Excepting Corporate Welfare, Of Course

Remembering Alice's Restaurant and the simple days!
by Charlie Leck

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant,
Exceptin' Alice of course!

Do any of you, my older friends and readers, remember Arlo Guthrie singin' this wonderful song – that was more like an entire album – going on for over twenty minutes about Alice and her husband, Ray, and the faithful dog, Fasha, and their Thanksgiving Day from hell together? Oh my, in the sixties it was my favorite song! I listened to that song hundreds of times and laughed so deep down inside myself each time I did.

Now, just why did I think of that song this morning when I read a NY Time editorial about corporate compensation. I thought of Arlo Guthrie singin' his charmin' song about Alice and her restaurant. Here's all these big-wig business types shoutin' about welfare and money handouts to the poor and how wrong it is that these folks ain't pickin' themselves up by their boot straps (whatever the hell that it is) and goin' out solvin' their problems by their own self, anyhow.

"But that's not how it works. The ongoing bailout of the financial system by the Federal Reserve underscores the extent to which financial barons socialize the costs of private bets gone bad. Not a week goes by that the Fed doesn't inaugurate a new way to provide liquidity — meaning money — to the financial system. Bear Stearns isn't enormous. It doesn't take deposits from the public. Yet the Fed believed that letting it implode could unleash a domino effect among other banks, and the Fed provided a $30 billion guarantee for JPMorgan to snap it up.

"Compared to the cold shoulder given to struggling homeowners, the cash and attention lavished by the government on the nation's financial titans provides telling insight into the priorities of the Bush administration. It's not simply a matter of fairness, though. The Fed is probably right to be doing all it can think of to avoid worse damage than the economy is already suffering. But if the objective is to encourage prudent banking and keep Wall Street's wizards from periodically driving financial markets over the cliff, it is imperative to devise a remuneration system for bankers that puts more of their skin in the game."

Now here's Arlo, comin' round again and screechin' his heart out as he gets to the refrain…

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant,
Exceptin' Alice of course!

Mr. Cayne even got Alice. He's the big dude at Bear Stears. His bank collapsed right under him, you know; yet, between 2004 and 2006, he was paid over $40 million cash money. Now he's gonna reeeetire just down the road from Alice's Restaurant and live up there high on the hog.

I saw this'un nice little lady on the TV th'other day. She wassa 'bout to lose her entire house 'cause she was in those arrears to the tune of 'bout 2,000 bucks on her mortgage. That company had talked her right into improvin' her house with what they were callin' Equity Loans. My, oh my, how easy they made it sound. So she jest went 'bout fixin' up her kitchen and her bathroom and put on a nice porch and fixed the patio up real nice. Everything was so purdy! She was'a ridin' real high 'til somethin' went badly for her. Payment went up a tad and there was no room in her countin' for that.

There was no big government t'hep 'er out. She was what they call down around Alice's Restaurant, "shit outta luck!" Those fellers were gonna take her house, 'cause, of course, she signed that paper sayin' they could if'n she didn't pay that Equity Stuff back. They told her that her Equity had done disappeared. Vanished! And now her house was worth less'n what she done owed on it. Yep, she was SOL.

It's a real funny, goofy world when we can stick it to a nice lady like that. Yet, that fancy dude, that wrecked that bank, will walk away with enough to buy hundreds a'houses like that nice lady's house.

They's all against welfare, them corporate dudes; exceptin', of course, corporate welfare that bales 'em out when they stink up the place

The NY Times feller puts it real nice in them fancy words:

"But until bankers face a real risk of losing their shirts, they will continue blithely ratcheting up the risks to collect the reward while letting the rest of us carry the bag when their punts go bad."

END

For you young'uns, here's an explanation of Alice's Restaurant.

This was a war protest song that we either sang, or listened to on loud speakers, when we took to the streets to protest the injustice of the Vietnam War. This particular, long, delightful verse will explain it all and represents the general humor of the entire piece.

And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if you're in a situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into the shrink wherever you are , just walk in say "Shrink, You can get anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and
they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends, they may thinks it's a movement. And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar.

With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and sing it when it does. Here it comes.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant,
Exceptin' Alice, of course!

They were glorious days. Recruiters were aghast. Federal agents thought we were crazy! We marched on and on and kept tellin' to make love instead of war – with feeling!

When we got tired of singin' about Alice, we'd move on to Give Peace a Chance!

