Quick Hits and Countdown to Election Wierdness...Marc Maron at Comix in NYC...

If American life lacks the punch of a reality show to the point that we demand larger than life puppets as candidates for our highest office these days; if Jerry Springer-esque family drama played out in oil wrestling is the thing we need to fill our check-out-line reading needs; maybe we shouldn't be so fucking surprised that we pay to fully costume the actresses and actors and that the production companies...er...campaigns stand on the sidelines with the storyboard and airbrush machine at the ready. No such luck for the McCain campaign which history may look at as really a night course in performance art 101 taught by some agitprop group found in Washington Square Park. It seems impossible that any professional politicos could have run thigns exactly this badly without it being part of some sorta joke. But then, the delusional current administration did at some point drink their own koolaid and after all that inmates/asylum stuff blows over, it will be anyone's guess if we can ever untangle what part of the nightmare thats gonna lave quite a hangover in this country for a long time to come. Whats left to hope for? Well, I hope that my son might be captured by Obama's hope thing in the way that I was captured by Jimmy Carter and before that the Kennedys, when I was a kid. Maybe he can feel some feeling of being able to shape the destiny of his world before the reality comes crashing in.

Sarah Palin may well be looking towards 2012, and for the appetites of the wingnut fringe, the ongoing Palin saga should be a great diversion while Obama races to deconstruct all that the Bushies have put in place. This, my friends, is not a joke. It would behoove us to keep the lunatic fringe that Palin will lead back underground with her in mind because if we don't there wont be any excuse. I tell myself that its gonna be a good time for me to pull back from politics and to try to work with birds and just be happy...but really, its probably not going ot be possible in the long run. I can always hope though, cant I?

With an unbelievable eleven days to go, Rachel Maddow is taking over the TV-box cable ratings game with her MSNBC show, proving that even a network run my the M$M has to listen when ratings talk. The American people surely have made it clear that they want liberal voices out there, and Rachel has risen to the top on sheer intelligence and star power. Its been fantastic to watch her rise. Tonight Keith Olbermann had Sam Seder on to punditize about snarky republicans spinning Obama's break to see his grandma into some sort of air mile thievery. Sammy immediately turned that silliness into how sick McInsane is in his cold assessment of "the life of the mother" being important in the abortion issue, spotlighting how fucking cold the radical right can be when dealing with real people as opposed to test tubes of cells....and how cold McCain is in general as he would say anything to get a few more votes. This delighted me because no one is better than Sam at pointing out wingnuttia in terms that draw us all together, along with Obama, shaking our heads in disbelief at the silliness of the children in their pretend world.

It occurred to me tonight that with Rachel rising, Sam is going to be moving into the spotlight more and more. At the same time, Seder and Marc Maron are breaking ground with their web based daily live show, Maron v. Seder 3PM EST, M-F, here. Maron is currently traveling cross country with the UK Guardian and talking to a remarkable array of people from all walks of life showing us the front lines in America up close and personal. Of course, Marc also has his way of pulling even the most far-out survivalists close, and helping us to see their humanity if not really understand it. Looking at our ever morphing culture along with Marc makes it all a little more bearable...and seeing things like the plight of homeless veterans standing on line for services with our own eyes is jarring and sad. This is merely a small glimpse of what the future will be like as we pull out of Iraq and the Guardian and Air America are doign a great thing by showing us some unvarnised truths. Maron v. Seder should be on cable or even network TV...I think that they would have to tone it down for network, so it probably belongs on HBO, Showtime, or FX, daily. In any case, look for Maron to also start turning up on Olbermann etc, as he is a tremendously smart commentator with a gift for explaining issues from angles that touch on everyday people while not being so wonky as to over intellectualize them.

Lucky New Yorkers will have the opportunity to see Maron on Friday the 24th and Sat the 25th at Comix in NYC...I'll be there at some point, tho I'm not sure which show yet...I'm in transit again from CT to NYC, and everything is in flux, as usual. Come on down and see our traveling correspondent in his element...its always fun, and Comix is a nice place. Its gonna be a rainy Saturday in NYC, and you know, I love me some weather...

See ya there!

c/p Briliant at Breakfast

Maron V. Seder Debuts Live Wed. Oct 1st, 2008

In the meantime, check here for the past vods that led to the messy birth of this thing. Technical glitches and growing pains aside, its a fantastic show and they guys have great chemistry. Add that to the fantastic and funny commentary therein on the state of things and you have a huge slice of what made early Air America great...and what alot of us have been fighting to get back for too long now!
Be sure to check back www.samsedershow.com daily before 3 PM to catch the warm-up shows live. I'm not sure of the schedule, but it's well worth it to see this thing unfold in real time. Congratulations, guys! We love you!

( hey, wait a minute...wasn't that Seder v. Maron for a minute there?...)

Want more?


c/p RIPCoco

Maron v. Seder v. CATZ: A special guest post

Jill from Brilliant at Breakfast here, with news from the Wandering Jews in the Progressive Radio Funny Desert.

The prodigal son is returning, and there was much joy and celebration throughout the land.

Ever since December 2005, and especially since the middle of 2006, those of us who have been carrying the torch for the late and lamented Morning Sedition have been waiting with bated breath for any news whatsoever that perhaps the suits at Air America Radio might have realized the colossal mistake that occurred 4,287 management changes ago (or so it seems), when Danny Goldberg decided that because he didn't like Marc Maron, one of the most popular shows on the network should be cancelled. Since then, the faithful Maronisti have been congregating over at PJ's place, skulking around comedy clubs hither and yon, and sitting through choppy VODcasts at Sam Seder's site, while our Two Jewish Heroes got screwed over by AAR again and again.

Perhaps it's because right now Air America is but a fading shadow, with only lowlights like Lionel and the earnest but dull Ron Kuby as marquee properties, now that Rachel Maddow is hitting the big time, and who knows how long she'll be able to handle a three-hour radio show (even a pre-recorded one) and a nightly network prime-time show of her own. Or perhaps it's the realization that Maddow is the last personality left on Air America with a following. But whatever the reason, the Powers that Be have decided to swallow their pride and Do What's Necessary to bring Marc Maron back to New York where he belongs.

And so, today, we learned that on Monday, August 25, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, Messrs. Maron and Seder will be bringing their own unique brand of bickering, ferociously smart, often hilariously funny, "Hey Kids, Let's Put On a Show" video back to Air America (sort of). The VODcast will be shown at AirAmerica.com. There will be sketches, man-on-the-street interviews, political commentary and interviews, large doses of Teh Funny, and even Brendan McDonald from the old Morning Sedition board crew is back to produce the show. Maron is coming back to Astoria, with two of the Original Astoria Cats (my money's on Moxie and Monkey), returning to Where It All Began.

The show will run daily at 3 PM Eastern Time starting Monday, and will continue at least through the election. There are enough Maron and Seder fans out here that Sam's site was getting royally clobbered during today's VODcast, where the new endeavor was announced, so I have no doubt that with precious little marquee talent still in the stable, and two guys with some of the most loyal fans in radio, that this little venture into the future of broadcasting is going to succeed.

Presumably the show will be available as Video On Demand, so you'll be able to watch it any time; more on that is it develops. As this year's presidential campaign gets sillier and more trivial than ever, you'll want to have ready access in order to keep your sanity.

My cat Maggie was very interested in this development today:

...and wanted to IM Sam until I told her we don't have IM:

...and thought that the talk about the PUMA crazies was about cats:

(cross-posted, under a different title and with some differences, at Brilliant at Breakfast.

Seder v. Maron; Friday 8-22-08, 3 PM EST, LIVE! Be There!!

...Or check here for the video on demand (that's vod, baby!) of today's big announcement show (and you can always look at the evolution of past shows there too!)

Other reasons to be cheerful: Last day of the Olympics is so soon I can feel it!...God, was that 99% boring!
Driftglass dismantles Bill Kristol to hilarious effect here. Be sure to check the Driftglass Word Chipper (tm) in action!
Oh, I'm sure there are two or three other reasons, including the fall-like weather in the New York mornings, but Ive got to go and move the car.... meantime, here is a little bit of Drifty on Kristol:

Once he stood upon the brink of a brave, new Neocon order: so close to Wingtard Heaven he could almost smell the sweet perfume of a billion scary brown people (who just happened to be squatting on top of Our God Damn Oil) being nuked to shadows and dust, almost hear the triumphal march of Blackwater storm troopers merrily rounding up the last of the hippies. Negroes, queers, uppity wimmin and ACLU card-holders, almost touch the headstone over the grave where he buried the American Middle Class, and almost taste George Bush’s golf shoe on the throat of every other nation on Earth.

And he did it all by waving his little pen around.

Y'know, if you take away the ability to write (and/or read) this could be about W hisself.

See ya at 3!

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Marc Maron Plays a Stealthy Week at NYC's Comedy Cellar...

Last night I had the good fortune to catch Marc Maron at a sold out show at the Comedy Cellar in downtown Manhattan. It turns out that he's been doing a stealthy set or so there nightly for a week, with no word to the fan base. Its a pretty good lineup nightly there, though I am not the one to ask about stand up. I'm a fan of the Andy Kaufman brand of Mighty Mouse comedy, Morning Sedition bits, and very old Saturday Nite Live....I had a moment with Steven Wright's comedy but then I got sick of it very quickly.

