Date

Letters to Dear Crabby

barbara — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:07:21 -0600

Dear Crabby:
Recently, Jim Webb (senator-elect from Virginia) was at a White House reception, hosted by the First Snark. Recognizing that propinquity would almost certainly generate sparks, Webb tried to steer clear of the sneer. But as luck would have it, his path intersected with that of George W. Bush. You know the one? The man whose personal war has been a death sentence for American military personnel and a hundred thousand others, give or take? Read on.

Why the Iraq Study Group ain't gonna save us

lynnell — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:41:35 -0600

I'm not a libertarian or Ayn Rand fan, (although I have empathy for the kind of hybrid form of libertarian-Democrat that Kos talks about here.

Save the last dance for me redux

barbara — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 10:00:17 -0600

by barbara
Any bets on who John McCain's VP running mate might be? Look no farther (or is it further?) than Minnesota. Yes, I'm serious. Minnesota. Home of two U.S. vice presidents (Humphrey, Mondale). Both of them Democrats, by the way. It grieves me to have to point that out. Minnesota used to be a state so deep, dark blue it would never have been necessary. Finally, though, were recovering from Le Peste Rouge. We held our collective breath and sure enough, Minnesota has taken on a new blue hue. Read on.

The City That Never Sleeps

susan — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:09:03 -0600

The trouble with NYC isn't that it never sleeps, it's that I don't either when I'm here. I guess that's the metaphorical leap we're supposed to be making with that tune.
I've been in NYC for the last 6 days, visiting family, friends and museums, walking the length of Central Park, going with grandsons to the palaces of over-consumption, gawking at the marvel of so many people managing day after day to get to wherever they go, and without major mishaps.

Taking back America

barbara — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 07:09:19 -0600

(Photograph from The New York Times)
by barbara
In yesterdays New York Times, Paul Krugman mused about the failure of Americans to go mano a mano with George W. Bush. Krugman praised the cojones of Jim Webb, senator-elect from Virginia. Webb is also father of a son currently serving in Iraq. As you may recall, when the First Boor approached Webb recently and sneered, "So, hows your boy?", Webb told Bush to back off. Read on.

Media whores and what they wrought---for better and worse.

lynnell — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 10:30:23 -0600

by Lynnell Mickelsen
I agree with Barbara's post below. I've spent much of the last six years, asking the same questions: Where is the press? Why did they roll over and play patsy while Bush lied us into this disastrous war, looted the U.S. treasury by handing billions of our tax dollars to his cronies in the form of no-bid contracts to companies like Halliburton and stripped away our core constitutional rights?

Pliant mass media, part 3

susan — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 13:53:33 -0600

by susan lenfestey
Wading in on Barb's and Lynnell's posts, I'd like to point out that some in the mass media did their jobs well. Okay, maybe just a handful, and those mostly in the magazine world, like Hendrik Hertzberg, Jane Mayer and Seymour Hersh, all in the New Yorker. But in general, there was much better information to be had from the mags like Harpers, Atlantic and even in the shifting sands of the New Republic. Read on.

Oh, what a tangled web

barbara — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:11:35 -0600

by barbara
I debated whether to watch the video clip making the rounds of George H.W. Bush dissolving in tears the other day. You can check it out yourself here, if you like. Bush the elder was addressing a gathering at Jeb Bushs final leadership forum before he steps down as governor of Florida. And in the midst of his remarks about his sons fine qualities, Poppy lost it. More than once, in fact. I did watch the clip. Such high potential for schadenfreude and attendant snarking. Takes very little to set me off these days, in case you hadnt noticed. But the video blindsided me because it made me sad. Read on.

Yesterday

barbara — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 06:54:37 -0600

by barbara
Davids 92-year-old mother entered hospice care two days ago. Norovirus has been running rampant in her nursing home. That, along with several years of steadily declining health, mounted a severe challenge to Martes fragile body. Please read on.

Butterfly Effect

susan — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:56:10 -0600

by susan
If a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon, it's said to change the weather world-wide. And so it is here at the Clothesline. A 95-year-old woman flutters her eyes and slips away (see Barb's beautiful post below) and suddenly we have no linen to hang on the line. Goes to show you how much of the laundry gets done by beloved Barb.

Seriously under-wowed by Obama

lynnell — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:23:51 -0600

by Lynnell Mickelsen
Call me a crank, but Im just not willing to jump on the Obama bandwagon yet. No, I aint harboring no secret love for Joe Biden (I prefer open loathing), Tom Vilsack (So last millennium; still wearing those godawful DLC ties) or progressive perennial Dennis Kucinich. And dont even get me started on Hillary.