Happy Anniversary

Alas, to think of, per chance to remember,
all his lofty promises!
by Charlie Leck

Could it be? Was it only five years ago that we invaded Iraq on a wing and a prayer? Five years ago, the world stood watching in “shock and awe” as our jets screamed into Iraq trying to be discriminate in their killing ways, but failing. Attaturk, writing on the Firedoglake Blog, puts the moment in historical perspective:

“Today is the Fifth Anniversary of the Decider's crowning glory...upon his intellectual throne, a thunderbucket of immense intellectual bankruptcy causing uncounted and ever mounting death and destruction. Each year adds a new level of intellectual dishonesty and miserable accountability for him and his enablers.”

The Great Decider was certain we would have no casualties. The evangelist, Pat Robertson, claimed that George Double-U told him so in a personal audience. Bush now says he never told Robertson such a thing. Who to believe? I mean it! That’s a real conundrum. Shall I believe the President of the United States of America who would certainly not tell a lie – even a teeny-weeny one – to the people of the United States? Or should I believe the good Reverend Pat Robertson, God’s representative here on Earth, who would surely not tell us a lie? Would he? Would he? See what I mean about a conundrum? I need a chosen Decider to help me choose whom I should believe.

For the record, the count, as of today, exceeds 25,000 casualties and very nearly 4,000 deaths. I am grateful to these heroic men and women for the sacrifices they made on behalf of their nation. We should all pay them such honor through gratitude. They heard the call to serve and they heeded it.It is sad that the call to service had to come from such an ill-informed and ill-advised Commander-in-Chief. Sad!

How clearly I remember the days leading up to that night five years ago. My wife and I were in turmoil about the evidence and testimony that was presented to the United Nations. We held our Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in such high regard. Surely, we thought, Powell, an experienced and highly decorated General, would not involve himself in such a venture if it were not legitimate.Legitimacy! Now, five years later, we know that legitimacy is the key issue.

Just as a lie, over forty years ago, dragged us in over our heads in the war in Vietnam, a bold-faced lie dragged us into this war in Iraq. It is a war that has left our nation morally and financially bankrupt. It is a war that has cost us over 3 TRILLION dollars and is mounting steadily. How can an economy not suffer?

Now the great debate is about how to end it – how to leave without doing further great damage to the innocent people of Iraq.I am tired of being lied to by our national leaders. President Reagan did the same thing to us when he invaded the tiny, island nation of Grenada. What insanity it was to send troops there for no reason and to see nearly two-dozen men lose their lives, most in friendly fire, for no reason whatsoever. I think we need to have our Presidents out-fitted with a lie detector device that they must wear every time they speak to the American public.

Here is an exercise for you to try on this fifth anniversary day of our invasion of Iraq: Imagine, if you will, that we elect only Presidents who will consider it their loftiest goal to make peace in the world and not war.Happy Anniversary!

END

Oh, to be Young Again

Young people and the coming elections!
by Charlie Leck

“Youth will be served, every dog has its day,
and mine has been a fine one.”
[George Barrow]

In the Spring of 1968, at the age of 28, I was involved with a lot of other young people in taking over the Democratic Party. It was really a life changing event for me because I went from being generally apathetic about politics to understanding the exciting possibilities of engagement in the system. It was the Vietnam War that motivated us back then. The war was plainly unjust and unneeded. Just about all thinking and reasonable people could agree on this back then. For heaven’s sake, even William F. Buckley, Jr., the leading conservative of the time, was opposed to the war.

Now, it is war that has again brought young people out to the local political primaries, caucuses and conventions.

On this past Saturday, I attended our Senate District Convention as a delegate. My firm intention, going in, was to put my name in the hat as a candidate to the State Convention.

What I saw in the convention hall on Saturday was a virtual mirror of what I saw in 1968. Young people and other first-time conventioneers were there in staggering numbers that far out-flanked us veterans of Minnesota politics. I knew immediately that it was their turn, just as it had been my turn forty years ago. I could hear their voices, using the language and theme of Barack Obama: “Yes we can!”

All around the hall, their message rang out loud and clear.

We can change America!
We can take America back from the rich and selfish!
We can stop this maddening war!
We can improve America’s health care delivery system!
We can end poverty!
We can build up America’s educational system again!
We can compete globally.
We can regain respect for America from the international community!
We can save the planet!

These young people were excited, energetic and angry! The reflection in the mirror was amazing! We had been so sure we could turn America around. Instead, by our failure, we gave America Richard Nixon, Watergate and 5 more years of that tragic war. Our Barack Obama had been Bobby Kennedy. I’ve always wondered if things wouldn’t have gone differently had we not lost him to an assassin’s bullet. It was Bobby’s language of hope and change that we used back then.

