I know what you're thinking, two blogs this close together? What's TCH doing over there...isn't he supposed to be writing a dissertation and the rest of his time spent lecturing? To that I say, pah.
In that vein, I went out with my ole' buddy Jim this evenin' and saw a new flick, "New York, I Love You." Now, for those of you movie critic types (yes this would include any of you indie/townie-wannabes that we encountered before the film discussing the cinematic delights of God only knows what and the intricacy of plot and depth of character assignments, blah de blah blah blah) this film was decent. If you've seen "Paris, Je T'Aime," think of that only in NYC. But this is not a film review. Somehow I'm not yet full enough of, well, myself to become a film, food, or literary critic. Rather, its the impact the film had on me during my drive back to the flat.
After dropping Jim off, I starting wondering how it is that such a wonderfully diverse city like NYC and the tragic attacks it suffered on 9.11 have become so distorted by the neo-cons and military industrial complex and now, apparently, much of the so-called "left" that an escalation in a war on the other side of the globe seems necessary and prudent.
And then I got to rememberin'. True, Oby said he would quickly draw down troops and end the war in Iraq. So far, this seems to be the plan. And yet, when individuals like Barbara Boxer and myself had serious questions about why someone like "Give em' HellGates" would be left at Defense when we had all voted for change, Mr. Oby's line was quite pointed: Afghanistan was different and he trusted the Gates crew on defense policy. Afghanistan was not Iraq, so said (yes, past tense) he. See the following pieces for the predictions that the recently announced escalation was intended way back in the summer of 2008: salon and cnn .
The moral: we got what we voted for. There's no surprise here. Don't act shocked and awed. After all, what's one war traded in for another?
TCH
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Keeping the liberal faith
No apologies for the inattention to the blog. Life has had me running here and there to conferences, committee meetings, submitting chapters and grants and, yes, happily spending time with my woman and family here in Athens.
I blog today to get out the cloudiness that continually wracks my mind when things get quiet enough for me and Bob Dylan to consider things in the wind and God being on "our" side. Noting that this quiet time normally occurs late in the morning hours, I still believe my thoughts might be worth sharing. If you disagree, stop reading here and go back to watching the tube that blasts mindless non-information into your life so that you can refuse to face the realities surrounding humanity's collective existence. If you're still reading, I congratulate you on being either an extremely interested reader/friend or a blissfully unaware quasi-participant.
Over the past several months I have had the feeling that death is all around. Numerous folks (including myself) have had individuals taken from this life. Personally, about 5 months ago I eulogized a grandfather who was a shining example of humility and laughter, kindness and strength, intellect and wit. Only a few weeks after, two of my dearest friends lost grandparents and amidst all of that, the nation lost Edward M. Kennedy.
Now, of course, Kennedy's passing has been played up and down by talking heads (some only half-filled) and I do not desire to walk back down the road of EMK's legendary brothers, his family, or any of the scandals that haunted his self-acknowledged privileged life.
For months, thoughts of liberalism, the DNC, social justice, and equality have been swirling through my mind like donkeys kicking drunken elephants. Today, over lunch with a friend, I realized the connection that my life represents: I am the inheritor of a great american (hold on to your rocker) liberal tradition.
Like Kennedy, my grandfather was a Democrat of a different generation. However, as a man who returned from WWII to support the Dixiecrats in '48, he would live a life of dedication to faith, family, and hard work that placed him squarely in defense of President Clinton as well as avidly supporting President Obama's candidacy at the sunset of his life. I am proud of his journey that heralded choosing hope over hate and compassion over fear. And, that he let me tag along on the way.
So, even as the politically savvy thing to do these days is substitute "progressive" for "liberal" as if the term is inherently evil, or threatening, alarming, and/or offensive, I say, for most, reaffirm: My name is TCH and, yes, I am a liberal.
(In my best Palin voice): Why aren't cha?
