I’ve gotta be honest with you. I find this current constitutional crisis over the illegal NSA wiretaps to be exceedingly depressing. And depleting. By now, most of you know that I am a weird breed. I am incredibly cynical, I am a political realist, and I am, none the less, generally optimistic.
People respond to depression in different ways.
Anyone who is a writer, or a musician, or an artist of any kind, knows that most of the time there is a deficit of creative juices. Creative people are constantly searching for their muse. But, sometimes the ideas come in a cascade, and the richness of ideas, the cascade of creativity, overwhelms the ability to do anything productive at all.
In other words, sometimes the ability to create suffers from a lack of inspiration and sometimes it suffers from too much inspiration. With the NSA hearing wearing me down, my reaction, strangely, is a surfeit of ideas.
Below the fold I will lay out the nine ideas for stories I came up with today, none of which I could formulate well enough to write up.
And then there is a poll.
I wrote these down on a napkin.
1. NSA Article, US News & WR 1970’s
This idea is to take a major article about the NSA, that was published by the U.S. News & World Report on June 26, 1978, that detailed the known accomplishments and abuses of that agency at that time. The idea is to raise awareness of the Real History of prior abuse and also to raise appreciation of what the NSA can accomplish for our security.
2. What I’ve Learned
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Booman Tribune, I have undergone some changes: personally, politically, ideologically. This would be a piece about how I have changed politically and what I’ve learned since the launch of this site.
3. 1 Year Anniversary
This would be a retrospective of the highlights and lowlights of BT thru its first year, with an emphasis on user’s perceptions.
4. Classified
This one relates to certain announcements that can’t be made until they are made.
5. Savior to Rise from these Streets; Great Man in History Theory
This is an idea riffing off Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road. It’s about how one person with magnetism, charisma, and eloquence can overcome all the structural obstacles that currently block Democratic power. It also examines the ‘Great Man in History’ theory versus the ‘Dialectic’ and other political theories.
6. soj and MSOC, BT and dKos
This is a meta piece about Maryscott O’Connor and soj’s recent ill treatment at Daily Kos, and on the differences between BT and dKos.
7. Imperialism vs. compromise; getting power
This is inspired by the mental tension of reading Ductape Fatwa and watching Global Players on CNBC last night. Seeing the consensus for imperialism from reprentatives of the US, China, Russia, and the head of NATO made me realize that you cannot win election running against the excesses of imperialism. You must solve these problems once you gain power.
8. Vicissitudes; Boise St. v. Idaho BB game
This is about how there were a lot of people that did not think the Alito hearings or the NSA hearings were important. Their whole world today revolved around the big basketball game between Idaho and Boise State. It’s only the germ of an idea for addressing the problem of political apathy.
9. CIA/OVP Rift
This is an enormous piece I have been putting together all week. It is a Lexis-driven timeline of the catfight between the Office of Vice President and the CIA and State Department in the spring and summer of 2003…leading up to the outing of Valerie Plame.
The bottom line is that I have a lot of ideas, but I can’t settle on any of them. What should I write about?
Whatever you write will be well received so my suggestion is one that might help clear your thoughts as well. Any of the first year retrospectives would be a healthy way to view the effect all of the issues have had. It might put a little of the ‘too much’ back into perspective. Focus on the positive.
I voted for 1 year anniversary. I live for meta. The soj/MSOC stuff would be interesting too.
Just putting this down to balance the “real stuff” that hopefully everyone else will vote for. Cause I’d happily read that as well.
Yeah, my other choice was one of each but that didn’t help.
it feels comforting to know that there are a couple of “local” stories in your head rattling around.
You’ve got to be kidding me! These are all great ideas.
I love your analysis of historical events in context of current events. Please keep them coming!
I’d love to see what you put together for your one-year anniversary from any angle. I can’t believe it’s only been a year.
Anything new and different is good, but a bit ambiguous. :>)
A new hero is always good to keep people dreaming and working and striving for change.
I would really love to see your take on how BooTrib is different from DKos. I also don’t know the dirt, so I am curious.
Anything inspired by DF is great by me.
I don’t do sports, but I think political apathy is a fine topic.
Catfights in government are always interesting and the way you write, no doubt fascinating.
Boo, you are truly inspired and quite capable of taking on one or all of these ideas and we readers will lap every bit up. If you can’t focus now, it’s ok, give it some time and one will inspire you soon, or a whole new topic. It’s all good.
One of the ways to fight depression is to look a leader or other source of inspiration. That person may be within our own circle of friends for specific inspiration or may be a great world leader.
I do not have any great ideas for a leader in the current world order…maybe others do. I remember looking up to JFK and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
My mother talks about thinking the depression and WWII and McCarthyism would never end…and yet they did.
Being a little older I remember thinking that Vietnam would never end and that there would always be race riots in the U.S. But those times passed…
So maybe together we can pick several great leaders in today’s world to give us hope.
Slacker that I am, I recommend #4 since you apparently can’t write about whatever it is anyway so you won’t have to beat yourself up if inspiration is not hitting you.
#5 attracts me because that is my favorite Bruce song (being as how its about a Mary). But since its my favorite, I really don’t want to think about ‘Great Man in History’ theory versus the ‘Dialectic’ and other political theories when I hear it. So no.
