The Counterculture Criteria

A political junkie's ultimate trip

ANDY FITZPATRICK

All next week I will be vacationing in Washington, D.C. For a political junkie like myself, it is as good as a trip to some Caribbean beach (well, almost). Not only will I tour the usual museums and monuments, but I will stroll down K Street, explore Foggy Bottom and meander through Embassy Row. My original idea was to stay at the Watergate, but my wife "nixed" that plan (ha ha!).

Anyway, to celebrate (and steal an idea from Justin), here is a list of five of my favorite political movies. There are better examples out there (All the President's Men, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), but these are a few that don't usually get mentioned as often as some.

5.   Wag the Dog. An excellent movie about media corruption of the American political process. It raises an important question: if a country didn't go to war, but says it did, would we know the difference? Also, Denis Leary is referred to as, "the Fad King."
        Good Line: "What's the thing people remember about the Gulf War? A bomb falling down a chimney. Let me tell you something: I was in the building where we filmed that with a 10-inch model made out of Legos."

4.    Election. Probably one of the best commentaries on our election process. It is about a man being slowly destroyed by politics, and is really, really funny.
    Good Line: "The sight of Tracy at that moment affected me in a way I can't fully explain. Part of it was that she was spying; but mostly it was her face. Who knew how high she would climb in life? How many people would suffer because of her? I had to stop her... now!"

3.    Dick. Yes, another comedy, which I think says something about our country. This film is criminally underrated, as is Dan Hedaya in general. The best parts of the movie feature Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch as a Woodward and Bernstein constantly trying to outdo each other. As good as Redford and Hoffman, in my book.
    Good Line: "We have a very important school report on turquoise jewelry due in two days, and we can't find any books on it, and the President's having us followed. It's too much pressure."

2.    Good Night, and Good Luck. As somber as they come, and it couldn't have been made any other way. Almost the entire movie takes place within the darkly-lit confines of the CBS news offices, filled with smoke and sweating newsmen. Nothing would have conveyed the extreme paranoia of the McCarthy travesty better. When talking about this movie one day, someone I know who is ultra-conservative only responded, "McCarthy wasn't wrong, you know." If people still have that attitude, then this movie has importance, both regarding that era in history and our current witch hunts for "turrurists."
    Good Line: "We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

1.    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.  Brilliant in nearly every respect. Peter Sellers plays three different roles in one movie long before Mike Meyers made it a career. I won't ruin it for you, but it has one of the best endings in film.
    Good Line: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"

Fevered Egos

ANDY FITZPATRICK

So now, the state Republicans are saying that no budget solution has been reached, and that Granholm is a liar. There apparently was no agreement reached on May 25. It was all a figment of the Democratic governor's fevered imagination, perhaps brought on by the fresh Lake Huron air blowing across Mackinac Island.

One of the compromises that was said to be reached was a proposed increase in the state income tax. Raising taxes is the ultimate ward to the Republican Party. Like garlic strewn about the neck of a Transylvanian villager, it is a sure way to keep back the monster thirsting for the cash that courses through the veins of government programs.

Instead of talking about why some programs are good, as has been done here in the past, let's look at what the Republicans are proposing as solutions. According to their website, the party is pushing for reforms in state spending. Both parties are now talking about cutting the benefits teachers and other school employees receive, and making them work longer to receive full benefits.

So, in Michigan, quality education takes one more for the team.

Also, it's gratifying to know that some people are not particularly concerned with getting this absurdity resolved.

The Supreme Intelligence

ANDY FITZPATRICK

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down some important rulings. By important, I mean "self-contradictory."

One of them, the infamous "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case, came down in favor of the principal that decided to punish the student posting the infamous banner. In this country, drugs are illegal, and if you advocate their use, you are a criminal who is to be punished.

But what if you weren't advocating their use? What if it merely seemed as if you were advocating it to certain people? What happens then?

Here is a passage from the very same court's ruling on another case, handed down on the very same day:

When it comes to defining what speech qualifies as the functional equivalent of express advocacy subject to such a ban -- the issue we do have to decide -- we give the benefit of the doubt to speech, not censorship.

That's from Chief Justice John Roberts, writing in regards to the court's ruling that removes parts of the McCain-Feingold bill, an oft-maligned-by-the-right attempt to remove special interest domination over American elections.

Now, this:

It was reasonable for (the principal) to conclude that the banner promoted illegal drug use-- and that failing to act would send a powerful message to the students in her charge.

