Heartache With Hard Work

A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours – The Smiths

There’s been a lot of discussion about the role of Rush Limbaugh in the modern Republican party. Obama took a lot of flak with the press for daring to point out the obvious: that Republicans these days reflect the values and interests of Limbaugh more than anything else.

Bringing him up only legitimates him! It makes you look weak! they cried. Here’s a representative example from professional I-told-you-so columnist, Kathleen Parker:

Excuse me, Mr. President, but you’ve been baited by none other than the Master Fisherman. Limbaugh tossed you a lure and you chomped.

Rules:

Never start a land war with Asia. Never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel (or who owns the patent on the microchip). Never let rabble-rousers get under your skin — especially those whose popularity in some circles compares favorably with your own and whose earnings make bailed-out bank presidents envious.

Clever, no?

There’s only one problem with that version of events: it’s total bollocks.

Bringing up Limbaugh doesn’t make Obama look weak or petty. It makes him look like a guy who is willing to tell relatively obvious truths, one that force his political adversaries into difficult (potentially irresolvable) situations.

That has become incredibly clear in the past couple weeks, as the administration has kept up the effort to paint Republicans as fundamentally beholden to Limbaugh. It’s not “partisan” to do this, and the public has keenly managed to figure that out. Speaking about how Republican DO behave has nothing at all to do with how you might WANT them to behave. Put another way: calling them the party of Limbaugh only works as long as the Republicans continue to act like Limbaugh clones.

But here’s the thing. That seems to be precisely how they want to play things. From Jindal’s wackaloon speech, to the three (count them: one, two, three) total GOP votes for the stimulus bill to preemptive threats to filibuster judicial appointments and so on…the Republicans appear to have decided to double-down on their economic plans (step 1: tax cuts for the rich! step 2: invisible hands. step 3: profit!) and their extremely conservative philosophies.

Bringing up Limbaugh is useful precisely because it calls attention to this fact. In fact, his continued significance to modern GOP politics is made clear by one simple fact. As Rahm Emanuel pointed out a few days ago: “whenever a Republican criticize him, they have to run back and apologize to him, and say they were misunderstood.”

So it was significant when Michael Steele (who mostly hasn’t taken his foot out of his mouth since he took over as the chairman of the Republican Party) struck out at Rush this weekend. Here was a market, a clear statement of intent by the establishment wing of the party. Steele went so far as to say: “So let’s put it into context here. Let’s put it into context here. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it’s incendiary. Yes, it’s ugly.” All true, by the way. And blindingly obvious, too. Of course Limbaugh is saying this stuff for ratings. Of course it shouldn’t represent real elected Republicans. Duh.

All of that should go without saying.

But that’s what makes this so hilarious. Less than 48 hours after those comments, Steele came out begging for forgiveness and…wait for it…claiming his was misinterpreted.

The Democratic response virtually writes itself. Limbaugh is rooting for Obama and our country to fail. And every time a mainstream Republican dares to point this out, they immediately walk it back. What does that tell us about the Republican Party right now?

The point is NOT that Democrats feel upset when Rush says mean things. It’s that Republicans of every stripe don’t seem to be interested in disagreeing with him. It’s not a question of bruised feelings; it’s a question of how we’re supposed to fix our problems if the minority party doesn’t want to. And that’s a pretty easy line to sell to the public.

I Lost My Color Vision – Burning Hearts
Close to Her – Burning Hearts

Burning Hearts are a due from Finland – thus demonstrating that Sweden doesn’t have a monopoly on perfect pop. They released Aboa Sleeping last month, which is a beautiful little album, a sort of low-key Postal Service without all the hype. Or a lost Magnetic Fields record from the mid-90s.

They’ve got a light touch, and a great handle on how to build a song out of some very simple elements. It’s full songs that like they wafted in effortlessly on the breeze, but which are full of subtlety and depth once you start to pay attention. It moves from sleepy dreamscapes to sunny afternoons and rippling waves on a lake.

It’s intimate, but with none of the dour attitude or quiet melancholy that usually implies. This is a friendly, joyful record, and it’s irresistibly full of life. It moves with its own pace, unmeasured and free. And they take the time to explore. The result is a bunch of songs that seem like they fall out of the spaces in between other records.

Highlights include the opener “I Lost My Color Vision” which virtually demands the tapping of toes and a mischievous smile. And then there’s the melodies and harmonies on “Close to Her,” which are so sweet and pure that you can hardly believe it. “We Walked Among the Trees” which peers at you which twinkling eyes along a diagonal. And “A Peasant’s Dream” sounds like Club 8 in their happiest moods.

