Observations from the Abyss 10.17

By now you all know what happened yesterday, last minute deal, signed by the President, the government is reopening today. At the moment I have nothing to add to that. This is about finding something to laugh at even on the brink of disaster. Tuesday night as the nation teetered on that brink Anderson Cooper was live from Washington with AC 360 Later and one of his commentators was Republican strategist Alex Castellanos. That is all the background you are going to need. What follows is from the official AC 360 transcript which you can read here or you can watch a short clip here.

Cooper: Alex, you don't want to admit this, but you actually agree with Paul that this is not the way to go about it, to risk the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Castellanos: I think it's a terrible idea. I think the Republicans are going to pay a big price in the short-term. A friend explained to me today finally what Ted Cruz is doing. And I finally understand. He's having bunny sex.

Cooper: Wow. This is the late-night edition of 360.

Castellanos: In nature, there are boom-and-bust cycles. The snowshoe hare every 10 years multiplies sixfold.

Cooper: Are you high? What are you talking about?

Castellanos: I am high. Let me explain. Let me explain. Totally high. I wish I was. The bunny, the snowshoe hare, I thought it's a marvelous explanation every six years, every 10 years multiplies sixfold. Bunnies like sex apparently.

Cooper: You're digging a ditch, Alex.

Observations from the Abyss 10.16

Two weeks into the government shutdown, hours away from the debt ceiling, and there is possibly a deal in the U.S. Senate that would open the government and fund it until January 15, 2014 as well as raise the debt ceiling until February 7, 2014. We shall see what happens because a lot depends on whether Texas Senator Ted Cruz wants to read more Dr. Seuss books from the Senate floor and how bad John Boehner wants to keep his House Speakership. Honestly I think it will get done because in the end the powers that matter know it has to be. I mean seriously, this isn't Argentina. I apologize if you are Argentina.

I've talked and tweeted about this debacle until people are tired of listening to me. I haven't written much about it because my thoughts change faster than I can write them down but there is one thing I wanted to say. It's in the same line of thought as the Bible quote I posted yesterday.

Let me start by saying this is totally a Republican shutdown and I'm not even willing to debate that fact. If you change House rules to make it harder to end the shutdown the day before it begins you own it, saying there is plenty of blame to go around politically just isn't true and helps no one. Try and imagine the Democrats shutting down the government to pass gun control. You can't imagine it because they wouldn't do it.

But there is plenty of blame to go around in a larger sense and that blame is all ours. It's ours for allowing those around us to say things like get rid of all the bums, I don't vote because they're all the same, or they're just crazy but they won't really do it. The Tea Party Republicans said they would do it, they were elected to do it, and they did it. Why is everybody so shocked and surprised this happened? We shake our heads and laugh at Sarah Palin and her like but there are people out there who hang on her every word as if it were handed down from some temple mount in Alaska. These people claim to be 'patriots' but they care about themselves, their bank accounts, and their ideology, nothing more. I'm not even going to bring up the total crazies who think this is the beginning of the end of days and are ecstatic.

It's not funny, it's not a game, and it's not a joke. It's our country and they are trying to destroy it for their own pathetic reasons.

One thing I can't get out of my head is the sight of the House Republican Caucus singing "Amazing Grace" yesterday. When I first saw it all I could think of is the band playing as the Titanic sank.

Observations from the Abyss 10.14

I've been writing this blog for a few years now so I can't be totally sure but I would be willing to bet I have never quoted the Bible in it. After listening to Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, and all the other crazies for the past couple weeks, and seeing a Confederate flag being waved outside the White House yesterday, a biblical quote comes to mind. On the fourteenth day of the government shutdown, and with three days to go until we hit the debt ceiling, my first Bible quote is in honor of the Republican Party. It shouldn't be hard to guess, Hosea 8-7.

"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."

Observations on Art 10.6

Part 1: When it is it is ....

Over a month ago the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam announced Sunset at Montmajour was indeed an original painting by Vincent van Gogh. I've been wanting to write a post about it because the history of the painting is an awesome story and most of what I have read has left out parts of it. More often than not articles have been more like reviews of Sunset at Montmajour and nothing more. The powers that be in the art world have decided it isn't one of van Gogh's best works as if it were some sketch tossed into the trash can. It's a van Gogh, that's my review. Now the story behind it.

