Charles Durning–Are you kidding me!!

Then came World War II, and he enlisted in the Army. His combat experiences were harrowing. He was in the first wave of troops to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day and his unit's lone survivor of a machine-gun ambush. In Belgium he was stabbed in hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier, whom he bludgeoned to death with a rock. Fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, he and the rest of his company were captured and forced to march through a pine forest at Malmedy, the scene of an infamous massacre in which the Germans opened fire on almost 90 prisoners. Mr. Durning was among the few to escape. By the war's end he had been awarded a Silver Star for valor and three Purple Hearts, having suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds as well. He spent months in hospitals and was treated for psychological trauma...

Mr. Durning was also remembered for his combat service, which he avoided discussing publicly until later in life. He spoke at memorial ceremonies in Washington, and in 2008 France awarded him the National Order of the Legion of Honor. In the Parade interview, he recalled the hand-to-hand combat. "I was crossing a field somewhere in Belgium," he said. "A German soldier ran toward me carrying a bayonet. He couldn't have been more than 14 or 15. I didn't see a soldier. I saw a boy. Even though he was coming at me, I couldn't shoot." They grappled, he recounted later - he was stabbed seven or eight times - until finally he grasped a rock and made it a weapon. After killing the youth, he said, he held him in his arms and wept. Mr. Durning said the memories never left him, even when performing, even when he became, however briefly, someone else. "There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don't want anyone to know about," he told Parade. "There's terror and repulsion in us, the terrible spot that we don't talk about. That place that no one knows about - horrifying things we keep secret. A lot of that is released through acting."

Well, Dick Cheney did shoot a guy.

Frank on Scalia

“I was glad that he [Scalia] made clear what’s been obvious, that he’s just a flat out bigot,” Frank said. “I’d previously said he was a homophobe. And Fox and the rightwing said, ‘Oh just because he’s not for same-sex marriage? And I said, ‘No, let me be very clear. That’s not it. This is a man who has said you should go to prison for having sex.’ It was an extraordinarily abusive sentiment and it was dead wrong. And, by the way, for a guy who is supposed to be so smart -- quite stupid.This young man said to him, ‘Why do you compare sodomy to murder?’ And he said, ‘Well because I have a right to say if I think something is immoral.’ Well the question wasn’t about his right. The question was, By what morality is expressing your love for someone in a physical way equivalent to killing that person? It makes it clear that the man is an unreconstructed bigot, and given that you have a bigot on the Supreme Court like that, it is useful to know.”

Krugman, the pragmatist

I know that a lot of progressives are expressing anger and disappointment over the bargaining concessions that the President is alleged to be making.  Strangely enough, Paul Krugman, (one of the most esteemed  progressives) shows a very pragmatic streak in his 12/17 column.  Read it here.

Willie Nelson minus 100,000 joints

You just have to see this.

Many thanks to my good friend Peter for pulling my coat to it.

Debt ceiling? Screw you, congress!

Most of you have probably forgotten all that went on in 2011 when the right-wingers in Congress pushed the country to the brink concerning raising the debt ceiling versus the country defaulting on its obligations.  That dilemma was resolved at zero hour by enacting the automatic spending cuts (including a huge chunk of defense) to take place in 2013. 

Now, as we face the so called “financial cliff” many right wingers are threating to use the debt ceiling as leverage to get the President to cave on raising the tax rates for the top 2% and protecting social security, Medicare, and other social safety net expenditures.  This brought me to remember something that was in the background in the 2011 go-around:  The President simply bypassing congress and increasing the debt ceiling by invoking the 14th Amendment.  Here is an excerpt from a 2011 article addressing the subject:

Critics of the debt limit cite the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states: "the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned." (Emphasis ours)

Of course, the Fourteenth Amendment is open to wide, and varying, interpretation and debate. The most basic question here is, does a limit on debt "question" the "validity" of the debt?

Legal scholar Garrett Epps, writing in The Atlantic in April, said that a case could easily made for simply ignoring the congressionally mandated debt limit.

"This provision makes clear that both the monies our nation owes to bondholders, and the sums promised in legislation to those receiving pensions set by law from the federal government, must be paid regardless of the political whims of the current congressional majority," Epps wrote.

In essence, Epps argues that Obama should stand before Congress and say, Tough luck--the Constitution says we can't default. Epps argued that in the event that Congress does not act, Obama should (and could) instruct the Treasury Department to issue "binding debt instruments on the world market sufficient to cover all the current obligations of the United States government, even in default of Congressional action to meet those obligations."

This time around Obama does not have to worry about a second term or low approval ratings.  He was reelected in a landslide and is now sporting very high approval ratings.  Thus, I believe that if the “hair on fire” nuts in the congress want to threaten Obama with a debt ceiling default, he should invoke the 14th Amendment and tell them to go to hell.  Sure they will try to impeach him, but they will never get the votes needed and the proceedings would go on for a long time.  But what does Obama care…he’s in for the duration now.  Interesting, no?

The “King Tide”

Yesterday and today, we experienced a “King Tide,” which flooded many places in the BayArea.  Here is the article that was featured in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.  The article points out that while King Tides are not caused by global climate change, the Tides do give us a sobering example of what is going to happen as the seas keep rising into the future.

The King Tide hit us at 11:00 this morning and flooded part of the trusty path along the bay that my dog and I walk just about every day.  I’m including some pictures that I took.  One thing for sure, when the seas rise (for whatever reason) there is no stopping them.  The world had better wise up or resign itself to getting smaller -- literally!

The spot we enter the path from the house

Looking back after skirting some of the flood

Farther down the path.  Getting a bit deep here

Even farther down the path.  Note the Bay Bridge and the City across the bay

The Platters will endure forever!

My whole life tunes have been running through my head.  They come unbidden, and often are very strange and unlikely.  For instance a few days ago the theme song from “Tammy and the Bachelor” started playing in the old skull.  You remember:
“I hear the cottonwoods whispering above, Tammy, Tammy, Tammy’s in love…” and so on.  I think that was Patty Page or Doris Day, but I could be wrong.
This morning for the usual unknown off-the-wall reason, “The Great Pretender” by The Platters slid into the jukebox and away I went.  This led me to remember that I pretty much remembered most of The Platters’ songs word-by-word even today.  So I jumped on to my Rhapsody account and started playing the 21 track album simply titled, “The Platters:”  Just some of the juicy stuff? “ The Great Pretender, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, The Magic Touch, My Prayer, Twilight Time, Unchained Melody” – you remember, right?!  Well I left one of my favorites out just so that I could let you play it yourself and then be smiling for the rest of the day.  After all, in the end it all comes down to you, and “Only You”

Reality is becoming dystopian

We simply must do something to address the “life and death” threat of climate change.  I’m a big fan of Charlie Pierce (he wrote “Idiot America”) who wrote a sobering  column on the subject today.  It should be required reading for everyone, especially the Neanderthal doubters.  Check it out here.

Very scary, right?

Roger Deakins deserves an Oscar

Hi everybody.  I haven’t posted for a while just because I got busy with the Thanksgiving holiday, and really had nothing to say.

Yesterday we got around to seeing “Skyfall,” the new James Bond movie.  I loved it.  There are many reasons why, all of which have been thoroughly discussed in other reviews:  terrific acting given full reign, a script that was actually easy to follow yet full of suspense and surprises, awesome action set pieces, a fine opening “Bond song” written and performed by Adele, a delicious villain, and sure handed direction by Sam Mendes.  But what I want to single out is the gorgeous, artful cinematography provided by Roger Deakins. 

Before seeing the film read a lot of reviews, many of which praised Deakins’ work in “Skyfall.”  Also the guys on “Film Junk,” the weekly pod cast I listen to, raved about the cinematography and noted that while Deakins has been nominated for the Oscar many times, he has yet to win it.  They are hoping that he will win this year for “Skyfall.”  You can read about Deakins here, including his extensive work with the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes.  Suffice it to say that his filmography is impressive.

So,  as I watched the film yesterday, I made it a point to pay specific attention to the cinematography, which I can’t ever recall doing on a first-watch of a film.  The cinematography is  indeed a masterful effort by Deakins, running the gamut from large scale overhead city shots (day and night), to perfectly composed interior shots, amazing action set pieces, and best of all, gorgeous landscape vista compositions. 

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be rooting for Roger to win the Oscar next year.  And, I am going to pay close attention to his work, past and future.

~ Tom

The power of music

Recently I fell upon a tune named “Run” by Snow Patrol.  For some reason, it really knocked me out and kept running around in my head off and on for days.  That prompted me to want to learn the guitar chords and sing it myself.  You can listen to the entire song as performed by Snow Patrol here.  Please listen to it before you play the video below so that you will be familiar with the song beforehand.
The following video really demonstrates the power of music and sort blew my mind while increasing my faith that the world is not as bad as it sometimes seems.  I’ve been to many, many live concerts and seen a ton of concert footage, but I have never seen a crowd this large sing along (often just by themselves) in perfect tune.  Amazing and moving.  Dig it.

Snow Patrol is cool and belongs on Birth of the Cool!

Mick on Abe

As you know, Mick LaSalle is just about my favorite film critic.  Check out his review of “Lincoln”  from today’s S.F. Chronicle.  Here is a terrific paragraph from the review:

Let's just say it: The experience of watching Daniel Day-Lewis in this role is nothing less than thrilling. This is Lincoln. No need for a time machine, there he is. There are entire stretches in "Lincoln," especially in the Cabinet scenes, as you hear the complexity of his legal and strategic thinking, that you might very well forget you're seeing acting - even forget you're in a movie theater - and instead believe that you're sitting in a room with the 16th president. To be on the receiving end of that is more than entertainment. It feels like a gift.

I don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to seeing this flick.

~ Tom

Movie madness

Here is something that I stumbled across that turns out to be fascinating and loads of fun.  Click to enlarge.   Enjoy.

“Homeland” keeps getting better

I have watched “Homeland” on Showtime from minute one.  I just watched the latest episode and I was absolutely amazed at the whole “interrogation of Brody” scene.  That scene was one of the best written and acted pieces of drama that I have ever seen.  Damian Lewis (Brody)  and Claire Danes (Carrie) are just ridiculously off the planet in that scene.  And the writing, especially Carrie’s part, had me breathless.  Wow.

If you saw it, pop me a comment.

~ Tom

Comment word verification turned back on...

I have been getting all kinds of trash/spam comments on old posts so I have decided to turn the word verification back on.  So, if you comment, you will have to enter the squiggly letters.  Hint:  you can keep cycling through different groups of squiggly letters until you hit upon one that you can actually decipher.  That's what I do these days.

~ Tom

“Nashville”–I’m hooked

Just a note to admit to the world that I am totally hooked by the new ABC show “Nashville.”  It is ostensibly about the country music world but it’s much more than that.  Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) is the main lead, and I have always loved her.  As always her acting is superb, but it turns out that she is also doing her own singing, as are all the other main cast members.  Sure, it’s a bit of a soap opera, but that just makes it more delicious for me.  And the great Powers Booth (Deadwood) is in his usual heavy role which is the icing on the cake.  The producers are really smart in that the music has a lot of cross-over content but even the “country” songs are so well written and performed that I dig it all. 

In the last episode there was scene that was so good I ran it back on my DVR and played it two more times.  The scene was in the local club where Connie Britton (now married) sings a duet with her old flame who plays guitar with the house band behind him and Connie.  There are two sub-plots driven by certain characters in the audience watching Connie and her ex  interact and those sub-plots are so subtly yet beautifully advanced that it is impossible for me to explain – you have to see it yourself. But on top of all this is that the song they sing is simply a great song, specially written for the show.  Here is a link to song they sing.  Obviously, it’s about 10 times better if you see it being sung in the actual scene, but I still think it’s a pretty gorgeous song.

There has only been the pilot and second show, so you should be able to catch up pretty easily.  If you’ve got some time and a spirit of adventure, give it a look.

50th reunion

Hey folks.  Believe it or not, I am going to attend my 50th high school reunion this weekend.  Placer High School in Auburn, CA.  I have never been to any reunion before, be it high school, college, or law school.  I was contacted by some of my old running mates who convinced me to attend.  I can’t believe we’re all still alive.

The other cool thing is that we are having a reunion of The Epsilons,  folk group I was in my last three years at Placer.  I was asked to join in my sophomore year and was playing a baritone uke at that time.  In my junior year, one of the guys had graduated and that left three of us.  My senior year, another guy graduated and Don Wescott and I recruited Greg Lyman, who was a good singer and a better guitarist than I.  (By that time I was playing a Martin tenor guitar.)  Anyway, we are going to do four songs, and we are the “surprise entertainment at the reunion.   We were very popular back then, playing the Elks, Moose, Lions, and Rotary circuit, as well as performing for the student body.  We have picked out our songs and are going to rehearse for four hours on Saturday morning which should be enough.  It  should be a gas.