Aboa Sleeping isn’t the sort of record that jumps out and grabs you, forcing you to pay attention. It doesn’t have any songs that inspire undying devotion. But it does have nine well-made pop gems, each one deserving of attention and just a little bit of love. And it’s quite likely to end up among my favorite records of the year.

Just got done reading Hazel’s review of the third episode of Dollhouse, and I have to admit I’m having trouble disagreeing with any of her points.

Her basic point is that there have been plenty of cringe-worthy moments and elements that didn’t quite work. And that the only “good” parts have been more hints of what might come than they have been anything truly spectacular about the actual episode itself.

In particular, there’s a lot of stuff that is apparently designed to seem “edgy” – including the general premise of virtual slavery entailed by the whole premise of the show. And there are scenes that range from uncomfortable (a girl getting slapped by her manager) to preposterously hackneyed and lame (a guy who buys Echo so he can first have sex with her and then hunt her with a bow and arrow…seriously). But all of this lacks the necessary backbone of a show that justifies the inclusion of such silliness and discomfort.

To continue piling on, there’s the very real issue that Eliza Dushku so far has done little to suggest she has the acting talent to play all these different roles. So far, she’s had to do:
– variations on Faith, which she can do well, of course, but that’s also not saying that much
– the tabula rasa state of being unprogrammed, which I think she has done quite poorly. I’m not sure what I think they should act like in that state, but it sure isn’t what I’ve seen so far
– a sexy hostage negotiator. Meh.

In the third episode, she was supposed to be a backup singer cum bodyguard. But the result was a strange mishmash of a teeny-bopper, Faith, any random character from Firefly, and a preachy amateur psychologist. The result: a confusing character that really didn’t work for me. (As a sidenote, if you want to see an actress who falls completely into a role and has it fit perfectly, Dichen Lachman’s performance as Sierra is quite good. Though it’s completely baffling why she wasn’t programmed to turn into a bad-ass if she got caught. In fact, it’s unclear exactly why she was involved in the operation at all, given that she was alone with the killer and all she did was cower…)

These issues aren’t entirely Dushku’s fault though. There’s also the writing and conception, which I’m not sure has been thought through completely. The most awkward times have been when Echo has had to deliver lines that a Whedon-character would say. Because she hasn’t had a role yet where that sort of quipping makes any sense. So when she starts talking like Kaylee or Mal or something it falls pretty flat.

Oh, and a final complaint is the over-obviousness of Big Themes. Part of it is that I’m simply not that interested in their meta-theme of “popular culture imprints roles onto actors and musicians and other performers – and isn’t it cool how the actives are a metaphor for that?” When it’s vague and in the background, it’s fine, but when they hit you over the head with it…no good. Episode 3 suffered from this the worst. FAR too much talky/preachy “tell don’t show” stuff going on.

Still, all of that said, I’m not nearly as down on things as it seems like Hazel is. I’m willing to remain open to the possibilities that they’re laying the groundwork for. And while I haven’t been tremendously impressed with the main stories of any of the episodes so far, they’ve actually done a pretty good job of tying together the larger arc of the show. They’re dropping hints, fitting pieces together, and piquing my interest for sure. And there are a few moments here and there that are done with subtlety and care, and which suggest Very Good things to come (the head shake to close this episode being a great example).

Basically, I think it could still turn out very well and these beginning episodes may be weak in part because they’re still finding their footing. There’s a lot of stuff to deal with here (even for someone who’s done three other shows already), including finding a balance between an action show that won’t get cancelled and a thought-provoking, clever show about layered characters and a slowly unfolding plot.

There’s also the issue raised above. Namely, that I’m not sure Joss is all that comfortable with the sort of world these characters exist in. Buffy worked in part because it ran on its own rules. Same thing with Firefly. Angel, too, but less so. It tried to be more “edgy” and closer to the “real” world. With that in mind, I don’t think it’s coincidence that Angel was mediocre at best. It remains to be seen whether Joss can find a way to make his unique style work in this kind of story.

And, as someone who doesn’t have a TV and doesn’t really keep track of shows on a weekly basis (two exceptions: Top Chef and The Office), it’s nice to have a Joss show that I’m excited about. If it continues on with episodes of the quality we’ve seen so far, that enthusiasm will dim before too long. But for now, I’ll happily check on Hulu to see when the most recent one has been uploaded.

