Left of the Dial

Heads

I don't care. I love the 80's. Shut up.

Also Bill Paxton's best role ever.

Man o' Steel

So I got a wicked groovy present this week. Well, two, actually, but Top Management says I’m not allowed to talk about one of ‘em.

The other one is this:

How gorgeous is that? It is not only one of my favorite pieces of art ever, it is probably my single-favorite Superman shot of all-time. The juxtaposition of the photorealistic background with the cartoony, European-with-just-a-hint-of-Japanese Superman figure is incredibly powerful.

Not to mention that Superman just plain looks freakin’ cool.

This piece was done by Dave Taylor about a dozen years ago and is, in fact, the first time I ever encountered his artwork; I was so stunned that I hired him on the spot. We went on to do an awful lot of work together, much of which I'm as proud of as anything I've ever worked on, and I’m delighted to be working with him again after a gap of about eight years. And apparently the poor sod’s pleased enough to be working with me that he felt compelled to give me a pretty. I suspect it’s my smooth moves on the dance floor. Gets ‘em every time.

(Actually, he said he sent it to me so I’d finally shut up about the damn thing. Artistes.)

The D.C. Tea Party

Say, didn’t we fight a war over this very issue?

Oh, that’s right—that’d be the Revolutionary War.

The D.C. Tea Party
by Bob Herbert

Washington

Larry Chapman is a firefighter, and during an interview the other day I couldn’t help but notice the burns from a recent fire that circled both of his wrists. He shrugged them off. Part of the job.

He and I were talking about something that bothered him a lot more. He’s an American citizen, lives in the nation’s capital, has kept his nose clean his entire life and has always had a strong interest in national politics and government.

So why, he wanted to know, should he be denied the right to be represented in Congress?

President Bush was on television yesterday explaining why he feels it’s so important to keep fighting the war in Iraq. Nearly 12 million Iraqi citizens showed up to vote, he said, “to express their will about the future of their country.”

Supporting that effort, in Mr. Bush’s view, is an important enough reason to send Americans off to fight and die in Iraq.

But in Washington, D.C., which has more than a half million residents, American citizens are denied the right “to express their will about the future of their country” by voting for members of Congress. And Mr. Bush has not only opposed their effort to right this egregious wrong, he has threatened to veto legislation that would give these D.C. residents — hold your breath — one seat in the House of Representatives.

Someone please explain why the president is sending young Americans to fight and die for democracy abroad while working vigorously to deny the spread of democracy to American citizens here at home.

“Just because I live here,” said Mr. Chapman, “I’m denied the fundamental rights of every other American in the United States. That is messed up.”

The slogan on license plates in the district is “Taxation Without Representation.”

There’s a poster in wide circulation in the city, put out by DC Vote, a group that has campaigned hard for an expansion of voting rights. It shows two firefighters in full gear. One is Mr. Chapman, and the other is Jayme Heflin, who lives in Maryland. The poster says:

“Both will save your life. Only ONE has a vote in Congress — Washington D.C.’s nearly 600,000 residents include firefighters, nurses, teachers and small business owners. They pay federal taxes like all Americans, but are denied representation in Congress. That’s taxation without representation — and it’s still wrong.”

This denial of a fundamental voting right is especially significant at this moment in history. The executive branch is under the control of a belligerent and often amateurish group that has hacked away at civil liberties and is adamant about pursuing a war that neither Congress nor the public wants.

The rest of the nation’s business, including the economy, which looks increasingly like it may be going south, has been neglected. Nothing was more basic to the establishment of a co-equal legislative branch than the idea that it would serve as a check on a runaway executive.

And yet the residents of Washington (who can vote for president) are prevented from having any real say in the business of the legislature. (Eleanor Holmes Norton serves as a nonvoting delegate from the District.) There are, in fact, some Republicans who have stepped up valiantly on behalf of voting rights for the District. Representative Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, has been a leader in the fight to have a Congressional seat established.

But President Bush and some of his mean-spirited, antidemocratic allies are determined at all costs to prevent this expansion of the franchise to decent, honorable Americans.

The threat of a presidential veto was already in the air as the House moved close to a vote last week on legislation to create the Congressional seat. And then the entire process was sabotaged when the sleazoids from the gun lobby, acting with their usual hypocrisy and bad faith, tried to insert language that would demolish the District’s gun control laws.

The legislation was pulled, to the delight of the mischief-makers. Democrats said they will try to bring the matter up for a vote again soon, without the offending language.

This is another example of serious matters not being taken seriously in this country. President Bush and the bozos in the gun lobby probably got a chuckle out of their last-minute legislative maneuver. So clever of them.

But the real issue is the continued denial of a vote — something of tremendous value — to men and women who want and deserve more of a say in the important matters facing their country.

I can think of only two reasons why President Bush would veto this legislation. So maybe I'm missing something, because neither of them, to put it mildly, are good or morally defensible.

Terse? Unfriendly? Me?

Hm. I normally get a kick out o' these little quizzes. But this one?

Hmm.

I am the tanka. The attention of others Is unnerving, and Since I try not to draw it, I'm left alone. Which is good. What Poetry Form Are You?

I find this distrubingly close to the mark. How, then, does one explain the presence of Left of the Dial? One cannot and therefore one does not even attempt to.

Innerestingly, beneath this, it said:

"If you were not tanka, you'd be haiku."

I've never taken one of these here personality tests that gave multiple choice.

