The last true freedom fighter of his generation

Nelson Mandella is dead. He was among us for longer than most of our present day heroes. His body wasn't even cold before his former critics and enemies leapt to co-opt Mandela's legend to score cheap political points.

I'm not reading any of cheap potshots and vile conservative commentary. For myself, I choose to reflect on my good fortune to have lived to witness so much of his life and work. Many have already spoken of his legacy so I'll spare you my inadequate thoughts and simply outsource to Charlie Pierce's eulogy.

Nelson Mandela died yesterday, and he was the last of them, the last of the patriots in a line all the way back to George Washington who fought to rid their native countries of the deadweight of colonialism, who fought for self-determination against the rule of distant, unyielding governments that slid into tyranny without even knowing they were doing it, who fought and won and, in Mandela's case, like Washington, but unlike Michael Collins and so many others, outlived the stifling detritus of dying empires. Nelson Mandela was a reminder of all the others, famous and obscure, who fought the same battle in so many places against so many oppressors, known and unknown. He was the last in their line, the last of them -- people like, to name only one, Ho Chi Minh -- who drew strength and purpose from the deep, lasting echoes of what a group of wealthy merchants and planters -- and, yes, slaveholders -- set loose upon the world in Philadelphia in 1776. What they did was to set freedom itself free, although most of them probably didn't know they were doing it at the time, and many of them would have blanched at the prospect. But the one thing they did, Mr. Jefferson and all of them, was throw out to the world in their magnificent rhetoric a magnificent bluff. Nelson Mandela was the last man who called it in the last place it was called.

All men are created equal.

Endowed with certain inalienable rights.

Self-evident.

Read the rest at the link. You won't have to read anything else.

Sweet Jane weeps

And the world weeps with her. Another musical icon of my youth -- gone. He wrote a big part of the soundtrack of my life. The music world will never be the same. RIP Lou Reed.





Adding, I'm wating for the man. Also too, Lou Reed's last tweet, just six hours before his death.

RIP Doghouse Riley

I'm back on line but I have a new computer and I have to learn a new OS now that my trusty little Dell with my beloved XP is dead and gone. So blogging is still likely to be light today and I'm outsourcing the eulogy to Edroso who knew Doghouse Riley better than I did. Sadly, I had only recently discovered his blog.

It's a great loss to the internets and everyone who cares about saving what passes for democracy in our country. He was a fabulous writer. According to the obit, his death was unexpected and came tragically too soon. May his friends and family find peace.

Creature Feature

Truthfully, I had no idea who Ray Harryhausen was until he died this week, but I've enjoyed his work my whole life. I've watched every one of these movies more than once. When I was kid this kind of special effect was scary as hell. In many ways I still like this obviously fake, hand done stop action much better than today's computer generated realism.

RIP Mr. Harryhausen. You may have lived in relative obscurity but your creatures will live forever on the screen.

Annette Funicello died today

I'm very sad Annette Funicello is gone and so is just about everybody else on my interwebs. Lots of guys confessing she was their first crush. Of course for me, it was all about the Mouseketeers. She was one of my all time favorites on the show. Used to watch it every day. Loved her roles in the ongoing serial stories more than the musical numbers but those are too long to embed. So I'll post this as a tribute to her memory. I was probably too young to remember watching this when it first aired, yet somehow it seems hauntingly familiar.



I liked the beach blanket movies but didn't really follow her career after that. Actually didn't even know she had MS. But in reading the obits, apparently she was just as great a role model for civil society in real life as she was in her acting roles. The world is a poorer place for her loss. RIP.

Margaret Thatcher is dead

I don't have much to say about (must not forget to call her Baroness) Margaret Thatcher's death but there's no dearth of commentary about Thatcher's politics on the internets. Never paid that much attention to her myself. I recall being thrilled when she became the first woman PM because, milestone for women, but her politics were so dismal the good feeling didn't last for long. The nicest thing I can say about her is she made me laugh when she so thoroughly put Sarah Palin in her place when Griftzilla tried to cadge a meeting with her.

The balcony is closed

I'm sure you know by now Roger Ebert died today. I don't have any anecdotes about some personal connection with him. My sense of loss comes only from long memories as a fan so I'll spare you yet another eulogy. Instead I'll just pass on what I thought was the best tribute I've seen since the sad news broke.



