First "Tweet"

I just posted my first Tweet. I don't know who will come out Iowa with the victory tonight, but the "inevitability" of the nomination of Romney is growing, more out of a sense of desperation than anything. Obama has a lot of money to shred Romney, although Romney is showing that he can get a lot of money behind him also. Short of some kinds of serious Obama missteps in handling some totally unexpected occurrences that end up affecting a lot of people negatively, Obama will be re-elected, for better or worse. For better in most ways, compared to any of the republican candidates, and most U.S. citizens can see that.

Iowa republican caucuses

It's hard to believe, but tomorrow is the Iowa republican caucuses. I'm like the rest of the pundits, I wouldn't dare make a prediction. I guess Ron Paul could win. The mainstream media is downplaying that, saying that wouldn't make much of a difference. I don't think I agree with that, but we will see.

I had a conversation with Kristi today about who, if we were republicans, we might vote for. Kristi, very wisely, wouldn't say. I, however, put my foot in my mouth and said that if I was a republican I'd probably vote for Huntsman. 

I mean, how dumb can the republicans get. They have one candidate who has avoided all the negatives and is moderate and good looking enough (and has the creative young daughters) to actually pose a threat to Obama, and the republicans have thrown him away. They deserve to lose to Obama badly for being so dumb. I guess I'm glad they are.

Court grants our motion for oral arguments in case over Shawnee National Forest injunction

I learned from our attorney on Friday that the Southern District of Illinois federal court had granted our motion for oral arguments in regard to the motion filed by the U.S. Forest Service to lift the injunction against commercial logging, oil and gas leasing, and off-road vehicles which is currently in effect on the Shawnee as the outcome of a lawsuit that we filed in the 1990s.

The Forest Service doesn't really want these oral arguments, and had not supported them. Obviously, they wanted the judge to lift the injunction based on the brief they had filed. The problem is, their brief was less than forthcoming about reality. The hearing is set for Feb. 16, in Benton, Illinois. Stay tuned for more.

Sunday News Shows

Wow, can you believe that we are now writing 2012? Time flies when you are having fun. 

Of course the news shows today were obsessed with the Iowa caucases, which are going to held Tuesday. The Democrats don't have a race become they have an incumbent running for his second term. But the republican race for who will get on the ballot to challenge incumbent Obama is hot and heavy, and this is what everyone was talking about. Well, the McLaughlin group had part 2 of their annual awards for this and that in the political realm.

The McLaughlin group show was the most entertaining. But gosh, with Buchanan, Rich Lowery, and Mort Zuckerman, the ridiculous factor redlines. Who would have guessed that Rich Lowery might have made us wish for Monica Crowley?

The republican presidential primary discussion is in a rut. Well, I guess the rut is of it's own making because you can only talk about those that are actually running. I know these things, especially in Iowa, are a bit hard to predict, but it looks to me like Romney will probably get the nomination. The reason I say that isn't because the rank and file republicans are fervently behind him - no, it's because the republican mainstream thinks he has the best chance to win, and know the rules to get their guy in. That gives them a leg up in the process which is probably going to be just enough.

Sure, a lot of time was spent discussing Santorum, but let's be honest here - the only reason he is going up in the polls is because he was so low in the polls that he has escaped the brunt of the negative advertising and the intense scrutiny that comes when you start to go up in the polls. Since all the other top candidates have had a lot of bad stuff come out about them, Santorum looks relatively clean, and thus, attractive, because the rest look so bad. But wait until they get a hold of him in the negative ad world. He'll get as sliced and diced as the next flesh and blood candidate. 

Michelle Bachman had a chance back after the straw poll, and immediately screwed it up when she made her statement about the child that was autistic because of vaccinations. She got blown out of the water on that one, whether or not she deserved to be, and she handled the aftermath poorly. She's out of the running.

I don't think any of the republicans can beat Obama. I have predicted for awhile now that Obama will get reelected and nothing has happened to change my opinion on that. I don't believe that Romney can do it. He'll get shredded by Obama's money for his big changes in positions - his flip-flops, and people will choose the devil they know, so to speak.

