Now Alito’s wife can cry

Looks like John Kerry has just called for a filibuster on the Alito nomination (pending now posted at CNN). Good man. But are there enough votes to carry it off - especially with weak-kneed colleagues like Landrieu and Johnson trying to wave it off?

Technorati Tags: Alito, Congress, Supreme Court

“They took the foot this morning”

That’s what my diabetic brother told me a few hours ago when he called from the hospital: “They took the foot.” Pithy. That’s the way you talk about amputation, apparently. Not exactly sure when they’ll “take the calf.” In a few days, I imagine.

So I’ll be heading down to Atlanta to be with my brother for a few days. Blogging may suffer over the coming days, or it may not. We’ll see.

Time, tide, Hamas

Khalil Shikaki said it eight years ago: “Peace now or Hamas later.”

Well, it’s later.

For years, the Israeli leadership has made a point of telling people that when it came to the peace process/road map/alternate-metaphor-of-the-month, there was “no Palestinian partner,” and so acted accordingly and unilaterally without regard to Palestinian grievances. It’s safe to say that the facts on the ground have now changed; Israel may find itself longing for the days of Arafat now that Hamas rules the Palestinian parliament.

As for the United States: looks like that election meddling really paid off. The consequences of American disengagement in the Israeli-Palestinian matter have now come home to roost, though it’s unlikely that George Bush will own up to it. Tony Blair tried to warn him of the dire necessity of more vigorous and even-handed American diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian standoff - even as Great Britain was co-opted in the great distraction against Iraq. Wonder what Blair is thinking today?

Time and tide wait for no man and no nation. The coming of Hamas was far from inevitable, but it was an eminently foreseeable event, aided and abetted by Israeli intransigence and American acquiescence.

Now we wait for Hamas to consolidate its power and root out the corruption in the Palestinian Authority - not that Fatah may go all that quietly. As for the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations…hard to say. It’s possible that Hamas may set aside some of its militancy under the burden of actual political responsibility. But no one in the Israeli government looks to see such a change, and Hamas continues to claim a right to armed resistance. The future is uncertain, to say the least.

Meanwhile, George Bush rushes onto the stage to label the Hamas victory a wake-up call for the Palestinian people. They’re not the only ones who need to wake up.

Technorati Tags: Hamas, Palestinians, Israel

Ten plus three equals a whole lot of refiguring

Somebody misspelled “character”

Back when your humble correspondent toiled in the bookselling racket, you could count on certain things as surely as you could the sunrise:

• Most books were very bad.

• Anyone who heard about a book on the radio or on television would have forgotten the title and author by the time they called or came by to order it.
• The ISBN - the International Standard Book Number which distinguishes one edition of every book and book-type product from another - would always and forever be ten digits long.

Well, you can scratch that last little verity off the list. Faced with the stunning notion that publishers will just keep printing books until the end of days - and that sooner or later, the world supply of ten-digit numbers would run dry - the International ISBN Agency (yes, there is such an entity) has decided to make the transition to a 13-digit number. The decision marks the first change to the standard since its institution in 1970. This may mean little to you, o casual reader, but it’s a ground-shaking change for publishers, booksellers, libraries, wholesalers, distributors, point-of-sale system providers, database coders, anyone and everyone in the book supply chain.

The shift won’t happen all at once, and will involve several interim steps. The new standard becomes standard on January 1, 2007.

All I can say is that I’m glad I’m well out of the bookselling trade.

For more info, I refer you to the Book Industry Study Group’s ISBN-13 for Dummies. Yes. That’s what it’s called.

Technorati Tags: Bookselling, Publishing

The red, white, and blue affect

Wanker

No sooner does Joel Stein motor past with his drive-by, straw-man smear of Iraq war opponents than we see Tucker “Have affectation, will travel” Carlson chasing afterwards as fast as his tricycle will carry him, wheedling all the way. Not content to label as cowards those who reject Stein’s hollow logic that anyone who opposes the war must also denigrate the troops - twaddle designed to marginalize debate - Carlson whines about a “deeper truth”:

There are only two sides in this war: Them and us. Thousands of us have been killed by them. Many more likely will be. Only one side will win. It should be us.

Why? Not because this is a just or wise war. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but that’s not the point. We cheer for America not because America is right, but because we’re Americans. When a Marine is shot in Baghdad, all of us have been attacked. It’s elemental, atavistic, tribal. We’re in this together, even if we don’t want to be.

Patriotism, Carlson-style, straight off the rack. Carlson wraps himself comfortably in the tri-colored cloak of “my country, right or wrong” and reduces the war to the level of a spectator sport. “We cheer,” he says from the bleachers, because “it’s our duty.” The reasons for war and the consequences of occupation and the human cost: all these become meaningless, immaterial. All that matters is being part of the pep squad.

Whatever else he may be, Carlson is a terribly inefficient writer. Had he simply said “you back the attack, we’ll bomb who we want,” he could have spared himself and us a lot of time and uninspired verbiage.

Carlson’s team-color patriotism, half-baked like most wankery, is easily exposed as you explore the consideration that Carlson was too dishonest - or cowardly, perhaps - to face. The demands of true patriotism, the other half of the “right or wrong” creed:

Our country right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right.

Not as much fun as mere cheerleading, maybe. Certainly not for those for whom patriotism is just another affect, not unlike a lovingly-considered bow tie.

Technorati Tags: Tucker Carlson, Media, Iraq

Democracy on the march

Is there anyone out there - anybody outside the White House - who believes that ham-handed American efforts to influence the Palestinian election will have any good end?