Maron; call it a workout , call it laziness on his part that it didn't make it to the mailing list, call it sets too short to be crowed about as full shows...but then, the denizens of the comedy cellar certainly are on top of things because the venue has been sold out for early and late shows for the entire week. Maybe that's just the state of things in NYC nightlife, but on a Sunday at 10 we stood outside the club and people were coming by to ask if they could get reservations for the 11! Comedy Cellar is a well established place that holds only 160 people, and the lineup was pretty stellar, if you're into the stand-up thing, and its very old home for a road warrior like Maron who seems to know everyone everywhere that I've seen him! As always, I like the camaraderie around the clubs and ensembles often more than I like the stand-ups themselves.



Yeah, its been a while since I saw Maron do stand up, and Ive got to say that with everything happening in my life it was good to kick back with some of the funny (and some of the less-funny of the other comics sharing the bill with him, but oh well....)
As usual, Marc was funny and warm, and as usual also the material he does is ever evolving with the issues and where hes at emotionally...Hes got a great bit on McCain and what a crazy fuck he is...and also a good line on the gaze of Obama, and how hes seemingly looking at ...something...out there....
But the underlying theme in that short set was that you'd really have to be retarded to be undecided between crazy old fuck and intelligent young black man. The crowd roared in agreement with this...Marc went on to wonder when McCain would blow (knowing anger management issues intimately)...and that crowd reaction is a good thing. I hope that he gets the same reaction with this material in bigger settings such as Seattle's Bumbershoot festival next week where he will be appearing with the Satiristas; call it an informal poll.

Not that the liberal comedy crowds in NYC and Seattle are much to gauge the mood of the nation by, but I have to say that we all seem to be holding onto each other and holding our collective breaths about how close this race might be...and if its close, then what does that say about us? "Retarded?" (tm Maron)...yup! Cowards? Yup! Racist? Uh-huh!...and really, Anti-American! If McCain gets into office it will be the most unAmerican act ever committed by the American people as a whole...because what is going on, and has been going on here for the past 7.5 years is criminal and against everything we stand for.
...anyway, I hear that Burlington,VT might be a good place to build the self sufficient bunker for the next 8 years if McCain gets in....next stop Canada.



In other news, Sam Seder will be traveling to Denver to cover the Democratic Convention for Air America Radio. He promises interviews, video, audio and all sorts of good stuff...maybe even a week of Maron v. Seder, which is my absolute favorite show these days. It will be good to hear from Sammy, (and Marc too, of course,) as it seems that we've had a dearth of reasonable, intelligent, liberal talk...or maybe I just haven't been listening enough...Air America went from a 90% fantastic and groundbreaking lineup to the polar opposite, screwing people over along the way, in its short life.

When Air America began it gave hope to alot of us who felt totally frustrated and insane with this rogue leadership and their obvious lies. It was such a relief to find sane, funny voices that understood, and through that we found each other. The netroots is nothing to scoff at, folks. It may not be a huge landslide in the popular vote, but it is an active force of many intelligent (and some less so,) people who have the drive and desire to effect change. We're entering a time of hope and possibly empowerment now, which will only be effective if we quit turning on one another and keep our eyes on the prize. Its at a time like this that I treasure the likes of Maron and Seder in whatever form I can get them...because I'm even more disillusioned with not only the leadership but especially my own party. I've clung to the ideals of the spoken word, in whatever form its taken with the technology out there, because it made sense to me, and because I needed an outlet...anyone who knows me, knows that I have alot of words to let out! Going forward, I am again reminded by last night's show how important this discourse remains...
I look forward to anything that these guys have coming up...
Tune in for the next Seder V. Maron live and join the chat! Its a fantastic meeting of two minds that are quirky, tuned in, smart as all get-out, funny, and just plain fun! Watch this space for dates and times...sometime during the convention we should get an installment, and then, as usual, we play it by ear,depending on everyone's schedule (but rule of thumb is sometime Tuesday around noon-ish eastern time. But if you want to see the evolution of a hilarious and technologically groundbreaking workout of chemistry, intellect, and really funny glitches (especially Maron's reactions to them,) check here for the archives. Its not always smooth, and its certainly not perfect...but there is something very real there that works beautifully....and I, for one, want more!


c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Bits and Pieces from a Scattered Week....

Reasons to be Cheerful:

This week, Wednesday the 28th through Friday the 30th, Marc Maron once again takes the microphone at Air America Radio, in the American Afternoon slot from 3PM to 6PM. Stream it live from the Air America page, or get the podcast there...or spring for Replay A/V
and go crazy saving all kinds of stuff that you always miss and wish you could grab for your MP3! NO matter what you do, drop a note to pcollin@airamerica.com and let him know what you think about the programming and who should be on the station that was at one point arguably, the voice of the liberal movement in America.

Don't forget the Seder V. Maron VoD-cast, which happens live most Tuesdays at 11AM EST, and is available on demand here. It's an evolving, technologically glitchy, hilarious romp through the minds of two of the most brilliant political and comic minds out there.

Whats up with Seder and his jack-of-all trades tenuous perch at AAR? Who knows? Its hard to believe that pcollin at air america dot com would let slip such a multi talented and reliable guy, not to mention a great broadcaster, but I've seen them do worse...much worse, so....I just don't feel anything anymore except sadness for the end of something that was great at one time and the real inability of any number of new management characters to do even a couple of right things. I guess we'll see.

In interesting news:

Scott McClellan is the latest rat to jump ship, with a book that basically throws the Bush White House under the bus. So, when does the criminal investigation start? Is Rove even gonna answer his subpoena in that other matter? Its nice sometimes to see how predictable rats are when a ship is going down. It adds back a little of that lost universal order.

Meanwhile:

Our beloved hero, Brad, of Bradblog, posted a little funny here
from The Satirical Political Report, which claims that the Supreme Court has blocked reruns of HBO's Recount (which has Emmy buzz)...He really had me going for a second there as I was thanking God that I DVRed the thing because of the constant interruptions around here....But, honestly, the real reason to be cheerful is that Brad is out there traveling round and reporting back the most incredible information on what is happening on the ground across the country regarding our voting rights, our voting machines, and if our votes are really being counted. This is some of the most important work going on in the country right now, and this guy should have a mandatory viewing, prime time TV show, right in between Merv Griffin's Crosswords and Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, just to make sure that Americans are getting this...it could be like one of those Most Wanted shows and maybe at one point the villagers would pick up their torches and it could become the best reality show ever!

In news of another of the most important jobs out there right now, the one person who has gotten a book on the shelves that dares to pull the curtain back on old man McCain, author, blogger, pundit, Cliff Schecter, is appearing Friday, may 30th, from 6-8PM, in Washington, DC at a book discussion of the fantastic and revealing, The Real McCain (available on the RIPCoco front page Amazon widget or the front page Brilliant Amazon Widget, meaning that we endorse it and suggest it!) The discussion is being held at the AFL-CIO headquarters, on 815 16th St., NW (RSVP: John Goltz at 202-508-6938.)
if I were able to get there, I would SO be ensconced at the George Hotel and eating one of those Chinese salads from the downstairs food court at the station, then wandering round the hollow mall on the hard mud field wondering what the fuck went wrong, before running over to the AFL-CIO for what promises to be a revealing look at a complex guy amongst the denizens of DC, where the air is permeated with politics in this most interesting political season ever...(and maybe somewhere out there someone might find that key for Maron.)
My suggestion meantime: Buy this book! Read this book! Give it as a gift! Many gifts! Your favorite republicans/independents/undecideds/Hillary Clinton supporters need this book! Check for it at your local bookstores and make sure its right up front on the current events table!

Look, just because McCain has the faded aura of hero doesn't mean that he doesn't have problems and skeletons...and it doesn't mean that he is qualified to run this country, considering what he's saying, what his record is, and the whitewash job on his health. Just because he lived through some of the worst tragedies that come from war, doesn't mean that we shouldn't do the necessary research before half the country considers handing him the football...right? You'd think that they would want to do this research themselves, but they don't seem to want to know.

Worried about things? Have trouble believing anything at all? Lost your religion? Here ya go:

Fuck it: The Ultimate Spiritual Way check it! and then sign up to receive a regular Fuck It thought in your email!

John C. Parkin argues that saying Fuck It is a spiritual act:
That it is the perfect western expression of the eastern ideas of letting go, giving up and finding real freedom by realizing that things don’t matter so much (if at all).

This is The Fuck It Way

...And finally, 19 days and counting till the launch of No Ignoring!, Mike Boettcher's ground-breaking Iraq/Afghanistan project that will span 15 months and show us, up close and on the ground, in our soldier's own words, and as a fly on the wall in the major war zones that we are responsible for, what is happening. Lets bring awareness and personal sacrifice back to the concept of war, and see if some sort of ownership doesn't give us some pause when it comes to escalation of any sort. Lets see how the soldiers really feel about what is going on over there. This is going to be an interesting unfolding project with many arms, and I will be following it closely as it kicks off and heads out to war for a tour of duty exactly the length of the actual soldiers. Be careful guys! Keep your heads down!



