dev
Point-counterpoint on “naïve”
It’s frustrating to see liberal hawk Oliver Kamm recite John McCain’s talking points on Obama’s supposed foreign policy naïvete. The argument, as we know, centers around Obama’s assertion during the July 2007 YouTube debate that he’d be willing to meet with hostile foreign leaders. Yes, this was an answer that I criticized myself. I still think it was hasty and
The far left attacks
Via Gene at Harry’s, we find that left extremist John Pilger, an apologist for Palestinian suicide bombers and Hezbollah, a declared supporter of Iraqi insurgent fanatics, is now assailing Barack Obama as a warmonger, an Islamophobe, you name it. I love this bit: An Obama victory will bring intense pressure on the US anti-war and social justice movements to accept
The week on disc (19)
In case you missed the last one… John Ruocco, Am I Asking Too Much? (Pirouet) Warren Wolf, Raw (ind.) Samuel Blaser Quartet, 7th Heaven (Between the Lines) Harry Allen-Joe Cohn Quartet, Stompin’ the Blues (Arbors Jazz) Jon Irabagon, Outright! (Innova) Connie Evingson, Little Did I Dream: Songs by Dave Frishberg (Minnehaha Music)
“America, this is our moment”
I endorsed Barack Obama in July 2007, and it has come to pass. Between now and November, this blog will devote as much energy as possible to the election of Obama, a man of true intellectual substance and democratic temperament, as President of the United States. For now, however, I’m speechless. Forward into battle.
More on Florida, Michigan…
I’d been wondering: Why this Florida-Michigan fiasco in the first place? Is the DNC powerless to enforce its own voting schedule? No, it’s not like that, as Marc Cooper explains: Who’s kidding who? The original DNC decision to authorize only four states to vote early was a blatant act of pandering to Iowa, NH, Nevada and South Carolina. The leap-frogging
Six Picks: June 2008
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, June 2008: Ambrose Akinmusire, Prelude (Fresh Sound New Talent) Nicholas Payton, Into the Blue (Nonesuch) Poolplayers, Way Below the Surface (Songlines) Dafnis Prieto Sextet, Taking the Soul for a Walk (Dafnison Music) Saxophone Summit, Seraphic Light (Telarc) George Schuller’s Circle Wide, Like Before, Somewhat After (Playscape)
“An inadequate black man”
Get a load of footage of some of yesterday’s pro-Hillary protesters, unashamedly declaring support for John McCain if Obama secures the nomination. Here, here and here. One of them, Harriet Christian of Manhattan, describes Obama as “an inadequate black man,” and in fairness, it’s clear from the clip that she’s mentally unstable. As for the rest, we’ll have to see
Worst nightmare
I’ve received news that Ajay Heble, director of the Guelph Jazz Festival, whose research work I’ve written about here, suffered a major heart attack while aboard a plane. Age 47. He’s stable, thank goodness.