Is Solicitor General/Supreme Court Associate Justice Nominee Gay? a) "Who cares?" and b) "Cool. It's about time."

By Jack Brummet & Pablo Fanque
Social Mores Editor & National Affairs Editor

Politico.com and various other sites have been debating and reporting on whether or not Elena Kagan in gay.  Our first reaction is "who cares?"  And, second, is "cool..  It's about time."   But if she is a lesbian, she will not be the first homosexual to sit on the bench, at least if you believe at all in probability and statistics.  Those statistics seems to say that around 10% of people are gay.  Therefore, The Supremes have likely had at least ten gay justices.  The issue then becomes sort of a snoozer, whichever way it turns out future Justice Kagan swings. 

From Politico.com:  "[Sarah] Walzer, half amused and half appalled to be discussing her friend’s sexual orientation, agreed to be interviewed after Kagan’s supporters decided they should tactfully put an end to the rumor, which White House officials had already tried to squelch in background interviews with reporters. She said she decided to talk to POLITICO because the discussion of Kagan’s personal life has become a 'distraction.' ”

As usual, none of the mainstream media are not really touching the story (and I admire them for that).  But then the mainstream media becomes less of a factor in all of this almost day by day.  There are probably kids being born tonight who will never hold a newspaper in their hands.

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painting: paranoia by jack

click to enlarge

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Digital art: The Grey Dream

click to enlarge

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George Bush Unfiltered...I kind of miss him

By Jack Brummet

Arts and Paranormal Editor

One thing I did like about George W. Bush as President (one of the very few) was his--sometimes shocking and often appalling--lack of filters.  I don't know if you remember some of his post 9/11 speeches on waging war, but he was dangerously bellicose. . .and committed.  George didn't quite stray into Curtis LeMay's "Bomb them into the Stone Age" turf either.  Ish.    BHO's carefully nuanced speech makes Dubyah's twisted syntax and rambling seem *almost* charming.

One of President Bush's best wack moments ever came down in a speech he made on  on May 25, 2005 at the Greece Athena Middle and High School in Greece, New York.


"...third time I've said that. [Laughter.] I'll probably say it three more times. See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda. [Applause.]
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What are Sarah Palin's Prospects? Pablo Fanque speculates on the mid-term elections and beyond

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

As we all know,  the vice-presidency in modern politics has not exactly been a golden path to the Oval Office.  Sure, George Bush (Sr.) pulled it off, Dick Nixon was finally elected after eight years in the political wilderness, and Harry Truman and LBJ were catapulted into office by the sudden deaths of the Presidents under whom they were serving. 

Recent unsuccessful vice presidential nominees — like Jack Kemp, John Edwards, Joe Lieberman, and Dan Quayle — never got within miles of the Presidency.  The only two losing vice presidential candidates to win a nomination--Walter Mondale and Bob Dole--were trotted out as sacrificial lambs with no chance of surviving against wildly popular incumbents.  They were both thoroughly trounced in the general election.

What does this mean for Ex-Governor Palin, who was not only a losing Veep candidate, but eventually resigned little more than halfway through her only term as Governor of Alaska?  It's hard to say.  None of these other also-rans attached themselves to a populist movement like the "tea party."  None of them ever stumped as hard as she has for fellow Republicans.  And none of them had amassed the vast mega-million personal war-chest that Palin has collected in the last year.  Whatever you think of her, she has garnered some good ink, a lot of tea-party love,  and political I.O.U.s from GOP candidates and their supporters.  Does that translate into traction as a candidate?  Probably not, but it's too early to tell.  Sarah Palin is unique, her fans are especially dedicated, and the voters seem particularly cranky.  I suspect we will know much more about her prospects after we see what happens in the 36 Senate, 435 House, and 37 gubernatorial elections coming up on November 2nd. 
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David Bowie Space Oddity (2009 Remastered) - Major Tom - The Right Stuff...

I remember when this came out (around the same time Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side appeared).  It felt like something new that just might take root...
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The Huffington Post's funniest news moments ever

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor


On Huffington Post:  The funniest news moments ever.

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jack brummet poem: the mission

The army
Has two duties——


To break things, and kill people.
Everything else is fluff and overhead.
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Happy Mother's Day

Paul Revere and the Raiders, Pacific NW rock legends, perform "Hungry"

Pacific Northwest rock legends Paul Revere and the Raiders perform "Hungry" I saw the Raiders three times--the first time in about 1969 at Tiffany's Skate Rink in Kent, Washington, and also at The Teen Fair at Seattle Center (the teen fair was a kind of cleaned up acid test for kids). Despite their kooky uniforms, and syncrhonized dance moves, they charted dozens of times in the latre sixties and early seventies.


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David Hidalgo and Los Lobos perform "Kiko and the Lavender Moon"

Here is the amazing Los Lobos tune "Kiko and the Lavender Moon," however, the only good version on YouTube was this one, with someone's cat performing tricks. This is David Hidalgo and The Wolves at their absolute peak (and they've had many amazing moments, from their first album 20 years ago to now).


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A milestone of sorts--4,000 entries on All This Is That

We started All This Is That five and a half years ago, in late 2004, and on Friday we posted our 4,000th article. 

ATIT has published every day since the beginning, from Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, NYC, LA, Orange County, San Francisco, Berkeley-Oakland, Boston, Austin, Jensen Beach and the Everglades in Florida, Bucerias Nayarit, Mexico, London and Sheffield England, various locations in Turkey, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini and elsewhere in Greece, Montana, Idaho, Eugene and Portland Oregon, and in Udaipur Araungabad, Mumbai/Bombay, and Pune India.

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