And, speaking of war...The old man just keeps talking:
"By the way, I will never surrender in Iraq, my friends....and we are winning!" That was John McCain today in a speech in Denver on nuclear non-proliferation, in which he tried to frame himself as the more JFK-like candidate, (he was interrupted by anti-war protesters 3 times!)
Speak for yourself Bozo! You can never surrender all you want, wandering round the 8 mansions talking to the portraits of dead beer scions and their patrician wives, you can rail on and on to your lobby buddies before nodding off in your own drool, or tell it to you oncologist, but don't include anymore of our American troops in your plans, you befuddled old man.

Joementum Lieberman is gonna HOST that Hagee Rapture ready Throw down, July 22nd!! What a sick fuck Joey is. First he moved back to Stamford (my town,) where all his own friends and supporters hate him for lying (I'm talking about a 180 on the war, just 2 weeks before the election, and then another 180 back right after!) and then he embraces a guy that is so putrid, so horrible, as to be unbearable...talk about self-hating! This is the pinnacle of craziness. Earth to Joe: they only want you to lure the coming rapture...then they will dump you! Are YOU ready for the rapture?
Christians United for Israel, indeed! Kish mir en toches!



Which leaves me speechless...what else could anyone say ever again?



c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Sam Seder and Marc Maron; Air America's Wrestlemania Meets American Idol. What if You Threw a Contest and No-One Came?

Welcome to our very own American Idol-ish...sorta contest...In which we vote for our favorite voice of the left while Howie Mandell holds a phone up and excitedly makes offers from some "banker" dude. Vote early and vote often, kids! Stream it live and leave comments at Air America, (and check out the Sammycam, while you can, here. For a short version of the long story of the Sammer look here.) And there is always the comments accepted by PCollins@airamerica.com which may or may not ever register. Who knows? For someone who earned his chops in interactive media, he is certainly not all that interactive, even in a got your mail, thanks for the comment. auto-mail sort of way.

Such is the pathetic state of one of the very few outlets for the liberal voice left in this country. To watch the unraveling continue is heart wrenching...to see a "contest" where talented, passionate voices are akin to sheep to the slaughter (and Simon Cowell's name is even mentioned in the mailer advertising this little game,) and into the corporate grinder of another possibility that looks to be much like the last possibility was...well, lets just say that hope is not winning out anymore....and if the Whoopie Goldberg Happy Show doesnt sound feasible to soothe the masses, well, think again.

First of all, I should say that the choices are a little uncertain...who is actually in the running here? I don't know for sure. In the wake of the Randi Rhodes debacle, the new suits need to fill the 3-6PM slot, and its not enough for them that they have, under their very noses, the most shuttled around, loyal, and excellent, Sam Seder, but they have felt compelled to try out some celebrity hosts who couldn't possibly want the gig, and who have pretty much sucked so far. Just to recap for the latecomers; we have heard from Roseanne Barr, Joy Behar, Richard Belzer, and still to come is the duo of Ron Kuby and Ron Reagan, which might only be half bad, but, hell, all things equal why not just give Kuby a show late night or very early morning somewhere, not prime drive-time, fer' Christ's sake, and be done with it?

This week, our heroes, Marc Maron and Sam Seder, share the slot on alternating days. This whole thing is seemingly an audition for Maron, but there is no comparison between him and any of the others, except Seder, who is from the same crowd of comedians and comedy circuit. Their long relationship lends itself to a very nice shorthand and knowing grin sort of back and forth that works. Maron used to think that the two of them together might be too "Jewey," but I don't get that as much as I get their long relationship as very different brothers who approach things differently, but have the same jumping off point.

They each have a different approach which has its points, with Maron leaning more towards culture and variety with politics thrown in, while Seder is straight up politics with reflections on the work-a-day life we, most of us, share. Maron does more sketch comedy and is more inside his own head, which either reflects our collective neurosis, or just seems funny to the more balanced of us out there. Both are funny and real, and more importantly, both are Air America originals, and are actually what was that hopeful, new, edgy voice. When either of them appears on the network, the fans come out in droves. This is a no brainer, and why a competition is being set up is either high concept from around a conference table with communications school grads who think they have some creative edge, or some money making priming of the pump. Maybe celebrities impress advertisers? Only so long as listeners tune in.

The idea of audience input in this decision is quaint, to say the least, to those of us who have attempted to communicate with that organization in large numbers only to be ignored. In fact, the newsletter that broached this little experiment didn't even specify how one would vote for one or the other, and since, as far as I can see, the contest is between Maron, Seder, and possibly Kuby, I suppose they could be counting streams, or emails or...it just doesn't seem like they planned it too well. So, in case there was a question over in the home office, yes we want Maron back on the air however we can get him and within his own west coast constraints. Yes we want Seder in a 5 day per week slot. No we don't want any of your celebrities.


In any case, Sam Seder hosted Monday the 5th, and will host again on Wednesday the 7th. Marc Maron will host Tuesday the 6th, Thursday the 8th, and Friday the 9th. We were to hear a tag team of the two of them on Friday, but some glitch prevented it...too bad; these two are excellent together in their weekly VOD-cast, here, on Tuesdays at 11AM,EST.



My favorite Air America Radio sweatshirt says "...because we couldn't make this stuff up..." across the chest. The story of AAR will no doubt be told beyond what we know from the Left of the Dial documentary, which was full of hope at the raw talent and creativity of those early days of the creation of what was to be a strong voice for the left. Late last week on Hardball, the bland Mark Green, third "owner" of AAR, compared a John McCain presidency to Herman's Hermits; "Second Verse, Same as the First," with a stiff chuckle and nod to "pop culture." I was struck by how far removed he is from the current of modern society and what the meaningful touchstones of what remains of our culture might be, outside of the incestuous world of NYC politics, and the level that he just cant seem to get past. When I think of this guy and his ilk, I get a vision of furniture and lamps covered in plastic and slick young guys standing by the ropes of Studio 54, never to get in because of those damned bridge and tunnel shoes and gold chains. Its not something that I find necessarily bad; its a culture all its own, and a Brooklyn upbringing that I understand because I also grew up there. But it is like a time capsule and there is a sort of mentality and taste implied there, born of Tony Manero, rented limos, and power hungry failed politicians, picked last for the team time and again. New York City is a hard place to make your mark, and at some point maybe its best to stop trying so damned hard and look at the reality of whats in front of you.

The news that "new owners" were once again climbing aboard the sinking ss. AAR gave me little hope, especially when I heard that Green was being kept on. Still, I heard from a couple of different people on the inside that the new group seemed pretty smart and that there might yet be hope. I don't know; hope seems so distant these days in light of a paralyzed senate, unable to effect any real change without enough votes or enough balls to even speak up about criminals in the White House... and the infighting in the party which doesn't seem to have any sort of logical basis....the partisanship within the democratic party which was so clearly reflected in AAR management.... So, I didn't expect much, especially when the network seemingly set up and then took down Randi Rhodes. The whole episode was a horrible example of what is wrong with an entity like AAR being run by a bunch of pseudo politicians who are really home shopping moguls, posturing and posing as they try to figure out how to present the "left" side of things in as palatable and soothing a way as possible, so as to make money while appearing PC. Start-up media outlets seldom make money in the first 5 years. Outlets with a controversial message tend to need ongoing financial support; just ask Rupert Murdoch.

Whatever is going on over there resembles the divide in the democratic party in that someone's idea of how to fill a slot left empty by the network's biggest draw who is a concise, on point, broadcaster, that knows her stuff, is with guest "celebrity hosts" who are not only a little old and soft, but not especially up on the issues, while popular originals stand by. The messages from each of these categories of hosts is so completely different as to be almost representative of the differences between candidates.

AAR would be lucky if any of the original Air Americans or the celebrity guests would even consider a job with an outlet with this track record. I guess that performers, commentators, and the like are every bit as masochistic as their fans, and the message has to get out one way or another. I have no doubt that the cream will rise to the top here or elsewhere, and if this is where I part ways with AAR, then so be it. I lost my ability to care a long time ago....but I will stream the show...I will vote equally for Maron and Seder...and I hope that when this thing is over that AAR might be able to give a nod toward mistakes made, and start to rebuild what was once a pretty damned great line-up.

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Randi Rhodes Leaves Air America...Different Owners, Same Crap...Catch her on NovaM Beginning Monday!

Sometimes I get a nostalgic feeling for Air America Radio and how it appeared with its cool quirky hosts at a time when things were low in my life, very bad in the government, and no one was supposed to talk about things lest they be viewed as somehow unAmerican. Because I'm a fool, as my grandfather might say as he dragged his ancient self up the hill in front of the house to pull down the IMPEACH War Criminals sign, to prevent the fire bombers from coming, I was, at the time really itching to find out the truth. I was also interested in what could possibly be in the minds of people who lack empathy for others and I wanted to look hard at the truth of cognitive dissonance up close and personal, as I was seeing it all over the place. It was such a relief to hear these new voices find their ways in their new jobs and to hear a fresh message that was researched and carefully backed up as true.

