Is it possible to be too cool?

I don't mean in a badass cool kind of way. Everyone knows it is impossible to be too cool in that way.

I'm talking about in a passionate sort of way. President Obama has a reputation as a relatively unflappable guy. We can never know what he's like in person, but his public persona is definitely one that might include words like "cucumber" and "ice." Personally, I've always liked that about him. If you read his books or listen to his speeches, you can tell that he is most certainly passionate about his philosophies and ideas. However, when it comes to staying cool under pressure, he's as good as anyone I've seen.

Remember during the election, when everyone realized that the economy had almost folded? That was in September. McCain's choice of Palin as running mate had fired up the right wing base; her handlers were still keeping her from the press, so no one knew yet what a dim bulb she really is; McCain was making progress in the polls, and the results were a virtual dead heat. Then the economy crisis hit. Obama's reaction was to study the problem and try to put together what had happened and what could be done, both now and in the future so the chances of this happening again are lessened. McCain's strategy, after three days of congressional hearings, was to announce that he was [cue trumpet sound] suspending his campaign, and the scheduled debate with Obama should be postponed! This was so he could rush to Washington to see what he could do to solve the problem! He probably even pictured himself riding into D.C. on a white horse (It sure as hell wouldn't be a black horse...HA! I couldn't resist.), but all I could think was, "What does he think that is going to accomplish?" I saw it as an attempt to grab headlines (McCain Suspends Campaign To Deal With Financial Crisis!) rather than any sort of real effort or belief that he could possibly do any good.

Of course, it did no good whatsoever, and his participation in discussions was limited. The day that he announced he was suspending his campaign, he canceled an appearance on Letterman...and then was caught on tape getting made up for an appearance with Katie Couric on CBS News. Letterman ridiculed him thoroughly, and the video of him sitting in the makeup chair was quite funny when compared with his urgent need to get back to Washington. In short, McCain came across as looking like a kneejerk reactionary trying to garner some free headlines, while Obama appeared deliberative and serious. I think it was a big turning point in the campaign. It certainly solidified my choice, because it only strengthened my belief of who would react better in a crisis. (And I believe that has been borne out.)

With the continued crisis of the Gulf oil spill, the Obama administration has taken heat for not handling the crisis better, or perhaps sooner. I think the latter is a bogus charge; they were informed and engaged from day one. Were there things they could have done differently or better? I don't know for sure, although the President himself has said there is always room for improvement, and takes ultimate responsibility for being in charge of the management of the crisis. I think it's being blown out of proportion by his opponents. Not the crisis, of course. That's about as bad as bad can get. But I think his critics are claiming that he has mishandled this, and I don't believe that's true. I was not pleased that he authorized the drilling; the shortsightedness of those chanting "Drill, baby, drill!" (nottomentionanynamesSarahPalin), the foolish belief that this would help decrease our dependence on foreign oil (it's a drop in the oil barrel), the inability to see the consequences of what might happen in a worst-case scenario (I guess we're seeing that now, aren't we?)...any short term gains have not only been wiped out by this disaster, they have been mind-bogglingly obliterated. A huge swath of fragile environment, thousands of animals and birds, a fragile ecosystem, oyster farms, people's livelihoods...all wiped out.

The responsibility for this disaster does not lie solely upon any one person or entity or administration. People fucked up on many levels based on what I'm reading, whether it was laxity on the issue of permits, special interest pandering, companies like Halliburton letting faulty work get by (Hmm, Halliburton...why does that ring a bell?), BP sacrificing safety for profit...it's sickening and tragic in every way, and we can't even begin to know the long term effects of this horror. But that isn't the point of this entry. I know we're all heartsick and disgusted about it, and I can hardly bear to look at the pictures.

Back to the cool factor. Along with the criticism of the Obama administration for their handling of this, I'm reading criticism of him personally, saying that he is too cool about this, that he doesn't understand the full impact of this disaster, doesn't sympathize with those who make their living from the ocean or those who simply love it, just doesn't feel passionately enough about this. When he showed a glimpse of his personal involvement in this, talking about his daughter Malia asking if he'd plugged the hole yet, professional asshole Glenn Beck (and he's highly successful in that endeavor) mocked not the President, but his daughter for asking the question, ridiculing her and questioning her education. If you found that in any way funny, please stop following me right now. I don't want your readership. Seriously.

