Morning Coffee (96)

Time to make the doughnuts. Only here, it’s time to make the Coffee. And what a sweet nectar it is. I haven’t had the chance to Brew in a while (six days). And if I had the chance, there wasn’t much to talk about. But today…

Thompson Quits, People Wonder if He Ever Started:

For those of you who track such things, you’ll know that Fred Thompson has abruptly withdrawn his name from the Presidential race. This probably didn’t surprise you. For those of you who don’t track such things, the district attorney guy from “Law & Order” was sort of running for President, but he just stopped.

Hailed as the second coming of Ronald Reagan by many supporters, Thompson got a late start on his run. In March 2007, he began to think about running, but rumors flew and supporters lobbied for him to run prior to this even. He continued to hem and haw, but everyone knew he was going to get involved in the race. Republicans everywhere rejoiced. He didn’t formally announce his candidacy until September. His campaign staff was plagued with cohesion issues; members of the staff took issue with the influence Thompson’s wife Jeri had in campaign issues. Worse, his schedule was extremely light for a would-be contender, and he was perceived as rather lazy and his laid back style did little to assuage the fears that he really didn’t want to be running in the first place. I, for one, have questioned his desire all along. He might have been a good candidate, and based on his showing at the last Republican debate, he was just coming into his own on this campaign. But it was too little too late. He failed to win or even do well in Iowa or South Carolina, which were two states that most aligned with his style and politics. While the prospects of him running were apparently exciting, his campaign and message utterly failed to excite anyone.

And by the wayside goes another candidate, into the bone yard of failed bids and shattered hopes. With that we’re left with, on the Republican side, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul. Who will be the next victim to the brutality of Republican Presidential politics? To borrow a phrase from Orwell, no candidate is perfect, but some candidates are less perfect than others.

We May Have the Naked Cowboy…:

…But we don’t have a Naked General; General Butt Naked to be precise. Score one for Liberia. While the moniker might be hilarious, there is nothing funny about the man and what he’s done. Gen Butt Naked, also known as Joshua Milton Blahyi, was a warlord who claims that he and his men were responsible for killing more than 20,000 people between 1980 and 1996 when the fighting in Liberia’s civil war stopped.

In 1980, the then Mr. Blahyi claims to have made a pact with the devil (who called him by telephone), and soon became General Butt Naked because of his unit’s habit of charging into battle, well, butt naked save some combat boots. They did this to frighten the enemy, which has been done in combat since man began to wear clothes regularly. Butt Naked’s men would strip naked and get drunk or high before going into battle, and would kill anyone they saw while sometimes wearing women’s clothes or purses. The devil, who General Naked spoke to regularly, also demanded monthly sacrifices, and Gen Butt would routinely kill children to satiate Satan’s desire for blood.

But Satan’s grip was wrested from the General when in 1996, God appeared before him in battle and told him he was a slave to Satan, not the hero he thought he was. Butt then became a born-again Christian and became a minister. I imagine he doesn’t go by Pastor Butt Naked.

This week though, Blahyi, who lives in Ghana, has returned to Liberia to face the truth and reconciliation commission. Good on him, because he could face death. And he should. Becoming a Christian and repentant doesn’t exactly make up for killing or helping to kill, brutally, 20,000 people.

In a similar vein, it was recently revealed in a report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) that 5.4 million people died in the Democratic People’s Republic of the Congo during a decade long conflict, which is still going on, between the government and various armed groups. The IRC estimates that 45,000 people die there a month. However, most of the deaths were the result of non-violent causes, like diseases. Children under five years old accounted for nearly half the total number of deaths. It’s amazing that most of us have probably never even heard of the fighting in the Congo. But we’ve all heard of Darfur in Sudan, although no one really seems to care about either all that much. What’s interesting is that the estimate for the numbers of deaths in Darfur is a lot lower than in the DPRC (200,000-400,000 with 2.5 million refugees). I guess when Don Cheadle and George Clooney make commercials about it, people (sort of) listen. At least Darfur has name recognition. We all know something terrible is happening there, even if we’re not sure exactly what. We can’t even comprehend those numbers, as Stalin points out.