Well, its been a long 4 years and most of the stand-out original voices have long ago fallen away in one way or another, mostly by foolish management decisions, and the changing face of who owns the network and their personal proclivities. And, honestly, its been painful to watch this thing get disassembled in bits and chunks like a toy, and as if it wasn't at one point, a long time ago, a vital part of information dissemination of the sort that we had when the fairness doctrine was in effect.
What started as a utopian dream; a great experiment, as I've called it before, has been dying a slow spiraling death for far too long.

So, it came as little surprise when last week Randi Rhodes was suspended for a stand up routine in which she used the word whore to describe Hillary Clinton and Geri Ferraro. It was during a show that she put on at an AAR affiliate in San Francisco and a few days later the AAR brass caught wind of it via a YouTube video, and they suspended her. What I found disconcerting about that was that the speech matched the venue and the crowd; its wasn't out of place for Randi to say something like that, and I don't know if rules had been set forth for her that she disregarded, but if they didn't want this sort of show, why would they book her? It seems that she was on the company clock and knew that the newest AAR owners were Hillary supporters, but it is just unlike the spirit of the Air America brand to try to shut down that sort of speech. Of course. its time to realize that the brand has changed; its now in a sport shirt and it visits Florida or the tanning booth; Its got a mean temper and is personally not well liked in political circles.

Yes, it seems that they Greens are still the public face of AAR, even though there is a new owner. The only major change so far is that the web site, which under the care of Sam Seder, is all new and fancy...its much better.
The rest? Well, Lionel is untenable, Thom Hartmann is more than a little slow and boring for daytime, and Randi has been on edge, seeming very unhappy, and ranting on and on as usual. Rachel Maddow has one foot at MSNBC, and I can't imagine that her future wont be in the visual media. I have to think hard to remember who else there even is out there, but I do love Ring of Fire, vanity project that it is at this point, and I adore Sam Seder and his Sunday show plus all his jumping around filling in.

And its there that I found myself today, after a hard week of trying to get medical care for a child who has crappy insurance (not y child even, but mine has crappy insurance too,) and stranger than fiction goings on around this homestead, listening to Sam filling in for the suspended Randi. I was heartbroken to see his surprise and outrage when he found out, on the air, that the brass had booked Richard Belzer for the slot next week. They hadn't told him before they leaked it to Huffington Post, and the whole thing sorta smacked of the sort of disrespect that they have shown not only to Sam all along, but to departed talent Kent Jones, Mike Malloy, and Marc Maron. It seems that no matter who the management is at this place, they lack the ability to treat their talent right.

In the old days, actors and announcers and the like were viewed as a commodity to be owned, and treated as so much disposable puppetry. But that is a very old fashioned idea, and the people who were originally recruited for this startup roller coaster ride are of a different ilk. It seems like it should be taken into account that the path that was forged by this group, and the hard work, threats, and unstable work conditions, were not nothing. Some of the original hosts relocated to New York leaving behind family, to work in a new medium that required alot of research and knowledge, besides just becoming comfortable in broadcasting. And for that, they got treated with something less than respect, and in some cases, with total disregard.

So, I'd like to see a little something come out of the new management of the new AAR. Start with Sam Seder and give him a regular weekday show. He is, without a doubt, the best talent that you have left there, and he only gets better. Thousands of fans will attest that he should be on weekdays over any star turn by Richard Belzer or anyone that you can rope into the position. next, Get Marc Maron back on a regular show immediately. Try a signing bonus in Marc's case, and a raise and bonus for Sam while you're at it. I would also strongly suggest that you start to give Rachel a little more budget. She not only is better with some sort of co-host, but she should be able to have Kent Jones with her (and he is, in so many ways, the signature versatile voice of AAR.) get rid of Lionel right away. He doesn't represent Air America Radio or progressives. Its hard to tell what he represents, and its even harder to figure out how he ever got on air with that voice!

I can understand that every new set of owners wants to put their mark on the station. I know that you have your program managers and specialists on board trying to figure out how best to put the interactive mode of AAR into effect and to make big announcements, but listen, you are best served by rolling the thing back and building on the initial foundations that were there before the shuffle began. The hosts never had the time that they deserved to move the numbers properly...and to expect a profit from a media outlet that was started from scratch, and one that has endured so much shuffling of lineup, is insane. Anyone who invests into an outlet like this expecting a return right away, or even in a couple of years, is dreaming. Where are the rich liberals who want to finance this thing because its sorely needed in this country? Why was this sold to the Green brothers in a questionable deal that allowed it to go for a fraction of the agreed upon price in cash, and then a payback to only certain debtors, while throwing the workers and talent under the bus? And now that the new owner, Charlie Kireker, is in place with additional money and suits, why are the Green brothers still on board?

If Kireker is there to infuse money into the business, then I hope to see some positive announcements very soon. If Sam Seder quits or is relegated to some secondary role again, I am just moving into a place where I further don't give a shit...I'm already there more or less...but I'm ready to move it over to NovaM, spend money there, and seek out podcasts that are produced in a way that doesn't hurt anyone (or do animal testing.)


For those reasons alone you would think that any one of the originals would deserve some higher level of respect. But, for some reason, each variation of management seems to lack basic skills in treatment of others...especially those who are on the air and having to juggle callers and concepts, timing and a ton of information. Its an incredibly hard job on many levels, and not the least of it is that its easy to get burned out in this atmosphere of bad government getting worse and having to roll with the punches in an industry that is historically rough.

For the life story of AAR check out Left of the Dial, available on my coolio roundabout widget over on the right side of RIPCoco, and also at any outlet you might prefer. Its such a great documentary, even if you're not a huge fan of this network...and it speaks volumes about lost opportunity and the kind of talent that the following management teams squandered.

Breaking: Randi Rhodes just appeared with Larry King Live and according to her statement, when the new owners were looking at the company and making their deal, they had a problem with the terms of her contract, in that they didn't have the power to fire her without cause. She refused to alter her contract and in the ensuing months they decided to send her on these stand up sort of appearances, and then suddenly found this instance of what they viewed as cause. They would not let her back on the air unless she agreed to amend her contract as they had originally wanted, and she refused. Since under her contract they do not have the power to fire her, she was to remain in limbo. But somehow she has a job beginning on Monday at NovaM radio, so she either had a standing offer, had been considering leaving, or she hustled and found a soft landing. Good for her! I am again happy that someone else got out alive, as I was with Maron (which doesn't stop me from hoping that these guys will prove me wrong and fix things,) and I continue to worry about Sam, who really deserves better treatment and more job security.

Good Luck to you all!

Bounce yer Boobies!

Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Separation of Church and State but Were Afraid to Ask.

The blogswarm continues, folks....go here to read about it.

It’s just about cherry blossom time….

Last night, after miles of DC monuments, I found myself in a small television studio at Atlantic video on Massachusetts Avenue NW, invited to view the taping of a show/event that reaches to the very heart of what’s wrong in this country. Presented by First Freedom First, an organization dedicated to the separation of church and state, this pre-taped event will be simulcast tonight at theaters across America. Log on here to find one near you and pick up some free tickets.

The show is hosted by actor Peter Coyote, along with Welton Gaddy, Air America Radio Host and President of the Interfaith Alliance, and Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United. Their combined specialties run the gamut from theology to law, spirituality to broadcasting, and back again. The event presents facts, fallacies, and heart crushing stories that exemplify the huge amount of work that this country will have to do in the wake of eight years of fundamentalist rule. Featured guests are Comedian and AAR host, Marc Maron, Musical group the Bacon Brothers, actors Dan Luria, Wendie Mallick, and Catherine Dent, one man show, Roy Zimmerman, singer/songwriter Catie Curtis, and living legend, dear to my own heart, Jack Klugman.

The tide of a particular brand of Christianity that has swept our nation is a troubling one, in that there is this my-way-or-the-highway mentality about it; a framing of this story as one in which the good are raptured up to heaven and the bad are damned. Even our foundational institutions that are supposed to be, by law immune to this blurred line have succumbed slowly and insidiously thought the years. Schools and the military have moved in a direction that is not only against what this country stands for, but damaging to our strength as a guiding force and to our diplomatic standing in the world. This movement has become a forced migration towards a purely Christian country with the rest being systematically viewed as a dark side, damned to hell, and it has gained strength mainly due to an administration that boldly defies the law, and logic in how to maintain an inclusive society.

Welton Gaddy describes the concept of spirituality or religion as one made up of the journey of understanding, and acknowledging the many ways that the spirit, or some part of it, might make itself known; a search for what each of our personal truths may be made up of, that should not be lessened by any one person’s journey. He embraces a God who encourages that journey, believing that faith is a growing organism, and the inclusion of all forms of spirituality and religion is imperative to the survival of our species. We cannot begin to aspire to attain any goal of understanding on any path, religious or otherwise, without the acceptance of the many differences that make up the human spirit. It is only through this kind of love and acceptance and educational foundation that we fulfill what might be human possibility.

First freedom first is a charitable organization concerned with empowering people to ask questions of their religious leadership, communities, and government, because each of us shapes our own culture and one person really can evoke change. The journey of spirituality is an interactive one, and unfortunately what has happened through our educational system has served to stilt the ongoing dialogue that faith and education should be.

Our places of worship and our society are so steeped in the information age that we have abdicated our responsibility to get up off the couch and ask the questions that shape this conversation. When an issue of importance arises the best answer is usually to ask a question; what does that mean to you? But a culture of proselytizing has taken hold, and the urgency of the concept of “saving” the masses seems to have trumped the law as well as common sense…and in so doing, has served to silence whole portions of our society. The threat of being considered un-American or anti-religion or just not politically correct has been a huge and powerful weapon that has been used against us more and more in the past years. We need to find our courage once again to be the brave Americans who have fought at just about every critical juncture in history for what is right; not what is convenient.

First freedom first encourages everyone to sign on to their webpage, learn about the issues, watch the videos of some of your favorite stars talking about their own concerns, sign the petition, and take a copy of the set of questions to ask your family, your community members, and most importantly, the politicians who shape the agenda regarding so many issues that are run solely from the point of view of religious dogma. These are also critical questions to ask yourself from time to time, when you get swept up in the nonsense that masquerades as real life.

The stories told during this show will break your heart, give you hope, and make you laugh. Questions will be asked, singers will sing, a minister will preach a differing view of the scriptures, and the minister of the funny, Marc Maron will remind us all of the common bond of humanity, that goes past religious or partisan lines and cuts directly to the empathetic thinking spirit of a fellow traveler on the road to wherever this leads. The big shame is that we can’t have a regular dose of this voice on the radio, as we did for what were brilliant years of not just politics, but a life in some sort of motion. This is what we need to hear; interactive moving dialogue that moves us forward rather than pushing us down where I hear that the right wing hate-jocks are repeating the same old thing, as if it becomes truer as you wish it to be.

Facing an end is not anything that we can project ourselves into, or fathom the depth of. I sometimes think that Mother Nature makes the vision dull and softens the edges on the concept of nothingness to make it a little easier for us to parse that divide. For those who embrace a heaven with loved ones and pets; a place of beauty and comfort, and for those who feel that the circle of life leads to rebirth or maybe just nothingness, we must always remember to respect each individual ‘s needs and wants and beliefs in order to be the free country that the framers envisioned. We have the right to the pursuit of happiness, but forcing our beliefs on someone else is not anyone’s right, much less the right of the state. It is, in fact, denying them their rights.

Voyagers across oceans gave their lives to escape a society that lacked the freedom of religion and the ability to strive for happiness. America was founded by people who wanted that freedom so badly that they bravely risked their lives and died in order to be free of that oppression. Somehow over many years, sometimes cyclically, but seemingly moving towards the right, we have forgotten what we are , how we came to be here, and somehow it has become okay to close the doors and turn this into an exclusive club feeding on itself in its intolerance.

After the show, an audience member came up to Marc and I overheard him asking “So, Mark, how would you classify yourself?” To which Maron replied, “Well, I guess I’m just a stand up.” The man then said “Well, I'm a humanist.” And as I walked away I heard Marc sorting it out, like, “oh, you meant…”... I didn't stay for the end of the sentence, because I know the answer and that answer is as individual as each of us…and it is as apt to believe in rock and roll as the humanistic way we treat each other as it is to be a Jew or Christian or to worship at the knee of Don Rickles…and, what about God’s Comedian….? There is no saving or teaching or helping without basic understanding, and it’s sad that so many of us speak totally different languages but really intending somewhat the same outcome.

I hope that First Freedom First will be making the show available on DVD or even better, general television. (update: I hear that there will be an internet release soon.) There should be some way that many more people can see this show. It was long, probably too long and in need of an intermission, but it was engaging and important and the kind of programming that would go a long way towards helping Americans try to sort out the morass of dogma that has become the stock in trade of every walk of life in America today.

Visit First Freedom First here

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Coulters Cleaning House Again...Who's Next? Maron Hits NYC, Head First Into the Hurricane....

Last night at ComixNY, Marc Maron talked up a seamless 55 minute set of pain and insight and commentary about the human condition, but mostly his condition. As he said, the pain is so palpable that it rolls out onto the first couple of rows of the club and doesn't dissipate into the funny till around row 3. This show was intense, passionate, real, and political...and he didn't really address politics directly at all; but then, I find everything to be political or to fall into the political pattern, and the big feeling of despair that has descended over so many of us. This is basic stuff about having your foundation torn apart and your world tipped over. Its also about the decisions that we make and what its like to grow up in this delicate world.
From Scottish haggis as Soylent Green, complete with
Charlton Heston on top of a truck, to the impossibilities involved in relationships and forging on in this life, it was an hour packed with some sort of hilarious dismay and common understanding of being thoughtful in a world that is moving a little too fast these days.
I'm looking for the one man show and book coming out of this evolving set...he is honing something with new takes on old bits and newer new bits, and its only a matter of time before some smart producer backs an off-Broadway show, and at least, that we hear him back on the radio full time!

Don't miss Marc and Sam Seder on Tuesdays doing their Vod-cast Marc Vs. Sam Show live at 11AM EST at Sam's page....available as a Vod-cast after the fact too!





Anne Coulter and her ilk want to clean things up...

This story is not about a specific smear job perpetuated on a kid, or some failed attempt to ruin the career and life of a candidate. Its more about the M$M giving time over and over again to a cabal who want to use the "news" pulpit to disseminate false information in service to their own bank-books and a doctrine that is built on corrupted theory and clearly not the laws of this country. It is about actions that are so far outside of what is socially acceptable, even in this time of mind numbing cacophony of information and entertainment, that has dulled the senses and lowered our standards of what we put up with.
This is about about the putrid atmosphere that we are living in, where any pundit can do the equivalent of yelling fire in a movie theater and then claim that it was only their free speech talking. Its about harassing small children, sick people, and small sick children.

Our Constitutional rights take for granted that we are not animals. We are free to speak within reason, yes, but where does reason end? Clearly, there are certain things that, when said, can be so deeply disturbing and meant to hurt, and cause anguish to other people on enough levels as to neuter any sort of response or action, that they incite to action others who are the lowest form of racist, bottom-base of our kind; the low hanging fruit, to quote a philosopher dressed in a comic's threads.....who would keep the muck of their slime-pit for themselves in the way that a certain cretin whines "mine, mine" from the bottom of it's pit.
This is why its not freedom of speech to hang nooses from whites-only trees, and this is why libel laws protect people who are wrongfully smeared publicly. This is also why reporters used to want to have real sources before they put stories on the air and in the newspaper. When did that become the exception rather than the rule? When did the likes of Anne Coulter become a pseudo-intelligencia specialist reporter, rather than a hack who should be working for the News of the World's alien abduction section?



We live among animals who lack basic evolutionary movement beyond instinctual knee-jerk separation based on superficial aspects of each other which might have, at some point in the prehistoric days, served a Darwinian purpose for breeding and tribal safety, but in this time of creature comforts and education, mean nothing more than one's protection from the sun and what size of nose or texture of hair they have...
The bible assumes that all humans are as out of control and...bad...as these people are in their do as I say sitcom foibles in the government. Why is it that the ones spewing the most vile concepts and values, are the ones most in need of the rules from an unseen father in the sky who offers an unseen reward to a chosen few? Yet those few seem to live most outside of any basic tenants of kindness and giving ever preached by any faith. Its almost as if the label if believer is more a label of one who needs that much structure or they might spin out of control and do horrible things....and they do horrible things.

from the Greenwich girl, Anne Coulter, who seemingly has never lived up to what shes wanted so badly, or gotten what shes needed in life,(why else is someone so snobby, elitist and in need of citing their college and brand over and over; jealousy makes for an ugly disposition.)

How disappointed her friends and family must be to see what a monster their daughter, sister, friend has become; that is, if she is able to have relationships. There is a certain Barbara Bush things to her, where she talks down to the little people. Those who think they are her "fans" or "in" on her blog, think again; you are all the little people in her world. She hangs with the Palm Beach and Greenwich crowd...you will never approach her golden palace.
She sits like an unsteady reptile, on high stools for uber leg exposure, dressed like the art whores of the NYC Soho gallery scene of the 80's, or like a Robert Palmer robot girl with that shiny stiffness, Adams apple bobbing....she is on TV sets, under lights, flipping golden hair, with the mocking surety of the truly weak who try too hard to seem assured. She doles out "truths" that are mind-bendingly, numbingly, obviously, as untrue as they are hurtful in a way meant to shred and destroy the opponent. If asked about confirmation or any basic reporting, she shrugs it off as opinion or puts it off, as in this-story-is-about-to-break-you'll-see...and by then, shes gone...not that any of the softball flirty pundits who always wanted to be with a real man before, would follow up anyway. Those soft white dough boys ask silly follow-ups in all seriousness, like this is a person who should be taken seriously.

