Still need a costume?

Just a quick wander around YouTubia for some How-To videos

DIY number costumes!

Threadbanger best DIY videos

The Dark Knight Joker make-up


Cool skull face!

Pumpkins and power tools!

Language in contact; growing up with Yiddish

I didn't know when I was growing up that many of the expressions I learned from my family and friends were Yiddish. Some of them I knew because they've entered English in general (like lox and bagel) and some were familiar from movies, songs or books, but many were words we used daily because we picked them up from our friends: oy, oy gevult, feh! bubeleh, mensch, schlep, tsuris, meshugenah, dreck, nudnick, yutz, putz, schmendrick, shlemeil, plotz, megillah, kvetch, schlub, schmaltz, shmeer, kibitz, chutzpah, chazerai, cockamamie, schlock, shmatte, shpeil, mishegoss, shmo, shmuck, shnook, svhvitz, and more. I think the fact that so many of our friends were Jews from the East Coast meant that certain words were absorbed into our home vocabulary, even though both my parents were raised as Catholics. In college and graduate school, a dear friend continued my education in Yiddish by explaining some of the finer distinctions (schlemeil vs shlemazil, for example). So I get a kick out of this ad where a variety of people who "don't look Jewish" use so many of the Yiddish expressions I grew up with.

A Yiddisha Take on 2008
Transcript and translation

What do you think of a man who called our economy strong just weeks before it tanked?
There’s a meshugener (crazy person).

What do you think of McCain opposing funding for renewable energy?
Meshugeneh! (It’s crazy!)

Excuse me. McCain voted against the violence against women act.
What a shmendrick (fool).

McCain supports Bush’s plan to privatize social security so it can be at the mercy of the stock market.
Such a yutz (clueless person).

Ya know, McCain said he preferred that a president has a grounding in the Christian faith.
That gets me in my kishkes (guts). We don’t need that kind of tsores (trouble), honey.

Is Palin ready to handle complex foreign relations?
You think Bush is farblondzshet (bewildered), you haven’t seen anything.

You-hoo. You know, McCain didn’t support equal pay for equal work.
So women do all the schlepping (dragging), get bupkis (nothing) in return. Whatever.

John McCain says staying in Iraq is the only way to define victory.
That guy is such a nudnick (pest).

Hey. McCain supporters say we can’t trust Obama on Israel.
That’s total dreck (dirt). Obama’s a great friend to Israel. He’s got a perfect voting record.

What do you think about Pennsylvania Republicans implying that electing Obama could bring a Holocaust?
A shonde, it’s a shonde. (A shame, it’s disgraceful.)

You know McCain has 8 houses and 13 cars?
Oy gevault! (Oh for heaven’s sake!)

So what kind of leadership do we need for today’s world?
We need a mensch, a real mensch.(a decent person).

We hope you enjoyed our shtick (comic performance).

What he said

Remember when we had a smart president? It can happen again.

Full transcript of his speech is here

One more week!

Tonight, we can watch the half-hour Obama show. What's it going to be? Nezua gives us a possible preview with this "Switch" commercial.

I wish it could be more skits and songs! (we are still running around my house singing "Solid as Barack!"). He has already run an infomercial on a late-night cable network. I doubt it will be a speech, because we've seen plenty of those.

Jon Stewart will give us the wrap-up after the baseball gave when Obama goes on the Daily Show. Here's a Daily Show preview, reviewing McCain's performance on Meet the Press and his "liberal" use of air quotes re: women's "health":

NPR has collected the Solid Gold Collection of irrelevant campaign moments! These will become history on Nov. 5, so get 'em now!

And it's down to the wire, so let's see who you think won the Obama-McCain dance-off!


Uh-oh, Palin is still in play In case you needed to review them, here are Sarah Palin's greatest hits, compiled into one video.

Ever since she sneered at fruit fly research as some kind of weird "earmark", instead of basic science that has been the origin of multiple breakthroughs with medical applications, the scientists have been afraid, very afraid. Today this group of 76 Nobel Prize winning scientists put out a letter begging us not to let the crazy lady winendorsing Obama

Happy birthday, honey bunch!

Happy Birthday (by Altered Images), the "new wave" version!
Some of my favorite birthday songs were posted for my sister's birthday here: The Ramones on the The Simpsons sing HB to Mr Burns; a Persian comedian does a Happy Birthday bellydance, and the Sesame Street artist Sally Cruikshank did a fabulous video about rhyming C-AKE with L-AKe and J-Ake!.
By request, here is The Lazy Town "Gotta bake a cake" song"




The original Cuppy Cake song is so sweet!

and finally, that great Beatles "Today is your birthday!

I...I...forgot!

November 4th--don't forget to vote! Or you might wake up to this:

You can send one of these to your friends here!

"Two lovers...."

This song is getting heavy earworm airply in my household, thanks to the kid who will be 14 tomorrow!