Romney playing "inevitability" card

Romney is now playing the "inevitability" card in the Iowa republican primary race. It remains to be seen whether or not it will work. But the mainstream media is definitely picking up on it. It goes something like "I have the best chance to beat Obama, and therefore, I'm going to be the nominee, better get behind me." 

It might work. There are some pragmatic republicans. Aren't there? Of course there are. And they are going to shrug their shoulders and vote for Romney. Aren't they? Romney wants to make it seem like it's inevitable. We'll see. But one thing I agree with the mainstream media is that if Romney wins both Iowa and New Hampshire, he's going to be hard to stop. 

Can he beat Obama? I don't think so, unless something almost unimaginably bad happens that is something that the president could have influenced in some way. It could happen, but probably won't. Short of that, Romney, if nominated, will lose to Obama in the general.

Lake Glendale drawdown update

I previously wrote a few days ago about stumbling on the drawdown of Lake Glendale in the Shawnee National Forest on Christmas Day when we decided to take a walk around the reservoir - an about 3 1/2 mile walk. 

It was obvious that much of the lake had been drained. We thought it was curious, because we have had the all time record annual rainfall year this year, and the ponds on our place are full. Why should Lake Glendale be really drawn down?

We bantered about theories as we walked around the reservoir, but settled on that it was being done probably with a justification that it is for control of aquatic plants. I guess at this point it needs to be explained that Lake Glendale has a "designated" swimming area. And, you can't just go swim there - you have to pay, sort of like you do in a swimming pool. There is building that you have to pass thru and pay to get to the artificial beach and swimming area. And there are large fences that block off a side run to the beach. Although the Forest Service has lots of employees, they contract out running that facility to a private concessionaire. They get to run the swimming area, and some campgrounds. They probably aren't getting rich with it, but they are likely making money.

So I sent the supervisor of the Shawnee and the planning officer, both of which I know, an email, and just asked them what the reason for the drawdown was. It took a little longer than normal to get an answer - over 24 hours, and when I did I was a little surprised to learn from the Shawnee planning officer "that the concessionaire at Lake Glendale is permitted to lower the lake level to aid in aquatic vegetation control in the swimming area. Engineering believes he is also going to be doing some work in the beach area." 

While I do approve of using non-chemical treatments to try and control when absolutely necessarily, I'm not in favor of vegetation control on every whim. Nature isn't stupid in the long run and is a lot cheaper than what the agency often wants to do. But the government sitting back and letting a private contractor make decisions outside the normal decision making procedure that federal agencies have to follow on public land - that is a different matter. 

I think this should have gone through some kind of environmental review process with public notification. I'm not sure how I will proceed in this. But drawing down a reservoir, even one that isn't huge but isn't tiny either, is a major endeavor. It affects a lot of creatures and humans. And it IS on public land (isn't it?). And, it seems odd to me that the supervisor and the planning officer didn't seem to know that the drawdown had even occurred. Can that be right? A private contractor can make major decisions about a public resource with no public notification? Can they?

Ron Paul has real problems

I have to say that although I definitely do not agree with Ron Paul on a number of issues, there are some issues that I definitely relate to what he says. And, I, like many others in the US, have thought that Paul was a straight shooter - having a fundamental sense of integrity and of himself. 

But I have to say that I have been disappointed lately in the disclosure about these newsletters that he published under his name and some of the things that are in those newsletter. Paul is trying to distance himself from those things, and for good reason. Some of the things in those newsletters are bigoted hate speech. 

I don't think Paul can escape from this by just acting innocent - like he didn't realize what was in his newsletters. He had a responsibility to, if not know every single word, to know the tone of what he was publishing. Also, he should have known that if his poll numbers rose high enough, that just about everything he ever did would be ultra-scrutinized. And if he is a serious candidate, then he should have dealt with this before now. 

