Sam Cooke - “A Change Is Gonna Come”
With all the great posts and discussions on Martin Luther King over the past two weeks (many of them heartbreaking), this song has been running through my head, and this fan video about MLK and the Civil Rights Movement is very well done. It’s remarkable that MLK was only 39.
Cheap sentiment doesn’t get me weepy. This does. It’s one of the most soulful, moving vocals I can think of.
I think the only hope for the human race is in giving a damn about people who aren’t us. Arlo Guthrie once said that we should push for loving one another, but settle for peace. That’s not a bad sentiment, and probably a wise strategy, but I do feel the key to the most lasting, positive change lies in pushing for, developing, and showing compassion. There’s a radical idea whose time has always come.
(”Ya sure Saddan didn’t leave a stockpile of ponies somewhere?”)
Assessments of the Petraeus-Crocker testimony range from the depressingly stark to the maddeningly obtuse. Here’s a few. We’ll start with Howard Kurtz’s lede:
Was there anything that happened at the Petraeus hearings that wasn’t entirely predictable?
The general said progress had been made in Iraq, but not enough, and refused to estimate when more troops might be able to be withdrawn.
Democrats were generally skeptical.
Republicans were generally supportive.
Everyone praised the troops.
Some protesters were removed from the room.
Retired generals hit the airwaves.
Joe Biden talked for a long time.
CNN and Fox cut away, but went back to the hearings when Hillary Clinton and, later, Barack Obama got to ask questions.
The ball does not seem to have moved.
That’s not bad, although I’ll note that back in November Kurtz offered a unduly rosy, highly selective view of Iraq.
Read more »
Man is that gonna cause a mess. I don’t think I want to fly anytime soon, seeing that the FAA, under Bush’s watch, has decided the industry will……regulate itself? More incompetence and truly stupid actions, or inactions. As someone somewhere wrote….we have to jump through security hoops, be inspected down to our shoes to get on the planes…but the planes themselves aren’t inspection. Another cozy relationship between government and big business. What a sham. Another example of how we’re being kept safe in the homeland. This is going to put a financial hurt on American airlines. Guess in the long run it doesn’t pay to cozy up to the FAA, eh boys?
From the Star-Telegram:
“I have never in my life seen regulation more out of control than it is right now,” said Darryl Jenkins, a longtime industry analyst and consultant. “The price to the industry and to the traveling public is going to be enormous.”
U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, criticized the FAA for being too close to the airlines it regulates in recent years.
“FAA needs to rethink its relationship with the airlines and the other aviation entities which it regulates,” he said during last week’s hearing. “FAA needs to clean house, from the top down, and take corrective action.”
He added that “I believe it is no mere coincidence that this audit began just after news of our investigation became public, and just prior to us holding this hearing.”
He’s black. He’s pro-gay. I wonder if he plans on doubling the number of abortion clinics in the country? Republicans will be leap-frogging over each other to get to the polls in November.
From Yahoo! News:
Obama: Repeal of “don’t ask” possible
[...] Asked what he could reasonably accomplish for the gay community as president, Obama said he can “reasonably see” repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as well as signing legislation to ban workplace discrimination against gays. He said he’d like transgendered people to be covered by the law, but thinks it would be tough to get such legislation through Congress.
Obama also said he’s interested in ensuring that same’sex couples in civil unions get federal benefits.
