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Howl On!
[Editor's Note: This is another installment in our ongoing Saturday morning series examining and exploring the powerful relationship between Art and Politics.]
Fifty years ago on Oct 7, 1955, six poets held a seminal reading in San Francisco, which inspired a nationwide movement: They were Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Philip Whalen, Allen Ginsberg, and Gary Snyder. They were brave and revolutionary during these dark days of the Cold War.
At this reading, Ginsberg read the poem "Howl" for the first time. I heard the original recording replayed on NPR, while driving home from work. Soon after, Terri Gross was interviewing Donovan on "Fresh Air," with audio clips. At the risk of sounding like a nostalgic old hippie, I must say that these collective remembrances are inspirational in these times. It's very frequently nowdays that younger people ask me about those days and speak of the quality of art, music and politics that we were a part of then. It sometimes seems to be as though we're travelling backward in time, not progressing forward. At those times, I like to think of ways to evoke timeless energies and integrate them into our progressive movement today.
From Howl
by Allen Ginsberg
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machin-
ery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and
saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tene-
ment roofs illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes
hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy
among the scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy &
publishing obscene odes on the windows of the
skull,
who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear, burn-
ing their money in wastebaskets and listening
to the Terror through the wall,
who got busted in their pubic beards returning through
Laredo with a belt of marijuana for New York,
who ate fire in paint hotels or drank turpentine in
Paradise Alley, death, or purgatoried their
torsos night after night
with dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares, al-
cohol and cock and endless balls,
incomparable blind; streets of shuddering cloud and
lightning in the mind leaping toward poles of
Canada & Paterson, illuminating all the mo-
tionless world of Time between,
Peyote solidities of halls, backyard green tree cemetery
dawns, wine drunkenness over the rooftops,
storefront boroughs of teahead joyride neon
blinking traffic light, sun and moon and tree
vibrations in the roaring winter dusks of Brook-
lyn, ashcan rantings and kind king light of mind,
who chained themselves to subways for the endless
ride from Battery to holy Bronx on benzedrine
until the noise of wheels and children brought
them down shuddering mouth-wracked and
battered bleak of brain all drained of brilliance
in the drear light of Zoo,
who sank all night in submarine light of Bickford's
floated out and sat through the stale beer after
noon in desolate Fugazzi's, listening to the crack
of doom on the hydrogen jukebox,
who talked continuously seventy hours from park to
pad to bar to Bellevue to museum to the Brook-
lyn Bridge,
lost battalion of platonic conversationalists jumping
down the stoops off fire escapes off windowsills
off Empire State out of the moon,
yacketayakking screaming vomiting whispering facts
and memories and anecdotes and eyeball kicks
and shocks of hospitals and jails and wars,
whole intellects disgorged in total recall for seven days
and nights with brilliant eyes, meat for the
Synagogue cast on the pavement,
MORE: http://members.tripod.com/~Sprayberry/poems/howl.txt
Today is Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s birthday! He is turning 88. In honor of that, I suggest you read this, which he wrote on March 23, 2003 on the eve of the war in Iraq:
Good Foreign Policy a Casualty of War
Today, It is We Americans Who Live in Infamy
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0322-01.htm
and this, which he wrote in early December and which is even more relevant today, about Republican hubris ultimately leading to their demise and how we can snatch the opportunity:
Opportunity Knocks
It may look grim now, but the Republicans’ hubris and incompetence will ultimately prove their undoing.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=8880
Byrd to White House: Level With the People
http://byrd.senate.gov/newsroom/news_oct/level_with_the_people.html
You said "hubris and incompetence"?
Well, on my 1 p.m news, I just watched Dubya's phony conference with the GI's, and we didn't miss a minute of the "selected volunteers" training with Katherine Baker, not Scott McLellan 's press conference...
Just following, the CNN TV crew arriving to a polling station in Baghdad under the protection of 4 Abraham tanks... That must be the embodiment of freedom and democracy.
I don't know what you see or are told, but outside America, sound information goes on... mainly about you.
The day, American media will stop looking at the world through a key hole, and Americans start to pay attention to it, you might be saved.
Paul Hackett has a diary on Kos.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/14/181051/30
Flat-out wierd:
________________
Rice, UK's Straw to do diplomatic duet in US South
http://tinyurl.com/9ujt7
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in the United States for a three-day, stage-managed tour with political overtones.
