Saturday, September 04, 2004
The GuvWurld Blog is Back
Well it has been a month since I last published GuvWurld. Thanks to a few of you who encouraged me to take a break. I was wound pretty tight. I didn't intend to stop writing for so long but once I stopped, I admit it was very tough to get started again.
I do have a few new essays in the works and I'm promising to complete at least one by the end of this long weekend. I'm also going to add a new section to the GuvWurld news archive called "Black Kettles." This refers to those particularly confounding statements that would be more true if the speaker was referring to himself. Here is an example from Friday's NYTimes:
Who is suppressing whose free speech here? The mother of all Black Kettles is Mr. Bush saying "they hate our freedom." Neither Saddam nor Osama had a vote in taking away our rights with the Patriot Act. Who hates our freedom, Mr. Bush? Who has done so much to limit Americans' freedoms?
Please send me examples you find. I'll also promise to set up this new Archive category by the end of the weekend.
Finally, a brief No Confidence Movement update. I think there needs to be a planned response to the inevitable election uncertainty. We have disaster contingencies for all sorts of emergencies so why not a Constitutional crisis? It behooves us to know what we'll be calling for and that we have some harmonized voices in a chorus. I think it also makes sense to encourage elected officials to pledge a response. They must be held accountable for their responsibility to hold others accountable. During my writing hiatus I also laid low from media outreach and other networking. I did, however, have a meeting with Humboldt County Elections Supervisor Lindsey McWilliams. By far, the single most noteworthy thing he said to me is that he thinks we need a Constitutional Convention. I've resisted saying this for many months but now I am hoping that Mr. McWilliams has identified a way he can join our chorus. I like his tenor.
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I do have a few new essays in the works and I'm promising to complete at least one by the end of this long weekend. I'm also going to add a new section to the GuvWurld news archive called "Black Kettles." This refers to those particularly confounding statements that would be more true if the speaker was referring to himself. Here is an example from Friday's NYTimes:
"It is true that a handful of people have tried to destroy our city by going up and yelling at visitors here because they don't agree with their views," Mr. Bloomberg said. "Think about what that says. This is America, New York, cradle of liberty, the city for free speech if there ever was one and some people think that we shouldn't allow people to express themselves. That's exactly what the terrorists did, if you think about it, on 9/11. Now this is not the same kind of terrorism but there's no question that these anarchists are afraid to let people speak out."
Who is suppressing whose free speech here? The mother of all Black Kettles is Mr. Bush saying "they hate our freedom." Neither Saddam nor Osama had a vote in taking away our rights with the Patriot Act. Who hates our freedom, Mr. Bush? Who has done so much to limit Americans' freedoms?
Please send me examples you find. I'll also promise to set up this new Archive category by the end of the weekend.
Finally, a brief No Confidence Movement update. I think there needs to be a planned response to the inevitable election uncertainty. We have disaster contingencies for all sorts of emergencies so why not a Constitutional crisis? It behooves us to know what we'll be calling for and that we have some harmonized voices in a chorus. I think it also makes sense to encourage elected officials to pledge a response. They must be held accountable for their responsibility to hold others accountable. During my writing hiatus I also laid low from media outreach and other networking. I did, however, have a meeting with Humboldt County Elections Supervisor Lindsey McWilliams. By far, the single most noteworthy thing he said to me is that he thinks we need a Constitutional Convention. I've resisted saying this for many months but now I am hoping that Mr. McWilliams has identified a way he can join our chorus. I like his tenor.
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