The young! It is their time and I am pleased it is. I think they are beautiful, bright, articulate and hard-working. I sat back and watched and gave up any thought of being a delegate. In our caucus we elected a young and beautifully spoke Hispanic woman. She was so excited to be elected that she cried with joy. We also chose a youngish professor from one our community colleges – he teaches the Arabic language and political science. He said he was tired of being told lies. He wanted truth!

Garrison Keillor wrote about the young in his Sunday column in yesterday’s Star-Tribune.* It digresses from my point a little, but it’s too delightful not to quote it for you.

“My generation was secretive, brooding, ambitious, show-offy, and this generation is congenial. Totally. I imagine them walking around with GPS chips that notify them when a friend is in the vicinity, and their GPSes guide them to each other in clipped electronic lady voices and they sit down side by side in a coffee shop and text-message each other while checking their email and hopping and skipping around Facebook to see who has posted pictures of their weekend.”

I have faith in young people, but then I had so much faith in my generation, too. Now, just look at the mess that must be cleaned up.

END

*Tribune Media Services not allowed Keillor's columns to be published on-line.

Dick Cavett on William F. Buckley, Jr.

Cavett uses his extraordinary wit to describe Buckley...
recommended to you by Charlie Leck

The very bright and witty Dick Cavett has posted two essays on his NY Times Blog (Talk Show) about the late and extraordinary William F. Buckley. I recommend them to you most highly.

Part One: A Most Uncommon Man

Part Two: Uncommoner than Thou

It is highly unlikely there will be a quiz on this material, but you never really know!

stercus accidit

Additions and edits on Sunday 16 March 2008

A son of Harlem takes over in New York
by Charlie Leck

I was pretty impressed with David Paterson’s remarks to the press yesterday. He’s got a remarkable wittiness about him and he uses it like a rapier. One reporter had the chutzpah to ask Paterson if he had ever patronized a prostitute. With a little, twisted grin on his face he answered: “Only the lobbyists!”

It appears to me that State of New York is in good hands with this son of Harlem. Now 53 years old, Paterson was born into a powerful and important political family in New York City. His father, Basil Paterson, was the first African American Deputy Mayor of New York City and also served as the Secretary of State in New York.

As the Lieutenant Governor, Paterson had a light schedule and, therefore, also taught at Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs. He lives in Harlem with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson. If you want more background on Paterson, go to this Wikipedia site for a very complete biography.

For those who want a more in-depth look at David Paterson, go take a look at the John Nichols article in The Nation.

A long story in the Sunday NY Times of 16 March examines Patterson legislative record over his career and finds a few controversies.

You can also look at a series of NY Times video interviews with people who know the new Governor well.

My purpose here is not to provide a biography, but to write about the phenomenon of stercus accidit. A young blogger I am following these days, much in need of the aging and settling that happens in a fine wine by controlling that with which it comes into contact during that process, was pretty rough on Elliot Spitzer in an essay the other day. He called the Governor ‘despicable.’ No, there are a lot of better adjectives that have to do with those weaknesses of human beings that are so well documented in the scriptural depiction of the fall from grace. Yet, the scriptural promise is also one of repentance and new life. How often we are reminded of this as we inch closer to the extraordinary celebration of Easter.

“The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.
It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."
The Merchant Of Venice Act 4, scene 1, 180–187

Spitzer did the right thing in stepping down. Now he will need to repair his life and try to restore his place in his family. That’s all personal stuff and one can only hope he succeeds, because he is a good man. The legal consequences of his activities will begin to unfold soon and he will have to face up to these consequences of his actions.

Out of it all, some extraordinarily good things may come. One of those will be the emergence of David Paterson. When he takes his oath of office on Monday, I expect he will become the first blind Governor in the history of the United States. It will not serve as a handicap. He long ago learned how to overcome this missing element in his chemistry. He has excelled in nearly everything he has done. Some may point to a New York bar examination that he has not been able to pass, but this is easily explained away by pointing to the exam’s bias against those who cannot see. This is something the new Governor will aim to correct. And, sightless folks in New York State may now correctly assume they will see movement in legislation they have been interested in for a long, long time. Paterson is a member of the American Foundation for the Blind.

I am going to personally keep my eyes on the State of New York for the next couple of years. I think we are going to see a man, who might never have gotten the opportunity, prove he is a strong, reasonable and capable leader.

Paterson will be a super-delegate at the Democratic National Convention and he has endorsed Senator Clinton. He now moves from a bit player to one of the leading actors in the great American political melodrama.