Rice announced next week's trip as she flew into London on Saturday for heavyweight talks with Straw on bolstering international support for their hard line against Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Jim Wilkinson, her image guru, outlined a program of U.S. events, including the two taking center-stage for the opening coin toss at an American football game, indicating the unusual tour was more photo opportunity than foreign policy.
Their time together in Alabama, the place Rice grew up in the racially divided South, will include serious speeches on civil rights and minorities, Wilkinson said, noting Straw's parliamentary constituency had a large Muslim population.
...&more
Posted by: Andrée - France at October 15, 2005 02:43 PM
How embarrasing and humiliating. The world watches and narrates while our millions are fed propaganda.
I hereby declare from this day forward they are FRENCH FRIES, dammit.
Now if we can just do something about the Croissandwitch.
Posted by: Andrée - France at October 15, 2005 02:43 PM
And in my industry (construction), there are "industry papers" that regurgitate the fabricated information that the W regime fed the media (using one pro-W troop at most), and use that as the "proof" that things are going very well in Iraq, and that the media are lying.
I am pretty sure that this swayed a lot of construction votes in W's favor. But then, construction mafia has always been pro-Republican, from Halliburton and Bechtel downwards.
Good thing I am starting up a new business in IT.
Their time together in Alabama, the place Rice grew up in the racially divided South, will include serious speeches on civil rights and minorities, Wilkinson said, noting Straw's parliamentary constituency had a large Muslim population.
...&more
Posted by: aimzzz at October 15, 2005 03:18 PM
I won't be fooled. The only minorities that matter to the Republicans are those who vote Republican against their best interests.
5,800 WORDS: NEW YORK TIMES
COMES CLEAN ON LEAK STORY
EXCLUSIVE: TIMES' MILLER TO TAKE INDEFINITE LEAVE OF ABSENCE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY....
http://www.rawstory.com/
Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at October 15, 2005 01:25 PM
Thanks for these two thought provoking articles!
The question is, do the Dems have enough spine to take over where the GOP fails? I doubt it right now.
The Dems need a clear-cut ideology balancing government and private sectors, RIGHT NOW, to replace the Reaganian "government IS the problem" ideology. Katrina has made it clear.
Christy,
Which one of the top 4 articles to start?
Curiouser & curiouser...
Judges Asked to Calm Furor Over Miers Nod
http://tinyurl.com/am5eb
wo former Texas Supreme Court chief justices are the White House's latest weapon in the fight to calm the conservative uproar over Harriet Miers' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
John Hill and Thomas Phillips are due in Washington on Monday, bringing testimonials about Miers' qualifications based on their dealings with her in Texas.
Despite his longtime support for George W. Bush, Hill is a Democrat whose word may not be the right salve for those among the Republican right most nervous about Miers' judicial philosophy.
Also, it was unclear whether either Hill or Phillips ever heard Miers argue the kind of cases that might rebut criticism that she lacks knowledge of constitutional issues.
...&more
crap all of them.. the wheels are flying off the bush spin machine fater than a prezle can choke an idiot
And then there is this
Miller Can't Recall Who Gave Agent's Name
WASHINGTON - Notes by the New York Times' Judith Miller that were turned over in a criminal investigation contain the name of a covert CIA officer, but the reporter has told prosecutors she cannot recall who disclosed the name, the newspaper reported Saturday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051015/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_leak_investigation
Christy,
There is a big reason Ms. Miller was nervous enough to lose all that weight in prison. One would think she may be sitting on a big egg.
OM holy GAGAGAGAGA WTF did you just say...??
In response to questioning by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, Miller replied that she "didn't think" she heard Plame's name from Cheney's aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
"I said I believed the information came from another source, whom I could not recall," Miller wrote, recounting her testimony for an article that the newspaper posted on its Web site Saturday afternoon.
Ill bet 983 monkeys that OTHER SOURCE would be named ...ummmmm cheney
HOLY SHITTOKKI BATMAN!!!!!!!
WHOOOHOOOOO
Shit is getting deep in this country.
and WHY does the Times want to distance itself from her so badly at THIS time?
They want to distance themself because they know they are on the hook for the WRONGFUL DEATH of over 2000 American soldiers, and upwards of 200,000..? dead Iraqis.
Their actions led DIRECTLY to thier WRONGFUL DEATHS. They KNOW they are LEGALLY liable.
Oh, yeah....that little tid bit.
Hmmmm...this may open a whole NEW can of worms.