Murder-schmurder.......will ya check out those economic growth rates

lynnell — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:28:15 -0600

by Lynnell Mickelsen
Blogger John Aravois goes after the Washington Post lead editorial which brushes off the murder of thousands of Chilean citizens as a relatively mild price to pay for getting the economy right.

What Lynnell said

barbara — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:53:24 -0600

by barbara
Crikey! Lynnell said out loud (see below) what's been floating around in the back of my frazzled brain for quite a while. Actually, ever since Obama was in MN for the Humphrey Dinner. Everyone was all a'twitter about him, and I felt like a mega-harrumpher for being underwhelmed. I thought there must be something seriously wrong with me. Now Im not so sure. Read on

Obama, Round Three. In Defense of Charisma

susan — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 10:38:33 -0600

by susan
Crikey, Barb beat me to the punch in responding to Lynnell, so forgive me for recapitulating some of her points. But I'm here to stand up for star power -- even though, like Barb, my first choice to be president is Al Gore. But my first choice to win the presidency is -- someone else. Not sure yet, really. But below are my caffeinated thoughts on the popularity of Obama. Read on.

Letter to God

susan — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:47:13 -0600

by susan
Okay, I don't do this often, and I don't write to Santa or the Easter Bunny either, for the same reason. But remember how I ended my last post, saying as a child of the sixties I've learned not to trust political good fortune? So here we are, with poor Tim Johnson hanging on by a hair and the balance of power in the senate back up for grabs. If for any reason Johnson cannot serve, Gov. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a foaming-at-the-mouth Republican, will appoint someone to serve out the rest of his term, which ends in 2008. Read on

Friday mixed load

barbara — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:14:08 -0600

by barbara
South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson is reported to be having an uneventful recovery from his brain surgery yesterday. He is responding to the voice of his wife (among others), and reaching for her hand. It has been a long time since the life of one man carried so much weight concerning the future of our country. May he recover fully, whether or not he chooses to complete his term of office. This one is totally out of our hands. Read on.

Republican vultures circling Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota)

lynnell — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:16:53 -0600

by Lynnell Mickelsen
Well, excuuuse me, but whatever happened to the so-called GOP Culture of Life? I mean, these are the same people who kept insisting Terri Schaivo was a vibrant young woman, never mind the little 15-year coma thing. After watching her on video tape, Senate Majority Leader and part-time gorilla surgeon Bill Frist gave her a thumbs up and famously dismissed her doctors reports that she was in a persistent, vegetative state.

The New Way Forward............ God help us, it's not as if we haven't seen this movie before.

lynnell — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 20:23:47 -0600

by Lynnell Mickelsen
BarbinMD over at Daily Kos gives us an up-close look at what appears to be Bush's new strategy in Iraq, i.e. the surge..

Waiting and watching and hoping

barbara — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:07:57 -0600

by barbara
Its the Christian season of advent. The season of hope, anticipation, joy. A time of waiting for something important to happen. In this case, its about waiting for the birth of the Messiah, the Christ. Which already occurred more than 2,000 years ago, but its cause for an annual celebration of immense proportions.

Another Hum-Drum Day in Iraq

susan — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:56:24 -0600

by Susan Lenfestey
Iraq's former minister of electricity (under interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi) has been sprung from jail. He was being held on 13 charges of corruption, all concerning an estimated $2 billion in missing funds for contracts on rebuilding the country's electrical infrastructure.

I'm Sorry

susan — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:28:09 -0600

Today a piece I wrote ran in the Star Tribune and also on commondreams.org. In it I put the number of Iraqi civilians killed in Iraq at 46,000.

A little light reading

barbara — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 07:57:57 -0600

by barbara
The last time I read George Orwells "1984," it still seemed like futuristic improbability. I picked it up again a few days ago to read as I recover from the flu. (Pause for a chorus of, "Oh, you poor dear thing!") I would like to point out that "1984" is definitely not an antidote for Norovirus. Published in 1949, Orwells eerie novel peppers the pages with ghosts of Christmas yet to come. And in some ways, it seems that the Orwellian Christmas time is here, now. Read on.