Heath Ledger:

I have to make mention of something that’s not really big news, especially considering the state of our world. I frequently lament over the inordinate amount of press that is given to our aristocracy, our celebrities, as if there lives are worth more than anyone else’s. So here I will be a hypocrite, and give press to a celebrity, although the man no longer needs it. Heath Ledger, he who played in “10 Things I Hate About You,” “A Knight’s Tale,” and the new “Batman” film, died yesterday. I will not speculate on his intent to die or his state of mind leading up to his death, because I don’t know. I will leave that to other rags, even CNN, which seem to care more about the grisly details than anything else. I will only say that it is unfortunate that Mr. Ledger has passed, whatever the circumstances, because he was a talented actor, and a fairly newly-minted father. I enjoyed his films, and I enjoyed his acting style. I am greatly anticipating his performance as the Joker in the new Batman film, and was long before he died. Realistically, he will not be missed, because I didn’t know him. What I know of him, however, is forever captured in his performances in his films. Thus I, like you, can always see him as we saw him. But it is a shame to think of what he might have done in the future, of which we will now be deprived, and it’s a shame that his daughter will grow up without her dad. And you know what? It just sucks that he’s dead, plain and simple.

Today’s Coffee is pretty weak, especially for those of you who’ve grown used to the more dense variety of late.

Word of the Day: Effusive: (adjective): Excessively demonstrative; giving or involving extravagant or excessive emotional expression; gushing.

On This Day in History: Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor (393). Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, figures out that she’s pregnant (1533). Her marriage would end in a nasty separation... North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming that it violated their waters while spying (1968). They still have the ship and have turned it into a museum.

“A single death is a tragedy, are million deaths is a statistic.” – Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili (Stalin).

Morning Coffee (91)

Welcome to Friday, which is two days before Monday. The year is flying by so fast, isn’t it? It’s like a blur. I can barely remember January 3^rd, it seems like so long ago.

The Masturbating Debaters:

I had the opportunity to see the last third or so of last night’s Republican debate. Watching these things is painful for me for a number of reasons, but I figure that I must put myself through the agony in order to make informed decisions about the Presidential candidates. I’ll watch the next Democratic debate when that comes on too. A few observations in a shot gunned manner:

Ronald Reagan’s name was invoked so much, I almost thought they were presenting him a lifetime achievement award and any minute he would saunter on stage, at which time all the candidates would take a knee while gazing upon him with divine adulation. Look, Reagan was great and all, but can we possibly look towards making the future as great as we all seem to think the past was?

Ron Paul was completely and utterly marginalized by the rest of the candidates, and this is frankly to his benefit. They continue to attack him, all of them, despite the fact that he’s nowhere near a front-runner; it’s as if they see him as a threat, which legitimizes him. So a lot of the attention ends up being on Paul, who’s asked some of the tougher question, but who fields them pretty well. He makes good points, even if some of them are tinged with unrealistic expectations and goals. I will admit, he is masterful on the defense. I think he is perfect for the role of victim, and the rest of the field is playing into his strong suit. They assaulted his “Republican-ness” last night and he handled it deftly. I think that the pack thinks of him as weak, that he’s just a nut job and that attacking him will give them a few easy wins, but every time they tried to sink their teeth into the wackiness of Paul last night, they found nothing but air. And the man had some loud supporters in the crowd. One of the others might make an excellent point and receive no crowd applause; Paul on the other hand would receive loud cheers and a shrill scream from the audience. Interesting. Side note: The mainstream media is finally reporting on Paul’s interesting little newsletter, a mere week after other media reported it. You can read it on CNN now. It’s about time.

Thompson was billed by some South Carolinians as the winner, and they said many good things about his performance. Having not seen the whole thing, I am not an authority on the matter. But remember, the man’s supporters are conservative southerners, so it stands to reason he’d poll well after being remotely eloquent. He did alright from what I saw, but he didn’t win the last third of the debate in my view.

Huckabee and Romney were the most fluent speakers. Both had served as ministers in their respective churches (well, bishop for Romney), so it should come as no surprise. Romney’s business acumen carried him in policy issues. Huckabee had perhaps the best overall response to a question when he was asked about something he said about (paraphrasing) “women submitting to their man…etc, etc, and how women from both parties think poorly about that sort of thinking.” His response was basically, “We all agree that religion is off-limits but I always get the religious questions. Since I’m going to preach, I’d like to pass around the collection plate because we could really use the money.” He then went on to absolutely crush the question. He pretty much put a saddle on that question and rode it around for a few minutes. He said, “the scriptures say that a woman must submit to her man, but a man must also submit to his woman and marriage being 100% effort from both parties, not 50-50.”

