Young Obama

Courtesy of Daily Dish:

Interesting interview recently dusted off from just after Obama published his first book (1995). As Sullivan accurately points out, even then, Obama was amazingly composed.

We Can Be Heroes

A little pick-me-up courtesy of BI.

End of an Era...

I grew up with this band, and it's difficult to comprehend the fact that LeRoi Moore has passed. I've been out of the loop this summer and didn't realize LeRoi had got hurt in an ATV accident earlier this summer, and evidently LeRoi passed away yesterday due to complications from the injuries he suffered from that accident. I guess the band went ahead with a scheduled show in LA last night, and I'm sure it was an emotional/difficult show, but I also know that playing was the right thing to do.

I've seen this band live at least once every year since 1998 (save for 1 - although many summers I'd catch them more than a few times), and it's sad to think that the band, and the live experience, will never be the same. I'm sure the band will find capable replacements (they've been using Jeff Coffin of the Flecktones since the accident), and I'm guessing they'll eventually hire another sax player full time, but still, LeRoi was hugely important and will be sorely missed. LeRoi is a founding member of the band, and in many ways is responsible for helping form the band. His passing represents the end of an era, but life goes on, and while we're here, "celebrate we will, because life is short but sweet for certain."

Jack Cafferty - Telling it like it is!

I've always like this guy. Go on brother...let them hear you!

Hat Tip: Daily Dish

Quote of the Day:

"George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself. He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him," - Jack Cafferty, CNN.

Just in case you think he's exaggerating about the possibility that McCain might be McSame, read this opinion piece from a fellow Vietnam POW and a McCain classmate at West Point. 4 more years! 4 more years!

"John was a wild man. He was funny, with a quick wit and he was intelligent. But he was intent on breaking every USNA regulation in our 4 inch thick USNA Regulations book. And I believe he must have come as close to his goal as any midshipman who ever attended the Academy. John had me "coming around" to his room frequently during my plebe year. And on one occasion he took me with him to escape "over the wall" in the dead of night. He had a taxi cab waiting for us that took us to a bar some 7 miles away. John had a few beers, but forbid me to drink (watching out for me I guess) and made me drink cokes. I could tell many other midshipman stories about John that year and he unbelievably managed to graduate though he spent the majority of his first class year on restriction for the stuff he did get caught doing. In fact he barely managed to graduate, standing 5th from the bottom of his 800 man graduating class. I and many others have speculated that the main reason he did graduate was because his father was an Admiral, and also his grandfather, both U.S. Naval Academy graduates."

Top 10 All-time Greatest Songs (?)

Recently I had a conversation over at The Chief Source about a top 10 all-time song list. Putting together an even somewhat thorough list is an exercise in futility, but I thought I would at least give it a go (and then hopefully generate a few comments that might help shape a more comprehensive list). So anyway, here goes nothing.

First, I think it would be wise to just consider which songs you've listened to most over the years. Of course using the "most played" criteria inherently prejudices newer songs, but that's somewhat understandable because the older songs have lasted the test of time...they weren't just songs that caught ear one minute, and then you forgot about soon thereafter. I've included a couple "newer" songs, but I'm pretty sure I'll be listening to these tunes many years from now (Orange Sky and Bittersweet Symphony (yes, I realize some of the music on that track was borrowed from The Rolling Stones, but it's still a sweet song)). I considered the message in the song (as I often do when listening to music), but I also considered the musicianship on some of these songs (the guitar work on God Fearing Man is phenomenal). The list also probably indicates my current attitude with regard to current events and the state of life on this planet (as I perceive it), so obviously this list is subject to change. As of today though, the list would look something like this...

I'm sure I've overlooked a ton of songs, but... (this is my list right now anyway, subject to change tomorrow).

1. Small Axe - Bob Marley
2. Masters of War - Bob Dylan
3. Let Down - Radiohead
4. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
5. Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
6. The Weight - The Band
7. God Fearing Man - Ben Harper
8. What's Going On/What's Happening Brother - Marvin Gaye
9. Imagine - John Lennon
10.Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch

I also considered

One - U2
In the Sun - Joseph Arthur
Messages - Xavier Rudd
Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes - Paul Simon
Two Step - Dave Matthews Band
Uptight - Stevie Wonder
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
Gimme Some Lovin - Spencer Davis Group
Sinnerman - Nina Simone
Led Zeppelin - Your Time is Gonna Come
Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel


I could go on forever. Anyone want to throw some more classics into the fray?

Are You Happy With How Things Are Going?

Vote McBush. 4 more years! 4 more years!

What's At Stake...

Straight from the Daily Dish...

What the Obama campaign has lost sight of, I think, and what it needs to regain control of, is the essential message of his candidacy. After the last eight years, we simply cannot risk a continuation of the same reckless, belligerent, argument-losing, ideological and deceptive foreign policy of the current crew. The damage that neoconservatism has done to America, to the Middle East, to democratic norms, to Israel's security, to civilized values and fiscal sanity is immense and deep. From his knee-jerk COld War posture over Georgia to his Rovian campaign tactics, McCain is simply too close to this disastrous record to contemplate. McCain's trigger-happy temperament, shallow understanding of the complexities and passion for military force as the answer to everything is the bigger risk. He is a recipe for more, wider and far more destructive warfare: