Sisters.

What a fun Thanksgiving it will be at the Cheneys. Mary and Liz feuding, mom and dad taking the only side that matters — the one that plants the family flag in the U.S. Senate — and a lot of furious glances over the cranberry sauce, I’d wager.

I hesitate to draw conclusions from the sketchy information we have now. A Facebook post, a one-paragaph statement and a floundering political campaign. Maybe the Cheneys are like battling pundits on a cable yak show, yelling at one another until the red light goes off, at which point they grab a drink together and laugh about bread and circuses. Or maybe both daughters are chips off the old block. One worked for her father’s election, knowing exactly what the national platform was. Another sat at dad’s other hand, and is now trying to gain a Senate seat, while a good case can be made that she’s a carpetbagger.

A good case can be made that even if the family is tearing itself apart? Where’s the harm.

So, how was your Monday. I had an MRI. No, I don’t know what it turned up, if anything. The technician just runs the machine and burns the CD. I concentrated on holding as still as possible, breathing deeply and thinking about nothing. I’ve always envied people who can do that — think about nothing. I’d love to have a deeper relationship with yoga, but I can barely concentrate on the breathing, let alone the chakras. I did OK on the MRI, though. Maybe that’s my relaxation workout — the MRI.

Ugh, I’m tired. A few notes, though:

More on the Cheneys, from Slate.

A TV news station calls for viewer pictures of Sunday’s bad weather. A viewer submits one, and it’s posted. Not only is the tornado a fake, so is the UFO and Bigfoot.

And that’s it for me. Good Tuesday.

Posted at 12:30 am in Current events |
 

68 responses to “Sisters.”

  1. Dexter said on November 19, 2013 at 2:38 am

    I watched the cable TV show featuring Cheney a while back and that’s enough. I don’t give a damn about his daughters or him.
    However, Meghan McCain is witty and funny, so much so that I do not switch channels or station when she appears on TV or radio.

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  2. MarkH said on November 19, 2013 at 4:20 am

    Meghan is a moderate, more enlightened, maybe even liberal republican, where Liz is clearly extreme. She’s also better looking than Liz, eh, Dexter? Easy choice to make there.

    Nancy, the Slate article is not a good choice to convey what’s going on here. From the headline on, it’s not an accurate representation. Wyoming does not “deserve” what’s going on, or Cheney, as we did not ask for this or her. This all about the Cheneys. Her poll numbers, even before the current controversy, were bad, but now she’s really tanking. Even though the Cheneys, especially Dick, remain inexplicably popular in the state (Teton County, his and Liz’s current home excepted), from the very beginning this has not gone down well with the public. And the author’s label of Wyoming being “extremely homophobic” is not exactly accurate. The polling indicates a rejection of gay marriage, but the state does favor civil unions for gays. Conservative politics rule here, but not the extreme. Our legislative split remains roughly 60-40, republicans in favor, but three of our last five governors have been democrats. The current republican governor, Cliff Hansen’s grandson Matt Mead, carries on the family’s moderate political tradition.

    Liz Cheney doesn’t have a chance.

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  3. David C. said on November 19, 2013 at 6:52 am

    Is it too much to hope that, out of spite, Mary will pack the old man off to The Hague for a well deserved European vacation/war crimes trial?

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  4. Jolene said on November 19, 2013 at 7:06 am

    I very much hope you are right, MarkH, about Liz Cheney being a sure loser. Quite apart from her political views, which are abhorrent, she is one of the most unappealing political figures ever. Whenever I’ve seen her on a political talk show, I’ve been left wondering how anybody could be so consistently unpleasant.

    Really, unpleasant is not a strong enough word, but I can’t think of how to better describe her demeanor. She is a mean person.

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  5. beb said on November 19, 2013 at 7:11 am

    In what amounts to a classic definition of hubris, a Wal-mart store in Ohio holds a food drive for needy Wal-mart employees.
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ohio-walmart-criticized-for-holding-food-drive-for-own-employees

    The Cheney’s can go “cheney” themselves. I wonder if there are downsides to a bill that would bar any family members from running for federal office if someone in their family has already been a member of Congress? I’m sure that, if elected, Hilary Clinton would make a good President but I no more than another Clinton in the White House then I do another Bush. And Evan Bayh was a complete waste of seat cover compared to his old man. It’s time to stop political dynasties.

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  6. Deborah said on November 19, 2013 at 7:25 am

    Jolene, I’m with you on Liz’s unpleasantness, unfortunately meaness is appealing to some. Ole Dick’s sneer worked wonders for him. I think Ann Coulter is about as mean as you can get but my rightwing sister loves her.

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  7. coozledad said on November 19, 2013 at 7:32 am

    The whole Cheney as lord of darkness thing irritates me, since it’s obvious he’s just as big a dumbass as W. If he’s Satan, he’s a satan with an associates degree from a community college.

    And you know if they even have a sit down dinner, he waddles down to the table with his lip curled up, laughs and does his “Papa’s got a brand new bag” routine for the hundredth time because his ass is drunk at noon again.

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  8. alex said on November 19, 2013 at 8:20 am

    What a family. Just as unsympathetic in private as they are in public. Let’s not forget Lynne, a screechy harridan who writes soft-core lesbian porn for the enjoyment of heteros, who got her well-deserved comeuppance earlier this year after attempting to strong-arm former Senator Alan Simpson for an endorsement he had no intention of making. Both Liz and Lynne come off very badly in that episode.

    I’ve always seen Mary Cheney as someone who could afford to throw gay rights under the bus. She lives such a privileged existence that it doesn’t matter that there are no legal protections for jobs or housing. She wants for neither. When asked about the GOP’s virulently anti-gay platform, she offers the same lame excuse as Condi Rice with regard to her own — if gays (or blacks) would just see the good sense in voting Republican they could transform the party from within. I find this curious, as Republican politicians are already wearing themselves out trying to serve two masters and I seriously doubt they can handle three or four.

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  9. brian stouder said on November 19, 2013 at 8:24 am

    Don’t miss Jeff’s late post #55 (at the end of yesterday’s thread), from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

    And indeed, we await a full report from there, when he gets a chance

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  10. Alan Stamm said on November 19, 2013 at 8:35 am

    Quoth Frank Bruni today:

    “Would victory redeem the public message that Liz just sent to her niece and nephew? I’m imagining her awkwardness the next time that she goes to hug or kiss them (and I’m assuming that she’s a hugger or kisser, which may be a leap). If there’s not a knot in her stomach, then there’s nothing at all in her heart.” http://nyti.ms/1fRLyRN

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  11. Snarkworth said on November 19, 2013 at 8:57 am

    Appropos Luckovitch cartoon:

    http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/707/6403/original.jpg

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  12. brian stouder said on November 19, 2013 at 9:15 am

    That was pretty good!

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  13. basset said on November 19, 2013 at 10:07 am

    Back to Nesmith for a minute… he’ll be in Ferndale on Thursday night, someplace called the Magic Bag:
    http://www.songkick.com/venues/2024-magic-bag

    and the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington on Friday night.

    Memorable show last night- I expected an old guy with an acoustic guitar walking through his old songs, maybe a little light instrumental backing, and would have been happy with just that. What we got was a full retrospective, starting with First National Band stuff and moving into the later material, then back… incredible band, including Earl Scruggs’ grandson on guitar, lap steel and mandolin… and a story before every song, describing the movie he had in his head while writing it.

    All this in a restored Depression-era theater with, as I said last night, the best live sound system I have ever heard anywhere. I mean, this IS Nashville, but still… sound was perfect, great performance, craft beer on sale in the lobby and cupholders on the seats, you couldn’t ask for more.
    http://www.franklintheatre.com/

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  14. mark said on November 19, 2013 at 10:17 am

    That sounds like a great evening, basset. Good that you were there to enjoy it and so willing to share your appreciation of it.

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  15. Deborah said on November 19, 2013 at 10:53 am

    Basset, I love how you describe what a great time you had at that concert. I don’t believe I’ve ever enjoyed a live performance as much as that. I’m usually distracted by other things, the people in front of me or beside me, sometimes it’s the venue. It sounds like it came together for you in just the right way.

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  16. Peter said on November 19, 2013 at 11:08 am

    Cooz, I don’t think Dick’s Satan with an associate’s degree. The guy worked in the Nixon Administration, and if that isn’t post grad fellowship level, I don’t know what is.

    Maybe he’s acting like a dumbass so you get thrown off on how evil he is.

    And that Liz – you tell me she’s not the spawn of Satan.

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  17. Connie said on November 19, 2013 at 11:12 am

    Nice article at The Bridge about library funding and service issues in Michigan. http://bridgemi.com/2013/11/libraries-strained-by-budget-cuts/ I will claim some credit for finding a librarian for Nancy for this one.

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  18. Connie said on November 19, 2013 at 11:15 am

    I meant to mention that I am home from work for the second day in a row due to power outage caused by Sunday storms. This is our fifth power out day this calendar year. The only other power outage I can remember in my library career is when the tornado hit the Seymour library.

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  19. Charlotte said on November 19, 2013 at 11:16 am

    Have to agree with MarkH here — at least as the campaign is being reported in the Billings Gazette (which covers Cody and northern Wyoming as well) — Cheney has shot herself in the foot at pretty much every opportunity. There was extensive coverage of the Enzi/Simpson dustup, which as much as I’m not a fan of either of those guys, the Cheney clan behaved like the carpetbaggers they are. And while the fishing license things seems funny in a jokey way in other places — it’s a real violation out here. I’m hoping that she’s going down in the kind of flames that it seems like she is.

    And Dick only came to Livingston once. We all hissed at him in the Bar and Grille and he never came back (we figured the Secret Service couldn’t arrest us for hissing).

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  20. coozledad said on November 19, 2013 at 11:18 am

    Peter: I have to agree it looks like evil, but raw stupidity usually does. The case for the republican mind being a symptom of a set of pathologies might be a more useful approach to discussing their inherent problems with ethics, empathy, culture, humor, and life in general is probably a useful starting point for observation, at the end of which, the likely conclusion is, yup, evil.

