Sidney? The IIIrd?!

Much, far too much, has been made about Barack Obama’s middle name. It’s Hussein, as if you didn’t know. Hussein. Get it? As though that’s all you need to know. Do you really want a President with a foreign-sounding name like Hussein? Hell, you’d be outta your mind! Damn! Gotta be a terrorist for sure with a middle name like that! At least he must be some kinda Muslim. Sure, people say he’s Baptist. But everyone knows he’s a secret Muslim. Why else would he have a name like Hussein?

Hussein. That settles the issue. ‘Nuf said.

Well, I figured if a man’s middle name could be so informative regarding his true nature I thought I’d look up John McCain’s middle name to see what it could reveal about him.

What I found is that his full name is John Sidney McCain III.


Sidney. That’s probably not too well known a snippet of information. Certainly not as well known as Barack Obama’s middle name. I mean, when I was a kid most Sidneys I knew ended being playthings for bullies or playground fodder. I mean, take a look at poor old Philip Sidney. What do you think would happen to him if he dropped into the local Teamsters bar looking for directions?

Now, do you really want a guy with a name like Sidney answering that phone at three in the morning? I thought not.

And what’s that IIIrd all about? I mean, who’s the elitist here? The only people I’ve ever known who had numerals after their names either had unimaginative, lazy parents or were elitist wannabes. E.g. Thurston Howell III of Gilligan’s Island.


Of course, all talk about Obama’s elitism is a smokescreen for the real issue. It’s merely Republican code for “uppity”. GOP criticism of Barack Obama amounts to nothing more than the racist distrust of an “uppity” nigra.

Now, do you really believe that John Sidney McCain III is an elitist wannabe with a name that guarantees he’ll be beat up in the playground of international affairs?

I thought not.

Because a person’s name says little about who he is.

So drop the “Hussein” issue. It means absolutely nothing at all.

Even Sidney knows this.

Raglan Road

Whew! I guess we can never really be certain what things will grip one’s heart swiftly and unseen. One moment I’m going happily along listening to Mott the Hoople sing All the Young Dudes. Then I wheel my iPod over to my Irish playlist to make sure Raglan Road downloaded correctly.

Instantly tears sprang to my eyes, and I cried violently throughout the piece. Even now my eyes water at the mere memory of the tune.

I first heard the song while watching the movie In Bruges. The film’s characterized as a comedy. Well, maybe a little at the beginning. But believe me, it turns into a grim ride.

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had loved not as I should
A creature made of clay
When the angel woos the clay
He'll lose his wings at the dawn of day.

Oh, Jesus. Who can’t help but cry? It’s just too sad, even without the film.

NO CHOICE!

Okay, okay. So yesterday John McCain picked Sarah Palin to run with him on the Republican presidential ticket. Many pundits hazard the guess that he made this extraordinary choice in the hope of drawing off many disaffected Hillary Clinton voters.

Right. Whatever. Which would make the man seriously delusional. Then again, the Republicans never give much thought to the issues. They figure, “Hell, one woman’s as good as another.”

I constantly hear how Palin will appeal to the female vote because she’s Pro-Life. Wha . . ? This makes her interchangeable with Clinton? Someone better tell Hillary.

Anyway, that term has always set my teeth on edge. Pro-Life. As though people who believe in a woman’s right to choose is Pro-Death. C’mon!

To me the issue of abortion has never been one of life versus death. The issue has always been one of a person’s right to choose. To me this is an inalienable right.

To me the issue of abortion is best defined as a conflict between Pro-Choice and No-Choice. I don’t believe any woman makes the choice to have an abortion casually. And believing that a woman has a right to choose is definitely not an endorsement of abortion.

But I believe in the right of a person to choose. That is really the American way. Any government which seeks to take away a person’s right to choose is simply a tyranny.

Also, it always puzzles me a little that those who characterize themselves as “Pro-Life” are often fervent advocates of the death sentence and war.

Why?

Because they really don’t give a damn about life. They just don’t trust people to choose for themselves.

Like most Republicans they simply want to regulate the behavior of individuals, and de-regulate the behavior of corporate entities so that can make obscene amounts of money while the rest us slide into poverty.

Makes me mad! Grrrr!

South what . . . ?

I long ago lost my patience with the increasingly shrill rhetoric over the issue of South Ossetia. South what? Yeah. Same here. One moment nobody knows where the hell this place is, and the next moment NBC interrupts the opening ceremonies of the Olympics to let all Americans know that Georgia has just launched an all-out military assault against South Ossetia.

Undoubtedly most Americans probably wondered how far Ossetia is from Atlanta, and why Georgia would invade someplace down south.

But being curious I decided to check it out on Wikipedia, after watching some really stunning opening ceremonies. There I learned that Ossetia has been a part of Russia since 1801. Pretty long time. Longer than Texas has been part of the States.

Anyway as the days went by the news became ever more frantic. A new Cold War? Escalation to include a nuclear confrontation between the U.S. and Russia? Self-righteous hypocritical posturing by the Administration.

I grew sick and tired of the whole business.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili cynically sent troops into South Ossetia on the day of the Olympic opening ceremonies, believing the world’s attention would be sufficiently diverted to allow him to carry out his military action. He did this to reassert Georgian de facto control over a territory seeking its own independence. Much like Santa Anna sent troops against the Texans at the Alamo. The Russians sent in troops in response in order to assist their freedom-loving neighbors and compatriots.

The Russians have been in Georgia a little over two weeks, and we’re growing all outraged and impatient with their rate of withdrawal. Hell, we’ve been the warlords of Afghanistan and Iraq for five to six years and we seem to see no reason for getting out of those “sovereign” states any time soon.

Maybe were just pissed because the Russians actually won in Georgia, while even McCain reminds us over and over that we haven’t won in the two countries we chose to invade.

Of course, they’re bigger.

And what’s the deal with Abkhazia? I hear there are Russians there, too. Should we care.

Stalin came from Georgia.

‘Nuf said.

Yeah? And so what?

I might as well face facts. I’m just too lazy and, well, lazy to come up with a well-reasoned and researched essay every week. But the alternative is to simply let my blog slide into oblivion. Which I really don’t want. Don’t ask me why. May be an ego thing. Probably.

But I find I still have plenty of opinions. Which I end up inflicting upon my aides. You know, the kind of judgmental, prejudiced, uninformed kind of things everybody has, but which the more tactful and intelligent among us keep to themselves.

So I’ve concluded that since this is my blog I’m going to use it as a forum to simply spout off. No research, no deep insights, no informed conclusions. Just the way I see things and how I think about them.

Hell, I figure it’s better than standing on a street corner and shouting my opinions at passersby. It’s harder to get to me this way.

South Ossetia, nasal female voices, Republicans, Kwame Kilpatrick, banks, whatever. I have an opinion about it.

Can hardly wait.