44

What exactly is the word I'm looking for right now? Is "lordy" the word I seek? You know, as in, "...lordy, lordy, lordy...." It's something my grandmother might have said but it seems apropos for many reasons. Or, am I looking for something less a word and more of a...more of an exhalation? I will close my eyes, take a huge lungful of gentle, warm, moist air in through my nose and slowly, slowly, so very slowly exhale through puckered lips.

I just did this exact "breathing technique." Several times now.

There. What the hell?

It's all so different now, ain't it? But I'm sitting at the same kitchen table, using the same laptop, I see the same trees outside. Martha's house. Miriam is parked across the street; nothing different about any of that. This coffee tastes familiar. I am writing about stuff and trying to read about a dozen things at the same time (highlighted by the FoOl's Chinese Laundry posting). Everything seems to be the same as it was on Friday, January 16, 2009.

But today is Wednesday, January 21, 2009. Shit if "it" isn't all so very different...all of a sudden. Today. Just right now.

After 8 years of the W Bush administration, after a speech at a political convention in 2004, after John "Reporting for Duty" Kerry, after an 18-month presidential campaign, after "Heck of a job, Brownie," after The Great Depression of 2008 where the economy is fundamentally sound, after Sarah Palin , after Ashley Todd, after The Great Election of 2008, and after the inauguration where we actually peacefully passed the baton of World's Most Important Person from the son of an oil tycoon, senator, ambassador, CIA chief, vice president, and president to some black dude who is still accused of being a Muslim and a socialist...here we are. All of a sudden everything is radically different. Feel it? You feelin' it? I am.

It is not like today I have to provide links to articles that say the same damn thing because everybody is saying the same damn thing (except for the rube-mopetards who are arguing that Barack isn't the legitimate president because he and John Roberts got into some "rabbit season is open" routine). Some things are just that universal and that self-evident. Only the deepest levels of rube-mopetardism do not get it today.

Rich wrote:

My three favorite moments:

1) Having my belief system elevated from "and others" to "non-believer." I'm finally accepted in America. The white, male, Ivy League graduate finally feels accepted in America.

2) "We will restore science to its rightful place." Oh snap! George, are you still here?

3) Rev. Lowery to Rev. Warren: Let me show you how it's done, you fat, fucking mope-teed blowhard.

With regard to Rich's Item 1, President Obama said the following:

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

Non-believers? Jesus Christ! I do believe this is the first time that I have heard someone, anyone, in the official U.S. Government executive branch acknowledge in a sensible way the category that has and always will describe me: Non-believer. I suppose that if it's suddenly OK to have a black president, it must suddenly be OK to not believe in dragons, unicorns, Santa, and religions. For me and all of my friends that is one of the greatest American gifts of all time. It will soon be OK to be gay in America. Watch.

And, as a highly relevant and highly correlated segue, there is Rich's Item 2. As my friend Chris said through the character Roast Beef, "What we need more of...is science." No shit do we need more of...is science. More is the new less. Here's what President Obama said:

"We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do."

He didn't say we will wield the science to wage war on the [brown] terrorists or make bitchin' robots to do the work for our fat lazy asses and to replace poor [brown] people. The president said to use the science to help save people from a micro level (health care) to a macro level (energy/environment/education). He didn't say new sciences to jail [brown] people and eliminate the fear of [brown] immigration. He said to fix people and fix the world. Science? Represent!

And, logical segues all around today, with regard to Rich's Item 3, that's the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery. While most people will remember the Rev. Dr. for his invocation of black, brown, yellow, red, and white, I offer the following to the department of historical engraving:

"And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will."

As for "pastor Rick".... Rich said enough. For all of us.

From chat with Lily:

me: we have a black president though Lily: hell yeah!me: even better...we have...a really smart person at the helmLily: i'm so glad that smart is in!
me: smart is the new black
black is the new black
smart black is the new black
Smart black is the new black. Did you see Jay-Z's glasses? Exactly. But it is where we've landed. Michelle and Barack are captain and co-captain.

So how did I feel? Yesterday? I was oddly glued to the festivities, focused. I was unexpectedly bursting into tears. Not like I surprisingly noticed a single tear trickling down my cheek like that litter Indian. No, I would burst into full, heaving sob, out of nowhere; throat so clenched I could hardly swallow. Kissing my daughter on the head.

Once it was over the relief was palpable. Friends were sending the emailings, the texts, and actually using the telephone to reconnect once again; to pinch themselves and others to see "if it is real." We held our collective breath when the president walked the parade route. And we are slowly beginning to realize that this thing actually happened. I felt proud. I felt that "us people" -- the smart people -- have decided to do something. I felt that we have incrementally evolved as a species. That's how I felt. And this is how I still feel.

Lordy, lordy, lordy....

---------------------------

• Christine posted some photographs from Berkeley. I feel the third photo of this post (and related text) [clicky] probably describes how I felt.
• HNIC/VNIC images by Big Dave Wave.

Mope Squad America! Racism is Dead

I really had given up on racism, you know. Not whether I'm electing to be a racist or not (because we're all racist--that's simple human nature), but I'd given up on the concept of racism; whether it was a viable paradigm for survival and evolution. It's just so antiquated. Racism no longer serves any practical or aesthetic purposes. It's over like the teletype, the dial-up modem, and slavery. Racism is as old as saying, "da bomb." As in racism is da bomb. Racism melted in Paul Robeson's ice box back in the small times. Racism is over like the NBA.

My kid is sick and we stayed home yesterday and we're staying home today. You know, "we" are staying home, as if I had to call my boss and tell his racist ass that I'm staying home with my ill offspring and will miss out on my two-hour commute and that whole office scene (I visited an office on Monday and was horrified). We had to stay home? No. The B stayed home and I am working from the couch and when she naps or plays the piano. Quote of the day from yesterday: "I know you're sick but you cannot play the piano with your knees." Anyway, we're home and she's watching the TeeVee because that's what you do when you're sick and she's watching Curious George and the narrator goes, "There's no job so hard that even a monkey can't do it." Or something...I'm forgetting. But the first thing I thought of with that line was my boy Barack Obama in the oval office. You know, monkey...hard job. C'mon! That's some funny racist shit [with a way too long and disjointed set up].

It's perfectly OK to poke racist, sexist, classist fun. Because it's funny, that's why! Seriously. Everybody knows that that racist, sexist, classist humor is the funniest humor and people are lying if they say otherwise.

I never really embraced racism because I was born post-race. But racism as a practice is just like wicked stale now. In this age of Tiger Woods, Ben Harper, Derek Jeter, Barack Obama, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Saul "Slash" Hudson, fellow UCSC graduate Maya Rudolph, and me, Ty Hardaway--[Rich, clicky for that Mya Roudolph/bedbugs thing I was talking about in the car in the ghettos of Cambridge]--in the present era, "race" is totally and completely irrelevant anymore.

We long ago found new and better ways besides race and skin color to divide ourselves into groups for the purposes of cultural warfare? We now use money and intelligence. Mulattos are the new robber barons of American culture.

[Ed. note: Speaking of culture and race, I have received several emails asking me if and alluding that I'm the Blognigger. Uh, no. Here are the clues: First, I am 10 years older than the Blognigger (I still say "da bomb" and stuff). I've never been to Park Slope and have only even been to New York City a handful of times. Blognigger pwned Berkeley, I pwned Santa Cruz (and Claremont before that). And the last clue: He's damn good. Really, really good. Different people, obviously. Besides, to execute a concept piece where you're a participant in another person's site is way too complex--brilliant but complex. I am not the Blognigger.]

If you're still dividing based on skin color, you're using old some old-ass pre-computer finger-counting math. But this morning I heard "Natalie the racist from Winchester [VA]" on the radio and I was horrified by her old-school and overtly proud racism. And in this case my horror wasn't any sense of personal fright or danger, but my horror was that people like this are still crawling around the grout of American civilization in the year of our lord 2008. It was...kind of quaint and oddly amusing because I felt so evolved from that kind of thinking. She was single digit addition and subtraction to my vector and tensor analysis. Mac versus PC. Toyota versus GM. Blue versus Red. McCain versus Obama. That shit is so CLEAR now. Not to say she's not a dangerous motherfucker, but she was so the embodiment of this whole Sarah Palin phenomenon.

Racism is as prehistoric as hell. Or politics. Or religion. Racism is so dead it shits its pants and smells terrible.

Mulattos for Obama Unite - 2008

Mope Squad America! Now it Begins

My friends, last night John-Sidney "No Change" McCain seemed to poorly read say to me, to paraphrase, "I fixed everything in Washington so Washington needs to be fixed!" His argument is pretty much like staging a revolution against yourself -- "The Republicans have got to go so the Republicans can move in and clean up the mess." He's been in "Washington" for 26 years and now he's gonna fix it? Wow.

I guess you can have it both ways, Senator, because you're just another one of the many Republican liars. Not that Democrats don't tell lies (I'm not picking sides here, really I don't like that party either) but the Republicans kind of expect everyone to fucking believe their bullshit. They act all incredulous if you don't. How dare you not believe all of our (well documented in the elite liberal Jewish media) lies you, you...you terrorist!

"We're going to recover the people's trust."
- Jon-Sidney "No Change" McCain

Also last night John-Sidney told us to “…teach an ill-ill-illiterate adult to r-read....” (then the camera panned to some 50-year-old guy with sign that reads “The Mavrick”) And then he listed a whole bunch of other ways in which you can put Country Above Self. Basically, his list read like a job description for a "Community Organizer" on the South Side of Chicago. He implored us to embark on a "cause greater than yourself!" Like…community service? He said that if we don't like how things are going in America we should do something like run for office. Uh, isn't that what "the other guy" is doing? But, his VP pick belittled everything about community service, community organizing and "experience."

I'm so confused.

Then during the heartwarming "narrative" portion of the big green screen show: Narrative of the Arms! He told us he was a POW (who knew, right?). But, I thought that we've all been fed the story that Jon-Sydney was all heroing in Vietnam when the so-called "gooks" unpatriotically captured him and broke his American Hero Arms into the tiny tyrannosaurus arms he has today. No! We learned just last night that he was basically a shitty, reckless pilot who wasn't thinking about America when he was all killing civilians and stuff when he crashed his own plane. Into a lake. And got caught. Which story should we go with, Senator Hero?

So, then he became a real U.S. American in the Hanoi prison ("And they broke me"). He became a real U.S. American in his 6x4' cell (in Hanoi) and came home and promptly put Country Family Values First and dumped his newly crippled wife Carol because she wasn't hot and rich and married Cindy because she was hot and rich and generally doped out of her fucking head most of the time. Divorced in April. Married again in May.

He vows to end "partisan rancor" (did he listen to ANY ONE ELSE who spoke at his convention?). He's going to change the tone in Washington. He's a uniter not a divider. He's...Just like George W. Bush! Hurray! And Republicans are now--adding to their leadership in feminism and civil rights--environmentalists. And they tell us that Obama bin Biden is all for Big Oil (and cowardice).

Since the Republicans have now been duped into following the Democrats Change/Hope framework for this election cycle, you tell me, who has better a story? Hopey-Mopey Harvard Law Hussein Obama or Jon-Sydney "No Change Mavirk" McCain. Story? Yes, because, as the McCain campaign told us, this election isn't about issues.

Whatevs. I ain't telling anybody how to vote, but c'mon, this is just dumb. Read today's Krugman: [clicky]. I'm just tired and insulted by this bullshit. "Drill-baby-drill," indeed.

The end.

Ask Ty...August 26

Q: How was your Vay Cay Sun?

Why did Barack America call Joe Biden the next president of the United States?

- Saty, D.C.


Ty: Good question and an even better observation, Saty.

Ahh, first day of school in the county. It's so good to be back to the grind. Yes, vacation was fine and "dad camp" -- the two weeks between summer camp and the first day of school -- was great. Really. Loved it. But it didn't provide me much space to work. Did I say it was two weeks and change?

Yes, on the August 23rd introduction, Barack "Mopey Hopey" Obama did indeed introduce Joe "Aneurysm Head" Biden as our next president. The slip was as such, "...so let me introduce to you, the next president — the next vice president of the United States of America: Joe Biden."

What you're missing here is that Joe is not only going to be our next president, but he's going to be our next vice president too. Bush-Cheney does leave us open to the possibility of a dictatorship. I would have believed that Cheney would have just declared himself king by now (and still may) but it appears that Joe will be our next American King.