As many of you know, my house burned to the ground in the Oakland firestorm of 1991 and I lost all my high school year books.  Greg kindly copied the Epsilon picture from the 60, 61, and 62 year books.   Here they are:

 

The writing on the case is from Greg’s year book and was not written on the case itself.

Wow, how cool to have a head of hair!

Some debate thoughts

Just a brief observation:  If a Republican candidate gives a poor debate performance the right wingers NEVER admit it.  They walk in lock-step, claiming their candidate was great, and of course won the debate.

As the last debate shows, that is not the case when a Democratic candidate coughs up a hairball.  We’re not afraid to give an honest assessment.  But in some cases we may get a bit hysterical in the telling.  Geeze, I thought Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, et. al. were going to blow a gasket.  Guys, it wasn’t that bad, and as Rachel Maddow pointed out in a terrific segment, going back to Carter, no sitting president has ever won the first debate, except once:  Clinton beating Dole.  Let’s see what happens in the upcoming Veep debate and the town hall Presidential debate.  Barack and Joe have gotten the wake up call.  Now they need to deliver.

Little Jimmy Crow loses his feathers

Just in:  Judge halts enforcement of Pennsylvania’s oppressive voter ID law.  Read about it here.

Cenk tells it as it is

I am a big fan of Cenk Uygur, even though (or perhaps because) he ticks me off sometimes.  As you may know, a while back he had the 6pm eastern time slot on MSNBC.  Then he lost it.  I just ran across this video by Cenk explaining the whole saga.  It is truly fascinating and well worth 11 minutes of your time.  I guess there is a “Part 2” around, but you don’t need it – Part 1 stands alone on its own.

I’m really enjoying Cenk these days on the Young Turks on Current TV.  His take on all of the election news is very enlightening and often genuinely hilarious.  I wish there were more like him.

I can’t suppress my worry

Damn.  Just when I was starting to really feel good about the upcoming election, I ran across this sobering article by the savvy Elizabeth Drew.   I’ve made many posts on this blog wherein I  worry about voter suppression.  I guess I gotta keep worrying.  Here is one little excerpt from the article that really scares me:

In a close election, the Republican plan could call into question the legitimacy of the next president. An election conducted on this basis could lead to turbulence on election day and possibly an extended period of lawsuits contesting the outcome in various states. Bush v. Gore would seem to have been a pleasant summer afternoon. The fact that their party’s nominee is currently stumbling about, his candidacy widely deemed to be in crisis mode, hasn’t lessened their determination to prevent as many Democratic supporters as they can from voting in November.

The Real Redistribution of Wealth

Romney, the right-wing, and Fox News have made a lame attempt to counter Romney’s “47%” fiasco with a sound bite from the President spoken 14 years ago wherein he dares to utter the word “redistribution” approvingly.  Of course this an example of Fox News’ usual false equivalency ploy.  But aside from that, if we want to discuss  “redistribution” we should turn to today’s  Forbes release of the list of the 400 richest Americans.  Consider the following from today’s San Francisco Chronicle:

“Generally speaking, it’s never been a better time to be filthy rich, as Forbes points out in its overview story.

The combined net worth of the 2012 class of the 400 richest Americans is $1.7 trillion, up from $1.5 trillion a year ago. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is a staggering $4.2 billion, up from $3.8 billion, and the highest ever, as two-thirds of the individuals added to their fortunes in the past year. Another factor: the gap between the very rich and the merely rich is widening.

Those poor “merely rich” souls. Meanwhile, the gap between the rich and poor has, of course, hit an all-time high.

“There was no relief for the average American,” the Los Angeles Times wrote earlier this month. “The median household income, after adjusting for inflation, dropped 1.5% in 2011 from the previous year to $50,054.”

To put that in perspective, you’d have to multiply the median household income by 1.3 million to get to Bill Gates’ net worth.

That figure is also 8.1 percent lower than in 2007, when the reckless gambling of the country's incredibly wealthy plunged the nation and huge parts of the world into the Great Recession.”

You can read the entire article here.

In a saner era …

One of the factoids that has rattled around in my brain for a while is that until Bush and his cronies came into power no major political party has ever sought to cut taxes for rich people when the nation is at war.  I wondered why the Dems aren’t pounding that drum every chance they get.  It turns out that Matt Miller has entertained the same thoughts and lays them out beautifully here.  He notes that such tax cuts for the rich are “grotesque” and “obscene.”  I heartily agree.

Pulling coats to Martin Bashir

A while ago I was waiting for a Comcast tech to show up to fix our cable because there were about five or six channels that weren’t coming in.  In anticipation of his arrival I was flipping through all the channels to confirm that the offenders were still not working and to make sure no new ones had cropped up.  It was about 1:00 pm, a time I don’t generally watch TV.  In the process I came to MSNBC and hit upon this guy with an English accent who was laying down some devastating Romney/Ryan criticism, but who was also erudite and funny all the while.  So I stopped flipping and watched the rest of his show.  His name:  Martin Bashir.  I watched the rest of that program and now am an avid viewer when I have a chance to watch at 1:00 in the afternoon. 

If you haven’t seen or heard this guy you really should check him out.  He is also a great interviewer and really doesn't let the right-wing tools get away with falsehoods or even spinning.   I know that he has been controversial in the past, particularly concerning a 2003 documentary based on a series of interviews he did with Michael Jackson, but that doesn't stop me from digging what he is doing now on his MSNBC daily show.

Here is one of his takes on Paul Ryan that I actually saw on his show.  Love it.

Give him a try…

A fun linguistic tool

You know I dig stuff like this.  It’s actually better than a thesaurus in many ways.  Try the word “choice” and you will see what I mean.  Hint:  You can move the results to view entries that are “off screen”  by clicking and dragging the red center dot. 

Have fun…

Right wing: Crazy & Mean

Every day that passes I become more and more incredulous over the things right wingers do and say.  They are completely irrational regarding a growing number of subjects ranging from global warming to our President’s place of birth.  Oh, and let’s not forget the callous wars against women and the poor.  But there was something lacking in my over-all analysis and it was bugging me.  Then I read this blog post on HuffPo, which filled in my blank. Yep, these folks are just plain mean!

