Obama coasts to debate win

In the second presidential debate the fading McCain needed a game-changer. He didn't get it.

Obama was more presidential; his unflappable steadiness looked good.

McCain didn't have answers that fit the reality of today; he seemed like a time refugee.

Obama's momentum is easy to feel. McCain's lack of it is impossible to ignore.

Payne: RDC endorsement of Jones violated by-laws

The Richmond Democratic Committee endorsement of Del. Dwight C. Jones for mayor is looking shaky, according to an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Eric Payne told a five-member Democratic party appeals panel tonight that he was not aware when the vote was taken on Sept. 25 that committee rules do not allow new business to be introduced at party meetings.

"That is my oversight," Payne told the review panel in a conference call that included representatives of four of the five mayoral campaigns. The call was open to the media.

Click here to read the news, as written by Michael Martz.

What will the RDC do next?

Moreover, will voters -- the Democratic party is powerful in Richmond -- see the move Jones forces made to garner the endorsement as too slick, or merely aggressive campaigning? And, will any of the four other candidates find a way to make this brouhaha work to boost their campaign?

Another dose of Bopst

The new Bopst Show, Episode No. 25, is here.

From Chris Bopst's MySpace Page, here is this week's play list:

The Bopst Show: “Hustler of Culture”

Podcast 25
Posted 10/06/08
Track Listing:

Sarah Palin on Katie Couric
Public Enemy: “Welcome to the Terrordome”
Tom Waits: “In the Colosseum”
Sarah Palin on Katie Couric
Les McCann & Eddie Harris: “Compared to What”
Negativland: “Time Zones”
The Eat: “Communist Radio”
The Might Diamonds: “Danger In Your Eyes”
Mel Brooks: “The Inquisition”
The Lefties Soul Connection: “Chop It”
The Fabulous Entourage: “The Way That It All Began”
Monotonix: “Summers & Autumns”
Charles Mingus: “Fabubus Fables”

Bopst Show Request Line: (804) 767-2550.

Mayoral candidates smile and talk points

Yesterday, the five guys who will be on the ballot in Richmond, running for mayor, appeared at St. Catherine's School to answer questions from students. My coverage of the forum staged in Richmond's tony Near West End is at Richmond.com.

Asked about regional mass transportation, Robert J. Grey, Jr., claimed the counties will participate if we first "clean up City Hall." Councilman William J. "Bill" Pantele said he is "passionate about the issue."

Goldman summed up with, "Somebody’s got to pay for it, and right now there’s no money."

How would the five who would be mayor bring middle class families back into the city?

Jones said, "Improve the educational system."

Pantele disagreed with the premise of the question, "Richmond’s population has been growing."

That, while Lawrence E. Williams talked about Arthur Ashe when he was a child. Then Williams added, "The baseball diamond will someday be Short Pump Central."

With no follow-ups allowed, those in the room who were slightly confused by that answer were left to wonder what Williams meant.

Click here to read the entire report/analysis.

Click here to read Lisa Crutchfield's reportage for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and to see a video with clips of the forum.

Charbeneau on culture and politics '08

"A House Divided"
by Travis Charbeneau

Never mind the issues, recent presidential elections have all degenerated around the "Culture Wars." Even now the McCain campaign has finally resorted to exploiting once again a looming threat of "the Other." Why does this old trick still work? Because the "threat" is real.

The Culture War probably began during the Renaissance, when science first butted heads with the Church. But the modern front opened with post-war "Beatnik" ferment over 50 years ago. The Beats brewed the "Hippie" stew of the Sixties for the huge Baby Boomer cohort, and nothing has been "the same" since.

Of course, "the same" -- the American Fifties -- is just what alienated non-conformist Beats from mainstream culture, creating Counter Culture v.1. By the time of Counter Culture v.2, perhaps 1965, Hippies were on their way to making the rejection of mainstream values their prime directive. By 1974, following the assassinations of the Kennedys and King, and the debacles of Vietnam and then Watergate, our two opposing cultures were locked in a permanent state of conflict. Every candidate since Nixon has played the demagogue with it.