Paul may still do well in Iowa, because there may not be enough time for this to really get out. But I think he will fade. Although it's obvious that a lot of republicans do not like Romney, it's looking like he may be the last man standing. But, Romney will never defeat Obama unless something very unlikely comes out about Obama or occurs that makes Obama look awful. I doubt if that will happen. Obama, for all his good and bad, treads very carefully on political grounds, and he has already been scrutinzed by a presidential campaign. The Solyndra issue is not enough to sink him. But isn't it going to be interesting to see what happens in Iowa and then New Hampshire. Have to love it!

Chemical truck accident at the Calvert City exit off I-24 brings back memories

Way back in what seems like another lifetime, I was a central part - not the leader, but right in the center of things - of a movement to try and close Liquid Waste Disposal (LWD), a hazardous waste incinerator that was operating in the middle of a major chemical manufacturing complex in Calvert City, Kentucky, not that far from where I live. 

I was very concerned about the impacts of the this incinerator - it's history was sordid - bringing in a toxic soup of wastes from everything from nuclear power plants to chemical plants from across the country, and burning them in incinerators that didn't work right. It was a recipe for cancer, and cancer was happening.

And while we eventually had major environmental organizations like Greenpeace, NRDC, and the Sierra Club on our side, the state of Kentucky was steadfast in keeping the facility open, primarily because the owner was pumping money into campaign contributions to the governors of the moment. We tried court, but the state and the incinerator had enough resources to drag it out enough so that, even with the support of these major organizations, we couldn't sustain the legal challenges.

So on and on the incinerator burned. Eventually though, predictions that we had made during hearings started to come true. The contamination at the site was so serious, and the cleanup so expensive, that the facility itself didn't have the resources to deal with it. That left the state of Kentucky holding the bag. Finally they had no choice but to close the place. It still isn't resolved, but the state of Kentucky is out millions of dollars at the minimum - just as we had predicted. 

And so this morning, when WPSD-TV reported that a chemical truck had overturned and spilled chemicals onto the exit ramp, and that Kentucky's Dept. of Transportation's PR dude, Keith Todd, was quoted as saying that "there wasn't any danger to drivers" driving over the area where the chemicals had spilled, it brought a lot back to me. 

The reason it brought a lot back to me is because Keith Todd, at the time that we were trying to get LWD closed, before it would have cost the state so much to close it, was the PR dude for LWD. (Before that he was a reporter at WPSD-TV) Innumerable times Todd criticized environmentalists, and downplayed environmental effects at the facility. Time has proved him wrong. Yet, he was rewarded with a government job. And now he is probably doing the same thing - downplaying hazards. Isn't it ironic? As a songwriter Sam Leopold that I met many years ago who made one album on Mercury records with Van Morrison's band, wrote in one of his songs, "Oh, the grass has turned to weeds as less and less we are judged on our deeds." But when you hear Keith Todd telling you not to worry, maybe you should worry.

Lake Glendale drawn way down

Christmas day here was a beautiful day. It was sunny and the afternoon high was over 50. That makes for a great winter day here. So, we decided to celebrate Christmas by a nature walk, so we decided to go walk the 3 mile plus trail around Lake Glendale. Lake Glendale is really a small reservoir of under 40 acres that was created by the U.S. Forest Service back about 75 or more years ago. It is pretty developed for southern Illinois, which means an artificially created beach where the public can swim (for a fee to a concessionaire), camp, picnic, and hike. It's a nice area. It's also only about a 1/2 hour drive from our place. 

But when we got there, and started down to the hiking trail that goes around the reservoir, we immediately noticed that the reservoir was very low. It seemed odd because we have had a record year in terms of rainfall - some 77" of rain in an area that expects only about 50 on a good, decent wet year. And lately it has rained frequently and substantially. Our ponds on our place are full. We knew something was wrong.

We don't know exactly what the reason is, but I will try to find out. It may be that they are trying to kill aquatic vegetation, but I doubt if that will work. It may be that they are worried about the dam after another FS dam that built on a similarly sized reservoir in the same county failed after heavy rains this spring.