Oh yes, one more thing! In 1999, David Paterson ran in and completed the New York City marathon. Good practice for what he’s into now.

END

Please write to Congressman King

A congressman from Iowa shows his ugly side!
by Charlie Leck

I am in a state of shock after reading the comments that a U.S. Congressman made last week on the public air waves in Iowa.

Comments delivered by Congressman Steve King during a radio interview in Spencer, Iowa on March 7, 2008:

"I'm going to say something here that I haven't said in the public arena, that I think it's time to start thinking about. That is that, I don't want to disparage anyone because of their race or their ethnicity or their name or whatever the religion of their father might have been. I'll just say this, when you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected president of the United States, and I mean. What does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam? I will tell you that if he is elected president, the radical Islamists, the al-Qa'ida and the radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th. Because they will declare victory in this War on Terror. They will say the United States has capitulated because we will be pulling our troops out of any conflict that has to do with al-Qa'ida anywhere. And additionally, it does matter. His middle name does matter. It matters because they read a meaning into that, the rest of the world,---it has a special meaning to them.

"They'll be dancing in the streets because of his middle name. They'll be dancing in the streets because of who his father was and because of his posture that says, 'Pull out of the middle east. Pull out of this conflict.'

"So there are implications that have to do with who he is and the position that he's taken. If he were strong on national defense and said, 'I'm going to go over there and we're going to fight and we're going to win. We're going to come home with a victory,' that's different. But that's not what he said.

"They will be dancing in the streets if he's elected president. And that has a chilling aspect on how difficult it will be to ever win this global war on terror."

I don't think there is any truth to the rumor that Congressman King's middle name is Adolph. Be that as it may, this bush league congressman needs to hear from thousands and thousands of people who will raise a stink about what he has said.

The Congressman must not hold his constituents and the American people in very high esteem. Both know how tough it is to choose a President and how easily serious mistakes can be made – such as the one the majority made in 2000 and 2004. Barack Obama is a fine, decent and inspirational man. The world will know that and he will regain respect for the American presidency and bring honor back to our nation.

We need to demand a retraction from Congressman King. Please write to him and tell him how far off base his comments were and how hateful and biased they sound. Ask him to retract them immediately. Unfortunately, the Congressman only receives email from constituents, so you'll have to write a letter. Believe me, it will be worth the time. If you want me to email you a letter you can send, just let me know.

Congressman Steve King
U.S. House of Representatives
1609 Longworth Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

King is a hard-line right-winger. He represents a geographically huge district made up of virtually all of western Iowa – north to south! Worthington and Fairmont are two of the Minnesota border towns to Iowa's 5th Congressional District.

This brainless congressman has taken many other absurd positions. Take a look at this web site devoted to keeping an eye on him. You'll quickly find out how ugly and stupid the man's mind is. Make arrangements to contribute to his Democratic opponent this year, so he can be kicked out of the House. I'm going to give his opponent some support.

To get a sense for how absurd the man is, listen to this. He refuses to vote his support for a bill currently in the House that would make cock-fighting a serious crime. Why? He says he will not support any animal rights legislation until Roe v. Wade is overturned. How's that for a brainy guy? Iowa can do better than this!

He's not opposed to applying electrical shock motivation to human beings or using electrical shock as a deterrent or a means of torture. Why? He says, "We do this to livestock all the time."

He calls Joe McCarthy "a hero for America."

He compares illegal immigrants to "stray cats."

Here's a little clipping straight out of the Sioux City Journal…

"Mr. King said about the recently killed al-Zarqawi, "There probably are not 72 virgins in the hell he's at. And if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas." Helen Thomas was an 85-year-old award-winning journalist at the time. Most Iowans don't insult old ladies. (The quote is from a recording transcribed by Radio Iowa at the 2006 Iowa Republican convention.)"

I could go on and on about Congressman King. He is an awful representative of America and of the state of Iowa. His district should throw the dweeb out.

You could also go to the Iowa Democrats 5^th Congressional District web site for more incredible information about the congressman. I'll let you know when his opponent has been named.

Myth of the Surge

An article in Rolling Stone
by Nir Rosen

Here's an important article that appeared in Rolling Stone. It's written by Nir Rosen. This is a very long article, but it is well worth reading. It also includes a series of excellent, captivating photographs.

On AlterNet, Patrick Cockburn writes a similar article, pointing out how the surge could blow up in John McCain's face.

Soon all the rosy forecasts about the surge will go south. That's not good. It's not something we hope for, but it's just the way it is. Iraq's problems are far too complex to be solved with a simple military surge in troop numbers.