That's from the same man, on the same day. Which means that powerful interest groups get "the benefit of the doubt" on their speech, while the student with the banner gets censorship because someone thought that maybe it promoted drug use. Maybe. No benefit of the doubt here.

Amazing.

Roberts' opinions and McCain-Feingold picture from CNN.com. "Psst. John. Did you know Jesus has a wonderful plan for your life? It'll blow your mind, dude."

Top 25 music moments? Lists, lists, lists, Hornby style...

JUSTIN A. HINKLEY

USA Today is celebrating its 25th anniversary right now and in honor of the occasion is putting together "Top 25" lists of things that have happened since they've been around.

This week on their Web site, they have the "Top 25 Musical Moments" of the last quarter century. You can click on that link to check their list in more detail, but here it is in brief, in descending order:

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Woodstock, U2's Zoo TV Tour, You-phoria (YouTube, MySpace), "American Idol," "Born in the USA," Parental Advisory stickers, the death of George Harrison, The Rolling Stones' "Bigger Bang" tour, Madonna's "Like a Prayer," Eminem, Garth Brooks, the CD, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's "The Message," Whitney Houston, SoundScan, Prince's "Purple Rain," 'NSync, Radiohead, iPods and iTunes, Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," NWA's "Straight Outta Compton," Michael Jackson on MTV, LiveAid and the No. 1 musical event of the last 25 years is...

Napster.

There are certainly a lot of things on that list that have affected the music industry in a big way. If you're looking at sheer importance to the cultural landscape of music, then I'd say that Today did a pretty good job with this thing.

I think I would shuffle things around a bit, though, as far as what I think has been most important in the music history of the last 25 years. In the interest of time and space, I'll keep my list down to the top 5, with No. 1 being the most important.

5. NWA's "Straight Outta Compton" — Looking at the last half-century, heavy rap and hip-hop is without a doubt the most intriguing shift in music trends since people like Chubby Checker started rock 'n' roll in the early 1950s. Rap started in the early 1980s as a voice for people in urban slums, poverty and discrimination. By the early part of the millennium, it was also the voice of rural white hicks and rich suburban white kids pumping the music through the huge sub woofers of their massive SUVs. It made no sense to industry execs, who are still puzzled, even as they count their money. It doesn't even make sense to the artists, half the time. But rap has outlasted every other pop music fad like boy bands and pop princesses, and it shows no sign of slowing down, making it more than a trend: It's a cultural shift.

4. Nirvana — I was 6 years old when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came out. My mother was 24, so we had music on on in the house all the time and I can remember hearing this song. Even with my young, virgin ears I understood the importance of Kurt Cobain because it was so different from everything else on the radio. It was angry, violent, teeming with angst and boiling discontentment. We lived in a crappy apartment in a run-down part of town back then, and as I heard that song and looked out at the people walking around in second-hand clothes and glum looks on their faces, I knew it was their music that Nirvana was playing. What early rappers like NWA did for blacks in urban America, Nirvana did for whites in the same part of town. Nirvana (and NWA) represented that sad sociological change from the in-denial pomp and attitude of Reagan and Poison in the 80s and into the violent, unruly, disappointed era of the 90s.

3. iPods — There are men older than 50 right here in the newsroom who carry iPods around with them. Before iPods, 50-year-olds would've only listened to music in their cars, if then. It made it accessible, and iTunes gave everyone with even the slightest understanding of technology to get their hands on once-hard-to-find songs. iPods made music a constant reality in every American social setting. It's everywhere, and Amen to that.

2. You-phoria (YouTube, MySpace) — These guys made music a listener-driven industry. Execs in big offices getting back-aches from having to sit on fat wallets could no longer tell the people what was "cool." The people were able to share with each other millions upon millions of videos, songs and even private voyeur clips of rock stars. These kind of user-shared Web sites changed what was cool and forced evolution in almost every industry that relied on mass media: Music, TV, Cinema, Politicians (CNN is soliciting viewer-submitted questions for the next round of debates through YouTube) and even newspapers. The Enquirer has a MySpace site for its entertainment section (my doing).

