Some Thoughts on America's Longest-Held Political Prisoner

In the next few months, Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald (above), the longest held political prisoner in American history, will have another parole hearing. Fitzgerald has been in prison since 1969. Some background: In early 1969, Fitzgerald, an 18-year-old resident of Compton, joined the local Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panthers, an African-American activist organization that is wrongly described as a "terrorist" group by its right-wing critics. Like so many young African Americans living in the inner cities, Fitzgerald was angered by the rampant police abuse and lack of opportunities in L.A. in the late 1960s. Joining the Panthers offered countless black teenagers and twentysomethings a productive outlet for their simmering frustrations.

In October '69, Fitzgerald was arrested -- along with some other friends -- following an altercation with a California Highway Patrol officer (who was under orders to "shoot to kill" all known Panthers). In the affray, the officer was shot and Fitzgerald fled the scene. The officer survived, the Los Angeles police arrested Fitzgerald, and he was not only convicted of shooting and wounding the Highway Patrol officer, he was also charged with a murder of a security guard at a Vons supermarket in Los Angeles. The evidence was flimsy, but Fitzgerald was locked away in the California prison system for almost forty years. Fitzgerald vehemently denies any involvement in the murder of the security guard.

With the passage of time, we have developed a deeper understanding of the turbulent years of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Keep in mind the backdrop of events surrounding Fitzgerald's arrest and conviction. Charles Dickens' words about "the best of times, the worst of times" certainly apply here. This period was characterized by war, polarization, crises at home, racial discord and a "law-and-order" crackdowns against all dissenting groups. Now, forty years later, we are able to put this difficult period in context. Many historians agree that the federal government -- in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies -- waged a systematic and unjust war against the Black Panthers across the country.

Chip Fitzgerald was but one of many people sucked into this chaotic maelstrom. In recent years, we have learned that other political prisoners who shared his same fate were innocent. Geronimo Pratt (right), a Vietnam Veteran and Black Panther, spent 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was eventually freed in 1997. In Louisiana, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox -- two Black Panthers from New Orleans -- were serving time for armed robbery when they were charged with the 1972 stabbing of prison guard Brent Miller. Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times ran a powerful story (May 3) that raised serious questions about their guilt. In fact, Miller's widow, Leontine Verrett, told the L.A. Times: "If I were on that jury, I don't think I would have convicted them."

There are countless other Panthers who were the innocent victims of brutal repression. Add Chip Fitzgerald to that list. Having served almost forty years in prison and now approaching 60, his health is deteriorating and he is growing weaker and weaker. Last year, Fitzgerald issued a statement that accurately described the sorry state of America's prisons: "The prison system has mutated into a complex dysfunctional resource-wasting parasite of social control, political repression and revenge! Human beings are warehoused in these concrete and steel bunkers that destroy human sensibilities and the human spirit. Then following years of continuous antagonism and frustration at the hands of sadistic prison guards tortured souls are released on to an unsuspecting public to offend. There in is the cause and effect of an 80% recidivism rate."

The time is long overdue to Free Chip Fitzgerald. There are some things you can do: 1. Find out more about Chip by clicking here; you can also read a helpful Blog (from the Unapologetic Mexican) here on Fitzgerald. 2. Sign the petition to free Chip Fitzgerald by clicking here. 3. Write a letter to the parole board showing your support. The snail-mail address is:

Board of Parole Hearings
Post Office Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036

Let's get Chip Fitzgerald out of prison. He does not belong in there. And let's end the brutal and costly war against the Black Panthers, waged by the federal government and local law enforcement authorities, once and for all. It has dragged on much too long.

The Swiftboating of Scott McClellan

I admit, I have yet to read Scott McClellan's scathing memoir What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, which is highly critical of President George W. Bush's administration -- especially its handling of the Iraq War. As former White House Press Secretary McClellan (right) put it: "This was a presidency that veered badly off course. It was something that all of us would have preferred didn't happen." I've only read selected snippets published in newspapers across America. But I'm rushing out to buy my copy today (I promise I'll weigh in on it as soon as I read it). It's clear that McClellan has stirred up a hornets' nest and already the neocons are doing their best to swiftboat him.

Bush Loyalists launched a counter-attack while the printing press that churned out McClellan's book was still hot. Some asked why McClellan didn't voice criticisms while he was still the White House press secretary. Others insisted he's just trying to sell books and all he cares about is the almighty buck. And there are certain Bushites -- like Karl Rove -- who believe liberal book editors in New York hijacked his manuscript and ghost wrote it for him. Finally, some of McClellan's critics, such as Newt Gingrich, questioned the veracity of his claims. As Gingrich told FoxNews' Hannity and Colmes, "I don't have a great deal of faith that he is telling you and me the truth tonight any more than he apparently was telling us the truth back when he was saying things that he now says weren't true." Notice that Gingrich cannot pinpoint any lies or distortions or even half-truths in the book (who knows if he has even read it?). It's loads of fun to watch the Bushites squirming. Failing to locate any skeletons in McClellan's closet (other than serving in the Bush administration), they're now scrambling to find whatever damning little tidbit they can in a pathetic effort to discredit the book.