Upset by ever more rapid change, mainstream culture longs for "the same" Golden Age we enjoyed under Eisenhower: a globe-dominating national security state built on cheap energy, credit card consumerism, the nuclear family, a traditional "Sky God," and unapologetic corporate conformity, racism and sexism.

CC v.3, the counterculture in midlife, consists of those Boomers who managed to spurn Yuppiedom and still "grow up," pay those orthodontia bills and save for the kids' education. These folks, and those of the X and Y generations who follow them, retain a sufficiently crucial level of idealism (or, if you will, naiveté) to dream still of progressive change: peace, civil rights, an accommodation with materialism and technology.

Add to this list a confrontation with new realities that diehards of "the same" ignored to the peril of all: Ike's forewarned "military-industrial complex," now in full power, nuclear terrorism, frightful environmental challenges, global economic competition, multiculturalism, expanded realities of "family," and technological challenges of a thousand stripes. The Culture Wars skirmish on all these fronts and reliably appear at every election, recently in nearly equal proportions.

Of course, the Great Mandate for all life on Earth is "change or die." Plants and animals, so far as we know, accept this without complaint. But, mainstream or countercultural, humans hate change. When it's "too much, too fast," we suffer from what futurist Alvin Toffler in 1970 termed "Future Shock."

It took centuries for us to accept a Universe that was not centered on the Earth. We still resist Darwin's 19th century assertion of a Universe that is not centered on man. And, by "we," I refer particularly to Americans, now unhappily bringing up the rear of post-industrial civilization. It is beyond ironic that America was once blamed for inventing modernism and inflicting Future Shock on the world! Feudal nations still hate us for it. And yet, where once we were leaders, Americans are now sliding backwards by nearly every measure.

The peculiar tone of America's Culture Wars provides the most likely reason. A current history would almost certainly show mainstream culture, despite howls of protest and doom, as having dominated the field in policy, even as the counterculture dominates pretty much everything else: the arts, media, academia, environmentalism, and, most important overall, the discomforting-but-necessary adaption to change.

Barack Obama is one amazing indicator that this evolution is still in motion. Longer term, if we get one, should prove that counterculturalists are no longer off-the-grid, penniless bohemians. The countercultural faithful possess not only whatever wealth they themselves have been able to save from pre-9/11 America, but legacy wealth from "The Greatest Generation," who profited most from the post-WW2 American hegemony. Old Hippies can still make a lot of mischief, including a "mainstreamed counterculture."

Alternately, already future-shocked Americans could become even more reactionary. Continuing Culture Wars fuel the seductiveness of "End Times," a traditional value which neatly resolves everything in obliteration. As H. G Wells said, "History is a race between education and catastrophe."

"The same" never is. Unless the culture at large shifts to managing, rather than denying change, it will be "End Times," as defined by actual time, not Revelations. Our divided house could fall from economic mismanagement, imperial overstretch, environmental decay, civil unrest, or as-yet-unforeseen disasters.

If the lights go out, counterculturalists will be able to say, as we did with Vietnam and Watergate, "we told you so." And, as with Vietnam and Watergate, there will be no satisfaction in the telling.

* * *

Ed. Note: Travis Charbeneau is a writer/musician living in Richmond, who occasionally contributed/contributes to SLANT (now SLANTblog). Click here to visit Charbeneau's MySpace Page. Click here to hear/see his steel guitar improvisation on the blues classic "St. James Infirmary" at YouTube.

McCain and Palin 75 years ago

The Republican ticket of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin can be seen through various prisms, depending on the point. For this little exercise I'm saying that Max Fleischer, creator of some of the best animated short subjects ever, anticipated both McCain and Palin with two of his best known characters, Popeye and Betty Boop.

Click on the YouTube video above for "Betty Boop for President," released in 1932 (note Betty's Palin-esque winking).

