The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Return of the Genghis! Plus...Genghis on the TV - Sat. 9pm, Sun. 10am ET

    By Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:17pm | Potpourri

    As news of Keith Olbermann's departure from MSNBC stormed through the blogosphere like a hyperactive Nor'easter, distraught liberals took heart in the return of another beloved hero from self-imposed exile. Genghis is back!

    Bloggers took note of Genghis' mysterious disappearance in early January and offered many speculative theories about his whereabouts. Some suggested that Genghis had taken a spiritual journey in the Himalayas, the Australian outback, or Staten Island. Others suspected foul play by his many enemies from Fox News, the Tea Parties, the Republican Party, the Mossad, the Yakuza, and the Science Museum of Philadelphia. One pundit insisted that Genghis had transmigrated to a a lower dimension in which he had been incarnated as an isosceles triangle.

    When Genghis suddenly reappeared this morning outside the international baggage claim at JFK International Airport , a crowd of men gathered to greet him, each holding a sign with someone's name on it. Genghis ignored the crowd and instead headed for the $5 AirTrain, a typical flourish that demonstrated his common touch.

    Upon arriving home, Genghis reportedly ate a bagel, unpacked, showered, and wrote a blog post in which he repeatedly referred to himself in the third person--a device that he has used with increasing frequency as his fame has exploded.

    At the end of the blog post, Genghis promoted his new book, Blowing Smoke. According to Genghis, one of his bookstore readings will be televised tonight at 9pm EST on C-SPAN2's Book TV. The reading will be rebroadcast at 1:30am and 10am on Sunday morning. The final broadcast will take place on Monday morning during the popular 4am timeslot.

    In addition to Genghis' television debut, Alternet.org is currently featuring an excerpt from Blowing Smoke on its website. And Talking Points Memo Cafe, once the preeminent site for liberal political discourse, will feature Blowing Smoke in its book club next Wednesday.

    PS If you have read Blowing Smoke, Genghis encourages you to please write a review at Amazon.com, especially since he has just received his first negative review from a conservative reviewer.

    PPS In case it isn't obvious from the general incoherence of this post, Genghis is currently suffering from the effects of transmigrationlag.

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    Potpourri

    Comments

    Welcome back!  

    You are in such good spirits you must have had great fun.


    by EmmaZahn on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:24pm

    Thanks Emma. I did have a lot of fun, which I will attempt to blog about later, but I believe that what you have labeled good spirits is in fact mild delirium.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:44pm

    Not to toot one's own horn, but...hahahahahahahaa

    We shall rush to the front and attack said fascist prick at once!!!


    by Richard Day on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:30pm

    :) try not to leave any obvious scars


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:47pm

    While bloggers speculated over the disappearance of Mr. Genghis, They were aware at all times of exactly where he was, just as They have duly noted exactly what kind of bagel Mr. Genghis consumed upon his arrival back (and placed said notes into his file), and just as They are duly noting who is providing positive reviews of his subversive tract.  Welcome back. 


    by Elusive Trope on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:37pm

    Ha. That was just a ploy to send you spies on a false track. In fact, it was a croissant.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:48pm

    hmmmm, French-leaning....


    by Elusive Trope on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 8:28pm

    Good news! I can stop carrying this joint again and focus anew on my modern dance career.


    by William K. Wolfrum on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:43pm

    You are truly a man of many talents. I look forward to your debut.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:50pm

    Welcome back Mike. I can honestly say I knew you way before your amazing technicolor shirt. In fact I think your original avatar had a great head of hair so I had to Billy Joel you once (similar to a Rick Roll only with a Billy Joel tune).

     


    by mageduley on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:55pm

    Ah yes, good memory. This one?

    I actually had longer hair in the shirt pic, but maybe the waterfall in background gave my hair that Billy Joelesque flair.

    Or maybe the hair flair was your imagination.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:14pm

    or maybe it the sax theme music that follows you wherever you go.


    by Elusive Trope on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:32pm

    Ha! Truth be told I could not really remember why, but I remember Billy Joel-ing you. So I had to look it up again. Funny things da Google, they keep everything.