Easily the most ludicrous dismissal of McClellan came from the Wall Street Journal, which -- instead of countering McClellan's claims (like the White House, it can't) -- ripped into the book's publisher, PublicAffairs: "You can tell the Democratic presidential race is all but over. Cable television has returned to 24/7 coverage of whether President Bush lied us into war in Iraq. The latest peg is the Texan-bites-Bush story of former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's memoir. ... We'd merely note that the book's publisher is PublicAffairs, an imprint founded by left-wing editor Peter Osnos and which has published six books by George Soros. PublicAffairs is owned by Perseus Books, which is owned by Perseus LLC, a merchant bank whose board includes Democrats Richard Holbrooke and Jim Johnson, who is now doing Barack Obama's vice presidential vetting. One of Perseus's investment funds, Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical, is co-managed with Mr. Soros."

If that's the best these sorry Bushites can come up with, then maybe they'd better set up a real-estate office down in Florida and start selling some of that prime Everglades land for new houses. It makes about as much sense to build luxury condos in the marshland as it does to perpetuate the horrific war that drags on day after day in Iraq. From where I'm sitting, this is yet another reason to hope for an Obama Victory come November.

A Salute to Ron Kovic: An American Hero

Ever since I read Ron Kovic's unforgettable memoir Born on the Fourth of July back in the 1980s and watched Oliver Stone's brilliant 1989 film version of Born on the Fourth of July starring Tom Cruise, I've admired him as a hero and a patriot. Kovic, a former Marine who was wounded in Vietnam and came home a paraplegic, eventually became an antiwar activist and joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Over the years, Kovic has been fearless in his resistance to all wars. My first book, The Turning: A History of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, was directly inspired by Kovic's heroic example. I've just watched a deeply moving video of Ron Kovic speaking about his personal experiences in Vietnam and he does a brilliant job linking his ordeal to the Iraq War. Do yourself a favor: Drag your little arrow down, tap on the video screen below and watch and listen. I can tell you one thing: By the time it was over, I couldn't keep my eyes dry. After all these years, Ron Kovic remains a true American hero.

Screw Politics! I'm Having a SEVENTIES FLASHBACK!!!

I need a break from American politics. As the band Chicago sang in the early 1980s, “Even lovers need a holiday far away from each other.” And I need a holiday from Barack, Hillary and John – in the worst sort of way. Too much of a good thing makes Andy a dull boy. That’s why I’ve decided to take a much-needed stroll down Memory Lane.

Yes, ladies and gents, I’m feeling nostalgic for the 1970s. During the Sizzlin’ Seventies, I was a kid growing up in sunny southern California. Most people dismiss the 1970s as a time of malaise and decline, but – excuse my French –there was a lot about those times that kicked ass.

So, as a public service to highlight the positive aspects of the 1970s, I’ve formed a list of FIVE THINGS FROM THE 1970s THAT SOMEBODY NEEDS TO BRING BACK.

In no particular order, here are five things about the 1970s that ruled and deserve to be resurrected:

1. Sid and Marty Krofft Shows: You must remember Sid and Marty Krofft, the Montreal-born geniuses that gave us H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, Land of the Lost and – my personal favorite, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (left). These killer dudes took big-headed puppets to the next level, infusing a combination of wry humor and psychedelic fashions into their TV shows. And who could forget the brilliant stop-motion animated dinosaurs in Land of the Lost? No wonder the Krofft Brothers are thought of as pioneers of children’s television. Please, somebody, bring back these TV giants.

2. Citizens’ Band (C.B.) Radios: “Breaker one-nine, I got a Smokey report. Looks like we got ourselves a Bear in the Air, a Kodiak with a Kodak. Smile and comb your hair and while you’re at it, move on down to the diesel digit, ‘cause the bearded buddy is in a lean and hungry mood. His 10-20 is double nickels past Bun Boy in Baker. Stack them eights all the way down the interstate to Texarkana and keep on truckin’, good buddy. This here's Gun Dog, over and out.” Need I say more? (Right: Forty channels of pure C.B. heaven!)

3. Monster cereals: Remember Frankenberry, the strawberry-flavored corn and marshmallow concoction with the non-threatening pink Frankenstein – brought to you by the good folks at General Mills? Remember Count Chocula (the brown Dracula)? Boo Berry (the Peter Lorre-esque blue ghost)? Fruit Brute (the fruity werewolf)? What about the unjustifiably forgotten Yummy Mummy (whose stint in the cereal world spanned the less glamorous yet still vital years ’88 to 94)? I’m telling you: Cereal didn’t get any better than this. The best thing about these cereals was how they transformed the milk into a refreshing fruity beverage. And I still have fond memories of that Ben Kenobi sticker I found at the bottom of my Frankenberry box in the fall of ’77. They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

4. Sasquatch: The 1970s was really the Golden Age of Bigfoot. I’ll never forget watching the 1972 tour de force Bigfoot: Man or Beast on Saturday night Creature Features back in about ’77. After that, I had all the zeal of a new convert and I vowed to become a Bigfoot hunter extraordinaire. Bigfoot was the undisputed king of the cryptozoological world, and I spent many a Sunday afternoon huntin’ down strange footprints. I formed Bigfoot clubs with my cousins. We studied every single frame of the legendary 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film (shot in Bluff Creek in northern California, pictured right). We went hiking up to the woods where a Utah woman allegedly spotted one of the hairy humanoids. Sadly, we never found anything. But the fun was in the hunt itself. These days, you don’t hear much about Bigfoot anymore. But back then, Bigfoot was all the rage. He was in movies and on lunch boxes and he even turned up as a character on the Six Million Dollar Man. Does it get any cooler than that? A more important question: Where is Sasquatch now that we need him/her?