On the downwind side of the reservoir, the smell was unpleasant - that of moldy, rotting wet organic plant material. On the upwind side, all you smelled was the nice green smell of the pine plantations which dominate the landscape around the reservoir. But there was little waterfowl. We did see a pair of sapsuckers, several golden crowned kinglets, and a number of the regular birds that you would expect in the winter around here.

Washington DC is becoming the center of spinelessness

About 5pm today Central time I heard on NPR that the house republicans had caved in on their stance to hold out for a full year of the middle class tax cut. Everyone who knew anything about politics knew that Boehner's position was a sham. The house wasn't just holding out for a year long tax, they were adding all these other controversial things to it - like gutting the EPA, labor laws, permanent tax cuts for the rich, and on and on. 

Apparently Boehner had already agreed to the senate compromise and then backed out of it. The republicans must have really been taking a hit in the polls, because even Mitch McConnell had to swallow his pride this morning and call on Boehner to give in to the senate. What happened to core beliefs, to spine?

The thing that is so absurd is that Boehner tries to come off as standing up for the working guy when no one believes it at all. What as it Lincoln said - you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. And that is what Boehner thinks he can do. Silly. It's amazing how bad these politicians can end up looking on the media. And even on the media that doesn't really want to make them look bad. 

Boehner doesn't come off that bad as a personality. Better than I thought he would. But his substance is just not there. And that has become one of the trademarks of the republicans - no substance. That problem is permeating the republican presidential primary, as many of these guys who are fairly moderate in their beliefs try to shimmy to the right to pick up the necessary votes to get the nomination. It's a much more severe shimmying than even the democrats do - and Obama has had his share of shimmies. 

Ever since Mitch McConnell announced that his number one goal was to make Obama a one term president, the republicans have gotten themselves mired in this strategy that appears more and more like it is a personal attack against this president - which it is. That gets interpreted by the general public as obstructionism. Obama comes off as a bit spineless but sincere and wanting to help. The republicans are setting themselves up to lose their majority in the house. McConnell is going have to share a lot of the blame as he is the main crafter of the strategy.

Sunday News Shows

Well, I have to say that the republicans made the biggest news today in my opinion. And both of the statements that caught my ear were made on Meet the Press by John Boehner and Michelle Bachman. Boehner said - "And we all know, when it comes to legislating, there are two things that people should never watch, sausage being made and laws being made."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45687042/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/

Oh really, Mr. Boehner? We should never see laws being made? That sounds completely totalitarian and dictatorial. I thought that a democracy meant that not only did people see laws being made but they participated. Apparently you share that view. Of course, David Gregory just let that one pass - typical of the mainstream pundits. 

And then, in the face of continued questions about the accuracy of statements that she makes, Michelle Bachman, in response to Ron Paul's statement on one of the network comedy talk shows that Bachman "hates Muslims," raved that Iran has "stated unequivocally once they gain a nuclear weapon, they will use that weapon to wipe Israel off of the map and they will use it against the United States. As recently as August and September of this year, the president of Iran again declared that sentiment. the Iranian president had said that Iran wanted the nuclear bomb and when they got it was going to use it on Israel and the U.S." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45687042/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/

Oh really, Ms. Bachman? And on what date did he make that statement? My recollection is that Iran repeatedly denies that they are even trying to obtain a nuclear weapon, let alone that they are going to use it. This is the kind of hyperbole that has gotten Bachman in trouble and insures that she will not be president.

McLaughlin Group this evening

I haven't had a chance for many weeks to watch the McLaughlin Group live on a Friday night. I did tonight, and I really enjoyed it. And while one of the major reasons that I like McLaughlin is that he veers from the mainstream media train of thought, I am always pleased when he surprises me. And he did again tonight when his lead story was about how well Ron Paul was doing in Iowa. 

You can't follow politics and not know that Ron Paul is a sleeper in the republican presidential nomination race. His libertarian and isolationist views are attractive to many people. Well, maybe I am wrong in characterizing them as "isolationist," but he does advocate for a much less aggressive foreign policy for the U.S. And I have to admit that I have a lot of similar feelings. 