TCH
I blog today to get out the cloudiness that continually wracks my mind when things get quiet enough for me and Bob Dylan to consider things in the wind and God being on "our" side. Noting that this quiet time normally occurs late in the morning hours, I still believe my thoughts might be worth sharing. If you disagree, stop reading here and go back to watching the tube that blasts mindless non-information into your life so that you can refuse to face the realities surrounding humanity's collective existence. If you're still reading, I congratulate you on being either an extremely interested reader/friend or a blissfully unaware quasi-participant.
Over the past several months I have had the feeling that death is all around. Numerous folks (including myself) have had individuals taken from this life. Personally, about 5 months ago I eulogized a grandfather who was a shining example of humility and laughter, kindness and strength, intellect and wit. Only a few weeks after, two of my dearest friends lost grandparents and amidst all of that, the nation lost Edward M. Kennedy.
Now, of course, Kennedy's passing has been played up and down by talking heads (some only half-filled) and I do not desire to walk back down the road of EMK's legendary brothers, his family, or any of the scandals that haunted his self-acknowledged privileged life.
For months, thoughts of liberalism, the DNC, social justice, and equality have been swirling through my mind like donkeys kicking drunken elephants. Today, over lunch with a friend, I realized the connection that my life represents: I am the inheritor of a great american (hold on to your rocker) liberal tradition.
Like Kennedy, my grandfather was a Democrat of a different generation. However, as a man who returned from WWII to support the Dixiecrats in '48, he would live a life of dedication to faith, family, and hard work that placed him squarely in defense of President Clinton as well as avidly supporting President Obama's candidacy at the sunset of his life. I am proud of his journey that heralded choosing hope over hate and compassion over fear. And, that he let me tag along on the way.
So, even as the politically savvy thing to do these days is substitute "progressive" for "liberal" as if the term is inherently evil, or threatening, alarming, and/or offensive, I say, for most, reaffirm: My name is TCH and, yes, I am a liberal.
(In my best Palin voice): Why aren't cha?
TCH
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Long time, no blogging: Life Events or "Lika rolain sto"
So it is not that I have limited things to say these days, rather, its that I haven't really slowed down long enough to get them on the blog. I'm back in Athens, getting settled back in to life as I knew it a year ago, sort of. I have just finished writing lectures for the course I'm teaching in the fall and am quite relieved to have that process, at least for the moment, done. I have moved all my stuff (including King Andrew) back to the house and LP and I are happily a block away from each other.
With all that said, two stories that should be shared. LP and I took a little journey over to Scotland in the early part of July for a mini-break and a conference presentation. The conference went quite well and LP and I got to experience our relationship in a foreign land: street maps, the intricacies of Edinburgh with Princes Street shut down, train tickets and short layovers as well as an angry French woman on the return flight who thought we tried to cheat her out of her seat, a bird we named Rupert, CapriSun on the window's overhang to get it cool, lots of walking, and, thankfully, no illnesses (so glad you made it, John) or explosions of small appliances. Overall, an excellent adventure and despite the above stresses we came back together and are going strong. Some of the hundreds of pictures are on Facebook, if you're interested.
Upon our return, a really good friend who was, sadly, unable to use her tickets to see Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan presented LP and I the opportunity to see these legends over in the ATL. LP, the day before the concert, discovered her new job would require some evening service and my good ole' buddy Jim graciously stepped in to her spot. There are plenty of things that could be said about this experience, but I will do my best to hold back. A quick summary will suffice for most of you, I think: journeyed over to Verizon Amph via the blue monster; grabbed a bite to eat at 5Seasons (pretty good white pizza); got to the concert at 5:50pm (it began at 5:30pm) and Willie was already on stage, where the warm-up act disappeared to, who knows?; Willie was great; bathroom break (Mellencamp was on); headlining...Bob Dylan, as this was the "Bob Dylan Show." The story would naturally climax here; and maybe it would have if I had seen Dylan 20, I'll even give him 5, years ago. The man we saw was a shadow of his former self, if that. I am NOT hating on Bob (so you people out there who were thinking...oh, just wait 'til I respond to this whipper snapper, don't, or do, I don't really care).