[Scott Stantis, Chicago Tribune]

Hugo Chavez is dead, his legacy will linger

It can't be denied he was a flawed man. By the end, it became all too clear that Hugo Chavez was a bad administrator. One could even say he behaved tyranically, seduced by power and tripped up by his own machismo. But I think what remained true to the end was he truly cared about social justice.

He began with the best of intentions and surely his people loved him. Chavez was the champion of the mestizo, Venezuela's shockingly poor underclass. He was one of them. He empowered them. He gave them a voice. He lifted them a little from undeserved, grinding poverty. They re-elected him in a democratic process more than once.

The wealth holders, the upper class -- native and foreign -- who had until then so freely exploited the country's treasures, hated him for his egalitarian policies. He disrupted their stranglehold on power. And again, he was a very imperfect man. He made a lot of mistakes. Still, on the balance, he was a better man at heart than many of his critics.

Addendum: You have to go the foreign press to find out, but proof his people loved Chavez. The wealthy Venezuelans who loathed him, to their credit, are lying low and allowing the people space for public mourning.

Goodbye Barney

The best and possibly the only good thing about the Bush years was their silly dog Barney. Always had a soft spot in my heart for Scotties ever since I read Majorie Flack's books about her dog Angus. So sad to learn poor old Barney died at 12 years old this week.

Honest, heartfelt sympathy to Laura and GWB on their loss.

[photo via]

Come on baby and rescue me

Not sure why so many journalists still ignore the obvious fact the Tea Party is just ultra-conservative Republicans by another name, not some new phenomenon. But yes, whereas they were once a fringe group among a majority of moderates, the ultra-cons have taken over the power structure of the Republican party despite their small numbers. Which is why, despite the rumors, gossip and stenography about the fiscal "cliff," we're never going to get a decent offer from the GOP. And let me remind the powerbrokers of the Democratic party (who won't read this) that a bad deal is much worse than no deal.

People did not wait in line for eight hours to see a deal that doesn't deliver on the promises made to get their votes. The two most explicit promises were to protect the middle class and shift a fairer share of the tax burden back to the wealthy.

For the last 12 years, even the least informed have noticed the government bailouts of the wealth holders. Who are doing just fine now, thank you. So the millions of working people of America are figuring it's their turn for a rescue.

Which brings us to the soundtrack of this post; also on Album One on the soundtrack of my life. I saw this when it aired in real time. RIP Fontella Bass.

RIP George McGovern

Sorry to see George McGovern died. He was a good man. He was the first national candidate I actively worked to elect. I was crushed when he was defeated. But his indominable spirit inspired me to keep working for change, no matter what the odds of success. And over the years I've seen some wins.

Sadly, all these years later, I find myself fighting those same battles all over again. But George never quit trying and neither will I.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Put the load right on me

I didn't get around to posting about Levon Helm's death when it happened. I was unusally sad that he died and didn't have the heart to talk about it right away. The Band was big on the soundtrack of my misspent youth. I saw them live at the Filmore East back in 1970 or 71 maybe. It was a such a great concert. My first one in a high profile venue like the Filmore. And of course, it being in NYC made it extra exciting. As I recall, we also ate at Katz Deli. I'll never forget that old Jewish waiter. He was a riot. It was a golden time in my life, and listening to The Band always evoked warm memories.

Otherwise, I don't have any great personal stories about Levon but Charlie Pierce wrote a gorgeous tribute. And Elvis Costello's eulogy was moving.

Admit, I didn't really follow Levon's career after The Band broke up, so I didn't hear this song until he died, when it seemed everyone on the internets was mourning. Even though there are many other songs that mean more to me historically, this one seems the best to mark his journey to the Summerlands.



Can't stop listening to it. Makes me wish I had followed him longer, and somehow made my way to his barn in Woodstock.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

RIP Mike Wallace

I don't have any grand memories of the man, but Mike Wallace was the kind of journalist they just don't make anymore. Hard to imagine any of the current crop of bobblehead moderators asking the kind of questions he did, back in the day. He lived to be 93. To put that in perspective, "when Wallace was born in 1918 there wasn't even a radio in most American homes, much less a TV."

He witnessed a whole lot of change. Indeed, he was more than just a mere witness, he was the emcee of all of our mutual history. He was the inquistor of many of its major figures. He asked tough questions and insisted on real answers. Which sadly means, even if somehow he could come back again as a young man and start his life all over, there would be no place left in today's "news" business for him anyway.