From Avatar: the Last Airbender an anime-inspired show that aired on Nickelodeon for a few seasons, but has a robust presence on YouTube.

Remembering the Wellstones

From Wellstone Action's homepage, a tribute:

"Saturday, October 25th marks the 6th anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Paul and Sheila Wellstone, Marcia Wellstone Markuson, Mary McEvoy, Tom Lapic, and Will McLaughlin. We pause to remember these six wonderful and talented individuals and to hold them in our hearts.

We remember their passion for social justice and their commitment to transforming our world for the common good. We dedicate our work to their memory, knowing that they would be proud of all that we collectively have accomplished.

Visit the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Online Archive or learn about the Wellstone Memorial and Historic Site."

"The McCain campaign may not want you to see this"
The UpTake (yay!!) has video from a McCain campaign office in Florida; the citizen-journalist keeps her head admirably while being threatened by a campaign worker for asking 'volunteers' what they do and if they are paid.

Good news just a few days before the election:
McCain aides going public with their frustration at being unable to control Palin, now become the meme "Palin goes rogue". The McCain/Palin campaign is in disarray

Today's polls at 538.com and it's blue, blue, blue.

A silly beer commercial gets remade into a poltical commentary on the state of things on the eve of the election: via Of América Pop culture is a thermometer of public opinion for Joe Six-Pack.

Corrupt MN Senator endorsed by corrupt local media: MNPublius has the details

Al Giordano now calls his blog The Field instead of NarcoNews, but it is still one of the best sites for the story behind the story: how the grass-roots organization behind this election is more than the Democratic Party: he posts an interview with Howard Zinn who puts this campaign in historical perspective and reminds us that it's not too soon to start thinking about what comes next!

Bibliophilia

Fresca has begun her own 100 things about me" meme. Number 8 is about holding onto books because it is unthinkable to get rid of them, but discovering that it is OK to let them go.

The obsessive version of this is bibliomania, but my relationship with books falls more into the categorey of bibliophilia. I was an extreme bibliophile until I was thirty, although one whose collection was acquired in circumstances of relative poverty, and therefore requiring hours of searching in order to find volumes within my budget. I was a voracious reader and routinely had 6-8 books from three different libraries sitting on my bedside table at once, but I also bought books. I spent my adolescent years combing the used book stores for 5 cent copies of the books that cost 50 cents new: science fiction, mostly. By the time I went to college, I had a couple of hundred. Often they had to stay in boxes in my family's house because there wasn't room for them all in the various dorm and apartment rooms I always had to share with another person in college. I also had to move a lot. Once I lived in a very large room in a boarding house, and had no furniture except a foam mattress. Then my books became my furniture; I lined them up on the floor around the walls of the very large, mostly empty room. It was satisfying to see them all at once at last. Nicholas Basbane has a book called A Gentle Madness that tells the history of such love of books, and interviews many bibliomanes, bibiophiles and collectors. (I must get it!)

As a university student, my scrounging of book stores shifted to the foreign language sections, well-stocked in Berkeley with the discards of multitudes of graduate students leaving town for their big job opportunities. Books in Spanish and French were hideously expensive new, but daily or weekly stops by such bookstores as Moe's often meant I could score a used copy for a dollar. I also bought books when I traveled because it was so hard to find them in the U.S., but they were too expensive for me to buy new abroad in great quantity. By the time I got my first academic job, I had an uncounted number of books, measured by the box. I didn't have the money to hire a mover, so I had to mail my clothes and some of the books, and a few pots and pans, to my new, unknown home in Minnesota. There were 35 boxes of books I thought I would absolutely need in my new job, but I couldn't afford to ship the many other boxes, including all the hundreds of science fiction and fantasy books I had read multiple times. I can't remember if they were sold or given away or left in my mother's house until she told me to get rid of them, but they are gone now, and I so regret it. There have been many times over the years where I've wanted to reread one of them, only to find that it's not in the library, I can't find it in the local science fiction book stores, even used, or if I do find it, it doesn't have the original cover. To scour ebay and the stores again, to reconstruct that collection would cost hundreds of dollars and precious time I don't have. I won't even think about the record collection, similary acquired in the used sections of Tower records and other stores, that I can't afford to replace with CDs.

But frankly, I hardly have time to read the unread books sitting on my shelves now, or listen to the 75 days worth of music I have on my iPod. It's liked the pain in a phantom limb; the book hoarder, that poor student who was rich in books, has been displaced by the disciplined, thrifty purger who gets rid of the old to make way for the new. I have limited room in my office and at home for books. I seldom buy books that I can get from the library, and I try to keep them on shelves and not in boxes in the basement or piled in stacks on the floor. I know someone who chose not to rent a two bedroom apartment because it was too small for her and her books, and I never want to be that burdened again. Yet, I wanted to reread Kim Stanley Robison's books the other day, and I don't have them. Samuel R. Delany is coming to town, MY FAVORITE AUTHOR!!!, and I can't get his autograph on my original copy of Babel-17. with the awesome cover art, I'll have to settle for my copy of Dhalgren, which was one of the books that has survived the purge.

