Get Incensed

I know I’m late for the Fourth of July with these quotes by Thomas Jefferson and Ayn Rand, but I’m going to suggest that we should keep them in mind all year ’round … not just for one day.

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them. -from the last letter written by Thomas Jefferson on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

Ayn Rand’s thoughts on the subject:

If it is ever proper for men to kneel, we should kneel when we read the Declaration of Independence.

Happy Independence Day today, and every day….

Fourth of July, Thomas Jefferson, Ayn Rand, Indepenence Day

Phenomenal

I don’t go to enough live music events. With TV, the Internet and trying to be grown-up and hold a job, it seems that some things get less time than they used to.

And that sucks, because one of the great pleasures in life is finding a new artist and becoming a fan. It’s like knowing a really good secret before everyone else … except you get to share it.

So, I’m going to let you in on a not-so-well-kept secret: Ruthie Foster is phenomenal. Just like the title of her latest CD, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster.

I saw Ruthie perform live as one of the opening acts at an outdoor concert that was headlined by the Doobie Brothers. Outdoor concerts are usually not the best place to showcase your talent. People are milling around, talking with friends and making multiple trips to the food tent. It’s not like being in a club, where there’s a better attention focus.

To make an audience stop, sit-up and take notice at an outdoor concert takes a special kind of performer. Ruthie Foster is that type of singer. She’s powerful, soulful and playful. She will capture your attention. The concert I saw was one of the few times I’ve ever seen an audience plead for an opening act to come back out on stage.

Whether she is breaking your heart with the Lucinda Williams tune, Fruits of My Labor or pulling you up out of your seat with Heal Yourself, Ruthie Foster makes you feel like you’ve found a new friend.

Check out Ruthie at her website: http://www.ruthiefoster.com

If she comes to a venue near you, get out to see her … and then share the secret.

Ruthie Foster, blues, gospel, soul, Lucinda Williams, Fruits of My Labor, Heal Yourself

Walk this way…

Using the same tortured logic that has plagued most of his administration, President Bush erased the prison sentence for Scooter Libby, the world’s most famous fall guy since Chevy Chase.

What’s particularly annoying is that opinions on the sentence commutation are split along party lines.

In my opinion, anyone who defends this decision isn’t qualified to be President. If your grasp of what constitute acceptable behavior is so slippery that aiding the cover-up of the exposure of a government agent doesn’t bother you, then you shouldn’t be leading this country.

Can we have an entirely new slate of Republican candidates now, please?

The best the Republican’s can come up with in defense of Bush is that, um, well … President Clinton pardoned people, too.

What’s next? Are you going to argue that it’s okay to deny basic rights to blacks because Strom Thurmond did it?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if you have to hold Bill Clinton or Strom Thurmond up as a standard of virtue, you need to stop into the repair shop and have your moral compass checked.

Libby got convicted of lying to cover-up the outing of a CIA-agent who had information that didn’t fit the Administration’s preconceived notions about what was going on in the world.

People in our government put a U.S. citizen who was working for us at risk over a difference of opinion. And Libby lied about.

The punishment he’ll receive, without the jail time, is a $250,000 fine and a two-year probation. Anyone other than me have any doubt that Libby’s “friends” will find a way to slip him a quarter of a million dollars to pay his fine? The accountant at Halliburton probably already has written off the 250 grand as an “entertainment expense.”

Goddammit! Why not just make a total farce out of the whole thing and let Libby off with a public service announcement and 20 hours of community service.

He could go around speaking to the “youth” of the country, “Hey, kids! Don’t lie … and never leave a paper trail.”

What a great civics lessons for kids all over the world.

Scooter Libby, George Bush, tortured logic, Chevy Chase, civics lesson

Now, that’s entertainment

ABC News posted the following headline on a story about the most recent heightened terrorist alert:

We are all officially losing our minds over this whole terrorist thing.

First of all, the fact that you’ve now plastered this document on one of the most widely read news sites in the world kind of blows that whole “secret” thing out of the water.

Secondly, what kind of clowns do we have in Homeland Security who are describing the potential for a huge terrorist strike as a “spectacular?”

Is al-Qaeda planning a massive musical number for later in July? What’s coming this fall? Terror-palooza?

If Muslim extremists are devising ways to kill large numbers of innocent civilians, is it too much to ask that we don’t refer to it as if it’s the finale to a Las Vegas showgirl routine?

Next thing you know, we’ll be calling a car bomb attack a “vehicular extravaganza.”

I’m pretty sure you can’t refer to a hotel explosion as a “snappy little number with a big finish” unless the particular suicide bomber does a tap routine in the lobby before setting off the dynamite.

And even then, he’d have to do that thing where he walks up on to the chair and then gracefully rides it as it tips over backwards.

At that point … feel free to call it a “rousing routine.”

‘Cause, let’s face it, you just don’t see that kind of old-time hoofing any more.

terrorism, extravaganza, lollapalooza, grand finale, tap dancing, Mr. Bojangles, there’s no business like show business, al-Qaeda,