But, yeah, that's what Barry Oh!® said. Just a slip of the tongue. Means nothing. At all. Right? But then you hear that a couple of dumb-ass Bufords were found in Denver with the hi-powered guns, scopes, bullet-proof vests and an elaborate plot to kill Barack on national TeeVee.... It just makes us more sad and more paranoid and more gripped with the fear that we're somehow still living out the Civil War (for some reason). Kill him because...because he's black? Really? We're still there? [clicky]

So there's a target on Obama's (for some dumb reason) and McCain's like 152-years-old. So, sadly and pathetically, maybe (just maybe) the vice presidency does matter. Not to take away anything from Dick "King of the County" Cheney and Al "Whatevs" Gore, the two most influential and powerful vice presidents, but shit.... Look where we are in America circa 2008. I mean, Nepal has a Maoist Prime Minister...I guess anything can happen.

WTF?

Just a guess,

-ty
--------------
Ask Ty... Archive: [clicky]

Blessings & Curses of Clintonism

"Lost in all this is the fact that, back in the day, Clinton and his New Democrats were themselves the outsiders taking on the ruling interest groups of the Democratic establishment the analog to bloggers and MoveOn.org activists, albeit from a different ideological direction. And it took no small amount of courage, at the end of the Reagan era, to argue inside the Democratic Party that the liberal orthodoxies of the New Deal and the Great Society, as well as the culture of the antiwar and civil rights movements, had become excessive and inflexible. Not only were Democratic attitudes toward government electorally problematic, Clinton argued; they were just plain wrong for the time."

"There is, however, a rich paradox in the strategy that Obama and Edwards are employing in their quest to dislodge Clinton from her perch atop the field. The plain fact is that, for all their condemnation of Bill Clinton’s governing philosophy, both Obama and Edwards — and just about every other Democratic candidate in the field, with the possible exception of Dennis Kucinich, who seems to have been teleported straight from 1972 — spend a fair amount of time imitating him. So thorough was Clinton’s influence on Democratic politics, so transformative were his rhetoric and his theory of the electorate, that Democrats don’t even seem to realize anymore the extent to which they owe him their political identities."

- Matt Bai, "The Clinton Referendum,"
New York Times Magazine, December 23, 2007

[disclosure: Matt Bai is the little brother of good family friend]

Henry Hyde...

from Wiki:

Savings and Loan Scandal

In 1981, after leaving the House Banking Committee, Henry Hyde went on the board of directors of Clyde Federal Savings and Loan, whose President was one of many of Hyde's banker contributers. The Congress deregulated S&L industry in 1982, and Clyde started to be occupied of the risky financial options, taking part in the loans for luxury residences in Texas and buying of a bank in the Islands Cayman, a notorious financial exchange to launder money. Hyde knew of such businesses and of movements often made or assisted on the Clyde board to continue them. From 1984, when Hyde left the board, it was clear to the directors from the reports that the establishment was failed, but Hyde and others on the board continued to give the inaccurate financial rewards to cronies and insiders and make it possible the establishment to overcharge the government on student loans. In 1990, the federal government put Clyde in the receivership, and finally paid $67 million to cover deposits of assured -- more than the cost to bail out out of Madison Guarantee, the S&L at the center of the Ken' Starr's failed Whitewater investigation. In 1993, the Resolution Trust Corporation sued Hyde and other directors for $17.2 million. Four years after, before pretrial investigation and depositions, the government settled with the defendants for merely $850.000 and made a special arrangement exempting Hyde from paying anything. Hyde was the only member of the congress sued for "gross negligence" in an S&L failure. Hyde utilized his political clout and stubborn refusal to settle as a way to escape payment and give the illusion which he was discharged.

Iran/Contra

In 1987, Hyde promoted the false and misleading "Birmingham memo" to conceal involvement of the Contras with the narcotics trafficking.

Extramarital Affair

As Hyde was publicly pursuing the impeachment of Clinton, the Internet magazine Salon.com published This Hypocrite Broke Up My Family which stated that from 1965 to 1969, Hyde conducted an extramarital sexual affair with Cherie Snodgrass. At the time, Snodgrass was married to another man with whom she had had three children. The Snodgrasses divorced in 1967. The affair ended when Snodgrass' husband confronted Mrs. Hyde. The Hydes reconciled and remained married until Mrs. Hyde's death in 1992. Although Hyde was 41 years old and married when the affair occurred, he dismissed it as a "youthful indiscretion".[1]

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Henry Hyde received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (presented by George W. Bush), the nation's highest civilian honor, on November 5, 2007. The press release stated: "A veteran, a lawyer, and a public servant, Henry Hyde has served his country with honor and dedication. During his 32-year career in the House of Representatives, he was a powerful defender of life, a leading advocate for a strong national defense, and an unwavering voice for liberty, democracy, and free enterprise around the world. A true gentleman of the House, he advanced his principles without rancor and earned the respect of friends and adversaries alike. The United States honors Henry Hyde for his distinguished record of service to America." Hyde was hospitalized recovering from open-heart surgery and could not attend the ceremony in person.

