Captain Planet and the Planeteers Redux

I’ve observed an interesting phenomenon. Unless you have a child in their late teens or twenties, you likely don’t remember the TV show ‘Captain Planet’. Well, my now 19 year-old son watched it when he was young.

And now, my 8 year-old has suddenly discovered it on the Boomerang Channel. Watching the episode – no, I didn’t remember this one – I did suddenly remember how controversial the show was when it came on the air in 1990, how conservatives described it as propaganda for environmentalist tree-huggers.

Yet here we are in the 21st century, and conservatives talk about environmental responsibility as though they never opposed it.

Now, we’re talking about global warming. And the conservatives (mostly) refuse to believe it even exists.

Interesting how times change. Interesting how things stay the same.

Let’s All Support the Pedophile!!

I am stunned and outraged beyond belief at what I’ve read on the Washington Post and Huffington Post regarding the arrest of Roman Polanski on a 30 year old sexual assault case. That anyone would support Polanski – an admitted child molester – is beyond my capacity to understand.

It’s not like these are allegations. He pled guilty to a crime and fled the US, to live a life of luxury in Europe for decades, consciously avoiding the United States and Britain to stay of out of the hands of law enforcement.

What is it with this liberal defense of criminals?

Ira Einhorn and Mumia Abu Jamal immediately spring to mind. To defend people who have committed such heinous crimes is indefensible.

Perhaps it’s liberals need to defend those accused. Perhaps it’s the underdog mentality. Newsflash for you folks – sometimes, in fact most times – they're guilty.

And sometimes, the person just isn't worth defending.

The absolute worst defense I’ve heard is that he should be excused because of some ‘artistic greatness’. Excuse me, but ‘artistic merit’ isn't an excuse for moral depravity.

It doesn’t remotely approach a defensible argument.

I wonder, had been done to one of their daughters, if Joan Shore, Ariana Huffington and their like would be so quick to defend him.

I Remember When Newspapers Used to Cost Money…

I’ve been reading some on newspapers and their troubles lately.

First, new technology makes old technology obsolete: the Pony Express was replaced by the telegraph, typewriters by computers, etc. Newspapers are suffering the same fate – they're being replaced by the net. Unfortunately for them, the newspapers are the old technology.

Going to the Wawa everyday (for those of you not from the Northeast, think of 7-11), I see very few people buying them, and those that do are always over 30, a really bad demographic for the newspaper industry.

And with instantaneous access and the 24-hour news cycle we now enjoy (Or don’t. That’s your call.), a printed sheet of paper is out of date by the time it hits the newsstand.

Third, people have grown to expect their news for free, from the networks, from CNN and Fox News (whatever you think of them), from the radio. So, for newspapers to charge for their content is an uphill proposition at best, especially if CNN.com, FoxNews.com, and others are still offering their content for free.

It’s really hard to see most newspapers surviving this, other than the major national papers – which will still struggle but will have a chance, at least – and those that serve small towns.

Other than that, newspapers are doomed. Progress – if you want to call it that – is inevitable.

leaf

flashing silhouettes of trees swaying; press
a fallen leaf between pages of an unopened book
cloak your words so they won’t have to listen
begin the dance and if they follow twirl and twirl again
till dizziness overtakes and posy-ashes all fall

mitigate

perform penance

claim visions in this empty space

dissonant moments on fogged mornings
can’t hide the sound of surf breaching the sand
butterflies aren't the only casualties on the beach
pick a seashell up and you'll hear the radio
an old-time opera for the discriminating listener

wounded

mortal sin

bleeding fingers from pruning limbs

flip through the diary to find that leaf
pressed to a heart so many decades ago
comfort us in heavens milky with mystery
protect the candle from the breeze with bandaged hands
lest darkness overwhelm glow of radio waves

revive

tattered pages

walled in upon tree-lined canopies

© Joseph E. Arechavala 7/26/07

Conservatives Invoke Reagan, But…

One thing I’ve noticed about conservatives, especially ultra-conservatives, is they like to invoke Ronald Reagan. Oh, they love to invoke him, as though he is their long lost messiah.

The problem is that the conservative movement, especially on the far right, is absolutely nothing like Reagan’s conservatism.

The first major difference between Reagan and today’s conservatives was he was a pragmatic over an idealist. Modern conservatives are exactly the opposite. They will die before conceding, believing even 80% is no conservative victory – it’s all or nothing. Look at last year’s election and the vilification of John McCain – a Senator who voted their way over 80% of the time.

Ron knew better. Reagan thought it necessary to defeat the Soviet Union and had no problem running up big deficits in order to do so, despite proclaiming himself a fiscal conservative.

The next thing about him was he carefully honed a public persona of likeability. Whether it was an act or not, I can only relate what I’ve read from others who met him; they invariably say what a great guy he was. I don’t know of anyone, even those opposed to all of his policies, who hated him as a person.

Nowadays conservatives go out of their way to not only be as unpleasant as possible, but literally revel in their opponents hating their guts.

Were he alive, I’m not sure if he’d approve. In fact, I can almost see him shaking his head and saying, “There you go again…”

I Got No Strings To Hold Me Down--Oh, Wait...

Well, it seems the conservative nutjob crowd hasn’t been able to kill Obama’s hate-spewing, social-engineering, homosexuality-accepting, conservative-value-hating speech to school kids.

Good.

For the first time, school kids won’t be listening to some old white guy as President standing before them making a speech.

But conservative remain unhappy, because they know Obama is a closet socialist/communist/terrorist/racist/whatever, who they think will somehow use his super mesmerizing powers to entrance school children into performing little socialist/communist/terrorist/racist/whatever puppets.

Actually, they are the puppets. It’s an interesting phenomenon.

Ultra-liberal Democrats do it too, by the way.

Whenever their party wants a good protest, all they have to do is get some party loyalist to incite it with some outlandish remark, and good little marionettes that they are, the trained puppets of the Republicans or the trained puppets of the Democrats, perform flawlessly.

Both parties can count on their well-trained lapdogs. Whenever they blow their whistles, these folks dance like the sad marionettes they are.