Another Thompson Tribute - Freak

Here's John Nichols on Thompson's Dem/GOP terrifying run for Sheriff in Aspen. A great illustration on Thompson's confronting and even thrashing with our political system. A brief quote:

He wanted to create a newer, better politics -- or, at the very least, to so screw up the current machinery that it would no longer work for the people who he referred to as "these cheap, greedy little killers who speak for America today."

Cheap, Greedy, Kills? Anybody seen someone like that around today? Does he have a nerdy, balding friend, with glasses who is as bad, if not worse than he looks like he'd be, another bald friend who looks like a Mr. Burns New Year's day float and claims to be VP, and daughters who give the "hook'em horns" sign? Yeah, I thought he did.

Read more!

May God rest his soul, but will the lord ever get any rest now?

Hunter Thompson - Rest In Peace

That page somes up Hunter Thompson. All I can add is what he meant to me. I didn't find out about him until well after I had seen Fear and Loathing (not a great introduction to him, much too cartoonish, even if Johnny Depp is his usual great fun excellence). It was actually through Timothy Krause's Boys on the Bus to which my friend was kind enough to turn me on. Getting a glimpse of Thompson's out of control, highly personalized style got me hooked. Not long after Boys, I found a copy of Fear and Loathing on the Campaign trail - which I consider a must read for any politico with the slightest sense of humor, and all liberals. Watching Thompson's insane approach to covering the routine idiocy of presidential campaigns, riding his roll of emotion about McGovern's campaign, you knew it wasn't "balanced" but as Hunter might say "fuck Balance, balance is for the unitiated fools getting their gourds sucked out in the lobby. Balance is for Broder, in other words. And those of us who live in the real world will just find ways to tolerate and despise him, in a balanced way of course."

Hunter was a ride, helped me to see the world through the haze created by drugs I'd never even think about trying myself, and his utterly personal, self-centered writing had the ability to illuminate something deeply personal about his subjects. And most illuminating was the Hunter was not afraid to go anywhere and not afraid to insult anyone. I ran through Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and later spent a glorious summer reading Hell's Angels. All three books remain some of my absolute favorites. The Proud Highway, a collection of his letters and writings before his fame, are a constant source of enjoyment.

Hunter was very often wrong, he was always a careening disaster waiting too happen. But he was a beautiful American, beautiful because of his independence and his belief in himself. Obviously I haven't lived nearly as daring a life as he had, but he did help me see the farce in our society, and when I was younger his writing was a form of venting anger that ultimately calmed my soul.

I'm fairly certain he's found a version of heaven - and I'll bet money it's a new one with him in it.

Thanks for the inspiration, thanks for the laughs. And thanks for getting it right at least most of the time, but doing it right all the time.

Read more!

Because They Can

Seems the GOP in Georgia isn't satisfied with their 7-6 lead in the Congressional Delegation and they want to re-redistrict a larger number of seats. In fact, they basically want to make it so that the only Democrats are those representing majority African-American districts.

While this obviously screams for redistricting reform, it also reminds me of the quandry of minority-majority districts. There is a desperate need in Congress to represent minorities who, as I'm sure later posts will discuss have been historically disempowered as political money contributors. However, the districts created to ensure minority representation suck Democratic voters out of other potentially winnable districts.

An illustration is my hometown Greensboro, NC. It's represented by three different congressman Howard Coble, Mel Watt and Brad Miller. Miller, whose white, was the architect of his own district, created while he was in the State legislature. It comes from Wake County and reaches in to grab just enough Greensboro Dems to give Miller, from Raleigh, a fairly safe seat. Unfortunately for those Greensboro Dems, they stand virtually no chance at winning a primary because most of the Democratic votes are in Miller's back yard. (There are two top ten college basketball programs between Miller and his triad voters.)

But of course, Miller isn't the main reason why it is likely no Greensboro Democrat will be elected to Congress until 2012, at the earliest. Mel Watt, who is African-American represents a district that starts in Charlotte and then runs up I-85 to Greensboro, pulling in African-American neighborhoods (and yours truly in Winston-Salem - there's only one top ten college basketball program between Watt and triad voters - well, at least one half a top ten program - Wake doesn't play defense). The result - Coble, a Republican, not from Greensboro, has barely been contested because his seat is so safe. By the time Miller came along in 2000, Coble's district was barely recognizable from the one in which ballots had to go missing for him to win in 1986.

Of course, there is a danger for republicans in blatantly redistricting "because they can" as the post points out. There are Dems in charge of other legislators. And when they redistrict, they won't have to worry about the Voting Rights Act preventing them from eliminating majority African-American seats held by Republicans.

Read more!

New Blog - Left2Right - Social Security - It's insurance stupid

Here's a great analysis from my new favorite, Elizabeth Anderson, on one of the critical points of analysis for determining the future of social security - the value of the benefit provided by a private retirement account. What's particularly helpful is that Anderson refocuses the discussion on the insurance aspect of social security and the inadequacy of comparing what it does with a retirement account. I'll let her do the talking....

Read more!