#6 — too distracting, we’ve got more important things to think about and, really, why torture yourself with the arguments that would go on. (I suspect you only have that on your list as a distraction anyway.)
#2 is tricky — memoir has a bad rep right now and how will we know if you’re telling the truth or embellishing? And #3 has somewhat of the same issue except now we’re talking User’s memoirs.
#1, #7, #8 — all good.
But face it — you are procrastinating over #9. Just do it. You’ll feel better.
I think this would be a good one, as it needs to be addressed and acted upon. And, if it is still in the preliminary stages, give it time. I have found out that I sometimes get ideas when I least expect to–sometimes late at nite. Then I just make another pot of coffee and do my best.
Do it Quaker style: let the spirit move you to write on any of those topics.
cross-posted.
Maybe you really do want distraction.
no, i want a massage.
I don’t think DKos can fulfill that dream.
heh.
armando has great elbows.
Really?
I don’t picture Armando the masseuse using elbows. I picture Armando the masseuse walking on his clients.
But what do I know. I’ve never met him.
Seriously.
ill give you a massage
when do you want me to come over?
wed is open
A look back on how the site started, where we’ve been, and potential paths for where we’re going (especially as we approach the crucial mid-term elections) would be great, I think, especially for folks that came in on their own and not as “refugees” from other sites. It might help us find some perspective into some of the other stories you’ve got percolating — people that can steal an election (allegedly) will have no qualms about stealing our civil rights as well.
Of all the ideas, the one that appeals to me the least is #6 — I haven’t really spent much time lately at the Orange Empire, so I’m unaware of the latest brouhaha involving soj and MSOC. But I think we need to eventually find our own path apart from there, and we’re not going to do it if we keep rehashing their battles that have only peripheral to do with us.
Of course, that’s just my $0.02…
I voted for “vicissitudes” and a piece on how we can all work to overcome political apathy. This is a subject that has troubled me for years, in my constant frustration with the general lack of positive political change (I was optimistic for a nanosecond in 1992). Unless we can get younger people (and disgusted others) back into the process as active participants, we’ll continue to have these “stealable” poor turnout elections. I certainly don’t need to lecture you on the participatory democracy envisioned by Jefferson, et. al., but I do take their words as visionary, and with the pervasive lack of vision in these times, we must find some way to drag people away from their NASCAR, BB, Football and all the other Roman-style diversions to wake them up to the slippery fascist slide we are on at the present time.
Maybe I’m just being my legendary pessimistic, misanthropic self, but having lived through Vietnam and other eras, I do cling to a toilet paper thin thread that there will soon be an awakening, which will rouse the “great unwashed” to demand a return to real democracy. Just my two centimes.
But anything you choose, Booman, will be more than worth reading … choose what speaks to you most passionately and run with it. I will say, however, that deconstructing the Orange Arena probably ranks lowest in terms of my interest. You and Susan single handedly (I know, that’s too many hands) lured me away from that place, after having witnessed the “pie wars” last summer, with all its vitriol and bile, and I’ll thank you once again for creating the reflective pond, where people can relax, cogitate and hob nob with like minded souls. It took me a while to de-lurk, but I’m glad I did.
Hmmm. My favorite is #1. We know so little Real History (Hi, Lisa!). I read the story of Kermit Roosevelt in Iran just in the last year and I’m still reeling from that one. I wasn’t paying enough attention to the Church Commission at the time it was happening. I’d like to know more about it – why it was needed (along the lines of your USNews article), but also how such a commission was actually effective in getting changes made in the way gov’t works. So many of these things are useless.
#5 – “Great Men” scare me. I have nightmares about what we’d be going through if the cabal in power actually had an intelligent, charismatic leader rather than a clueless incompetent intellectually incurious spoiled brat rich kid with dry drunk issues. I worry that they”re going to find one soon.
#7 sounds interesting. Wondering where you’d go with that.
#9 – of course.
#8 – if you can work in something about what gooserock has been saying about how we elect representatives to, well, duh, protect and defend the Constitution, among other things. You’d think they wouldn’t need us screaming at them to do this.
Meta stuff? I used to live for meta when I first got hooked on blogging. Now not so much. And please, nothing about MSOC, soj, and dKos. Been there, done that, or some variant thereof (and it always looks like a replay). Let’s move on. There are these elections coming up in – Holy shit! – just 9 months. S’pose you need to mark the anniversary somehow. Guess I like #2 best for that one.
Is there really much point in asking us? You’re the one entertaining the ideas. If we were to say “Write about A,” you could still find that you needed to write about B and C while letting A ripen a bit more.
I’d say: don’t write about any of them till you’re good and ready. Wait till you can’t stand not to write about one of them, or even about something else that you haven’t listed yet. Then write about that.
.
Definitely … “It’s classified, I can’t tell you”, always raises my interest, so please spill your little secrets before curiosity kills the cat.
TOP SECRET – SECRET – CLASSIFIED – 4YIO, all CIA, DIA and NSA stuff I like.
One year BooMan’s Place, don’t look back unless you are willing to look forward as well.
Top priority is political activity and the upcoming Midterm Election 2006.
Issues
● Hit ‘m hard, hit ‘m anywhere you can
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
.
