Memo to Young Black Men

I ran across a fine short piece in the New York Daily News by an author I was unfamiliar with. His name is Stanley Crouch; and he called his piece "Memo to young black men: Please grow up." Here's a snippet:

Our culture has been overwhelmed by the adolescent cult of rebellion that emerges in a particularly stunted way from the world of rock 'n' roll. That simpleminded sense of rebelling against authority descended even further when hip hop fell upon us from the bottom of the cultural slop bucket in which punk rock curdled.

Hip hop began as some sort of Afro protest doggerel and was very quickly taken over by the gangster rappers, who emphasized the crudest materialism in which the ultimate goal was money and it did not matter how one got it. The street thug, the gang member, the drug dealer and the pimp became icons of sensibility and success. Then the attitudes of pimps took a high position and the pornographic version of hip hop in which women become indistinguishable bitches and hos made a full-court press on the rap "aesthetic."

Click on over there and view his impressive jazz credentials and read his piece.

Seymour Hersh on Iran

With the elections over, it's time to try to get our foreign policy back into the realm of truth and sanity.

Once again, the most excellent Seymour Hersh delivers another dose of those precious elements in a new piece in The New Yorker, "The Next Act: Is a damaged Administration less likely to attack Iran, or more?"

Invest a few minutes to read that, and you will be a much better-informed American citizen, able to give your elected federal representatives your opinions on our nation's course in the Middle East.

I do quibble with Seymour's acceptance of this piece of conventional wisdom:

Another critical issue for Gates will be the Pentagon’s expanding effort to conduct clandestine and covert intelligence missions overseas. Such activity has traditionally been the C.I.A.’s responsibility, but, as the result of a systematic push by Rumsfeld, military covert actions have been substantially increased.
. . . .
Such activities, if they are considered military rather than intelligence operations, do not require congressional briefings. For a similar C.I.A. operation, the President would, by law, have to issue a formal finding that the mission was necessary, and the Administration would have to brief the senior leadership of the House and the Senate.

Congress should not allow the President to go around the law this way when such "operations" are tantamount to acts of war, the declaring of which is the sole prerogative of the Congress.

As my last comment before you read Seymour's piece, this Dick Cheney person is every bit as guilty of fouling things up as Donald Rumsfeld and should be kicked out of the White House and sent back to presiding over the Senate as the Constitution provides.

Johanna Goldsmith, Call Me!

You've seen this:


UPDATE: All the rest of the links I had here have gone bad at last. Sorry.

Rise & Fall of the Ford Gang

[parody]

Reporter: I'm here with former Tennessee State Senator John Ford. Mr. Ford, will you show us your ankle monitor for the camera?

John Ford: No, but I'll show you my DICK, bitch!

[/parody]

[The real caption on this picture in the Memphis Flyer taken by Jackson Baker:]

As the Senate hopes of nephew Harold Ford Jr. went south, even Uncle John Ford was at a loss for an answer as to why.

jb

Jackson's piece, "Harold Ford's Imperfect Storm" is well worth a read. I just like my title and caption better.

UPDATE: The long version, "Turn, Turn, Turn ..."

Bloggers Get No Respect

I know a few of you have wondered what I really look like; so now that the election is over, I'm posting a pic of my real identity as a member of the pajamas media:

I know I speak for bloggers everywhere when I say: I want to be read; I love it when I see reporters, government agencies, and campaigns hitting my site; and I desire to be an inspiration to others and expect to have my ideas and work used -- that's why I blog.

But even if you don't always give me credit, I do expect you to give me proper respect.

Corker Saves Tennessee from Ford Family

The networks seem reluctant to realize that an experienced business and family man, former Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker, has saved the State of Tennessee from the Ford family of Memphis. Thank you, Bob; and I look forward to meeting you one of these days.

With 91% of precincts reporting, and all the Memphis/Shelby County bump in for the June Bug, CBS News has finally called the race for Corker.