I understand the President on this one. I have, on occasion, been accused of being "cold-hearted." I think anyone who really knows me knows that is far from true. In some respects, I'm far too tender-hearted for my own good. I still remember hitting a cat on my way home from work one evening...this was probably fifteen years ago, and I remember exactly how pretty it looked, just as if it were sleeping, except for the vacant eyes. I remember hitting a squirrel that ran out in front of my car several years ago here, and how I cried when I walked back out to the road and confirmed that I had indeed crushed it. I remember picking up a hummingbird that had broken its neck on the window, cradling the poor little thing in my hands and stroking its tiny little head. I am far from cold-hearted.

But when it comes to moments of true crisis--all of the above are tragic moments, but not true crises--I tend to shut down. I put on my stoic face, I go into crisis management mode, and I can be very aloof. I'm the person who, if we were in a crisis together and you flipped the fuck out, would grab you by the shoulders and shake you, smack you across the face if I had to, tell you to get a grip, and direct you to do what needed to be done. We all deal with grief, anger, and other strong emotions in our own ways. I tend to keep my moments like that personal, and in the presence of others do my best to keep my cool. I do not collapse from grief. You can call it right or wrong to deal with things that way, but if we were on a plane crash together, would you rather have some dipshit collapsing and wailing in the aisle so that no one could get through, or would you rather have me yanking him to his feet and telling him to shut up or get out of the way? Would you rather have the histrionic John McCain suspending his campaign or Barack Obama learning more about the situation and knowing what can and can't be done in the short term?

Would you rather have a highly emotional President who reacts with extreme passion (maybe faux-crying like Glenn Beck) or one who tries to remain calm while all about him are losing their shit? I know which one I want. This criticism of the President's "lack of passion" is ridiculous. I know quite well that it is possible to feel passionately about something but remain calm. It is highly desirable to lead rather than to panic. If one person is able to keep their shit together, it can calm others down and get them to do the same. No one can think clearly when in a state of panic. Throwing one's hands in the air and wailing "Oh Jeebus, what do we doooo?" does no one any good. What we DO is start thinking about things clearly and rationally, formulate a plan, and then get to work.

If you don't want to be a part of that, then get the fuck out of the way.

Just beggin’ for it

This week the Republican National Committee, in a desperate attempt to seem like it is with it and hip (Daddy-O) and once again proving that they just don’t get it, launched a website called AmericaSpeakingOut. In theory, they wanted to get ideas from average Joes (plumbers and such, doncha know...not to disparage any actual plumbers out there) about in which direction they should take the party. They wanted to know what people want from them, although they added the caveat that only ideas that jibe with the usual Republican principles will be considered. Isn't that sort of missing the whole point? Wouldn't it be better to sort of look at the general sentiment in the country and see if there are some issues they just might be out of touch on? Oh well. Not my party, not my committee, not my website. I'm also thinking logically, and that is just silly of me.

Naturally, when word got out about this site, it wasn't just Republicans who joined in on the fun. The prospect of a Republican website where we could make suggestions was impossible to resist for liberals. Moth to a flame, milk on cereal, mud on a pig, white on rice--pick your metaphor, sarcastic liberals were all over that thing. Hilarity ensued. I didn't register and leave a suggestion myself, but I spent some time looking through them all, endlessly fascinated and amused.

As PZ wrote on his entry about it, Poe's Law was writ large when the liberals converged upon the site. According to RationalWiki, "Poe's Law points out that it is hard to tell parodies of fundamentalism (or, more generally, any crackpot theory) from the real thing, since they both seem equally insane. Conversely, real fundamentalism can easily be mistaken for a parody of fundamentalism. For example, some conservatives consider noted homophobe Fred Phelps to be so over-the-top that they argue he's a 'deep cover liberal' trying to discredit more mainstream homophobes." (I consider the phrase "mainstream homophobes" to be an oxymoron. They don't swim in my stream.)

PZ gave a few examples in his entry; I found more. Here are a few silly ones, most of which get removed from the site fairly quickly.

We need to train an army of Ninja Cats. Cats are natural born hunters and predators, and it is known that they indeed have 9 lives.

We should invent and patent more colors. Like fuchsia, but not that because it's already been invented.

I've noticed lately that America's birds are getting a little on the small side. The North African Ostrich is the world's largest and therefore best bird.

Belgium looked at us funny. Let's bomb them.

Build the Star Wars missile defense system. Who cares if it works or not? It sounds super badass.

When we deport illegal aliens we should get rid of the street mimes as well. Also.

Then there are those concerned about the environment.

People are always worrying about deforesting trees and stuff. What they should do is attach an old coffee can full of seeds to the bottom of airplanes with some holes poked in the bottom. That way, when they fly across the country, they'll also be REFORESTING the nation for close to nothing.

There were many concerned about illegal immigrants.