Short, terse, unfriendly, Yet sometimes quite emotive; I am the Haiku. What Poetry Form Are You?

Emotive? Emotive?! Kiss my ass!

H/T: The impossibly perfect Top Management.

I Don't Like Katie Couric

I’m sure that’s going to cause her to lose oh so many nights of sleep.

I used to like Katie Couric. This may have been due to the fact that throughout the 90s—I have no idea when she first became a well-known television personality, nor when she first came across my radar, although I suspect the former was several years before the latter—I saw, I’d guess, maybe an hour of her per year. For the first five or so years of that decade, I didn’t have a television set, so I wasn’t really likely to spend much time watching television. And even once I did get a set, it was old and small and the power button had to be taped down to keep the damn thing turned on, [insert joke here] so watching wasn’t a regular occurrence to me. And even after we got a nice new set (thanks Diane and Murray!), I never, ever turned it on in the mornings. [insert joke here]

So, you know, Katie and I weren’t all that well-acquainted. But what wasn’t to like? She was cute as a button and pert and perky and I've always been fond of her first name. Didn’t know her well, but what I knew, I liked.

Yeah, not so much no more. Here's a bit of her interview with Elizabeth and John Edwards:

Katie Couric: Your decision to stay in this race has been analyzed, and quite frankly judged by a lot of people. And some say, what you're doing is courageous, others say it's callous. Some say, "Isn't it wonderful they care for something greater than themselves?" And others say, "It's a case of insatiable ambition." You say?

Katie Couric: Some people watching this would say, "I would put my family first always, and my job second." And you're doing the exact opposite. You're putting your work first, and your family second.

I’m not the world’s biggest John Edwards fan, although most of the stuff about him that makes me uneasy is markedly different from most the criticisms I've heard of him.

But this one? You gotta be kidding me.

First of all, this is her decision, not his, so whenever anyone talks about him using his wife's illness for political gain, the immediate response should be a very polite, “shut up, you mindless idiot.”

What the hell do people expect Elizabeth to do? Go lower the blinds, close the curtains, climb in bed, and lay there in the dark until she dies?

She’s got cancer. She’s had it before, so she knows what it means. One of the things it means is that her life is going to be more difficult than before—probably quite a bit. But it’s not over, not yet and hopefully not for a very long time. And to that end, studies have shown that keeping active, in fact, is tremendously beneficial for your health whilst undergoing treatment.

And you know what? When you’ve got cancer, life goes on. You still have to pay your bills and clean the house and run errands. You get up and get dressed and brush your teeth and go to work and come home and maybe watch some TV and go to bed and do it again. And in there you’ve got chemo or radiation or surgery or some combination of all three. But the laundry still needs to be done. Maybe it’s harder to do it, or it needs to be done more often, or you get the laundromat to do it, but somehow, you need to get the clothes cleaned. Even when you have cancer.

So. Her job is helping her husband get elected president since she clearly believes he’s the best possible candidate. Will she succeed? I don’t know and right now I don’t particularly care. But she’s doing it because it’s her job and it’s what she believes in and what parent wouldn’t want the best possible candidate to be the President of the United States? In that sense, she is unquestionably putting her family first.

Here’s my question for you, Katie: I know enough about you to know you’ve got at least one kid and maybe more. I also know enough to know that when you were on the Today show for ten years or whatever, you had to be at work at something like six o’clock in the morning.

So who got your kid up for school? Who fixed him or her breakfast and got him or her dressed and make sure he or she got on the bus on time? Because clearly it wasn’t you.

Because you were already at work.

Because you chose work over your family.

Right? Isn’t that your point?

And in the end, it doesn’t matter whether that’s what you really think Elizabeth Edwards is doing or whether you’re just parroting repulsive talking points that started being bandied about within minutes of Elizabeth's announcement. Either way, you’re uniquely unsuited to do anything but defend those kinds of reprehensible smears. And if you can’t do that, you’d be much better just shutting the hell up.

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq and Kuwait or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:

John E. Allen, 25, of Palmdale; sergeant, Army. Allen was among four soldiers killed March 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Christopher R. Brevard, 31, of Tucson; sergeant first class, Army. Brevard was killed March 16 when a roadside bomb exploded near him while on foot patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Ft. Richardson, Alaska.

Wayne R. Cornell, 26, of Holstein, Neb.; sergeant, Army. Cornell was one of two soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas.

William N. Davis, 26, of Adrian, Mich.; private first class, Army. Davis was among four soldiers killed March 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Curtis E. Glawson Jr. , 24, of Daleville, Ala.; specialist, Army. Glawson was killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 610th Brigade Support Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas.

Ryan P. Green, 24, of The Woodlands, Texas; sergeant, Army. Green died March 18 at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered March 15 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Darrell R. Griffin Jr., 36, of Alhambra; sergeant first class, Army. Griffin was killed Wednesday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Marieo Guerrero, 30, of Fort Worth; specialist, Army. Guerrero was killed March 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Anthony A. Kaiser, 27, of Narrowsburg, N.Y.; private first class, Army. Kaiser was killed March 17 when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

John F. Landry Jr. , 20, of Lowell, Mass.; private first class, Army. Landry was among four soldiers killed March 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Dustin J. Leev, 20, of Quitman, Miss.; corporal, Marine Corps. Lee was killed Wednesday in a mortar attack in Fallouja, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga.