This hard woman, who might surprise us all if she is able to have human relationships at all, beyond her fag-hag retinue with BFF-Drudge and his ilk, plys her trade in pure pulp shock, and uses what will plainly translate into book sales and money, to create publicity and an aura around herself of ...talent?...No, real talent comes out of substance, real life, and a feeling for the world and those who survive here. This smirking cretin has no substance at all.

There is a certain pure place that we all strive for in our own way, and there is something, through age and experience, that settles in each of us where the battle is clearly fought, less by tearing down your perceived opponent than by accepting yourself and others and looking at your own footprint in this life, and how much air you take up in any room. Its giving up the fight in favor of the battle, and natural empathy which cannot be developed or bought; its just there.
The kind of badness that Coulter represents is not only negative to the world and our development as human beings, but hurtful to the specific individuals that she attacks. These include children, widows, and whole groups of people who have lived through enough persecution to know bullshit when they see it. Strange that the real man in this tale ends up to be Donny Deutsch, but there you have it. Yeah, watch her backpedal frantically, but, its not gonna work this time. You may be able to get away with alot, but the Jews don't fuck around, girlie. She is exactly the sort of Nazi that we're all on the lookout for these days, Jews, half-Jews like me, and every other American of any ilk with an ounce of smarts or feeling for where humanity is heading.

Clearly Coulter is some sort of Sociopath. She seems to lack boundaries regarding what is appropriate in social interaction. I can see her watching herself and mocking and snickering, while she chips away at the lives of others and spreads her own brand of pain, all the while counting the dollars pouring in because shock sells.
Its a shame and it takes away from any discourse that we might have been able to have.

I've noticed that alot of us have rage-fatigue, and are feeling really used up and limp lately. How many times can you be smacked in the face before you just stay down? Maybe the devolving of the Bush administration came in a little too clearly, a little too extensive and huge. We could've guessed this string of events, but on 9-10 no one would have believed any of this...I can't believe alot of it now, even as I would believe anything these days.

Driftglass, one of the best writers on these internets, brings it home for me:

"And it reminded me that when I pause and take the time to open that clench of anger and the snark that fuels a lot of what I write and look inside, there in the center I find grief.

A sadness around which I have girded cleverness and rage....
Because it’s absolutely no fun loathing your leaders -- Honestly don't understand how the Right can grow so fat feasting on such a thin, bilious gruel decade after decade.

It is, in fact, just terribly sad to look out at your country and see an insane asylum.

Terribly sad to see monsters and madmen smashing the finest, most precious heirlooms in your country’s treasure house to atoms. And to see their followers in their millions clap and dance in the ruins as they do it....
I, too, so very much miss being able to look across the political divide and see anyone on the other side who has not been bred to believe that selfishness, mercilessness and misanthropy are virtues.

And when we talk of tolerance?

We are told to fuck tolerance.

Step by unholy step, theirs has become a Party and a Movement that makes an outright sociopath like Ann Coulter their Goddess, and uses “tolerance” as a smirking, eye-rolling epithet....Hey, dickhead: tolerance doesn’t mean I have to love you or agree with you. It means that my vision of democratic civilization demands that I make allowances for people I do not love, and with whom I do not agree.

It means that some of my tax dollars will go towards paving and grading the roads that allow you to drive in safety and comfort from your doublewide in Swinefuck all the way to the Pixley Bijou so you can see “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” in Dolby on the Big Screen.

And it means that some of your taxes will go to pay for public defenders, health insurance, and a measure of security for the elderly, the weak, the poor and whole lot of other people you despise for various reasons....

The question is, how is it possible on the eve of the turnaround, that the network news and talk shows still have a spot for her and that O'Reilly and Limbaugh and Malkin and their ilk, still spew their filth daily?
Ratings be damned! Tucker Carlson has a tiny audience...too tiny to warrant his continued spot in the prime news-time of MSNBC early evenings interspersed with Chris Matthews...it reruns, 2 times, no less! and he is who invites his "great friend" Coulter onto our airwaves...He is who elevated the absolutely talentless Willie Giest from hack producer to television personality of the most base and frat boy extreme.

Ive been waiting for this change for so long...So, why is it so hard to get the programmers to at least cut out the wingnuttia? The American people turn on what is on. If we dont let the programmers know that we have had enough, how can we expect it to get better?
What information do we get from Coulter's book tour? What does anyone gain from Coulter getting on TV and calling all democrats stupid? The fact that there is a market for this indicates less that humans are into this sort of thing, and more that the education system is fucked in this country, and the media follows suit, so this is all that people have access to if there is no regulation...and then it sells, and around we go!
viewerservices@msnbc.com
Tucker@msnbc.com
Dan Abrams stays out of the contact whirl over at the home ship at MSNBC, but Im sure that Viewer Services gets to him...these are his decisions after all.





Drifty is a gift...and I hope that he realizes that there are people out there of the same mind...even though I myself have been planning my semi-retreat from the grid with my chickens and some plans of solar panels and my healthy-so-far Artesian well. When I see the cruelness of human discourse these days I go limp...when I see how hard people in the real world are struggling, I cant find my breath....I don't understand why things happen the way they do, but I do know that alot of what is going on is manipulated and planned. I don't mean that in a tin foil hat sort of way, but in a deliberate, blatant, we-are-doing-this-to-you-and-you-have-no-way-out, sort of way.

Its kindly grandpa Reagan standing there reading his cards saying"why would corporations need regulation? They have ethics, They can police themselves."
Like, yeah, we are all grownups here, no one is reaching under the stall of anyones potty in this place... Then come to find that just about everyone has one hand or another under the stall door somewhere for something.... But the die is cast and we cant go back....

Yeah, there is plenty to worry about..plenty...
as long as Condi Rice is scouring the planet for more feathers to ruffle. I don't know what to say about it anymore, except, enjoy the ride. Its gonna be nothing if not interesting.

Whats Up? Whats New? Whats Happening? Maron and Seder-a-thon!!

Here in the new south of Fairfield County, we're sweltering in a heat wave, and in the half hour before the Sam Seder Show, complete with the Sammy Cam (!!) I'm looking at whats coming up this week and...yeah, its Columbus day tomorrow which is another opportunity for me to sleep late (8 AM, big-whoop) and then I can rail about how much I hate Columbus Day and all it stands for; and I don't mean Italian-American pride either. I think they should just rename the whole shebang Italian-American Day, and call it a...uh...day!
Take back your pox blankets boys...put your scurvy teeth back in your smelly head, and vamoose. I'm sure that Columbus was a brave guy, and I know that its human nature to explore, migrate, to and take over other lands...we are warlike creatures and the only way to survive is to appropriate the resources that are out there. But, do we have to celebrate it? Give the Italians a day of their own, and give it a rest...

In great news for the liberal voice, (besides that Sam is about to be on, streaming here, or...good luck finding a terrestrial signal,) Marc Maron will be guest hosting the Rachel Maddow Show on Monday and Tuesday, October 8th and 9th; then he will be appearing at Comix Friday and Saturday, October 12th and 13th; then, on Sunday the 14th, at Union Hall in Brooklyn (for a short set,) and THEN Monday at Mo' Pickin's House of Satisfaction on the lower east side of Manhattan/Ave A. For those of you who were hopeful that this might mean something in the way of the Greens/AAR suits being smart enough to offer him a show, no such luck right now....Though I'm sure that your cards and letters and email couldn't hurt.

This guy is one of the hardest working men in showbiz, and if HBO-Showtime-FX or the like, don't give him his own talk show soon, there is no justice in the world... which there actually isn't, so there you have it....a perfectly Maron equation...
For those of us on the east coast who were sorta getting used to having that guy living amongst us, lo those couple-a years, we unfortunately are not gonna get him here in person for a whole extra week before his Comix gig. He is apparently taping the Maddow show from sunny LA-LA...and the quickly evolving Marc-Sammy VodCast that is offered live HERE every Tuesday at 11 AM, EST, can be done, on Marc's end, from anywhere...but is also being taped from LA. Just refresh the page a few times if you don't see both screens. Its a great show and its going to be really fun to watch it develop.

In the embarrassment of riches department of this coming week, Sam Seder is filling in for Mike Malloy at Nova M, Monday to Friday from 9PM to midnight, EST. Its almost like the good old days....but unfortunately AAR can't see the forest OR the trees...

As if THAT wasn't enough, Elizabeth: The Golden Age is opening on Friday!







Bird News: My lil' parrotlets laid 2 eggs...and they are tiny. Think of smaller than a mini marshmallow....and my second frizzle baby is still holding on in the incubator but I'm a little worried about that one. Its also really little!...Why do birds make me happy? I don't know...but I'm holding on to whatever happiness I can get my hands on these days...































And yes...theres more....theres always more...

Hit and Run...