    But this clip makes me think WHOA, stupid! And in oily, muscular denial:
    http://wonkette.com/534572/absolutely-super-straight-wingnut-jesus-wasnt-no-girly-man-jesus-had-a-ripped-buff-bod

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  21. Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 11:25 am

    I saw Wyooming polling figures yesterday that had Liz Cheney trailing by 52%. That is a humiliating number, bordering on absurd.

    Jingle Balls. Turns out K-Mart is waging war on Christmas.

    And there is a brewing brouhaha about rumors that Gaga’s new album is tanking and will lighten the record company’s (Interscope?) wallet by Waterworld-like bucks. Sounds like a Nick Lowe song to me:

    Gaga made a record, record hit the charts.
    Someone at Rolling Stone decided it was art.

    She made another record, it never was a hit,
    And over at Rolling Stone they decided it was shit.

    They called it rock. It wasn’t.

    Stefani seems like a nice, thoughtful young woman with good intentions to me, depite pelling her name with an “f” and an”i”, so I hope she’s happy and makes lots of geld. I just wish RS would remember where it comes from and cut the MileyGagaKatyTaylor crap.

    That Mike Nesmith show sounds great, basset. There used to be a club here called the Post Office that brought in acts like that. I saw Leo Kottke there (another inveterate raconteur, while he retunes by ear). But the blue hairs that run things around here only want summer BS like Mike Love’s latest iteration of the bad Beach Boys song (the ones Mike Love wrote). Savannah gets some good shows, but the nighttime drive is harrowing and fraught with deer.

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  22. basset said on November 19, 2013 at 11:53 am

    Well, I can help with the deer… although my recent Michigan experience wouldn’t prove it, didn’t take a shot. Bunch of locals walking through – across our property – saying they was havin’ a deer drive and Wayne told ’em to go stand there was no help, ah well. Not due back at work till tomorrow morning so I will make my final attempt at muzzleloader season this afternoon, then rifle starts on Saturday morning.

    I had never been in the theater where Nesmith played before last night but the $8 million purchase and renovation was a continuing story here for awhile, it is indeed a really nice venue now:
    https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1273&bih=902&q=franklin+theater+franklin+tn&oq=franklin+thea&gs_l=img.1.2.0l3j0i24l7.2396.8615.0.13224.15.11.1.2.2.0.83.577.11.11.0….0…1ac.1.31.img..1.14.593.VUCjalIv81M

    Tables and a “cabaret” section down front, then theater seats and a balcony.

    Never seen Kottke live but I have listened to him a lot on record, anyone who says his vocals sound like “geese farts on a muggy day” can’t be all bad.

    What really hits the spot with me about Nesmith is that he was such a seminal figure in 70s country rock, one of my favorite musical genres… back in the Buck knife, Frye boots, roach clip on the keychain and 501s days. I actually wore 501s last night just for the memory… but when that stuff was new and bands like Nesmith’s, Pure Prairie League and the Wright Bros. Overland Stage Co. were at their peak, that was a great time.

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  23. brian stouder said on November 19, 2013 at 11:53 am

    Wow – major special news:

    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/19/virginia-legislator-former-gubernatorial-candidate-assaulted-at-home/?hpt=hp_t1

    The lead:

    Updated 11:26 a.m. ET, 11/19/13

    (CNN) – Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds was hospitalized for “serious injuries” after an assault Tuesday morning at his house in Bath County, where a second individual was found dead, Virginia state police said.

    Deeds was flown to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, where he remains in critical condition, according to spokesperson Angela Taylor.

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  24. Ann said on November 19, 2013 at 11:55 am

    Grosse Pointe at its worst? The contentious divorce does raise doubts, but there may be something there. http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2013/11/14/exclusive-grosse-pointe-cops-humiliate-black-people/

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  25. Connie said on November 19, 2013 at 11:56 am

    The dead individual appears to be the son who stabbed him.

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  26. LAMary said on November 19, 2013 at 12:00 pm

    Love the title of today’s post btw.

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  27. Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 12:46 pm

    PPL harmonies were as good as harmonies get. I have been a fan of Craig Fuller for a long time, from PPL through American Flyer to Little Feat. Tremendously versatile, obviously. It was unfortunate that FM radio did to Amie what the AM side did to Ode to Billy Joe a decade earlier. i.e. Played it into the ground. I listen to it now and find it absolutely gorgeous.

    Deeds was a supporter of banning assault weapons ownership and sales in Virginia, and supported closure of the Virginia state gunshow loophole, which is a scourge to the entire east coast. He also opposed the effort in VA to ban gay marriage. He criticized both the Norquist pledge and the SC ruling against execution of juvenile offenders. The son, Deeds’ apparent assailant, was killed by a gunshot. Gut-wrenching story.

    This is interesting. PPL on Merv Griffin’s show backing Vince Gill. Great 70s haircuts including Gill’s world-class Burton Cummings-style mullet, and clothes from Greg Brady’s closet.