Nicholas J. Lightner, 29, of Newport, Ore.; sergeant, Army. Lightner died Wednesday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of injuries suffered March 15 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Stephen K. Richardson, 22, of Bridgeport, Conn.; private first class, Army. Richardson was one of two soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas.

Joey T. Sams II, 22, of Spartanburg, S.C.; private first class, Army. Sams was killed Wednesday when he was pinned between two vehicles at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, near the Iraqi border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Benning, Ga.

Ed Santini, 25, of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico; sergeant, Army. Santini was among four soldiers killed March 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Benjamin L. Sebban, 29, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; sergeant first class, Army. Sebban was killed March 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Baqubah, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Gina R. Sparks, 35, of Drury, Mo.; staff sergeant, Army. Sparks died of noncombat-related injuries Oct. 4, 2004, at Ft. Polk, La. Serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, she was assigned to the 115th Field Hospital, Warrior Brigade at Ft. Polk.

John S. Stephens, 41, of San Antonio; sergeant first class, Army. Stephens was killed March 15 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Tikrit, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

Nimo W. Tauala, 29, of Honolulu; sergeant, Army. Tauala died of noncombat-related injuries March 17 in Muqdadiya, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 209th Aviation Support Battalion, Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Harry H. Timberman, 20, of Minong, Wis.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Timberman was killed in combat March 17 in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Peter E. Winston, 56, of Plant City, Fla.; lieutenant colonel, Army. Winston died Nov. 13 in Kaiserslautern, Germany, of injuries suffered in a noncombat-related incident in Iraq. He was assigned to the 143rd Sustainment Command in Orlando, Fla.

Happy Anniversary to Us

Ten years ago today Max was diagnosed with leukemia. It was easily the worst day of my life.

She was about 21 months old, the most active baby/toddler I’d ever seen and notorious among our friends for never getting sick.

And then there we were, being told she had to be bedridden, because her blood was so messed up that if she fell, a fatal hemorrhage was a serious possibility. And many long long long hours later, we found ourselves in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, looking at her in a crib—itself a somewhat novel experience—with tubes and wires all over her, as machines pulled every drop of damaged blood out of her little body and replaced it with all new stuff. It was nearly a year before we realized just how close we came to losing her—a matter of days, almost certainly, and maybe hours, if Top Management hadn’t listened to that little voice inside that said something was wrong and we had to try to get a last minute appointment with our doctor on a busy Saturday.

And it was weeks before we discovered that, thanks to an only slightly out-of-date medical dictionary, what we’d thought was our best-case-scenario—that if we were incredibly lucky, she’d live to see her seventh birthday—was no longer applicable and that what the head of the department, a cranky jerk of a man I always liked because of this one bit, called “the c word” was actually a possibility: that maybe she could, in fact, be cured.

And here we are, ten years down the road, and that little girl in the PICU has turned into everything I could ever have dreamt of, and more than I ever could have hoped for: sweet, funny, gorgeous, brilliant, inquisitive, patient, helpful and loving.

We’re now three years past that long ago best-case-scenario and every extra day is better than the one before, and the one before was pretty damn great.

Which leads me to realize that this day ten years ago may indeed have been the worst day of my life.

But it was also the best. Because that was the day we suddenly veered off onto a different path, a difficult path, a path I didn’t see coming at all, but one which finally led us to where we are right now: yet another day with my not-so-little-anymore girl.

Happy anniversary, kiddo. And many, many, many happy returns of the day.

Nietzsche's Family Circus

Left of the Dialian Tom E pointed me to this site. It’s…it’s…you know, just describing it doesn’t really do it justice. It’s two great tastes that taste great together, but that’s not quite right either. It’s as though you combined, say, filet mignon and, I dunno, whipped cream. And it somehow tastes good.

Not that I actually like filet mignon. But you get the point.

Anyhoo, that’s this: random quotes from Nietzsche paired with random Family Circus art.

And it works. Every single time.

The Other Paul and George

Two great tastes that taste great together.

How sweet is this pairing? If you can get past the awful 70s hair and clothing, these performances are just wonderful. In fact, I’m not sure I've ever heard George sound better live.

In my glass half-empty way, I’m now sorry these two didn’t record an entire set this way. I'll bet they could have done a gorgeous “If I Needed Someone,” a “59th Street Bridge Song” with depth. “Savoy Truffle,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”—the list of What Might Have Been is almost endless.

Better to happy with what we have. I guess.

Shamrock Shakes

So we’ve got a fambly tradition of coloring the milk green for St. Patrick’s Day. (And red for Valentine’s Day.) This year, in addition to that, I decided to really blow my little girls’ minds and give them Shamrock Shakes.

That’s right, the wholly artificial and utterly disgusting and yet oh so delicious taste treat McDonald’s dusts off once a year. I loved them as a kid. Oh my did I.

And then one year I didn’t. I don’t know whether they changed their formula or I changed into something approaching a discerning adult or what, but one year in either high school or college I suddenly found what had been a highlight of my year to be completely and totally repulsive. And not in a good way any longer.

Very disappointing.

So time moves on and one year I find myself in a Mac’s around St. Patty’s Day and for the sake of nostalgia I decide to give one a go.

And it’s better’n ever. Every cell in my body bursts out in spontaneous song, “The Hills of Connemara.” Is it a shade of green never otherwise seen in nature? It is and what of it? The same can be said of “The Quiet Man” and, what’s more, there’s no sense that a forty-minute fight isn’t only necessary, it’s the cure for all. Sure and begorrah.