Who owns the Times? OMG I just answered my own question.
She may have been safer in jail.
lets see...
Rove didn't tell judy.
Libby didn't tell judy.
There are only two more rungs on this ladder.
Even I didn't expect it went all there. And I LIKE tinfoil hats.
What a freaking trainwreck this has become. I'm so morbidly hooked I cant wait for the meat wagon to show up.
Christy,
Libby's top aide just went on a trip and isn't expected back until after Oct. 29th. ?? He went to Iraq.
I saw that on the net last week and have tried to google it and can't find his name. Why is he out of town until then? Wish I could chase down that story again.
Posted by: aimzzz at October 15, 2005 03:18 PM
I knew we'd suddenly be seeing Condi doing public appearances, looking all civil rights, friend-of-blacks-ish. I predicted it when the poll came out about only 2% of African Americans supporting Bush. Here we go. Good thing they've got her to trot out at times like this.
Truth its on Reb Nations archives about 5 or 6 days ago, i think.
You know what I thought about when I heard he had gone to Iraq? i thought about how Ceaser used to send political enemies to the frontlines. Like Cleopateras brother/husband.
I hope ol boy don't have any 'accidents' while hes over there.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
The Grey Lady that did not bark in the night
Curiously, America's Greatest Newspaper (not!) has never mentioned the White House Iraq Group. Not once.
http://corrente.blogspot.com/
Get a load of this.....in order of corruption.....
http://www.correntewire.com/the_grey_lady_that_did_not_bark_in_the_night
Posted by: Amy at October 15, 2005 06:11 PM
A poll I saw last night said his ratings are down to 1% with African-Americans.
The pictures of the tragedies of no response after Katrina are firmly etched in many Americans' minds, I hope.
Most coverage from Canada, India & other places outside US:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051015/millions_march_051015/20051015?hub=TopStories
hundreds of thousands of mostly black people, over 2000 buses plus alot of private vehicles, all to DC - 10 year anniversary of the original Million Man March, this time with women, families, if they want. Diversity & freedom of speech.
Lowdown on the latest Bush Saturday Propaganda Address with Wesley Clark response.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5346661,00.html
It seems illogical that Iraqis voting would deter terrorism, yet this is Bush's premise. For one thing, the new Constitution allows for the males in the family to choose whether to follow state law or religious law. Women's situation in Bagdad, Kabul, Tehran has declined shockingly in the last 30 years. Women didn't have to wear the veil, could wear miniskirts, makeup, vote, many had college educations, they could drive, travel. Now they can do none of the above. In what way are we spreading democracy and for whom?!
Iraqi Women Still Feel Left Behind
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=iraqwomen15&date=20051015&query=iraqi+women
Posted by: Christy at October 15, 2005 05:35 PM
From linked article:
Miller also wrote: "Mr. Fitzgerald asked if I had discussed classified information with Mr. Libby. I said I believe so, but could not be sure."
The reporter said Fitzgerald asked "how Mr. Libby treated classified information. I said, 'Very carefully.'"
________________
If she can't remember whether they discussed classified info, how would she be so certain that he handled it carefully?
Just curious...
Sat. Oct. 15 2005 4:41 PM ET
Romania quarantines region over bird flu fears
CTV.ca News Staff
Romanian authorities quarantined an eastern region of their country and appealed for calm after tests confirmed a dangerous form of bird flu is present there.
They are disinfecting all vehicles entering and leaving the Dobrogea region. No eggs or poultry meat can be shipped from there.
The region includes the counties of Tulcea and Constanta, home to 1.5 million people. Filled with lakes, the region is also an important area for MIGRATORY BIRDS from Asia.
Four adjacent counties are being monitored, said Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur on Saturday.
"We are doing what needs to be done,'' he said. "There should be no panic. We are proceeding the way they proceeded in other countries.''
Earlier, the country's agriculture ministry said lab tests in Britain confirm that the flu detected in wild birds found dead in the Danube delta is the H5N1 strain.
Authorities fear that particular strain could mutate into a form that could be easily transmitted between people.
The announcement comes one week after H5N1 was discovered on a farm in Turkey, prompting the European Union to ban poultry imports from both Turkey and Romania.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051015/birdflu_romania_051015/20051015?hub=TopStories
Creating a Democratic newspaper was suggested at Kos.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/15/13459/048
We've often talked about creating a DEMOCRATIC Paper too.