5. Kung-Fu Grip G.I. Joe: Finally, is there any way we can bring back the classic old G.I. Joe with the peach-fuzz hair and beard? When I was a kid, I admit I was pretty right wing. I thought that America could do no wrong, Gerald Ford was God, and G.I. Joe kicked commie ass (I still haven't changed my mind about Ford). At a certain point, they got rid of the peach-fuzz Kung-Fu Grip-style G.I. Joe and replaced him with some lame non-descript “action figure” that was interchangeable with every other lame “action figure” at Toys R Us. My personal theory is that classic G.I. Joe bore too strong a resemblance to the late, great Victor French who played Isaiah Edwards on Little House on the Prairie and Mark Gordon on Highway to Heaven. Hmm. I smell a conspiracy. And I have reason to believe that the same puppet masters behind Roswell and the JFK assassination are responsible. But please, whatever you do, don’t quote me on that.

Old-school G.I. Joe with the Kung-Fu Grip (left) and the late, great Victor French from Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven (right, pictured with co-star Michael Landon). Note the resemblance. Coincidence? Or conspiracy? You be the judge.

Sydney Pollack (1934-2008): Filmmaker, actor, humanitarian

Sydney Pollack, who died yesterday at age 73, was a great director and actor. He broke into cinema with his 1969 drama They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and eventually emerged with that rebellious 1970s cohort of filmmakers who challenged so many age-old Hollywood conventions. He was also an unrepentant liberal and humanist in the best sense of those words. There were countless tributes to him in newspapers across America, but the best one -- IMHO -- was Ty Burr's Blog on Pollack in today's Boston Globe (click here). To remember this towering giant of modern cinema, I'm including an excerpt of an interview he did with The Progressive magazine back in 2005, at the time his film The Interpreter was released in theaters. Pollack's answer to the question is eloquent and thought-provoking. A man this great deserves the last word.

Q: What is your reaction when people assert that Hollywood is some great liberal establishment?

Pollack: The essence of acting is seeing the world from another point of view. That’s what acting is. I’m not going to be an interpreter at the U.N. I’m not going to live in Africa on a farm or whatever, but I am going to see the world through those eyes when I make those films. Most human beings who are accustomed to attempting to see the world from various points of view tend to be more liberal than conservative. I have one life. I am a certain age. I’m married to one person. I have a certain number of children. I won’t have another life other than that, but I do have many lives through the films. It’s a way for me to understand what it’s like to be a murderer, to confess, to be a beaten wife, to be a minority, to be a victor, to get the girl, to lose the girl. I can do all of that through the practice of an art form. So when you spend your life being other people, as opposed to being the one person that you are, you learn that life is gray sometimes, not black and white. That what you thought was true isn’t necessarily true if you switch sides. That doesn’t mean you should go around understanding Hitler. It does mean that there are all kinds of people and they look at life in different ways.

I think that’s just one of the reasons why people that are in this profession tend to lean toward the liberal side rather than the conservative side.

A Cloud With a Silver Lining? Echoes of the G.I. Bill

The United States Senate (right) has just approved a $165 billion funding bill (by a vote of 75-22) to finance the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq well into 2009. The bill was sponsored by Senator Jim Webb, a West Virginia Democrat and Vietnam War veteran. What made this funding package different from past huge cash infusions into the wars overseas was the inclusion of billions of dollars for a number of domestic programs, including education and benefits for veterans. For example, it provides $52 billion over 10 years to help veterans pay for university tuition. Many observers are likening the bill to the G.I. Bill, the ambitious omnibus bill passed late in World War II that similarly furnished billions of dollars for domestic programs to help veterans and their families.

Not surprisingly, antiwar activists immediately condemned the vote. Michael McPhearson, co-chair of the antiwar group United for Peace and Justice, noted that the Senate has "ensured the needless deaths of hundreds of soldiers and thousands of innocent Iraqis by voting to expand the war and occupation for another full year."

The funding bill in the Senate created strange bedfellows. Democrats and moderate Republicans united in their support for the bill. The 22 who voted against it consisted largely (but note entirely) of Republicans who support President George W. Bush's opposition to any sort of funding for humane veterans' programs. The bill has also caused a great deal of controversy on the campaign trail because Senator John McCain opposed it -- largely for the same reason why Bush is now threatening to veto it: Because of its ambitious domestic spending side. True, McCain -- as part of his damage control -- is calling for more modest sums to be spent on education for veterans (based on a sliding scale tied to their individual records of military service). But his plan is far less ambitious.

Historically, right-wing Republicans have been miserly when it comes to allocating any sort of funds to help ordinary American people. They'll flush billions -- trillions -- down the toilet of the Iraq War. They'll support mammoth foreign aid packages that include colossal sums of humanitarian and military spending. But when it comes to helping working-class and middle-class men and women and their families, these GOP zealots cling to a warped "pull yourself up by the bootstrap" mentality that is strangely absent in the rest of their designs to create a gargantuan bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. Is there anybody out there who still believes that right-wing Republicans are advocates of small government? If you really want limited government, Libertarian presidential hopeful Bob Barr -- not John McCain -- is your candidate.

Although Senator McCain used to be a maverick on a host of issues, he has morphed into one of those "pull yourself up by the bootstrap" Republicans who advocates socialism for the rich and free enterprise for all the rest of us.