Pastor Dan's "Why I Hate Christmas: A Contest"

lynnell — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:24:32 -0600

by Lynnell Mickelsen
I'm a crank about Christmas. I don't like the presents, pagents, consumerism, ads, kitschiness, the godawful carol muzak in the stores and on and on.
Of course, the Grinch was right---you can't stop Christmas from coming. So if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em. Plus I have kids. So I put up lights and greenery, host a big dinner on Christmas Eve, put up the tree, buy some gifts, hang stockings. And on some level, it's fine. It's great. It's a wonderful life, goddam it,

Why I Like Christmas

susan — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:47:35 -0600

by Susan
Well now, children, it's all well and good to be cranky over Christmas, but maybe we need to cheer up around here. I've been described by some local lads (who blog under phony names and remind me of the pimple-pussed boys I used to see playing war games in the Dungeons and Dragons emporium on Lake Street a long, long time ago) as a depressive, "sucking on the tailpipe of my Prius." In my dreams! The Prius part. Sucking on the tailpipe, not so much. Read on.

Festivus for the rest of us?

barbara — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:11:11 -0600

by barbara
It is the season of flu, light deprivation, freezing rain and Festivus. Yes, Festivus. That formerly ficticious holiday got legs on a 1997 Seinfeld episode. Festivus is usually celebrated on December 23, but other dates in December work, too. Its slogan is A Festivus for the rest of us! The visual symbol of Festivus is an unadorned aluminum pole"a nod to anti-holiday-materialism. The Airing of Grievances is a major feature of Festivus, wherein each person tells everyone else who is present all the ways they've disappointed them over the past year. After the Festivus dinner (usually meatloaf) come the Feats of Strength. Festivus officially ends when the head of the household is wrestled to the floor and pinned. Read on.

Homeland Insecurity

susan — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 02:37:41 -0600

by Susan
I was going to be festive, and I will resume being festive, shortly. But before I drag my tired old bones off to bed, I have to SHOUT this from the roof top. Why is this buried in the National Briefing section of the NYTimes? (Sorry, no link, I read this on the inky page, December 22.)

A secular song for the season

barbara — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 11:01:19 -0600

by barbara
Oh, holy cow!
The planet is unravling.
It is the work
Of our president, George.
By whom I mean
The arrogant pretender,
And not the hero
Who served at Valley Forge.
Sing on!

The Narcissist-in-Chief

lynnell — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 15:05:33 -0600

by Lynnell Mickelsen
He's not delusional. He's disordered. At least that's what psychiatrist Paul Minot over at Kos says.
There! I feel so much better. Actually, I don't. But this post makes enormous sense and it explains a) why Bush, waist-deep in the big muddy in Iraq, has decided to ignore the Iraq Study Group and dig a deeper hole, ; b) why he may attack Iran next, never mind the November election results, the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the fact that the plan is bat-shit crazy; c) why Bush sleeps so well at night and smirks so much during the day, despite his responsibility for the deaths of thousands of people; d) why he likes to surround himself with syncophants; and e) how this relates to being a dry-drunk; f) and (I would argue, as a former evangelical) why Bush is so popular among conservative evangelical leaders, who can easily relate to Bush's holier-than-thou-lack-of-empathy-man-on-a-mission-appointed by God stuff. (Answer: because the same diagnosis applies.)

Tennyson got it right

barbara — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:07:57 -0600

Popular demand requires Clotheslineblog to bring you Tennyson redux. (Okay, one person wondered out loud where the bell thing went.) Do read it all. It's an apt descriptor of current time. Paraphrasing Gerald Ford, one can only hope that our long national nightmare is nearly over. Read Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Ring out, wild bells!

The man in the blue surge suit

barbara — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:59:22 -0600

by barbara
I was devastated when Bill Watterson shut down "Calvin and Hobbes." C&H was much more than comic page fodder. It was a wonderfully snarky slice olife, viewed through the eyes of Calvin (a wild child with attitude) and Hobbes (his omnipresent stuffed tiger). Remember these two? Read more.

Spin cycle

barbara — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 11:43:20 -0600

Attention, please! This just in: the latest spin gem from the heart of the White House:
Five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden is still at large -- but that's not a failure of White House policy, says Frances Fragos Townsend. As she explained to CNN's White House correspondent Ed Henry last night: Read it and weep.

It is over (?)

barbara — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:04:08 -0600

by barbara
The year is winding down and Saddam Hussein is dead. Far as we know. Strange how we have come to a place in time where every news story is subject to skepticism. Even when there are credible witnesses. Its a darn shame we didnt get here sooner. But I digress. Read on.

Happy New Year

susan — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 15:23:13 -0600

by susan lenfestey
It's raining in Minnesota when it should be snowing, and the Sunday papers are spread around this post-Christmas kitchen, where the last of the gifted spritz cookies sit under their foil wraps as crispy as the balsam fir in the living room. The pages of the papers are covered with photos of Gerald Ford and Saddam Hussein -- with the occasional shot of James Brown tossed in, as inconsequential to the big picture as the green sparkles on those dry cookies.