    Blast from the past

    http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/04/a-vote-for-avatars.php#comment-2757078


    by mageduley on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 11:50pm

    Funny. That was the day that I switched to the shirt. At some point much later, I changed to the Bill the Cat avatar for a few hours, but it somehow became permanently lodged in the TPM archives, so all the old links show me as Bill.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 3:25pm

    Which reminds me... I miss Bloom County.


    by Michael Maiello on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 6:31pm

    Really did miss your input on the site! It's not the same without you.


    by artappraiser on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 7:58pm

    Welcome back, Genghis.  We missed you here.  I don't get C-span 2 but I can live-stream it.  I just checked.

    I've been meaning to write a review on Amazon, and now I will.  Lemme at 'em!


    by Ramona on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 8:05pm

    Hey Ramona. I thought of you earlier this week. I was at a bookstore and I sat down on a bench to work out some wifi issues and it just so happened that I found myself in the political books section and facing me was a wall of conservatives, ultra conservatives, etc. Oh, what was I to do? I think you know the rest of the story so I will end here.  ;)


    by emerson on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 8:54pm

    Emerson! An army of two! Good going. I love this passive resistance stuff; it doesn't do crap in the scheme of things, but man, it feels good!

    I won't buy books from Books-a-Million now, or from WalMart (except I did order Blowing Smoke and had it sent to our local WalMart, where I walked up and down the aisles with it prominently displayed in the child's seat of my cart. But if anybody noticed, they weren't about to give me the satisfaction of showing it.), or from any other store that displays the Right's books and hides the left's.  I do what I can.


    by Ramona on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 9:04am

    Welcome back! And congratulations on a negative review by a conservative. Good job! 


    by emerson on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 8:49pm

    Watching you on C-Span 2.  You are much better looking than your avatar.  It has to go!

    Nice dagblog plug.  They'll be coming through the doors any minute now. :)

    Sounding good.  I'm going back. ..


    by Ramona on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 9:05pm

    Aw shucks, ma'am


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:02pm

    Good job.  Proud as punch.  So then what follows?  The dreaded William Kristol.  LIke day and night.


    by Ramona on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:16pm

    Genghis?  I just saw him on CSpan.  Looks like one or another of my Uncle's on my Mothers's side of the family.  Nice kid, young, silly, a lot like me 40 years ago.  Enthusiastically promoting an agenda he has never really thought about because he and all his friends 'know' things without thinking about them.

    It was carved on the walls of the Temple at Delphi, Know thyself, or 'the unexamined life is not worth living', or the proper study of mankind is man. 

    People like Genghis, and probably everybody who contributes to or reads these blogs are fundamentally anti-scientific.  The way you think is fundamentally antithetical to the scientific method.  Science is inductive.  It looks at the facts and considers them until it can discover how things really work in the real world.

    There are two other kinds of thinking.  Wishful thinking, i.e. it is true because I want it to be true, which is the way most people think, including Sarah Palin and Genghis, and Deductive thought, where you begin with premisses and reason out the logical implications of the premisses.

    Let's take Sarah Palin as an example.  She believes that it would be appropriate to teach 'Intelligent design' as science, apparently doubting evolution.  Yet she embraces free market ideas.  The free market, however, is just evolutionary mechanics at work in the marketplace.  Random variations in marketing produce through elimination of the less fit the best fit to the needs of the marketplace.

    The Right rejects evolution but accepts the free market.  The left claims to accept evolution but rejects the free market.  Yet, people like you and Genghis believe that there is a difference between how you and Sarah Palin 'think'.  No, wishful thinkers, one and all.

    In his book, "The Selfish Gene", by Richard Dawkins the noted atheist, the idea of cultural evolution is proposed.  Cultures evolve, and those behaviors which best promote the survival of a culture survive while others are eliminated.  Obviously then, the traditional moral values are the product of evolution, and though the reasons why they work may be incomprehensible in some cases, 85 or 90% of them are wise and necessary, and you meddle with them and change them only at serious risk of destabilizing or destroying society.  So any rational being who accepts evolution must be a conservative.  To be Liberal, is almost by definition to be anti-science.