They should send the Statue of "Liberty" back to France. We dont want your hungry tired poor, sorry! They should stay in France with you and your statue.

Some want us to get back to the ways of Paine and Jefferson (no mention of whether that includes slavery).

We need the re-establish this nation as a Christian nation, the way Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson intended!

Others felt the need to defend Sarah Palin.

Can we please make it illegal to make fun of Sarah Palin? It's just mean. Sure, she isn't that smart. But she raised five kids, and only one got knocked up in high school. That used to count for something in AMREICA!

A kindred spirit mentioned Star Trek.

On the popular television series Star Trek Deep Space Nine, many of the characters have freedoms such as holodeck privileges and visits to Quarks bar. They also don't get paid or really use any money at all, they all work for the betterment of society and in return get what they need from society. I think it sounds like a pretty good idea.

It does sound like a good idea, doesn't it?

There was a suggestion to help all us patriots who are vocally challenged.

I love my country as much as the next guy and I'll pistol whip anyone who says different but, sorry, the national anthem blows. I mean, who can sing that? I only watch it before a game to see someone's neck explode trying to hit high c. There are other songs which are prettier, a LOT easier to sing, and which, I've observed, people really seem to get behind. I humbly propose three songs for consideration: 1. America, Eff Yeah 2. Waltzing Matilda 3. O Canada

As I said during the recent winter Olympics, "O Canada" is certainly an inspiring and singable anthem. I think that commenter might be onto something. Maybe we could change the lyrics to "O 'Merica."

There were quite a few comments praising the GOP for creating this site.

I think we have proof here that our dear statesmen from the GOP are brain dead. Anyone with more than three active brain cells would have seen this coming a mile away. Brilliant idea.

I just wanna say this site is the best thing that house GOP have done in years. You have given me hours of entertainment.

I would like to thank the Republican Party for subsidizing literally hours of fun for all us Godless socialists. I don't know when I've had such a good time playing an online game. This site ROCKS! Uh, it is a game, right?

The forum even got rickrolled.

Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down, Never gonna run around and desert you, Never gonna make you cry, Never gonna say goodbye, Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

It wasn't all fun and games, as one person showed in a comment that I found somewhat poignant (and I think this one is completely real).

As a Republican since the 70s, a faithful voter for most of that time, and someone who worked in the defense industry for years, you guys have simply flown off the rails. The extremism and partisanship of the current GOP has taken you out of the mainstream, and put you into the realm of the American Independent Party. Nixon was a good President, so was Reagan. But what you are pushing now is unwise and unresponsive to the nation's needs. Get back to where Republicans had workable and useful solutions to our problems, instead of just calling our president a socialist and refusing to do anything at all. It's too extreme, and too partisan, and people such as me don't like it. You may call me a RINO, but I am what the party used to be, and you are forcing me to become independent because of the ugly partisan extremism that is now the hallmark of the GOP. Please stop this trend before it is too late.

This whole endeavor is just kind of sad. In an attempt to show that they really are listening, they set themselves up for a massive failure and endless ridicule. Do I feel bad about ridiculing them here? Not at all. If you're clueless enough to put up a site like this and not expect it to be set upon by the opposition and deluged with snark, you deserve everything you get. I could tell what most of the bogus suggestions were, but as Poe's Law states, there were plenty that I wasn't sure about. That's a little disturbing. If many of your constituents have such extreme opinions that they can't be discerned from those deliberately trying to make themselves sound as extreme as possible, then something is wrong. I know it goes both ways, but I'd say that the right wing extremists are quite a bit more "out there" than the left wing.

Maybe it's time to take it down a notch, or distance yourselves from the loonies. Or maybe hire a better Web coordinator who will advise you to not put up a site that's just asking for it. Because the rest of us are happy to speak out, too.

Beth’s Music Moment – Exile Revisited

It's been a while since I did a Music Moment! This time it's not about the body of work of one particular artist, but one particular album: the Stones' "Exile on Main St."

This past week, they issued a remastered version, along with ten previously unreleased tracks. And Beth is a happy girl.

I'm not a complete Stones freak. I don't have all their albums, and I don't pretend to know every detail about their music. But I've been a fan for...hmm, I guess over 30 years. That's retroactive, too, because I went back to their albums from the sixties, when I was really too young to know about them when they first issued them. (I got "Let It Bleed" and "Sticky Fingers"in the early 80's.) You know those memes that ask you questions like Mary Ann or Ginger, Batman or Superman? When it comes to Beatles or Stones, I'm Stones.

