Dear John, Katrina*

Well, thanks for nothing Mother Fucker!
Since either you did a half-assed job of vetting,
Or your unique political calculus rendered this, into an enduring American blight,
I give you the Adios

I will probably not make the point in genteel society, but Katrina and Palin are part of your political legacy.

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone; and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.

That's the penultimate stanza of the Rime

C

*I am not referencing the B-day cake one here, but just the cupcake variety here.

Natalie

All I can say is Fuck Me!

Tainted Tab

For edification's sake this is the same tab I was using to study the non-verbal gestures of one of our Supremes.
Ewwwww

Whatever.
From the littlest of acorns....

what Glenn said at Firedog Lake

The rage caused by the realization of limits to American power mixed dangerously with (mostly) white male resentment over civil rights and feminism. It created a monster cultural volcano full of violent, scapegoating hatred and self-doubt. Over the next few years we were further demoralized by Watergate, the first Arab oil embargo, and our own suddenly obvious lack of nerve. Covered in ash, we slouched on. And called it Disco.

I think Glenn's writeup is the absolute best endorsement for Gram Parsons to be in the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

No offense meant to Natalie or Townes.

c

Clerics

In an earlier post I mentioned Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.
He's back at the top of the charts.

The key move for the next few days revolves around Grand Ayatollah Husayn Montazeri's call for three days of mourning for the dead, from Wednesday to Friday. The progressive view in Tehran - and among the exiled Iranian intelligentsia - is that this is a very sophisticated, back to 1979, civil disobedience code, suggesting citizens should go indefinitely on strike.

and Pepe Escobar knoweth his shit. Check out the whole thing.

Lettermangate

What Roy said.

This would be a good place to add a disclaimer decrying child rape etc., but I'm done engaging the Star Trek chess bullshit maneuvers of these freaks. Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

Dots? What dots?

Of what Tienanmen can tell us about Iran.

From Farley

While there's some mystery as to the fate of Tank Man, I don't doubt that the CCP found Tank Commander and put a bullet in the back of his head at the first opportunity.

snip...

I think, however, that the center of gravity of the state remains with Tank Commander. To the extent that the United States, other Western regimes, non-governmental organizations, and pretty much anyone else want to affect the course of events in Iran, the key is to convince Tank Commander not to shoot.

And this from Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri

A government not respecting people's vote has no religious or political legitimacy," he declared in comments on his official Web site. "I ask the police and army personals (personnel) not to 'sell their religion,' and beware that receiving orders will not excuse them before God."

Let us hope that this unrest will end with the minimum of bloodshed and horror.
The good news is that this could truly lead to a more open political space in Iran, for movement both domestically and internationally.
The bad news is that interventionist dumbasses could still scotch the deal. The US should express keen interest in, and appropriate support for, the free expression of political dissent. It must also leave the rest to Iranian actors.

C

note: I am specifically referencing Frank Gaffney with my interventionist dumbasses remark. There are many others. They get no link and neither does Dumbass.

Coding

What HTML said:

The Iranian elections are the perfect bait for the multitude of sociopaths in greater wingnuttia, and particularly in its neocon division. Obama’s Cairo speech already got them hyperventilating; some are already apoplectic. There is always a danger, considering Obama’s “bi-partisan” fetish, of a rightwing push influencing his policies which, in this case, would make things worse for the Iranian dissenters. So the stakes are high, and we have to push back, by showing these sick-fuck wingnuts for what they are.