You can satisfy your bibliomania online for free, if all you are really interested in doing is READING instead of having the books. Basbane has a website, too. And here are a few fragments one of Walter Benjamin's most endearing essays, "Unpacking my collection". Larry McMurtry, author and bibliphile, has written Walter Benjamin in the Dairy Queen, which I must now read as well. Underneath it all, though, is reading: Luc Santé, another book collector says about his relationship with his books and love of reading:

It is a bit like the stories of cannibals eating their adversaries' brains in order to acquire their strengths and skills, only with books no one gets hurt.

SNL: Bush endorses McCain and Palin

Will Ferrell joins Tina Fey for a great bit.

Talking about language with Lucy and Ricky

Translation:


The bilingual household:

Yay, Amy Klobuchar!

MN is getting a national rep as home of wackos, what with the gal from Lakeville telling John McCain that Obama is a Muslim, and Michele Bachmann's scary-eye shouting on Hardball. Those ten minutes went viral, and inspired a huge number of people to send about half a million dollars to her opponent El Tinklenberg (who, by the way, is a very good candidate and not just her opponent). Colin Powell even referred to Bachmann's hateful rant as representative of what motivated him to support Obama. I was glad to see that Rep. Amy Klobuchar was invited to speak oon Hardball to repair Minnesota's political image and rebut Bachmann. She's a much better representative of the long Minnesota tradition of smart politicians. And Chris Matthews is getting his yuks at Bachmann's expense because she blamed him for her remarks:

All the way from Marin County, M.C. Yogi!

MC Yogi has a song for Obama "Vote for Change" that I really like:

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.


Lyrics:

M.C. Yogi

VOTE FOR HOPE

chorus
Change begins when we believe / in a brighter day a better way to succeed / together we can make it better you and me / so we can be safe and prosperous and free

Ladies and gentleman beautiful intelligent / friends of all ages races and measurements / us citizens world wide residents / what ever your religion is or sexual preference / there’s no separateness one things connecting us / the planet we inhabit plus all the different elements / that’s the reason why we need a new president / someone who understands interconnectedness / and won’t go to war based on false evidence / who’s not addicted to oil and aggressiveness / who believes in global warming and he’ll fight pollution / instead of shredding and abusing our constitution / the candidate in 08 that we’ll be choosing / is Barack Obama cuz he’s gonna offer real solutions / lets get involved and offer all our contributions / vote for hope join the movement of the revolution

chorus
Change begins when we believe / in a brighter day a better way to succeed / together we can make it better you and me / so we can be safe and prosperous and free

I hold this truth to be self evident / it’s time for Barack Obama to become president / that’s why I’m calling to my nation and my generation / this is our moment no more waiting or procrastinating / we gotta make it happen; time for some action / it don’t matter if your black white asian latin / we gotta vote for hope; and steer clear of fear / regardless of the garbage they put in our ears / the talking head on the radio and television / spinning the facts treating us like we’re little children / but even with the propaganda they can’t stop us can they / cuz we know in our souls that we’re gonna stand up / & let our voices be heard word to the people / lets make sure this election is fair and equal / no more illegal war dying on a distant shore / and that’s the reason why Obama’s who we’re voting for / he can restore our reputation in the world / and that’s the reason why Obama’s who were voting for / so we can be prosperous free and feel secure / and that’s the reason why Obama’s who were voting for

chorus
Change begins when we believe / in a brighter day a better way to succeed / together we can make it better you and me / so we can be safe and prosperous and free

Everyday graphics

New forms of "imagined community" during the campaign?

We took a long walk and got a lot of fresh air yesterday. As a result I started dozing off right as SNL got started, so I completely missed watching Sarah Palin's appearances in real time. Thanks to Twitter (which I've just started to use and still don't really totally get), this morning I got a whole new set of perspectives on the event of watching it with other people. I'm getting an education in finding things online by having started to Twitter, because people post links that take me to new sites. Cool!

But Holy "imagined community," Batman!

If you missed it too, and you want to check out the clips, AND see videos of all the other candidates' SNL appearances this year, you can find them at Mashable.com."Millions of viral views" is the title of the post. One of the stories of this year's campaign is going to be the way that digital media has altered our experiences of participating as an audience in political discourse and political action. Not only can we see videos of events filmed by the mainstream media, we can watch those of citizens journalists, like Chuck Olson and Noah Kunin on The UpTake, and other folks who just posted their cell phone videos of rallies or speeches; we can watch vlogs or YouTube posts where folks give their opinions; there are all the mashups, parodies and songs; and when we watch a debate, we can chat, liveblog, or tweet in real time, feeling ourselves to be part of a group with people we know through their online personae. I'm sure some very smart people are going to help us analyze all of this. Right now, I'm just trying to get up to speed on all the various ways in which we are co-participating as more than passive viewers in a collective experience of knowing ourselves to be part of the citizenry.