I've been listening to Exile and the new songs, and baby, I'm lovin' it! This is the Stones at their bluesy best. I have enjoyed revisiting this and other Stones music, because it's a great reminder of how much they're rooted in the blues. They loved performers like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and it shows throughout their entire career. "Exile" may have been the height of their creativity, with a fantastic blend of ballsy rock and rollicking blues. The recording of "Exile" has become legendary. Keith's rental "house" in the south of France was all business in the basement where they made the music, but a nonstop party of drugs and sex upstairs. In a recent Today Show interview, Matt Lauer implied condemnation for the drugs and sex and asked Mick if they could have made this music if they were sober. He asked Keith if it was wrong to have his young son in such an environment.

I think Mick and Keith both gave great answers to these silly questions. It was a different time, man. C'mon, Matt, get real. It truly was a different time, and it wasn't just the Stones who were doing drugs...it was pretty much everyone who was making music at the time, including the Beatles, the Doors, Janis, Jimi, and on and on. It's useless to try to apply today's mores to that time. Lauer came across as a priggish schoolmarm. You don't need to glorify such drug use, but as Mick pointed out, it wasn't about the drugs, it was about the MUSIC. Put on your big girl panties, Matt, and stop judging people for what they did 40 years ago!

Anyway, whatever was going on in that mansion in the south of France, it resulted in some totally kickass music, and that is what matters. I won't go over the merits of the original Exile, but I'll make a few comments on some of the new tracks. I'm not sure how many of these were finished and how many they had to go back and "tidy up," but I heard Sir Mick say that they tried to stay close to the original sound of the Exile sessions...and I'd say that they did.

"Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren)" - a nice, rocking start to the new tracks. "Pass the wine, baby, let's make some love."

"Following the River" - starts out with piano, has a distinct gospel sound...this is a breakup song, and I'm not ashamed to say that I got choked up when I heard Mick's anguished plea: "I'll be thinking about ya, 'cause you always brought the best in me."

"Dancing in the Light" - a more upbeat song following the previous sad one...I love the line "I got that sinking feeling, whose potatoes are ya peeling?"

My absolute favorite of the new songs is the shortest one, a brief taste of an instrumental. It's called "Title 5," and it is a total fucking rave-up! The preview is only 30 seconds, but the song is only 1:47, so you get the idea. Man, I wish they'd expanded that a bit, because I love that song! I had to do a little chair-dancing to that one: the Monkey and the Jerk. If you don't know them, I'll teach you. Ha!

I know that some of my friends feel that the Stones haven't made any new or relevant music in some time. I suppose that's fair enough, but that doesn't mean that they are irrelevant. It's still some of the best music ever, and for me, the Stones embody everything that is good and right and lusty about rock and roll. Maybe the guys won't get it, and I suppose some of the women don't feel it, but Mick was always sexy to me, with those weird, sinuous moves, his sexy baritone (hard and silky at the same time), and that bad boy attitude. Oh yeah, babe! And when they all kicked in with that driving beat and that hard-pounding and rhythmic bass and drum and...ummm, what was I saying? But yeah, they're smart, too. That's always hot! "It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)" is playing right now. I like it...ssssss...I liiiiike it.

Bottom line: if you already love the Stones, you'll enjoy this reissue and the extra tracks. If they really don't trip your trigger and never have, I don't see any reason for you to buy this. I pass no judgment, because music appreciation is in the eye of the beholder. But seriously, what is wrong with you?! heehee

If you ever doubt that the Stones are badass, let's revisit a short clip of Keith meting out a bit of justice to an unruly fan. If I recall, this was the first clip I ever posted on my blog, so it has a special place in my heart for many reasons.

Potpourri Shmotpourri

Despite having a pretty good day today, I still had some bouts of sadness, so this isn't going to be a majorly serious post. I was paying attention to all things political (I just can't turn it off), made quite a few comments on Crackbook, but I don't feel like writing about that stuff right now. I'm sure you'll all be okay with a little fluff, and if not, feisty Beth will be back soon. Probably sooner than you like.

I had lunch with Cousin Shane on Friday, and it is always good to see him and get caught up on things. (The picture isn't from yesterday, but it was taken at the same restaurant...a mere two years ago. haha) We talked about all kinds of things as we ate our yummy Mexican food and sipped our margaritas. His recent trip to fabulous New York City, his new duties at his job, mutual friends on Facebook, family, music, snowfall here compared to Canada (yes, we're weird), his cats, life in general. There are few people I feel as comfortable with as I do with Shane...I feel I can completely be myself (and I think vice versa), and we're so similar in our outlooks and personalities that we really understand each other's thoughts and feelings. I love my cousin. He gets me.

And see...there, just writing about that made me smile, and that's a good thing. Love you, Shane!