The DCCC

Got a nice letter from Congressional Representative Chris Van Hollen today. He's the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; the DCCC.

It's time for the Democratic Majority Drive! As Kim would say, "ah, jeez!"

Cute. The democrats want some of my money. Let's see here:

"In the face of fierce resistance from President Bush and his Republican allies...the Democratic Majority in the U.S. House of Representatives has already strengthened House ethics rules [ha!] and passed landmark legislation--repealing billions in oil industry tax breaks [oh yeah?]...lowering student loan interest rates...reducing prescription costs for people on Medicare...funding stem-cell research..raising minimum wage...and [get this] holding the Bush Administration accountable for its disastrous policies on the war in Iraq."

I'll repeat that for you slow types: "...and holding the Bush Administration accountable for its disastrous policies on the war in Iraq."

Once more with some emphasis added:

"...and holding the Bush Administration accountable for its disastrous policies on the war in Iraq."

A little larger for those with bad vision:

"...and holding the Bush Administration accountable for its disastrous policies on the war in Iraq."

For the legally blind:

"...and holding the Bush Administration accountable for its disastrous policies on the war in Iraq."

Really?

[sigh] The so-called "Democratic Majority" in my opinion (and fact) continues to let the so-called "Bush Administration" do whatever the hell it wants to do. Blank check for all costs associated with the so-called "disastrous" war? Check! More domestic spying power? Check! Torture? Check! Eroding civil rights? Check!

Rep. Van Hollen, who are you fooling? And, you want me to GIVE YOU MONEY for this charade? Please stop treating me like a dumbass.

As an unaffiliated voter, who is quickly becoming a libertarian kook, I'd like for you to simply stop with the propaganda.

Question for everyone; riddle me this:

Q: What's just as bad as "President Bush and his Republican allies in Congress"?
A: The Democratic Majority!

Maybe Nader was right.

It it weren't a crime, I'd send the SASE back filled with feces from a male cow. Bullshit = bullshit. "Taking America in a New Direction." Like into-a-brick-wall instead of off-a-cliff. But, hey, it's a New Direction.

No thanks.

Today's Big News

Golly, Ralph Nader was right! There's nothing to fear with regard to our Supreme Court. Remember, Albert Gore and George W. Bush are the exactly the same.

Ah, Ralphie.... Thanks!

Let's see: Today. Supreme Court - for the first time ever - upholds a ban on a specific type of abortion procedure, the so-called, ahem, partial-birth abortion. "Partial birth" being the brilliant frame-phrase devised to illicit specific visceral responses. You can visualize it, a screaming baby is partially delivered and the liberal physicians kill it (smothers it with a copy of the Constitution that was torn from the brave hands of David Addington, or something).

So, let's get started: What is the so-call partial birth procedure anyhow?

Partial-birth abortion (PBA) is a non-medical term used to refer to some late-term abortion procedures including intact dilation and extraction. IDX or Intact D&X is a surgical abortion wherein an intact fetus is removed from the womb via the cervix. The procedure may also be used to remove a deceased fetus (due to a miscarriage) that is developed enough to require dilation of the cervix for its extraction.

[read for yourself at Wiki]

Eewww, yucky, right? Well, yes. So was my appendectomy. But, I was allowed to have it. It was legal for the surgeons to cut me open and remove my appendix. I chose and waived liability to have that surgery. The IDX is generally used when necessary and generally to SAVE THE LIFE OF THE PREGNANT WOMAN. It's not a gee-dunno-if-I-want-a-baby kind of procedure. The choice here is typically to save a life. The procedure has a low rate of usage, representing 0.17% of all abortions. But, it has developed into the current focal point of the abortion debate (current until today, that is).