Here is a taste, but you really should read the whole thing:

The problem is that on the right, irrationality and opposition to moral values are not merely personal flaws. They are policy.

The ways in which this is true are discouragingly familiar and numerous. On the one hand, rightist politicians question the science of evolution and climate change, endorse wacky economics, and insist that Obama is a muslim who was born in Africa. On the other, they promote rage politics, tell fibs and destroy jobs and wages and families in order to enrich a tiny group of bankers and businessmen. To evade the central moral ideals of kindness, mercy, and forgiveness, the right dismisses those who defend them as weak, effeminate, whining, bleeding hearts. Then it enacts laws that make the United States the prison and death penalty capital of the world. In fact, the right promotes vengeance and heartlessness throughout the law and, against all reason and in defiance of obvious fact, denies both that waterboarding and other horrors are torture and that law and morality forbid us to torture prisoners. These policies reflect failures of conscience -- a lack of empathy or a habit of overruling empathy when it is inconvenient or conflicts with self-interest or self-approval, and a surrender to sadism and vengefulness.

194 Obama Accomplishments!

Here is a great article listing (with verifying links for each) 194 Obama accomplishments.  I’ve seen similar lists from time to time, but this one is by far the best. You won’t be seeing this list on Fox news or in the right wing press.

Something for greed-head “Christians” to ponder

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth - 1 John 3:17-18."

Eugene Robinson’s brilliant take

I read a lot of articles by pundits that I respect and admire.  But, I must admit that while the articles are almost always well-written and  informative, few of them make me step back and say:  “This is truly brilliant.” 

Today, I read Eugene Robinson’s column in WaPo, stepped back, and then said: “This is truly brilliant.”  No wonder Eugene won a Pulitzer Prize.  I had not thought about my childhood bus drivers for a long time, but now I remember how cool a lot of them were.  Please read this column.  You won’t regret it.  And lemme know what you think of it.

A bit of fresh air from up North…

I have really grown tired of right-wing tools trashing the Canadian  health care system.  I have never heard a Canadian complain about it (those I know personally and those who are quoted in the media).  Same goes for the English national health service, which was given a loving 10+ minute spot in the recent Olympic opening ceremonies.  That is why I was very interested in this article, which summarizes a longer fact-filled article.  Now I have some great ammo for debating the mouth-breathers on this subject.

I’m still here…

Wow, I just realized that I had not posted anything since July 30th.  I’ve been really busy and time has slipped away.  I don’t have a lot to say right now, but I did enjoy the latest Romney campaign gaffe where one of his senior spokespersons said that if the person depicted in the Obama ad who lost his health insurance and then his wife had lived in Massachusetts he would have had insurance under “governor Romney’s plan.”  Needless to say the entire right wing went apoplectic.  Ann Coulter was demanding that the spokesperson be fired immediately and Rush said it was a huge gaffe that helped Obama, etc.

Of course Romney can’t take credit for or tout his Mass. plan now that he is a creature of the far right wing. 

More later….

Why we can’t control guns & ammo

Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle’s “Insight” section had a very good article titled “The Politics of Gun Control,” which I recommend that you read.  One of the main points of the article is that we on the side of controlling guns and ammo are victims of what I would call a “fervor gap.”  This quote from the final paragraphs of the article explains:

But why do the so-called "assault weapons" have so much political power in the United States of 2012? Because the minority of people who want these weapons available care deeply about such gun policies. The majority of Americans support a ban on such weapons, but they don't really care much about the subject.

Thus, the intensity of feeling by gun control's opponents is the trump card in the modern politics of gun control. Whatever sentiments that mass shootings provoke in the nominal supporters of gun control, they don't seem to run very deep or very long. Most of the moderates and liberals who support gun control care more about other issues.

That both defines the problem gun control advocates face and shows why they react with passionate immediacy to mass shootings. Their real hope - the thing that would really make "this time" different in the moral career of American gun control - is not that the gun lobby would care less or see reason, it is rather the hope of increasing the salience of gun control to moderate and liberal constituencies.

The sense of insecurity that comes when schoolrooms and shopping centers and multiplex movie theaters become shooting galleries for the unhinged inspires fear out of proportion to the statistical risks it represents. But not for very long. And that has undermined the ability to mobilize the public concerns into gun control policy.

Voter suppression … ugly repercussions

Okay, I’m back on my obsession with voter suppression.  (Hey, that’s a catchy rhyme!)  A part the whole analysis that is often overlooked is what would happen if Romney squeaked out a win “by a margin smaller than the number of young and minority voters who couldn’t cast ballots because the photo-identification laws enacted by Republican governors and legislators kept them from the polls.”  The foregoing quoted portion comes from Harold Meyerson’s column in today’s WaPo, which you can read here.

My own belief is that it will be just as ugly as Harold predicts, only worse.  I’m not envisioning riots and blood in the streets …… yet.  But it will be four years of a president even less legitimate than George W. Bush, and God help us if we lose the Senate.  And, of course there would be at least one more right wing justice  appointed to the Supreme Court because Ginsberg is not going to last another 4 years.  I’m too old now to pull up stakes and move to Canada, but if the above scenario came to pass and I were still in my 20’s or 30’s I would seriously consider it. 

Voter suppression–a more optimistic take

If you don’t know about the FiveThirtyEight blog you should check it out.  Nate Silver has successfully predicted  just about every election race in the last few years.  He uses data and statistics to reach his conclusions, rather more subjective measures.  I just finished reading his take on the effect of voter identification laws, and I must say that I am feeling better after having done so.

His continuing analysis of the projected electoral vote is heartening too:  295.9 for the President and 242.1 for Romney.  Supposedly he is never wrong, so let’s hope this lead continues to hold up or increase.

Again, check out the FiveThirtyEight blog.  It’s way cool.

Beautiful Ruins

“The smaller the space between your desire and what is right, the happier you will be.”

~~From the novel "Beautiful Ruins" by Jess Walter

A couple of weeks ago I read “Beautiful Ruins” and was totally knocked out.  It is one of the best novels I’ve ever read.  I highly recommend it.  If you are curious, you can read an excellent review of the book here.

A new, improved look…

I found a new template for this blog that I really like.  It’s much better than the one I started with, and I was beginning to hate on the last one I was using.  This one is clean and simple.  Hope you will enjoy it with me into the future.
~ Tom

Voter suppression redux dux dux dux

I continue to be very, very concerned about this issue.  Here’s more fuel on my bonfire of  worry.