Just a little bit of an update from the trenches here:
My kid is sick so I have had little time to write much besides drafts that don't get edited until I'm sure that they are stale and so far after the point as to be meaningless. But those of you who read this blog know that whats likely coming after this fiasco, if I'm not sick myself, will be more and more wonderful news from the world of little to no health insurance, and the shiny CT-insures-all-children bullshit line of my very own townie Joementum Lieberman, and sneaky-slippery Chris Shays.
One point about socialized healthcare: its not enough to provide a contract or to even pay for it for poor folks (and charge a pretty high premium to middle classers;) It doesn't work if NO PROVIDERS ACCEPT IT! The difficulties here are due largely to Blue Cross and their ilk making things so impossible, complex, and cheap as to have had just about every provider peel off as soon as they could, if they ever signed up in the first place. So (Hillary, pay attention here) you have to (re)regulate the insurance industry and either mandate participation or make it a workable proposition for the doctors involved....or hey, how about we put everyone on Medicare and mandate that providers take it?

Where is Chris Dodd on this? Everyone uses it as a shiny happy face in their speeches but who is addressing the reality of it?

Here's what Ive got for today:
The Sammy Show Widget to the right here is sporting the audio of the first installment of the one hour Seder/Maron Show, which to my ears, is great content-wise, and will be better technically if Sam continues on his current curve with the technology that he has been working with.

This is Hell is broadcasting 10AM to 1:30 PM EST from WNUR in Chicago and also available in archive podcast format. It's good stuff; long format, witty, not too NPR-ish, liberal political, interview stuff. I like it, I listen to it, I suggest it.


Those of you on the left coast should check this out:

TOWN HALL's Writers Bloc Hosts Author and Radio Commentator the Hon. Robert Reich

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - September 21, 2007) - TOWN HALL LOS ANGELES presents Robert Reich, Author, "Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy and Everyday Life," talking with Marc Maron on Thursday, October 4, 2007. The event is the second program this fall for the new series TOWN HALL's Writers Bloc. Los Angeles literati have the opportunity to ask Reich about the current state of American capitalism......

Former Secretary of the US Department of Labor for President Bill Clinton, Reich is currently a Professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, a commentator on NPR's Marketplace, and author of 11 books.

Maron is a standup comic, actor, and writer known for his incisive cultural and political commentary, mystical ruminations, and neurotic insights into human nature. He is the co-founder of the alternative comedy event "Eating It" in New York.

When: Thursday, October 4, 2007
7:30 PM Program followed by Audience Q&A

Where: The Landmark Theatre
10850 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064

For more information, visit www.townhall-la.org, Cost: $20

Pathetically sad T-shirt of the week"






More on that to come....












Frog of the week:

Scooter Go Bye-Bye...Moose on the Loose in Stamford...Tornados, Hail, Violent Thunder Storms...Oh My!!

Libby got 2.5 years, and I'm pretty Ok with that, though I cant see that the folks who wrote him letters of leniency were folks who were charged with ...um...protecting not only us, but Valerie Plame, as an agent of ours!...I dont think that its OK for them to write letters of support for this criminal who is openly taking the fall for the worse criminals in our governement! I think that all of those rotten apples have to go. Its highly irregular to have top government officials go to bat for a convicted criminal, and make arguments along the lines of the convicted being just too busy to remember ANYTHING....
This is pathetic and I hope that Scooter enjoys his moments in jail before his pardon...I hope that every American looks at this for what it is: an inside job underlying the machinations that worked to send us into a needless war that has put us in danger and debt....and killed so many of our kids, not to mention the uncounted innocent Iraqis too....
Even if Scooter ends up never spending a day in jail, the civil trial will be strengthened by this conviction, and according to Joe Wilson on Kieth Olbermann this evening, Cheney and those higher ups who the American people deserve to hear on this matter will definitely be named in this action!...and clearly, the transparent attempt to block Valerie Plame's book will be defeated too.

What kind of a wonderful world is this that I live in...? Back home with my birds, dogs, plans for a few chickens, and counting down to upcoming mornings of not waking up for the school bus... and watching my lil' slackers become summer slackers in this only ever summer of their 14th year....
I finally was starting to catch up this morning except for the self-replenishing pile of paper on the desk here and the fact that I forgot all lists upon leaving the house, therefore making it impossible to actually do much of anything out there besides finally stopping to buy the grill that Ive been circling for weeks now.
But it was upon arriving really, really late at the gym this morning that a "friend" was laughing at me and saying that she thought that maybe the moose had gotten me! ...Moose!!??














Well, apparently we had a moose on the loose here in Stamford that had traveled from Northern Fairfield County to just about right here in my neighborhood...Clop, clop, clop, walking up driveways...off running across the Darien golf course, like a very large horse, and finally causing some schools and businesses to lock down, before running into the Merritt parkway and getting hit by a car. Animal control apparently had to put it down, and the people in the car had to be extricated with heavy equipment...
The year that Will was born I lived just outside of Portland Maine, where the Moose rules all...and it is well known that you don't want to hit a moose on the highway because the moose will likely live and the car will be an accordion. Here in Connecticut we have only around 100 moose in total, and they reside in the furthest north-west corner of the state...so, like the recent whales and dolphins showing up way off course, and the increase of bears and bobcats and coyotes entering areas where they never would have been found before because of...um..people...things feel turned upside down.
And the poor guy was put down...which, I'm sure we will hear more about, as the animal rights people around here are pretty strident. And I guess I care more about that than who was hurt in the car...

Then, as I was figuring a way to rush home and put some hay in the yard to try to lure the thing here, my phone email started pouring in with all of these emergency weather notices about extreme storms coming and how we should take cover...violent thunderstorms, big hail, and tornadoes were moving from the northern coastal towns towards where I was...safe in the gym, yes, but still....
What kind of craziness is this?
The flooding wont stop, a worse than usual storm season is promised, mosquitoes are HUGE, theres a moose in the backyard, and its hailing!
The endtimes are nigh, kids....
and just to confirm that, Conan O'Brien is featuring Marc Maron tomorrow (Wednesday,) who will again remind us how fucked things are in general, and also what we're missing every day on the Green's AAR 2.0. Someone had better get smart and give this guy a regular gig really quickly...he is full of material, information, opinion, and angst, and hes ready to go...lets get on with it, OK? We need the funny, we need it regularly, and we need it NOW!

Next up, a plague of tiny frogs or grasshoppers or something slimy, like slugs (the only animal ...er...bug...that I fully dislike...hate!)...(and an unshaven Dan Abrams filling in for Joe Scarborough!)
Maybe I can grill just once or twice on the new grill before the next blow?


Moose update: A New Hampshire woman hit the moose on the Merritt Parkway, totalling her car and injuring the Moose...She was extracted and taken to the hospital. The Moose was too badly injured to save, so had to be put down...RIP baby...Next time, head north...what a beauty!

Another City, the same story; Philly...Marc Maron at Helium Club...Select Bob Herbert....

Ive been thinking about the police state that we're living in and issues of safety out here in this strangly familiar city I'm visiting... and how somewhere between AIDS, the crack epidemic, and Rudy's swiffering of New York City that still has the few of us left behind from before wondering what they did with all those people in the ensuing Disneyfication/Starbuckuration of just about every destination city in America (look out world!)..and here in Philly its so spotty between absolutely shiny beautiful and downtrodden, that its got that familiar liberty bell ring...ding dong, here comes the flood.
And sure enough the rug is starting to burst at the seams in NYC and here... and there... body parts are shaking loose and floating upwards with the usual spring debris.
So here in Philly, right in the thick of this ongoing gentrification, there are quite a few homeless people living on streets, and on the way through NJ I actually had an opportunity to hand out some fruit to a starving guy on the highway.
I was walking today on JFK blvd to the science center and a horrible smell came over me just as I rounded a corner below a half skinned highrise, being fitted with its glass exterior covering, and there in an indentation was a ragged homeless guy who smelled so badly that it wafted an entire block...there are too many homeless here and they don't seem to be hassled away so quickly like they are in NYC...

Philly is worlds more affordable than where I'm from, and still has a sort of arty innocence, as if the hedge fund guys haven't quite taken over just yet...but just you wait...its on the way up, and depending on how things go in the coming years, it could explode. I was gonna take pictures because some of the older architecture is really fabulous, but, honestly, its very much like parts of New York City, and I was feeling like...why?
I like it here and I could actually live here, I think...in my many alternative plans for what to do if it all goes south some day....
Hell, gas is only $2.78 a gallon and Americanos at Starbucks are only $2.50-ish...what else do you need?

Back to reality, I did some shopping at H&M (which was pretty great but too hot inside!) and I found myself in my usual listening and observing mode, laughing with a very funny girl at her boyfriend's commentary on what is "grandma" and what is "hot" (like, you need his advice!,) and the dressing room guy who was a string bean of a Rastafarian, in what could only be described as retro Fiorucci meets the clown-strike, complete with Christmas garland suspenders; trying too hard and way too swishy to make human contact with...
It was all just plain old fun for me...really... I was looking at some clothes and trying to figure what it was about the 70's that these people want back, only to realize that it was Madonna's line...Oh Stella, Oh Madonna...how nice of you to bring us back the very stuff that is best left in the back of the closet of melamine laced textiles of eras gone by...Is anyone truly nostalgic for the 70's and the 80's?

