shut up, fascist

Once upon a time, some friends and I decided it was really funny to teach little kids to say "Shut up, fascist!" when upset, rather than the typical little-kid epithets like "butthead" or "poopface." So I think it really amusing that "fascist" is now the schoolyard taunt of choice for Republican buttheads like Saul Anuzis.

The actual, historical horrors of real fascism notwithstanding, it speaks to the abysmal lack of direction and message of the Republican Party that they've resorted to the kind of semi-educated name-calling typically reserved for sullen teenagers. Did Obama revoke their facebook privileges or something? But here's the kicker. Anuzis doesn't even know or care what the difference is between the old standby of calling a liberal a "socialist" and his new, hip, punk rock "fascist" label:

“We’ve so overused the word ‘socialism’ that it no longer has the negative connotation it had 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago,” Mr. Anuzis said. “Fascism — everybody still thinks that’s a bad thing.”

Well... yes, because there are several nations that have adopted some form of socialism that actually, well, works for them. Socialism, in and of itself, is not a "bad thing" with the "negative connotation" it had 20 years ago, because in those 20 years, socialism has become a base from which to build a viable government in many parts of the world. Fascism is still thought of as a bad thing, because (as anyone with wikipedia access would know), nearly every example of it in action has resulted in the slaughter of thousands, forced labor, and government-sanctioned violence. Italy, Spain, Germany... the list goes on. Fascism is the worst kind of human behavior, brought to a vast scale by the worst kinds of human fears.

And at the risk of oversimplifying, it would seem that accusations of fascism would be more appropriately directed toward an administration of obsessive nationalism, oppressive religious leanings, sexism, racism, secrecy, state-sanctioned torture, corporatism, militarism, isolationism, surveillance and cronyism. I'm sure you can think of a recent one.

who is muammar gaddafi?

I'm really intrigued by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. As a child, I remember seeing him on television, a dynamic figure, in expensive glasses and lots of bling. His life seems to be a map of post-WWII America's troubled and tangled relationship with the Middle East. He has been both condemned as a terrorist and praised as a humanitarian, depending on the current U.S. administration and the price of petrol. And in his newest incarnation, a champion of African unity and vocal opponent of Al-Qaeda, his political career has taken a turn Reagan-era politicos never saw coming.

While I maintain that Gaddafi is an odd choice, it would seem that Africa is merely seeking someone with experience in leadership... and while Libya may not seem the best source for a unifying figure, Gaddafi does have the distinction of holding together an African country for 40 years, and as the fourth-longest serving head of state (fun trivia: The top three are King Bhumibol of Thailand, Queen Elizabeth and Fidel Castro).

On the worlds' most troubled continent, perhaps Gaddafi is the closest thing to a constant.

redemption

A bright sunshine streaks the faces of the seven million people congregated in the Capitol. It is a beautiful day. In every sense of the word.

January is not supposed to be beautiful. Beauty, it seems, is an elusive thing in a cold winter, a winter made all the colder by struggle and fear, anxiety and worry. But today is a beautiful day, in spite of so much. Because today, there is hope in the eyes of all those seven million people. There is hope in the face of the man we've chosen to place in front of us. Hope is what brings beauty in even the darkest moments. Hope is what made my ancestors survive January in sod houses in Iowa in 1890. Hope is what brought my grandmother through dust bowls and starvation. Hope is what consoled my great-great grandparents when they left everything they knew in a small Norwegian fishing village to till an unknown land far from their home.

And hope is what brings my heart to my throat now, when I see the tide of people in Washington. There is much to survive still. But hope will get us there.

nocturne

It's pretty crazy how I can get on a roll when I want to, when I have a task at hand that needs completion (or at least steady progress). So this is why I'm up at three in the morning burning a mix CD for my fiancee and reading my friends' music blog (it's here, and yes, you should read it too).

The project I'm working on right now is rekindling my love for music.

I have two music stories due to The Onion by the end of the month and I was feeling pretty uninspired about both of them so I decided I needed to spend some time with the music I have, remember why I do this, of all journalistic endeavors.

It's helping. Since my music is virtually 100 percent digital at this point, it helped greatly simply to haul the CD box out from under my bed, go through the stacks, carefully choose which ones to upload and fondly remember where I was when I bought each one. Or even better, where I was when someone gave it to me (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was in my Easter basket when I was 15, next to marshmallow Peeps and a Reese's peanut butter bunny). Touching music, the physical manifestation of it, reminds me of the actual work it takes to create it.

The stories are still rough. I still have interviews to schedule, outlines to create, research to do. But at least right now I can remember why I do it.

Do newspapers need a bailout?

As a former newspaper employee (and as someone who has often tried to get back in the business, to no avail) I have seriously mixed feelings about what has come to be called the "death" of newspapers. On one hand, I view it much like I view the supposed death of the big auto makers: some newspapers got fat, lazy and pretentious and failed to meet the needs of their consumers and advertisers. Some newspaper owners became wealthy and complacent, and some reporters shamed the industry with the use of fabrication, plagiarism and heresay. There are times when I view the whole lot of it and wonder if perhaps it is time for newspapers to die, only to be reborn in some other form.

But there is a seriously sentimental part of me that wants to see the news live on in all its smudgy, stiffly-formatted glory. A part of me that remembers what it's like to literally get a copy "hot" off the presses. A part of me that got a little wistful upon seeing the rotating globe above the Seattle P-I building last week. And the part of me that has moved her ponderous collection of Times-Calls and Onions (I call it a portfolio) from apartment to apartment for the past five years. I have a similar emotional tie to the automakers- as a third generation auto dealer whose father was born in Pontiac, Mich., cars are as much a part of my blood as the press.

So in the end I guess news like this makes me hope against hope that this scare is just what the industry needs. A shot in the arm to realize that the game is not the same, that it's a change-or-die world these days and the power that both the car makers and the news makers had is no longer relevant in these times.

For all the people I still love in both industries, I hope that this will be the case.

blue colorado

Finally.

This feels so, so good.

The new and improved

I figured it was probably a good time to re-introduce myself...

It has been two years since my last post here. In those two years I have done the following:

-Had my heart broken
-Worked my way up from title clerk to, effectively, CFO of a multi-location scooter shop.
-Said goodbye to my parents, who now live a state away
-Fallen in love
-Dyed my hair black and lost 20 pounds
-Moved into a 1920s Cheesman Park apartment with my sister, recently returned from her Peace Corps assignment in Lesotho (pending, moving day is today and tomorrow)

There's more, of course. Suffice it to say there's a big difference between 25 and 27. But to be honest, it really does seem to be getting better all the time.