So. I’m thinking of introducing my bonny wee lasses to this most unnatural delight. But there’s a problem. Apparently there are few if any McDonald’s in SoCal which carry this culinary masterpiece.

Easily solved, of course. I simply have to make them myself. There are recipes online which claim to replicate exactly the real unreal thing.

I mean, duh. Ice cream, milk, peppermint extract and green food coloring. Whew! Thank you, Jesus, that someone went to so much trouble to do the research.

Of course, is it possible I'll get the proportions a bit off? It is. Since my girls have had something like four milkshakes in their lives, I’m guessing they’ll not be too critical.

Since I gave up sweets for Lent, I can’t even taste the concoction to see if it needs more of this or less of that. Oh the pain. The agony. Woe is me. I beat the cat with my shillelagh and that makes me feel better.

So I give the girls the shakes and they are over the moon; The Bean’s curls actually shuddered with joy.

They ask what’s in it and as is my utterly twisted way, I tell them The Boy’s old diapers. They squeal and shriek and giggle.

Then I ask The Bean, “Seriously, if The Boy’s diapers tasted like this, you’d eat them, wouldn’t you?”

She took a sip, looked up and off to the side for a moment, thinking, then nodded slowly. “Probably,” she said.

What higher praise?

In Memoriam

According to this:

225 teenagers have been killed in Iraq since 3/19/03 in the time it takes to get a full college education.

That includes the two on today’s list.

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq and Ethiopia or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:

James L. Arnold, 21, of Mattawan, Mich.; private first class, Army. Arnold was among four soldiers killed Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near them in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Joshua M. Boyd, 30, of Seattle; specialist, Army. Boyd died Wednesday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries suffered March 5 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Emerson N. Brand, 29, of Rigby, Idaho; sergeant, Army. Brand was among four soldiers killed Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near them in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Robert M. Carr, 22, of Warren, Ohio; sergeant, Army. Carr was killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Steven M. Chavez, 20, of Hondo, N.M.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Chavez died Wednesday in a nonhostile incident in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Brian L. Chevalier, 21, of Athens, Ga.; corporal, Army. Chevalier was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Mufrek, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Gregory D. Fejeran, 28, of Barrigada, Guam; sergeant, Army National Guard. Fejeran was one of two guardsmen killed March 5 when their vehicle overturned in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Serving with the U.S. anti-terrorism task force in the Horn of Africa, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment in Barrigada, Guam.

Christopher J.C. Fernandez, 28, of Dededo, Guam; sergeant, Army National Guard. Fernandez was one of two guardsmen killed March 5 when their vehicle overturned in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Serving with the U.S. anti-terrorism task force in the Horn of Africa, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment in Barrigada, Guam.

Alberto Garcia Jr. , 23, of Bakersfield; private first class, Army. Garcia was killed Tuesday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire and an improvised explosive device in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Blake M. Harris, 27, of Hampton, Ga.; staff sergeant, Army. Harris was among four soldiers killed Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near them in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Raymond J. Holzhauer, 19, of Dwight, Ill.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Holzhauer died Thursday in a nonhostile incident in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Stephen M. Kowalczyk, 32, of San Diego; specialist, Army. Kowalczyk was killed Wednesday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Muqdadiya, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Thomas L. Latham, 23, of Delmar, Md.; sergeant, Army. Latham was killed March 11 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Terry W. Prater, 25, of Speedwell, Tenn.; staff sergeant, Army. Prater was among four soldiers killed Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near them in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Angel Rosa, 21, of South Portland, Maine; private first class, Marine Corps. Rosa was killed in combat Tuesday in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Adam J. Rosema, 27, of Pasadena; specialist, Army. Rosema was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle south of Baqubah, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Jonathan K. Smith, 19, of Atlanta; specialist, Army. Smith died March 11 in a noncombat-related incident in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 115th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Douglas C. Stone, 49, of Taylorsville, Utah; sergeant first class, Army Reserve. Stone died March 11 in a noncombat-related incident during a training mission in Iraq. He was assigned to the 96th Regional Readiness Command in Salt Lake City.

Forrest J. Waterbury, 25, of Richmond, Texas; specialist, Army. Waterbury was killed Wednesday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire near Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Ga.

Nathanial D. Windsor, 20, of Scappoose, Ore.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Windsor was shot in the neck Tuesday while questioning detainees in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and later died at a military hospital. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Daniel E. Woodcock, 25, of Glennallen, Alaska; sergeant, Army. Woodcock was killed March 11 when a building exploded near his patrol unit in Ad Dawr, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Goodbye, Commonwealth

Hello, Golden State.

Oh, sure, we’ve lived here for nearly six months now, and I was here for three months before that. But it’s official now. We [finally!] closed on our house today.

It’s been a long time coming, and I've still got some mixed feelings: it was our first house, and we had some wonderful, wonderful times there. But California has treated us all far better than we ever could have hoped, the girls are deliriously happy out here and…I dunno. It just feels less like closing the door on a chapter of our lives than starting the next stage. Still full of chaos and confusion and uncertainty, but like we're out here to seek, if not our fame and fortune, at least prolonged happiness. And it feels like it’s maybe not just around the corner, but at least attainable. Very much so. And the start has certainly been most promising indeed.