I am not the concert-goer who wants the cd performed exactly as was recorded; Willie didn't do it, and I loved it. The difference? I could tell that it was Willie Nelson performing. And don't give me the age and/or drugs argument...Willie is almost 10 years older than Bob and has had just as rough an on/off stage life. So what was my (and Jim's and over half the audiences' who left 2 songs in to Bob's set) problem? Bob showed up on stage, spoke his lyrics with words that were unintelligible even for Dylan, never once acknowledged the audience, played guitar on the opening song only, and blew the harmonica for maybe 30 seconds. I love Bob Dylan and am glad I got to see the man before he departs this world; I just wished a brighter image of the legend would have shown up.
Comments, as always, are welcome.
Cultivate peace.
TCH
With all that said, two stories that should be shared. LP and I took a little journey over to Scotland in the early part of July for a mini-break and a conference presentation. The conference went quite well and LP and I got to experience our relationship in a foreign land: street maps, the intricacies of Edinburgh with Princes Street shut down, train tickets and short layovers as well as an angry French woman on the return flight who thought we tried to cheat her out of her seat, a bird we named Rupert, CapriSun on the window's overhang to get it cool, lots of walking, and, thankfully, no illnesses (so glad you made it, John) or explosions of small appliances. Overall, an excellent adventure and despite the above stresses we came back together and are going strong. Some of the hundreds of pictures are on Facebook, if you're interested.
Upon our return, a really good friend who was, sadly, unable to use her tickets to see Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan presented LP and I the opportunity to see these legends over in the ATL. LP, the day before the concert, discovered her new job would require some evening service and my good ole' buddy Jim graciously stepped in to her spot. There are plenty of things that could be said about this experience, but I will do my best to hold back. A quick summary will suffice for most of you, I think: journeyed over to Verizon Amph via the blue monster; grabbed a bite to eat at 5Seasons (pretty good white pizza); got to the concert at 5:50pm (it began at 5:30pm) and Willie was already on stage, where the warm-up act disappeared to, who knows?; Willie was great; bathroom break (Mellencamp was on); headlining...Bob Dylan, as this was the "Bob Dylan Show." The story would naturally climax here; and maybe it would have if I had seen Dylan 20, I'll even give him 5, years ago. The man we saw was a shadow of his former self, if that. I am NOT hating on Bob (so you people out there who were thinking...oh, just wait 'til I respond to this whipper snapper, don't, or do, I don't really care).
I am not the concert-goer who wants the cd performed exactly as was recorded; Willie didn't do it, and I loved it. The difference? I could tell that it was Willie Nelson performing. And don't give me the age and/or drugs argument...Willie is almost 10 years older than Bob and has had just as rough an on/off stage life. So what was my (and Jim's and over half the audiences' who left 2 songs in to Bob's set) problem? Bob showed up on stage, spoke his lyrics with words that were unintelligible even for Dylan, never once acknowledged the audience, played guitar on the opening song only, and blew the harmonica for maybe 30 seconds. I love Bob Dylan and am glad I got to see the man before he departs this world; I just wished a brighter image of the legend would have shown up.
Comments, as always, are welcome.
Cultivate peace.
TCH
Monday, June 29, 2009
Fields Closed: Excuse Me?
Well hello there bloggers. I had an experience today that has motivated me to end the silence and return once more to the blog. You're glad, I know.
After a very, very long day behind my computer editing a review article, getting more reliable internet for the apt, and sending a variety of emails, LP and I decided to stretch our legs by playing a nice little game of frisbee. The two of us enjoy the game like many people our ages and often feel quite de-stressed after an hour or two of throwin' the ole' frisbee around. I particularly get a kick out of the occasional click of LP's ring on the disc when I hurl it at her, no less than 60mph.
Today's trip was especially needed. As I said, I had been working all day, LP had been mathin' it up today as well. So we headed to the IM fields where we discovered a sign that we had seen too many times before. It stated simply: "Fields Closed" and was accompanied by some yellow "do not cross" police tape. Given the fact that people were on other fields with similar signage/tapage, LP and I ventured down the hill and got our frisbee on. We were having a grand time when there came Mr. Regulation. Now, I'm not positive about this, but his attitude seemed to reveal him to be nothing short of a cranky, shifty-eyed Republican. Let me explain...