I don't recall if I've written about this here, but a while back I started having a bad reaction to earrings, and had a couple of years where I couldn't wear them. That was heartbreaking to me, because I've always loved my earrings. In my younger days, I was MAD about earrings, and had several boxes of them. My specialty was fish earrings. Manta rays, fishbones, earrings that looked like fishing lures. (Have I mentioned that I'm weird?) I toned it down as I got older, but it really bummed me out to not be able to wear earrings. A few months ago, I thought I'd give it another go with higher quality earrings and strictly non-allergenic ones, and so far, so good! I remember saying that I got my earholes back, and Shane said, "Welcome earholes." I don't know why that cracked me up so bad, but I still can't think of that phrase without laughing.

I still had quite a few supplies from when I was making earrings, so I decided to make some more. I branched out a little from the easy drop earrings, where you basically pile a few beads onto a head pin and call it good, and made some dangly earrings that were a little more complicated. These are two of my creations, and I'm fairly pleased with them. (The hoop isn't part of the earring. I have a second earhole--welcome second earhole!--on my left ear, so it's a separate earring.) I have some other connectors and stuff to play with, and I'm looking forward to making a few more things. I haven't tackled much beyond earrings, but I don't wear a lot of jewelry beyond earrings. My ankh necklace, and that's about it.

Anyway, I've enjoyed making them, and it stills my mind as I design them and then put them all together. Then I get to wear them, and feel pretty, oh so pretty! Sometimes it's the little things that can really help with taking my mind off of things. I'll take 'em as I can find 'em!

When I go grocery shopping, my favorite stop is right before I head to the checkout. My store places a couple of shopping carts to the side with clearance items, and I've found some good bargains there on everything from coconut M&M's to sangria. (Which I bet would taste pretty good together, now that I think about it.) When I stopped the other day, they had some hard liquor on clearance, including Vox vodka from the Netherlands for $11. I had never heard of it, but the bottle design sold me. This is one of the coolest bottles ever! It's taller than normal, and if you were to take a cross-section of it, you'd see a football shape. It has indented dots on the back of the bottle, and striations on the front. It is one fucking beautiful bottle. When I got home, I looked it up online, and found that it is a pretty good vodka, and usually sells for about $28 a bottle. Whoa, SCORE! I went back the next day to see if there were any left, but sadly, there weren't. But I picked up another cool bottle, a sort of Art Deco design, Opulent, which is made here. That one was on clearance for $15, and when I got home, I found that it was also around $28 normally. Double SCORE! I'm sure they'll be pretty tasty, but man, I think those bottles are just gorgeous. Don't you think so?

Visual appeal IS important, especially for those of us who like shiny thi---hey, is that a quarter?!

My last topic for today is the overly litigious. It's obvious that we live in a society that is ready to sue at the drop of a hat, and I think we all find it ridiculous. I see two categories: those who are out to make a quick buck by fabricating lawsuits, those who love to threaten in order to intimidate people, and those who---three! I see three categories. Those who are out to make a quick buck by fabricating lawsuits, those who love to threaten in order to intimidate people, those who have a legitimate complaint, and those who---four! I see four categories! I'll go out and start again. Those who are out to make a quick buck by fabricating lawsuits, those who love to threaten in order to intimidate people, those who have a legitimate complaint, and those who have an almost fanatical devotion to the pope. Wait...that last one doesn't seem right.

Any of the above can overlap, and I suppose it depends on your experience as to which irritates you the most. Of course, no one disputes those who have a legitimate lawsuit, but I think we all get tired of the other two. Everyone remembers the stupid bitch who sat a steaming hot cup of coffee in her crotch while driving and then sued McDonald's when she spilled it and burned her cooter. I find the threatener just as irritating. "If you don't do this, I'm going to file a lawsuit!" or "I'm calling my lawyer!" Give it a rest. Most lawyers will happily take your money even if they know you don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning your stupid lawsuit. Remember the fable of the boy who cried wolf? When you keep threatening litigation for every silly little perceived transgression, you lose all credibility and begin to look rather...shrewish. I'm guessing that such people also lose credibility with their lawyers. "Oh man, is she calling again?"

If you rely upon your lawyers to take care of your problems (and you'd better hope to hell that you don't get bad advice...remember, they want your money) and depend upon them to fight your battles for you, what does that say about your character and strength of will, or your intellectual capacity to figure out if a lawsuit is worth pursuing? I've seen it happen before, when someone thinks they can get a windfall based upon bad legal advice, hoping to recover their legal fees in pursuit of that windfall, only to be, as Colonel Klink said, "DEEE-nied." Within a matter of moments. If the only way you can get people to do your bidding or grant your requests is to threaten a lawsuit, you're one weak sister who has never learned the powers of persuasion.