I meant to include this issue of course, and the importance to return power, funds and governance to the individual states, to be well prepared for implementation of relief aid in a next Katrina disaster. The FEMA should facilitate and not dictate, while the National Guard have a task for the Homeland, and not an indefinite mission impossible in another oil colony of neocon’s 21st Century non-Roman Empire.
In securing Iraq, Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld risks U.S. border insecurity to protect the Homeland. In their attempt to conquer Iraq oil fields, their foreign policy lost Venezuela, the Americas, the Caspian Sea region and the Middle East. Surprise, surprise, Bush talks about his oil addiction and wants to kick his habit by a make believe story of an oilless fata morgana from Ali Baba’s 1,000 Tales of Baghdad.
● President’s Budget Looks Like Energy Addiction Relapse
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
I vote for 9. This piece is a bit of procrastination, isn’t it?
Some of the other things are provocative (4, 7), others interesting(1),some might push us to think and reach out in new ways (8), and some arouse the instant ick-fatigue response (6). Another (5) gets multiple negatives, likely more than it should: dread of seeing more “what-ifs” commented about Bobby Kennedy, who was hardly from the streets, and a degree of irritation at the great man idea mostly because it makes me think of “great white men of the oligarchy” and everyone that leaves out (having heard a tiny recorded portion of Fanny Lou Hammer today speaking on behalf of the Freedom Democratic Party does that to me). Reminds me of what Zinn writes about that’s not found in conventional books about political history.
2 & 3? Yes, sometime, maybe now, maybe later, if you want to. This could be a very good time, especially if it brings some optimism.
9? Absolutely.
Spector: “Al, ya did a heck-of-a-job on those torture memos.”
He keeps saying that other presidents did it but that’s a trick answer. He is referring to a time before the FISA law came into effect in 1978. He’s comparing the illegal invasion of Iraq with WWII.
The USA is on the brink of war with Iran. This is an important moment in history. We are getting the deja vu spin from all the Bush players, Rumsfeld, Condi, etc. It’s important that this _[censored]_ in the White House not be allowed to continue to break the law.
I vote for #1.. I just came across some great wire photographs from the era showing our old pals Cheney and Rumsfeld right in the thick of things.
Pax
Number 9 obviously gets my vote…but I think #8 would be an interesting distraction while you finish that. And #2 and #4 sound good too.
Yea, my vote is a sequel of all 9 over a timeline of your choosing; starting off with #9,
end with #5.
9)If you really do have a timeline on the CIA/Cheney fight that would probably be the most informative, from the point of view of how the US Government is actually operating. I mean, to figure out what the US is doing these days is worse than being a Kremlinologist during the USSR.
1)A new aspect on NSA: Apparently the technology the NSA uses spies on everybody, all the time, automatically, whenever you send an unshielded electronic message of any sort, provided it is a) bounced off a satelite, or b) bounced out of the US (eg. Blackberry, which bounces to Canada), or probably, c) transmitted a sufficiently long distance within the US.
This is why asking for warrants is such an issue: They can’t ask for a warrant on anybody without asking for a warrant on everybody!
The spying is done automatically, including automatic decoding of encryption, and automatically searched for key words which flag the message for human inspection.
Well, just for example, I think we now know how the Repubs are able to read the Dems memos before they are even looked at by the recipients.
Definitely a story there.
6) MSOC and soj dissed by dkos? Now I know the End Times have arrived! (Damn! I missed another flame war! Links?) And just last week it was Stirling Newberry getting the boot! (But that could have been expected.)
“Purged from D.kos” T-shirts? True, most of us don’t really have the right to wear one. But it might be a way to honor the best. 😉
7) Run on evading the dustbin of history. Reject the dodo option, lemming solution, and the Easter Island scenerio. Do we have a politician who can promise that with a straight face? The Repubs don’t even try. By the way, I see you admit to watching television again. Please stop: Not good for health. I spell it out: Of course the powers-that-be want you to think that imperialism is all there is, and choosing between US domination and Chinese domination is the only choice: This is part of prepping you for the coming war. This is not something you want to be involved in, trust me.
Actually, the whole system is now just held together with chewing gum. And that for not much longer. Face it or ignore it makes no difference. Imperialism is a problem now, but within a few years that will change.
Quit worrying about the Chinese. They’ll have their own problems, about the time we discover ours.
.
Sun Feb 5th, 2006 at 10:07:26 AM PST
Debate here @BooMan’s Place and raw agony @dkos :
When Should a Diary be Unrecommended? ◊ by DHinMI
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
I voted for number 8 as it is apathy that we must overcome if we are to be successful in November and beyond.
A “What I’ve learned” story would also be interesting.
because it is essentailly a catalogue of events that point toward dangers and opportunities.
It can be both the broadest and most trivial of the essays.
It solidifies in History’s arbitrary outline a lot of other issues. You’ll find it easier to extrapolate riffs afterward.
Skip the enormous version. Make sure the basics are well-disseminated.
Yours truly,
DICTAtion & ediTORIAL Services.
Without intending any controversy, do you think we can ever have an honest discussion on this subject?
I see no reason our discussion can’t itself be honest, even if contentious and confused and no doubt infected with disinformation circulated at large.