He came prissing down the hill (normally a character trait of angered liberals I have to admit) shouting simply this: "Uh, guys, the fields are closed. The sign is right there...and its roped off." Hmm, I thought, strange fellow. Guess we should go. Then while walking to the Blue Monster, LP and I noticed all the people on other fields that were clearly marked "closed." Ugh! Then, the electronic sign that gives field and cage hours of operation was flashing: "ALL FIELDS CLOSED" With that, I was off to find someone to whom I could voice my outrage. All LP could say was, "be nice" when we found the very same green shirted, blonde-headed BOY that had shouted at us earlier. And what was he doing? Watching a softball game on a field that was "closed"! He no doubt saw us coming...and braced himself (thinking, of course, what they told him at IM training...when confronted by individuals, hold your ground and blame someone else). I bid him hello and stated that I had a question. I pressed the young chap: if the sign out front said "ALL FIELDS CLOSED" why then were these people and about 50-75 others on other fields allowed to continue on when our frisbee time simply had to be cut short. His response was classic: "Well, I don't make the rules and your field was clearly closed and roped off and, uhh, the sign out front is managed by the guys that work during the day and I'm only here to enforce the rules..." I acknowledged that he was correct that the field we were on was in fact closed, but so were these. All I wanted was some justice, some equity, some fair play. I was clearly not going to get it from Brad the Republican Discriminating Regulator so I wished him a good night and we left.
Was this not an outrageous display of injustice? Who makes these rules? Who's with me? Sigh.
TCH
After a very, very long day behind my computer editing a review article, getting more reliable internet for the apt, and sending a variety of emails, LP and I decided to stretch our legs by playing a nice little game of frisbee. The two of us enjoy the game like many people our ages and often feel quite de-stressed after an hour or two of throwin' the ole' frisbee around. I particularly get a kick out of the occasional click of LP's ring on the disc when I hurl it at her, no less than 60mph.
Today's trip was especially needed. As I said, I had been working all day, LP had been mathin' it up today as well. So we headed to the IM fields where we discovered a sign that we had seen too many times before. It stated simply: "Fields Closed" and was accompanied by some yellow "do not cross" police tape. Given the fact that people were on other fields with similar signage/tapage, LP and I ventured down the hill and got our frisbee on. We were having a grand time when there came Mr. Regulation. Now, I'm not positive about this, but his attitude seemed to reveal him to be nothing short of a cranky, shifty-eyed Republican. Let me explain...
He came prissing down the hill (normally a character trait of angered liberals I have to admit) shouting simply this: "Uh, guys, the fields are closed. The sign is right there...and its roped off." Hmm, I thought, strange fellow. Guess we should go. Then while walking to the Blue Monster, LP and I noticed all the people on other fields that were clearly marked "closed." Ugh! Then, the electronic sign that gives field and cage hours of operation was flashing: "ALL FIELDS CLOSED" With that, I was off to find someone to whom I could voice my outrage. All LP could say was, "be nice" when we found the very same green shirted, blonde-headed BOY that had shouted at us earlier. And what was he doing? Watching a softball game on a field that was "closed"! He no doubt saw us coming...and braced himself (thinking, of course, what they told him at IM training...when confronted by individuals, hold your ground and blame someone else). I bid him hello and stated that I had a question. I pressed the young chap: if the sign out front said "ALL FIELDS CLOSED" why then were these people and about 50-75 others on other fields allowed to continue on when our frisbee time simply had to be cut short. His response was classic: "Well, I don't make the rules and your field was clearly closed and roped off and, uhh, the sign out front is managed by the guys that work during the day and I'm only here to enforce the rules..." I acknowledged that he was correct that the field we were on was in fact closed, but so were these. All I wanted was some justice, some equity, some fair play. I was clearly not going to get it from Brad the Republican Discriminating Regulator so I wished him a good night and we left.
Was this not an outrageous display of injustice? Who makes these rules? Who's with me? Sigh.
TCH
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Death of a Great Man
This past week one of the greatest men I've ever known died. Watching life leave his body, making funeral arrangements, offering his eulogy, and knowing that my life would never be quite the same without him was powerful and almost too much. And yet, life goes on for the living.