In the early days of the country, political parties owned alot of the newspapers. I think it worked because they didn't pretend to be non-partisan
Posted by: sparrow at October 15, 2005 08:59 PM
I said that wrong! I meant "creating a Democrats paper"
Wow...long week!
Posted by: aimzzz at October 15, 2005 09:09 PM
Well, that's the problem with CNN and the rest is that they claim to be "trusted" but instead they are party hacks for the neoCONs.
Except now when poll numbers show 38% approval, they start to think of their own fallen profits that ride with the realization that people now know what they've withheld for the past 5 years or more!
Frank Rich of the NYT nails it on the head. It's Bush/Cheney not Rove/Libby.
http://select.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/opinion/16rich.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
(not free.)
Can get exerpts here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/15/205649/37
Appears that Miller has given the prosecuter grounds for indictment of
Scooter.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/15/162153/54
BREAKING | Judith Miller Releases Carefully Worded Statement
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101505W.shtml
The Valerie Plame affair began with first hand accounts by Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, which contradicted key Bush administration arguments for invading Iraq. Judith Miller was an ardent subscriber to the Bush administration's rationale for the invasion. Most, if not all, of Miller's assertions about the need to invade Iraq have proven false. Accordingly, Truthout cannot vouch for the accuracy of any of Miller's statements. Our editorial staff does not understand how an experienced reporter could fail to remember her source.
more on Million More March
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/12913498.htm
- the usual bit about "numbers" and how many showed up and how the march isn't as big as the one ten years ago, just like every anti Iraq war / pro-peace rally is compared to the Vietnam era. Why is everything in America about size? Quantity vs quality?
- Farakhan may be controversial, and when antiwar demonstrators show up - ANSWER may be controversial. That doesn't mean these large gatherings should be written off at all, as the groups there are much more diverse and the "controversial" one is just the tip of the iceberg. (When there is a conservative event, doesn't mean the most radical rightwing people there represent all either.)
When NPR covered it, they had to have their "balance" so interviewed a few "black conservatives" who said that mass movements have no place and it's all up to the individual. I can attest as a middle-aged white American female that individual hard work is not enough. There is nothing wrong with mass movements, as they develop when there are problems that need real solutions for real people.
When government represents real people, then it will be no longer be necessary to describe the most extreme of those who dare to speak out as "controversial."
Tommorrows NY TIMES
FRANK RICH: It's Bush-Cheney, Not Rove-Libby!!!!
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/15/205649/37
And They say DOWNING STREET MEMOS
Wow..Tommorrow will be a whole new day
Marchin' Marchin' Marchin .. Get Dat Froggie Marchin'
http://www.tidmus.com/blog/images/frog_march_final.jpg
Watch it hit. (Judith Miller - the Flame/Plame affair)
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-10-16T005331Z_01_EIC446318_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-LEAK-NOTEBOOK.xml&archived=False
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5346965,00.html
Posted by: Christy at October 15, 2005 10:32 PM
Posted by: sparrow at October 15, 2005 10:09 PM
lol--yep!
Miller Thought Libby Needed Protection
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/AR2005101501465.html
Howard Kurtz
Trouthout...
"Truthout cannot vouch for the accuracy of any of Miller's statements below. Our editorial staff does not understand how an experienced reporter could fail to remember her source. - ma"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101505W.shtml
Somewhere in Australia...
Brisbane to be exact...
There is one giddy aussie drooling and yelping like a flushed school girl.
Seriously she just told me to tell yall she is drooling and can not quit smiling.
And on a personal note...
Freaking YEEEHAAAWWWW
Posted by: not my president at October 15, 2005 07:19 PM
NMP, and I have a feeling that American women will suffer the same fate in 30 years.
I will fight to avoid it, but I think we all need contingency plans too just in case!
It's like the Nixon years-- The regime contained it till after the election
Long may they unravel, twist & burn
Off to a party & I'm wearing two buttons:
Frog March Rove Out Now (with image of frog -
I don't have Libby ..)
&
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act - George Orwell
(with background of barbed wire)
Cartoon
Fitzgerald pays a call to the White House
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20051014/ltt051014.gif
another one
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20051014/lpo051014.gif
Reporter in leak case to take leave of absence effective immediately
John Byrne and Jason Leopold
New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who spent 85 days in jail protecting her source in the recent CIA leak investigation, will take an indefinite leave of absence effective immediately.
"Judy is going to take some time off until we decide what she is doing next," Times' spokesperson Catherine Mathis told RAW STORY Saturday afternoon.