And while "smaller government" also has a ring of universal appeal, Paul's view of "smaller government" seems to be radically smaller than most of us are used to. And the other day on CNN I heard him basically accuse people on unemployment did want to work if they could make as much on unemployment. That is an oversimplistic view of the world, and I don't respect him for that. And if it came down strictly to Ron Paul vs. Obama, I'd have to vote for Obama. But the fact that Paul is getting so much traction says a lot about the republicans.

While the republicans on the panel did not think that Gingrich would win the Iowa caucuses, they wouldn't predict that Paul would win. What they did predict is that if Romney did win, that it was likely that he would waltz to the nomination, and that a Gingrich win in Iowa was the one thing that could stop him. 

To tell you the truth, at this point, I don't think it matters who the republicans nominate. Their field is so relatively weak against a sitting president that hasn't made any huge mistakes that it is looking more and more like a blow out. The mainstream media is still calling it close, but I think they are doing that to sell ads. We will see.

Donald Trump back in the race? HAH!

Donald Trump has cancelled his so-called presidential forum in Iowa. He now says it is because he may get back into the race for president as a 3rd party candidate. Who is he kidding? The guy is so full of himself and for dubious reasons. He should remember that the it is the meek that will inherit the earth, or so we have been taught. His boasting and egotism are not the way that most people think is the right way to act.

But as far as I'm concerned, I hope he does. While I think Obama is going to be re-elected, this would seal it and probably deliver to Obama a "mandate," whatever that means. 

I've previously referred to Trump as a "moron" and I stand by that.

Gingrich = Mondale?

It's really hard to believe how the politics in our country is going - especially considering how close we are to the republican's first presidential primary in Iowa - just a few weeks away. If the republicans are down to nominating Gingrich, that doesn't say a lot for the party. As some of the pundits have said, he "has more baggage than United Airlines."

But he is an intelligent guy. And he has been speaking well at the debates, compared to Rick Perry and such. Judge for yourself. What a challenge, huh, to outdebate Rick Perry? Well, the pundits say that Mitt Romney is Gingrich's biggest rival, but maybe yes, maybe no. Ron Paul has a lot of core support. It's so weird that Romney is probably the best candidate, but the party can't get behind him in mass, which is what it would take to bring down Obama.

And it isn't that Obama is running such a great campaign thus far. He's just hanging in there. But he comes off as sincere and smart. Gingrich comes off as smart, but smarmy - know it all. Unless something really turns bad for the worst nationally, I don't think Gingrich can beat Obama. We may be looking at the republican equivalent to Walter Mondale.

Cain can't be serious can he?

The one thing I would say about Herman Cain that seems amazing to me is that, if it comes out being true about the so-called "affair" with an "other" woman, he has to be one of the dumbest people around if he thought he could run a serious presidential candidacy and not have this come out. We'll see. More to come. 

But there used to be a Godfather's Pizza in Paducah, which Kristi and I ate at once, but it only stayed open a couple years and closed. I don't know if that was when Cain was head of that business, but the one in Paducah was cookie cutter. It couldn't compete with Pizza By the Pound.

There are few secrets left in the everyday person's life. The wealthy can keep secrets a little better, because they can pay a lot for it. But one secret that is bound not to be kept is an affair by a "serious" U.S. presidential candidate. And when Cain started to go to the top of the polls he invited the scrutiny. Maybe he thought he'd never get as popular as he was. But he did. That has consequences. I'm sure he won't be the republican nominee.

A Soup Sandwich (and screwing it up)

When I was a kid we used to say to each other from time to time, "You'd screw up a soup sandwich." I have no idea what that really means, but we used to say it when someone messed up something that should have been easy. 

That's just what Mitch McConnell and the republicans did today when they spoke out against renewing the tax breaks for the average income earner while still speaking out against asking the richest in the country to contribute a little more. Does McConnell really think that this is a winning position for his party? If he does, he either never learned simple math, or he's delusional. 