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    • nancy said on November 19, 2013 at 2:54 pm

      Whenever I see a comment come up in moderation, 90 percent of the time it’s spam that’s somehow slipped the filter, 1 percent is a new commenter and the rest is Prospero, forgetting that more than two links sends a comment into moderation. And those links are almost always of YouTube videos.

      Just saying’.

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  28. MarkH said on November 19, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    So, Charlotte, Cheney actually showed up at the Livingston Bar & Grille, eh? No warning, or did the word get out so the opposition could be in place to ‘greet’ him. The wife and I were at Chico last month, haven’t been to the Bar & Grille in years, but it will always be a favorite. Back in ’05 or ’06, the local chamber of commerce here thought it was a good idea to have Cheney as the grand marshal for the 4th of July parade. This is when things had already started to go bad and this didn’t go down too well locally. Oh, we were all polite, no hissing; but there was no applause either.

    Lots of ironies with the Cheneys. Here are a few. For their Wyoming residences, the Cheney family would choose the location where they are least popular in the state. Registered republicans still outnumber democrats, but there is a high crossover factor, especially in national elections. Hence, we went for Obama in both ’08 and ’12. Teton County is not that popular with the rest of the state, a real love-hate relationship. County residents, especially the higher-end ones, are patronizing, but try to pretend the rest of the state doesn’t exist. Until they think it’s appropriate to go after state tax dollars. The rest of the state resents this rather snobbish attitude and it provides for an uphill battle for local representatives (all republicans, BTW) in Cheyenne. But the rest of the state sure loves all the tax revenue from Teton County. All around, it’s a little uncomfortable for the state’s ‘first family’.

    How do a lot of locals really feel about the former VP? A number of them had the nerve to stage this protest outside the entrance to the gated community he calls home six years ago:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVTuTWe75yA

    The guy in the Mao get-up with the beard putting the noose around the effigy? He’s a former local reporter, now a town councilman.

    NBC judicial reporter Pete Williams owes his now-prominent career largely to Dick Cheney. In 1986 he was the local TV anchor in backwater Casper, WY, when then-congressman Cheney plucked him to DC to be his press spokesman. He followed Cheney to the Pentagon when Cheney became defense secretary and he made Williams assistant secretary for public affairs. Bush loses in ’92 and Williams is out, but is quickly hired by NBC. Williams is also gay, outed in ’91 or ’92. So it’s not like Cheney doesn’t have a lot of exposure to gay issues. Finally, this has to be a pickle for Cheney as he is on record as having previously endorsed gay marriage:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/video-of-the-day-dick-cheney-endorsing-gay-marriage-in-2009/256961/

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  29. MarkH said on November 19, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    Here’s a pretty accurate summation of how desperate things are getting. Her best poll numbers show she is minimum 30 points behind.

    http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/19/21533456-cheney-family-dispute-inflames-tensions-in-wyoming-race?lite

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  30. Bitter Scribe said on November 19, 2013 at 1:43 pm

    Has there ever been a more poisonous, malevolent married couple in American politics? It makes me crazy that that smirking son of a bitch, who did more to trash America’s image than any politician in the last 50 years, gets to go on Fucks News and smirk about how “incompetent” Obama is. And his wife is as bad, in her way, as he is. I remember her raising a huge stupid fuss about federal educational standards because they didn’t venerate the Founding Fathers enough, or something, and basically throwing a monkey wrench into the workings of the U.S. Education Department. The Cheneys ruin everything they touch.

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  31. brian stouder said on November 19, 2013 at 2:04 pm

    Pete Williams made a forever-impression upon me for his exemplary reportage, amidst genuine chaos, from the Pentagon on Septmeber 11, 2001.

    And now, doesn’t he follow the Supreme Court?

    In any case, he’s the real-deal in broadcast news, if anyone is

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  32. Joe K said on November 19, 2013 at 2:07 pm

    Basset,
    No wonder we get along so well after that description.
    Glad you had a good night,
    Hanging down in Covington Tenn today about 30 north of Memphis.
    Hope we can meet up again some time.
    Pilot Joe

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  33. Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    I meant to ask basset if Michael Nesmith was wearing his dorky green wool skicap.

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  34. Brandon said on November 19, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    21.Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 11:25 am
    …I just wish RS would remember where it comes from and cut the MileyGagaKatyTaylor crap.

    First, Taylor Swift has a nice but not powerful voice. I’ve never thought much of her music.

    I always found Lady Gaga’s costumes and persona extremely contrived. (I thought the meat dress was clever, however.) She can sing and her “Telephone” is my favorite of her songs.
    Trying to out-do Madonna, Gaga forgets that Madonna’s image evolved organically over the years, and was never intended to overshadow her music. (As they say, you do you and I’ll do me.) The press made far more of Madonna’s “controversies” than she ever did. And “Material Girl” is a lazy way to refer to one of the most spiritually-searching popular musicians of the last thirty years.

    Katy Perry is wonderful. Just about every one of her songs is a hit.

    But Miley Cyrus was the big surprise. “We Can’t Stop” is the song of 2013, even more than “Blurred Lines.”

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  35. Jolene said on November 19, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    Sad detail about the Creigh Deeds stabbing: The son, Gus, had been evaluated yesterday during a four-hour emergency psych hold. He was found to need further evaluation and treatment, but there were no beds available.

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  36. Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 3:41 pm

    watercolor video version of Blade Runner. Gorgeous. The artist made 12thou paintings to produce the 35 minute video. obsessive? Hell, yeah. Remarkable art? I think so. The scene of Roy Batty saving Deckard’s life and giving the “shoulder of Orion, tears in the rain” speech is astonishing. I think Blade Runner is one of the best movies ever made, and this is a beautiful homage montage. The sound editing is pretty amazing too. It reminds me of the excellent novel Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem, in which the main character’s dad is an artist making a movie by painting miniatures on film stock.

    My point, Brandon, was that this teenpop is miles from actually being anything like rock ‘n’ roll, and it’s disappointing that RS panders to the tween demographic by paying so much attention. I agree that all those women can sing at least passably, but the songs are Diane Warren inflected, cliched drivel, repetitious, saccharine and indistinguishable from one another. I understand people like them, but isn’t that sort of stuff why there’s a Tiger Beat mag, or whatever it is tweenieboppers read these days? p.s. I felt just about exactly the same way about Madonna, but she lacked the current queenies’ personalities. My complaint is with the magazine, not the vapid singers. It’s a far cry and a series of missteps from the original intentions of Jann Wenner’s publication. It’s much like when RS went all Hollywood and started doing things like putting Richard Doofus…er… Duddy Kravitz on the cover.

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  37. Deggjr said on November 19, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    Not that Cheney’s intellectual abilities really matter at this point, but the Internet reports he flunked out of Yale twice, never finishing his sophomore year. As a point of reference, George W. Bush graduated from Yale.

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  38. brian stouder said on November 19, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    Jolene – that is sad indeed.

    When the news first broke, I was fearing the worst; like that interstate nutball-militia guy that attacked the (judge?) in Texas, before getting killed by the police.

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  39. Dave said on November 19, 2013 at 4:12 pm

    I once read somewhere that Michael Nesmith hated wearing that hat, it was only to be for an episode or two, but they insisted that he leave it on.

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  40. Jeff Borden said on November 19, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    I have to agree with Bitter Scribe about Richard Bruce and Lynne Cheney. Horrible, nasty, ugly, mean-spirited, heartless and gutless asses. And while I’m always happen to see turmoil in the House of Satan, let’s take a moment to note that Mary Cheney has loyally continued to support her daddy’s political party despite its vitriolic approach to gay rights. This was obviously a bridge too far for her, but sheesh, she has never used her position or her profile to further the rights of her fellow gay citizens. If she had a ‘come to jesus’ moment, good for her, but up to now, she’s been MIA on the gay rights efforts. And worse, she attacked John Kerry for mentioning during the 2004 campaign that she was gay.

    One last point: Don’t you love how the Cheneys constantly bash government, but every damn one of `em has cashed in on it.

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  41. Jeff Borden said on November 19, 2013 at 4:25 pm

    I’m a relatively new dog owner –we got Cosmo in July 2010 shortly after my prostate cancer diagnosis– but damn I love `em. If you are in need of a smile, please check out these incredibly cute pictures of a little puppy named Theo sleeping with the little kids in his adopted family.

    http://gawker.com/mother-snaps-impossibly-adorable-photos-of-son-napping-1467418517

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  42. Basset said on November 19, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    He didn’t have a green wool hat with six buttons but someone in the balcony seats did.
    PPL, or at least one or two surviving members and a few more guys they hired, played the same theater a few months ago. Only time I ever saw them Larry Goshorn was the front man and they were opening for Santana in Bloomington, when they finished playing a sizable portion of the audience got up and left.

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  43. mark said on November 19, 2013 at 4:57 pm

    “When the news first broke, I was fearing the worst; like that interstate nutball-militia guy that attacked the (judge?) in Texas, before getting killed by the police.”

    I think I missed that report, brian. Can you clarify what you are referring to. Why would that be “worse” than being stabbed by your own mentally ill son, who then kills himself?

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  44. Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 5:01 pm

    basset: Was Vince Gill an official member of PPL? I never knew that, but I always confuse Vince Gill and Rodney Crowell. A couple of A1 pickers of stringed instruments.

    Nesmith hats. That hat and those Gen’l Burnsides sideburns are my mental picture of the guy. In another world, he might have played rhythm to Zal Yanofsky’s sparkling leads in Lovin’ Spoonful:

    http://www.monkeesconcerts.com/1/post/2013/07/nez-wool-hats-now-available-to-purchase-online-and-more-expensive-at-the-merch-table.html

    One of my brothers was a Monkees fan, bigtime. I’d get him a Nesmith hat for Christmas, but he lives in Phoenix.

    I can’t believe psychiatrists felt that Deeds’ son needed a psychiatric hold and observation, and was sent away for lack of a bed. Sounds like a COBRA turfing violation. Private psych facilities abound like mushrooms in a cow pasture after a heavy southren rainstorm. Surely a bed could have been located in a secure facility. Things like this are always referred to as tragedies when the word is not quite right. This is undoubtedly a tragedy in the original Greek sense of the word.