Meanwhile, those who want an end to the bloodbath in Iraq should keep two things in mind: 1) Congress is not going to suddenly pull the plug on support for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and beat a hasty retreat. Most members of Congress would regard such a move as political suicide. The $165 billion funding bill is a time-buying measure to keep the operations going until there is a new president in the White House. 2) The domestic spending contained in the funding bill represents a very real victory for veterans and their families, who -- up until now -- have been marginalized and ignored in the worst way imaginable. Michael McPhearson is quite correct to suggest that this bill -- supported by Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- will extend this horrific war for many more months. And this is a war that has caused profound destruction, dislocation and carnage. But if the Democrats play their cards carefully, they can tie McCain's opposition to humanitarian domestic spending to Bush's failed, disastrous policies over the past seven-plus years. Sadly, Democrats have often blundered such coups, and they may just blow this one, too.

Bottom line: You can be certain Congress would have voted to continue financing the Iraq War one way or the other. The G.I. Bill-like elements of this recent funding bill represent a brilliant maneuver by Democrats to move in a more liberal direction on the home front. If Bush vetoes the bill, he'll simply expose his true colors. And McCain's opposition to it has already undermined him. What's next? Somehow, Democrats must summon the courage to reorient foreign policy in a similarly humane direction by ending the war and creating a new Marshall Plan to help rebuild Iraq.

Franken Watch: One-way Ticket to Dullsville

The current United States Senate race in Minnesota pitting lefty comedian, satirist, talk-show host and bestselling author Al Franken (right) against Republican incumbent Senator Norm Coleman has been incredibly dull so far. This is surprising because Franken is easily the most intriguing Senate candidate in the United States today. As Kathrine Skiba noted in U.S. News and World Report (May 16, 2008): "At first glance, Franken's Senate challenge seems hard to take seriously. A fixture on Saturday Night Live for 15 seasons, the actor-comedian, author, screenwriter, producer, and radio host has a fat resume: seven USO tours, six books, five Emmy Awards, two Grammys, and a degree from Harvard."

Franken's campaign has gotten off to a sluggish start. The latest polls showed Coleman up 7 points over Franken (the May 19 Minneapolis Star Tribune poll put Coleman at 51 percent to Franken's 44 percent). In late April, Senate candidate Franken admitted that he owed taxes in some 17 states amounting to $53,000. On June 7, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Populist Era-sounding name of Minnesota's Democratic Party) will nominate its candidate at its state convention. Franken is expected to easily win the party's nomination, but he faces competition from a left-wing university professor, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. Both Franken and Nelson-Pallmeyer are claiming to be heirs to the legacy of beloved left-wing Senator Paul Wellstone. While most observers are predicting an easy Franken victory at next month's state convention, the comedian can't be too thrilled with a challenge from his left flank.

Now Minnesota Republicans are digging up all kinds of outrageous statements made by Franken in the past in an attempt to show that he's too "extreme" (whatever the hell that means) for the job. They've dug up an over-the-top satirical column he wrote in a 2000 issue of Playboy about his visit to a make-believe sex institute, which is full of references to sexual acts between Franken and other people and -- worse -- between Franken and various "machines." An open letter written to Franken by the Minnesota Republican Party stated:

"The words and descriptions you write about are beyond vulgar. They demean and degrade women as thoroughly and disrespectfully as any article we have ever seen, and we are horrified to believe that someone running for the U.S. Senate could have written them. This column shows flagrant disregard for women, and an extreme objectification of women as sex objects for your pleasure. While you may attempt to defend your writing as satire, we hardly find anything defensible about your finding humor in your desire to have sex with women or robots that look like women simply to give yourself a good time. Denounce this article and apologize immediately."

So far, no apologies have come from the Franken camp. I hope the leaders of the Minnesota Republican Party aren't holding their breaths. (On second thought...)

The political junkies, pundits and talking heads all seem to agree that Franken has been running a relatively lackluster campaign so far. Franken would do well to listen to the comments of Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. In reference to Franken's over-the-top Playboy column, Jacobs observed, "The Playboy story is one of many arrows to set the election as a referendum on the challenger rather than the incumbent. This is part of one strategy, which is to frame a particular question for voters: Does the challenger reflect Minnesota's values? This is a striking departure from usual re-election campaigns which are framed by the question: How has the incumbent done? Coleman loses if this question prevails."

Jacobs also warned: "Franken has done some things very well, but he has not yet created a consistent and effective strategy of making this a campaign about the incumbent. He has played into the Coleman campaign's strategy through inexperience and arrogance."

To complicate matters, pro-wrestler, politician and talk-show host Jesse Ventura (right) -- governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003 -- is now considering entering the race for the United States Senate against Franken and Coleman. So the race won't be dull much longer. Meantime, we can only hope Franken sits down with some capable advisers and maps out an effective strategy for victory.

Andrew's Anime Antics

I spent the weekend at Anime North, a massive anime extravaganza in Toronto. It took place at a sprawling convention center and two big hotels down the street from Toronto's Pearson International Airport. For the uninitiated, anime is Japanese animation. It is often characterized by complex story lines, violence, dark themes, and a distinctive style of art work -- the big eyes, almost nonexistent noses, tiny slits for mouths. It's not just for grownups. There is also anime directed toward kids, like Sailor Moon, Hamtaro, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc. To complicate matters, there is also manga, which is essentially the cartoon book form of anime. Manga -- which actually dates back to the eighteenth century in Japan -- is hugely popular across North America. By the end of 2007, there were 15 manga publishers in the United States printing between 1300 and 1400 titles.

