A Walk Down Maple Street

I don't watch Keith Olbermann, but I might have to start. What he said on his show last night was freakin' brilliant. And the parallel between what's going on now and the Twilight Zone episode The Monsters are due on Maple Street is one that a lot of people have drawn. Not to mention, I love Rod Serling. Who else could write: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own -- for the children, and the children yet unborn."

Let's not forget the aliens in that episode. They hadn't really done anything to the folks who lived on the street. All the aliens did was shut off their electricity. The neighbors themselves did the rest. Please keep this in mind the next time some network trots out another Bin Laden tape. He wants you to act scared. So does our president, for political purposes. They profit from your fear. Fear is not a luxury we can afford.

Mike Rogers Muck

I’ve been a fan of TPMmuckraker since it started in February. What I didn’t expect is to see my representative there! But there he is, Mike Rogers, at a fundraiser aboard a yacht, sunglasses precariously hanging from his polo shirt. It seems like our fair representative was the recipient of the generosity of a yachting lobby (the National Marine Manufacturers Association). Muckraker also gives a link over to Political Money Line, who points out that Rogers held two fundraisers on NMMA yachts in ’01 and ’02. Sadly, NMMA had to stop giving out these “contributions” earlier this year because of what they termed the “‘poisoned’ atmosphere.” So I guess finding this out makes sense – I guess he wants to help his rich friends out.
I’ve tried to like him, I really have. He’s done some good things (this is actually quite forward-thinking, for example). He’s been our state representative here in the 8th district for three terms (he’s currently running for his fourth). Before, I could pretend that we both had the best interests of our state in mind, though we disagreed on what that would be. No more – I don’t trust him now. Jim Marcinkowski’s starting to look better all the time.