Harold Ford, Sr. Approved "Democratic Ballot"

I thought y'all might like to see the Harold Ford, Sr. Approved Democratic Ballot being handed out today at the polls in Memphis. Click on the image for full size.  You will notice that officially "independent" candidate Jake Ford is on this alleged "Democratic Ballot" and that Ophelia Ford is on there too now. If you yellow dog Democrats and "enlightened" independents and Republicans elect any of these Fords despite this infidelity to the nomination process, then you will get the leadership you deserve.

Thanks to John Farmer and Roberta Gonzalez for the scan.

Corker v. Ford Predictions

I'm collecting election eve predictions on tomorrow's results after the real poll.

Feel free to add yours in the comments.

Markos Moulitsas at his Daily Kos: "Tennessee: 8-point Corker (R) win"

Jay Bush at Blogging for Corker: "Bob Corker 53%, Harold Ford, Jr. 46%, Independent/Other 1%"

Adam Carter Kleinheider at Volunteer Voters: "Yes, the polls favor Corker and I believe that Corker will end up victorious but certainly not by ten points and likely not even five."
Update: "Here's how it will go: Corker 51% Ford 48%"

Bill Hobbs: "Corker 53% Ford 46%"

Check back today for updates.

Mendacity

Like Brick in Tennessee Williams' great play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I'm sick of the smell of mendacity in the atmosphere as this election year comes to a close. But like Big Daddy, I accept it as part of life. Here are some lines from the movie script:

Big Daddy: What are you disgusted with?

Brick: Mendacity! Do you know what that is? It's lies and liars!

Big Daddy: Who's been lying to you? Maggie?

Brick: No, not one lie or one person. The whole thing.

Big Daddy: Mendacity! What do you know about mendacity? I could write a book on it. Mendacity! Look at the lies I've got to put up with. Pretenses, hypocrisy! Pretending like I care for Big Mama. I haven't tolerated her in years. Church! It bores me, but I go. All those swindling lodges, social clubs, and money-grabbing auxiliaries ... that's got me on their number one sucker list. Boy, I've lived with mendacity. Why can't you live with it? You've got to. There's nothing to live with but mendacity. Is there?

---------------------------------------

Big Daddy: What's that smell in this room? Didn't you notice it, Brick? Didn't you notice the powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity?

Brick: Yes, sir, I think I did.

Big Daddy: Ain't nothing more powerful than the odor of mendacity.

---------------------------------------

Maggie: I'll win, alright.

Brick: Win what? What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?

Maggie: Just staying on it, I guess. As long as she can.

Disinformation Campaign

First, refresh your knowledge with the brief Wikipedia piece on disinformation:

Disinformation, in the context of espionage, military intelligence, and propaganda, is the spreading of deliberately false information to mislead an enemy as to one's position or course of action.
. . . .
Unlike propaganda or the Big Lie technique designed to engage emotional support, disinformation is designed to manipulate the audience at the rational level by either discrediting conflicting information or supporting false conclusions.
. . . .
Disinformation should not be confused with misinformation, which is not deliberate; i.e., the person or news source forwarding the information doesn't know it's not true and/or actually believes it; thus, disinformation can be relayed as misinformation if the one relaying the message is not aware that the originator of the message deliberately manufactured false information and offered it up for distribution.

Now, we seem to be having a last-minute battle of the polls in the Tennessee Senate contest:

One such survey, the Rasmussen poll, which had shown an almost overnight gap of seven points added to what had been a one-point lead for Corker, was being rethought, Ford said. So unprecedented was the change, said Ford, that "Rasmussen’s going back to do his poll.”

That and other “public polls” were showing results at variance with more scientific surveys being taken by the two parties, Ford said, insisting that all of them, including those commissioned by opponent Corker or by the Republican National Committee, showed a dead heat.

Now how would Junior know what Corker's or the RNC's private polls are showing? From what intelligence agencies call a "mole"?

The term "mole" is also commonly used to describe anyone working in one organization, seeking access to confidential information that they will pass to the organization for whom they really work.