1. Napster — Really, this could've been looped in with the No. 2 slot, but its effect on music was so profound that it stands out above YouTube and MySpace. Napster was first, man. It was the astronaut without a space station, launching off into a new world that two punk kids in Boston knew we would all be forced to come around to. With Kurt Cobain buried in Washington, music greedheads like his widow were taking over the world again and destroying everything that Cobain screamed for. Ticket prices for concerts were soaring, CD prices were unbelievable, MTV hardly ever played videos any more, the music was getting away from the people and becoming this fetid money-bomb for high-rollers and heroin addicts. Napster was free music, giving good music to the people, where it belonged, and boy hell did it anger the fatbacks in the record industry. I lost 1,000 pounds of respect for Metallica and Dr.Dre (a former NWA member) when they slapped law suits on those poor kids and forced the site to shut down. I understand about losing money on your product, etc., etc., but what they should have done was realized that a site like that came around because the cost of art was getting out of hand. They should've done what bands like Radiohead did: Realize the will of the listeners (customers) and meet their needs. Radiohead profited from Napster, and so did we, the people. I miss Napster almost as much as I miss Cobain.

...The Weird turn Pro

ANDY FITZPATRICK

I like Mike Gravel.

The former senator, who is running for the Democratic Party's nomination for president, released a campaign video that consists of him staring into the camera lens for about a minute. No words are spoken. He then turns, walks over to a large rock, chucks it in a pond, brushes off his hands to signify a job well done and walks away.

As I said, I like him. He is a political weird-o in an age of political uniformity, and therefore deserves our attention. He yells at the other candidates in nationally-televised debates and gave the business to some gasbag filling in for Tucker Carlson, an act that does not occur often enough to the awful cable-news pundocracy.

I'm not entirely sure that I would vote for him, but he is well spoken on the important issues and makes his messages clear to all. Well, except that rock video. And the other one he did, which is him walking through a woods for about four seconds, then a close-up of a burning pile of sticks for seven minutes, which is not an exaggeration. This one is different in that it contains a scene change and has ominous music during the walking part.

I thought about linking to them here, but I thought it better instead to make you search for them on Youtube if you want to see them. I believe that to properly experience the sheer balls of putting something like this out there against built-in candidate Clinton and pop idol Obama, you must first actively seek them out.

I say: do it. Take the Gravel Challenge and watch the videos. You won't die in seven days, as Jon Stewart fears, but you will change.

Long, hot, wired summers:Drug abuse in the sun

JUSTIN A. HINKLEY

The following came to me in an email from Carol Meyer-Niedzwieckl, of the Substance Abuse Council. It was a forwarded email from the Five Moms Campaign, a Web site dedicated to educating mothers and teens about cough medicine  abuse.

Here's what the email said:

Summer is great. Everyone seems to relax a little bit and enjoy the warm weather outdoors.

Unfortunately, because kids are home from school, it is also peak season for teen substance abuse.

As a deputy sheriff and a D.A.R.E officer, I normally reach kids at school. But during summer, it is more difficult.

So, on behalf of the Five Moms Campaign, I am reaching out to parents like you on teen cough medicine abuse.

Please take a moment to tell other parents that cough medicine abuse is dangerous. And make a special point to talk to your own children about it if you haven't already.

Let's all enjoy the summer, but let's stay vigilant about teen cough medicine abuse.

Sincerely,

Becky Dyer

I have some personal commentary to make on this, since I used to be one of the abusers Ms. Dyer is talking about.

I watched a video on the Five Moms Web site, that had the voices of kids talking about how their parents had "no idea" that they were using cough medicine to trip, that they often did it in their bedrooms, right under their parents' noses...

That is absolutely true. The drug used to be completely legal for a 15-year-old to buy in the store. If not to buy, it was easy enough to steal... It was easy to tell my mother that I had a cough or that I felt like I was coming down with something, and she never asked about the empty bottles. The effects of the drug are mostly sensory: tunnel vision, hyper-sensitivity to touch and movement, etc. It takes the right circumstances and doses to produce hallucinations. In other words, it takes very little to act straight in front of authority types and there is little physical evidence of intoxication: No smell, you don't slur your words. Your face gets red and your eyes dilate, but other than that...

There were a number of times that my body felt like a feather pillow and my mind was wrapped around a wretched paranoia, but I sat in front of my mom with a straight face and talked about school. No problem. Meanwhile, inside, my liver was being destroyed, my immune system was shocked and my brain was dying faster than I cared to think about.

I'm all for personal liberties, but drugs are certainly not something that teens should be messing around with. They're not as uneducated as people think — we were fully aware back then that we were slowly killing ourselves — but we need to teach them to care about what they're doing to themselves, which is a very difficult platform to approach.

I saw three of my friends go through the hospital under the effects of dextromethorphan, or "DEX," the active ingredient kids seek out when going for that weird high. Brain swells, a toxic liver, general bodily malfunction.

Kids need to realize that the only way to get high off of this stuff is to overdose, and anyone who's spent even a brief time hanging out in drug cliques knows the awful meaning of that word.