When Sunset at Montmajour was painted in 1888 Vincent van Gogh was 35 years old and had by then sold just one painting. He wrote a letter to his brother Theo van Gogh describing the painting which he said he had painted the previous day, "at sunset, I was on a stony heath where very small, twisted oaks grow, in the background a ruin on the hill and wheat fields in the valley." (Read the letter here.) Vincent later sent the painting to Theo for storage. Two years later, in 1890, Vincent van Gogh arguably committed suicide in a field near Auvers-sur-Oise, now in the suburbs of Paris.

After Vincent's death Theo van Gogh inventoried his collection of paintings and gave Sunset at Montmajour the number 180. Just two years after Vincents death Theo himself died and his collection was broken up and sold as the paintings had rapidly begun to increase in value.

In 1901 painting number 180, than known by its original name Sun Setting at Arles, was sold to the French art dealer Maurice Fabre during one of the first retrospectives of van Gogh's paintings. In 1908 Fabre sold the painting to a novice collector and Norwegian industrialist Christian Nicolai Mustad. Mustad proudly showed his new treasure to France's ambassador to Sweden who told Mustad that he doubted its authenticity. Probably embarrassed at his mistake Mustad never showed the painting again and Sun Setting at Arles disappeared into Mustad's attic and from history.

The painting was stored in the attic until Mustad's death in 1970 when the family called in collector Daniel Wildenstein who dismissed it as a fake or possibly a painting by Adolphe Monticelli who preceded van Gogh's period and who van Gogh admired. The family sold the painting to an unknown collector who later sold it to it's current, also unnamed, owner. In 1991 the Van Gogh Museum itself refused to authenticate, or even look at, the painting.

There are many reasons for the doubted authenticity over there years not the least of which is that the painting wasn't signed but van Gogh didn't sign many of his paintings. It is from a late traditional period of his painting after which he began using thicker brush strokes. Also there is an almost total lack of paper trail as beginning with Fabre none of the transactions were properly recorded.

What changed between 1991 and 2011 when the Van Gogh Museum began the authentication of Sunset at Montmajour and what went into authenticating it? The museum finished editing and had published Vincent's letters to Theo and had the detailed description I mentioned above. During the authenticating process X-ray examination of the canvas showed it identical to canvas van Gogh used for other paintings from the period including The Rocks which is in Houston's Museum of Fine Arts. Finally modern analysis of the pigment, the artistic equivalent of genetic sequencing, showed the painting's were the same as those used by van Gogh at Arles.

Is Sunset at Montmajour the 'last' van Gogh? One never knows because the painter was known to destroy works he didn't like and his letters are filled with descriptions of paintings that have never been see.

Observations from the Abyss 10.5

This photo was posted on twitter by House Majority Leader Eric Ivan Cantor on the day the government shutdown started. Apparently it's supposed to show how the Republicans were ready to negotiate and that the Democrats of the Senate were the ones responsible for the shutdown. Rather get into that rather obvious falsehood I thought I would post the photo for strictly artistic reasons. I think it may be the best example of white and white photography I have ever seen.

Observations from the Abyss 10.4

"We’re not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is." Yesterday I finished my post yesterday with that quote from Marlin Stutzman who is a Republican congressman from Indiana. I bring it up again because during a speech he made in Rockville, Maryland yesterday afternoon President Obama answered Stutzman, "You have already gotten the opportunity to serve the American people. There is no higher honor than that." Later in his speech the President added, "If you're being disrespected, it's because of that attitude you got that you deserve to get something for doing your job." You can read the full speech here, that is you can read it if the White House site is up.

I heard somewhere that as the shutdown gets longer politicians will begin to say increasingly stupid things. The tension level increases, yesterday's events at the Capital only added to that, and they start to hear more and more from angry constituents. Publicly admitting you don't know what you are after is a good example. Another is Rep. Randy Neugebauer, a Republican from Texas, berating a Park Service Ranger at the WWII Memorial for not allowing the public to enter a park his shutdown had closed. To it's credit Fox News noted that "in his breast pocket, he (Neugebauer) carried a small American flag."

But, as should probably be expected, the stupid comments aren't limited to politicians and can show how a person truly feels. The following paragraph comes from Fox Business host Stuart Varney who was asked if he thought government employees should get back pay when the shutdown ends. If this sample doesn't make you ill enough you can listen to his full tirade here.