#5 — Bruce Springsteen saved my life with Born to Run, I’d love to read an article about the political implications of Thunder Road.
I’m most interested in reading #1 or #9.
#4 arouses my curiosity the most — whot?! You can’t tell us until you can tell us? So how could you riff more than a paragraph on not be able to say something? I’d like to see that done.
Adamant NO vote on #6 as presented.
What happened to Maryscott & soj at Daily Kos? I thought I was reading it regularly again, but I haven’t seen anything about Maryscott since the Convention Fantasy.
Apparently MSOC’s appearance on Fox radio has perturbed the big orange…and the way she’s been treated is disgusting.
And DHinMi has been busy doing hatchet job diaries, most recently with soj as a focus.
‘Nuff said.
Really? I thought everyone there was actually in love with her. What are they upset about?
Many are upset about the fact that she pointed out what a piss-poor job the Dems have done for us lately (like no one would notice otherwise?), and that she was on the radio talking about it. Of course, kos had to jump in to her diary and make a comment about his disapproval of her doing so (I guess she forgot to get a permission slip from him), so now it’s open season. Never mind that she has a point about the Dems needing to stand for something.
O for . . . Like he hasn’t actually sworn on his front page about it. That’s where he got his fame!
I’m always amazed at the number of people who think that freedom of speech only belongs to the people they agree with. Everyone else better watch their message.
Or that freedom of speech only belongs in certain places.
Really, MSOC and soj are in good company. Seems there’s a virus at dkos. Last week, Stirling Newberry had a fall-out and his blog (BOP) got delisted on the dkos’ blogroll – as retaliation – during the ‘discussion’. Many noticed. Stirling announed he’ll no longer write for dkos.
As a dkos member since mid-summer, I left dkos 3 months ago, haven’t visited in weeks. It’s the freedom thingy.
There’s freedom of speech and then there’s freedom of thought. Some people forget the two are integral.
I say I’ve found me a green place.
Well, that’s almost astonishing. If it wasn’t for some of the other’s who’ve left (or been driven out) over the years, I wouldn’t believe it. What in the world did he say that led to that?
No ideas what was first said, the “opening shots” per se.
But things started downhill during or after the Alito hearings. Apparently from what I read at BOP site, it was revealed dkos leaders had been invited early to the table to organize, didn’t act or refused -ignored the invite email- until it was too late to be effective.
I read Stirling’s announced intensions over at BOP last week, then it got ‘personal’ where at some point in the ‘open discussion’ Stirling remarked that dkos had jumped the shark – too focused on ‘inward directed dialog’ if I memory serves. Ouch.
unable to access archived links to BOP at the mo.
She dances to her own brilliant choreography, and some of them want the Rockettes.
Yes, like Dean — Some people get irritated when they’re dazzled.
I mean, she and Dean are dazzling. And that irritates people.
Someone at work said that sometimes he wishes Dean would “just shut up” and I thought — not me! I love it that we’ve got a star as the head of our party, of course he gets attention. And that’s what we need.
So, I guess it’s OK to have a group fantasy about MSOC & the dKos convention. But, not OK for her to actually open her mouth and talk in public.
Well put.
Well, I love secrets, and I love meta, but are you ready for the arguments?
FWIW, in situations where it’s hard to decide between projects, I check with my “core values.” What do I want most from my writing? In your case, it would be, what do you want most for your website? Then go down your list of stories and ask yourself about each one, will this one move me toward those core values, or will it move me away from them? The answers will come easily to you. If the answer to all of them is yes, consider yourself lucky and get back to work! 🙂
Is it okay if one of my core values is “whichever one will get the most comments?”
j/k
Absolutely!
The poll results are interesting. The Springsteen is in first place right now. That’s the most wonky piece.
But despite many comments that oppose meta, the meta gets a lot of anonymous votes.
Apparently there are some recent hijinks, and you will be glad you made a thread especially for it.
I like Stirling Newberry. He was the only person who recommended a diary of mine once, at least at the time I checked. I don’t remember what it was about, but it was very edifying, and I thought it was very discerning of Stirling to recognize that.
Plus a lot of people here still post over there, they have a higher tolerance for browser-busting load times than I do, and a greater talent for swineward pearlcasting.
“Swineward pearlcasting!”
You’ve made my day with that, so I guess this means I can go back to bed?
You and katiebird have done a marvelous job, and you should indeed go back to bed, and dream the rest of your book!
I have to say thank you, just so I can see the subject head one more time. <Happy squirm>
Just to make kansas do that cute squirm again — and because I mean it — Thank you!
Ah, well apparently many people have their secrets.
Lots of good ideas here, Boo.
Wonder what would happen if you took number 5 and combined it with number 8 to conclude that maybe we’re all so busy waiting for the savior to rise from these streets (and watch it on TV) that we’ve fallen into apathy and complacency
(I am reminded of Sheldon Kopp’s eschatological laundry list
(17. There are no great men.
18. If you have a hero, look again; you have diminished yourself in some way.)
As to 6: isn’t that a discussion better left “over there”? (If you do decide to go there, pls do let us know beforehand so that those of us who really have no interest can be sure to logout and stay out till the shitstorm has passed and the frat boys have retreated back to the frat house after they all come over here to trash this place! Usually takes about a week or two for them to run out of invectives, insults and inventive interpretations of the truth).