This next Betty Boop cartoon (1933) introduces Popeye to movie audiences. He was already a hit in comic strips -- click here. McCain's uncanny resemblance to Popeye the Sailor can't be denied.

For Betty Boop in "Minnie the Moocher" (with Cab Calloway music) -- click here.

For Betty Boop in "Ha Ha Ha" click here.

Here's Popeye in "Big Chief Ugh Amugh Ugh" -- click here.

And, Popeye in "Nix on Hypnotricks" -- click here.

Palin vs. Biden

The vice presidential debate went smoothly enough. No big gaffes. No big scores.

While Gov. Sarah Palin didn't worry about what the question was, she did a pretty good job of ducking them.

While Sen. Joe Biden didn't say much that was memorable, neither did he did say too much. Nonetheless, compared to his opponent, he was boring.

So, I have to say Palin won on style. Maybe Biden was better on substance. But in my instant take, while it was a almost a draw, I have to say Palin won the night. In a couple of days that analysis may look premature.

Still, I was surprised Palin did as well as she did. Mostly, Biden seemed to be trying to avoid a mistake -- in football, his tact would be called a "prevent defense."

Sarah thinks twice ... uh, oh!

Gov. Sarah Palin has got quite a job on her hands tonight. She must prove to America that she is not a ditsy fluke who should be dropped from the ticket. Still, given the withering coverage of her clueless interview with Katie Couric, yes, in a way, expectations are down.

But with her knowing Tina Fey is probably going to get huge laughs delivering some of her goofier lines from tonight's debate, verbatim, it has to be making Palin think twice.

If all she can do is come up with how Alaska is the closest state to Russia and lame jokes about Sen. Joe Biden's age, Palin's stock will drop lower than shares of Wachovia Bank.

Then there's this problem: For the Republican nominee for vice president, thinking twice might be once too many. Talk about expectations ... oy vey!

-- Words and art by F.T. Rea

Manipulative labels = propaganda

In the midst of the Cold War, left-right labels -- liberal and conservative -- made some sense. In the 1960s liberals were generally seen as being for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam. Conservatives stood for states rights and fought against communism.

Now, in the House of Representatives, with right-wing Republicans having combined with left-wing Democrats to stand in the way of a massive federal program designed to unclog credit streams -- favored by the establishment of both parties -- who is talking the liberal talk? Who is walking the conservative walk?

Is it fair or accurate for an opponent of the proposed “bailout,” or “rescue,” to call the bill a strategy that is out of the mainstream because it's too liberal, or too conservative?

Forty years ago, it was useful to see a left-to-right political spectrum. In those days, segregationists and hawks derisively called their most vocal opponents “pinkos.” Civil rights activists and doves didn’t mind calling their most hardcore opposites “fascists.”

Then the Berlin Wall crumbled.

In 1991 a radio news story described a political brouhaha in Russia between the ascending free-market style reformers and the old guard, the stubborn communists -- who were going out of style faster than a Leningrad minute.

No, make that a St. Petersburg minute.

The report labeled those clinging to the Soviet system as “conservatives” and those in the process of sweeping them out of power as “liberals.” Yet, when considered in light of the familiar Western view of matters political -- capitalists on the right vs. socialists on the left -- the role reversal of this situation’s fresh context was striking and amusing.

President George W. Bush used the tag “compassionate conservative” in the 2000 election. But in 2008 Bush’s steering of the nation’s economy, his unprecedented accumulation of debt, have hardly been conservative in the traditional sense. Nor has Bush’s swaggering, go-it-alone foreign policy been in the least bit prudent or, ahem, conservative.

So, it has turned out that the term “compassionate conservative” was simply what used to be called “double-talk.”

Now we have a black man running for president, who personifies the progress this country has made in its struggle to overcome racism. Times have changed.

Today’s political issues divide along many lines. There are urban vs. suburban arguments. There are differences that split generations, classes, lifestyles and you-name-it. Trying always to frame such issues within a ideological context tortures the truth.