Voter suppression redux-dux-dux

Those who read this blog know well that my biggest fear is that the President will be defeated because of GOP voter suppression laws passed in States with a Republican governor and legislature.  I’m getting more freaked out every day!  Here’s the latest downer.

Dang!  This is going to be 2000/Bush/Gore all over again.  Shame on the Jim Crow right wing.

Heading for Tahoe Donner

We are heading up to our Tahoe Donner place tomorrow.  Grandkids coming in on Sunday.  I will be blogging up there so stand by.  I will probably be giving my take on today’s news regarding health care and the contempt vote in the house.

For now, just let me give sincere props to John Roberts. 

I will leave you with one thing so juicy I can’t wait.  I was watching Cenk Uygur who had on this really wise law professor who observed that what is now the majority opinion was originally written as a dissent by Ginsberg and what ended up as the dissent was originally the majority opinion, but at the last minute Roberts jumped ship and ended up putting his name on the majority opinion!  The guy points out that the “dissent” is rife with references to Justice Bader Ginsberg’s “dissent,”  which of course does not exist!  Cenk says to the guy, how could they be so sloppy as to leave that in and the guy noted that it was deliberate by the “dissenters” to show that Roberts had stabbed them in the back – they would never allow such an obvious “mistake” unless they actually meant to.  Of course, if you know Cenk, that just blew his mind!

Later….

~ Tom

Andrew Sarris, R.I.P.

The great film critic, Andrew Sarris died on Wednesday at age 83.  Mick LaSalle, my favorite movie critic, wrote a beautiful “appreciation” column for Sarris, which you can read here.  I like the fact the the article was titled “appreciation” rather than “obituary.”  It inspires me to go back and read some of Sarris’ reviews.

As labor goes, so goes the middle class

Want to understand why the corporate right demonizes the labor movement and does everything it can to destroy unions?  Read this article and you will see.  It’s a very succinct summary, with solid statistics and facts underpinning it.

Cool Miles

I can never pass up a great picture of Miles.

And here’s a great picture of another cool guy: Viggo!

A lesson from Wisconsin

Like all good liberals I am pretty bummed about the results of the Walker recall in Wisconsin.  Based on everything I was seeing and hearing in the media, I really thought that this might be the beginning of a movement where righteous enthusiasm and “boots on the ground” could defeat the crushing force of right wing money. 

It reminds me of when I was playing on an “over 30” soccer team.  Our team was pretty much the worst in the league but we had a lot raw talent and fire.  Every once in a while we would get up a goal or maybe even two, but every time that happened the inexorable force of the other teams’ talent would overcome us in the end and we would lose.  But that is not the worse part.  Once that happens to you a few times as a team, a feeling of defeatism sets in and you lose that enthusiasm and fire, no matter how much you try not to;  you lose your confidence.  That is what I am afraid may be happening to the progressive/liberal movement.  How many of those fired up people we saw in the months leading up to election day will get it up again to put that much effort into the coming fall elections?  Are they now thinking, “why bother when the other side can outspend us by tens of millions of dollars and we’ve now learned that our boots on the ground will achieve nothing.”

Man, I need some cheering up.

Barack & Bob

Tell me this isn’t just about the coolest thing you’ve ever seen.

* Dylan receives Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian award.

Krugman wisdom

This latest from Paul Krugman is so right on!  … as usual.   I’m  often tempted to say that he is a “voice in the wilderness,” but then I remember that he is writing for the New York Times and not some local left wing rag.  So, I guess I’ll amend my thought to a “voice from the wrong side of the tracks.”  It’s almost comical to observe how the right wing noise machine (headed of course by Fox “News?”) demonizes Krugman, making sure that the low information voter indeed does view him as someone from the wrong side of the tracks.  Me? I’m right there with him, sporting a ducktail hairdo and wearing my leather jacket with the collar turned up.

A Wall of Music

Well now, this thing is a whole lot of fun.  Hint:  after playing a track, or to abort a track, don’t use your browser’s backspace function.  Instead, just click on the “X” at the bottom right of the track’s window, which will take you right back to the wall.  Dig it.  Play a little “Where’s Waldo” and find Nat Cole and then let the first track play:  Nature Boy (with a great guitarist backing Nat up).   Sweet!

Donna Summer on Fresh Air

Of course I have been reading tributes and blog posts concerning the passing of Donna Summer.  These tributes and posts were all in accord in noting what a great talent she was, and how, at her zenith, she influenced pop music and culture .  A lot of the personal posts went further, noting that as one put it, “She was the soundtrack of a good part of the '70s for me, and a lot of people.”
I felt the same way upon first hearing of her death.  But it wasn’t until today when I listened to the Fresh Air podcast tribute that it really came home to me.  The podcast re-airs Terry Gross interviewing Donna in the early 2000’s, and it is a killer.  I just fell in love with Donna, listening to her talk and digging her grace, charm, and humor.  That made me all the more sad each time Terry would play an excerpt from one of Donna’s hits –dam, she’s gone forever.  If you were a fan even in the slightest you really should hear this interview.  Check it out here.
~ Tom

Voter suppression–My advice is heeded

You may recall that I am very worried about pro-Obama voters being denied their right to vote by means of draconian laws passed by Republican state legislatures.  In my latest rant on the subject I proposed a course of action that I feel is essential to combatting the effect of these laws.  Imagine my surprise, followed by a bit of smug back-patting, when I came across this article in WAPO.  I say to those involved, “keep up the good and righteous work.”

You still don’t get it!

This montage is truly amazing.  I could not believe how many times the hook line has been used.  It’s fun to try to guess where each clip came from.  I dunno, but after you watch it you just might get it.

Yosemite web cams

I’ve been to Yosemite quite a few times in my life.  Even with all the crowds it is still one of the most awesome places you will ever see.  And, if you just put on some decent hiking boots and take one of the hundreds of trails, you lose the crowds almost immediately. 

I just learned that the Yosemite Conservancy has set up 4 webcams that update every 30 seconds.  (Just use the refresh or reload button on your browser.)  Check out all four of them here.

Outstanding, but not surprising, news…

Check this out.  Things are definitely moving in the right direction.

I’m happy, but continually worried about voter suppression and voting machine hacking.  I see those evils as the only way Republicans can win the presidency and hold on to their majority in the House.

