New paradigms

Moving personnel around; nothing big--just a bunch of finishing-up graduate students who are moving on to internships and/or other professional opportunities, in turn opening up and shifting assignments. Still working on that, and the merit of getting the problems addressed now--three months out--rather than then--in August, with far too little time. It should work out, but it's one of the million house-keeping chores I need to stay on top of as chair.

Oh, and then there's this new paradigm, and shifting of personnel:

There was a time when John McCain truly was the maverick which the (bone-lazy and star-fucking) Washington press corps have continued to call him in lieu of actual, you know, reporting, but he sold his soul for a chance at the Presidency. He put himself on the auction block in '04 but he practically slapped on the knee-pads in '08:

This is the man whose "brain" (Rove) promulgated the sleaziest and most flagrant lies about McCain in order to take him out of the running in 2000.

I think McCain's tragedy is like that of Colin Powell, and for that matter of Hillary Clinton: they're all people whose entire adult lives have been spent within an orbit of power so intoxicating that I truly believe that they cannot imagine that they are not entitled-by-birth to the power they hold and the insane coddling they receive 24/7. McCain's conduct in selling his soul and integrity to the Bush fascists, Clinton's selling-out of her legacy to the Mark Penns and Howard Wolfsons of the world (who care about nothing but their own consummate-insider power-trading and fat commissions), Powell sitting in front of Congress and blathering about "aluminum rods and yellow-cake"--these are all people who probably got into public service for other reasons, but who, after decades in the toxic/intoxicant environment of Washington, no longer recognize anything beyond their own entitlements.

Of course all politicians are like this--or at least all successful ones. As long as we operate in a two-party, lazy-media'd, corporate-dictated political system--and as long as that system conspires to keep voters scared, uninformed, and passive--we will never get leaders any better than we deserve. The best we can hope for is a hard-nosed tough-minded motherfucker who knows all about fighting dirty but knows when to step back. And that's a rare and precious breed:

Bobby:



Big Bill:



Frederick:




I hope he's one.