Obama is going to wipe up the court with him and his republicans in November of 2012 if this kind of things continues, which it probably will. And yet, it wasn't that long ago that the republicans had reaped big gains in the 2010 election and everyone was talking about a republican wave. This is screwing up a soup sandwich if I ever saw it.

Sunday News Shows

I watched the news shows as usual. I have to say that the thing that caught my attention the most was Donna Groves, news director of WKWX-WKYQ radio stations in Paducah, was once again on the Comment on Kentucky commonwealth political talking heads show. 

I came into the show in progress, but Groves addressed three western Kentucky issues, well, actually identified as "McCracken County" issues. The first was the legal problems of the Amish as they continue to get arrested for refusing to put orange warning triangles on their horse and buggies. I thought Ms. Groves had some good information about that, particularly about the different sects of Amish. I knew a lot of that, but she had some info that I didn't know. 

The second issue was the abuse by an employee of the McCracken County Humane Society shelter which included animal abuse and brutality to unknown numbers of dogs and cats. This has been a big story in the local news in the last week. The third was the embezzlement of the funds from the convention center. 

I wouldn't call them sunshine stories for our region. They are all harsh and unpleasant. But I'm glad to see that Ms. Groves is getting some time on the show. She speaks well. 

I also had to say to Kristi today that I finally agree with Evan Thomas on something, and appreciate what he had to say when he said that bottom line, congress was "bought and sold." Generally I don't agree nor particularly like what Thomas has to say, but I did today on that one. 

Mark Shields took a strong stand, even against Eleanor Clift, the consummate democrat mouthpiece, questioning Obama's move to establish a military base in Australia. I was happy to hear that. And Newt Gingrich. He's a smart guy, but I don't think he can get elected president.

Occupy movements and the US standing in the world

Isn't it ironic that as the US tries to stand up to regimes like in Syria, Iran, and North Korea, among other countries, by calling them "dictatorial" and crushing of basic human rights, our own streets are filled with police crushing grassroots protests against basic and obvious injustices in our society. 

It's such an obvious bit of being two faced that it damages the U.S. credibility as a legitimate voice for peaceful, human rights based democracy. 

I know that the protest camps are not a panacea and are riddled with problems. But so are slums and other poor neighborhoods, and while many of these are subject to overpolicing, haven't received the concentrated police over reactions that we have seen ordered against the Occupy protesters.

I just don't see the need for the massive forces of riot like police using heavy handed tactics to clear out these people. What is it about these folks that scares these big city mayors?

There is no doubt that the message about the injustice in the way that wealth is distributed in our country is well based. It's just that politicians are getting their money from the rich and they don't want to stick their necks out to stop it.

But I had written many weeks ago that one of the turning points of the movement would be how they would react as city governments across the country decided to clear them out of their occupations. While there have been some reactions, like those in NYC and Oakland, overall, how the movement reacts is still to be seen in longer range terms. I think that this has yet to be perfected, but may actually end up defining whether the movement fades away or grows. 

We are at an interesting, critical, and maybe even dangerous point in the history of country. We can listen to the voices of the little men and women out there telling the truth, or we can ignore it and go on in our greed and ignorance. But that is a recipe for disaster and the ripping apart of our country. Unfortunately, most of the politicians, and even the supreme court judges, are way too bought off by the corporate way of thinking and in many cases their money. There is little chance of any kind of radical change happening quickly enough to ward off societal clashes. And that worries me. 

It's like in Syria, where they keep shooting people and the protests keep growing. Even in the U.S., the sentiments are not going to be erased by riot police - in fact, they will only be made to grow stronger. That will result in increased resolve, which will mean more confrontation. It's not a good cycle. It would be better if we fairly and peacefully resolved our differences. Don't see it happening though.

Prairie Home Companion comes to Murray State

Kristi and I attended the live broadcast of NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion” (PHC) radio show, which was performed last Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, at the CFSB center, the basketball arena at Murray State University, not far from here in Murray, Kentucky.

