Step into my time machine week thirty-eight

Today on Time Machine, a special story (to help make up for another sluggish countdown)- the complicated story of how all roads once led to Rick James, along with (I hope) a tasty video of his collaboration with the legendary Neil Young. Hope you like soap operas (albeit with drugs replacing sex).

10 songs join the hot 100 this week; the only noteworthy entrant was Rod Stewart's cover of This Old Heart Of Mine. Originally an Isley Brothers hit sung by brother Ronnie in 1966, it would gain its greatest fame when Rod and Ronnie combined to have a major hit with it in 1989.

The Big dropper was BTO's Down To The Line, 22 from 38 to 60; the big climber was, again, Cledus Maggert's The White Knight, from 67 to 44. Annnnd, Feelings has yet again slammed on the brakes tumbling a single notch from 68 to 69. And if you think the chart movement is not dynamic yet, wait till we get a bit higher.

Since our special story is a bit on the long side, I'm going to forgo the usual specials. Four songs enter the top 40. Barry White goes from 46 to 40 with Let The Music Play; Linda Ronstadt climbs 5 to 39 with her latest, Tracks Of My Tears. The Bee Gees, who just missed the big dropper with Nights On Broadway, enter the top 40 at 37, up 8, with Fanny (Be Tender With My Love). And ubiquitous opening act Foghat moves, yes again, 5 spots to 36 with Slow Ride.

With Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes at 29 with Wake Up Everybody, I wanted to give a shoutout to them. For a long time, they seemed to my poor memory a one-hit wonder with If You Don't Know Me By Now. In looking for 70s songs to put on CD, I later rediscovered the two hits we've featured here on TM, Wake Up Everybody and Bad Luck. Last night on my pandora station (Scrappy Radio), I "re-discovered" another of their hits I knew but had forgotten. It was called The Love I Lost; and if the title doesn't ring a bell, google up a clip- if you're my age or so, I guarantee you'll remember it by the chorus.

Now onto our story. Last night I heard also some old Buffalo Springfield on Scrappy Radio, and it reminded me of the story that Neil Young had been a bandmate of funkster Super Freak Rick James in a band called the Mynah Birds (or Myna Birds) prior to that. I was curious of how this unlikely combination came together. And what I found amazed me.

I guess we start with Rick himself. Trying to start a music career and anxious about getting drafted, he dropped out of high school and joined the Naval reserve. But that one weekend a month got in the way of what passed for his career, and after a year he fled to Toronto. Toronto was a mini music mecca at the time; Stephen Stills and Richie Furay were members of The Company, an offshoot of another band called the Au Go Go Singers. It was then that Stills met Neil, who, along with a guy named Ken Kolblun, was in a group called the Squires. Stills, Kolblun, and a reluctant Furay decided to try to make it in LA. Around this time, James formed the first version of the Mynah Birds, along with Jimmy Livingstone, Goldy McJohn, and Nick St. Nicholas. Goldy soon left to join Jack London and the Sparrows, and St. Nicholas was "traded "to the Sparrows for bassist Bruce Palmer, who will now become the key block of our story.

Jack London and St. Nicholas would soon leave the nest, to be replaced by John Kay, and the Sparrows began their metamorphosis into Steppenwolf. St. Nicholas would rejoin Steppenwolf at the height of their fame, only to be fired by Kay in 1970 for going on stage "in nothing but bunny ears and a jockstrap". James and Palmer would begin putting the second generation Mynah Birds together, and Palmer, who knew Neil through their Squires connection, invited Young to join the band. Motown signed them to a deal, where they managed to record an unreleased single co-written by James and Young, which we'll get to later. Around this time, original MB Jimmy Livingstone was in a band called Just Us with a dude named Neil Merriweather. This band had just recorded some demos when the manager stole them and took off. This I add because of what is coming.

On the verge of recording an album, the Mynah Birds were shattered when they caught their manager stealing their advance. When they fired him, he went to Motown and informed them that James was AWOL. Motown told James to turn himself in to the FBI, and he spent a year in the brig in Baltimore. The single, "It's My Time", found itself forgotten in the Motown vaults.