RAW STORY spoke with Miller by telephone at the New York Times newsroom in Washington Friday evening. She said that she had not previously been questioned about her plans going forward, and deferred extended comment to her publicist.
The Times' Sunday story asserts that Miller has not signed a book deal as previously reported.
"She said she thought she would write a book about her experiences in the leak case, although she added that she did not yet have a book deal," the article says. "She also plans on taking some time off but says she hopes to return to the newsroom."
Two reporters inside the newsroom say they have heard Miller will resign from the paper.
Miller was not cooperative with the Times internal probe, reporters told RAW STORY Thursday. This was confirmed in the New York Times' internal probe.
"In two interviews, Ms. Miller generally would not discuss her interactions with editors, elaborate on the written account of her grand jury testimony or allow reporters to review her notes," the Times reporters wrote.
The paper's executive editor, Bill Keller, says Miller provided a "detailed report."
"The package we are giving readers includes Judy Miller's account of what she told the Special Counsel," Keller said in a statement. "No other reporter drawn into this investigation has provided such a detailed report. We're relieved that we can finally put this story in the hands of our readers, who will draw their own conclusions."
DEVELOPING HARD...
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Reporter_in_leak_case_to_take_1015.html
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Reporter_in_leak_case_to_take_1015.html
As South drowns, Rice soaks in N.Y.
Did New Yorkers chase Condoleezza Rice back to Washington yesterday?
Like President Bush, the Secretary of State has been on vacation during the Hurricane Katrina crisis, with Rice enjoying her downtime in New York Wednesday and yesterday. The cabinet member's responsibilities are usually international, but her timing contributed to the "fiddling while Rome burns" impression given by her boss during the disaster, which may have claimed thousands of lives.
On Wednesday night, Secretary Rice was booed by some audience members at "Spamalot!," the Monty Python musical at the Shubert, when the lights went up after the performance.
Yesterday, Rice went shopping at Ferragamo on Fifth Ave. According to the Web site www.Gawker.com, the 50-year-old bought "several thousand dollars' worth of shoes" at the pricey leather-goods boutique.
A fellow shopper shouted, "How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!" - presumably referring to Louisiana and Mississippi.
The woman expressing her First Amendment rights was promptly removed from the store. A Ferragamo store manager confirmed to us that Rice did shop there yesterday, but refused to answer questions about whether the protester was removed, and whether by his own security or the Secret Service.
At the State Department's daily briefing yesterday morning, before the New York incident, spokesman Sean McCormack responded to a journalist who asked whether Rice was involved with hurricane relief efforts by saying, "She's in contact with the department as appropriate." He made no mention that his boss had any plans to leave New York.
But yesterday afternoon, Rice had done just that. Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore told us: "The secretary is back in Washington, and she is being briefed on the situation." Moore did not know whether Condi had planned a longer stay here.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/342712p-292600c.html
Tom Delay acting like victim in order to raise campaign money
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_DeLay.html
returned from the party: wine, chocolate, sushi and complete outrage at Rove, Delay and the rest
Truth Shall Prevail at October 15, 2005 11:46 PM
ROFLMAO
MY bunker!
"Tom Delay acting like victim in order to raise campaign money"
The man needs to be put under a gag order
It's funny when Frank Rich compares Bush to Norman Bates in "Psycho" - I recently saw the last part of the movie, where the detective comes around, so it's fresh in my mind.
Frank Rich: It's Bush-Cheney, Not Rove-Libby
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101605Z.shtml
Asked repeatedly about Mr. Rove's serial appearances before a Washington grand jury, the jittery Mr. Bush, for once bereft of a script, improvised a passable impersonation of Norman Bates being quizzed by the detective in "Psycho." Like Norman he stonewalled.What makes Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation compelling, whatever its outcome, is its illumination of a conspiracy that was not at all petty: the one that took us on false premises into a reckless and wasteful war in Iraq. That conspiracy was instigated by Mr. Rove's boss, George W. Bush, and Mr. Libby's boss, Dick Cheney.
Nice British article about how Bush Is Distancing Himself From His Brain. (Rove)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-1827433,00.html
-- It's worrisome when these countries may have WMD but I grew up with the Soviet Union having huge ones pointed at all our cities and with government lame "plots" we're supposed to believe ring hollow.
Million More March
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-10-15-voa30.cfm
even covered by Voice of America