Good Lord. That’s the American Experience, isn’t it? We’re the Joads. Minus, you know, the horrific heartbreak and utterly bleak future.

Wow. Big day. And now, to bed. Gotta be ready for tomorrow. You know, the first day of the rest of our lives and all that.

My Back Pages

Okay. Now I’m in the rock and roll guitar solo mood. So I'll share with you all my all-time favorite short guitar solo, from my all-time favorite guitarist.

This comes from BobFest, Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert.

It’s far and away the best all-star jam I've ever seen. A great performance of a great tune, and the line-up is absolutely stunning, with no one coming within a light-year of approaching “weak link” status. Interestingly, it’s the guitar god amongst them who has the only conventionally “good” voice. Also interesting is that Dylan doesn’t take the last verse, handing it to George. What’s up with that? Was he making way for a Beatle? Did the second-to-last verse have some particular meaning for him? [And we won’t mention the way a certain aforementioned guitar god screws up the lyric when it’s his turn to sing the chorus.]

Anyhoo, Eric Clapton’s solo is so concise, so sweetly melodic, so tasteful and yet incisive, with a few surprising twists and turns; his entrance a couple beats early is so elegant and lyrical, and the notes he bends are utterly perfect—most notably both the sustained one and the subsequent shorter, more dramatic one—not just in execution, but in concept.

Frank Zappa once said that when he took a guitar solo, he was trying to compose a new melody on the spot. Clapton’s often said in the past that he sometimes tries to plan ahead of time of how he wants to start his solo, but he can never think more than a few bars ahead: what comes out once he’s in the body of the solo is almost completely spontaneous.

Yet EC’s solo here has a beginning, a middle and an end, a complete and cohesive piece in and of itself, whilst fitting the song like a glove. It sounds like it was all notated ahead of time, as though he worked on it for weeks and got it exactly the way he wanted it.

He didn’t. He made it up on the spot.

He’s that damn good.

While My Guitar Violently Screams

I just stumbled across this clip. Tom Petty sounds really good, and Jeff Lynne, the most successful b-talent perhaps in rock history, also sounds swell. George’s son Dhani—the spit and image of George—looks like he’s never been happier. And the guitarist does a beautiful job of recreating Eric Clapton’s original obbligato accompaniment, does he not? He does.

But just wait until the three and a half minute mark for the real guitar solo to begin. If you likee the rock music at all, you must watch this. With the sound cranked. NOW.

If this is not my favorite guitar solo of all time, it has rocketed into my Top Ten. I've listened to this a dozen times now and I get goosebumps every damn time.

Because he’s one of the most brilliant singer-songwriters of the past thirty years, a phenomenal singer and an unsurpassed bandleader and performer, he sometimes gets overlooked as a guitarist. If this solo doesn’t qualify him as one of the truly all-time greats in rock history, then such things have no meaning.

The word “blistering” is not strong enough. His complete and total mastery of the instrument, the flawless technique, the searing tone, the fluidity of movement, how he plays around the singers, the way he effortless drops littles quotes from Clapton’s original solo into the middle of this maelstrom and then back out…sweet Jesu, this is the essence of rock and roll guitar.

You know, I’d normally be concerned about overselling it, about how folks couldn’t help but be let down by the actual performance. There’s no danger of that.

[Now the real question: what the hell happened to the guitar?]

The New Math

Today on CNN, superhack Andrea Mitchell said of the Scooter Libby verdict:

"They're going to try to really tamp this down and appeal to the polling which indicates that most people think, in fact, that he should be pardoned. Scooter Libby should be pardoned."

Meanwhile, back in reality, her own company’s poll indicates that a whopping 18% of Americans actually think convicted felon Scooter Libby should be pardoned. 69% do not think he should.

Andrea, it’s very obvious that, well, you’re not very bright, so let me make this very simple for you:

18% does not equal “most.”
69%? Yeah, that’s a lot closer. That’s certainly a majority.

Which means you were wrong. To put it mildly.

Now, if you'd said "most people with whom I go to cocktail parties several times a week think dear ol' Scooter should be pardoned," well, that'd be kinda sickening, but at least you would have been honest for a change.

Why the hell do people who routinely screw up this much still have such cushy jobs?

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq and who died in Kuwait or at a U.S. hospital of their injuries:

Ryan M. Bell, 21, of Colville, Wash.; specialist, Army. Bell was among six paratroopers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Raul S. Bravo, 21, of Elko, Nev.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Bravo was killed March 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Lucas Emch, 21, of Kent, Ohio; hospitalman, Navy. Emch was killed March 2 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. The hospital corpsman was assigned to the 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Justin M. Estes, 25, of Sims, Ark.; staff sergeant, Army. Estes was among six paratroopers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Dustin M. Gould, 28, of Longmont, Colo.; staff sergeant, Marine Corps. Gould was killed March 2 when a roadside bomb that he was trying to disarm exploded in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Mark W. Graham, 22, of Lafayette, La.; private, Army. Graham died Wednesday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries suffered March 2 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Blake Harris, 22, of Pueblo, Colo.; specialist, Army. Harris was among three soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Baqubah, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Darrel D. Kasson, 43, of Florence, Ariz.; staff sergeant, Army National Guard. Kasson was killed March 4 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Bayji, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 259th Security Forces Company in Phoenix.