At this point, Young decides to reconnect with Stills in LA and takes Palmer with him. Stills (who had auditioned for the Monkees by this point) and Furay were still together, and trying to put together a band at the suggestion of the manager for the Byrds. Stuck on the freeway one day, they see Young and Palmer go by in Neil's distinctive black Hearse, and did a u-turn to catch up. Thus is born Buffalo Springfield. But this supergroup, as is any group containing Neil Young, was extremely volatile; Young began to appear sporadically, and Palmer began a long career of drug induced run-ins with the law. Eventually he was deported (though he snuck back in a year or so later in disguise). To replace them, Jim Messina joined the group, and the Byrd's David Crosby often filled in for Young. But Buffalo Springfield's days were numbered.

James gets out of stir and tries to reform the Mynah Birds, this time with Neil Merriweather. This project morphed into a band called Salt and Pepper, where the duo were joined by guitarist Greg Reeves. Meanwhile, Buffalo Springfield fragmented. Messina and Furay formed Poco; this band, which would later hit the top 40 with "Crazy Love" and "Heart Of The Night", also counted as members Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles, along with later Eagle Timothy B. Schmitt. Messina Would go on to join with Kenny Loggins to form (what else?) Loggins and Messina.

Stills hung out with David Crosby, who'd left the Byrds over the rejection of his song Triad ( a tune about a Menage-a-trois that was eventually recorded by Jefferson Airplane). Soon they met up with the Hollies' Graham Nash, who asked them to do a harmony riff at a party at Mama Cass' house one night. This led to the formation of Crosby Stills And Nash. After their successful first album, Stills invited in Young, and Young again brought Palmer with him. But by this time Palmer was a few bricks shy of a load and was fired two weeks in. His replacement, none other than Greg Reeves, James' band mate in Salt And Pepper. And the rest, as they say, is history.

It's My Time was finally found in 2006 and put on a Motown compilation album, almost 30 years after they recorded it, and 2 years after both James and Palmer had died. Here is a song that deserved a better fate.

No songs into the top ten, no songs out. In fact, everybody from #17 to #5 stays the same this week. That means the top ten starts out with Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers at 10, David Ruffin's Walk Away From Love at 9, the O'Jays I Love Music at 8, Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing at 7, John Denver's Fly Away at 6, and Sweet's Fox On The Run at 5. Last week's top dog Diana Ross slides to 4 with the Theme From Mahogany; the Ohio Players move up one to #3 with Love Rollercoaster. Barry Manilow does a Morris Albert and slams it back into drive with I Write The Songs moving back up to #2; annnnnnd, the new #1 is......





CW McCall, with his friends Pig Pen and the Rubber Duck, and Convoy!


Okay, that's it this week. Be here next week to avoid mayhem... like me.

January junk

Or, an alliterative way of saying Bits and Pisses. Well, I got to go back to work today, not so Laurie. I got to be a guest packer in the blow-fill dept., which consisted of blowing bits of fuzz off just filled pillows and throwing each flavor in one box; once these boxes were filled, put them in the actual display packages with the right side of the law label up, all upcs facing one direction, doing bits of building the boxes and labelling them when needed, and trimming unruly strings. The main bright spot was I got my chance to see how well the new car does in winter slop (answer, quite well) as well as how it does going home on good road (answer, going 80 feels just as smooth as going 45- a good thing within caution).



My sister Jen Schible turns 59 today!!! Happy birthday, Pete!!!



The continuing story of the facebook page shows us with 3 count 'em three likers so far! Thank you very much. I'll try to make it as rewarding an experience as ... as... well, as rewarding as reading a nitwit like me can be.



I had a comment by anonymous on the first fb post "another retarded idea". They ask,

"retarded doesn't mean stupid. I don't get why you used it here."

Well, anon, it's like this. First off, unlike other cultural buzzwords such as "gay" and the "n" word, it can be used in a non-derogatory sense. It means in essence to be held back to a lower level by some means or for some reason. Unconvinced of its wisdom, I held it to a lower level of esteem than other far better ideas. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to use in this sense; where "gay" I would not use on this site because of its derogatory nature (though I will and do use it in informal conversation because of my opinion of not so much the sin of homosexuality but the activists that want to flaunt it as if there going to gain "converts" to something they claim is "not a choice"); nor would I use the "n" word here, even though to me its definition is "not ambitious enough to work, ambitious enough to commit crimes" As you can see, this can and should apply to people of any race, but is too tied to one (whether from history or from example) to divorce it from race. Once again though, I am wont to use it in private conversations when discussing those who fit the definition.