Thanks friends for the calls, texts, emails, thoughts, and prayers.
TCH
Thanks friends for the calls, texts, emails, thoughts, and prayers.
TCH
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Update on the Politics of/in Torture: Cheney vs Ali Soufan...and history.
Well, if you missed Dick Cheney's recent interview on Face the Nation, here's a great summation of what the former VP thinks on looking back on his days as co-president. I direct your attention to two arguments of the presiDick's:
1. As I alluded to a few weeks back, Cheney is still clinging to that same tired "We kept America safe" line. The former VP relies far too heavily on an increasingly weak counter-factual assertion that the Bush administration's enhanced terror techniques, those that "were not torture," made and kept Americans safe. Cheney even presses Bob Schieffer to think of the grilling (no pun, maybe) he would have received had the administration not gone forward with torture. Oh, Dick, you are as Limbaugh suggests, "the lone voice."
2. Enhanced torture worked well. Proof? No attacks post-9.11. And even if it didn't, Cheney continues to feel that defying the U.S. Constitution and refusing our commitments to international law and treaty obligations was needed and legal during "a time of war." Shockingly, Cheney boldly compared the administration's actions to those of Lincoln's suspension of habeaus corpus and FDR's WWII Japanese internment camps and concluded that the torture he and Condi, Rummy, GW, et. al., designed/approved were not nearly as severe as American war time precedents. When Schieffer rightly states that those actions by both Lincoln and FDR are viewed by historians and constitutional law experts as illegal, Cheney echoes the logic of his fellow Dick, Tricky that is: We took seriously our role to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic...and that no one's civil liberties were being denied. Is anyone as outraged as I am by this defense of torture via the politics of fear and "safety"? Ever heard of human rights, Dick? Again, I don't care how many lives you say you saved. America, as a nation that prizes the rule of law, should not be engaged in torture... for any reason.
Given the testimony of former FBI agent Ali Soufan, a participant in the early interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, torture did NOT work as VP Cheney has proclaimed. Sorry no video has been posted yet (he testified before Congress this morning), but do read what Soufan had to say in a NYTimes op-ed, as well as this enlightening New Yorker profile by Lawrence Wright and an informative piece on Soufan's place inside an intelligence community hamstrung by the Bush administration's decisions that the U.S. should use torture. This last article can be found at the The Washington Independent.
Comment. Let me know what you think.
TCH
1. As I alluded to a few weeks back, Cheney is still clinging to that same tired "We kept America safe" line. The former VP relies far too heavily on an increasingly weak counter-factual assertion that the Bush administration's enhanced terror techniques, those that "were not torture," made and kept Americans safe. Cheney even presses Bob Schieffer to think of the grilling (no pun, maybe) he would have received had the administration not gone forward with torture. Oh, Dick, you are as Limbaugh suggests, "the lone voice."
2. Enhanced torture worked well. Proof? No attacks post-9.11. And even if it didn't, Cheney continues to feel that defying the U.S. Constitution and refusing our commitments to international law and treaty obligations was needed and legal during "a time of war." Shockingly, Cheney boldly compared the administration's actions to those of Lincoln's suspension of habeaus corpus and FDR's WWII Japanese internment camps and concluded that the torture he and Condi, Rummy, GW, et. al., designed/approved were not nearly as severe as American war time precedents. When Schieffer rightly states that those actions by both Lincoln and FDR are viewed by historians and constitutional law experts as illegal, Cheney echoes the logic of his fellow Dick, Tricky that is: We took seriously our role to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic...and that no one's civil liberties were being denied. Is anyone as outraged as I am by this defense of torture via the politics of fear and "safety"? Ever heard of human rights, Dick? Again, I don't care how many lives you say you saved. America, as a nation that prizes the rule of law, should not be engaged in torture... for any reason.
Given the testimony of former FBI agent Ali Soufan, a participant in the early interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, torture did NOT work as VP Cheney has proclaimed. Sorry no video has been posted yet (he testified before Congress this morning), but do read what Soufan had to say in a NYTimes op-ed, as well as this enlightening New Yorker profile by Lawrence Wright and an informative piece on Soufan's place inside an intelligence community hamstrung by the Bush administration's decisions that the U.S. should use torture. This last article can be found at the The Washington Independent.