Cory C. Kosters, 19, of The Woodlands, Texas; private first class, Army. Kosters was among six paratroopers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Paul M. Latourney, 28, of Roselle, Ill.; staff sergeant, Army. Latourney was one of two soldiers killed March 2 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Barry W. Mayo, 21, of Ecru, Miss.; private, Army. Mayo was among three soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Baqubah, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Ashly L. Moyer, 21, of Emmaus, Pa.; sergeant, Army. Moyer was among three soldiers killed March 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. She was assigned to the 630th Military Police Company in Bamberg, Germany.

Brandon A. Parr, 25, of West Valley City, Utah; sergeant, Army. Parr was among three soldiers killed March 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 630th Military Police Company in Bamberg, Germany.

Michael C. Peek, 23, of Chesapeake, Va.; sergeant, Army. Peek was among three soldiers killed March 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 630th Military Police Company in Bamberg, Germany.

Andrew C. Perkins, 27, of Northglenn, Colo.; sergeant, Army. Perkins was among six paratroopers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Shawn P. Rankinen, 28, of Independence, Mo.; specialist, Army. Rankinen was among three soldiers killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Michael D. Rivera, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; specialist, Army. Rivera was among three soldiers killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Luis O. Rodriguez-Contrera, 22, of Allentown, Pa.; specialist, Army. Rodriguez-Contrera was one of two soldiers killed March 2 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Justin A. Rollins, 22, of Newport, N.H.; specialist, Army. Rollins was among six paratroopers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Ryan D. Russell, 20, of Elm City, N.C.; specialist, Army. Russell was among three soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Baqubah, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Karl O. Soto-Pinedo, 22, of San Juan, Puerto Rico; staff sergeant, Army. Soto-Pinedo was killed Feb. 27 when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Robert M. Stanley, 27, of Spotsylvania, Va.; staff sergeant, Army. Stanley was among six paratroopers killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Morgan C. Tulang, 36, of Hilo, Hawaii; lieutenant commander, Navy Reserve. Tulang died of an apparent heart attack March 2 while exercising in a military gymnasium in Kuwait. He was assigned to the U.S. Central Command Deployment Distribution Operations Center in Kuwait City.

Dennis J. Veater, 20, of Jessup, Pa.; lance corporal, Marine Corps Reserve. Veater died Friday of injuries suffered a day earlier when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 472, Marine Wing Support Group 47, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing in Wyoming, Pa.

Christopher R. Webb, 28, of Winchester, Calif.; staff sergeant, Army. Webb was among three soldiers killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Wesley J. Williams, 23, of Philadelphia; private, Army. Williams died March 2 of noncombat-related injuries in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion, 504th Military Intelligence Brigade at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Christopher D. Young, 20, of Los Angeles; specialist, Army National Guard. Young was killed March 2 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Safwan, Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border. He was assigned to Company C, 3rd Battalion, 160th Infantry Regiment in San Pedro.

Resign or Impeach

Intellectually, the Department of Justice scandal has been fascinating for quite a while there, if one's able to divorce one's self from the horror of seeing justice perverted in this way. Living in San Diego, it's been of particular interest, since it's our local US Attorney, Carol Lam, that provided much of the initial spark.

The way things are gathering steam, it's becoming increasingly likely that Alberto Gonzales will either resign, and soon, or become only the 18th federal official ever impeached, and only the second cabinet member ever, and the first since Reconstruction.

All of which is interesting. In the same way a forty-car pile-up on the interstate is.

And what a surprise—we discover that Karl Rove is in the middle of all this. Remind me again why a man who admitted under oath that he revealed government secrets still has a security clearance?

The Failed Attorney General

During the hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales said he understood the difference between the job he held — President Bush’s in-house lawyer — and the job he wanted, which was to represent all Americans as their chief law enforcement officer and a key defender of the Constitution. Two years later, it is obvious Mr. Gonzales does not have a clue about the difference.

He has never stopped being consigliere to Mr. Bush’s imperial presidency. If anyone, outside Mr. Bush’s rapidly shrinking circle of enablers, still had doubts about that, the events of last week should have erased them.

First, there was Mr. Gonzales’s lame op-ed article in USA Today trying to defend the obviously politically motivated firing of eight United States attorneys, which he dismissed as an “overblown personnel matter.” Then his inspector general exposed the way the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been abusing yet another unnecessary new power that Mr. Gonzales helped wring out of the Republican-dominated Congress in the name of fighting terrorism.

The F.B.I. has been using powers it obtained under the Patriot Act to get financial, business and telephone records of Americans by issuing tens of thousands of “national security letters,” a euphemism for warrants that are issued without any judicial review or avenue of appeal. The administration said that, as with many powers it has arrogated since the 9/11 attacks, this radical change was essential to fast and nimble antiterrorism efforts, and it promised to police the use of the letters carefully.

But like so many of the administration’s promises, this one evaporated before the ink on those letters could dry. The F.B.I. director, Robert Mueller, admitted Friday that his agency had used the new powers improperly.

Mr. Gonzales does not directly run the F.B.I., but it is part of his department and has clearly gotten the message that promises (and civil rights) are meant to be broken.

It was Mr. Gonzales, after all, who repeatedly defended Mr. Bush’s decision to authorize warrantless eavesdropping on Americans’ international calls and e-mail. He was an eager public champion of the absurd notion that as commander in chief during a time of war, Mr. Bush can ignore laws that he thinks get in his way. Mr. Gonzales was disdainful of any attempt by Congress to examine the spying program, let alone control it.