We had attended one other live PHC about 5 years ago at the Minnesota State Fair. We planned it during a three week trip to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. On the way home we went through Minneapolis-St. Paul and went to the Minnesota State Fair and saw the PHC there. We figured that would be just about the consummate PHC to experience live, and I think we were right. We also saw Garrison do a one man stand up at Shryock auditorium at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, a couple years after that. That too was an amazing performance.

But this show was being held at Murray State University, the home of the NPR station, WKMS-FM that we listen to when we listen to NPR. It was only a little more than a hour drive to the center, and it wasn’t that expensive. So we thought we couldn’t miss it. 

There was a good crowd, I’ve heard the station say around 4 thousand. At this point, I don’t think the size of a crowd on a given performance really impacts the PHC cast that much. But, the crowd was appreciative, and how couldn’t you be, given the quality of the music?

The theme of the show was a tribute to the Bill Monroe in honor of the hundredth anniversary of his birth, which had occurred this year. Monroe, the “father of bluegrass” music, was born in Rosine, Kentucky, which Garrison Keilor described generously as “not far from here” although it is a couple hours drive from Murray. I guess compared to how far it is from Minneapolis-St. Paul, it is “not far.” But they aren’t next door neighbors either.

The way that Garrison and PHC decided to honor Murray was to have a number of musicians that actually played with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys come to the show and play tunes that they had performed with Monroe. The show, smartly, featured the music. I’d say at least ½ of the entire show was music. There was only one skit - “Guy Noir,” a concise “News from Lake Wobegon” and a Ketchup commercial.

When we saw Garrison at the Minnesota State Fair, and at Shryock, he was lively, seemed to be happy. But last Saturday, in Murray, he seemed kinda down in the dumps, depressed, distracted. Not that this affected his performance - it didn’t. He handled the show with perfection. But it was obvious that he just wasn’t happy - that his mind was elsewhere. 

Kristi and I think that he was down about the recent death of his friend, fellow radio dude, radio noise guru, Tom Keith. Keith had died just a few days before the show. Keith was one of the original Prairie Home Companion cast. To show how much they were impacted by his death, each of the PHC staff took turns in a short eulogy of Mr. Keith. It was obvious from the statements that he was well loved and that his passing had hit the cast hard. 

It makes sad sense to me that Garrison would be extraordinarily sad about the death of Mr. Keith. He had been with Garrison since the beginning, and let’s face it, Garrison is a sound effects type of guy. He loves weird sounds. But still, it was hard seeing Garrison down in the dumps. 

And while you can only say that Garrison was most generous in his portrayal of Murray by linking Murray to Bill Monroe’s birthplace, and furthermore linking it to the incredible music that was played on the show, the show’s other statements about the Murray region were, well, not quite on the same pinnacle as linking the area to Bill Monroe. In fact, one might conclude that they were, may I say, “controversial,” although I think it will sail over the heads of the Western Kentucky media, and hey, maybe I’m wrong about this. And to be honest, I think it was more a comment on the stereotype of "Kentucky" more than aimed specifically at Murray. All one has to do is listen to the lecture of Kentucky poet laureate Judy Vance Gentry or Gentry Vance about the difference between the myth of "Kentucky" and the reality to know that this is a real issue. 

Let’s start with Garrison’s description of the university. He usually does this when he broadcasts from a university campus. He gives a bit of a rap about the university, and most of the time, he’ll mention what their most well known programs are, and mention some of the famous people that have graduated from that facility. For Murray State, he mentioned their basketball team and the equine science program. No outstanding individuals were mentioned. It was short shrift really - I don’t know how else you could describe it. I mean, if the basketball team is the best that Murray can come up, then you would expect that it would be a national champion or near so team regularly. No doubt, Murray has a good team consistently for the size of the school, but it isn’t a serious national contender year after year. So the reference to the basketball team was either the best he could come up with or something else. If it was the best he could up with, then Murray State has some soul searching to do. I do think he missed out by not mentioning the Crutchfield brothers and their contribution to the country/pop music industry in Nashville - a more than minor contribution.