"No, I don't think they should get their back pay, frankly, I really don't. I'm sick and tired of a massive, bloated federal bureaucracy living on our backs, and taking money out of us, a lot more money than most of us earn in the private sector, then getting a furlough, and then getting their money back at the end of it. Sorry, I'm not for that. I want to punish these people. Sorry to say that, but that's what I want to do."

According to the website Celebrity Net Worth Stuart Varney is worth in excess of $10 million. Behold the New Age of the Robber Barons.

Observations from the Abyss 10.3

After a few days of the U.S. government being shut down I'm beginning to learn a few things. I may have known them all along but I'm getting a quick refresher course. I'll finish with one of the many quotes coming from the GOP that you just can't make up.

A large percentage of Americans don't like government, don't like paying taxes, and will never admit government is doing anything at all for them. It's part of the same national psyche that is so in love with guns. Keeping that in mind I think maybe we need to shut the government down every twenty years or so just to show no-government nuts that they do indeed need it. After just a few days I'm already sick of hearing people struck dumb by the fact that government actually does something for them.

It's fairly obvious but Democrats always want to be liked to a fault while a majority of Republicans today don't care if you like them so long as you fear them. Democrats can be overbearing sometimes but it's like a parent who cares and thinks they know better. Republicans and the conservative talking heads always have a smile on their face like they are scolding a petulant child who needs to be shown the obviously correct way.

I've heard the GOP shutdown called extortion or scorched earth politics but I have my own words for it. In today's world it probably isn't politically correct to use the term but I can say what I want, it's terrorism. Economic terrorism to be precise. If the shutdown runs into the debt ceiling on October 17^th and the United states of America defaults on its debts it will do more economic damage to the world economy than a terrorist could even dream of doing. It's that simple but you wont hear anybody call it that.

Speaking of petulant, this quote explains what's going better than anything else. "We’re not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is," said Marlin Stutzman, conservative congressman from Indiana and member of the Republican Suicide Caucus. On the off chance Stutzman doesn't remember what respect is here is its definition; a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Respect. Honestly I have nothing to add.

Observations on Penn State 9.30

Something about Penn State has been on my mind for the past few weeks that in a way relates to our current political mess. One of this country's, maybe the world's, biggest problems is that some of us have become so isolated in our ideological cocoons that we talk over, more likely yell over, each other. There is no room for honest debate or that most heinous of things, compromise.

I mentioned before that John Amaechi, a 1994 graduate of Penn State, had been named the Grand Marshall for this year's homecoming. Amaechi is also a former member of the NBA who after retiring announced he was gay. Ever since the homecoming announcement two small but vocal groups have criticized the decision. The first group is made up of the usual bigoted homophobes who for the most part choose to remain anonymous. They don't concern me because, as the saying goes, haters are going to hate.

The second group, made up of alumni, does concern me because they show how the times we live are beginning to effect even the most close knit communities. There is a group of angry Penn State alumni that, for lack of a better term, have become known as 'Penn State truthers.' These alumni don't hate Amaechi because he is gay but because of statements he had made in the days after the Sandusky scandal first broke. Amaechi said that he was personally ashamed of the situation and openly regretted ever having anything to do with Sandusky's Second Mile charity. Since the homecoming announcement Amaechi has received racist and homophobic e-mails and twitter messages and has considered not attending homecoming at all. John Amaechi is one of the Penn State graduates I most admire and I find saddening that he is now being attacked by some of his fellow graduates.

Ryan Jones, senior editor of The Penn Stater, wrote about the situation and put what I was thinking into words.

"The past two years have provided a harsh lesson on how easy it is for others to hold the actions of a few against an entire community. We've all heard countless references to 'Penn State’s guilt,' as if an institution can do anything, and as if such careless language doesn't have repercussions for everyone affiliated with it. We know this; we've lived it.

Too often now, such generalizations are directed at fellow members of this community. Alumni think this; students don’t understand that. Our internal discourse has taken on the worst aspects of our national political discourse: so much shouting, so little listening. No matter what side you’re on, you can see where that’s gotten us. If it continues, we only hurt Penn State. Which is to say, we only hurt ourselves."

