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Those Dirty Democrats!

Well, GOP.com has a new video showing numerous video clips of Democrats in the past proclaiming what the President from 2002 onward leading up to the war. This line that Saddam Hussein had acquired Weapons of Mass Destruction. And so, now the GOP, on the defensive, is trying to come back on the offensive against the democrats, and call them liars.

Let’s get one thing straight. To date, no weapons of mass destruction have been found. We know that at some point in the past the Iraqi government did indeed have access to horrible weapons. We sold them to Iraq. That goes for the deadly VX nerve gas that Saddam will stand trial for using on civilians during the conflict between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s. It goes for the scuds and other weapons that our own troops faced in the first war.

Is it irresponsible for the democrats to turn around and say they never believed Saddam had such weapons? Yes. Does that clear the horrible record of the republicans? Not on your life.

Let’s face the facts. The democrats have not been saints, or served our interests. The republicans have done worse, but that does not excuse incompetance of democrats. Still, the democrats have every right to turn around and admit their mistakes, their grievous errors, and still hold strong against the republicans. The republicans also have the right to turn around, face down their own mistakes, and change. No points for admitting your wrongs and continuing them. No victory for merely pummelling your political opponents.

You can claim that the intelligence, unpressured, was just wrong. It does not paint you in a better light to say, “we funded these efforts to gather intelligence that failed,” unless you yourself are welling to admit failure. That’s something that the republicans haven’t done. They are trying now to scapegoat the democrats for the same thing.

It doesn’t fly.

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The Storming of the Rave…

Some of you may have heard about the rave that took place on August 22 in Utah. The one that got broken up by law enforcement and the national guard. PrisonPlanet seems to have the best copy of the only video that’s surfaced. Apparently there were plenty of cameras present, but so far this is the only that’s surfaced. Many of the others were confiscated as part of the police action that took place. They may eventually become available through FOIA requests and court proceedings. TalkLeft has some information on the ongoing legal actions on part of the event organizers. According to the articles, this is not the first time the person who owned the land has had police intervene in events held there. There is an ongoing legal suit against the police for a previous raid on the land.

The real shame about scenarios such as this (and actions taken during countless protests in this country going back years and years) is that the general story is one that does not fit in with the founding charter of this nation. The police take action, effectively shutting down the peoples’ right to peaceful assembly, and are seldom brought to bear for it. Even if they are charged and convicted for the violations, it does not make whole those who have had their rights trampled. Once the events and protests are over, there’s no going back, and the damage is done. Sooner or later, as happened back in the 1960s and 1970s, such gatherings, when persecuted, will refuse to go quietly only to have nothing done about the violations, and will instead resist. Violence is the result, and it’s not pretty.

The ongoing push and pull between the rights of the people and the agents of the people who have effectively alienated their interests from those they supposedly serve must be dissolved. The agents must be removed from their positions and replaced with individuals and organizations that in fact serve the interests that give them reason to exist.

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Auricle

(Note: I’ve added a link to a live review I found, as well as lyrics in this post)
Butcher is Sasha Popovic, Camella Grace, and Alex Menck. Their first album, Auricle just came out a few weeks ago on Air in Motion Records. In addition to the five tracks they wrote, it also offers a pair of songs written by Blair MacKenzie Blake, and a video for Elements of Turandot directed by Camella Grace.

This is something like a review of Auricle.

First and foremost this album has a proper original feel to it, spit and polished it erupts at times, and then pulls back to give you a chance to recover, this is sometimes called a game of cat and mouse. The artwork, as should be expected from the artists involved, provokes hesitation in me. It is confrontational, but also very serene, very matter of fact, calming, and accepting.

Black Dahlia >> This is the longest track to be found on Auricle. It is a very emotional (not emo) song involving beautiful pianos and powerful lyrics that are directed at a murder, of which “Black Dahlia” is the victim. “Black Dahlia” (Elizabeth Short) was murdered, cut in half and mutilated, and found on January 15, 1947 in Hollywood where she was visiting at the time. The murder was never solved, but certain aspects of her life and death contribute to Los Angeles’ reputation as a failed, broken, sick excuse for the American Dream. In a particular sense, the explication of this song might lead one to believe it is also a metaphor for the dreams of individuals who venture to that altar in search of the grail of fame and fortune in the entertainment industry.

Elements of Turandot >> Again, beautiful sounds grace us with this song, but it stands out for its juxtaposition of the song with faint whispers, and at a few points coincide with the lyrics being sung. There is a video included on the CD for this track. It is, again, directed by Camella Grace. Given her experience in film, she sets a beautiful watermark for her future efforts with this. I am not familiar with the opera by the title Turandot but it would stand to reason this song relates to it.

Cold >> This track is not listed on the back of the album, nor are the lyrics included (the other songs do have their lyrics included); the credits are, however, included in the liner notes. A long instrumental build up for about the first five minutes of the song deliver us to a fitful end of the album. The lyrical focus seems to be on a death, possibly the Black Dahlia murder from the first track. Cold also utilizes justaposition, this time between the long instrumental march to the lyrical segment that ends it, as well as soft-sung lyrics broken up by high, long-held banshee wails (okay, anachronistic banshee wails).

I feel very glad to have heard this album. It is such a joyful departure from what you inheret from the mainstream, that its morose lyrics are not seen as despair, but instead a charged expression of remorse with the intent of action to reclaim the fallen, in spirit anyway.