Friday Media Links

1. Billy Jack defends Wesley Clark. He has some very good points, although he rambles more than a little bit. But he nails the point I think, that while what McCain did was heroic, and self sacrificing etc. in service to our country, just being heroic does not qualify you to be President. And he also nails the point on how the current Neo-Con/Republican/Fox News modus operandi is attack the messenger, ignore the message and hope it sweeps under the carpet.

2. This looks like a very interesting book. And his premise is very intriguing that our current mode of attack, divide and conquer style politics stems from Nixon. I still think that while the Robert Kennedy assassination in 1968 was big, the attempt on George Wallace was even bigger. Because Wallace was busy splintering off Nixon's base, and doing it as a Democrat, and a possible third party candidate. Either way the elections of 1968 and 1972 really signalled the beginning of a Republican strategy based on the so-called Silent Majority and almost know nothingism centered on winning the 'flyover states' and chipping away at the coasts. And Wallace being knocked out allowed that to succeed, Wallace was the last chance the Democrats had at holding onto a chunk of their traditional constituency based on issues of religion, morality and crime. Of course he was the last major Presidential candidate with a base in racist thinking, so I am certainly not here to defend Wallace.

3. Starbury will live on. I think this is excellent news. I think the idea behind the Starbury line was and still is an excellent one. And I am glad to see that they will not die with the departure of Steve & Barry's.

4. This is what I talk about when referring to Helicopter parents. Geez, I can hardly imagine feeling that caught up, to the point that I would demand my children write home immediately. So of course we are in danger of creating a bunch of over sensitive anxious children utterly unprepared for adult life. Now I never went to camp, although both of my older brothers did, and I doubt we will ever send the kids to that kind of camp, but more out of a sense of affordability than anything else. But I would like to think that if we could, that when that time came we wouldn't freak out about being out of touch. Kim & I do try hard to foster some sense of independence in the kids, of course part of that is a survival strategy with 3 kids...