Secondly, if you look under the windmill on the blog home you see the phrase, "and pc be hanged." If anyone needs to feel offended by my use of this word, be offended because you are a true believer of pc and I am a heretic.

So, Jim Harbaugh is happily ensconced in San Fran, leaving the UM alumni "Jim or bust" clique out in the cold and the rest of them happy to have in Brady Hoke an alumnus, at any rate. The winner in this whole situation, though, is Les Miles. His flirtation with the job was more than enough to scare LSU into giving him that BIIIIG new contract. And Pitt , who took Miami of Ohio's coach when they decided to give Dave Wannestadt the bum's rush (can't argue with that move) and then fired him when he celebrated by smacking his baby-momma around, have ripped off their second mid-major of the off season by stealing Tulsa's coach. Not that I wish bad on anyone, but it would be amusing to see them stumble onto a reason to fire this guy without a game played too, and watch 'em go crawling back to that bum Dave. Speaking of bums, that's pro'ly how Miami coach Tony Sparano felt after owner Stephen Ross and GM Jeff Ireland (remember him? He's the one who during last years draft interview asked Dez Bryant how his mom liked being a ho) fell all over themselves to apologize for "how they handled" their flirtation with the aforementioned Mr. Harbaugh. When original owner of the Dolphins Joe Robbie died in 1990, organizational class died with him.

Oh, and I guess my thought about not giving nutbags air time isn't a worldwide thought. From T6news:

After receiving an offer to be on a nationally syndicated radio talk show, Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church won't picket the funerals of any of the six victims of Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., after all, a church spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, a church spokeswoman, said the pickets had been called off after radio talk show host Mike Gallagher offered to have her on his radio program Monday.
Phelps-Roper said the decision boiled down to the church being able to communicate its message with as wide an audience as possible. She said Gallagher's radio audience is estimated to be about 10 million people.

Gallagher, from what I hear, is to the right of Rush Limbaugh, and I'm sure that broadcast will be a real knee-slapper.

The church had sparked outrage earlier this week when it announced it would protest the Thursday funeral of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, who was one of six people killed during Saturday's shooting spree that also wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
However, that protest was called off in exchange for the church being given airtime on two radio stations -- KXXT-AM, a 50,000-watt station in the Phoenix suburb of Tolleson, Ariz., and Canadian station CFNY-FM, 102.1 "The Edge" in Toronto.
Phelps-Roper was interviewed on the Dean Blundell Show on the Canadian station on Tuesday and is to be interviewed again on the show Thursday.

Blundell, from what I can determine, is like a "Bob and Tom" show with even less good taste. Shirley will either be highly insulted or feel right at home, depending on how warped a sense of humour she has.

She also is to be a guest on "The Steve Sanchez Show" on Saturday morning on KXXT-AM.
Upon hearing of the church's plans to protest at the funerals of the Tucson shooting victims, some residents of the Arizona city began to organize efforts to shield mourners from the picketers.
As for trading picketing at funerals for radio airtime, Phelps-Roper said, "It's always a question of where can you put the words in the most ears."
This isn't the first time Westboro Baptist Church has traded picketing at a funeral for radio airtime.
In October 2006, the church cancelled plans to protest at the funerals of five Amish girls who were executed in their Pennsylvania school in exchange for an hour of airtime on Gallagher's radio show.
Phelps-Roper said the church also cancelled plans to protest at Virginia Tech after a gunman killed 32 people in a massacre in April 2007 for airtime on Gallagher's show.

When does being "all things to all men" bleed into prostituting your message, Shirley?

Phelps-Roper will be a guest on "The Steve Sanchez Show," a live call-in program that airs from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturdays Topeka time on KXXT-AM radio, which serves Phoenix and the surrounding area.
On Wednesday, Sanchez said he had Phelps-Roper on his program in October before she hung up on him after he challenged her views from a scriptural viewpoint during their chat.
For Saturday's show, he said, he would avoid going "down that road" again and would allow Phelps-Roper to have a "platform" for her viewpoints during 30 minutes of airtime, though he said there would be plenty of "disclaimers" and that he would "moderate" the discussion.
Calls from listeners also may be included during the half-hour segment, which is to run from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m. Topeka time.

