YOU CAN'T SAY THAT ON TV

Marcy Wheeler appeared on MSNBC Monday to argue for an investigation of secret CIA operations under President Bush. Instead of concentrating on the content, the anchors focused on--and even apologized for--Wheeler's use of the word "blow job."

Have we all gone crazy? Obscenity may reside in the eye of the beholder, but as far as I'm concerned CIA torture and violence against unarmed prisoners ranks higher on the obscenity scale than a common term describing oral sex. Get real, America. Grow up!

According to ABC News, the CIA sources described a list of six "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" that were practiced on prisoners. Bear in mind, this is what they will admit to, so actual practices are most likely far worse:

1. The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.

2. Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear.

3. The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage.

4. Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions.

5. The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water.

6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.

This is obscene.

BLAGO'S HAIR EATS JOY BEHAR

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Would you buy a used car from this man? How about a #%*&!@! senate seat? By the way, he doesn't know what happened to your kittens.

We always suspected something was wrong with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's hair. We had assumed his toupee was wearing a toupee. We had no idea it was alive. As for the man himself, let's withhold our judgment; under our system of law he is innocent until proven brazenly corrupt--and that shouldn't take too long.

Since his impeachment, Blago has been making the rounds of talk shows, ostensibly to plead his case before the American people but really to remove his last shred of dignity before disappearing forever into the dustbin of history.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND

Ray Charles, the genius, performs a song about the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

The U.S. corporate media keeps framing this battle in Cold War terms, and setting black hats or white hats on the actors involved depending on whether they are allied with Moscow or Washington, but it doesn't seem to be that simple. In fact, it's not simple at all, and the media isn't helping.

According to some, Georgia, the former Soviet republic and darling of the West, was encouraged to move into the breakaway pro-Russian enclave called South Ossetia and take back what is legally Georgia’s. But the plan failed. Instead, Russian forces invaded Georgia last week and crushed Georgian resistance. According to U.S. military officials, Russia is out to decimate the U.S.-trained Georgian armed forces. According to the military, it's pretty simple.

The Los Angeles Times (8/13/08): “Russia has itched to strike at southern neighbor Georgia’s brash, Western-oriented leader, President Mikheil Saakashvili. And Saakashvili gave the Kremlin an opportunity when he sent troops into the separatist region of South Ossetia last week in an effort to reassert Georgia’s sovereignty.”

A few media outlets reminded readers of Saakashvili’s crackdowns on dissent and independent media outlets, but for the most part, the conflict was presented as black-and-white struggle between Moscow’s aggression and Georgia’s pro-Western democracy.

According to Human Rights Watch, (8/14/08) Georgia’s military actions involved intensive shelling of civilian areas–reportedly caused many noncombatant deaths and prompted a large proportion of the South Ossetian population to seek safety in Russia.

This morning, NATO said regular contacts with Russia were impossible until its troops had been fully withdrawn from Georgia, and said they were "seriously considering" the implications of Moscow's actions. The White House had called on NATO nations to consider at least suspending ministerial meetings with Russia, but Britain and others said it would be counter-productive to cut channels of communication with Moscow now.

An alternate to the mainstream U.S. viewpoint can be found at the Guardian.

Some information from Peter Hart, who writes for the national media watchdog group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)

BOOTLEG WHISKEY

Robert Mitchum in "Thunder Road," as an outlaw running bootleg whiskey in a fast '57 Ford Fairlane. Mitchum also wrote and sang the song. I've always been a fan of Mitchum and his sleepy anti-heroes that were doomed from the start. He managed to live outside the law, and still be honest. Unless, of course, he was playing the villain, which he did so well in "Night of the Hunter" and the original "Cape Fear." (Speaking of prohibition, Mitchum was also busted for pot in 1948 and served time in jail. Pot prohibition still hasn't been repealed, but that's another story.) I've painted Robert Mitchum several times, and here he contemplates a ring, as well as his own uncertain future.


In 1932, the Democratic Party platform included a plank to repeal Prohibition, and Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for president promising a repeal. In 1933, the state conventions ratified the Twenty-first Amendment, and liquor was legal once again. Suddenly bootleggers were out, and whiskey was back in business. Big business. Nowadays giant corporations make and market the vast majority of booze, but you can still find good, small-batch, artisan distilled whiskeys. And you no longer have to hide it from the cops.

You've got to hand it to moonshiners who tended stills during our stupid governmental ban on liquor. While creepy Christian moralists like Carrie Nation and the teetotalers in the Temperance Union railed against demon rum, these bootleggers made whiskey and sold it to people who felt like having a drink. One of those small-batch, artisan distillers was my own grandfather. It was a stupid law, and my grandpa was anything but stupid. Of course, we've still got creepy Christian fundamentalists telling people what to do, but they lost this battle once and for all. I'll drink to that.

Here's a short history of whiskey making in America:


Here the Grateful Dead perform "Brown-Eyed Women," a bootlegging song, in March of 1986:

THE NEW SPRING FASHION

It's the economy, stupid.
Click button to hear "No Depression" by Uncle Tupelo.

FAIR AND BALANCED ELECTION COVERAGE

Here are some great FOX moments.

Here's FOX News on Obama and Hillary...and Fidel Castro!


FOX News on Barack Obama:


We all know FOX News is a right-wing propaganda machine, but this is ridiculous. Critical thinkers, take note. These are classic examples of what these moth-eaten wolverines do best. For extra credit, define "fair and balanced."

If FOX had covered the Civil War, it might have looked something like this:

thanks to democraticunderground.com