But is the mole a double agent or being duped? Or is this just a disinformation bluff by Ford?

Asked if the one-sided poll results might have a chilling effect on voter turnout, Ford said there was “no doubt” that “Karl Rove, Bob Corker, and the RNC [Republican National Committee]” want to use the figures “to influence” the outcome.

“This is what it’s about," he said “It’s about voter turnout.” He added, “Karl Rove just left Nashville two days ago."

Hmmmmm.... Junior, neither you, your dad, nor your lovely and gracious communications director can successfully match wits with Karl Rove in the propaganda department. I told you after the August Primary not to play games on the people of Tennessee.

UPDATE: Courtesy of pollster.com, Rasmussen's "redone" poll, 500 likely voters, ending 11/4, automated phone: Corker 51%, Ford 47%.

RIP Sputnik Monroe

Memphis Eyewitness News 24/30 brings us this requiem for a heavyweight:

One of the top pro wrestlers in the Mid-South, Sputnik Monroe, has died.

Monroe died Friday morning, November 3, 2006, of natural causes. He was 78 years old.
. . . .
Memphis Wrestling will have a special tribute on the life of Sputnik Monroe Saturday, November 4, at 10pm on CW30.

For those who grew up in Memphis in the 50's and 60's, as I did, Sputnik Monroe was a household word. Look, there wasn't a lot to watch on Saturday morning TV back then, OK? Now it seems some indie band somehow came up with the same name.

Anyway, here's a nice bio on Sput; and NPR's Morning Edition did a segment on Sput, too, with interviews and a podcast. Because that 2001 segment was done before NPR started offering Windows Media versions, you'll have to have RealPlayer installed. Another requiem for Sput.

Rest in peace, Sput. You were a great entertainer.

Harold Ford: Disloyal Democrat

Chris Davis of the Memphis Flyer just came off vacation with a truly fine piece of writing:

Unless Bob Corker's daughters appear in a legitimate Girls Gone Wild commercial sometime in the next three days, it seems very likely that the miniature former mayor of Chattanooga will be going to D.C. and that Harold Ford Jr. will be coming home to -- wherever it is he actually considers home. Why? Because a candidate who runs as a Democrat but fails to support his fellow Democrats runs on a platform, not of centrism, but of disloyalty. And because even if the national media chooses to tell another story, a goodly number of west Tennesseans know where the worst politics is being played, and who is behind it all.

The mainstream media sounded like Air America last week (and Air America sounded like idiots) when somebody sniffed a hint of racism in the RNC's now infamous "Call Me" ad. Snapping at that red herring, they've all missed the boat on Tennessee's truly racist front. By not endorsing Steve Cohen or at the very least denouncing the racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic tactics being used against his fellow Democratic nominee and on behalf of his brother, Harold Ford Jr. is complicit in racist games far more insidious overt and defamatory than anything in the RNC's shady little commercial.

Go here for the whole piece; and Chris extends his remarks on his blog.

Harold Ford Jr. Sure Can Pick 'Em

UPDATE: Someone tell me in comments where all these hits on this post are coming from lately!

Sorry, couldn't resist this one; and Julia Baugher Allison likes and needs the publicity. So let me share this classy pic with you and the background for it. Thanks for the flash, Julia. And honey, I can make you forget all about how he disappointed you in the sack.

Dearest Gawker,
Kiss my ass. :-)
xoxo
Your Best Friend
Julia

The background: Field Guide: Julia Allison; Team Party Crash: Pre-Halloween Weekend Triple Play; and This Week in Commenter Executions (all on Gawker).

UPDATE: "How Harold Ford's Impulsive Love For White Women Cost Him - And Black America - A U.S. Senate Seat," by Shay at Booker Rising. H/T to Thaddeus Matthews and his "Now That JR1 Has Lost His Seat In Congress,Will White Women Give Him Up?" post.

Did Harold Ford Sr. Vote in Memphis Again?

I can't say for sure because John Harvey won't give me the screen capture from the early voters list.

He doesn't want me to get more hits than he does.