Anime North drew thousands of participants, most of them dressed in mind-boggling costumes. There were teenagers (some male, some female) in Japanese girl school outfits. There were people carrying giant hammers and swords and ornate scythes. Many wore colorful wigs -- red, baby blue, pink, green, purple -- styled in post-apocalyptic spikes. Some wore masks or other coverings over their faces. Among the costumed were Witches and Soul Reapers and dimension-hopping Warriors and Black Magicians and Medieval Priestesses and Cyber Criminals and Dark Conspirators and Ancient Knights and Fox Demons and Lecherous Monks. I saw young women with painted faces wearing eighteenth-century Japanese silk gowns. There were people dressed like Pokemon monsters (my own daughter dressed as a Pokemon called Mudkip). Large crowds of adolescents wore the elaborate, multicolored school uniforms found in the Japanese manga Host Club. When these giddy young men and women spotted their favorite anime characters, they clapped like kids on Christmas morning, whipped out their digital cameras and pleaded with them to pose for photos.

Inside the hotels, convention-goers attended anime and manga panels, sessions on how-to-draw anime characters, video gaming exhibits and autograph signings. In a vast convention hall, there were hundreds of vendor booths selling toys and dolls and manga and anime DVDs and swords and padded nunchaku (numchucks).

I must admit, when I first arrived at this anime extravaganza, I kept thinking of my dear, departed grandfather, Grandpa Ralph, a combat veteran who fought in the Pacific Theater during World War II and saw the very worst of the war against the Japanese. Grandpa Ralph passed away last year. He detested all things Japanese until the later years of his life. He even gave me grief when I bought a Mazda in the mid-1990s. I heard him call the Japanese "Japs" on more than one occasion. And I couldn't help but wonder: What would Grandpa Ralph make of this highly successful Japanese invasion of North America?

Also, I rolled my eyes at some of the uber-geekery I witnessed ("Oh, I've been hunting high and low for the volume when Yusuke defeats the Four Saint Beasts at Maze Castle!" one enthusiastic buyer cried at a manga table, as if she'd just discovered gold at Sutter's Mill.) Some of the nerdiness reminded me of those Star Trek conventions, where dorks would debate which was a better episode, Amok Time or The Trouble with Tribbles.

Yet, having said that, I must admit I found myself deeply moved by this subculture of kindred spirits, all gathered together in one place for the same purpose. The whole time I walked among those thousands of anime/manga fanatics, I never sensed any competitiveness or mean-spiritedness. The young men and women packed into the convention hall were amazingly affectionate with one another. The hugging started Friday night and happened over and over again until Sunday afternoon. Young people who didn't even know each other hugged like they were lifelong friends. At one point, a long line of anime fans stood with signs advertising "FREE HUGS." And they hugged and hugged and hugged. Nero fiddled, but these people hugged. What I witnessed was a vibrant subculture, accepting -- no, actually, welcoming -- of nonconformity and unconventionality. These people were non-judgmental. They were kind -- I mean genuinely kind, not a phony or insincere kind. As far as I could see, they weren't forming cliques or spreading hateful rumors about one another, like so many young people did back in the 1980s when I trudged through that lowest level of hell known as junior high.

When I left Anime North and headed home, I felt an affinity with this young generation. These were gentle souls. Despite their outwardly odd appearance, these were some of the sanest people I have ever seen. They offered a haven for gays, lesbians, artists, poets, sensitive teens, depressed outcasts, creative dynamos and angst-filled youths. The laughter, the hugs, the snapping photos all added up to a joyous celebration of youth. I wish I could say I'm a convert and I'm now a big anime/manga fan, but I can't because -- quite frankly -- that stuff is way over my head. But I'm proud to have been a part of such a life-affirming and vibrant subculture, if only for one weekend.

See you in a few days, Blog Pals... Anime calls!

Greetings Blog Pals,
I'll be signing off for a few days, until Monday, May 26. I'm going with my kids to a convention in Toronto called Anime North. It's also known as "Canada's premier fan-run anime convention." Ooh boy, I can hardly wait! My son and daughter and all of their pals are way into the Japanese animation known as anime. In fact, they can't get enough anime. On our cable TV, we have two -- count 'em, two -- anime on demand television channels. Frankly, I don't quite get the appeal of anime. I watch these shows with my kids and most of the time I can't figure out what in the hell is going on (which, I suppose, is the story of my life -- but we won't go there). I've been told that anime fans are really hardcore. They love the art form: the giant, watery eyes; the V-shaped faces, the tiny slits for mouths; the insane hair. The tens of thousands of fans who will converge on Toronto for Anime North dress up as their favorite anime characters. It should prove to be quite a surreal experience.

Back when I was a kid, growing up in suburban Southern California and Utah, the only anime we had was Speed Racer (above). (Later, Speed Racer was joined by another early anime show, Battle of the Planets, an outer space epic that depicted the adventures of G-Force) Speed Racer, of course, has been made into a live-action film and it's currently packing 'em in at multiplexes around the world. But I have such warm memories of the show -- of Speed racing around in his powerful Mach 5; Pops Racer (Speed's dad and mechanic) shouting all his lines; the irrepressible Spritle and Chim Chim offering the comic relief; Trixie, hovering around in her helicopter; the mysterious Racer X, who always saved Speed's rear end when the going got tough -- that I can't bring myself to see the movie.

