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Jul. 1st, 2005
While I have a great deal of respect for Justice O'Connor, I think I'm going to decline to join the swell of fear and shock at her resignation. It had been coming for some time now -- she was talking about resigning in 2000 -- and more to the point, I'm just not interested in having a knee-jerk reaction to the whole thing. Mostly, I think I'm avoiding hysteria because, every time I've been tempted to give in and declare the End of Western Civilization today, I've reminded myself that O'Connor herself was a Reagan appointee, and a lot of her positions have been a surprise to those who supported her ascencion then. Nor is that unique in the history of the Supreme Court.
Most outside of politics view Washington in strictly political terms -- Dems vs. GOP -- when in reality, it doesn't always work like that, and loyalty to the office itself largely has surpasses other political positions. I'm not saying it's going to be peaches and cream. I'm just saying the sky's not falling.
The other factor is that a lot of it comes down to Bush's political will, and frankly, I'm not at all convinced he's in a position for a knock-down, drag-out political fight. Especially since, now that "Time's" relenting on giving up it's sources in the Valerie Plame affair, I give it a matter of weeks until the name of the person who gave her up comes out in the press. This is a guess, of course, and it only matters if it's someone particularly close to the White House -- like Scooter Libby -- but once there's a verified allegation of -- let's call it what it is -- treason attached to a Bush/Cheney cronie, then we're going to be seeing what little political capital is left in the White Hosue fighting some pretty nasty battles. They haven't won a lot of major political battles lately. I honestly don't believe they have it in them.
In a lot of ways, the Plame affair is the anti-Watergate. Instead of Felt leaking info about government misdoings, we have a leak that in and of itself was the misdoing. In a lot of ways, I'm still torn over "Time" giving in to the pressure to reveal their sources, but I can see why they'd want to keep one of their people out of jail, and in the long run it may do some good. I just don't have to like how it went down.
I don't know where those will lead exactly, but at least it won't be boring.
***
To recap a bit from last night, "The Where Your Mouth Is" concert was amazing -- a little bit country, a little bit rock n' roll, and a hell of a lot of soul.
Corrina Bain never ceases to amaze me. Every time I see her, her work grows in depth and strength. Patricia Smith, of course, was incredible, and her newer work, also, surpasses what I've seen from her before, and I've seen Patricia a lot.
Devon Sproule was the real surprise. We knew she was good -- I mean, we'd heard recordings -- but there was no way to prepare for just how gorgeous her voice is live, and how sweet-spirited her presence is. She's a lovely, lovely artist, and we were glad to get to know her.
As Jon Wolfe pointed out to me today, Lea has an eye for combining disparate voices -- people who really have no business being on the same stage -- and arranging them into a show that complements each performer's strengths.
***
Like I mentioned earlier, though, the real gem of that reading is the community that attends it, mostly the wonderful, wonderful poets of Worcester. Devon had driven ten hours to get to the show, so I took her out to get something to eat before performing. When I got back to WAG, Tony and others had already set up chairs. Gary helped me set up the sound equipment. Bob grabbed the ticket desk so I could go grab a cigarette with my wife (whom I hadn't seen in a week) and Jessica and Heather went and fetched Lea from New Hampshire. We're blessed, really, to have so many wonderful people inour lives, and I can nver remind myself of that too much.
And also, as sort of a bonus prize, we got to see Tim & Ruschelle, in town all the way from Georgia!
Lovely, lovely evening.
Most outside of politics view Washington in strictly political terms -- Dems vs. GOP -- when in reality, it doesn't always work like that, and loyalty to the office itself largely has surpasses other political positions. I'm not saying it's going to be peaches and cream. I'm just saying the sky's not falling.
The other factor is that a lot of it comes down to Bush's political will, and frankly, I'm not at all convinced he's in a position for a knock-down, drag-out political fight. Especially since, now that "Time's" relenting on giving up it's sources in the Valerie Plame affair, I give it a matter of weeks until the name of the person who gave her up comes out in the press. This is a guess, of course, and it only matters if it's someone particularly close to the White House -- like Scooter Libby -- but once there's a verified allegation of -- let's call it what it is -- treason attached to a Bush/Cheney cronie, then we're going to be seeing what little political capital is left in the White Hosue fighting some pretty nasty battles. They haven't won a lot of major political battles lately. I honestly don't believe they have it in them.
In a lot of ways, the Plame affair is the anti-Watergate. Instead of Felt leaking info about government misdoings, we have a leak that in and of itself was the misdoing. In a lot of ways, I'm still torn over "Time" giving in to the pressure to reveal their sources, but I can see why they'd want to keep one of their people out of jail, and in the long run it may do some good. I just don't have to like how it went down.
I don't know where those will lead exactly, but at least it won't be boring.
***
To recap a bit from last night, "The Where Your Mouth Is" concert was amazing -- a little bit country, a little bit rock n' roll, and a hell of a lot of soul.
Corrina Bain never ceases to amaze me. Every time I see her, her work grows in depth and strength. Patricia Smith, of course, was incredible, and her newer work, also, surpasses what I've seen from her before, and I've seen Patricia a lot.
Devon Sproule was the real surprise. We knew she was good -- I mean, we'd heard recordings -- but there was no way to prepare for just how gorgeous her voice is live, and how sweet-spirited her presence is. She's a lovely, lovely artist, and we were glad to get to know her.
As Jon Wolfe pointed out to me today, Lea has an eye for combining disparate voices -- people who really have no business being on the same stage -- and arranging them into a show that complements each performer's strengths.
***
Like I mentioned earlier, though, the real gem of that reading is the community that attends it, mostly the wonderful, wonderful poets of Worcester. Devon had driven ten hours to get to the show, so I took her out to get something to eat before performing. When I got back to WAG, Tony and others had already set up chairs. Gary helped me set up the sound equipment. Bob grabbed the ticket desk so I could go grab a cigarette with my wife (whom I hadn't seen in a week) and Jessica and Heather went and fetched Lea from New Hampshire. We're blessed, really, to have so many wonderful people inour lives, and I can nver remind myself of that too much.
And also, as sort of a bonus prize, we got to see Tim & Ruschelle, in town all the way from Georgia!
Lovely, lovely evening.
Segmenting the Justice League
Jul. 1st, 2005 09:37 pmWhen "Identity Crisis" was running, something occurred to me, but I wasn't sure about it. Now I am.
( Here be spoilers, particularly for OMAC #3 )
( Here be spoilers, particularly for OMAC #3 )