I'm in no position to tell anybody what they should or shouldn't do, but parents are, and parents need to be aware of this stuff. If my mom had known what I was up to sooner... Well, it probably wouldn't have stopped me, but maybe, and I could've saved myself a lot of heartache and agony.

Another thing to think about, for anybody reading this who's considering some recreational dosing: DEX raises your core body temperature about five to 10 degrees, but it feels like your blood's running at about 160 degrees. You feel like you're cooking, but you're shivering, too. If the liver failure or brain bubbles or failed immune system doesn't get you, there's always heat stroke...

Goodbye, Gang; Hello...?

JUSTIN A. HINKLEY

I don't know why I can't keep away from this damned machine. I've been on vacation all week, but haven't escaped this awful computer and its ugly keyboard. I've filed four stories while I was supposed to be relaxing, and now, with nothing else due until Monday, I'm still writing! I have an addiction... Well, at least it's a productive one.

I get to see some strange and amazing things in my line of work. I get to be on the inside of What's Happening more often than I care to be, sometimes, and the things I've seen have left me jaded and bankrupt in the heart.

But every once in a while, something truly inspiring happens and I get to lay witness to history in the making and it changes something in my gut.

That happened last week, when I was called out to shoot video of an exorcism of evil. Members of notorious Battle Creek gang MOB, or Money Over Bitches, were going to renounce their ways and take on a clean life, we were told. I expected three or four or maybe five young kids to come make some sort of proclamation that they'd found Jesus or Mohammad and that they wouldn't be shooting anymore.

Instead, more than 60 youth piled into the gymnasium at South Hill Academy, joined hands in prayer and listened to a passionate speech by the Rev. Bernard Young about how they needed to live straighter lives.

I'd never seen anything like it. I've heard of reformed gang members becoming inspirational talkers and former drug dealers joining the War on Drugs, but I'd never seen an entire gang come clean and pray and vow to fight the old, violent ways they'd lived almost their entire lives. To be honest, I don't know if it'd ever happened before anywhere.

And the transformation of this gang was so profound that MOB was changed from "Money Over Bitches" to "Motivation, Organization and Building Success."

Things were very tense in that room. We were told that we couldn't photograph any of the kids' faces, for fear of reprisal from both the law and MOB's rivals, Cash Money Ballers. The kids sat there looking bored at first and then intrigued and then some of them grew uneasy, stirring in their seats as Young told them that they'd drifted into violence because they weren't loved by their fathers and that they'd been programmed from birth for gang activity. Some of the kids looked like they wanted to sic the good bishop for making those vicious accusations.

But nothing happened. The whole event went off without a hitch and three hours later, Money Over Bitches was no more. There was only Motivation, Organization and Building Success, no longer a vicious street troupe of hoodlums but a community service organization, vowing to end the nightly violence in Battle Creek.

The whole thing is a real-life testament to the long-standing mentality of community leaders like the Boys & Girl's Club's Keith Matthews, that if you keep talking to the kids, keep educating them, keep giving them a place to go, then eventually they'll see the light and come around. People were getting tired of the method; for too long they'd seen their efforts bear sweat but no fruit. For too long they'd been talking to a kid at the community center one night and through plate glass in the county jail the next.

But now, by god, it's worked. It was a slow process that couldn't have been accomplished without the patience of people like Matthews and the presence of people like former gang member Mack McGill. And not just one kid, but a whole organization has done a complete 180, turned in their guns for big bags of peace and fraternity.

I sat there in that gym, watching the faces, and knew that not all of them would stay straight. But enough of them would to make a difference. And the biggest difference, if there's any kind of bright hope left in this world, will be that people like Matthews will keep working, talking, showing, teaching, listening, understanding, until eventually the CMB is changed as well. And then it's on to the next town...

NOTE: Photo by John Grap/The Enquirer.

Some stories demand sequels

ANDY FITZPATRICK

I think this story is interesting, particularly the following passage:

A White House statement issued Wednesday said: "We are aware of the Judiciary committees' plans to issue subpoenas. We will respond appropriately. The committees can easily obtain the facts they want without a confrontation by simply accepting our offer for documents and interviews. But it's clear that Senator Leahy and Rep. [John] Conyers [D-Michigan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee] are more interested in drama than facts."

"Drama," in this case, means that the committees want not only answers to their questions, but want them on record. And under oath. If they can obtain them through legal subpoenas, well, that's what should happen. Of course, those can be challenged, but that's how the system works, despite the president's aversion to things like court orders, committee findings and balanced government.