Worrying about whether the Republican, Sen. John McCain, is conservative enough, or whether the Democrat, Sen. Barack Obama, is too liberal, is a waste of time. It simply doesn't matter very much.

From where I'm sitting, here's what it looks like a smart voter should be considering: Which presidential candidate seems to better understand the daunting problems he would face as president? Which candidate appears to have the better plans to solve/cope with those problems? Which candidate is the better leader for our time? Not for some other time. Our time.

And, speaking of our time and its peculiar economic vexations, as a lawyer friend of mine said, “Whoever named it a 'bailout' didn’t do its chances of passing much good.”

So, once again, we see labels working to shape perception. Is it conservative or liberal to hand over $700 billion to an administration who spokespersons have been telling us for the last year the nation's economy is "vibrant and flexible" and "our banks are strong"?

In this election year, the wise voter will brush aside the manipulative labels and remember that neither conservatives nor liberals have ever had an exclusive on two considerations that always matter more than convenient labels -- honesty and competence.

STYLE's look at mayoral candidates

STYLE Weekly's cover story -- "5 Men. 35 Days" -- profiles the five mayoral candidates in Richmond.

Click here to read the five-part story.

Oliphant on Palin's prepping

Of the political cartoonists out there today, Pat Oliphant is at the top of the heap. In his 'toon above (click on it to enlarge) he totally captures the essence of the three characters -- Bush, Palin and McCain -- who appear in the frame, and he does it with so little detail.

Pat Oliphant, the closest thing to Honoré Daumier today, deserves to be considered among the best ever.

The Baseball Issue

Thought to be dead and buried, the crazy idea of building a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom walked like a zombie though news stories during the past week.

In a squirrelly move that should surprise no one, Mayor Doug Wilder reversed himself, once again, and opened the door to the notion of building a new home in The Bottom for the Richmond Whatevers to play in the Who Knows? league.

Last week the five mayoral candidates were asked about baseball at a public forum. While none of them showed much enthusiasm for building in any area other than where the Diamond is now located, three of the them appeared to rule out other parts of town. They were: Paul Goldman; Bill Pantele; Lawrence Williams.

Which means Robert Grey and Dwight Jones are still willing to consider building somewhere other than where the Master Plan says a baseball stadium should be.

This is an election-year political issue that should concern voters in all nine of Richmond’s voting districts, as well as citizens of the region, in general. Much has been and should be said against the baseball-in-the-Bottom push. In this post I will confine my effort to two points:

1. Most of the proponents of building a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom seem to have been focused on the development aspect, when they have tried to sell it to the public. Visions of suburban shoppers, tourists and bar-hoppers throwing money at retailers all around the stadium have been painted.

They have sounded like people in love with a design. People who want to see their plan carried out, come hell or, ahem, high water. They haven't seemed much phased by the problems such a shoe-horned-in development and its heavy traffic would visit upon the homes and businesses surrounding it.

Moreover, they have not sounded like people who care enough about the general welfare of Richmond's residents; nor have they sounded like planners who know much about baseball and its fans.

A person who’s been going to Richmond Braves games, over the years, knows who else goes to games. So, I can tell you that mixed in with plenty of fair-weather fans, there are lots of regulars. There are always veterans, some in wheelchairs. There are always kids dressed in their Little League uniforms. There are always neighborhood and church groups. Lots of families.

In my view, at least half of any R-Braves crowd would not be happy attending a game in Shockoe Bottom, given its ambiance. If I’m right, you’d have to replace those fans with a lot of new fans. Fans who will come to 20, 25 games a season.

As a longtime baseball fan, I have to say I wouldn’t bet a nickel it can be done. Given how much Big League baseball in available on television, and how many entertainment options there are these days, Minor League baseball is a tough sell. To bet taxpayers’ money, large money, on a baseball stadium in a part of town a lot of baseball fans are probably scared to visit is crazy.