That would be 11:15-11:45 our time here in beautiful Fort Wayne, dudes.

Sanchez said the show is heard in several major U.S. cities in addition to Phoenix, and also can be heard live online by logging onto his website, www.thestevesanchezshow.com.
Sanchez said he came up with the idea to offer Phelps-Roper the airtime in exchange for not protesting at the girl's funeral on Tuesday night.
He said he called Phelps-Roper and initially requested that the Westboro church not picket at any of the funerals from Saturday's shooting. However, Sanchez said, Phelps-Roper refused to stay completely away and the two sides agreed that the church wouldn't protest the girl's funeral.
Sanchez said he called Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday night to inform her the church had agreed to stay away from Thursday's funeral.
Sanchez said that as a Christian, he disagreed with Phelps-Roper's viewpoints, but was willing to give her 30 minutes of airtime to keep the Westboro church away from the girl's funeral.
"Of course she wants her platform," Sanchez said. "I looked at it this way: I'm a grown man, and I can stand 30 minutes of her."

You sure? I've seen grown men puke from just drinking beer.

Meanwhile, a team of four other Westboro Baptist Church members on Friday will be in Washington, D.C., to picket the memorial service for Richard Holbrooke, who was special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan before his death in December.
Margie Phelps said she and three other church members would picket Holbrooke's memorial service at the Kennedy Center , as well as protest at American University and an Islamic center in Washington, D.C.
"It never takes but three or four people to handle one of these things," Phelps said. "There's always people available if we need them. It's just managing the resources the Lord gave us."
Another group of Westboro picketers are to go this weekend to Los Angeles, where they will picket the Golden Globes Awards ceremony.

The Golden Globes? WTF???

Okay, I think I'm done offending and informing for one evening. Gottsa go ta work tomorrow, y'know? (note to Bob G's neighbors- that's what the neighbors you don't like do during the day).

Boy, one nut draws a whole crowd

So now, Westboro you-know-what (I won't insult Baptists everywhere by calling them "Baptist", and I won't dignify them by calling them a "Church") wants to protest at the funerals of the Tuscon victims. Why, asked Laurie. Knowing full well that I was about to embark in something I've been advising against- trying to electroplate sanity onto madmen- I went in search of an answer. Her is an interview with the principals, courtesy the New Phoenix Times.



Westboro Baptist Church: Gabrielle Giffords an "Arrogant Pinhead;" 9-Year-Old Victim "Going to Hell" -- and More Idiocy From Clan of Kooks
By James King, Mon., Jan. 10 2011 @ 7:23PM


In addition to protesting the funeral of the 9-year-old girl murdered during Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, the lunatics from the Westboro Baptist Church tell New Times they plan to protest the funeral of Federal Judge John Roll and picket the very corner at which the massacre took place.Shirley Phelps-Roper, a leader with the group, says she plans to hold a "God on the Corner" demonstration -- a play on the "Congress on the Corner" event held by Giffords on Saturday -- in protest to the "rotten rebels" who are destroying America."I'm over here laughing," a rambling and often-incoherent Phelps-Roper tells New Times. "You think you can run God off the corner with your stupid laws?"

Phelps-Roper even had the gall to make light of the injuries sustained by Giffords in the attack."She has the audacity to stand on the corner and talk about free speech? She should keep her lips off the Constitution," Phelps-Roper says, "and now she will keep her lips off it."Phelps-Roper describes Giffords as an "arrogant pinhead who surrounds herself with fags and baby killers."As for the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Jared Loughner, Phelps-Roper considers him a "tool of God" used to rid the earth of the "rotten rebels.""God sent the shooter -- that guy's bat-shit crazy -- but god sent him," she says.

Phelps-Roper had some heinous things to say about Roll, as well.She says, all federal judges should die after a judge in Baltimore, Maryland, ruled against her group in a free-speech case. She says all federal judges had a duty to stand up for free speech."That's why that judge is dead," Phelps-Roper says. "He doesn't care about free speech."She says the group plans to protest his funeral, in addition to the funeral of 9-year-old Christina Greene, who was killed in the attack. Phelps-Roper says she "look[s] forward to it."