The rest of the ideas are all good.
I believe Napoleon would be an example of a Great Man, while say James Buchanan was not.
it has nothing to do whether someone deserves to be admired, but with a theory of what moves history. In any case, that was a part of a riff, and if you know the relevant lyric, in context, in might make more sense to you.
Don’t get me wrong, Boo, I absolutely love Springsteen (had his stuff cranking from the woofers of the Outback when I was out distributing flyers on election fraud, for example)…have also been thinking about doing a piece on politically motivational music.
But I also think it’s not a good idea to promote the “take me to a leader (any leader)”-line at this point in our historical development. Too close to the Führer principle for my tastes and, as implied from my comment (I hope), just offers too much of an “easy out”, another excuse not to get off the couch, not to take to the streets or WHATEVER….
Just don’t think it’s what we need right now. Smacks too much of personality cult and looking for answers that somehow let “we the people” off the hook. (We’re OK, it’s our leaders who’ve failed us.)
“We the people” need a goddamned swift and stiff kick in the ass. We don’t need more ego stroking, more naive optimism and paeans to great men of the past present and future, however large and/or small. 😉
just my two euros.
I’m a philosophy major. Not everything I write is calibrated for some political advantage, or “what we need” at the moment.
Well, from a philosophical perspective–must say my five-yr stint working for/with radical feminist philosopher Dr. Dr. Mary Daly put the definitive kabash on the “great men” theory for me–to the extent that I won’t even discuss it because to me it is clearly a dead dog.
Coupla recent NYT articles have piqued my interest w/ re “leadership” tho.
As Tribal Leaders, Women Still Fight Old Views
Women, Secret Hamas Strength, Win Votes at Polls and New Role
I have no idea what you mean by ‘great men’ then.
For my perspective it comes down to a theory of history that differs from dialectical theories.
For example, there could be a dialectic that would explain why Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed all emerged at their given times, but no theory could fail to note the enormous differences their unique personalities have had on subsequent history. To call that a ‘dead dog’ is simplistic.
Another example would be to ask what would have happened if Adolf Hitler had been struck down by influenza in 1918. Would the Nazis have come to power anyway? And would they have made the same decisions (Final Solution, invade Russia)?
The Great Man in history in theory has nothing gender specific about it, other than the fact that more men than women have been in positions to move history in strange directions.
I was being flip on the gender aspect of it. But I also think it’s simplistic to say that the only thing gender specific about the great man theory is that more men than women have been in positions to move history (as if that’s mere coincidence?).
Whether there’d been a Nazi gov if it hadn’t been for Hitler (or if it hadn’t been for Mein Kampf)?
Dunno. I think it’s more interesting to look at the conditions and mindsets that made people vulnerable to the “Führer principle” at all. Many of the same conditions exist in this country today, and that’s what scares me about the “looking for a leader” business.
Could the “great man” theory ever have emerged if those great men had been women? Do women necessarily think, govern, and lead differently (i.e., more “collectively” than “individually”?) than men and thus create communities in which these kinds of personality cults can never emerge to begin with and in which there could hence be no ‘great men’ because great moments in history would have found their momentum in collective rather than individual action?
the theory has nothing to do with collectives or gender.
For example, if Margeret Thatcher had not been Prime Minister, it’s possible the Falkland Islands would be part of Argentina today.
One way of analyzing history would focus on the conditions in Argentina and GB, as well as the Falklands, and decribe the social or economic tensions that led to that conflict.
Another would note that the war was not the inevitable result of socio-economic factors, but of the unique personalities of the leaders involved.
The current tension between Islam and the West can be exhaustively analyzed by scanning centuries of development, resource distribution, differential theology, or whatever else. But it also matter a lot that George Bush is president at the moment. And Bush is President because of a faulty ballot designed by one dumb elecion official in Palm Beach County, Florida.
My point is that you can have all the structural and ideological disadvantages in the world, and you can still win. You can win an election through a fluke, have the narrowest of majorities in Congress, have no mandate for your agenda, and still push through the most radical policies.
This is frightening. But is also provides hope.
Thatcher is a bad example. It’s an example of a woman trying to work in a world/system/ideology etc that was already created by and for (patriarchal) men. Token female.
What I’m thinking about are the kinds of structures that are created when women assume a constructive role in establishing the structures themselves, and are not just inserted into existing structures and asked to work within them (however unworkable the structures may be).
I’m thinking of course of the Iroquois Confederacy and how that model worked. The fact some structures/organizations leave less room for “unique personalities” to influence the outcome and others leave the community “vulnerable” to the disproportionate influence of one individual over another (for better or for worse).
My speculation is that women are more inclined to create from the very outset the former so that the likelihood of one single individual (male or female) having that kind of influence on the course of history is less.
Is Bush really pres b/c of a faulty ballot or a SCOTUS decision or is he pres b/c the people decided to let that happen? I was in Africa when that whole thing went down. Happygolucky me yucking it up with the “natives” while the CBC was fighting like hell on my (and our) behalf. First I got wind of the whole thing was in Fahrenheit 911. Boy do I wish it were not so.