~ Tom

Wise words…

“If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.  Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers."
~ Maya Angelou

The answer is, “Keep on Truckin"

An interesting chart…

I heard these statistics earlier today, but this chart sums it all up quite nicely.  As stated in the text accompanying the chart:

The public sector continues to shed jobs, and as a result, the overall jobs picture in the US remains weak. If you want to understand why conservative efforts to slash funding for teachers, firefighters, cops is bad for the economy, look no further than this graph.

Chicago

When I was in law school, I actually knew a couple of guys from Chicago who could be these two guys.  Hilarious.

A sunny day at Squaw Valley

We came up to our place at Tahoe/Donner on Thursday evening and went skiing at Squaw Valley on Friday and today.  As you may have heard, we had zero snow this year all the way through February, which meant no skiing.  We finally got some pretty good storms in March and the first part of April and thus were able to get in a few days.

As for the present,  there is still quite a bit of snow left, but it is getting so warm and sunny that it turns to mush at about noon.  Skiing in that stuff is not really that fun.  Nevertheless, we got in some really nice runs between 9 & 11:30.  Here are some photos I took today.  [click to blow up]

This is the venerable Siberia chair, which takes you all the way up to the top of Siberia Ridge.  It makes for a long , fun run down to the lift, with a pretty steep face to start out. (You can’t see the actual run in this shot).

The famous KT-22.  You can’t see the west face from this shot, but it has some really scary steeps that I have never even thought about trying, and never will.  What you can see here is what they call the “KT saddle,” which is a favorite of mine.  That run starts at the opening on the top right third of this photo and terminates into the “Mountain Run.”  I was standing on the Mountain Run when I took this shot.

Well, I couldn’t resist.  These are my skis and poles and I’m wearing the skis with the poles leaning on my belly.

Another photo I wish I had taken

Help NRDC stop Shell Oil

I am a proud member of the National Defense Resources Defense Council, and a lover of polar bears.  I just received the March/April issue of the NRDC’s “Nature’s Voice.”  There is an article regarding the NRDC joining “Earthjustice” in a lawsuit to block Shell from operating in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, home to more than half of America’s polar bears.  In addition, NRDC has started an online campaign featuring a video by Robert Redford and a letter protesting the misguided drilling plan that you can easily send to the Interior Department.  You can see the video and send the letter here.  Please take the time to stand up for our polar bear friends.

~ Tom

Voter suppression–still worried

I’ve been sidelined the last couple of days with a case of the flu, even though I had a flu shot a while back.  I guess this particular strain slipped under the radar.  So I’ve been watching a lot of MSNBC and Current TV.  I hear about the 18 point gender gap, and Joe Scarbough announcing that no one in the Republican establishment thinks Romney will win, and I feel really good.  But then I can’t help but wonder how the other side is going to get around all this.  I keep coming back to the same fear:  voter suppression. 

I can’t take the time to list all of the new laws that have been passed requiring photo ID, and other draconian requirements.  Some go even further like in Florida where they are requiring that people doing voter registration must file the documents within 48 hours or face a $10,000 fine.  This prompted the League of Women Voters and other such voter registration organizations to cease all activity.  I keep picturing an election day where hundreds of minorities and women are turned away.  That could get real ugly!

Thus, what I think should happen right away is for the democratic party to spend a lot of money and time assisting voters to obtain whatever documents they will need to register and get them registered.  What is forgotten is that there will be a good number of people on the Republican side who don’t have the proper documents and will not take proper measures to get them.  If our side can make sure our people are able to get the required documents and then register, maybe we can reduce the damage that will be inflicted by these Jim Crow laws.  Of course the Justice Department should attempt to get the laws thrown out, but short of success in that area, getting people registered and out to vote is essential.

Rachel and Terry -

I am a big fan of Terry Gross and her “Fresh Air” program on PBS.  She is one of the best interviewer’s I have ever heard.  Often I listen to podcasts of Fresh Air episodes while I am out walking my dog.  The one I listened to today was probably the best one I have heard so far:  Rachel Maddow.

I cannot describe what sheer joy it was to experience two of the finest minds on the planet engaging in a dialect that was uncommonly intelligent and interesting.  Every once in a while I hear or see something the rises above our dumbed-down and polarized society, and it lifts me from my simmering despair.  Fortunately for you, I downloaded this wonderful podcast, which you can listen to right here!  I know it will take 45 minutes of your time, but you won’t regret it. 

~ Tom

Will SCOTUS stoop to even lower depths?

Frankly, I was really depressed over the reports that have been coming out of the Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Health Care Act.  Commentator after commentator was shoveling the dirt into the grave.  I was saddened not only because the Act was apparently going down the drain, but because it might well cost President Obama the election.  But then my hopes were buoyed when I read this article.  I sure hope Professor Stone is correct.

LOTR orgy

Eileen has been in Palm Springs since Friday at a conference.  So, I took the opportunity to watch the entire Blu-Ray extended version of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on our 50” flat screen.  A mere 14 hours or so.  It was raining all weekend, so it was a perfect thing to do. 

I purchased the boxed set using a gift certificate that my son gave me for Christmas.  The reviews of this collection have been fantastic, with pretty much everyone raving over the additional content added to each of the films.  The characters become much more complex and the plot and story are enriched greatly.  The Fellowship of the Ring gets an additional 30 minutes;  The Two Towers gets an additional 43 minutes; The Return of the King gets a whopping 50 new minutes.

Each of the movies takes up two Blu-Rays because they would have had to compress the content to fit it all on one disc, which would have decreased the overall quality.  And, each movie has three additional discs with special features, all of which total 26 hours!  So, all in all you get 15 discs! 

I just finished my marathon a couple of hours ago.  It was awesome.  What a masterpiece.  It’s almost impossible for me to figure out how they did all that stuff and made it look so real and believable.  I’m looking forward to watching some of the special features discs to find out, but right now I am definitely “LOTR’ed” out.

Bruno Mars–The Lazy Song

If this doesn’t cheer you up you need to find a good therapist as soon as possible.

Personally, I love it.

Birth of the Cool–A new look

As you can see, I have adopted a new template for the blog.  The main reason for the change is that the old template consistently cut off the right side of videos that I have posted.  And besides, the old template was getting a bit outdated, having been in use since I started my blog.  I am going to be making further tweaks, but I just wanted to get the new template in place.  I hope you like it.  If not, I hope you will come to accept it.

~ Tom

The adult in the room

After watching the insane clown car antics otherwise known as the Republican primaries, it was a breath of fresh air to see this short film made by Academy Award®-winning director Davis Guggenheim and narrated by none other than Tom Hanks.  I for one am proud to call him my President.