    Amusing isn't it.


    by Arrogathor (not verified) on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:21pm

    Greatest. Comment. Ever.


    by William K. Wolfrum on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:26pm

    What is amusing is that you think this is valid argument.  All I will say at this point is that you take a concept, biology in the broad sense, which is applied to the genetic features of a population over time, and believe it can be applied directly to human cultural development over time.  To say this is laughable is being kind.  So calling this amusing is me being kind. 


    by Elusive Trope on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:29pm

    Amusing isn't it.

    Yes


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:47pm

    I knew Genghis.

    And you, sir, are no Genghis.

    (Though just in case you are, welcome back.)


    by quinn esq on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 12:24am

    I'm going to be looking for the poseur/imposter who misspells "premises".  (Once is a typo; twice is how you think it's spelled.)   It's a clue and I'm on it.  Might as well 'fess up.  You WILL be exposed.


    by Ramona on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 8:38am

    I suspect that Arrogathor is just Genghis in disguise and the misspelling of premises is a trick to throw you off the trail.


    by Atheist (not verified) on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 9:52am

    Or is it YOU, Atheist, and this is just a trick to throw me off the trail??


    by Ramona on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 2:41pm

    It would be interesting to actually see a free market at work.


    by Donal on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 2:23pm

    Why do you think that evolution and the capitalism work the same way?


    by Michael Maiello on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 6:38pm

    Because maybe the common link is they both have a bloodsuckers gene?


    by Resistance on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 8:35pm

    The more pertinent issue here is, as far as I know, you've never been seen in the same room as La Toya.. er Keith Olbermann...at the same time.. er or something.

    Whatever. I posted your reading at my youtube channel, Part 1- Part 4. Part 1 is completely live and the other three are rendering, they will all be live in one hour. If you want a full version, I can podcast it for you.

    Well done.


    by tmccarthy0 on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 12:54am

    Thanks so much, T! I've already referred people who missed the show to your youtube version. I'm hoping that C-SPAN will post the full video after the last broadcast tonight, but if not, I might ask you for the podcast.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 3:21pm

    Glenn Beck, telling us, “the last time the West heard of someone named Genghis, the whole world was ablaze, notice this liberal, now talks about it going up in smoke.

    We must mount a defense; protect your peace and tranquility, protect your loved ones.....From the charismatic Genghis,

    Which reminds me Clinton was charismatic, Obama,

    I’m going to cry, it's the end of the civilized world, the liberals are at the gate.

    I hear them now, Genghis, Genghis, he's our man, if any one can do it Genghis Khan "

    Oh my folks, Khan rhymes with Klan”.  


    by Resistance on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 1:25am

    LOL. 


    by Ramona on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 8:40am

    I thought it was spelled Genghis Con


    by Beetlejuice on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 9:21am

    The Genghis was gone? Really? I didn't notice anything different here. Did The Genghis bring us all a t-shirt?


    by Beetlejuice on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 9:16am

    What did he bring back ?


    by Resistance on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 12:27pm

    Just finished watching the 4 parter TMC put up on your 14 Dec New York Border's book review. From what I heard, it sound like it's on the same level as Nami Klein's Shock Doctrine...very interesting stuff as to the foundations the right/conservative/religious wingers are standing on...especially when the foundation was more haphazard in it's creation rather than a thoughtful plan with specific milestones to achieve.


    by Beetlejuice on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 11:26am

    Thanks, BJ. I haven't read Shock Doctrine, but it does seem like we might have a similar approach to making sense of historical trends, though my topic is much narrower than Klein's.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 3:33pm

    But his shirt isn't blinking.  I take that as a good sign that there's hope.


    by AmiBlue on Sun, 01/23/2011 - 5:08pm

    I was watching the first video, and suddenly realized that you hadn't cried. You hadn't even teared up. How are we supposed to trust what you say if you don't cry? <sniff>


    by Donal on Tue, 01/25/2011 - 8:03am