The interactive, participatory, and productive potential of these experiences is evident when Michele Bachmann (MN Congressional District 6) appears on TV, ranting for ten minutes about investigating the patriotism of Congress, the video clip is reposted on YouTub and then on blogs, and as a result, her opponent El Tinklenberg receives over $100,000 in donations from people who find her to be the new McCarthy. Awesome! because she is a hateful demagogue and he is a decent human being with a track record of working for the public good, especially in transportation issues, which we so desparately need!

The arguments or discussions in blog comments that I've observed, or in which I've participated, are another way that political discourse is being created, and where we see people interacting who might not do so IRL. But a very important part of these experiences is also the story-telling that validates these expressions of opinion. When people share their stories of conversations when door-knocking (at 536.com) for example, or of the emotional impact of John McCain's scare quotes when he said "health for the mother" on those who have had to terminate a pregnancy due to health risks or the death of joyfully awaited child in utero (at dooce's site) these stories have an impact on people's ideas.

Colin Powell was going to endorse Obama anyway, but he specifically mentions Bachmann (although not by name) and her rant as the last straw. (but he has a lot to answer for).

Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

Live

Levi Tubbs, the voice of the Four Tops, R.I.P.

Levi Tubbs, lead vocalist of The Four Tops, died in his sleep. He continued to sing with just as powerful a voice until only a few years ago. Their songs thrilled me for years. I was not a rock and roll kid; my friends and I were all about r and b, soul and funk. The team of Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote and produced many of the Four Tops' hits in the sixties. I didn't know it then, but the musicians on those songs were also huge contributors to their sound; the "Funk Brothers" played on the Four Tops's' sixties hits. The documentary movie Standing in the Shadows of Motown brought that story to greater public attention.

Earlier in the year, I wrote about the rituals of high school graduation parties; in 1974, we went to Disneyland: "The hit show of the night was The Four Tops, in all their dancing glory, singing hits like "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch," Reach Out: I'll be There, Still Waters, "Baby, I need your loving","Ain't No Woman Like the One I got"." This live version of "Ain't No Woman..." shows what great performers they were.


In 1985, the Apollo that brought The Four Tops together with some of the other greats groups: the Manhattans, the Cadillacs, The Drifters, The Temptations, and the Four Tops.

Post-debate hangover

I didn't watch the debate, but I did get to shake Al Franken's hand last night!

I gather there were no surprises.
Two men enter! one man leaves! What if we had weekly debates the way they do in British Parliament? These guys make our "debates" look like kindergarten: Prime Minister Gordon Brown vs leader of the opposition, David Cameron.

The power of television debates became apparent withNixon vs. Kennedy in 1960: TV debates begin to change politics in the U.S. Isn't there an uncanny familiarity in the rhetoric? This one sounds familiar as well:
Batman vs. The Penguin!


And what about these competitions?


Ziyi Zhang or Michelle Yeoh?

rap battle of the search engines!

Rap battle of Mac vs PC!

A rap battle translated into high school debate style

Fred Astaire vs Gene Kelly (thanks, fresca!)

Lion or Tiger?

Oh noes! I'm going to miss the debate!

I can't believe I'm going to miss tonight's debate! Should I be disappointed or relieved? The political junkie in me wants my last fix of political theater shared on a live thread in the moment, but the other, saner and healthier part of me thinks it will JUST FINE to watch the blooper reel on YouTube tomorrow. So, in anticipation, I give you the Jon Stewart debate preview


Listen to The Penguin debate Batman. Holy foreshadowing, Caped Crusader!!

Academic work and politics, right now.

I just learned this morning from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) that the Bush Administration's DHA is seizing laptops and copying electronic data from U.S. citizens returning from travel abroad. In addition to the grotesque invasion of privacy this represents, that should be illegal, this poses a real threat to business and academic research in which issues of confidentiality (especially with regards to vulnerable people or around human rights work) are very important. I won't even talk about threats to patent rights or copyright, intellectual intimidation, etc. I probably will not take my laptop on my next trip if this policy is not stopped.

As an academic who works in the area of Latin American studies, I am a member of LASA, the Latin American Studies Association, which represents scholars both in the U.S. and from all over Latin America and the Caribbean, in all disciplines. I am posting a letter that the past and present leadership of the organization has sent to the campaign of Barack Obama, because I believe it highlights the fact that public attention has been focused almost exclusively on foreign and domestic policy within very narrow limits, and large parts of the world have been ignored. We have an opportunity for major beneficial changes, if Obama's administration does NOT do what Clinton did, and continue the same (failed) policies toward Latin America as Republican presidents. I have contributed my signature to this letter, as I am sure will many others.