Observations on Art 9.25

I was beginning to think all the time lapse film makers out there had taken some sort of collective holiday because I hadn't seen any really good ones lately. Than I saw this. Photographer and filmmaker Jason Phipps and his crew climbed nearby Trego Peak to capture their unique view of this year's Burning Man.

link

Burning Man 2013 Time-Lapse:
Seen Miles Away From A Mountain Top
by Jason Phipps
Published on Sep 14, 2013

This video captures Burning Man 2013 from an elevation of 5495 feet above sea level and over 4 linear miles from the center of Black Rock City. Old Razorback, aka Trego Peak, provides a unique vista of this incredible annual event. Climbing to the peak of Old Razorback has become a challenging and rewarding tradition for our team. This is a view that most will never experience in person. It is our passion to share it with the world through the lens of a camera. Climbing 1,888 feet in less than a mile over steep, unstable mountainside is a dangerous and exhilarating mission. This year we deployed cameras during the build week, capturing the growth of the city and ending it the night of the burn. We express gratitude to the family and friends that joined us for this epic climb. We could not do it alone. Many thanks to our team this year: Mark Phipps, John Phipps, Dallon Phipps, Kevin Johnson & Meghan Johnson. We also offer heartfelt thanks to OpenOptics (Inspired Flight) and Dusty Nix for designing such an incredible sound score for this year's rendition.

Observations from the Coffee Shop 9.23

Last Thursday, before they even got to voting for a government shutdown, House Republicans reached one of their all too frequent lows when they voted to cut $39 billion from the food stamp program. In effect the richest nation in history voted to let 3 million of its poorest citizens starve. It's easy to put the blame on conservative House Republicans for the simple reason that they were the only ones to vote for the bill. Not one Democrat voted for it and even 15 Republicans voted against it. The bill doesn't literally cut people from the program but uses multiple requirements to do the dirty work.

My personal favorite part of the bill is the rule that allows states to require drug tests before providing assistance. We all know it's those drug addicts buying lobster with their food stamps that are causing the problems. I'll consider such a rule the day someone has to pee in a cup in order to buy a gun. Another part of the bill eliminates a system that lets people receiving other forms of government assistance automatically qualify for food stamps. In simple terms that means millions of unemployed Americans could lose their eligibility.

Jason Kirell is an Afghanistan combat veteran and food stamp recipient who wrote a small piece in The Huffington Post. In it he wrote this:

"Are you fucking kidding me? I didn't risk my life in Afghanistan so I could come back and watch people go hungry in America. I certainly didn't risk it so I could come back and go hungry."

Republicans are always fond of saying support the troops but I suppose that only pertains to troops in a war zone.

notes - You can read a summary of the so-called Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013 here and a complete roll call here.

update - Republican Rep. Stephen Fincher of Tennessee voted to cut food stamps. From 1999 to 2012 his business, Stephen & Lynn Fincher Farms, received $3,483,824 in federal government farm subsidies including $70,574 last year. During debate on the bill Fincher quoted the bible saying "the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat."

Observations 9.20

And so it's time for Democrats, progressives, and liberals to sit back and watch as the Republican Party destroys itself. The only problem with this is the Republican Party may also destroy the world economy in the process, it may be worth it.

This short statement on the Republican budget, released by The White House yesterday, is worth reading. Maybe if the Republicans bothered to read it they could save themselves before they takeoff on what even the The Wall Street Journal called a kamikaze mission. I doubt they will bother. Italics are my own.

September 19, 2013
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
H.J. Res. 59 – Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014
(Rep. Rogers, R-KY)

The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.J. Res. 59, making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2014 and for other purposes, because it advances a narrow ideological agenda that threatens our economy and the interests of the middle class. The Resolution would defund the Affordable Care Act, denying millions of hard-working middle class families the security of affordable health coverage.

If the President were presented with H.J. Res. 59, he would veto the bill.

The Administration is willing to support a short-term continuing resolution to allow critical Government functions to operate without interruption and looks forward to working with the Congress on appropriations legislation for the remainder of the fiscal year that preserves critical national priorities, protects national security, and makes investments to spur economic growth and job creation for years to come.

Observations 9.16

The primary for New York's mayoral election was last Tuesday and I have to say New York City politics just confuses the hell out of me sometimes. New York City is so big that when I look at the politics of the city it's as if I'm looking at completely different nation. Viewing it as an outsider, I may live in it most of the time but I never totally consider myself a New Yorker, I have to say New Yorkers don't always look at the grander scheme of things. It's as if they don't see the effect what happens in New York City has on the rest of the country. They don't see it even as they take it for granted.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn would have been the first woman mayor of the city, a married lesbian Mayor of New York City. I know she would have had to beat the Republican nominee in November but after two terms of Rudy Giuliani, followed by three terms of Michael Bloomberg, there isn't a chance in hell the city is going to elect another Republican mayor.