The attorney general helped formulate and later defended the policies that repudiated the Geneva Conventions in the war against terror, and that sanctioned the use of kidnapping, secret detentions, abuse and torture. He has been central to the administration’s assault on the courts, which he recently said had no right to judge national security policies, and on the constitutional separation of powers.

His Justice Department has abandoned its duties as guardian of election integrity and voting rights. It approved a Georgia photo-ID law that a federal judge later likened to a poll tax, a case in which Mr. Gonzales’s political team overrode the objections of the department’s professional staff.

The Justice Department has been shamefully indifferent to complaints of voter suppression aimed at minority voters. But it has managed to find the time to sue a group of black political leaders in Mississippi for discriminating against white voters.

We opposed Mr. Gonzales’s nomination as attorney general. His résumé was weak, centered around producing legal briefs for Mr. Bush that assured him that the law said what he wanted it to say. More than anyone in the administration, except perhaps Vice President Dick Cheney, Mr. Gonzales symbolizes Mr. Bush’s disdain for the separation of powers, civil liberties and the rule of law.

On Thursday, Senator Arlen Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, hinted very obliquely that perhaps Mr. Gonzales’s time was up. We’re not going to be oblique. Mr. Bush should dismiss Mr. Gonzales and finally appoint an attorney general who will use the job to enforce the law and defend the Constitution.

Of course, after testifying before Congress that "there is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution," Gonzales should have been forced to resign that day, and been disbarred—and no, I'm not kidding, nor do I use hyperbole. This is the equivalent of a physician testifying that the ears are the primary organs used for sight…and then not only refusing to claim he'd misspoken, but standing by that assertion.

Incidentally, here's a quick bio of one of the purged prosecutors:

Iglesias, an evangelical Christian, was born in Panama, where his father was a missionary. His family moved to New Mexico when he was 12. After graduating from the University of New Mexico's law school, Iglesias became a Navy judge advocate general.

In 1986, he was one of three JAGs who represented Marines accused of attempted murder for a hazing incident that their lawyers argued was encouraged by commanders at Guantanamo Bay. The successful defense helped the Marines avoid serious penalties, and the case inspired the hit Broadway play "A Few Good Men" and the later film. Iglesias was not consulted during the production of the play or movie.

He left the Navy but remains a captain in the reserves. He returned to New Mexico to start a family. Iglesias left a job in the Albuquerque city attorney's office to become a White House fellow in the Clinton administration. He then returned to New Mexico and ran for state attorney general in 1998, narrowly losing.

After George W. Bush was elected president in 2000, New Mexico Republicans, led by Domenici, lobbied for Iglesias' appointment as U.S. attorney. The expectation was that he would follow up his tenure with another run for public office.

"They felt they were grooming him for a political career," said Joe Monahan, a New Mexico political blogger.

Iglesias didn't make an initial splash. "He was very quiet," Monahan said. He earned the ire of the state GOP by refusing to prosecute anyone for voter fraud after the 2004 elections, despite some Republicans' contention that 15-year-olds voted. Iglesias said he could find no federal crimes.

The highlight of his term was the prosecution of state Treasurer Robert Vigil for extortion. Though Vigil is a Democrat from a prominent New Mexico political family, Iglesias' prosecution was seen as nonpartisan and was supported by Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson. The first trial ended in a mistrial, but Vigil was convicted last year.

At the same time, New Mexico media were full of speculation about Iglesias' investigation of local Democratic politicians' involvement in the construction of an Albuquerque courthouse. That was the case that Domenici and Republican Rep. Heather A. Wilson had inquired about. The two politicians have denied they were trying to influence Iglesias.

David Campbell, a Democrat who was Albuquerque's city attorney when Iglesias worked in the office, said his friend's actions showed his character.

"As a Bush appointee he's a stellar appointment, a right-wing evangelical Christian but somebody who plays his professional life with a lot of integrity," Campbell said. "You couldn't say a bad word about the guy."

Whew! Thank goodness that after he got stellar performance reviews, they removed him for political reasons—illegally, it appears—and then smeared him publicly! Who knows how much more awful our legal system might be if we had attorneys like this guy.

Laws? We don’t need no stinkin’ laws!

The Bush administration has created vast and permanent data bases to collect and store evidence revealing the private activities of millions of American citizens. When the FBI obtains information essentially in secret -- with no judicial oversight -- that information is stored in those data bases. This is all being done by the executive branch with no safeguards and no oversight, and the little oversight that Congress has required has been defiantly and publicly brushed aside by the President, who sees legal requirements as nothing more than suggestions or options which he will recognize only if he chooses to. That is the constitutional crisis that we have endured under virtually the entire Bush presidency -- the crisis which, for the most part, our mainstream political and media elite have collectively decided not to acknowledge.

The story here is not merely that the FBI is breaking the law and abusing these powers. That has long been predicted and, to some degree, even documented. The story is that the FBI is ignoring the very legal obligations which George Bush vowed were not obligations at all, but mere suggestions to be accepted only if he willed it. It is yet another vivid example proving that the President's ideology of lawlessness exists not merely in theory, but as the governing doctrine under which the executive branch has acted, time and again and as deliberately as possible, in violation of whatever laws it deems inconvenient.

Which is bad.

Obviously.

Well, it's obvious to those of us not breaking those laws.

