Beautiful Horizons

Dear God

Apparently the stupidity and incoherence of Sarah Palin infests her staff:

For the sake of our discourse can we please stop using asinine sports metaphors such as the one that shows up around minute four in the video above.

Just for the record, Ms. Stapleton, yes, a point guard will pass the ball to someone else, but they don't often pass the bill then vacate the court, leaving their team to play four against five.

What utter idiocy.

The Real Issue With the Honduran Coup

Regardless of how one feels about Manuel Zelaya, the idea, after all Latin America has been through over the centuries, that political differences are to be settled by calling in the military to peremptorily remove the president and exile - in violation of the law - should horrify anyone who supports democracy in Latin America.

The right-wing as exemplified by the reliably clueless Mary Anastasia O'Grady, and the silly-assed Alvaro Vargas Llosa applaud the fact that the coup leaders simply took the easy way out: instead of meeting and attempting to negotiate and iron out their differences, they really on the military to solve the problem. So while O'Grady and the hijo of Mario Vargas Llosa applaud this move, what would they say if a similar act took place against their beloved Alvaro Uribe who is also seeking to extend his mandate? I have no doubt that they would be screaming about the injustice and calling on the OAS to act. So would I, and that is probably the major difference between us.

The side they support, by the way, appears to be openly racist towards our president. This is the company the likes of O'Grady and company are keeping.

Have a Safe Fourth

Unlike these folks:

Mom, You Were Wrong

According to the Honduran military, two wrongs do, in fact, make a right.

Necrophilia

This is a scene from the 74th and Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Jackson Heights, the stop where I get on an off every day. It was taken this afternoon and it has been the same scene every afternoon this week:

They are watching ancient Michael Jackson videos being broadcast by a record store in the station.

Enough already. Read a book, hug somebody, get a life, do something productive.

By the way, I'm glad to see this article by the brilliant Kelefa Sanneh. If you were alive in the 1970's you knew Soul Makossa. Say whatever you want about Michael  Jackson in this instance he was hardly an original. The fact that Manu Dibango had to pursue MJ to protect his rights as MJ used his material without crediting him (Rihanna apparently may have done the same) is inexcusable. We all know what the word to describe someone who uses someone else's property is. Manu Dibango is a classy guy.

Can we also get rid of the "sampling" euphemism, please? If someone else created something and you used it without crediting it, you're copying, or to be more accurate, plagiarizing.

Funny

HT:TPM

The Real Tragedy Here

I have assiduously avoided commenting on Michael Jackson as I could really care less.

There are scores of far more talented musicians who died far too long before their time through no fault of their own. I feel far more inclined to mourn the early passings of Clifford Brown, Michael Brecker, Lee Morgan, Charles Mingus, Gary McFarland and Bill Evans. But of course they never have gotten the attention of a Michael Jackson.

One of the sweeter benefits of living in New York are the museums. Although the major museums in the city such as MOMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Natural History and the Whitney Museum, among others are in Manhattan, many more are scattered around the city.

In my neighborhood less than a mile away is the Louis Armstrong House Museum. About a week ago Mercia and I were looking for the exact location of this museum during a bicycle ride. We knew we were on the right block and asked several  people in the neighborhood, none of whom seemed to know, Finally, I asked an African-American man and he looked at me strangely and said "How am I supposed to know where he lives? I don't even know him!"

Rather than explain I just turned away. With the endless coverage of the death of MJ, I still believe the real tragedy is that a young man had no idea who one of the greatest entertainers in the history of music was.

Just when you thought Michael Jackson commentary must have bottomed out...

...in the annals of rank stupidity, Limbaugh weighs in:

Some More Honduras Links

My buddy Erik Loomis was hiking the Appalachian Trail is traveling through Central America and happened to be in Honduras the day of the coup He has some interesting perspectives here as does Mr. Trend here.

Steven Taylor asks some sensible questions. Greg Weeks has been all over the story with a bizarre twist, calls attention to the question of US Aid, and asks a mind-numbingly obvious question.

Some General Thoughts About the Coup

I'm beginning to wonder if my commenters in the previous thread have taken leave of their senses and welcome a return to the bad old days of military overthrows.

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. If that is the path you choose, you forfeit all right to complain when it is used against your side.

You don't get to pick and choose which military overthrows of elected governments are acceptable to your individual preferences/beliefs. They're all bad. Whether President Zelaya overreached or not is a matter to be settled via due process, not by sending the military to throw a man out of his country in his pajamas.

Boz nails it here:

The interim Micheletti government in Honduras has not helped itself by issuing a curfew, censoring the media and breaking up protests. Their attempts to claim democratic legitimacy don't look particularly convincing when they decide to shut down pro-Zelaya media outlets and censor the international coverage entering the country. The only remotely positive thing they've done is call for presidential elections in November as scheduled, but that doesn't negate the fact that the government could be an unelected regime for the next six months.

Read the whole thing.

"Other than that, how did you enjoy the theater, Mrs. Lincoln?"

Roger Ebert went to see the "Transformers II" movie so you don't have to.  One of the most dyspeptic and hilarious movie reviews of all time.

Speaking of Disarmament

Greg is absolutely right in this post with this comment:

It is depressing to see more and more countries circling around Latin America, looking for good conventional weapons markets. There just aren't real threats--even when Hugo Chávez blustered about sending tanks to the Colombian border, no one took it seriously. In addition, the global economic crisis is hitting developing countries quite hard, and this money should be channeled elsewhere.

I also want to extrapolate on the point that Greg makes with regard to the copper law in Chile. Specifically, it provides for 10% of the earnings of the state-owned copper company, CODELCO to be earmarked for Chile's military. You read right: it's earnings, not profits.