2. If the deal that builds a new baseball stadium includes public money to finance the construction, then it makes all the sense in the world for Richmond and its regional partners -- the counties of Henrico, Chesterfield, and perhaps Hanover -- to decide where it should be.

It’s pie in the sky to continue to dream that a private developer is going to come in and drop a new stadium on Richmond.

On top of that, I think the majority of baseball fans who went to R-Braves games at the Diamond would vote against moving professional baseball to Shockoe Bottom.

Whether Richmond needs a new stadium, at all, is something to reconsider. In the current business climate, I’m not at all sure most Richmonders believe committing to spending a lot of money on baseball makes sense.

The old idea of sprucing up the Diamond is making more and more sense. Knock down the crumbling superstructure, build more modestly around the field that’s already there, etc.

-- Words and photo by F. T. Rea

Bopst No. 24

Here's the link to Chris Bopst's weekly radio/podcast hour.

I just read his intro (see excerpt below) to the Bopst Show Episode 24. It did a good job of making me want to click "Listen."

Everything that I feel about the world is based on my love of music. While other people look to religion for spiritual or moral guidance, I turn to my record collection. And it’s there that I always find the face of God.

I have no doubt that this might sound a little silly to some people. Music is merely an entertainment option to them, a means to enable a good time and nothing else. To me, that thinking belittles the redemptive power of sound. While I certainly enjoy musical a compliment in the shallow end of the pool, I seek out music the most for guidance in the deep end of life’s headier realms. And it works both ways. Sometimes AC/DC is the perfect antidote to cure existential angst; sometimes it’s Stravinsky or maybe Lee Perry. I’ve found that cranking MDC’s, “Millions of Dead Cops” cures a Sarah Palin-induced rage and that Nina Simone’s cover of the Ike & Tina Turner classic, “Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter” is the perfect theme song for John McCain. If I’m feeling down in the dumps, the soothing sounds of Perrey & Kingsley or the Beau Hunks always brings me back to the good life. Of all the creative expressions, music is the most malleable and immediate in its ability to affect either the individual or a group’s mood. It has the ability to convey true emotional impact though the arrangement of notes.

And at it’s best, music can affect social and political change.

Now I'm going to hear to what Bopst has to offer this week.

Webb's criteria for bailout plan

From Jessica Smith in Sen. Webb's office:

At 11 a.m. today, Sen. Jim Webb and eight additional Democratic Senators -- Harkin, (Bill) Nelson, (Ben) Nelson, Lincoln, Boxer, Feinstein, Salazar, and Klobuchar -- sent the attached letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seeking assurances that any agreement being negotiated contain specific provisions to protect taxpayers and our financial system.

The provisions include: (1) a new regulatory structure to protect our financial system against further instability; (2) releasing of funds to the Treasury in installments to ensure proper implementation and accountability; (3) a clearly specified limit on executive compensation in rescued companies; (4) ensuring that taxpayers are protected against loss and share in any possible gains; and (5) a restriction on financial assistance to foreign banks and institutions.

Webb said this morning: “This issue transcends party politics, going to the concerns that every single American holds for a secure financial future. Those of us who have not been among the small group of negotiators have a duty to communicate clearly both our concerns and our expectations as the process moves forward. The markets should know that we want to reach a consensus expeditiously, but with a plan that protects the economy, gives a potential boost to the American taxpayer and brings accountability to those who got us in to this crisis.”

-- Photo by F.T. Rea

McCain coming unglued?

Yesterday afternoon, the story broke that Sen. John McCain had suddenly decided to "suspend" his campaign, so he could rush to DeeCee to work on bailout legislation negotiations. On top of that McCain threatened to drop out of the presidential debate, scheduled for Friday in Oxford, Mississippi.

My first reaction was that McCain was pulling a bizarre stunt that would doom his already fading chances to win the election.

After seeing what has happened today, I am more sure of it than I was yesterday. Since I am for Sen. Barack Obama, I'm not only happy to see McCain self-destruct, but I remain amazed -- wow! -- that he has chosen to play his cards the way he has.