I don’t believe that is possible unless you are a lying, cheating, scumbag motherfucker who is willing to go to any lengths to win and/or you have an electorate that is stupid/complacent/apathetic enough to let you get away with it.
BushCo had both.
It will be bad enough to start out with an unwinnable argument, and worse to be yet again sliced for sandwiches by a doddering old man, but to have one’s unwinnable argument sliced up by a doddering old man with laryngitis, well, nobody deserves that.
Besides, I would like to see #2. I have seen some slight twinges of progress, and it would be interesting to find out if you are aware of them yet, and I am especially hoping that #2 will show that one of the things that you have learned is that #4 absolutely must include the ability to edit comments and an increase in the miserly 50 character headline limit.
I could care less about the shenanigans of farther right websites, but it seems to fascinate most people, so I guess that #6 would be the crowd pleaser.
#1 and #9 in my opinion, would be best for your personal growth and development, and because you are interested in these topics, you would do a good job, and the process would help you improve #2 when you get to it.
If #5 happens, it will not be another rich white man with designer suit and hair promising more death in prettier words, but it is your fantasy, and would be good for comic relief for those of us who are realistic political realists.
#3 would be another crowd pleaser, and I think separating it from #2 is a very sweet and generous and thoughtful idea on your part.
I think the only one I haven’t mentioned is the one about the croquet match, which you should definitely do because I know you enjoy those.
the classified croquet match?
It’s a good thing I found my glasses before I called y’all a bunch of yarn-spinning grannies.
You again! Dammit, I’m no longer crying over spilled coffee: I am in pain (yes, it got worse; am now heavily antibioticized, as of 6:45 this ayem) and I do not appreciate you coming in here inciting fits of laughter! (it hurts too much to laugh today).
(Heard that you are also under the weather, tho did not catch the details, take care of yourself and get well soon: just remember, you don’t need vocal chords to talk to us!)
And thank you for reminding me to take mine. Take pain pills and it will hurt less to laugh. Also to breathe. A root canal that gets mixed up with the wrong crowd and goes bad is no joke. You must rest! And avoid chilled beverages. Or hot ones. Do not put anything in your mouth that has an interesting temperature unless it contains ice cream.
You know it is strange, when I had no voice at all, I felt also unable to write anything.
No, this is no joke. At first I wasn’t sure cause I’ve had some bizarre reactions to novacaine in the past, so was hoping (praying?) it was no big deal. But since yesterday, it was clear: uhoh. So I went to the GD this ayem. He is pissed as hell at the specialist and I’m glad he’s going to give the guy hell so I don’t have to. What p’s me off is that I asked the damn specialist on Friday when he did the thing, “Sure I shouldn’t be taking some antibiotics?” Fume.
Rest? Hmmm. It’s black history month, dear–my busiest time of the year. (Oh the sound of 15 big assed African drums in the hands of kids! It would hurt like hell if I weren’t so committed…to the drums, and above all, to the kids).
In light of that, no getting around the painkillers, eh!
Ice packs seem to help–you saying I shouldn’t be doing that either?
So what the hell happened to your voice anyway? I missed the part where you ‘splained that.
I was talking about what to put into your mouth. Sometimes hot or cold will make a bad tooth feel worse.
Mine is just a stupid infection of larynyx and vocal chords, annoying from a misery-generation standpoint but of no great consequence, and it is resolving with the antibiotics and several other pills added to the bushel basket of them I am already taking for the dye bead eaze & neuropathy.
Maybe in addition to the cafe, there should be a regular Aches & Pains diary, where we can all recount the details of our interesting medical conditions. 😀
Lol.
Here’s the last gorey detail, then I’ll spare you…the infection basically goes all the way up to my nose, and that’s where the pain is.
Btw heard about the new “inhalable” insulin? Maybe worth checking out?
Not pleasant….
every thing up his nose. (Where’s Dave?).
That sounds pretty bad. Just take your pills and lie down, with lots of pillows and a lurid paperback or watch a mindless video. Anything with Hilary Duff will make you laugh and then go to sleep.
I don’t do insulin, at least not yet, just pills. And I will not be a candidate for inhalable anyway, I smoke and have a tendency to sinus problems.
I thought this was a mindless video! lol.
Shoulda known you’re a smoker, too. Now I want to marry you (but don’t tell my hubby that!).
On a more serious note, if you ever feel inclined to reveal your true identity, would be great to hook up w you and mrs. ductape sometime.
Betcha any money we would be friends for life.
(No I’m not going back to bed, but am going to try to get back to work here…Degenerate Art is on today’s agenda. Reinhard Piper letter to Ernst Barlach…and more. Great fun). Not.
Of the writers here, both of you have um, “unique perspectives” on the world. If I was going to design an eyeball-catching article, I’d want you both to write about (#2), then front-page the resulting article in side-by-side columns. Face it, your respective outlooks have changed over the past year, yet you both write (most of the time) with “educate and inform” as your starting points.
Just sayin. It’s not hyperbole to say that by the end of this year the balance of power may be radically altered – here and elsewhere in the world. Like to get your ideas on that.
[Rules: 2500-word limit; links in a separate diary (no distractions); personal, not punditry].