We asked her what value she finds in protesting the funeral of an innocent child senselessly murdered by a gun-toting maniac. Her response made even less sense than the rest of what she spewed during a 20-minute phone conversation."We're connecting dots for you rebels," she insists. "[Greene] was appointed when she was born for this -- she just happens to be the one God chose to make an example."Once the child enters hell, it's over for her," Phelps-Roper rants.Thankfully, there are already several groups -- including a student group from the University of Arizona and possibly the Hells Angels -- organizing to make sure these lunatics don't get anywhere near Greene's funeral.

And here's more on the Motorcycle counter-protest from FoxNews.

But when the church announced it would picket the funeral Thursday for the 9-year-old girl fatally shot over the weekend at a Tucson grocery store by a gunman who allegedly killed five others and injured 14 others attending a town-hall session by Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Tucson- and Phoenix-area residents started organizing immediately.
They may not be able to stop them, but they plan on giving the grieving family as much of a buffer as possible between the protesters and the service.
"It makes me sick to my stomach," said Glen Littell, who's bringing a pack of bikers from the Phoenix Motorcycle Rider Group to Tucson on Thursday. "They're a stench from a slaughterhouse. We're just going to block the stench so the family can catch their breath."
Littell said his riders are not looking for any violent confrontations. But he told FoxNews.com that Arizona bikers are going to do "whatever we have to do" to cordon off the family from the protests. A group called the Patriot Guard Riders often does this when the Westboro church pickets military funerals, but Littell said that group is not traveling to Tucson, so "we're stepping in."
"Our sole purpose will be to allow that family some dignity and respect … without having to worry about the a--holes," he said.
It's not clear whether the Westboro church intends to picket the funerals of all the victims of Saturday's attack. One press release from the group declared, "Thank God for the shooter," and said the group would picket the "funerals." Another release announced plans only for the protest on Thursday.
"God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America," the group said in a statement.
. Meanwhile, several grassroots groups have popped up on Facebook calling on Tucson residents to intervene.
"We will create a wall of humanity to allow the families who've lost their love ones to hold their funerals in peace, held with dignity, and surrounded in love," one of the Facebook groups says in a statement.
Another calls for a "peaceful protest" of the church at the funeral Thursday for 9-year-old Christina Green.
Littell has notified the Pima County Sheriff's Department and has reached out to several other biker groups notifying them of their planned presence at Green's funeral. He crossed his fingers that the Hells Angels would join them.
"Nothing says stand back and be silent like a Hells Angels presence," he said.
Littell added that if the church moves on to picket other funerals, his riders will follow.
"We're getting word there's gonna be a pretty large presence of bikers," he said. "Word's spreading. And spreading quickly."

Ya gotta hope these people try something with the Hell's Angels. I agree with those who say we should ignore WYKW in the media, but I posted this so that you, gentle reader, can look at the similarities between the "insane" Jared Loughner (posted earlier) and the "sane just misguided" Shirley Phelps-Roper and understand that sometimes you can get away with being a lunatic, if you surround yourself with enough like-minded lunatics. Or, to put it in the way the James King blog did:

AND THE WINNER IS....

To Ms. NK Reynolds, for devotion far beyond the call of duty, for being a good friend and great follow blogger, for bringing forth such a sweet little granddaughter, for helping me call to mind the things in me I'd otherwise ignore so that I can keep a leash on them, and most importantly, for being the first to like the new TAW page on Facebook, we here at TAW, a Bum Steer Production, present to you the first annual Trophee du Beagle. Congratulations from all of us to all of you.


(You'll have to imagine "Pomp and Circumstance" (or the Marseillaise) playing in the background to give the presentation the proper pretentiousness.)

To everyone else: see the props you get for stopping in at TAW? Get yours today!

The latest retarded idea

I am trying to set up a TAW page on facebook. This is only a test.

And it is a test which apparently worked. I say apparently because we had one of those "internet explorer has encountered a problem and needs to shut down" moments when I think I sent out invitations to our facebook friends. When I attempted to try again, the faces of those I sent to are "grayed out", but I won't know for sure unless one of these lovely people did get it, did come to TAW, and will puh-lease send a comment saying so.