Well, here's the problem I have:

The "pro-life" advocates love IDX because they believe the procedure most clearly illustrates their contention that abortion is immoral. Critics consider the (IDX) procedure tantamount to infanticide, or murder, a position which many in the pro-life lobby extend to cover all abortions. [These are the same kooks that generally support the death penalty, paradoxically. Thou shall not kill...sometimes. Oh, and boob jobs and liposuction are perfectly fine.]

Many advocates, both for and against abortion rights, see the IDX issue as a central battleground in the wider abortion debate, representing an attempt to set a legal precedent so as to gradually erode access to all abortion methods.

OK, here's the slippery slope that bothers some overly thoughtful people at 3:00 a.m. The abortion precedent(s) sets into motion a legal and philosophical shortcuts toward picking apart what remains of our civil and Constitutional rights (the David Addington reference again).

If we outlaw a woman's choice over the types of life-saving procedures she can elect to purchase, for instance, when do we prohibit black men from owning firearms? When do we outlaw Asians from driving? When do we, let's see.... When do we prohibit welfare recipients form opening bank accounts? When do we make Christianity the official (and mandatory) religion of the USofA? Why not send the blacks back to Africa and the Jews to Israel? When does my phone dial directly through NSA's switchboard? When does a traffic stop become a cavity search? Why the hell am I taking my shoes off at the airport? I could go on.

I just wanted to thank old Ralph Nader for pointing out in 2000 that he was the best candidate to stem the permanent rule of the GOP. You know, since Gore was the same as Bush; since the Supreme Court was unimportant; and, since abortion was safe. These were his notions then.

Why is it that most of the anti-abortion bumper stickers I see are on the shabby vehicles of men? White men? And, I'm not going to defend my position other than to say that sometimes the abortion of a fetus is a necessary procedure that can save the life of the mother.

Don't like abortion? Don't have one. Don't outlaw appendectomies either.

Get me a mirror, I think I see a Libertarian.

Hi, I Am A Coward

So, I’m coming out of the subway with the girl this morning. The plan was to take the train, drop her off at school, and go to work. Typical. It’s a bright, mild, slightly autumnal day; beautiful and crisp for now. Refreshing after a stifling August.

As we reached the top of the stairs and walked in the sunlight, I noticed that there were two police officers. Two Montgomery County police officers, but not in the daily khakis, but in black. Ah yes, the black. That means, the semi-automatic rifle (this is my first time ever typing the word "rifle," by the way) the patch badge, the shades, wires into ears, and equipment on belts and harnesses. I don’t know if they were members of the SWAT team or some post-Worldwide War On Terror special enforcement team (SET). But, does it really matter? They are the military, not your Franklin Mint, Norman Rockwell special edition collector’s plate police. Basically, soldiers.

I guess the heavies were out in some sort of “show of force.” Maybe they were there to keep the local politicians in line with all their stickers and brochures and handshaking. After all, there is a primary next Tuesday.

It wasn’t as if there was a particular “threat” announced (I had to backspace and add the quotation marks to threat, FYI) nor did they appear to be very busy other than talking, laughing, and looking so 21st century “all-American.” They were basically posing. A bicycle officer rolled up to chat (laugh, pose alongside our “heroes”) and there they were.

My instinct, of course, was to snap a photograph, because that’s what I do. But, as I began to reach for my bag, my better sense (my Spidey sense) asked me, “How fucking stupid are you today?”

Welcome to 2006 where reaching into a bag while exiting mass transportation - especially while appearing to be "of color" - in the presence of American paramilitary could get you noticed at best or fucking shot if the stars are so aligned. I had just seen an ad this morning for the Cato Institute’s new publication and lecture, “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.” Here’s the executive summary:

Americans have long maintained that a man’s home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing. Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.

These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they’re sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers. These raids bring unnecessary violence and provocation to nonviolent drug offenders, many of whom were guilty of only misdemeanors. The raids terrorize innocents when police mistakenly target the wrong residence. And they have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries, not only of drug offenders, but also of police officers, children, bystanders, and innocent suspects.

This paper presents a history and overview of the issue of paramilitary drug raids, provides an extensive catalogue of abuses and mistaken raids, and offers recommendations for reform.

I didn’t get my camera out. I didn’t pursue the photograph. I chickened out. I felt like I've become a huge coward. It took me a good half-hour to reduce my dissonance. “Better judgment.” “Safe choice.” “Smart.” These are some of the words and phrases I’ve devised to feel less chickenshit in during the Bush years.

Then I realized: Golly, This is the New America.