“Every time the United States says it doesn’t want Hamas, they boost Hamas,” said Mustafa Barghouti, a former presidential candidate who is heading the Independent Palestine candidate list. “Let us do our elections entirely on our own. These interventions run counter to our efforts, and they hurt the Palestinian people. This effort was completely counterproductive.”

Guess that whole “honest broker” thing didn’t pan out. Instead, we have the Bush administration pushing Fatah via the Palestinian Authority and thereby losing hearts and minds to Hamas. Brilliant.

Technorati Tags: Hamas, Palestinians, Israel

An unexpected nomination

It seems that this humble weblog has been nominated for a Koufax Award - that lustrous listing of lefty blogs - in the “Most Deserving of Wider Recognition” category. Jeez. I had no idea.

Pretty cool and flattering, I must say, particularly given the roster of fellow nominees. Some old friends on that list, and a truckload of interesting strangers. I’ll be checking them out one by one, and invite you to do likewise.

Many thanks to MB Williams at Wampum. Let the polling begin!

Doin’ the network shuffle

Equals what, exactly?

This is mildly interesting: CBS and Warner Brothers are combining forces to create a brand-new network with, uh, fairly old programming. Behold the new hotness: the unimaginatively-named CW, which replaces both the WB and UPN television networks.

“This new network will serve the public with high-quality programming and maintain our ongoing commitment to our diverse audience,” said Les Moonves, the chairman of CBS, in a statement.

Prime time programming will target the profitable 18-34 age group, officials of Warner and CBS said.

The new network will broadcast such UPN shows as “America’s Next Top Model,” “Veronica Mars” and “Everybody Hates Chris,” as well as WB programs “Beauty and the Geek,” “Smallville” and “Gilmore Girls.”

Eighteen to thirty-four year-olds. Yep, that’s diverse.

The first question on the minds of ambushed viewers (and actors, directors, producers, grips, and gaffers) is what’s going to happen to my show? The CNN/Money article provides a short list of survivors, but that means a lot of other shows have been pushed out on the ice floe to perish. Chris Rock can rest easy, but the majority of the black-oriented shows on UPN will get the axe come the fall. I was not a big fan of most of those programs - though the four leads on Girlfriends are extremely easy on the eyes, and I had my fingers crossed for a resurrection of über-cool Taye Diggs and Kevin Hill - and I’m guessing the numbers for these shows won’t help them survive a hard look by the new CW money men. As for the soon-to-be orphans of the WB: ehh. So long as my wife’s show makes it to the other side, it’s all good at Casa Waveflux.

One question not yet answered involves markets like St. Louis, where both the WB and UPN already exist. Which of these finds itself without programming as a result of today’s announcement? The UPN affiliate here is owned by the Roberts Broadcasting Company, headed by local heavy-hitters Michael and Steven Roberts. The WB affiliate is owned by the sprawling Tribune Company. Ouchie. Looks like the Roberts brothers lose out here, and will need to go shopping for new content for their St. Louis holding. Forthwith.

The larger question, of course, is why is this merger a good idea for CBS? Skimming the “best” content of two lower-tier broadcast networks isn’t exactly the path to a future where cable, satellite, DVD, Internet, and digital device delivery will rule the day. Frankly, this deal seems to benefit Warner Brothers more than the erstwhile Tiffany Network. I sure would like to know what’s in Les Moonves’ head right now.

Technorati Tags: CBS, Warner Brothers, WB, UPN, Television

Play ball!

Looks like George Bush has reversed course on not allowing the Cuban national baseball team to participate in the World Baseball Classic:

In a rare victory for sport over politics, the US has dropped objections to its arch-foe Cuba taking part in the first-ever World Baseball Classic due to be held this spring, thus averting a crisis that might have caused the entire event to be cancelled.

This weekend, the US Treasury finally granted Cuba a licence to play in the 16-nation WBC, but only after remarkable personal interventions by the leaders of the two countries, for 45 years divided by economic sanctions imposed by Washington against President Castro’s Communist regime.

This after Fidel Castro called Bush “a fool” and mocked the U.S. for taking the coward’s way out in blocking the Cubans from playing. Boys, boys! It’s all water under the bridge now, eh?

We should note that Bush didn’t change course out of the goodness of his heart:

In fact, had the US not relented, the entire tournament might have been scrapped: several Caribbean and Latin American participants would almost certainly have pulled out.

And as Paul Soglin further notes, Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics might have suffered had Bush not seen the light. That’s enough to get the attention of the White House.

This game of political pepper ensures that what might have been a non-event on the order of Battle of the Network Stars will likely garner a lot of attention. Batter up!

Technorati Tags: Fidel Castro, George Bush, Baseball

How to lose friends and alienate people

“I’m this close to the bottom, folks”

A little late love for Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, who should probably rethink this “State of the State address” stuff. The unpopular Republican governor recently delivered his address only to see his approval numbers drop and his disapproval numbers increase, according to the January SurveyUSA poll. Looks like Missouri voters are still less than amused by Blunt’s denial of health care to thousands of elderly and disabled people. And by his shell-game approach to funding education. And by his rampant cronyism.

The only reason that Blunt isn’t lying flat on the floor of the popularity rankings (coming in number 46 out of the 50 guvs) is that hapless GOPers Schwarzenegger, Fletcher, Murkowski, and Taft are even less beloved in their states than Blunt is in his.

But I’m sure Blunt can win the race to the bottom if he tries just a little bit harder.

Technorati Tags: Matt Blunt, Missouri, Politics

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