On top of that, McCain's canceling out on Dave Letterman's show, and Dave's bitter but funny reaction, will be remembered for a long time.

How is any of this making voters feel confident in McCain's ability to make good decisions? After picking Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, and "suspending" his campaign to attend a photo op at the White House, what will the obviously desperate McCain do next?

Although I have admired McCain for several good reasons for a long time, even though these developments are helping Obama, it's sad to see McCain acting like an cranky old man, who is coming unglued.

Update: McCain has reversed himself, yet again. Without a bailout agreement in place, he has decided he will debate.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a McCain supporter, said the Republican made a "huge mistake" by even discussing canceling the debate.

"You can't just say, 'World, stop for a moment. I'm going to cancel everything,'" Huckabee told reporters Thursday night in Alabama before attending a benefit for the University of Mobile. He said it's more important for voters to hear from the presidential candidates than for them to huddle with fellow senators in Washington.

Both McCain and Obama had returned to Washington on Thursday at the urging of President Bush, who invited them to a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House. But a session aimed at showing unity in resolving the financial crisis broke up with conflicts in plain view.

McCain's campaign said the meeting "devolved into a contentious shouting match" and implied Obama was at fault — on a day when McCain said he was putting politics aside to focus on the nation's financial problems.

Click here to read the AP story.

Calling all blogger endorsements for mayor

The first time I was asked if SLANTblog was endorsing a candidate I laughed. That was three or for years ago. I don't remember which race it was. But it struck me as funny that someone -- a partisan blogger -- was gathering a list of blogs that had endorsed his candidate.

Newspapers endorse, I told the guy. My thinking then was that it was silly to pretend that an endorsement from SLANTblog, or any other blog, would mean anything.

That was then.

Since then much has happened. And, the importance of blogs, political blogs, has grown far beyond what most people would have guessed four years ago.

Now I want to compile a list of local blogger endorsements for Richmond's mayoral race. There are five candidates: Paul Goldman; Robert Grey; Dwight Jones; Bill Pantele; Lawrence Williams.

If you publish a blog that is listed at RVABlogs, including community news blogs, I want to know which of the five candidates you are endorsing.

So, I'll try to watch for endorsement posts, but the best way for me to know about your mayoral preference would be for you to use the comment option for this post. If you prefer, send it to me by email.

Eventually, I'll write a piece on the contest to replace Mayor Doug Wilder that will use the information gathered by this process. By the way, SLANTblog has not endorsed a candidate yet.

Update: To my fellow bloggers, my two main reasons for not endorsing a mayoral candidate are pretty good.

1. So far, I haven't decided which one I will vote for.

2. I'm covering the local elections, including the mayoral race, for Richmond.com. So, my effectiveness in that role could be hobbled if I declare that I am backing one of the candidates.

Mayoral Debate Report

My take on the mayoral forum/debate staged on Tuesday night is up at Richmond.com.

The five hopefuls stood behind podiums in a second floor ballroom that comfortably swallowed up the 300 to 350 people who came to see what the men running for mayor looked like under fire, and to hear what they had to say.

The topic for the night’s talk-fest was billed as The Future of Downtown.

After opening statements, the candidates were questioned by a trio of rather mild mannered inquisitors, seated stage left: Ed Slipek (Style Weekly); Jimmy Barrett (1140 WRVA); Aaron Gilchrist (NBC12).

In his opening statement, Paul Goldman tossed off a couple of red meat campaign promises to the audience, “There will be no baseball stadium downtown. There will be no Echo Harbor project, either.”

Click here to read the entire piece.

Bush: Be afraid

It seems the financial crisis message from Dubya, the semi-authentic cowboy, has a familiar ring. It's the same message he had after 9/11 and during the run-up to the war in Iraq.

President Bush's address to the nation tonight restated that message: Be afraid ... be very afraid.

-- art and words by F.T. Rea