I guarantee that people will eventually find it tiresome and find such threats hollow. You can threaten all you want, but you can bet that people on the other end are saying "Whatever."

Speaking of frivolous, this was my frivolous entry for the fiscal quarter, and I'll return soon to your regularly scheduled broadrant.

Editors gone wild

Have you all heard about the big vote coming up in Texas? It's with the State Board of Education, and they're voting on some revisions in textbooks. Nothing major, really...just a few changes here and there, tidying up a few messy historical matters, editing a few troublesome details and oh yeah...totally rewriting history in order to further these fundamentalist yahoos' own religious and political agendas! Think I'm joking?

Among the recommendations facing a final vote: adding language saying the country's Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles and including positive references to the Moral Majority, the National Rifle Association and the GOP’s Contract with America.

Other amendments to the state's curriculum standards for kindergarten through 12th grade would minimize Thomas Jefferson's role in world and U.S. history because he advocated the separation of church and state; require that students learn about "the unintended consequences" of affirmative action; assert that "the right to keep and bear arms" is an important element of a democratic society; and rename the slave trade to the "Atlantic triangular trade.”

This is, of course, alongside the usual "teach the controversy" crap in which evolution is taught as a theory and intelligent design as a viable option.

All of these revisions are ridiculous—I find the new name for the slave trade especially appalling, as should anyone who has bothered to learn even the most fundamental things about the practice and the war that resulted from it—but you know which one really gets to me? The ousting of Thomas Jefferson from his rightful place as one of the major players in the framing of the government of our country.

Jefferson had his flaws (see slavery comments above), but there is no denying that he was a towering intellect and one of the greatest statesmen and philosophers the world has ever experienced. I truly believe that, and don't feel that it is an exaggeration at all. According to the Texas Board of Education, Jerry Falwell, Newt Gingrich, Charlton Heston, and Phyllis fuckin' Schlafly have more significance to our country than Thomas Jefferson.

Of all the memorials to various figures that I've seen in our nation's capitol, the Jefferson Memorial is my favorite. It is a lovely structure, and although grand, it is also beautiful in its simplicity. A large rotunda, with a 19 foot tall statue of Jefferson in the center, the surrounding walls inscribed with Jefferson's words. I remember walking the interior of the memorial, looking up as I read Jefferson's words, and I was struck by his intellect, his eloquence, and most importantly, his vision. He didn't just see how things should be in his moment in time; he saw the need to frame our documents so that we could change as we grew and matured as a country. This is my favorite inscription in the memorial:

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

That's right. Jefferson fully intended that the Constitution would change over time. The basic tenets concerning human rights must remain the same, but as we become more enlightened, we adapt by adding (or repealing...I love you, 21st Amendment! <sip>) amendments. (The "all men are created equal" part was finally expanded to include other than white male Christians, for example.) But I digress. I am dismayed that the Texas BOE would think that it is perfectly reasonable to exclude Jefferson from a place of importance in history textbooks. He's only the main architect of our republic and our Constitution, the same Constitution that they claim to love so dearly. I guess their love for the Constitution's primary author stops when he advocates the separation of church and state.

Why does the Texas Board of Education matter to me? Well, beyond the fact that we should all be concerned about what kids in Texas are being taught in our schools—some of these kids will be the national leaders of tomorrow, and I think we should expect that they will be taught, not indoctrinated—the Texas school system is so large that they are the second biggest buyer of textbooks after California, so many of the revisions they specify are used in textbooks around the country. Texas's revisionist history could very well make it to the textbooks of your children. Do you really want your kids learning more about the NRA and Phyllis Schlafly rather than Thomas Jefferson? If so, what is wrong with you?

How many times do we have to quote Moynihan: You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts. Excluding Thomas Jefferson, one of our greatest thinkers and one of the world's most amazing intellectuals, from history books because he understood the importance of the separation of government from religion is not just crazy. It is dangerous.

Anybody here seen my old friend John?

One of Tuesday's big stories (besides a few state primaries, but I'm not all fired up about those) was of the Alabama geometry teacher who used a lesson on tangents to mention the assassination of the President of the United States.

Oh, I know, I know...don't be so hard on him. After all, it was a student who brought it up first, saying, "Well, if you shoot the President..." and then geometry teacher Gregory Harrison went along with it and said:

OK, if you shoot off his ear, that is a point of tangency.

Sure thing, Mr. Harrison, so it is.