The Blog software may cut off a bit of the right side of the video.  If so, use this link for a direct connection to YouTube.

Cab was ultra cool

My old friend Dave Gilson sent me this terrific video of Cab Calloway in a 1932 performance of “Kickin’ the Gong Around."  All I can say is that as far as dance moves go, Cab was about 30 years ahead of James Brown.  Enjoy – this is a lot of fun.

~ Tom

Barney Rosset–R.I.P.

Sunday’s S.F. Chronicle published this article on the occasion of Barney Rosset’s death at age 89.  I must admit that while his name has popped up intermittently in my life, I never stitched it all together to reveal what an interesting, cool character he was.  Reading over the article, I was thinking, “Ah, here’s a movie in the making.”  Something along the lines of Ed Harris in “Pollock?”  Who would you choose to play Rosset?

“American Rhetoric”– a wonderful web site

Just poking around the Internet I found this terrific site.  I haven’t yet plumbed the depths of what it has to offer, but the Movie Speeches and the Top 100 speeches should be enough to convince anyone that this is a site well worth bookmarking.  Enjoy.

Breitbart–R.I.H.

I never wish for anyone’s death.  However, it seems of late that everyone who dies is a good person.  Thus, as long as someone has to die I would rather it be someone like Andrew Breibart.  He was a truly evil person.  If there is a hell, he will be going there. 

Beatles MP3 player

Well now, this is really a lot of fun. 

A better version of Bruno Mars

Hey, I found a better version of Bruno Mars at the Grammys.  You’ll have to suffer a promo spot first but the quality is far better than the YouTube version in my previous post.

~ Tom

Bruno Mars is totally cool…

I finally remembered to record the Grammys this year.  (The last couple of years I missed them).  Anyway, I’m a bit late on reporting my impressions, but aside from the Whitney Houston tributes, none of the live performances (even Bruce and Adele) rang my bell EXCEPT Bruno Mars!  I really had not paid any attention to this guy and it was the first time I had ever seen him and his awesome band.  Let me tell you, it was a perfect, exciting, ass-kicking performance in every regard.  And, it was live!

I could only find one YouTube version of it, and it’s a bit rough, but it still comes through in all its raw glory.  I loved it then, and love it now.  Enjoy

Bruno Mars at 2012 Grammys

Self portraits

I found this web page to be very interesting.  Nice if you can make yourself to look anyway you want – I mean did Peter Paul Rubens really look that suave and cool?  Much harder to pull off in a photograph.

Citizens United revisited

In early January I wrote this post about the Montana Supreme Court refusing to follow the disastrous “Citizens United” decision rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court . 

It now appears that my hope of SCOTUS reopening the matter could come about sooner rather than later.  Check it on HuffPo now.

The outrage continues…

The other night I was watching the Maddow show when she did a segment on how the odious Gov. Scott Walker was using money that will come to Wisconsin from the foreclosure fraud settlement to help balance the budget.  Of course the reason Walker has a shortfall in his budget is because he cut taxes on corporations and fat cats.  I went poking around on the Internet to find an article about this and found one at Think Progress, which you can check out here.  The upshot is that Wisconsin is getting $140 million, $31.6 million of which goes directly to the state, presumably to be doled out to help victims of foreclosure fraud.  Instead, Walker is going to divert $25.6 million of these funds to “help close a budget shortfall.”  Wow, how much more brazen can these right wing Republican state officials get?  All I’ve got to say is that it is a good the the whole $140 million didn’t go directly to the State!

A quote for today …

"Just because they say action doesn’t mean you have to do something"  ~~ Marlon Brando

Toles nails it as usual…

Today’s Toles cartoon in WaPo is painfully true.

Bill Cunningham New York

I have been trying to watch more film documentaries these days.  Netflix streaming video has a lot of them.  I particularly enjoy finding ones that feature people and/or places I have never heard of and know nothing about.  Most recently I watched “Bill Cunningham New York,” which really delighted me.  I knew nothing of Cunningham until I watched the film.  As a photographer, I was very tuned into the whole thing, and the panoply of colorful New Yorkers turning up here and there was loads of fun.  I enjoyed it all, but there was one thing that stood out for me that most people probably did even think was out of the ordinary: Bill Cunningham still only shoots real film!  No digital cameras for this guy.

I agree with Roger Ebert, who said: "This movie made me happy every moment I was watching it." 

Bill Cunningham New York trailer

p.s.  When you are watching something made a year ago about an 80 year old guy, you wonder if he is still alive now.  I am happy to report that Wikipedia says he is still around.  Cool.

Fallows article

I just got back from taking Spenser to the dog park and running a few errands.  While I was in my car, I heard portions of Michael Krasny of our local NPR station interviewing James Fallows regarding Fallows’ article on Obama, which appears in the March issue of The Atlantic.  The parts of the interview I was able to hear (I was in and out of the car), were fascinating.  I have always considered Fallows one of our great living journalists. 

Now that I am home, I have found the article.  I am going to make time to read the whole thing despite its length -- Fallows mentioned that his article was quite long.  I’m pulling your coats to it so that you have the choice of checking it out or not…

‘Nuf said!

It doesn’t get any cooler than this…

Alpine Meadows–Summit chair

We were up at our Tahoe/Donner place the past weekend.  It was the first time we have been able to ski all year.  There has been no snow at all until a couple of weeks ago, and we had other commitments last weekend. 

Anyway there was still enough snow to cover some of the runs, so all in all we had a good time.  The weather was sunny and bright.  The big news this year is that Squaw Valley USA, where we’ve had season passes for many years, has merged with neighboring Alpine Meadows Ski Resort.  The upshot is that we now get to ski Alpine Meadows on our season pass along with Squaw Valley.  They are running free shuttle buses between the two resorts and the ride is only about 15 minutes or so, with buses running every 15 minutes! 

So, we ventured over to Alpine Meadows on Saturday and Sunday.  There is a high-speed, six-person lift called “Summit Chair” that goes all the way up to the summit of Alpine Bowl, above 8,000 feet.  The view is utterly spectacular, with Lake Tahoe floating below the horizon.  And it’s a long, long way down to the bottom, so it is a great ski run. 

Sunday, I took some pictures from the top of Alpine Bowl where the Summit Chair unloads.  While it was sunny and cold, there was a big wind blowing right up the face of the run, so I was getting a face full of wind-blown ice crystals when I took these.  I could barley see the view-finder so I was pretty much guessing.  I’m posting three of the better shots.  Please click on them to blow them up.

