyone noticing in advance?

It astounds me. Mind you, I'm not taking anything away from the Jiggaman. I'm simply saying you would think he'd be under a long list of artists who have done it. The fact that it is so rare does speak to a few things. First, bands rarely get along and stay sober long enough to pull off something like that. That's why they don't do it. Look at the Eagles, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, all megagroups who enjoyed phenomenal success in their day but were derailed by drugs and ego. And solo acts that could have done it--Whitney Houston comes to mind--are usually also derailed somehow. So the fact that Jay-Z has done it--a RAPPER, of all things--means, like it or not (and there are plenty who don't), that Jay-Z has quietly become a seminal figure in American pop culture.

I couldn't be happier about it.

Welcome!

2006-11-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

This is the very first post of my very first blog, the Open Slather. I'm not afraid to teach, if you're not too proud to learn. Just kidding. I hope you enjoy whatever you read here, as I will enjoy reading your thoughts as well. I love writing. I'm hoping this will help me get back to writing the way I used to.

Well, here goes.