It is also completely irresponsible for you to condone, in any way, shape, or form, such a horrid remark about shooting the President of the United States of America, let alone continue the joke. The proper response would have been, "No, Joey, we don't shoot the President of the United States, because that is wrong, remember? That is an act of treason, and it is murder. Assassination is bad, mmmkay?"

Normally, I wouldn't get my panties in a wad about something in a far off land like Alabama. But the more I thought about it, I realized that this is my country, too, and Alabama is part of it. If they are saying things like that in front of kids that might be a part of my national government one day (although I have to express skepticism about that, she said with an arched eyebrow), I feel the need to speak up. I found an email address for Corner High School of Jefferson County in Alabama: rcooper@jefcoed.com. I don't know if it's a valid address, but I sent the email a while ago and haven't received a failure notification yet.

Why did this bother me so much? I think it was because although I was too young to remember the assassinations in the 60's, I have actually made the effort to read about that turbulent time and try to understand the impact that it had on our country. My Dad was in the National Guard and was called out for local riots; my sister was a member of the SDS and protested the war (although not the soldiers); my friend Dan Edwards assisted with a sculpture commemorating Robert Kennedy's speech in Indianapolis after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, a speech that was credited with staving off the rioting that occurred in other large cities at the time. So many people I know speak of that time with sadness, horror, and regret. I have taken the time to try to learn about it and understand what an impact it had upon our country and upon the world.

For this student to make such a hateful, ignorant remark, and for the geometry teacher to go with it rather than pointedly saying that it was completely inappropriate, completely appalls me. It is this sort of rhetoric that hurts me deeply and makes me wonder what is wrong with some people in my country. Whether it's a Facebook group praying for the death of the President (oh, but it was only a joke, they say!) or a teacher in Alabama joking about shooting off the President's ear, you know what? It is not one fucking bit funny.

I was looking for pictures for this entry, and I came across President Kennedy's autopsy photo, as well as a closeup of his wife reaching for his exploded head. I chose not to use those, because I still found them horribly upsetting, and I was only a year old when that happened. However, I am intelligent enough to read and learn and understand what a horrible time that was for our country, and why we never want to experience anything like that again. It doesn't just affect us, it affects the entire world. And on a more personal level, it would certainly affect a wife who calls our President husband, and two young girls who call him Daddy.

Teachers play a part in kids' lives. Not just formal education, but also in the foundation for being a good citizen and responsible member of society, someone who realizes that change comes not from chaos and murder, but from working towards making things better for all. The tacit approval of this teacher with his joking comments made me feel that he has no place in guiding those children who will soon be taking their place in our society.

The deaths of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. have left a lasting mark on our country and a deep sadness in our psyches. These were men cut down in the prime of their lives, and who knows what they might have done as they grew older? They have already left a profound legacy...what might they have done if they had been allowed to continue their lives in peace and prosperity, rather than have their heads blown off by lunatics swayed by propaganda? This is the danger that many of us sense, and many of us are speaking out about. The rhetoric of the far right who continue to ratchet up the anger in the name of ratings, those who advocate the violent overthrow of our government, the ridiculous hyperbole of those who call Obama a socialist/communist/fascist, what have you...this is the sort of thing that gave rise to the tumult of the 60's, and led to the death of three good men who were trying to make a difference in our country.

Make no mistake about it: people like Beck and Limbaugh do not worry about who might act upon their words. They want ratings. Beck's ratings are dropping, and Limbaugh is making ridiculous statements about how the Sierra Club should be paying for the BP oil spill cleanup. Even the 'rightiest' of the right have to realize how insane that sounds, so I hope that people are starting to figure out that it's not a good idea to get all of their Instructions for Life from these fucktards.

I'm sure that some will say that they advocate change through the ballot box, not violence. Well, you might want to tell your teabaggin' friends about that, because they don't seem to be getting the message. People might take you a little more seriously if you put down the fucking guns and stopped threatening to blow people's heads off. Okay, not really. Most of us still won't take you seriously. But yeah...the blowing people's heads off stuff doesn't help matters one iota.

I would ask these people to remember...or at least to do some research. This is not something we want to revisit. It was a divisive, horrible, upsetting time that lingers with us over forty years later. Look at the picture of a President shot in the head with his wife next to him; look at the picture of his brother, a presidential candidate, shot in the head and dying in the arms of a busboy whose hand he was shaking when the bullet entered his brain; look at the picture of a man who advocated peaceful protest and equality for all, shot in the head and dying on the balcony of a Memphis hotel. Look at these men dying and ask yourselves if that is what you really want. Ask yourselves if you think that killing good men is the way to achieve the change YOU want.

