The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

Blog Posts

Wall street greed is illuminated.

In an improbable sequence of events we are reaching a time when everything is illuminated about Wall Street greed.  The improbable messenger is Newt Gingrich. The foil is Mitt Romney. The audience in this sudden drama is a combination of Americans of every political stripe who understand that financial industry excesses nearly brought this country to its knees. The stage crew is Occupy Wall St. The on-lookers are the power brokers in Washington.

Todd Palin is your new Mr. Republican

During the news coverage of today's Republican primary I gagged at comments by John Sununu and Judd Gregg, Northern Republican Establishment stalwarts, aimed at defining Romney as an acceptable choice across the broad Republican party electorate. While a majority of Republicans will ultimately accept Romney if he is the nominee, he is as out of place with the rank and file Republican base as a Volvo in Gun Barrel City, Texas.

Romney hands Gingrich a populist platform.

Most likely Gingrich will come in about fourth in the Iowa caucus which might seem like a big success for the Romney Super PACS who tried to bomb Gingrich out of the race, but for that strategy to work against a personality like Gingrich you have to make sure you kill him (speaking metaphorically) not just wound him. A wounded or threatened animal is sometimes more dangerous than one which can run away from you.

Sell Mother's 57 Ford.

 

At Mother's house in late October

We parceled out all the mementos;

I found the Stevenson banner I had 

Removed from the '56 convention hall.

 

Al Lowenstein helped me grab

the banner---he, a dangerous radical.

Santorum and Ambrosia both surge in Iowa.

As caucus feeding frenzy comes to a gluttonous end in the inland state of Iowa there are likely more coastal journalists, consultants, and other out of state lookie-loos there than native caucus-goers. Last night from several states away I watched Chris Matthews and other television hosts broadcast their shows from local restaurants and cafes across Iowa. I was reminded of my many gourmet dinner outings with my mother who retired back to her native state of Iowa.

David Brooks, the insouciant conservative.

The insouciant conservative is back to work after Christmas, sharing his typical rationalizations of the core beliefs of conservatives and the failings of, for example, Obama. 

Framing his criticism of Obama's Teddy Roosevelt pitch within his own vast perspective of three centuries of social norms and economics, Brooks debunks Obama's attempt to compare the Progressive movement in the early 1900's with our current state of affairs. In criticizing the Obama team for making inept comparisons, he does worse himself.

x(mas) poem by mr. X.

 

Sweetie, you want to love everybody else?

Go over there and move in with them, then.

They don't believe in God!

No money, no manners, pregnant every weekend,

Line up for abortions Monday morning

Instead of going to their jobs!

The christmas myth of creation---jobs, that is.

There are a host of myths about Christmas---as well as anti-myths. There is a myth, particularly around this website that evil forces are not attempting to take Christ out of Christmas---when it is perfectly clear they are. Thus the anti-myth must be reinforced by Christians, particularly around North Dallas mega churches. Cops who control mega traffic for Christmas service goers are stopping drivers and motioning for them to roll down their windows and take a bumper sticker--Don't let them steal Christmas!. I was pulled over to the curb, a Cop asked me about my bumper sticker---which reads, I reject the myth that they are not trying to steal Christmas

Some static ideas about upward mobility

No one can predict what impact the OWS movement ultimately will have on our society and our politics but the irrepressible tangible result is that the top 1% of income earners has been objectified---the result of which has been to put questions of equality into the headlines of our political debate. 

Re-framing the political debate has alarmed chief word polluter Frank Luntz who is now advising Republicans to say "they get" OWS but then essentially ignore it while searching for synonyms for the word "capitalism"---and, as always, blaming everything on big government.

That Girl speaks the word.

 

They all lived over near Justin's pass,

the center of gravity for throw-backs,

rebounders from God-less frontiers,

a trove of Aryan-migration enders

 

Inside a cabin in an Appalachian hollow

the little girl was hidden from others;

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