    The one thing that could ever cause me to sell our condo is the homeowners strictures against canine residents. Pisses me off, especially when half the people that live here feed and water the feral cats. Hell, somebody feeds the Peacocks that live in our woods.

    Jeff Borden@30: Kind of like the Bachmann’s foster child cottage industry, and Santorum dunning a state in which his family didn’t reside for home schooling reimbursements. When it comes to hypocrisy, the hard right is incapable of self-examination.

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  45. Basset said on November 19, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    He was indeed a full member, if I remember right he succeeded Larry Goshorn as front man and preceded Gary Burr. Story I heard was that he went along to the audition with a friend, was asked to give it a shot and got the job.

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  46. MarkH said on November 19, 2013 at 5:39 pm

    Prospero – Gill was indeed a member of PPL. When the Goshorn brothers left in ’78, Vince came in to front the band for their last three albums and last charted single, ‘Let Me Love You Tonight’. I think by that time bassist Mike Reilly had bought the name and rights to the group, so that may have had something to do with it. Lots of personnel changes since the early ’80s. Fuller is back touring now with some other original members and his son. Wiki has the history here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_Prairie_League

    Prospero, it might interest you to know that when I was in high school in Cincy in the ’60s, Larry and Tim Goshorn had a highly popular local band called The Sacred Mushroom. A signature song for them was The Kinks’ ‘I’m not Lke Everybody Else’. A pretty good version, too:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG3jYaN0iUk

    basset, I’m surprised that the Goshorn incarnation of PPL would have been so popular that the pre-Santana walk-out would have happened. If it was still Fuller’s band it would have made sense. Prospero is right, Fuller’s soaring tenor made the group, the seond album, ‘Bustin’ Out’ being their best showcase. Prospero, I have all of PPL on pristine vinyl, as I do American Flyer, AND the interesting but not as strong Fuller/Kaz, just him and Eric Kaz.

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  47. MarkH said on November 19, 2013 at 5:42 pm

    basset, our posts crossed, obviously. When PPL first hit in ’71 I was at UC and they played all over the Cincinnati area and my buddies and I saw them whenever we could. Did you ever make it down from IU at that time? We may have crossed paths 40 years ago.

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  48. Deborah said on November 19, 2013 at 5:53 pm

    We have never seen Rumsfeld in Taos but our friends who live there have. They say people there mostly just let him be. When we saw Rumsfeld walking out of the Four Season’s hotel in Chicago getting into his black SUV with some secret service guys around him, my husband yelled “war criminal” or something like that. We were the only people around, he looked right at us. I think if we ever see him in Taos my husband will probably do something like that again. I’m not sure he even still has a place there, I read some time ago that he sold part of his ranch to Julia Roberts, they had adjoining property or something.

    Those photos of the napping kid and puppy are beyond adorable.

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  49. Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 6:03 pm

    Pure Prairie League opening for Santana is an odd pairing. First time I ever saw the Replacements, they opened for Petty and the Heartbreakers in Boston. I went for the Mats, had never heard of Petty, but when theye Heartbreakers opened with Break Down and Mike Campbell went prowling into the crowd of women that couldn’t keep their hands off him with his Gold Top, I was glad I stayed. That song is electrifying, the crowd went wild, and I became a fan forever. But the contrast between the unprofessionalism of Westerberg and his pals and the total crack professionalism of TP’s band was striking. The one time I ever saw the Dead, they had Los Lobos open. Perfection.

    Since I sent a little money to her campaign in the NY special election, I get lots of emails from Kirsten Gillibrand. I wasn’t sure about her at first because she had a high rating from the NRA, but she has turned out to be a dynamic Congressional breath of fresh air. She is the driving force in Congress behind a movement to change the rape culture that is virulent in the US military, and I received an email today that says:

    The military sexual assault bill we have spent months fighting for could come up for a vote today.

    More than 50 senators have pledged support, but we must overcome a filibuster threshold 60 vote hurdle. Unless we overcome them, a minority of the Senate could block justice for victims.

    My question is, how the hell do GOPers explain filibustering a law intended to protect women from being sexually abused while they serve in the military and punish the abusers? I mean, isn’t that like coming out in favor of physical spousal abuse? Opposing the legislation is basically inexplicable in good conscience.

    Thanks for that info guys. Mark: I’m Not Like Everybody Else is a Dave song, I love Dave Davies songs. I think Ray sang on the record, but there are live versions on the net of Dave leading his own band doing absolutely ripping renditions. I didn’t know of the Fuller Kaz album until I fell into wasting my entire day looking at this stuff. I did know about Eric because Blues Magoos were immensely popular in Detroit when I was in HS. Now that’s a long and winding road, seminal psychedelic band to George Strait and Linda Ronstadt and Kenny Rogers. Blues Magoos did the best version of Tobacco Road not performed by Edgar Winter.

    There is a Dave Davies dooc coming out next year. He seems well-recovered from his stroke, and his singing voice sounds lower in timbre and much more like Ray’s now.

