YOUR ELECTION MAY HAVE BEEN STOLEN. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Pittsburgh Progressive 01-01-05

HAPPY NEW YEAR. YOUR ELECTION MAY HAVE BEEN STOLEN. TALK AMONGST YOURSELVES: I spent midnight watching a Souixsie Sioux and the Banshees live show on VH1-Classic--a station that's extremely disappointing at times but not last evening--and was surprised by how much they rocked. Killer guitar riffs throughout every tune. I thought I was at a Motorhead concert or something. Her drummer and I think husband was just an incredible player. Every beat sounded triumphal and anthemic. Never saw a guy use mallets like that. Most drummers just live on their hi-hats. You could take those beats to war. Only downside: A woman pushing 50 doesn't have to take off her top. Besides, with her money she can pay to look mid 30s forever. Spend it. Still a great set though...

Later on in the day, without the hint of even an appropriate transition, still watching TV (The sad man's family...) I caught up with my old friend Jerry Starr on CSpan, who's been a one man lobbyist machine for a fair and decent public television. I ran into him when I wrote a media watch column for In Pittsburgh back in the early 90s. I made the argument then (1995 I think) that the net would be our salvation because the Conservative Washington DC players would never allow a progressive public media to emerge, or even an American BBC--I once begged George Soros to create such a thing using his own trust fund. No word yet and no checks yet for your humble site. Jerry still hasn't gotten decent public television but he does have a website. He also promotes a number of shows that you can only see on the Internet, at least here in Pittsburgh. I think I won that point. See the links on the right if you're wondering what a progressive media would truly look and sound like.

This is also kind of what this paper aspires to be, a real alternative to the corporate press. And I don't mean alternative in that I can say "fuck" and post pictures of nude women--which I enjoy certainly. I mean alternative in the sense that I can say that the system is fucked up. It's not fair. It's not even close. You should be thinking about not ever joining the military--either voluntarily and certainly not by a forced draft. The Bush administration is evil enough to steal the election. They've already done it once. You need to respond by getting involved politically and you should measure your every action, your every purchase, by how you can achieve the current regime's overthrow. And with that, I will end my writing for the day and go spend some time with my real family.