Dear Senator Obama:

We write to offer our congratulations on your campaign and to express
our hope that as the next president of the United States you will take
advantage of an historic opportunity to improve relations with Latin
America. As scholars of the region, we also wish to convey our
analysis regarding the process of change now underway in Latin America.

Just as the people of the United States have begun to debate basic
questions regarding the sort of society they want-- thanks in part to
your own candidacy but also owing to the magnitude of the current
financial crisis-- so too have the people of Latin America. In fact, a
recent round of intense debate about a just and fair society has been
going on in Latin America for more than a decade, and the majority are
opting, like you and so many of us in the United States, for hope and
change. As academics personally and professionally committed to
development and democracy in Latin America, we are hopeful that during
your presidency the United States can become a partner rather than an
adversary to the positive changes already under way in the hemisphere.

The current impetus for change in Latin America is a rejection of the
model of economic growth that has been imposed in most countries since
the early 1980s, a model that has concentrated wealth, relied
unsuccessfully on unrestricted market forces to solve deep social
problems and undermined human welfare. The current rejection of this
model is broad-based and democratic. In fact, contemporary movements
for change in Latin America reveal significantly increased
participation by workers and peasants, women, Afro-descendants and
indigenous peoples-- in a word, the grassroots. Such movements are
coming to power in country after country. They are neither puppets, nor
blinded by fanaticism and ideology, as caricatured by some mainstream
pundits. To the contrary, these movements deserve our respect,
friendship and support.

Latin Americans have often viewed the United States not as a friend but
as an oppressor, the guarantor of an international economic system that
works against them, rather than for them-- the very antithesis of hope
and change. The Bush Administration has made matters much worse, and
U.S. prestige in the region is now at a historic low. Washington's
tendency to fight against hope and change has been especially prominent
in recent U.S. responses to the democratically elected governments of
Venezuela and Bolivia. While anti-American feelings run deep, history
demonstrates that these feelings can change. In the 1930s, after two
decades of conflict with the region, the United States swore off
intervention and adopted a Good Neighbor Policy. Not coincidentally, it
was the most harmonious time in the history of U.S.-Latin American
relations. In the 1940s, every country in the region became our ally in
World War Two. It can happen again.

There are many other challenges, too. Colombia, the main focus of the
Bush Administration's policy, is currently the scene of the second
largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with four million internally
displaced people. Its government, which criminalizes even peaceful
protest, seeks an extension of the free trade policies that much of the
hemisphere is already reacting against. Cuba has begun a process of
transition that should be supported in positive ways, such as through
the dialogue you advocate. Mexicans and Central Americans migrate by
the tens of thousands to seek work in the United States, where their
labor power is much needed but their presence is denigrated by a public
that has, since the development of opinion polling in the 1930s, always
opposed immigration from anywhere. The way to manage immigration is not
by building a giant wall, but rather, the United States should support
more equitable economic development in Mexico and Central America and,
indeed, throughout the region. In addition, the U.S. must reconsider
drug control policies that have simply not worked and have been part of
the problem of political violence, especially in Mexico, Colombia and
Peru. And the U.S. must renew its active support for human rights
throughout the region. Unfortunately, in the eyes of many Latin
Americans, the United States has come to stand for the support of
inequitable regimes.

Finally, we implore you to commit your administration to the firm
support of constitutional rights, including academic and intellectual
freedom. Most of us are members of the Latin American Studies
Association (LASA), the largest professional association of experts on
the region, and we have experienced first-hand how the Bush
administration's attempt to restrict academic exchange with Cuba is
counter-productive and self-defeating. We hope for an early
opportunity to discuss this and other issues regarding Latin America
with your administration.

Our hope is that you will embrace the opportunity to inaugurate a new
period of hemispheric understanding and collaboration for the common
welfare. We ask for change and not only in the United States.

Sincerely,

SIGNED:

Eric Hershberg, LASA President 2007-09, Professor of Politics and
Director of Latin American Studies, Simon Fraser University

Sonia E. Alvarez, LASA Past President (2004-2006), Leonard J. Horwitz
Professor of Politics, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Charles R. Hale, LASA Past President (2003-2004), Professor of
Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin

Marysa Navarro-Aranguren, LASA Past President (2003-2004), Charles
Collis Professor of History, Dartmouth College

Arturo Arias, LASA Past President, (2001-2003), Professor of Spanish
and Portuguese University of Texas, Austin.