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  50. LAMary said on November 19, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    High fives to your husband for yelling at Rumsfeld, Deborah.

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  51. ROGirl said on November 19, 2013 at 6:22 pm

    This was a great moment in Dick Cheney’s life.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3SemYQH-8o

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  52. Jolene said on November 19, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    Prospero, despite your doubts, it’s apparently true that there were no beds available for Gus Deeds–at least not in the rural part of the state where the family was living. Here’s a good article with more detail about the case, as well as some background on the inadequacies of Virginia’s mental health system. Gus Deeds is, apparently, not the first person judged to need custodial care to have been released for lack of a bed in a treatment facility.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/virginia-state-senator-injured-in-home-another-person-found-dead-inside/2013/11/19/3e419ac4-512c-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html

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  53. Prospero said on November 19, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    Consumer protection aspects of PP/ACA that neither the GOPers nor their insurance industry overlords and patrons (AKA owners and sugardaddies) can mess up:

    If you have a child with a pre-existing condition—as of September 2010, health insurance companies can no longer deny your child coverage because of that condition, and as of next year, this rule will apply to Americans of all ages.
    If you’ve had a donut hole in your prescription drug coverage, you may be one of an estimated 4 million seniors with Medicare who will soon be able to cover the full costs of your prescriptions.
    If you’re recently out of college and struggling to find employer-based coverage in the sluggish economy—you can now opt to stay on your parents’ plan until you’re 26 years old.
    If you received an unexpected rebate from your insurance company—that’s because the ACA stops insurers from keeping exorbitant profits instead of paying out significant claims.

    Now, somebody want to show me a poll that shows any Americans not directly employed by BC/BS disapprove of any of these substantive provisions of the law? Didn’t think so. Is it worth throwing all those clear benefits of the law out with the bathwater? Because it takes as long to sign up for coverage as it takes to register and insure your car or open a bank account? Can’t imagine very many people would think so. So a procedural part of the law that can be fixed means throwing out all the substantive benefits and returning control to the greedy insurance companies reponsible for the policy cancellations nitwits are blaming on the President? Exceptional American…stupidity.

    Jolene@52: More American exceptionalism. Best health care syste in the world. They should have put the guy in an ambulance and driven him to Alexandria or DC, where there is sure to have been a bed available. I believe ACA would have covered the costs.

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  54. Charlotte said on November 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    Mark — this was back when I first moved here and Russ Chatham still owned the Bar and Grille (and when it still served food). I can’t remember how we heard Cheney was in town — word got around. But they swooped him into the private room pretty quickly. I’m sure he didn’t even hear us. We tried though. And shot daggers at him every time one of us had to go to the loo. He’s pretty much impervious.

    Now Sandra Day O’Connor was a different story. My former beau, the fishing guide, took her down the river — people really liked her. Straightforward, and a good hand with a fly rod.

    Glad you had a nice time at Chico — my Chuck’s cabin is right around the corner on Emigrant, and Colin, the manager is a great friend of mine — we have family holidays together. It’s a terrific spot, and they do such a great job down there.

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  55. Deborah said on November 19, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    Off topic. Here’s a sad statistic I heard on NPR as I was driving today (the rare driving occasion for me in Chicago): at any given time in this city there are 100,000 homeless people and only 10,000 beds for them in shelters and health facilities. Wow, when you think about the below freezing nights here, that’s extremely sad. Maybe I misheard that particular statistic, I keep hoping I misheard it, that there are many more places for people to go. And the Republicans keep cutting back on funds for things like that. The topic of conversation on the radio show was about LGBT youth, homeless 14-24 year olds that use facilities in Lakeview (also known as Boystown, a lively “gayborhood” in the city). Apparently businesses and residents are complaining that is hurting them, their property values and profits. Hard to believe that people can so lack empathy.

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  56. brian stouder said on November 19, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    mark – the first reports of a badly injured prominent Virgina governmental official, and a dead person in the home made me think of this story –

    http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20130629-state-militia-soldiers-may-play-big-role-in-kaufman-county-prosecutor-killings-trial.ece

    Now indeed, what in fact happened in Virginia was terrible. It would strike me as a broadly terrible thing if it was a targeted attack by some malcontent (or group of malcontents), rather than the familial apocalypse that it apparently was

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  57. MarkH said on November 19, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    Actually, Charlotte, my family and I have been enjoying Chico (when we can) since I came out here in ’81. Deb and I even spent part of our honeymoon there 26 years ago. We’ve never been disappointed. Last month it was a spur of the moment trip when my sister and brother-in-law were already on their way there and suggested a meet-up. The great co-incidence was we got to see my old buddy from Ohio (and later here in Jackson), Denny Earnest and the Resonators playing in the bar. Great weekend. I’m sure Nancy’s been to Chico, but for those wondering what we’re talking about:

    http://www.chicohotsprings.com/

    So, the Bar & Grille no longer serves food? Bummer. It was the COMPLETE bar and grill when I knew it back when; just excellent. I didn’t know Chatham had taken over the place at one time. Is Mike Art out of it as well? If you see Russell’s wife, Liz, tell her Mark from JH said hello.