And I’ll tentatively commit to posting reviews of episodes from now on – all in an effort to further dilute the focus of this blog.

Heart Cooks Brain – Modest Mouse

How incredibly disappointing was the final episode of Top Chef? Season 5 in retrospect was pretty lame actually. The chefs were pretty humdrum, there wasn’t anyone remotely close to as interesting or innovative as a Richard and there was only one person (Stefan) who ever seemed like he could have even made the finals of a previous season.

I loved Carla, of course. But she was really the only big shining light of the season. And it was particularly depressing to watch her coming into her own and gaining confidence over the last few episodes only to have it all ruined because she stopped doing what had got her so far, listened to Casey, and tried stuff she never would have otherwise done.

And don’t even get me started on Hosea winning. I didn’t like Stefan but at least I believed that he is a talented chef. Hosea, on the other hand, cooked just well enough to not get eliminated all season and then somehow stumbled into a victory. Add in the annoying nationalism, the obsessive way he would never shut up about Stefan, and the stupid relationship with Leah and he’s easily the most aggravating of all the winners.

He’s a total goober who won basically nothing the whole season. In fact, the only time he did win was when everyone else pitched in to help him out. And even then it was the episode where they didn’t send anyone home because even the winners were only so-so.

In summary: booooo Hosea.

Josh Patashnik thinks he’s made a very clever point:

It’s true that Social Security, viewed in isolation, doesn’t have a major solvency problem–but why would you view Social Security in isolation? Of course it nominally has its own revenue stream, but the whole point here is that there are tradeoffs: dedicating that money to Social Security (or defense, or infrastructure, or anything else) means there’s less to spend in other areas. Those who advocate no changes to Social Security have to do more than point out that there’s no funding crisis; they need to make an affirmative case for why sending Social Security checks to future affluent retirees is a better use of that money than funding more expensive-but-livesaving health treatments, or child anti-poverty programs, or keeping future marginal tax rates to manageable levels, or anything else.

The reason why we shouldn’t cut spending on Social Security is that it’s immensely popular and well-supported by an overwhelming majority of the population. The whole point of the Republican attempt to portray Social Security as in “crisis” is that hoodwinking people into believing the cost of the program is going to blow up the budget is the only way people might be persuaded to cut it.

People don’t need to make an affirmative case for spending on Social Security because it’s implicit in the general attitude toward the program. When you have a very popular program that’s existed for the better part of a century, I tend to think the presumption shifts to those who think we ought to be cutting it to make their case.

One of my most-anticipated records of the year is My Maudlin Career from Camera Obscura. I raved a number of times about my love for their last record, so I was quite excited to get a taste of the new record.

My Maudlin Career – Camera Obscura

It’ll be very hard for them to live up to my expectations, but this is not a bad start. It doesn’t inspire awe like the best of their previous work – a little bit too plodding for my tastes. But it’s got a lovely ornate feel to it, with that piano line fluttering through the track. And like basically everything that Tracyanne Campbell and company put together, it seems to grow on me with every listen.

My Maudlin Career is due out on April 20th, and it’s going to be great.

I’m finally mostly recovered from the bout of the flu that pretty much knocked me out for the last couple weeks. So posting will resume at a more normal (but still sporadic) pace.

But today is still mostly a placeholder post, as I have a ton of reading to get done for my class tonight. Along those lines, though, I’ve been listening to a lot more ambient/drone/minimalist spacey sorts of music these days while I’m studying or working.

Still, I’d hesitate to call it “background” music, because it’s not exactly something I’m trying to ignore. It just activates a different part of the brain and lets the analytic side stay focused. The upshot of this is that I’ve finally started listening to Stars of the Lid – something I ought to have done long ago since I’ve known one of the guys in the band for like a decade.

As he puts it, they like their music to “breathe.” This song really gives you a sense of what that means.

Even If You’re Never Awake (Deuxième) – Stars of the Lid, from …and Their Refinement of the Decline

Other stuff that I’ve found myself returning to quite a bit recently (all found through the magic of eMusic, by the way)

Eighty-Four Thousand Hymns – Hammock, from Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow

The Same Moon and Stars – Windy and Carl, from Songs for the Broken Hearted

Peak – A Setting Sun, from Empty Sound

I’ve been incredibly sick for the past week or so. Hence the lack of posts. It’ll still be a while before I’m fully back on my feet, but while I sit around trying to get better, I figured I could find the energy for a post or two.