But what makes it more incredible is that, meanwhile…

While the FBI has been busy breaking the law, violent crime is surging across the country: Violent crime rose by double-digit percentages in cities across the country over the last two years, reversing the declines of the mid-to-late 1990s, according to a new report by a prominent national law enforcement association.

While overall crime has been declining nationwide, police officials have been warning of a rise in murder, robbery and gun assaults since late 2005, particularly in midsize cities and the Midwest. Now, they say, two years of data indicates that the spike is more than an aberration.

9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, the economy, port security, loose nukes, our relationships with our allies…you know, when you look at it? Turns out this administration’s really done a pretty lousy job.

Oh, and I Meant to Mention…

…Scooter Libby was found guilty.

It’s a good day for America.

Well, sorta. It’s good that justice was served. (Pending Presidential pardon.) It’s not good that an undercover CIA operative working on weapons of mass destruction got outted for political gain. That’s not good at all and there’s no way to repair that gaping chest wound.

But, for once, someone in this administration learned that, for a while at least, there’s still such a thing as accountability.

Yay law!

Back in the Saddle

Sorry for the radio silence. I threw out my back last Monday—as in, eight days ago—and long story short, I wasn’t able to get out of bed until today. I'll write more about my saga anon because, let’s be honest, all three of you are simply dying to know every tiny little detail. And who can blame you?

My recovery is due to TLC from Top Management and the rest of the fambly and heavy, heavy drugs: prednisone, flexiril, percocet and megadoses of advil. Oh, and a most amazing book, about which more later.

But it turns out I should simply have listened to Bruce Springsteen. I mean, hell’s bells, that’s obvious—everyone should. But who knew that, in addition to being our great nation’s finest living musical performer, he had healing abilities?

The following is from an interview with ABC reporter Bob Woodruff and his wife, Lee; folks may recall that Bob suffered horrific injuries in Iraq and wasn’t expected to make much of a recovery, if indeed any a’tall. Turns out he’s back in the saddle again.

Rock: the giver of life.

A range of music from the Boss to Bach was mentioned in your book. Were there favorite musicians, authors and books, and movies that both of you turned to for rejuvenation during the recovery process?

LW: Bob's mother and brothers talked to him constantly. His father read the sports pages out loud to him, especially any news of his beloved Detroit Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings. Melanie Bloom came down to spell me for a few days while I went up to be with the kids and she read the book Endurance about Ernest Shackleton's ill fated journey to the South Pole.

But I have to say that Bruce Springsteen was a major part of Bob's recovery. Bob is a huge Springsteen fan and he would take his music on the road to obscure places in the world and blast it for all of the guys in the crew. Bruce got word of this through friends of ours and sent Bob a wonderful note and some CDs. We played those CDs all of the time. And when I read Bob the letter during his coma, I kind stretched the truth a little— hoping it would help him wake up faster. I—um—sort of lied and said if he woke up, Bruce would come and play for him and some of the other soldiers in the hospital.

I thought nothing more of that until the second day Bob was awake. He turned to me suddenly and made strumming guitar motions. "I have to get one of those...umm..." and he strummed the air. "I need to be ready to play when that Bossman comes," he said.

Damn, sam. Now I'm wondering what CDs Bruce sent.

That man's magic, I tell ye. Magic.

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq or who died at a hospital of their injuries:

Anthony Aguirre, 20, of Channelview, Texas; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Aguirre was killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near him while on foot patrol in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Chad M. Allen, 25, of Maple Lake, Minn.; sergeant, Marine Corps. Allen was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Jeremy D. Barnett, 27, of Mineral City, Ohio; sergeant, Army. Barnett died Feb. 24 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered Feb. 21 when a land mine exploded near him in Dujayl, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

William J. Beardsley, 25, of Coon Rapids, Minn.; sergeant, Army. Beardsley was killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Diwaniya, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 260th Quartermaster Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Troop Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Ga.

Ethan J. Biggers, 22, of Beavercreek, Ohio; specialist, Army. Biggers, who suffered a brain injury when he was shot in the head by a sniper in Baghdad on March 5, 2005, lingered in a coma for nearly a year before his twin brother made the decision to disconnect his feeding tube and he died Feb. 24 in Indianapolis. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Travis W. Buford, 23, of Galveston, Texas; private first class, Army. Buford was among three soldiers who died Feb. 23, a day after they were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Jonathan D. Cadavero, 24, of Takoma Park, Md.; specialist, Army. Cadavero was among three soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Joshua R. Hager, 29, of Broomfield, Colo.; staff sergeant, Army. Hager was among three soldiers who died Feb. 23, a day after they were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Lorne E. Henry Jr., 21, of Niagara Falls, N.Y.; corporal, Army. Henry was among three soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Richard A. Soukenka, 30, of Oceanside; sergeant, Army. Soukenka was among three soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Bufford K. Van Slyke, 22, of Bay City, Mich.; private first class, Marine Corps Reserve. Van Slyke was shot and killed Feb. 28 at a checkpoint in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division in Saginaw, Mich.

Rowan D. Walter, 25, of Clovis, Calif.; private first class, Army. Walter was among three soldiers who died Feb. 23, a day after they were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Daniel Zizumbo, 27, of Chicago; private first class, Army. Zizumbo was among 23 people killed in a suicide bomb attack Tuesday at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, on the day that Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting the base north of Kabul. He was assigned to the 1st Transportation Movement Control Agency, 21st Theater Support Command in Kaiserslautern, Germany.