Susan Eckstein, LASA Past President (1997-98), Professor of Sociology &
International Relations, Boston University, Cynthia McClintock, LASA
Past President (1994-95), Professor of Political Science and
International Affairs, George Washington University
Carmen Diana Deere, LASA Past President (1992-94), Professor of Food
and Resource Economics and Director, Center for Latin American Studies,
University of Florida

Lars Schoultz, LASA Past President (1991-92), William Rand Kenan, Jr.,
Professor of Political Science, UNC, Chapel Hill

Jean Franco, LASA Past President (1990-91), Emeritus Professor,
Columbia University

Helen I. Safa, LASA Past President (1983-85), Emeritus Professor of
Anthropology and Latin American Studies, University of Florida.

Paul L. Doughty, LASA Past President (1974-75), Distinguished Service
Professor, Emeritus of Anthropology and Latin American Studies,
University of Florida

Cristina Rojas, School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa

Marisol de la Cadena, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UC Davis

John C. Chasteen, Distinguished Professor of History, UNC Chapel Hill

Mario Blaser, Assistant Professor of International Development, York
University, Toronto.

Arturo Escobar, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, UNC,
Chapel Hill.

Putting McCain/Palin campaign rhetoric in historical context

UPDATED TO ADD: If you want to protest the lynch-mob rhetoric of the McCain-Palin campaign, go here.
What is all the fuss about John Lewis comparing McCain's hateful campaign rhetoric to George Wallace's record of demagoguery? He just described what we can all see if we look at the historical record. Here's a good site to start doing our homework on civil rights struggle, and here is another on the history of lynching in the United States. Let us examine the history of lynching in the U.S. from 1880 to the 1930. Duluth MN was the site of lynch mob murders in 1920. Let us remember, too, that mob violence did not only claim black victims, but also other people who were scapegoated, targeted for disenfranchisement, the enforcement of segregation or racial codes, or were targets of economic theft in various regions, including Indians, Mexicans, Italian immigrants, Asian immigrants, Jews.. and Muslims after 9/11.

To put Rep. John Lewis's remarks in perspective, here's a good place to start: this article quotes him at length, first of all, instead of just a few lines, and links to Lewis's own statement.

The key word for understanding why Lewis compares McCain's campaign to the politics of George Wallace is "demagogue":

dema·gogue (dem′ə gäg′, -gôg′)

noun

1. Obsolete: a leader of the common people
2. a person who tries to stir up the people by appeals to emotion, prejudice, etc. in order to win them over quickly and so gain power

Etymology: <>

I'm going to quote John Lewis's entire statement, because I think it is extraordinarily important:

"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing today reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

"During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed one Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

So the next time someone complains about the Obama campaign "playing the race card" remembe some of these facts:

From Stewart E. Tolnay and E.M. Beck, A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930.

Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.

There are "2805 [documented] victims of lynch mobs killed between 1882 and 1930 in ten southern states. Although mobs murdered almost 300 white men and women, the vast majority-almost 2,500-of lynch victims were African-American. Of these black victims, 94 percent died in the hands of white lynch mobs. The scale of this carnage means that, on the average, a black man, woman, or child was murdered nearly once a week, every week, between 1882 and 1930 by a hate-driven white mob" (ix).

George Wallace quotes from 1958 (from the first gubernatorial campaign)

"During the next four years, many problems will arise in the matter of segregation and civil rights, as a result of judicial decisions. Having served as judge of the third judicial circuit of Alabama, I feel, my friends, that this judicial experience, will be invaluable to me as your governor.… And I want to tell the good people of this state, as a judge of the third judicial circuit, if I didn’t have what it took to treat a man fair, regardless of his color, then I don’t have what it takes to be the governor of your great state."

"I advocate hatred of no man, because hate will only compound the problems facing the South."


1958 (said in private to Seymore Trammell, Wallace's finance director, following his unsuccessful first run for governor against John Patterson)

"I was out-niggered, and I will never be out-niggered again."

538.com and Brett Marty "On the Road" in the battleground states

One new favorite site for following the political races is FiveThirtyEight: Electoral Projections Done Right. Blogger and statistician extraordinaire Nate Silver is doing the kind of data crunching here that he pioneered in Baseball Prospectus. He and co-blogger Sean Quinn writes about their Road Trip through the battleground states in these last eight weeks before the election.

Although the site's main purpose is quantitative analysis, what I've come to enjoy as well is, not surprisingly, the stories they are telling. Nate and Sean's road trip stories and Brett Marty's amazing photos focus on the organizing efforts waged by both campaigns, and give us detailed interviews and conversations that help us understand how each place is unique, and the importance of the local. Each town, each state is different. What's happening on the ground? How do events have an impact on people? What are they saying? Today's post is from Troy, Ohio, and tells a fascinating story of neighbors in a small town in dialogue with each other, and that dialogue is creating a shift from a Republican stronghold to a town that will likely end up with a majority for Obama. The big story that's emerging from this road trip? Obama's campaign organization has out-organized McCain's in every state.