But that’s not all. Let’s look at the Guy Noir plot. Besides Guy, the main character was the father of a great basketball player from Murray, who had just graduated from high school. The father, however, was terrified that the son was plotting to go to college and play basketball at Western Kentucky University, a couple hours to the east in Bowling Green. He hired Guy to stop that from happening after he noticed that the odometer reading on his car had over 300 miles when his son had the car for the weekend. That was just about the right mileage for a trip to Bowling Green and back.

So Guy went to Murray and decided he needed to follow the kid. He goes to a car rental place, and finds that the only rental he can get is a pickup truck . His truck comes with a dog in the front - Guy chose a coon hound - and a choice of shotgun or rifle for the gun rack in the back window. These were necessary, according to the rental guy, to keep from being to0 obvious as an outsider - something it was implied that wasn't a good thing. 

Then Guy went to a café in Murray. He asked for a salad, and the guy acted like he didn’t know what he was talking about. Guy tried to explain that all he wanted was some fresh greens, but he couldn’t get through to the proprietor. 

So Guy took his pickup truck rental with his coon hound and followed the son and found him in the “Transcendental Banjo” club in Nashville. Without going into details about what went on in that club, Guy brought the kid home. But when he got him home, the father knocked out the son with ether and tattooed on his forehead, “RACERS,” the nickname of the Murray State basketball team. This was supposed to insure that he would never play for Western Kentucky University. Garrison ended the skit by saying, “Kentucky, where there are strong loyalties…” But what did he mean by that, and was this really a compliment? These were not “progressive” views of our region. I hope that someone is listening.

And then there was his aside about deer hunting in his News from Lake Wobegon report. Garrison knew darn well that it was just getting into the prime deer hunting seasons in the region, and he referred more than once to deer “harvest” as “killing” and his statements had an animal rights flavor to them. Nevertheless, this isn't the first time that he has commented on deer hunting.

But there is no doubt that the good bestowed on Murray by linking Murray to Bill Monroe and that wonderful music far outweighed any digs he may have given to the area. It took Murray a long time to land the Prairie Home Companion, but it was a great show, and Kristi and I were both really glad that we went. But I do hope that people were looking beyond the spectacle of the show to the real message, and will think carefully about how it is that our region is perceived by progressive and creative thinkers.

11/11/11

I have to say that I am a bit of a nut when it comes to numbers. I'm not a great mathmetician or anything like that. But I am facinated by numbers that come up randomly. A good example, but by no means the only one, would be the numbers on your gas pump when you just turn on the pump and let it fill up and turn off automatically. That has to one of the most randomly generated numbers that I can think of. Your hand is off the gismo, and there is no way that anyone can know with precision how much empty space is in a tank, how fast the pump can pump, what the gas price will be on a particular day, etc. when they pull into the gas station. When that nozzle is stuck in the intake, and the gas starts pumping, and you take your hands off it, and it shuts off on its own, that is a very random situation. 

And that fascinates me. But it isn't only the random stuff. But it's how the random can, from time to time, become totally patterned, but again, in a totally random manner. For example, an auto shutoff at a gas pump could and does end up on whole numbers - like $23 of gas. And the next guy that pulls into the pump could do the same thing and stop on $22 or $21. Or some other regular pattern. It doesn't happen that often, but it does happen. And it's more than once every thousand years. 

I like to look at the individual numbers, how they add up, both in combinations and in total, and the actual number created by the 4 digits (for example, 21.52). Sometimes random numbers might tell you something about what is going to happen next. Maybe not. Who knows? I more think it does more than it doesn't. A lot of this life is illusion isn't it? 

So here we are at 11/11/11. This is a special number to me for a lot of reasons. It could very well be that a kid that was born on 11:11 on 11/11/11 might "save the world." Probably not, moreso because the world probably can't be saved, but who knows? And that is my point. So enjoy the day. It's a special one!