If you don't want that—and I believe that the majority of you don't want that—then speak up and tell your like-minded friends to lower the level a bit. Tell them that it's not funny to joke about assassinating the President. Tell your kids' teachers to be true leaders rather than spewing their own ideologies. Make the changes you want by pulling the lever at the voting booth...not by pulling the trigger of a gun, or by advocating it, or by giving implied approval by not speaking out against it.

A bullet in the brain is not funny. Ever.

Lost in the Supermarket

I've been having some unpleasant dreams lately, most of which I believe are about anxiety. Some have been downright terrifying, but most are just general, free-form weirdness with an underlying feeling of dread.

The other night was particularly bad. Things began innocently enough, with talking to my friend Aubrey (we recently had lunch, so that's where that came from), and nothing seemed amiss. Then I was talking to my friend Greg, also from the lab. Nothing weird about the conversation, which took place in the lab, but he was wearing shorts and a tank top, and that's when things started going wrong. You don't wear shorts and a tank top in the lab. It was a jarring enough inconsistency that in my dream, I sat on the floor with my legs splayed out, hung my head, and said, "This has to be a dream."

It morphed into the setting of a house I didn't know. My Mom was there, and we were sleeping in the same bed. She asked me, "Do you want to say that prayer now?" I said, "No," and she said, "Okay," rolled over and went to sleep. I was making a cat toy of feathers and tossing it up into the air, although I don't recall a cat being there. There was a woman in the house, and she was wearing an evening gown. She stood out on the balcony with the sliding glass door open, and I said, "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to close that door. It's very cold in here." She smiled and did so.

It all sounds innocent enough as I type it, but I can't begin to convey the feeling of dread, dismay, and wrongness that overlaid everything. There were several times that I thought as I did early on: "I know I'm dreaming," but it all felt so vivid and completely real that I was sure it was happening. So you can imagine my terror when my dream culminated with me lying in bed, opening my eyes, and seeing someone or something leaning over me with bared teeth and dead eyes, snarling and ready to chew my face off. As is often the case in dreams, I was paralyzed with fear, and could only moan, "Noooooo oh god nooooooo," which finally, thankfully, woke me up for real. There was a moment of heart-pounding panic, as I tried to figure out where I was, and whether or not I was awake or still dreaming. Whew.

I had another one tonight when I napped on the loveseat, but at least this one wasn't as terrifying. I was at the grocery store, and I recall being horribly unfocused and unable to complete my task. I was trying to find a 12-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper, and I could only find cases. At one point, I had a case of 7-Up in my hand, and sat it down with disgust, as in, "That's not what I want! Why am I carrying this around?" I can laugh about it now, because it sounds silly, but in my dream, I was walking endlessly back and forth in the aisle, trying to find that goddamn 12-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper. I recall wondering if they were seeing me on the security cameras and wondering what was wrong with me. I felt incapable, stupid, and incompetent. For me, that IS a nightmare! I eventually ran into my friend Jay (also from the lab), and he gave me a big hug, so that was nice. That one had a decent ending rather than the terrifying one earlier in the week.

I know it's all a reflection of the generalized anxiety I'm feeling about things in general, and I'll just ride it out as my psyche dumps all the detritus into my dreams. I can handle the vaguely unpleasant, but that one the other night is lingering. I find dreams fascinating, and I'm wondering if writing such things down will help me wrest a little control over them? Usually my dreams are fairly pleasant, if nonsensical, easily forgotten. If I continue to have these anxiety dreams, I think writing them down might help me get a handle on them.

The supermarket dream tonight had an unexpected and happy benefit, as it reminded me of one of my favorite Clash songs, "Lost in the Supermarket." Although known for their anger and outrage at the inequities of the haves vs. the have-nots, this song is almost wistful in its search for meaning in the banality of life, our society's promise of happiness through consumerism, and our increasing isolation. If you think I'm reading too much into the song, go right ahead. Songs speak to people in different ways, and this song speaks to me.

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for the special offer
A guaranteed personality

I wasn't born so much as I fell out
Nobody seemed to notice me
We had a hedge back home in the suburbs
Over which I never could see

I heard the people who lived on the ceiling
Scream and fight most scarily
Hearing that noise was my first ever feeling
That's how it's been all around me

I'm all tuned in I see all the programmes
I save coupons from packets of tea
I've got my giants hit discotheque album
I empty a bottle I feel a bit free

Kids in the halls and the pipes in the walls
Making noises for company
Long distance callers make long distance calls
And the silence makes me lonely

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for the special offer
A guaranteed personality

It's not here, it disappeared.