Much more commentary on his passing at Memeorandum. May he rest in peace.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Andrew Breitbart is dead

I don't really have much to say about Breitbart's death. I'll admit my first thoughts were less than charitable and they haven't improved since, so for the most part, I'm trying to just ignore the memorials. I did read John Cole's take. He likes David Frum's obit and the clip he posted was good.

For myself, all I'll say is I was shocked at the news. I didn't realize he was that young. But otherwise, I've been ignoring him for years in the interests of keeping a healthy blood pressure and I'm not going to trash him in death. For one thing, I know he would like that and I refuse to feed his ego even to the grave. So I'll just leave you with John Cole's thoughts on Breitbart's legacy:

In my estimation, Breitbart was far more damaging to the causes he claimed to support than he was to “teh left.” He got a few scalps, but he was one of the ringleaders fueling the insanity in the current right-wing circus. He’s as much an architect of the tea party sickness infecting our body politic as anyone, so there really is no reason to trash the guy. His legacy does that by itself.

Yes. Yes it does.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Chris Hitchens and me

I don't have a story about me and Hitch. Like thousands of other readers, my story is an impersonal love/hate relationship with this work. Liked him when he agreed with me. Loathed him when he rolled over to the other side. Sure, I watched him get waterboarded and followed the ocassional link, but mostly I found him so irritating that I pretty much ignored him for years.

Even when I did like his work, never held the man in high regard. So, if you want to wallow in rose colored accolades, the hagiography is waning this morning, but you'll find lots of mournful remembrances here. And not everyone is shares my reluctance to speak ill of the dead. Glenzilla gets real as does Alex Pareene.

For myself, I don't have any strong emotions about his death. Yes, he was a colorful figure of our times, a technicolor man, but he didn't really color my world much. Nonetheless, you have to give him a lot of credit for going down fighting. May he rest in peace.

RIP Kimberly Webb Joyner

Damn grim reaper. This is so awful. James Joyner, founder of Outside the Beltway, is one of the few right wing bloggers I've been reading since the beginning of the Blogosphere . His wife unexpectedly died, leaving behind James and two very young children. She was only 41.

As I still struggle with the grief over the equally unexpected loss of my Dad these two months later, I can only imagine how much worse it is to lose a life partner so soon. Send him a comforting thought.

Oh Wow!

I was moved by the loss, in recognition of how much he changed our world, but I didn't get all emo when Steve Jobs died. However, his sister's eulogy in today's NYT just brought me to tears.

Not going to excerpt it at all. It's not long and it needs to be read in full to get the full impact. If you read nothing else today, read this. It's a celebration of life rather than a mourning of loss. Something that really resonates with me this week as I continue to struggle for acceptance on losing my Dad.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

RIP Len Weinglass

I almost missed this obit:

Leonard Weinglass, a crusading lawyer who championed radical and liberal causes and clients in some of the most controversial trials of the 1960s and '70s, including the Chicago 7 and Pentagon Papers cases, died Wednesday in New York City. He was 77.

I worked with Len as a minor player on the defense team for Amy Carter and Abbie Hoffman in the CIA on Trial case back in 87. Very nice man and brilliant defense lawyer. Very sad. Great loss to civil rights activism. RIP.

[Via Avedon who always has a bunch of other stuff worth reading.]

So long and thanks for all the trips

He expanded the minds of many in the generation we now call boomers.
Owsley Stanley, famous for producing and distributing his own homemade LSD, literally by the bucketful, is dead. Frankly, I didn't think he was still alive but sorry to hear he died, especially so tragically in an auto accident.

Purple Owsley, and its sucessor batches under different names was so pure, its name was invoked with reverence and it's ingestion considered almost a religious sacrament among those of us who sought the fringe edges of pure consciousness in those days. He was the heartbeat of peace and love in the 60s, before the opportunists and charlatans co-opted the hippie movement.

Rest in peace.

Still Missing Jon Swift

Seems hard to believe the blogger known as Jon Swift has been gone for less than a year. There's been so many times in the intervening months that I thought, "Jon would have skewered these idiots so perfectly had he still been with us," that it felt longer.

The gaping hole he left in Blogtopia(y!sctp!) will never be filled but big thanks to Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar for continuing Jon's tradition of linking to lesser known blogs. In memory of our lost compatriot, the "Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2010" keeps Jon's spirit and generosity alive.

I was supposed to send in an entry, but time got away from me, so I left it in the comments and repost it here. The idea is for each blogger to pick the post they thought was their best of the year. Seemed appropriate to me to repost my eulogy, Blogging and Crying: RIP Jon Swift.