Downstairs is the cheapo and sales section and upstairs is the men's department and what would be the "couture" stuff....meaning that everything downstairs ranges in price from $7-15, and the stuff upstairs is more like $29.99 -$49.99....I did pretty well actually because the Brits seem to understand long legs, or wanting to wear a skinny something and push it up, which translates on me to maybe just long enough.
Downstairs at H & M I was struck by the large amount of inner city slang that I was hearing, not in that it was slang and ebonics, which I can usually understand, but that it was largely undecipherable at all. Ebonics to the max, and not in a funny way. Philly is not that far from New York, or Jersey, or downtown Stamford, for that matter...and yet the language of the inner city is morphing, just as sure as the rappers, who espouse the "no snitching" philosophy and the ever reconfirmed view of the police as the enemy, are not holding back when it comes to schooling all the little kids out there in the realities of hos and drugs and sex....
You almost have to grab hold of any kid washing by in the flood who is resilient enough to paddle towards shore and try to delicately reel them in.
This is a flood that our government wants....the ongoing gentrification projects create bigger and bigger islands for the haves, while the have-nots get squeezed tighter and tighter into their own worlds with their own values, ethics, and language. This has been going on for a long time, but as a new malaise settles over the country, and the "great" economy starts to shake because the house of cards its built on was never made to last much past 08, its growing worse.
So this is what Ive seen all over: education has been systemically defunded, even as its labeled something altogether different. Some pseudo-liberal, politically correct nonsense has allowed for a new extreme of inner city slang to become a recognized language, even as linguists all over the country still argue its intrinsic value...and there will be no jobs with that language...
Americans seem to have been cowed into accepting our tech support from almost indecipherable Indian accents, but if we had to hear an inner city voice we would reject it in a second...
The point may be to ensure that the underclass does not organize and vote, and as the elite and heady few amass as much wealth as inhumanly possible, the middle class is under attack and the underclass has no place to go except into the military or nowhere.





















Sure enough, the police went to Ben's next door neighbor's house last week to pick up one of them who was truant on a murder warrant and ended up tasering a bunch of the inner city guys standing around in what seems to be police brutality, but is being investigated...
and Bob Herbet had a pretty troubling op-ed today in the Times about the treatment of inner city kids and teachers at NYC public schools by cops gone wild. I will post that op-ed below because its currently locked in select and I think its an important read....when they push the underclass around thats one thing,...its to be expected in bad times, and fought as best as we can.... but when they go after the teachers, the intellectuals, that is something purely different and unacceptable.

The news has been bad this weekend, and Ive been hardly able to look for fear of crumbling worse that I feel anyway due to situational stuff thats been happening....
Its a hard time for me and for alot of people that I know...lots of pain going round, people dealing with death and separation and loss....

The G8 is bringing out the floating anger thats going round and more and more people are dying needlessly in Iraq...there is seemingly no way out...and little Joey Lieberman is parading around in his little helmet and vest.
No sooner has a guy with TB spread his germs all over the world, causing some sort of terror about bio warfare, than another terra threat is uncovered at JFK...and as if there were any security anywhere, I was allowed all sorts of free passage throughout the Philiadelphia Science center...not to mention JFK, last time I was there and trying to find my flight...
Its not like anyplace is safe at all...and what can we expect? All of our resources are in Iraq, while here at home we are sitting ducks in the path of the worst hurricane season ever...
And the left has managed to silence itself in the person of Mark Green, new owner of AAR and criminally negligent programmer....

Speaking of the late great AAR, I did get to see Marc Maron in a performance that he would consider to be scattered and off his game a bit (as comedy shows go,) but to me, it was Marc at his best, in that he was just sitting and talking about whats going on and how he sees things in his life. It was pure Maron, with a little extra sadness thrown in, as things are definitely hard for him right now....but coming off of a major move, 2 lost jobs, the ups and downs of negotiating contracts with seemingly untrustworthy businessmen, and being treated as less than human in the process, rather than as a very important part of that fantastic thing that was the early AAR (RIP) ...and then jumping head first back into a heavy touring schedule...well, Marc seems to be cut down to the bone...
But he is also at his most concise and hilarious through that exhaustion, pain and confusion.
Its not about the jokes or the acts, but the social and personal commentary that seems to touch people across such boundaries....a small, round, very drunk, black Jewish woman slurred some pretty hilarious conversation with him throughout, and even ran on the stage to show him her star of David, as security closed in and Marc bristled them away, embarrassed that security didn't think that he could take this little drunk woman on his own if necessary......he was just so quick on his feet and interactive and funny....This is the Marc that I miss hearing on the radio; interactive with the crew around him and the best interviewer out there...he is a natural...
I know that I said I wasn't gonna write about Marc anymore, but there was plenty that a fan of "stand up comedy" could find wrong with this show...and a billion times more that any progressive, intelligent, art patron could find brilliant in a way that far surpasses the limited world of stand up....and I found that compelling enough to mention what I see as an evolution into what I hope will be a one man show that will cover what he has seen in the past few years...or the inside story of AAR from a guy who was instrumental in what was a beautiful experiment that crashed and burned...

















Tomorrow Im heading back towards home and my crazy life...my beautiful place in the woods...my busy plans and hope to slow down and reinvigorate for the coming months.

King Tut was absent himself but he sent along his fantastic jewels and sarcophagus...silly me, I thought we might get to see the actual mummy himself, as I had seen some other actual mummies in London when I was a kid....and of course we have the real shrunken heads at the natural history museum in NYC....
But the show was great...the day was great...and actually the whole thing was great.
Thanks to Marc and to Andy, and to the folks at the Westin, who always make such a nice cocoon for me just when I'm sure Ive hit rock bottom....and mostly, thanks to Mom, who watches things when Im away...I miss my boys, my place, my animals.....

And hopefully I can find a place tomorrow to buy and transport cheese steaks to the boys....if I show up without cheese steaks there is gonna be hell to pay!

June 2, 2007

Op-Ed Columnist

Poisonous Police Behavior

By BOB HERBERT

You most likely have no idea of the abusive treatment that students and teachers at many of New York City’s public schools are enduring at the hands of overly aggressive police officers and security aides assigned to the schools.

Students are being belittled, shouted at, cursed at, intrusively searched and improperly touched by cops and security aides who answer to the Police Department, not school authorities. In many cases, the students are roughed up, handcuffed, arrested and taken off to jail for behavior that does not even begin to approach the criminal. Teachers and administrators who have attempted to intervene on the behalf of students have themselves been abused, and in some cases arrested.

This poisonous police behavior is an extension into the schools of the humiliating treatment cops have long been doling out to youngsters — especially those who are black or Latino — on the city’s streets.

In January, a 15-year-old girl at Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn was manhandled for no discernible reason by an armed police sergeant. The sergeant had grabbed her book bag and ordered her into a school detention room. When the girl replied, “That’s where I’m going,” the sergeant is alleged to have pushed her. The girl then said she was going to take down his name and badge number.

When she said that, according to a new study of police practices in the public schools by the American Civil Liberties Union, the sergeant jerked the girl’s left arm behind her back at a painful angle. The girl’s right hand slammed against a wall and she began to cry.

Students inside the room cried out in protest, but to no avail. The girl was taken to the police station and given a summons. That night the school’s assistant principal called the girl’s home and apologized to her mother for the incident.

One morning last fall a large contingent of police officers arrived unannounced at Wadleigh, a high school for the performing arts in Harlem, to do a spot check for weapons by herding students through portable metal detectors. One of the students, the vice president of the school government association, was afraid his cellphone would be confiscated so he called his mother and asked her to come get it. He waited outside the school for her to arrive.

When police officers approached him, he explained that his mother was coming to meet him and would be there in just a few minutes. The police, according to the report, called him a smart-aleck, seized his cellphone, handcuffed him, took him to the local stationhouse and put him in jail.

Unaware that her son had been arrested, the mother was frantic when she couldn’t find him at the school. The charges against the boy were later dropped.

There is nothing unusual about this type of activity. A math teacher at the Urban Assembly Academy of History and Citizenship rushed outside the school one day last fall when he heard that a student was being assaulted. He saw a police officer slam a boy against a car. Explaining that the boy was his student, the teacher said, “He’s just a kid.”

According to the report, the police officer then hit and shoved the teacher. People in a group that had gathered cried out: “He’s a teacher! He’s a teacher!”

A second officer reportedly grabbed the teacher from behind and threw him onto the sidewalk. The teacher’s head bounced against the pavement. While on the ground, the teacher was handcuffed as students and school staffers looked on. He was arrested and taken off to jail.

The report, a must-read for anyone interested in the reality of public school life in New York, is titled “Criminalizing the Classroom” and was released jointly by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Racial Justice Program of the national A.C.L.U.

“Girls,” the report said, “are particularly targeted for intrusive searches. Girls whose underwire bras set off metal detectors must lift up their shirts so (security aides) can verify that they are not concealing metal objects. Many girls reported that officers ordered them to unbuckle and/or unzip their pants for the purpose of verifying that the students were not concealing cellphones.”

There is no excuse whatever for this systematic mistreatment of New York City students. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in charge of the school system, and he and Commissioner Ray Kelly run the Police Department. Parents across the city should demand that they step in and bring this cruel madness to an end.