The Sadly Late, Always Great, Johnny Otis

Damn legends of rock, they keep dying on me. A week ago we lost the great Johnny Otis.
A taste:

One should not forget the dirty version he recorded years latter, anonymously:

[Re-post] Gabrielle Giffords Should Resign For The Sake Of Her District

Originally posted November 17, 2011.

Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head on January 8, 2011. A sentence like that would normally serve as the end of a person's story. For Congresswoman Giffords, it serves as the beginning. Before that day, she was a rather unnoticed representative who had just won a third term. That most recent election did elicit some press coverage, as she had narrowly defeated a tea party backed Republican opponent. But that pales in comparison to the massive outpouring of attention following the shooting. The initial coverage was largely focused on Sarah Palin, of all people, for her group's use of a gun sight over Gifford's district. That attention was of no use in the end to liberals, since Palin's monumentally off-key response ("blood libel") resulted in the half-term governor's nascent presidential campaign committing suicide. Once the media attention was drawn back to Giffords there was to be no end to their fawning over her life, which continues to this day.

Gifford's life since being shot is indeed amazing. Not only did she live (no small feat unto itself) but she has over the past ten months or so regained the ability to walk and talk. It is a wonderful story of the perseverance of the human body, and of the mortal soul. And as if created by Hollywood screenwriters, she is married to an astronaut, always by her side save for the brief period that he was rocketed into space in the cause of scientific research. (Actually you can scratch that screenwriter reference - such a character would be deemed too cute and perfect, even by the current standards of Hollywood schlock) Gifford's physical journey has made for a wonderful story. When I had first heard that she had been shot I thought that if she didn't end up dying, she would most likely end up in some form of a vegetative state. But she has, I am happy to say, proven me very wrong. As the publicity from her husband's recent book tour can atest, she can not only walk on her own, she can also speak in a rudimentary way.

It is this recovery that brings me around to the main point. Since Giffords was shot on January 8th, the citizens of Arizona's eigth district have been without a voting member of Congress. Her personal story is both tragic and heroic, and mesmerizes us - but those citizens have been without a voice in our federal government's lower chamber. It is true that the rest of her congressional office has been humming with activity. People calling seeking information or help have been aided and directed in the appropriate direction. But the most basic duty, indeed the essential job, of a Representative is to vote, something that Giffords has been unable to do since January 7th (she did show up in the middle of the vote on the debt ceiling vote on August, but that was only to cast a simple 'aye' vote).

Gifford's recent media tour has shown that she is unable to speak in sentences longer than one or two words. Though she can process basic emotions - love of her husband, sadness for those who died on January 8th - it remains to be seen whether she can process the complicated details necessary to understand legislation. And if she cannot understand it, and more practically if her medical needs means she cannot be in Washington, DC, then she cannot vote. Therefore, she should resign. If she has recovered to the point where she could function as a Representative by the 2012 or 2014 elections, then she is free to present her case to the voters. I would strongly suspect that she still holds the seat because she has her doubts as to whether she could win reelection in 2012 were it not for the sympathy of the voters. Her margin of victory was thin in 2010 (138,280 to 134,124), and the nature of her district indicates that it would be just as thin if not thinner in 2012. However, if Congresswoman Giffords wants what is best for her constituents, she should resign and allow the Arizona governor to appoint a representative who is capable of being a voice for the eighth district in Washington.

Jay Leno's Jokes Are So Bad, One Caused An International Incident

Jay Leno now has several million Sikhs rather angry at him:

India has condemned a comment by US comedian Jay Leno on the holiest Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple of Amritsar.A Leno skit showed the temple as the summer home of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.Mr Romney has faced taxation questions over his huge wealth and many Sikhs are angry the temple has been depicted as a place for the rich.The Sikh community has launched an online petition and an Indian minister called the comments "objectionable".Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told reporters: "It is quite unfortunate and quite objectionable that such a comment has been made after showing the Golden Temple."Mr Ravi said the Indian embassy would take up the matter with the US state department, the Press Trust of India reported.

The Sadly Late, But Always Great, Etta James

The true First Woman of Rock and Roll:

From Taylor Hackford's excellent and extremely recommended Hail Hail Rock and Roll!

Today In GOP Cluster-Fuck News

Rick Perry drops out, will endorse Newt Gingrich.

Rick Santorum actually won the Iowa caucus by around 30 votes, even though several precincts lost their ballots.

ABC News will run an interview with Newt Gingrich's ex-wife tonight (the second one).

For some reason, there is another debate tonight.

Stephen Colbert, who wants South Carolinians to show their support for him by voting for Hermain Cain, will host a rally tomorrow with the mustachioed pizza maker.

No one can ever say that politics in South Carolina is boring. I'm just waiting for the robocalls that imply a candidate has an illegitimate black child.

Rick Perry Still Can't Name The Three Federal Agencies He Wants To Cut

Via First Read:

During a radio interview this morning, he was asked which federal departments he would shut down. Perry listed: "Three right off the bat: Commerce, Interior, and Energy are the three that you think of." Problem: Those are NOT the three he had previously not been able to name. He swapped Interior for Education. He has not previously said he would eliminate Interior.

There's been a lot of discussion over the reason for Perry not performing at the level many had expected him to. If you can remember back, pundits lauded Perry for his political skills, and insisted that he would be the man to beat Romney. Since that cannon never fired, some have said that Perry was just unused to such a hard race, or was 'not ready for the major leagues.' I think there's a simpler explanation: he's just stupid.

Let Us Gays Now Oggle Men As Shamelessly as Straight Men Do With Women

t's an ad for underwear, as if you cared.

Headline That Sums Up What's Wrong With America

From the New York Times:

"T.S.A. Defends Cupcake Confiscation"

CHUTZPAH (see: Yoo, John)

John Yoo, as a member of George W. Bush's Office of Legal Counsel, argued strongly that the President has the right to ignore US laws and foreign treaties when it came to torture of prisoners. There's a mess of legal theory behind it, but in essence he argued, and Bush agreed, that national security was so important that the President had a free hand.

Today in the National Review, Yoo argues that President Obama should respect the law and tradition, and should not have named Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau through a recess appointment because the Senate was kind of not in recess.

So again, the President can torture whoever he deems to call a terrorist, but our values are undermined by not respecting some ridiculous technicality over just how in recess the Senate is.

Chevron Is Ethically And Legally Corrupt, Even For An Oil Company

Oil companies are not expected to rank highly on a scale of moral rectitude, but Chevron's (and their adopted child Texaco's) actions in Ecuador are still shocking. This week's New Yorker lays out the plot in the multi-billion dollar environmental case brought by Ecuadorians against the multinational behemoth. There is the usual tale of total indifference to environmental damage that one would expect of course, but added to that are examples of ethical bankruptcy, such as framing a local Ecuadorian judge for bribery:

In August, 2009, Chevron offered startling evidence to support its claim that Ecuador was hopelessly corrupt: it released video footage that allegedly implicated the judge then presiding over the Lago Agrio case, Juan Nuñez, in a bribery scheme. An Ecuadoran businessman named Diego Borja had been hoping to secure a cleanup contract in the event of a judgment against Chevron. But when Borja met with the judge and a Correa administration official, the company explained, he was informed that he first needed to pay a million dollars each to Nuñez, to the administration, and to the Lago Agrio plaintiffs... the videos, which Chevron posted online, showed Borja and the official elliptically discussing the possibility of a bribe with Nuñez, but offered no proof that the judge had solicited or accepted one...