HARD DAY AT THE KEYBOARD

Not so much to relate today, except the desire to maintain continuity and keep you all coming back. The entire day was taken up by finishing a story on the new season of The Sopranos and resolving yesterday's fury at Ralph Nader into something more manageably literate, (plus deftly and insouciantly linking the two) and following that, I find myself flagging and in that void-like moment when I really wonder if it’s all making any difference at all, or if it’s just creating the illusion of doing something to camouflage basic political impotence. Or maybe I wonder if I can still write at all. Both pieces are destined for LA CityBeat and will – editor’s willing – appear in print and online -- Nader Thursday next and The Sopranos the week after.

But hell, I can’t really believe it’s a waste of time. If I did, or began to, it really would be the cue to blow my brains out. The idea can be quite attractive in these grim days when very little seems to work as it should, but mercifully two things mitigate the self-destructive urge. One is a Hamlet-like fear of the void and the other is the quasi-logic that, since nothing remains the same, it might actually get better.

Meanwhile, there’s enough in the email in the box to make the log-on worth the effort. Plus our lovely Doc40 pal hipspinster has a new blog posted.

That’s – http://hipspinster.blogspot.com/

FROM THE EMAIL

Jamie-in-Canada sends this unique perspective on the 21st century world...

Went to funeral for wife's cousin. He was Sergeant at Arms for oldest bike club in Toronto, The Last Chance. All wearing Hell Angels patches now. Province of Ontario has biggest HA group in world. Dozen or so at the funeral were all 5'10" looking like 400lbs of pork on kebab. You'd think with chemical business they'd be a little thinner. And what's with this new clothing empire they're building. T-shirts, jewelry, pants, hats, all from the RedWhite company. Nike should be so well represented.

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY BUSHWHACKERS (LEB)

Kenshim proffers a shaggy president story...

SLEEPLESS IN THE WHITE HOUSE

One night, George W. Bush is tossing restlessly in his White House bed. He awakens to see George Washington standing by him. Bush asks him, "George, what's the best thing I can do to help the country?" "Set an honest and honorable example, just as I did," Washington advises, then fades away. The next night, Bush is astir again, and sees the ghost of Thomas Jefferson moving through the darkened bedroom. Bush calls out, "Tom, please! What is the best thing I could do to help the country?" "Respect the Constitution, like I did," Jefferson advises, and dims from sight. Bush isn't sleeping well the third night when he sees another figure moving in the shadows. It is Abraham Lincoln's ghost. "Abe, what is the best thing I can do right now, to help the country?" Bush pleads. Abe replies, "Go see a play."

And Dick 13 passes on a chance for direct action...

Subject: Censure President Bush

Dear friend, In an attempt to escape responsibility for the misleading statements that led the nation to war, President Bush has announced plans to form an independent inquiry to look into what went wrong. An inquiry would serve the Bush administration well: it would envelop the issue in a fog of uncertainty, deflect blame onto the intelligence services, and push any political damage into 2005, after the upcoming election. But the facts need no clarification. Despite repeated warnings from the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency, President Bush and his administration hyped and distorted the threat that Iraq posed. And now that reality is setting in, the President seeks to pin the blame on someone else. We can't let him. Congress has the power to censure the President -- to formally reprimand him for his betrayal of the nation's trust. If ever there was a time to use this function, it is now. Join the call for Congress to censure President Bush now at: http://www.moveon.org

And fidicen feels differently about Ralph Nader...

Really think vilifying Nader does more harm than good to the Democrats and the cause of defeating the fascists. We must take the inclusive high road (a la Roosevelt vs. 3rd party man Thomas in 1932--look it up if you don't know) and cannot allow ourselves to be defined and hemmed in bypotential Bush rhetoric and dirty tricks, a core mistake of Gore. A true blue message, stated presidentially, cannot lose this time and most of Nader can be safely co-opted. First and foremost, Nader, and the very few in the handful of swing states who might NOT vote Dem because of him (as opposed to any Green, Lib, or not voting at all people) can be neutralized by respect for their inarguable positions, their right to seek office and vote their conscience, and for their chutzpah to do so at this time. Include them in the discussion and show respect and my guess is they leave in October.

CRYPTIQUE – The sound of one foot walking on eggs.