But anime has changed over the years. It has gotten to be more complex -- bordering on incomprehensible. I can't follow the plots. The dialogue is strange. The storylines are convoluted. I have to admit, it just doesn't do it for me. Give me Tex Avery (1908-1980) -- the genius behind Droopy, Bugs Bunny and Screwy the Squirrel (right). Now there was a cartoon god!

A Salute to America's World War II Veterans

They're coming from all over the country, from every state in the Union. This weekend, World War II veterans from across America will converge on the nation's capital. Some are traveling thousands of miles to be part of the Memorial Day ceremonies this weekend -- in particular, to witness the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. (above). Many of them are flying aboard chartered airplanes known as Honor Flights, which are free airline flights provided to World War II veterans so they can visit the World War II Memorial. The Honor Flights had modest beginnings: They started in 2005, when six small planes carried 12 World War II veterans from Springfield, Ohio to the Washington, D.C. Now, thanks to the generous donations of Americans from all walks of life, the Honor Flights have expanded into most states. And these aren't just puddle-jumpers making the short hop to the capital. Many of them are larger passenger planes carrying up to 100 or so veterans. As veteran Ben Lesesne of Yuma, Arizona, put it, "I'd like for veterans to see this before they pass on. They say that we're dying at a rate of 1,500 a month in this country. I think every veteran of World War II should see that before they pass on. It only took them 60 years to build it."

It is deeply poignant to see these men -- now in their mid-80s or older -- making this pilgrimage to witness a profound monument to freedom. These are men who came of age in a very different time, and they help us keep alive the memories of the many noble sacrifices Americans made during this trying period of their history. It seems like not long ago that World War I veterans were in their twilight years and World War II veterans were in their sixties. I remember watching the D-Day ceremonies back in 1984 -- on the fortieth anniversary -- and thinking how young and robust the vets still looked. Today, a good number of them use walkers and wheelchairs and canes, but you can still see that youthful gleam in many a vets' eye. Back when NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation was published in 1998, many critics accused him excessively romanticizing a very difficult period of American history (while others knocked him for mediocre writing). Maybe there was some truth to the criticism. But one can refrain from Greatest Generation nostalgia tripping and still appreciate the amazing sacrifices made by these young men to safeguard democracy.

But as Ben Lesesne points out, the men and women of this generation are passing away in great numbers. The Veterans Administration offers slightly lower figures than Lesesne, but even the VA estimates that 3 million men and women who served in the Armed Services during World War II (out of a total of 16 million) are still alive and that 1,200 are dying per day. So we're beginning to lose these precious people. That is why Honor Flight is such a tremendous service. It flies veterans for free so they can witness the monument to their heroism. To see these aging men gathered at the memorial -- remembering, laughing, weeping, reflecting -- is to see a nation at its finest.

Old Doc McCain Rushes to Keep Dying Dinosaur Alive

Senator John McCain wants to keep an ailing Cold War dinosaur alive. The U.S. embargo against Cuba must continue, he insists, so that the island nation will begin the process of democratization. Speaking at a Cuban Independence Day event in Miami yesterday, McCain vowed to take a hard line on Cuba if elected. He pulled out all of Dubya's tired old rhetoric, which Dubya inherited from every presidential administration going back to Dwight D. Eisenhower. He listed all of the reforms that Cuba must pursue to achieve normalized relations, including holding free elections, releasing all political prisoners, and allowing free expression of ideas. "On this Cuban Independence Day," McCain told the Miami crowd, "let us take a moment to pray that Cubans everywhere will soon enjoy the liberty for which their forefathers fought."

McCain also used the speech as an opportunity to slam Senator Barack Obama (left), who favors normalizing relations with Cuba.

The emergence of a democratic Cuba is long overdue. But McCain's strategy has been in place for about a half a century and so far all it has done is strengthen the Cuban Communist Party. McCain's speech, moreover, was a crass attempt to win support from the Cuban exile community in Miami (one Cuban-American woman at McCain's speech dramatically announced that Florida would be his for the taking). This is the same Senator McCain who supported normalizing relations with Cuba back in 2000 (granted, there were some conditions attached to his position back in 2000, but he was much more open to the idea then than he is now). This is the same Senator McCain who supports far harsher treatment of prisoners in the dungeons of Guantanamo Bay (without due process) than anything happening in Cuba's prisons. This is the same Senator McCain who was the main political figure in Washington, D.C. pushing for normalized relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam -- another communist country -- with far fewer conditions attached to normalization in that case. This is the same Senator McCain whose track record of supporting "democracy" in other parts of Latin America is not especially admirable.

Hearing neocons like McCain -- who don't really give a hoot in hell about people's liberties (where's self-determination in Iraq? I don't see it) -- prattle on and on about "freedom" and "democracy," buzzwords that don't mean a thing other than they sound warm and fuzzy, is enough to make any sane person queasy to the point of blowing chunks. It's hypocrisy at its worst. And now McCain is trashing Obama, a daring political figure who wants to take U.S. policy in a new direction, over his position on Cuba. Is there anyone out there who actually believes McCain is still a maverick? If so, I got a bridge in Brooklyn that's perfect for you --cheap -- and the papers are ready to sign.