They could not put how my outlook has changed on the front page. It would violate the Patriot Act.
Ouch!
Well, that is a good idea. I’d like to see all the users write a diary on what they learned in the last year. That would be a good way to celebrate the one year anniversary (and improve page view statistics).
That’s sounds really fun. Can I change my vote?
(note to seld: must use preview or spellcheck…)
Oh, sure, pick on seld.
Obviously, it’s not a good day for me to be writing. Guess I’ll just have to take the day off…
The SCOTUS has determined that overvotes don’t count.
I am torn between #7 and #8. I long for a leader that speaks for me and has all the qualities that will make him/her shine. It is bad enough that our country is so divided but imho that the party is so divided.
Apathy was my middle name. For the better part of my adult life I had done little more than vote. I was just talking to my dem sis and rep bro inlaw yesterday about this. I feel guilty about not being involved earlier on and feel partially responsible for where we are in this country because of my apathy. I feel that is a big reason for my passion now.I want to know how we came to the point that only 65% of registered voters bothered to vote in the last election. I want to know how we can work collectively to stimulate apathetic people or people that “have given up” out of frustration to get involved again. without turning them off with my views.
I am with others here Booman. Give it some time and it will come to you from the heart which topic is “the one” you NEED to write about at this time. You can still write about the others. Score them maybe from 1-10 in order of importance toYOU. And thank you for wanting to know our opinion. That is what sets Booman Tribune apart from other blogs right there in a nutshell.
Aloha, I think a lot of folks who are now active in the blogosphere feel exactly the same way. I can’t say I was totally apathetic before, but now I’m sure wishing I’d done more.
Political apathy is the number one problem–it is. There is not going to be some political messiah who comes along and fixes this.
The American people need to accept responsibility for the mess we are in. We did it to ourselves, we did, and there’s no getting around that.
So we’ve created this thing called the blogosphere. And it’s given a lot of us an opportunity to get involved in ways that were unimaginable before.
Now, we must either get the rest of the citizens to join us down here in the blogs or we must take our message to the streets–either way, we MUST get the American people to understand that there is no such thing as “passive democracy.” We must mobilize the majority.
If we’ve got to goad them into action by guilt, then so be it. There are a hell of a lot of us down here working off our guilty conscious for past sins of apathy, aren’t there? Whether we want to admit it or not. The sense of having failed our country, of having fallen asleep at the gd wheel, whatever….it’s there. And it is a powerful motivating force.
After 2004, people in Europe and the rest of the world were saying: the Amis got the gov they deserve. I tried to make excuses for us….yeah, but, yeah, but, yeah but.
No more.
Today I plead guilty as charged.
Now, where are the rest (present company included)?
Ever since Katrina, I have been relentless, moreso in the real world than in the blogs: my question to every single American citizen I know (and I only know one who voted BushCo, my SiL) is: where the hell are you? What are you doing to oppose this regime? I don’t give a damn where you’ve been all this time, no need for excuses or apologies, I want to know where you are now and if you’re not doing anything to actively oppose this regime, why not?
These are not people who need “waking up”. They are awake. They know. They know exactly what we are dealing with here. But for whatever reason they will not get their keesters off the couch (be it the therapist’s or the living room couch).
We must mobilize the majority. If we fail to do that, we are fucked.
Oh shit. That was supposed to read “present company EXCLUDED”.
Meaning I don’t want to berate those of you/us who have gotten off our asses, whether or not we’ve made it past the blogosphere or not.
Sorry.
Blame it on the endodontist.
Number 9 would be my first choice. Thanks for talking about your own depression over this, I have been feeling horribly depressed lately too after the Alito cloture vote. I believe that here at Booman, being able to vent has kept me on the path of what I want and need most to happen though. If it is true that depression is anger turned inward then I have obviously been receiving relief here.
I voted for #6 just because I’m curious since I don’t travel over there any more, but after reading the comments here I think I’ve already seen enough.
Something more toward the future would be good.
I didn’t originally think that the meta diary about dKos and BT would be a good idea. But I hadn’t heard that Stirling Newberry had left dKos.
So now I think that you should write on that as a precursor to inviting Stirling to be a FP’er here.
Just sayin’. Stirling is a sharp one, and a great writer.
There are enough people here with the “been there done that” experience “over there” that I think it would be a very, very bad idea to do the meta thing.
What happens at the frat house should stay in the frat house.
Boo, or anyone else, can ask Stirling to come over here without having to drag the whole pack along with him.
I certainly would love to see Stirling posts here, but I do not relish the thought of a big discussion about dKos.
We all know where the frat house is. I’d say if Boo is interested in that kind of discussion, he should post it over there. The rest of us can then take it or leave it…but as soon as you bring it over here…it’s here.
I just want to know in advance so I can know to stay away from it, either by logging out or not using the recent comment function so I don’t have to be part of it.
I guess I was just thinking that having Stirling post over here would mean that his first couple of posts would almost immediately garner those types of responses anyway (I can’t believe how unfairly you were treated at dKos, etc, etc) and that this would just be a way to preempt that.
But, maybe not.
As an aside, I think it’s kind of funny that you used your frat house metaphor while responding to an acknowledged (if not stereotypical) frat boy 🙂
It’s not a metaphor, at least not in my use. I take it literally.
