I have little to say about the Kabuki theater that is Elliot Spitzer’s fall from grace, so aptly summed up is the situation by my man Motherwell over here. But it does tie in to a larger point–if a former Attorney General and current Governor of one of the most powerful states in the country can be brought down by a wiretap this easily, what chance does anyone have in this, the modern surveillance state?

Because that’s what this is, folks. We’re living in a surveillance society now, our every move tracked, our emails catalogued, our phone calls traced, our Web sites marked for future reference. It doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad, they know when you’re sleeping and awake. And they know who your friends are, who you speak to, where you go, what you buy, and what you do with all of it.

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It is bitterly disappointing on so many levels when a hero develops feet of clay — or, in Eliot Spitzer’s case, a penis of clay.

The rawness of my chagrin and dismay is difficult to express. But it begins with covering Massachusetts politics as a journalist in the ’70s and ’80s. My newsroom godfather taught me to be skeptical of politicians. Always ask, Neil said, about the motives for their actions. Is it fame? Is it power? Is it access? Is it because we can? Is it because we won’t get caught? The motive rarely seemed to be because it will benefit my constituents, not me.

I know my attitude expresses cynicism far more than skepticism. But Gov. Spitzer began to smell more like a dead cod at low tide long before Client No. 9 needed to purchase the professional attentions of a young woman named Kristen to fully erect his ego.
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by A Siegel

I consider Dr. Slammy one of those thoughtful bloggers that any/all can gain from reading and considering. Yesterday, he sent An open letter to Progressive America. This piece, very worth reading, lays out Dr. Slammy’s regret for his non-vote in 2000.

I’d like to begin with a confession: I didn’t vote in 2000. It’s the only presidential election since I turned 18 that I’ve sat out, and I’m more than embarrassed about it. It remains one of the biggest mistakes of my political life, and that’s saying something. The fact that my participation wouldn’t have made any difference (I lived in Massachusetts at the time) affords no solace, nor should it. I was stupid. I fucked up. Period.

Dr Slammy then looks back on how the world and US government might have been different with Al Gore in the Oval Office. He makes a powerful appeal for all Clinton and all Obama supporters to understand the clear difference between a choice between the Democratic candidate (whichever it might be) come November and John McCain. Full story »

The serious bands get all the respect. All the critical acclaim. All the love from all the right people. Which is probably as it should be.

But for every Beatles there’s at least one or two Rolling Stones, bands that aren’t terribly respectable and that clearly aren’t worried about cultivating an intellectual legacy. Sometimes you even get a little Beatles and a little Stones in the same band. In an interview years ago with the members of YNOT?! I raised the question of lyrical subject matter. Front man Paul Lewis handled all the words, and he brought a serious social consciousness to the process. But drummer Steve Miller said “I don’t know why we can’t just do songs about getting drunk and getting laid.” Full story »