The question of why the administration, which has repeatedly claimed that no wrongdoing has occurred in the attorney firings, demands that there be no official record of investigative questions from congress must be asked. I realize the old saw of, "if you're innocent, you have nothing to hide" is an absurd one, and one that does not merit serious consideration. However, neither does, "I have nothing to hide, therefore you can't write down what I tell you."

Imagine being accused of a crime, and strolling up the judge and announcing that you will answer any question he has as long as you don't have to be sworn in and there is no court reporter present. Or cameras. Or any press.

You will not get far.

Despite what Nixon said, and no matter how much he begins to resemble the shamed leader in these last, desperate final days of a flailing presidency, Bush is not above the rest of us, and neither are his underlings (especially if you go by approval ratings; they're not that much higher than mine, frankly). It is time they realize this and start acting like American citizens

Incidentally, I'm mentioning this because I learned of it while writing this entry: Mr. Wizard has died. Don Herbert, now one of the Good Dead Ones.

Local antiwar activists: Sheehan's departure has no effect

JUSTIN A. HINKLEY

Not that I thought it would, but I was curious as to whether or not local anti-war activists thought that the recent retirement of Cindy Sheehan from the political stage would have any effect on the "good fight," as it were.

I sent out a couple of emails and got the responses back a couple of days ago, but have just now had time to get them to you.

To wit:

This is an email from Andrew DeGraw, the Marshall native (now of Kalamazoo) who founded To Begin Rebellion:

"I don't think Sheehan stepping down from the head of the anti-war movement will have too much of an effect on the fight. There is still a war that is obviously unjustified, and there are many articulate heart-driven anti-war strugglers that can have an impact.

I think the democratic congress has failed the people who voted them into office, as many predicted they would.

The anti-war movement should stop following the elections that are too far into the future to concern ourselves with, and start looking to ourselves for an answer. We don't need an elected official to end the war and make other changes we would like to see, we just need to take the actions neccessary ourselves."

Amolia Star Moore, former president of the Swords Into Plowshares Kalamazoo Peace Center, had no comment on Sheehan.

It is worth mentioning here that Moore has decided not to further pursue the leadership of the Peace Center and the new leader there is Justin Beach.

There you have it. Sheehan was only a figurehead in a fight that, according to those still fighting it, won't end until the war in Iraq is done with and those responsible for it are brought to some sort of justice, either political or real.

My contacts on the other side of the political spectrum have not returned my requests for comment in some  time.

Werewolves of New Hampshire

ANDY FITZPATRICK

The Democratic party had a debate among their presidential candidates last Sunday on CNN.

Don't worry, context and exposition were not tolerated.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Despite Wolf Blitzer's attempts to the contrary, the candidates joined together to reject his absurd questioning format. Hillary Clinton said it best when she told the moderator:

Wolf, I'm not going to get into hypotheticals, because we've had an administration that doesn't believe in diplomacy.

Granted, she was rolling the response into a slam on Bush, but the sentiment is there: to reject the notion that political discourse in our country need not be relegated to sound bites and on-the-spot responses to imaginary situations. Should we have an idea of what a candidate will do if X happens? Yes. Can we get this information by observing how they handle/respond to real situations? Also, yes. Furthermore, can we dream up problems all day for them to solve, without inviting actual debate on the matter? Unfortunately, this is also a yes.

Not that Blitzer didn't try. I knew there would be trouble in the first few moments when he appeared and said that he would "gently" try to end the candidates' responses if they went over a minute. He even joked that some them "hopefully" would be less than a minute long. Yes, Wolf, we know you work very hard and would like to not have to think so much about what these people are saying. Or, do you think we can't handle all that talking, talking, talking? Is that the tune you were told to dance to by the head office?

Especially goofy were the "show of hands" questions. Does CNN really think asking a blanket yes-or-no question of a group of accomplished United States senators and others, and then telling them they can only answer with a physical gesture, is supposed to be a "debate?" Really?

The candidates didn't seem to think so, since they eventually had to tell Blitzer, as a group, that they were no longer going to respond to these types of questions. Good for them.

I guess what I find appalling (and maybe I'm making too much of this) is that Blitzer normally does an excellent job. Analysis and depth have been his tools in the past; why not now?

The Republican New Hampshire debate is tonight, brought to us by the same crack journalistic team of Blitzer, Dobbs, etc. Will CNN have changed their plan, or will we be treated to the same shameless attempt to overlook any serious debate on important issues. I can't wait to find out.

Sen. Clinton quote from here. Photo of Blitzer from his CNN bio. "His hair was perfect."