I don’t visit the frat house. I know what happens to bad girls who go into the frat house.
Far as I’m concerned, anyone who is posting in here is a frog, not a fratboy.
I’d like to keep it that way. 😉
What happens?
Surely depends on how far to the left you stand and how well-rounded your ethnic/educational/economic “corners” are (i.e. how well you fit through those little red, yellow, blue, green-primary colors holes they’ve got in their toolbox).
But I have commented here on what can happen, and what did happen. It was the absolute worst I have ever seen. Anywhere.
(he. Thanks again for reminding me about those brackets btw!)
Hey Boo can you ask Patrick Lang if he’s heard that Robert Grenier was forced to resign yesterday? If so, could be pretty major.
Thanks!
Pax
I can ask him, but can you brief me on the significance from your perspective?
seems like every time i take a little break i come back to personality wars and negative shenanigans.
is everyone suffering from SAD?
the weather in this area has been so nice …i think sitting in front of a computer all day and night makes people depressed in some way.
the flower show is coming in a month….we always used to have snow/ice/sleet flower show week here in philly then they moved it further into spring…..it was much more effective when you came out of miserable weather into that gloriously warm, fragrant, colorful miasma of flowers…but ill take it anyway….its the same with the internet….and this political winter we are in…i find myself having to get away for significant amounts of time to stay sane and not sink into depression and foulness…a lot of people here never seem to take a break and i wonder about that….the site wont collapse if booman gets a breather and i think after reading the angst in this diary maybe you really need one boo.
Going through the headlines on Yahoo! this morning as I always do I am appalled that not one article(which were very few)regarding the NSA/Gonzales debacle mentioned that they would not put him under oath. To me, this is a HUGE story and no one is covering that aspect. Don’t mean to hijack in anyway but just had to get this off my chest before getting into my work day. I could not wait for an open thread. Sorry if this is out of line.
Yes, this is major, and several other blogs have picked it up.
But after Alito and NSA spying on citizens, this is down about #3 on the outrage list.
Yes, Congress is in total boot-licking mode. One wonders why they are even bothering. Even my time is too valuable to sit and knowingly listen to someone lie to me. The Dems should boycott, on the waste-of-time-issue alone. They won’t. But at this point, what-else-is-new?
I think the confirmation of Alito was the formal end of US democracy, the deposit on the house, the signature on the sales contract. From here on out it is administrative details.
Barring 1) Upset primary victories by upstart Dem challengers 2) The economic crash coming this summer before the November mid-term elections, which might serve, so to speak, as abandoning the deposit and walking out of a bad deal, this really was the end.
Sorry about the housing metaphors. Well, the housing bubble is deflating with accelerating speed. Not a burst or a crash yet. But year-over-year foreclosures are up 19% in California, which is certainly a sign, and by spring distress should be widespread and visible. It is a good time to abandon your deposit and walk away from an asset whose value is collapsing. Not a metaphor.
Certainly appreciate being asked on our opinions, BooMan — but like all inspired writers, I’m sure you’ll go with what inspires you most & gives you the most energy to sustain your interest.
That said, of all your suggestions I’m least interested in #6. dKos personality conflicts are a bore, imo (& I say this as a former ardent Kossite.)
I voted for the apathy piece. I think it would also be good to include action items to help cultivate future voters that are engaged and paying attention.
Regarding the dKos meta-stuff. Leave it over there, the only way this site will be able to move forward on its own is to not drag those fights from over there to the front page here. I think the one-year anniversary thing would be great next month, I also like the idea of everyone posting their perspectives.
Happy Blogging Boo, thanks for your hard work.
BooMan, Several of these ideas sound very interesting but you must do the 1 year anniversary thing.
: (
i haven’t done any “real” posts in what seems like forever now.
sigh
I like the One Year and What I’ve Learned ideas. Also, tear and compare between BooTrib and dKos could be instructive. Goes without saying that I will read with great interest the #9 timeline.
As for the basketball people being apathetic, is it necessarily always that? I, for example, might very well have watched such, if I watched basketball or even TV, because my outrage meter is in such overload these days. As it is, I catch up via BooTrib because if I watched directly I would be inclined to plant a large, solid object in the middle of the TV screen. And the neighbors worry when they hear me screaming too much.
All nine are certainly worth a story from BooMan. I voted for classified, just to indicate that my curiosity has been picked.
I voted for classified, cuz I hate not knowing stuff. Although some folks seem to just call that being nosey ;).
All the rest sound good too, of course, except for maybe #6. It would depend on how that one was done, I guess. I gather, from visiting right wing blogs from time to time, that there is a definite concerted effort – which will no doubt ramp up as it gets closer to election time – to knock out the “big liberal blogs”, kos being first on the list. And atrios, whose association with media matters is mentioned each time, even if what is being referenced is something on his own blog and not media matters, in a two birds with one stone type campaign.
Anyway, am trying to figure out how to stand up for and support kos and site against the right wing, while simultaneously intensely disliking much of what goes on there. Maybe you’ll have the answer!
The wonky stuff is very important, of course, but the What I’ve Learned and the 1 Year Anniversary also sound like they would be great community projects.