McCain had the best one-liner of the night. In regards to Paul wanting to “trade with everybody…” McCain replied that the terrorists, “only sell burkhas and only travel on one-way tickets.” His delivery was fantastic. He was pretty regularly assaulted by the rest of the field as well, but he handled himself expertly (no surprise since he’s been doing this for a long time). I also read that he’s got himself a “truth squad” to combat negative allegations. I guess he learned his lesson from the 2000 election cycle.

Giuliani probably performed the least admirably, I thought. I thought that Paul easily bested him, whereas most people had Paul losing. Giuliani constantly ran over the allotted time; at the end, speaking last, he just kept on going. The moderator kept trying to get in, but Giuliani kept going, repeating the same garbage. I found it arrogant. “America’s Mayor” didn’t do so hot in the first three primaries, so I guess he feels he needs to be more aggressive.

Overall, I think all the candidates did fairly well, but that’s to be expected since they sort of train for this. Some of the rhetoric that was spewed I thought was utterly void of insight and substance, but I neglected to take notes so I can’t remember specifics. For the next debate, I am thinking of setting up a new blog in which I’ll make posts during the debate as thoughts come to me. They’ll be time stamped and it might be neat.

I hate that the MC has turned into another political commentary blog. But I feel it’s my duty to at least monitor the situation for my dear readers. This is very important stuff, despite the fact that it bores most people to tears.

US Sends a Clear Message to Iraqi Date Palm Groves:

The US Air Force dropped 40,000 pounds of ordnance on date palm groves in the southern outskirts of Baghdad yesterday, in the largest air strike since 2006. The groves were suspected of harboring al-Qaida fighters. The fireworks were courtesy of two B-1 bombers and four F-16s. There has been no word on al-Qaida casualties, but the date palms were hit hard; suffering from severe burns, shrapnel wounds, and various internal injuries from the concussive force of the bombs. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said of the strike, “This is a blow from which the Iraqi date palm will have a very difficult time recovering. We sent a message to them that you’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists. I don’t expect that al-Qaida will find the date palm receptive to their jihadist message after this, and hopefully the date palms can be reintegrated with greater Iraq.”

That was a poor attempt at imitating the Onion, I know. But cut me some slack…Have a good weekend. I will try to deliver to you some steaming hot, bitterly delicious Coffee at least once during our respite from servitude.

Word of the Day: Mimetic (adjective): 1. Apt to imitate; given to mimicry; imitative. 2. Characterized by mimicry; applied to animals and plants; as, “mimetic species; mimetic organisms.”

On This Day in History: First recorded lottery in England (1569). First day of Carmentalia, celebrated primarily by women, in honor of Carmenta, the goddess of childbirth and prophecy. If you were to visit her temple, you were forbidden to wear leather or other dead skin. Carmenta also invented the Latin alphabet, so thank her.

“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” – Iosif Vissarionovich Dzugashvili. Better known to the proles as Stalin.

Liquamen I

Liquamen is a fermented Roman fish sauce, and the newest portion of the Morning Coffee. Liquamen was made by taking some fish, placing it in earthenware and covering it with salt, sealing it, and leaving it sit in the sun for a period of time. The white liquid that rises to the top is then strained through cloth. You now have liquamen. Sounds disgusting, but Romans loved it and it was mass produced in factories. No, it doesn't even remotely go with Coffee, but coffee was unknown to Romans, and I like Roman stuff. And it's my blog. Our Liquamen embodies my (fermented) thoughts throughout the day which may (or may not) directly supplement the day's Morning Coffee, but which might be unsuitable for the daily email.

This isn't in the general edition because I don't want political speculation of this type to included in the MC. And I don't want to be held to it since predictions of this sort are not my forte.

Hucka-Who? Hucka-BEE...
I think the Huckster might secure the Republican nomination. And unfortunately, I think he's about the only one, besides maybe Romney, who can compete in the general election.

