Pre-Debate Thoughts

Ok, so the final debate is tonight and it's pretty important. Here are a few tidbits for your brain to kick around as you watch.

One: Get your debate bingo cards here or here.

Two: Bush's Court Picks: Be Afraid. Very Afraid.

Three: From the GW Bush Flip Flop Catalog, something to consider while you listen to Bush talk about putting money in your pocket and neglect to mention any plan for paying for his massive tax cuts:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” — Alexander Tyler, 1778

Four: The following is a transcription of a scene in a 2000 episode of The West Wing entitled “The Midterms.” At least that's what TiVo says; I can't find it on the episode guide. Anyway, it's directed at those who think U.S. public policy should be based on literal readings of the Bible, and might be food for thought when Bush talks about how he's guided by god. Below, President Bartlett is speaking to a right-wing talk radio host:

President Bartlet (PB): I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an “abomination.”

Host (H): I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President, the Bible does.

PB: Yes, it does. Leviticus.

H: 18:22

PB: Chapter and verse! I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I had you hear. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:07. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?

H: Silence.

PB: While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff, Leo McGarrity, insists on working on the sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it ok to call the police?

Here's one that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town. Touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean -- Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point?

Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads?

Think about those questions, would you? One last thing: While you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the Ignorant Tight-Ass Club, in this building when the president stands, nobody sits.

UPDATE: The Unreasonable Man writes to note that the above quote from Tyler may be a hoax. Also, here are two more pre-debate nuggets for you. The first is from an open letter to Bush and Rumsfeld:

Under the military way of life and thought, a commander is responsible for errors that occur under his command whether he knew about them or not. Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush, you are responsible for the inaccurate intelligence assessments, inadequate troop strength, Iraqi prisoner abuses, inadequate logistical support for U.S. forces, and fraudulent contracting billing for the Iraq reconstruction. And you should care about every combat death or injury that occurs.

The second is simply the latest on the Bush bulge. L. and others have speculated that after all the attention the back bulge got in the first debate, Bush moved the radio device from his back to his front. Was he looking quite a bit thicker around the middle than usual? Did his coat appear to fit rather poorly for a man who probably has custom-tailored suits? Will this be one of the mistakes left for historians to decide?

Posted 11:23 AM | Comments (17) | election 2004

CVB Still Amps the Rockage

I just got back from the Camper Van Beethoven show at the 9:30 Club and it was really everything I could have hoped for. Simply a great show. They're touring in support of their new album, New Roman Times [iTMS link], so they played a number of tracks off of that, including “The Gum You Like Is Back In Style,” “Might Makes Right,” and “Hippy Chix” (with funky dance moves and backing vocals from one of their opening bands, The Gaskets. I was trying to keep the playlist in my head but it just wasn't going to happen. I know they opened w/one of my all-time favorites, “All Her Favorite Fruit,” followed pretty closely by the title track from “Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart,” and “Eye of Fatima.” That last one holds a special place in my heart because it's about cowboys on acid (and who wouldn't love that?) and declares that “no one ever conquered Wyoming from the left or from the right; you can stay in motel rooms and stay up all night!” I think the whole song is dripping in irony, but it could just be me. They also slipped in what sounded like a slowed-down, campered-up cover of “White Riot” by The Clash. (Which reminds me, I really need to get some Clash back in my musical collection; all I have is on tape, and the tapes just don't get much listening anymore.) They also played an insanely fast and raucous version of “Club Med Sucks” (there may be no other way to play this song, actually), and afterward David Lowery gave a short political lesson. To paraphrase, he said one of the lines in the song is “I hate golf! I wanna play lacrosse!” Bush is golf, Kerry is lacrosse. And he didn't want to tell anyone how to vote, but he said it should be pretty clear from that. This was a very minor theme of the evening; Lowery opened the show by saying the new album is out today for the first time and they felt it was appropriate to do a show in D.C. on the album's release date because the album is something of a commentary on the times. But this was no big Bush bashing show; these are the only things they said along these lines. Other songs I know CVB played: Border Ska Tania Ambiguity Song The Day Lassie Went to the Moon Take the Skinheads Bowling Pictures of Matchstick Men She Divines Water (possibly my favorite favorite, in close competition w/All Her Favorite Fruit) Tina Sad Lovers Waltz Sweethearts Shut Us Down Wasted One of These Days Interstellar Overdrive (a crazy amazing 10-15 minute version that shook the whole place to its foundations and closed out the encore) As that huge list indicates, the show was packed with goodness. They rarely stopped between tracks and just played and played. Still, they managed to fit in some jokes with each other and Lowery told a good story about seeing Micky Dolenz in a bar and overhearing him tell some people his whole life has been one long night of karaoke or something like that. They looked like they were having a great time. So go see them! And buy their music! (The new disc is only $9.99 at iTMS for 20 tracks compared to $17 at Amazon.) It's fun, it's smart, and it rawks! UPDATE: Here's a photo from the show. Not a good one, but it's a photo. That's another thing to love about the 9:30 Club—they don't take cameras away at the door (but I think you're not supposed to use a flash).

Posted 02:15 AM | Comments (4) | ai music