My Sentiments Exactly

This bumper sticker above has been seen on an increasing number of automobiles across America.

Why We Can't Afford to Lose Teddy Kennedy

Senator Edward Kennedy -- "Teddy" as Americans know him -- is in Massachusetts General Hospital with a malignant brain tumor. He apparently has what doctors call, in their high-tech sounding DoctorSpeak, a "glioma in the left parietal-lobe." He will be receiving radiation treatment for the next little while. Senator Kennedy is, of course, the last of the Kennedy Brothers. And he is the lion of liberalism in America. He has represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate since 1962, so of course -- it goes without saying -- the man is a political animal. He knows how to get things done, how to compromise, how to forge bipartisan unity without jettisoning his liberal agenda. More importantly, he knows when not to compromise, and when to play hardball with his adversaries. He's tough as hell. Now he's struggling against brain cancer. I'll never forget 26 years ago, when I was in junior high in suburban Holladay, Utah, and my right-wing social studies teacher told me that he disliked Kennedy because "Teddy is too much of a socialist for me." And I remember thinking to myself, "If this weenie thinks Kennedy is too much of a socialist, then Teddy can't be all that bad." It was only later I learned that Edward Kennedy represented the very best traditions in American liberalism. Now the world is watching and waiting to see what happens to Senator Kennedy. Like his other admirers, I wish him a speedy and full recovery. We cannot afford to lose Teddy Kennedy. At this difficult moment in history, we need him now more than ever.

From the Nixon Files: Those Damn Dope-Smoking Jews

"You know, it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana are Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob? What is the matter with them? I suppose it's because most of them are psychiatrists."

--President Richard Nixon, May 26, 1971 (from the White House Tapes, released March 2002)

(Illustration: Richard Nixon bowling in the White House, 1970.)

Campaign Trail Follies of 08

Tweedledum and Tweedledee: During a campaign speech the other day in Kentucky, Senator Hillary Clinton (right) cited an analysis by notorious Republican hit man Karl Rove (left) as proof that she is the more potent of the two Democrats running for the presidency. “I believe I am the stronger candidate and just today I found some curious support for that position when one of the TV networks released an analysis done by – of all people – Karl Rove, saying that I was the stronger candidate. Somebody got a hold of his analysis and there it is." Way to go, Senator Clinton. You've just validated and legitimated the Tasmanian Devil of the extreme right. Well, that does it. If Karl Rove says it, it must be true.

Making things more interesting on the Right: While Senator John McCain precariously balances his "maverick" status (which is looking more and more dubious with each passing day) with his unwavering commitment to Bushite neocon politics, former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr (right) is making the race even more interesting on the right by running as a Libertarian presidential candidate. The pundits and political junkies are now debating about whether Barr will become a spoiler for McCain -- a Ralph Nader of the right -- or just another irrelevant Libertarian candidate. In the Libertarian tradition, Barr is promising to scale back government, withdraw American forces from Iraq and protect civil liberties. There was a thoughtful analysis of his campaign in the Atlanta Journal Constitution a few days ago. Have a look here if you get a chance. Barr said his Republican friends have put a great deal of pressure on him to stay out of the race, telling him his run for the presidency "would upset the apple cart." But he's going ahead with it. As Barr put it, "If Sen. McCain ... does not succeed in winning the presidency, it will not be because of Bob Barr, not because of Sen. Obama. It will be because Sen. McCain and his party did not present a vision, an agenda, platform and a series of programs that actually resonated positively with the American people. It also may be because their candidate did not resonate with the American people." If nothing else, Barr's run for the presidency is but one of many signs of increasing fragmentation on the Right side of American politics.

Finally, a Few Thoughts on Byrd, the KKK and Senator Barack Obama: When Senator Robert Byrd, 90, of West Virginia (see picture below) endorsed Obama the other day, newspapers across the country blazed with headlines similar to the one in the Charlotte Observer: "FORMER KLANSMAN BYRD PICKS OBAMA." The endorsement prompted Tonight Show host Jay Leno in his Monday night monologue to quip: "That's got to make Hillary feel good, huh? Even the Klan guy is going, 'I’m going with the black guy.'"

The repeated Ku Klux Klan references -- obviously meant to highlight the irony of a onetime white supremacist endorsing an African American -- detracted from the real significance of Byrd's endorsement. Byrd is widely known as the elder statesman of the United States Senate. He is from West Virginia, the scene of Clinton's recent triumph. Byrd's endorsement will give Obama a much-needed boost in his home state. Most importantly, Byrd is a man of great dignity. Who cares if he was in the Ku Klux Klan? Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, one of the most liberal justices in the history of the Court and a pioneering champion of racial equality, joined the Robert E. Lee Klan No. 1 branch in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1923. Black was not proud of his Klan affiliation, and neither is Byrd. As Byrd told the Washington Post back in 2005: "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times ... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened."

Incidentally, if you haven't read Senator Byrd's Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency, do yourself a favor and check it out. A number of books have been published in recent years that criticize the Bush Administration for its destructive policies, but Byrd's is by far the best. It's sharp, insightful, passionate and very direct. The man is 90 and he has still got it going on. For years now, Byrd has been a consistent voice for peace and justice in the Senate. The fact that he was a member for a time of the KKK (for which he has apologized repeatedly) is irrelevant.