The numbers-crunching part of the site follows both the presidential race and the Senate races, and tracks national and state polls. They also work out various scenarios and there are tons of charts. Every day there is also a post with some analysis about what factors they think are affecting the numbers. From the original small group of readers, the readership has grown to become a real national presence, and the bloggers have been invited to appear on TV shows, including the Colbert Report. Heated discussions take place in the comment section from time to time; not all the commenters agree.The site's FAQ explains their statistical and polling methodologies. I don't get the math; all I know is that my award-winning colleague who is an international Big Daddy of historical demography tells me that he now reads this site because that means he doesn't have to do all the computations himself. If he gives it his seal of approval, that's good enough for me.
Here's Nate explaining to Keith Olbermann on Countdown back in August exactly what it is 538 does:

Empathy

dooce asked her readers a question a few days ago, one of those hypothetical "if you could only..." questions that pose an ethical dilemma:

Indulge me for a second and consider this scenario: let's say you're given the opportunity to donate some money to a desperate family who would use it to feed their children, but were only able to do so if you donated the same amount of money to someone you knew would use it to buy crack. Would you do it?

Readers posted over a thousand replies, because she's one of the big bloggers, and scrolling through their replies was fascinating, like a Rorschach test of political rhetoric of the white middle class. Everyone had thought about it, many had a kind of personal policy ("I always give food" or "I never give to beggars"). Some people changed the question to fit their worldview, then answered the question as they had reframed it. Some thought the question was really about the bailout, others pronounced judgments, many shared stories.

She has since posted the backstory for the question, a story about her brother's example of generosity to strangers. Once again, hundreds posted comments and shared stories. Some of them had been homeless, knew someone who was, or had worked with people in hard times. Others told stories about their stories.

Phil Ochs (whose manic-depression contributed to his suicide) wrote the song, and I learned it from Joan Baez:
"There but for fortune, go you or I."

One of those unexpected TV moments

Last night we watched an episode of Bones that was surprisingly moving. I say surprisingly because the show is usually a combination fairly campy and light-weight humor. (And we are still peeved about the off-the-wall way they ditched Zack, one of our favorite characters, last season).
The episode was called "The He in the She". The body of a well-loved pastor, a woman, found in the Chesapeake Bay. Forensic evidence reveals that this woman had undergone a sex-change operation and had previously been a man. As the story unfolds, the hyper-rational Bones and her partner Booth have several conversations about both religion and gender. But the most moving moments come when it is discovered that in her previous life as Patrick, Patricia had been a bible-thumping evangelical TV pastor who had swindled credulous followers, and that his son, who had been raised to follow in his footsteps, had suffered a crisis of faith, and was now seeking redemption through self-sacrifice. In the end, of course, the murderer is discovered, but along the way the show provides some surprisingly compassionate and unsensational discussion of sex-reassignment surgery, the plight of transgendered individuals who are in the closet, the reactions of their family members to their decisions to change, and the ways that people can find the strength to seek forgiveness and re-connect with a community. My daughter and I thought it was a relatively well-written episode of a show (writer is the show's creator Hart Hanson) that is not always very deep, and the song they played at the end struck a deep chord in both of us: Antony and The Johnsons
"River of Sorrow"

Obama mix from DJ Z-Trip

DJ Z-Trip has been playing at Democatic events, and has created this mix--music, spoken word, great beats--about the elections. You can download it for free, and it's worth it.
via Jeff Chang

Old wine, new bottle

Journalist Roberto Lovato blogs at "Of América," and he can be relied on for the big picture. He points out the most chilling moment of the VP debate for me, when Palin talked about supposed "expanded powers" for the VP as somehow constitutional, and Biden reminded us bluntly that Dick Cheney has been the most dangerous Vice President in history. She may wink and act folksy, but when you take away the trappings, the message is the same: we don't need no Constitution. While we are watching the campaign, the Bush administration has just handed over $700 billion to Cheney's buddies, and there are attempts to use the rules process to bypass Congress and undermine existing legislation.

Comedians pwn pundits

Digby summarizes the talking-heads reactions to the VP debate and bailoutnews: a mash-up of bad sports metaphors. So I'll turn to the comedians for some more pointed commentary.
Letterman is succinct.

Jon Stewart AND his writing team are on fire:

Lisa Nova! doesn't have the high production values of SNL, but she does have a great script.

and Queen Latifah, Tina Fey, and Jason Sudeikis don't leave Biden out of the mix.

The tide is turning.

It is very hard for me to stop thinking about the election and the stakes for us all, even as I go about my day with my family, or talk to students and colleagues. I am trying to look in many places for stories, not just headlines and poll numbers, because it is in the stories that we hear that the tide is turning. We don't want to talk to or listen to people who disagree with us on issues that are close to our hearts, but I am hearing many stories about how people have changed their minds because of their principles.

