Monday, May 28, 2007

"That Points Clearly To A Political Career"

I hate to kill David Brooks , but he can be so disappointing.

He tries to bash Al Gore as a "Vulcan", apparently for spending 200 pages in his new book, saying essentially, the "medium is the message."

Brooks complains:

"Some great philosopher should write a book about people — and there are many of them — who flee from discussions of substance and try to turn them into discussions of process. Utterly at a loss when asked to talk about virtue and justice, they try to shift attention to technology and methods of communication. They imagine that by altering machines they can alter the fundamentals of behavior, or at least avoid the dark thickets of human nature."

David --- asked and answered

George Bernard Shaw -- Major Barbara


UNDERSHAFT. It is settled that you do not ask for the succession to the cannon business.

STEPHEN. I hope it is settled that I repudiate the cannon business.

UNDERSHAFT. Come, come! dont be so devilishly sulky: it's boyish. Freedom should be generous. Besides, I owe you a fair start in life in exchange for disinheriting you ... Well, come! is there anything you know or care for?

STEPHEN (rising and looking at him steadily). I know the difference between right and wrong.

UNDERSHAFT (hugely tickled). You dont say so! What! no capacity for business, no knowledge of law, no sympathy with art, no pretension to philosophy; only a simple knowledge of the secret that has puzzled all the philosophers, baffled all the lawyers, muddled all the men of business, and ruined most of the artists: the secret of right and wrong. Why, man, youre a genius, a master of masters, a god! At twenty-four, too!

STEPHEN (keeping his temper with difficulty). You are pleased to be facetious. I pretend to nothing more than any honorable English gentleman claims as his birthright (he sits down angrily).

UNDERSHAFT. Oh, thats everybody's birthright. Look at poor little Jenny Hill, the Salvation lassie! she would think you were laughing at her if you asked her to stand up in the street and teach grammar or geography or mathematics or even drawingroom dancing; but it never occurs to her to doubt that she can teach morals and religion. You are all alike, you respectable people. You cant tell me the bursting strain of a ten-inch gun, which is a very simple matter; but you all think you can tell me the bursting strain of a man under temptation. You darent handle high explosives; but youre all ready to handle honesty and truth and justice and the whole duty of man, and kill one another at that game. What a country! what a world!

LADY BRITOMART (uneasily). What do you think he had better do, Andrew?

UNDERSHAFT. Oh, just what he wants to do. He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.

Friday, May 18, 2007

"Those Who Would Give Up Essential Liberty To Purchase A Little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"

I didn't get to my Harvard Law School Reunion, but I did want to add my support to my classmates' An Open Letter To Alberto Gonzales in today's Washington Post.

"As lawyers, and as a matter of principle, we can no longer be silent about this Administration’s consistent disdain for the liberties we hold dear. Your failure to stand for the rule of law, particularly when faced with a President who makes the aggrandized claim of being a unitary executive, takes this country down
a dangerous path."

"Your country and your President are in dire need of an attorney who will do the tough job of providing independent counsel, especially when the advice runs counter to political expediency. Now more than ever, our country needs a President, and an Attorney General, who remember the apt observation attributed to Benjamin Franklin:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary
Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

We call on you and the President to relent from this reckless path,and begin to restore respect for the rule of law we all learned to love many years ago."

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Cow Valve Blues

COW VALVE BLUES

I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
MY HEART JUST AIN’T THE SAME
I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
I’M BACK IN THE GAME
I’M A BIONIC SUPERHERO
I’M TAKING DOWN NAMES

I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
AND A CRAVIN FOR SOME GRASS
I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THERE IS GRASS?
MY BODY’S PRIME
BUT IT’S STILL HUNGRY
AND IT NEVER HURTS TO ASK

I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
I’M ADJUSTING TO THE CHANGE
I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
LEGAL DRUGS ALL THROUGH MY VEINS
I GOT MORE VICODEN THAN DUANE READE
AND EVERYBODY KNOWS MY NAME

THE LORD HAS PUNISHED ME SO
BUT HE DID NOT LEAVE ME TO DIE
THE LORD HAS PUNISHED ME SO
BUT HE DID NOT LEAVE ME TO DIE
THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD’S MADE
REJOICE
BE GLAD
DON’T CRY

I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
AND A SCAR TO MARK THE SPOT
I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
THE SCAR GETS BIGGER WHEN IT’S HOT
I’M A BIONIC SUPERHERO
D’YA WANNA KNOW WHAT THAT’S ABOUT?

I HAD AN ACHIN IN MY CHEST
I THOUGHT IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU
I HAD AN ACHIN IN MY CHEST
CAUSE OF THE PETTY THINGS WE DO
ME AND YOU
BUT WHEN DOC SAID
“THE HEART IS BROKEN”
YOU CAME AROUND TO SEE ME THROUGH

I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
MY HEART JUST AIN’T THE SAME
I GOT A COW VALVE IN MY CHEST
MY HEART JUST AIN’T THE SAME
I’M A BIONIC SUPERHERO
I’M BACK IN THE GAME

(c) 2007 by Bruce Grossberg/ Cow Valve Blues
Permission to reprint only if properly credited