In Praise of Barbecue Bob Hicks

Even die-hard political junkies like yours truly get sick of a steady diet of news from the campaign trail. When I Blog, I love to listen to Blues, and a recurring favorite is Barbecue Bob (a.k.a., Robert Hicks). Bob -- one of the blues greats of the early twentieth century -- was born September 11, 1902 in small-town Walnut Grove, Georgia. Like so many blues performers from that time (the 1920s and 1930s), not many details are known about his life. Yet there are some Barbecue Bob facts that are worth highlighting here:

• His parents were poor rural sharecroppers.
• His brother Charley Hicks was also a blues performer. Charley, for reasons unknown, later went by the name Charley Lincoln.
  
• Bob started on the 6-string guitar in his early teens but soon graduated to the 12-string.
• In his youth, Bob was part of a local blues scene that included other blues greats such as guitarist Curley Weaver and harmonica player Eddie Mapp.
  
• He got his nickname, Barbecue Bob, from working in Tidwell's Barbecue in Buckhead, a suburb of Atlanta. The nickname was coined by Columbia Records talent scout Don Hornsby.
• He recorded his first album on March 25, 1927. His first record sold 15,000 copies -- a damn good run for an early blues album.
  
• He made his first recording with his brother, Charley, on November 9, 1927.
  
• He made 68 recordings, yet 65 of them are still extant. Six of his recordings were rejected by Columbia. Of those six, three were later re-issued. The other three remain missing in action.
  
• There are only two photographs of Bob known to exist, one of them in his white barbecue chef's uniform from Tidwell's.
  
• He played with the blues band the Georgia Cotton Pickers.
  
• Eric Clapton performed a cover of his "Motherless Child Blues."
  
• Early in 1931, his wife died of pneumonia.
  
• He died of tuberculosis and pneumonia on October 21, 1931.
  
• He is widely seen as the most influential blues musician of his time, along with Blind Willie McTell.
• Bob's older brother, Charley, went on to record several albums, yet he suffered from severe depression much of his life. In his later life he spent time in a mental institution, then murdered a man and eventually died in prison in 1963.
  

My favorite Barbecue Bob CD is Chocolate to the Bone, which consists of his legendary 1927 recordings. It's an amazing mixture of playful, forlorn, soulful, anxious, mellow -- 63 minutes of pure southern blues at its very best. The lyrics tell intriguing stories of forgotten people and the guitar work is second to none. More than eight decades after its release, Barbecue Bob's Chocolate to the Bone is as fresh today as it was when the obscure, 25-year-old restaurant worker walked into the studio to record it.

The Other Triumph in North Carolina

Earlier this month, the news media focused so heavily on Senator Barack Obama's victory in the North Carolina primaries that another important primary showdown went largely ignored. Representative Watler Jones (right) battled for his political survival, fighting to keep the Congressional seat he has held since 1995. Jones is a Republican and a staunch conservative. He was swept into power in 1994 as part of the Republican Revolution that saw the triumph of Georgia representative Newt Gingrich and his Contract with America. Jones was part of the Contract with America cohort. As political commentator Christopher Check noted, "His conservatism is beyond reproach: tough on immigration, a strong supporter of American manufacturing, 100 percent pro-life, unwavering on Second Amendment rights, a firm defender of marriage and family, et cetera."

But Rep. Jones committed a terrible sin in the eyes of hawkish Republicans. He turned against the Iraq War. Rep. Jones -- who proposed changing the name of "French Fries" to "Freedom Fries" in the House dining hall back in 2003 (in reaction to French criticism of the Iraq War) -- backed President George W. Bush 100 percent when the Commander in Chief sent troops into Iraq. But Jones had a change of heart -- and a very dramatic one. Traveling to Iraq, talking to soldiers over there, coming home and seeing the disgraceful way that veterans and their families have been treated by the U.S. government, Rep. Jones turned against the war after a lot of "difficult soul searching." Especially difficult for Jones was writing letters to the families who lost loved ones in Iraq.

The United States, Jones insisted, invaded Iraq with "no justification" and Congress and the American public were “given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration.” In 2005, Jones -- along with Democratic Reps. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii -- proposed legislation to establish a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. As Jones put it, "I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there."

Rep. Jones' strong antiwar position prompted conservative Republican Joe McLaughlin to run against him in the North Carolina primaries this year. McLaughlin claimed that Jones was not a true conservative. He insisted Jones was "betraying" the troops in Iraq. He visited the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune, located in the 3rd Congressional District, where he questioned Jones' patriotism. "We are blessed in the 3rd District with a very active military presence," McLaughlin told the press. "The men and women fighting overseas deserve a congressman who supports their mission." Going door to door, McLaughlin told voters, "The biggest difference between me and Walter Jones is I believe when you're in a war, you find a way to win it, not a way to get out."

When voters went to the polls on May 6, Jones won with 60 percent of the popular vote -- a sign that even in heavily conservative eastern North Carolina, people are becoming fed up with the catastrophe that is the Iraq War. They instinctively understood that you can be pro-troops but against this reprehensible conflict. Jones has vowed that he will continue to oppose the Iraq War. "Mine is just a heart that aches because we should never have gone into Iraq to begin with," Jones said. "This has been my mea culpa."

Good for Jones. Here is a man with guts and, most importantly, integrity. His victory over McLaughlin in the North Carolina primaries earlier this month serves as an indication that American voters are no longer swallowing the lies and propaganda about this most terrible of wars.