I say this because, well, McCain is too old and too "mavricky". And he looks to be one step from death, which is not good in Presidential politics. Giuliani has a lot of personal issues that will not fly with the religious base, and he has a very vocal group of people in NY that do not like him. And these aren't nobodies. They're firefighters and the like; respected and admired people. And their power and influence can even be blamed on Giuliani and other right wingers - they turned them into heroes after 9/11. Thompson doesn't even want it; his campaign is falling apart and his staff is convinced that he listens only to his wife. The man has been to Iowa (which in my opinion has a disproportionate amount of say in our absurdly NON-democratic system) about five times (exaggeration). He also looks like death. Despite his vast charisma, I don't think his heart is in it. Ron Paul hasn't a prayer because other than his cadre of supporters ( i.e. cult), no one buys into him. Who else?...Nobody worth mentioning.

Reuters reports that Huckabee is now in a virtual tie with Guliani in a national Reuters/Zogby poll. He's done this with a fraction, and I do mean a fraction, of the money available to his rivals. He's spent some ridiculously low amount in Iowa, and is fairing very well in Iowa. How well? He's made up an 18 point deficit in a month. That is virtually unheard of. Now his rivals are taking aim at him, going ape shit over what they perceived as a Cross in an ad by Huckabee. They fear him, and they should. No one should doubt the power of the evangelical base, which can no longer be counted on to toe the party line after Bush and Company obliterated their loyalty. By this point in the election cycle, the Repub nominee is usually fairly certain; they leave the hemming and hawing to Democrats. No longer. The base is fractured; uncertain of who to vote for. Huckabee is supremely articulate and quite charismatic. And most importantly, he's one of them. He also seems to be qualified on the surface, having led a large congregation and held high leadership positions in his church (I don't know which one...who cares?) and was the governor of Arkansas. Let's not forget who else ascended to the Presidency after having been the governor of Ar-Kansas.

The Huck-Meister has chinks in his armor too, but none of them seem as bad as the chinks in the armor of other Repub candidates. This is especially true now that the momentum has shifted to Huckabee's campaign, and he now has the opportunity to control the message (at which he seems more than adept). Yes, he pardoned some (a few hundred) people, one of whom went on and killed someone in Missura (spelling intentional). Yes, he might want to deliver the US to Jesus. But he's expressed regret for the former, and the latter, which he can simply ignore or downplay to more secular voters, surely panders to his base. The largest gap in his armor might be this: a lot of the precincts that are expected to support Huckabee in Iowa are remote ones, and they may not be counted before the winner in Iowa are announced.

You may think I've forgotten "Oven" Mitt Romney. I haven't. The man's a Mormon. People don't get Mormons. They'll get Mormons a whole lot less once the Rove-ian tactics get busted out, which they will, and by Democrats off all people, if the man secures the Repub nomination. Of this I assure you. Dems know how effective Rove-ian tactics are from personal experience. Mormonism will be all that it is, all the while bare and exposed for public ridicule; it will also be even more of what it is not (if you catch my drift - layman's terms: it'll be one shade less evil than paganism, and two shades less evil than atheists and Satanists). Romney doesn't see the need to explain his religion, and the Mormons I've talked to seem to agree (I wonder why - they know it cripples his chances). So Americans perception (discerning as it is) of Mormonism will be at the whims of Democratic propaganda. Not good.

I know, Kennedy won and he was Catholic, right? Right. How many movies feature Catholic priests and Catholic canon? Tons. They're everywhere. Name a horror movie from the 1980s and it likely featured a troubled priest fighting Satanic forces. Good or bad, we all know what Catholics are. I needn't even mention the fact that Catholicism predates Mormonism by about, oh, 1,800 years. Catholics needn't wage a PR campaign regarding their canon (pedophilia, yes; canon, no). Can you name a famous Mormon? Probably not. Name me 10 famous Catholics (just rattle off "Saint" and any random name ten times). Has any Mormon been involved in the Middle East peace talks? Not that you or I know of. Everyone knows that Mormons are nice people (missionaries), and that's about it. I rest my case on Mormonism vs. Catholicism in Presidential politics.

There's just a few weeks left of the first round of the nonsense that has become the Primary process; we will soon have a clear picture of the Republican nominee (and Democratic nominee too). From the Repub side, religion and perceived morality are going to play the defining role, I think. Far more so than any specific policy issues (those not already covered by religion). This will change in the general election (since the Moral One, whoever that is, will have been chosen), so perhaps now is the right time to think about policy issues too.