Banner Pilot play precisely the type of punk rock that I find myself most interested in these day: crisp guitars, a gravely voice, and no fear of rolling out some nice hooks or a big chorus. I never got around to listening to Resignation Day until the last month or so, or it would have definitely made my list of top albums for 2008.

There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but that’s precisely why it’s so good. Much like with cooking, sometimes the best thing is just to keep it simple and let the time-tested core elements do their thing.

Wired Wrong – Banner Pilot
Speed Trap – Banner Pilot

I’ve been extremely sick and extremely busy lately, not a good combination for blagging. So, in lieu of a bunch of complete posts, here’s the abstracts for things I probably would write about.

1. A-Rod and steroids. I’m not really all that shocked. At this point, there are very few people where a steroid revelation would surprise me. If people want to pretend like this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and that A-Rod is Fredo, they’re free to do so. And if that’s what it takes to produce a coherent policy on performance-enhancers, then maybe it’ll even be worth it.

All that said, I have to admit I kind of feel bad for the guy. I’ve always thought he was treated unfairly over the years. Even when he went to the stupid Yankees I had a soft spot in my heart for him. He’s an amazing talent and it’s not his fault that GMs offer him outlandish contracts and then fail to construct a team good enough to win the World Series.

Not to mention the fact that the test which has come to light was supposed to be strictly confidential and anonymous (as in, they wanted to see how many people were doping – it was supposed to be impossible to even connect a sample to a particular player). It’s weird how little mention that gets, especially from the people I read who in other contexts find the notion of privacy to be pretty important.

2. Stimulus. The fact that I was busy during all the fights over this actually helps put it all in perspective. For all the freakouts, Obama is still on track to pass one of the biggest spending bills ever in the first month of his administration, which will help fund a ton of really worthy projects.

For the recond, the “compromise” in the Senate was beyond stupid. Cutting CLEAR stimulus like money for states and to do construction on schools, and then inserting this AMT business and incentives to get people to buy homes is just ludicrous. I mean, seriously, you think the problem in America right now is not enough people attempting to own their own homes??

Given that, it’s depressing how the meme of “compromise” can spread so effortlessly without the folks responsible actually being forced to defend the particular cuts they imposed. As Jonathan Chait says:

It’s not like there’s some firm cap that forced the Senate to cut helpful spending programs. The cap is there because Specter decided to put it there, an act that flies in the face of the very economic theory that justifies the bill in the first place. … Again, it’s the only bill with a chance because Specter is holding it hostage. If he announced his support for the House bill, then the House bill would very likely pass. Does this man think we’re idiots?

3. Uhhhhhh. You never like to read the phrase “within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed.”

4. Dollhouse debuts on Friday. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be all that good, and that it will get quickly cancelled.

5. Jamie went home on Top Chef, which is depressing. Especially since it makes it a near certainty that stupid Stefan will win now.

6. This new track from Butcher Boy is great. They had a record a couple years ago that I meant to review but never got around to. It was pretty good, but this song is better than anything on it. It comes from the tradition of The Smiths, but there’s a cleaner edge to the sound, and a freshness that has a lot more in common with the more recent stuff from Belle and Sebastian.

I’m also aware that comparing a Scottish band to The Smiths and Belle and Sebastian is about as anti-creative as you could imagine. I’m sick, though, so you have no right to complain. Anyways, just listen to the song.

Carve a Pattern – Butcher Boy

Sick of This Place – Slapstick

I wanted to write a post about all the stimulus shenanigans, but I frankly have no time for something like that. Fortunately, publius wrote my post for me.

So, yeah, what publius said.

I’ll just add that I do think the effort to reach out and even compromise and all that has been worthwhile, and I’m glad it was undertaken. But I’m also glad that Obama is also willing to take the kid-gloves off a little bit. It’s important to note that this only happened after it became clear just how happy they were to stick to their trenches (and by “they” I’m willing to include the Nelsens and Liebermans and other “moderate” Dems), put their fingers in their ears and hum “Reagan cut taxes and it saaaaaaaaved the economy.”

I really think it would be better if, on the next big issue, Obama goes right back and tries all over again. The other day I referenced the idea of recognizing that there’s also a positive equilibrium to the prisoner’s dilemma – I still think that’s achievable. In the long term, you’d hope that everyone involved would realize that the only actual way to win at the prisoner’s dilemma (much like “Nuclear War”) is to just not play – but that might be asking a bit too much. For now, I’ll settle for a good-not-great stimulus bill and the possibility of a real health care bill. After that, climate, and then the world I suppose…