** Here is a shot showing Lake Tahoe floating in upper middle of the picture.  By that way, that is Eileen in the lower right corner in the black outfit.

** Another shot of the Lake and Eileen.

** A shot looking down the run.  The run goes down this face and then turns left in about the middle of the shot, and then wends its way a long ways down to the bottom.

I’m sure glad I’m living long enough to enjoy the beauty and thrill of the whole experience!

Can justice actually be done?

Let’s all whip us as much good karma as we can for Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General.  The President appointed him to head “…a large-scale civil and criminal investigation of the banks, mortgage vendors, securities bundlers and other financial actors who inflated the last decade’s housing bubble and nearly blew up the economy when it burst.”  You can read about it in Harold Meyerson’s column in today’s WAPO.

I’m fervently hoping that some of these white-collar criminals get convicted and actually do some jail time.  If this was the “normal” situation where the so-called “investigation” is a ruse to placate the public, I’d not be expecting anything other than maybe a sacrificial lamb getting thrown under the bus and a bunch of wrist-slapping.  But, in this case Schneiderman had a chance to take that route by going along with the 25 billion dollar settlement, which was then being pushed by the White House and other influential players.  Instead, he refused to sign on, which tanked the deal.  Now, the White House has changed its position and Schneiderman is going to be given big-time resources and support, which will allow him to really go after the people who have wreaked havoc upon our country and millions of its citizens.  I say, “go get ‘em Harold.”

91% approve SOTU!

I knew that the President gave a great State of the Union address.  However, I was worried that the general public might have thought it was too long, or too detailed, or too combative, or too timid, or whatever.

Thus, I was surprised and elated when I saw that a CBS poll taken after the address showed that 91% of the general public approved of the proposals that the President put forth in the speech.  That of course means that a mere 9% disapproved.  I can’t remember when I saw such lopsided numbers in a poll.  This must be blowing the minds of the Republicans and the Right.  But it makes me even more disturbed about the Right’s voter suppression schemes masquerading as legitimate legislation to curb actual voter fraud.  I have discussed this in detail in a prior post.  As I see it, keeping people from voting is about the only way left for the right wing to defeat the President. 

Life is ever rewarding

Sometimes I run across something that just makes me shake my head in wonder and smile for hours.  I don’t think you will be able to resist this.  The kid is fabulous, but I also love the owner of the guitar shop.

Mr. Plinkett and RedLetterMedia

I’m glad that I still have the opportunity to be around young folks and  interact with them.  Over the holidays I was talking with a step-nephew of mine who is nineteen and very bright.  We were discussing movie reviews and he mentioned the “RedLetterMedia” review of the first Star Wars prequel “The Phantom Menace.” He said it was one of the funniest, yet perceptive reviews he had ever seen and told me to search for it on YouTube when I got the chance.  I have seen it now, and it is terrific.  It may not be to your taste, but I find it as brilliant as it is hilarious.  You can read about it here, and watch the first installment on YouTube here. (There are 7 installments).  At last count it had 3,652,511 views! 

Be ready for the reviewer, Mr. Plinkett, who is described in Wikipedia thusly:

Stoklasa created his first video review for Star Trek Generations after watching the film again some time in 2008. He noted that he thought it was a "shitty movie" and "completely messed up the transition to the big screen from what was a really great TV show", inspiring him to share this view with others.^[1] Stoklasa found his own voice to be too boring for the review and adopted the persona of "Mr. Harry S. Plinkett", a previous character he had used in several short films (originally played by Rich Evans) and since further developed within the reviews.^[1]

Mr. Plinkett is an old man (claiming to be born in 1906) bordering on senile and psychotic,^[2] a mannerism that Stoklasa deemed was necessary in order to keep the viewer interested in the reviews and guessing what may occur next.^[3] The Plinkett character also adds a sense of humor to avoid making the reviewer sound too much like a nerd or armchair critic.^[1] Mr. Plinkett speaks in a manner that has been compared to both Dan Aykroyd's character in The Blues Brothers and Ted Levine's Buffalo Bill character fromThe Silence of the Lambs.^[1][4] The character seems to live, or at least have lived, in Teaneck, New Jersey, having made references to its police department (in his Star Trekreview) and the Cedar Lanes Cinema (in his Revenge of the Sith review).

Through side comments in narration, flashes of disturbing images, and cuts to scenes filmed by RedLetterMedia, Mr. Plinkett is implied to be a misogynist and a serial killer; recurring themes include the murder of his ex-wife via car crash and women held captive in his basement.^[1][2] He claims to have had a disappointing son who hanged himself in a gas station bathroom. Mr. Plinkett also has a fondness for Totino's Pizza Rolls, and he encourages feedback by promising to mail one to viewers that leave comments on his "webzone". When he gets angry, he threatens to not send a pizza roll.^[1]

If you dig it, there are plenty more RedLetterMedia reviews to enjoy.  If you hate it, I will respect your take, but also surmise that we each have a quite different sense of humor.

Montana Supreme Court = My Heroes!

I just learned that the Montana Supreme Court defied the US Supreme Court’s decision in the awful “Citizens United” case!  You can read about it here.  The decision was 5 to 2.  However, one of the dissenting justices went out of his way to blister SCOTUS for its horrible decision:

"While, as a member of this Court, I am bound to follow Citizens United, I do not have to agree with the [U.S.] Supreme Court's decision," Nelson wrote. "And, to be absolutely clear, I do not agree with it. For starters, the notion that corporations are disadvantaged in the political realm is unbelievable. Indeed, it has astounded most Americans. The truth is that corporations wield enormous power in Congress and in state legislatures. It is hard to tell where government ends and corporate America begins: the transition is seamless and overlapping."

And over at Firedog Lake, David Dayen offers thoughts on the ramification of the Montana decision.   The upshot is that he does not think SCOTUS would change its mind, but he does not rule out the possibility of justice Kennedy changing his position if the Montana decision were before him.  He notes also that:

At the very least, a favorable ruling here would allow states to ban corporate contributions or limit them in state and local elections.

It all brings back that delicious moment in the President’s State of the Union speech a couple of years ago when he called out the majority justices on the Citizens United case right to their faces, strongly criticizing their decision, prompting that little weasel Alito to shake his head and mumble some sort of objection. 

Anyway, I love the Montana Supreme Court these days.