I have spoken to some friends who have been out door-knocking for the Obama campaign. They reported that their companions who knocked on doors in more middle-class neighborhoods were met by many Obama supporters who wanted to talk about their vote and their issues, But one said that she was struck by her experience in a neighborhood where people were very poor, many were new immigrants, and many did not have phones, let alone TVs. Yes, this was in St Paul, MN.

My mother described some very interesting conversations she had with people when she went with some friends to Carson City, Nevada. Most of the people she spoke to were elderly, not wealthy, but not poor. One gentleman informed her he was voting for McCain because he was prejudiced, another said the most important issues to him were gun control and immigration (neither of which were mentioned by Biden or Palin). She also had a long conversation with a man who was leaning toward McCain, but who also said "they're both jackasses." As she left, she said, "Well, vote for my jackass." He cracked up.

This morning I read a story that shows that you don't always hear what you think you might when you knock on that door. I was very struck by a comment I read at this distressing post at Pam's House Blend, about someone who knocked on a door where a Confederate flag was flying (scroll down in the comment section to find it--it's worth it). The person expected a hostile reception, but instead the burly man who answered the door said he was voting for Obama because he was a Viet Nam vet, his son was doing his 3rd tour in Iraq, and he was angrlybecause they wouldn't let his son come home. He was tired of the war, and didn't think McCain got it.

So I googled "Republican why I'm voting Obama" and read some of the stories that came up. Here is a sample:

Larry Hunter, a self-identified supply-side conservative and lifelong conservative says in a New York Times editorial:

"When I first made this decision, many colleagues were shocked. How could I support a candidate with a domestic policy platform that's antithetical to almost everything I believe in?

The answer is simple: Unjustified war and unconstitutional abridgment of individual rights vs. ill-conceived tax and economic policies - this is the difference between venial and mortal sins."

Chuck Olson interviews a woman named Beth in Fort Dodge, Iowa, a small business owner and mother of a child with a disability, and who recognizes how No Child Left Behind does not help her child.

Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest, who represents the Eastern Shore of Maryland (Biden's neighbor) has switched from McCain to Obama:

Gilchrest laid out five criteria for his vote: competence, integrity, experience, prudence and knowledge.

"Who fits that criteria? The McCain-Palin team or the Obama Biden team?" he said. "I'm going to vote for the team that fits that criteria."
That means Obama-Biden, he said.

A talk-show host and former Republican campaign activist Michael Smerchonish, who is, admittedly, obsessed with 9/11 and bin Laden, talks in detail about how, for the last seven years, U.S. policy has allowed the Pakistani military to shelter bin Laden and the Taliban, and how there is still no unified anti-terrorist program, in spite of the Patriot Act. Some of the commenters chide him for taking so long, but I want to listen to someone tell us of his road to Damascus moment.

It sounds facile to call these people Obamacans. But if Ronald Reagan won because of Reagan Democrats, Obama may win because of the individual decisions made by many people who genuinely want a change.

Pre-debate prep: Palin and Biden On The Issues

I'm giving a talk today at noon, then going to parent/teacher conferences. But I have to take a minute to get ready for tonight's debate. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to watch the debate at an event with friends and colleagues for Suzanne Pharr, the author of the wonderful book Homophobia is a Weapon of Sexism (which you can read online at her website!)

I also like the site On the Issues, because it allows one to compare a candidate's voting record and quotations using a template that is the same for all; this way, you can compare point by point.
Here's Joe Biden on the issues.Here's Sarah Palin on the issues. I find that I don't agree with Biden on everything (his record on reproductive rights is mixed, although he has been consistently in support of the idea that women should have the right to determine their own reproductive health and choices. I do NOT like his approach to the "drug wars" but I do generally like his record on issues of trade, education, health and foreign policy. I've heard him speak over the years, and he is nothing if not smart. Palin, on the other hand, advocates positions that I think are harmful and destructive. Period.

And yes, we are electing a president, but given McCain's poor health, there is a high likelihood that we could end up with President Palin if Obama does not win, so we have to take her seriously as a candidate.

Takin' it Back with Barack, Jack! (for Swing voters)

Takin' it Back With Barack, Jack! (for Swing voters!)

Thanks, Fernando!

As a die-hard lindy hopper, I wish they had featured some dancers in this video!
Original lindy footage from the movie Hellzapoppin' with lindy originator Frankie Manning in the mechanics overalls. Starts out slow, but they watch them bust out in the second half! No, they did not speed up the camera; they really do dance that fast.


I've since discovered this 1939 footage of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers doing the Big Apple! They segue into some charleston, and then there is a jitterbug contest


2006 fast lindy champs pay hommage to their teachers, including Frankie Manning. Their flips and tricks are ah-maaazing!


But it doesn't have to be superfast; slow it down to West Coast style with benji Schwimmer and Tatiana Mollman, two fabulous dancers. they are not dancing to choreography here; he is leading and she is following, but they are just so awesome, they make it look easy.