Comment. Let me know what you think.
TCH
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Politics of/in Torture
Dearest TCHblog faithful,
Although I am apologetic for the neglect over the past few weeks, a personal update will have to wait. Instead, a short and hopefully thought-provoking post for the current situation the US finds itself in. Despite the information distributed via Fix News and the not-so-accurate-talking heads of Cheney, Gingrich, Fleischer, Hannity, and the rest, I have one question: even if torture (if you consider waterboarding torture as the US did when the Khmer Rogue used it against countless Cambodians) produced "useful" information, is it worth it?
Am I the lone liberal who feels that it would be nice if the O admin could get the general approach to this situation better coordinated? Between the Pres, his Chief of Staff and "full court Press" Sec, Americans, at least on the Left, expect more than retreating from "torture" to "enhanced interrogation techniques." If someone could find the signs that ring: "America, the greatest nation in the world" I've got some non-torture water and we'll all HOPE they were designed with waterproof ink.
Where is the transparency in all this, Pres Oby? Please don't make me agree with Cheney ever again...let's see all the memos. I have little doubt that they will only demonstrate further what the past administration authorized was in fact torture and that no matter political affiliation, those involved should be prosecuted. Please pay no attention to the "publishing these memos only lets our enemies know our interrogation tactics" crowd. Unless I missed it, you put a stop to those tactics, right? Now, for Dick. It looks to this ole' boy that former VP-man is betting on the O admin not releasing the memos; thus, he can, as he always has, claim whatever he wants (namely, that he and Bushy defended America better than anyone else ever has and ever will) buttressed by his "Oh, I've seen it, I was there, believe me, believe me" mantra. Finally, why would Americans (people who say they believe in the rule of law) want AG Holder to hold-off on appointing an IC to prosecute ALL those involved in this mess?
Finally, can we agree that those directly involved in writing Bushy's legal memos to legalize illegal "tactics" should not be federal judges?
For weeks, Rachel Maddow's coverage of all of this has been excellent.
TCH
Although I am apologetic for the neglect over the past few weeks, a personal update will have to wait. Instead, a short and hopefully thought-provoking post for the current situation the US finds itself in. Despite the information distributed via Fix News and the not-so-accurate-talking heads of Cheney, Gingrich, Fleischer, Hannity, and the rest, I have one question: even if torture (if you consider waterboarding torture as the US did when the Khmer Rogue used it against countless Cambodians) produced "useful" information, is it worth it?
Am I the lone liberal who feels that it would be nice if the O admin could get the general approach to this situation better coordinated? Between the Pres, his Chief of Staff and "full court Press" Sec, Americans, at least on the Left, expect more than retreating from "torture" to "enhanced interrogation techniques." If someone could find the signs that ring: "America, the greatest nation in the world" I've got some non-torture water and we'll all HOPE they were designed with waterproof ink.
Where is the transparency in all this, Pres Oby? Please don't make me agree with Cheney ever again...let's see all the memos. I have little doubt that they will only demonstrate further what the past administration authorized was in fact torture and that no matter political affiliation, those involved should be prosecuted. Please pay no attention to the "publishing these memos only lets our enemies know our interrogation tactics" crowd. Unless I missed it, you put a stop to those tactics, right? Now, for Dick. It looks to this ole' boy that former VP-man is betting on the O admin not releasing the memos; thus, he can, as he always has, claim whatever he wants (namely, that he and Bushy defended America better than anyone else ever has and ever will) buttressed by his "Oh, I've seen it, I was there, believe me, believe me" mantra. Finally, why would Americans (people who say they believe in the rule of law) want AG Holder to hold-off on appointing an IC to prosecute ALL those involved in this mess?
Finally, can we agree that those directly involved in writing Bushy's legal memos to legalize illegal "tactics" should not be federal judges?
For weeks, Rachel Maddow's coverage of all of this has been excellent.
TCH
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