whither now the political moderate...

from lame duck (due to losing his primary) congressman Joe Schwarz (R-MI)

Don't Lose Like Me - washingtonpost.com:

But my moderate positions on Roe v. Wade (I do not support overturning it, believing that a woman has the right to choose) and embryonic stem cell research (I strongly support it), as well as my general feeling that religion and moral and ethical issues are private matters, did not sit well with those who would mix church and state in a way that is antithetical to the principles of separation on which our country was founded -- in other words, the hard right.

So in the Republican primary, the opposition got its vote out. The effort was funded, probably to the tune of $1 million or so, by the Club for Growth, a Washington outfit supported by plutocrats nationwide who apparently have nothing better to do with their money than give it to an organization that stands for nothing -- though it says it's "anti-tax" -- and likes to play in elections in which it has no logical interest.

I had a great campaign organization, willing volunteers and was well-funded. Key endorsements rolled in: from the Farm Bureau, police and fire organizations, teachers, medical groups, some unions, key GOP officeholders. My supporters thought I couldn't lose -- and as a result, I did. It was a classic example of a motivated minority -- just 7.8 percent of the Republican electorate districtwide -- nominating a congressional candidate. The moderates stayed home in droves, felt horrible the next day, and vowed never to miss another vote. They will. The hard right won't. And fewer and fewer sensible "let's take the broad view" candidates will have any chance of being elected.

But politics needs a middle. Communication across the aisle in Congress and in legislatures is the sine qua non of effective public policy formulation. The reluctance -- at times, the near-total unwillingness -- to consider the other side's position has hamstrung political bodies from coast to coast.

emph mine.

yeah, read that again: a whole 7.8 percent actually gave a shit enough in that district to vote, and as a result the sensible candidate the real majority would have easily reelected in november is gone, replaced by a right-wing nutball who will then proceed to take away as many freedoms of choice from that majority as he can get away with and they won't have a choice in the matter.

they had the choice once, they let it go. again.

think of that the next time your state has a primary, ok?

enough "Romeo and Juliet"'s out there?

So far, I've seen "music inspired by"'s from Prokofiev, Gounod, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Delius, and of course, Bernstein (West Side Story - hey, it's close enough...), plus the film soundtracks by Rota and Hooper, and an incidental score credited to American composer David Diamond.

so what gives?  i realize it's a great story (great enough for Shakespeare to have written it twice (Midsummer Night's Dream)), but why the musical fascination throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries?

sheesh...

another goodbye as the present becomes history...

/. is reporting that this week, the very last U.S. Navy active F-14 Tomcats (as featured in Top Gun and The Final Countdown) will finally be retired as their squadrons move on to the newer F-18 E/F Superhornet (the C edition was featured, via CGI, in Independence Day).