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  58. nancy said on November 19, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    I have been there, in fact. Just a stop-by en route to Big Timber from Yellowstone. I remember seeing a TV ad for it, and their number was 1-800-HOT-WADA.

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  59. Deborah said on November 19, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    Oh my, that Chico place looks fabulous. I love hot springs, there’s a place we go to often in NM that has natural hot springs called Ojo Caliente, I especially like going there in the winter when it’s snowing, in the pools outside it’s piping hot and feels great. At night you can look up at the brilliant stars while you soak. When you get out you feel like a wet noodle, so relaxed. Nothing like it. I can’t wait to get back to New Mexico, a week from today.

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  60. Basset said on November 19, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    MarkH, John David Call was still in the band when I saw PPL, Tim Goshorn had not yet joined.

    Didn’t get to Cincy much when I was at IU but I do remember seeing Yes with John Martyn opening at Riverfront Coliseum in maybe the summer of 77 and getting pulled over in North Bend on the way, thought we were all going to jail forever… also seeing Rick , same place a little earlier, Procol Harum was supposed to open but canceled. For some reason visiting a place called “Dase’s Drinking Establishment” with a hugely fat man in sweatpants tending bar pops out of my memory, that and driving past the Burger brewery at night.

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  61. Basset said on November 19, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    Rick Wakeman, I should say. Need a real keyboard on this iPad.

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  62. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 19, 2013 at 11:05 pm

    Brian, I could only sum up the day with a series of links to my Facebook feed, which would send me to Prosperatory. But they’d be of my son with Lincoln, my son with Lee, my son with Grant, my son with the Interior Sec’y Jewell (and former head of REI), my son with Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren on Little Round Top, et cetera. Ended with a delightful Elysian Pumpkin Ale at http://www.jeanbonnettavern.com here in Bedford PA on our way home.

    And the sheer number of Lincoln re-enactors in town is always both amusing and disconcerting! Met the great-great-grandson of David Wills, too. Great talks from McPherson and another scholar whose name I can’t recall at the 4 pm talk in the Presbyterian church. Justice Scalia was funny and touching in his preface before swearing in sixteen new citizens; Sen. Toomey & Sen. Casey were underwhelming to be kind, and I felt less than kind that they left immediately on ending their part, which wasn’t in the print bulletin; a Pennsylvania high school senior was next with her own 272 word or less speech (won a contest), and they didn’t even look back. Gov. Corbett was excellent, as were Sec’y Jewell and Superintendent Judis. James Getty was today’s Lincoln for the Address, and was almost on a Day-Lewis level.

    Saw Ken Burns from a distance; he and his crews were everywhere filming bits for their next project: see http://www.learntheaddress.org/videos/

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  63. MarkH said on November 19, 2013 at 11:41 pm

    Oh, the fun we’ll have with Prosperatory…

    I envy you, Jeff, that you got to go there today, especially with your son. My ancestors on my father’s side are from the Chambersburg/Greencastle area. My grandfather used to go explore the Gettysburg battlefield as a child in the 1890s. I have never been there, but it’s on my list.

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  64. Dexter said on November 20, 2013 at 1:00 am

    Did you know Walt Disney had a daughter? She just died.
    http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Diane-Disney-Miller-daughter-of-Walt-dies-at-79-4994745.php

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  65. Prospero said on November 20, 2013 at 1:41 am

    The refusal of GOPer goober-nors to establish exchanges and expand Medicare (by which they throw away many, many millions of bucks) is denying coverage to more than 4.8 million people. Americans need to develop a much more intelligent faculty of critical reasoning when listening to the Vesuvian flow of GOPer lies on this subject. The sheer audaciousness, shamelessness and volume of the spew is practically unheard of since shortboating John Kerry.

    I’ve been to Gettysburg twice, once on a family vacation and once to a National BSA Jamboree. I still have one of those artificially-aged Emancipation Proclamations and one of the Gettysburg Addresses they sell in the gift shop. And I have an authentic minnie ball I found at Little Round Top. I’m not sure what the process is to produce those things, but it has a more attractive aroma than fresh mimeograph. May sound like bullshit, but even when I was 12 or so, the place produced a feeling of reverent awe in me. I suppose it came from my experiences watching my parents involved in the civil rights movement in the deep south and making some sort of connection. An excellent piece of Gettysburg video.

    If Prosperatory and facebook reference is to me, I can assure you, I never have anything to do with Spy Central other than with ex-girlfriends and immediate family. If it weren’t for pictures and videos of my grandchildren, I’d shitcan it entirely.

    Anybody have any idea at all why the firm that does Honda’s TeeVee adds thought it was a good idea to hire Michael Bolton, aka the Butcher of Dock of the Bay. An affront to the human race. I love the Christmas ad with Maya Rudolph reading a seasonal poem and doing perfect valley speak. Talented woman.

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  66. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 20, 2013 at 7:02 am

    Pros, it’s purgatory for link-rich posts. 😉

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  67. Prospero said on November 20, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    Thanks Jeff. I thought I was just getting more grief.

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