A married lesbian mayor of New York City. Think about that. Think about the effect that could have had on the drive for same sex marriage around the nation. We'll never know because 49% of lesbian and gay voters went with the winner Bill de Blasio compared to 36% for Quinn. There are plenty of reasons being thrown around for Quinn's poor performance among LGBT voters. The primary one being that we have moved beyond voting for someone simply because they are gay or lesbian, we now vote the issues. That may be the case in New York but in an election as historic as this election could have been, how a Quinn win would have looked around the country,  it reeks of New Yorkers saying we got ours now you're on your own.

I don't totally buy that argument and as always I have a theory of my own. Looking at the numbers it's something that seems fairly obvious but I haven't heard it talked about much and in fact I didn't get a very good reaction from friends when I mentioned it. I don't think being gay cost Quinn the election nor do I think it was her stand on some issues. I think she lost the election because she is a woman. What is even more boggling than her poor performance with LGBT voters is the even lower number of women voters who went with Quinn, just 19%. Reading the numbers I just think men, including gay men, didn't vote for Quinn because she is a woman and women didn't vote for her because she is a lesbian. What got me in trouble was saying that I thought a gay man, a Christopher Quinn, would have won handily. Maybe I'm totally wrong but I'd rather believe that is the reason Quinn lost than believe LGBT voters turned on her, and history, to prove a point.

But this is a city whose Democratic Party that gave Anthony Weiner 6% of the vote. I'm sure there is a lesson in that number too but it's a lesson I don't want to learn.

9/17 update - After I posted this a friend of mine pointed out a column by Joshua Greenman, a New York Daily News opinion writer. I have to admit I don't always read the Daily News so I missed it. I may have to read him more often ...

"Let’s be honest. Even in 2013, it’s really hard to project yourself as a tough-as-nails character with uniquely mayoral mettle when you’re a woman. Perhaps doubly so when you’re a lesbian woman. That put Quinn in a box. She had to be strong but simultaneously struggled, no doubt coached in this direction by campaign consultants, to project charm."

Observations 9.12

Just a some numbers I find fascinating and also more than a bit sad. Other than that I'm not going to comment, you can make of them what you want.

"In the United States women now receive 62 percent of the associate's degrees, 58 percent of the bachelor's degrees, 61 percent of the master's degrees, and 51 percent of the doctoral degrees." That comes from Al Gore's book "The Future." On average 51 percent of all degrees given the world over are received by women.

VIDA: Women in Literary Arts is an organization that "seeks to explore critical and cultural perceptions of writing by women through meaningful conversation and the exchange of ideas among existing and emerging literary communities." VIDA is best known for its count which keeps track of how many women and men are published in major magazines. You can read the full count here but I'll give you a sample.

In 2012 Harper’s had 76 bylines by men and 17 by women, The Atlantic had 176 bylines by men and 47 by women, and The New Yorker had 445 bylines by men and 160 by women.

As I said at the beginning, sad.

Observations from the Coffee Shop 9.9

Over the weekend I tried very hard to not pay any attention to the news. Let's just say it's been all too depressing lately, primarily the Syria debate. Cable news and politics in America has gotten to the point that Syria itself isn't the news, not chemical weapons, not the tens of thousands dead, or the millions of refugees. No the news about Syria is primarily about the debate about Syria. Much like Edward Snowden himself became the story and overshadowed the NSA spying the Syria debate is about the debaters themselves. Who is for or against an attack, who was for or against the Iraq war, one big round of look at us because we matter. Another way of putting it is I always found politics entertaining but now, at least at times, it seems politics has become just another form of entertainment. But don't worry, I still love Rachel.

Last Thursday Rachel Maddow finished her show with a commentary. She did it after Donald Rumsfeld appeared on Fox News and called President Obama a "so-called commander in chief" and it should be required watching for every American. The transcript hasn't been posted yet so below is my own attempt at transcribing the finish of it. I should note that in this case I don't guarantee my work. You can watch the full commentary here.

"If you're an architect or a conspirator or one of the primary actors in the Iraq war. In arguably the grandest and most craven foreign policy disaster in american history. Your opinion is no longer required on matters of war and peace. Please enjoy painting portraits of dogs or something. Painting portraits of yourself in the bathroom trying to get clean. Please enjoy the forgiving company of your family, your loved ones, and your god. But we as a country never, ever, need to hear from you about war ever again. You can go now."

You can go now, if only.