This is a Pinochet-era holdover, yet it remains. With the stench of corruption still emanating from the revelations of Pinochet's ill-gotten riches, one would think that the government would be eager - along with the public - to put an end to this.

They ought to do so - and soon.

Honduran Coup

Boz (in particular), Adam, Greg, Steven Taylor and Matthew Shugart all have the latest on the Honduran coup, including legal analysis (by Shugart) and Boz's Twitter feed is a great source for updates.

Adam tips me to the OAS's official response, which is spot on. They are acknowledging their responsibilities under the terms of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Good for them. So is the Obama administration. Even better.

There appears to be unanimous condemnation of the coup.

Adam also tips me to this disproving of a long-held belief (at least in this instance). Perhaps what we'll learn from this is that what should be encouraged in Latin America is disarmament.

What I can gather about Zelaya is that he may very well have overreached and that he had made a lot of enemies. There is, however, a solution for this: laws. Given the region's literally tortured history, the military should never ever take a role in deciding who is in power except to restore a legitimately elected government.

Can Miracles Happen? - Updated

Before I could start this post the US is ahead 1-0. Now the key is to keep your foot on the accelerator, don't commit stupid mistakes and control the midfield: possession,possession, possession. The burden of expectations is squarely on Brazil.

As for the third place game, it was arguably the most exciting one I have ever seen.

UPDATE:

It was a tale of two halves. The US clearly outplayed Brazil in the first half and Brazil clearly outplayed the US in the second half - and scored more goals. Clearly the key to the game was surrendering the goal early in the second half. Brazil's depth was a factor also. When the US can have players the likes of Elano and Dani Alves to come off the bench, they'll be in good shape.

All in all, however, a respectable effort.

Despite the Right Reverend David Broder's strange Beltway theology, "Bi-Partisan" isn't something God intended

Steve Benen explains it here.

Astounding Wingnuttery

First, this bit of hate mail at Daily Kos.

Then, buried deep within this article is the following bit of information:

Merrill Metzger, who worked for the group for six months just as it was getting started in 2007, said Ms. Forde had often traveled from Washington to Arizona with weapons. In March, while stopping over at his home in Redding, Calif., she presented a plan for the group to undertake, Mr. Metzger, her half-brother, said in a telephone interview.

“She was sitting here talking about how she was going to start an underground militia and rob drug dealers,” he said.

Mr. Metzger quit the group, alarmed, he said, by a number of things, including Ms. Forde’s demand for extreme loyalty, right down to the choice of cuisine.

“I had to take an oath, and part of the oath was that I couldn’t eat Mexican food,” he said. “That’s when red flags went up all over for me. That seemed like prejudice.”

Yes it did, because clearly refusing to eat a foreign cuisine is a far greater sign of prejudice than hunting down that same nation's citizens.

I can't make this up

The Right's Historical Amnesia

History according to the right, with apologies to Pastor Martin Niemöller:

"First they installed Reza Shah Pahlavi. I did not speak because I really couldn't care less.

"Then they installed his son Reza Mohammed Pahlavi. I did not speak because he did our bidding.

"Then they overthrew a democratically elected leader. Mohammed Moosadegh. I did not speak because my source of cheap oil was protected.

"Then Reza Pahlavi created SAVAK. I did not speak because he was our s.o.b.

"Then he spent lavishly on himself and his Pharaonic projects while so many were unemployed. I did not speak because oil was still cheap.

"Then he was overthrown. I spoke up because they took our citizens hostage.

"The Iran was invaded by Iraq and Ronald Reagan became a supporter of Saddam Hussein who was committing war crimes by using poison gas against Iran. I did not speak because everything Reagan did was correct.

"Then Reagan sold weapons to Iran - considered by his own administration to be a terrorist state -  to finance an illegal war in Central America. I did not speak because was incapable of ever doing anything wrong.

"Then George Bush invaded Iraq, strengthening Iran in the region. I did not speak because Saddam had suddenly become a bad man after invading Kuwait and of course Reagan still could do no wrong.

"Then Mahmoud Ahmadinejad participated in a farcical election and the people who I had joked about bombing, whose nation I was foaming at the mouth to invade needed only our president to verbally challenge Ahmadinejad and he would fold like a lawn chair because a show of testicular fortitude would make him cringe.

"But then there was no on left to listen because everyone saw it for the cheap and rank bit of political opportunism that it was."

I'm Speechless and Stunned

All day long I went around the office and told people "Don't tell me the score; I'm recording the game."

Thankfully, my coworkers held up their end of things and I am in joyous shock! I happen to be a big fan of Spain's team and was thrilled when they beat Germany to win the Euro 2008 Final, but this is so, so, sweet.

Bring on Brazil! :-)

Don't Cry for Mark Sanford, Argentina

In my heart of hearts, I really care less about Mark Sanford's private life, other than the fact that he should resign, because as Marc Cooper notes, he was AWOL. I also note that Marc beat me to mentioning this, but Sanford apparently believes in stimulus for his own package, but not for his constituents.

What bothers me above all is the hypocrisy of the self-proclaimed "family values" crowd that places so little value on their own families: Salamander Gingrich, John Ensign, David Livingston, David Vitter, Jimmy Swaggart and any number of others. Also the tone of the whining wankfest at Red State is a hoot (hat tip to commenter Listener).

My advice: man up boys; grow a pair.

Nixon's Racist Views on Abortion

As Hilzoy points out Nixon's views towards abortion post Roe v Wade are horridly racist:

Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster "permissiveness," and said that "it breaks the family." But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases, such as interracial pregnancies.

"There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white," he told an aide, before adding: "Or a rape.""

One can only wonder at how horrified he would be to know that a biracial man was now President. It's almost enough to make me wish he were still around.

Back tomorrow with more.