Anyhow, I'd be taking a nap by now but when I called work and got the bad news of "don't come in tomorrow", I asked if Madame Plant Mgr. would call and let us know if dipping into next summer's vacation week money might be possible and am waiting approximately 22 more minutes for a response. On the bright side, I'll be able to stay up and watch Oregon gaily stampede all over Auburn tonight without worry of that "stayed up too late" feeling.

Speaking of Football, here's an update on the NHFFL's Commissioner's cup race. For those not up to speed, this is just keeping track of our fantasy leagues' point totals through the Super Bowl- aka something to do once our fantasy season is over. Each of us- myself, Laurie, KC, and Shenan, has 3 teams in the league. For those now up to speed and don't want to be, I think I'm done for the day- scroll past the numbers to make sure. For those still with me: the B2s are done (as in all their players are out) with 28 points. The Clock BBQs have 4 left and 37; Rhinos, 2 left and 43; Buzz, 3 left and 47; the world champion KCAs, one left and 48 (I won last year so why be a pig); Rangers, 5 left and 49; T-Cubs, 4 left and 51; SVA, seven count em left and 55; Beagles, 3 left and 58; Angels, 3 left and 60; in second, the Elks, 6 left and 80; and still in the lead with 5 left and 96, the State Ducks.

Okay, fooey on Lisa, I'm going to bed.

Frosty black cars

Here's the pics I promised of the new car- please excuse the frost, it was a whopping 12 degrees when we went out.











For once we can't sing, "I'm too sexy for my car..."




After this, I treated Scrappy to a walk through the back fence row. We tried a deeper than usual exploration Friday...

As you can see, this area is a cluttered mishmash of brush that tends to stick out at eye level. Here we are down the trail that runs meandering through the west side.

Friday we were greeted by a huge owl who flew past to get out of our way, joined on his new perch a few seconds later by his gossipy neighbor, a large crow who sat right next to him. No such luck today, but I did snap some pics of our other discovery- a rather large piece of some ancient farm machinery.

If you follow most of the way back, you come out on a hill that sits behind and between Woodbridge and the Woodlands of Riverside addition. In the summer, when this is a bug-ridden battle for survival, this spot is a sea of tall grass. Now, it is a frosty wonderland.

Now, I did say the west side. Why don't we do the east side? Well, because it is a trail-less mass of very sharp briars...

...and we both still have scars from Friday's stubborn attempt.

Saturday's walk, while safer, was about as successful. Going down to the river in the midst of the snow squall, we jammed Scrappy's leash (which KC and Laurie managed to fix, thank you); in crossing Stony Run, I heard a "CROOOOOK" which made me stop so fast I almost went down with a charlie horse; and Scrappy came home with slobber-sickles on his chin.

The Gabby Giffords shooting

Y'know, sometimes I'd just like to brush past the sad things with "ye olde bittersweet pun", as I did on this subject earlier this evening. But in keeping with the updates, I've seen way too much of this "the teapartiers caused this/the shooting was Rush's or Beck's fault/Sarah Palin ordered Giffords' assassination" garbage. Whatever side you are on, let's consider the following points about assassination.

John Wilkes Booth personalized the South's loss, and it turned him into a lunatic who struck out of personal vengeance.

Charles Guiteau wrote a speech he never gave in support of Garfield, and killed him when the speech he never gave didn't net him a plum diplomatic spot.

Leon Czolgosz kills McKinley in the name of Emma Goldman, a woman who, among her other many faults, was the teaching that murder as a propaganda tool was proper an honorable. A year before, that same stupidity of thought cost the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Lee Harvey Oswald thought himself the indispensable cog between the Soviet Union, Cuba, and the American communists. When the Soviets disabused him of the notion, it was naturally Jack Kennedy's fault.

Sirhan Sirhan blamed the Arab defeat in the 1967 war not on the superior fighting skill and applied desperation of the Israelis, but on the support of Israel by Bobby Kennedy.

So what is the common thread of the modern political assassination? Is it the reprehensible policies of the victim? The great frustration that political repression brings? The high and noble reach of philosophy beyond the reach of the unread masses?

No? How about this- the common thread is a nutcase with a weapon.

Here's a MySpace posting from nutjob-du-jour, Jared Loughner (or Laughner, take yer pick):

My Final Thoughts: Jared Lee Loughner!
Most people, who read this text, forget in the next 2 second!
The population of dreamers in the United States of America is less than 5%!
If 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,618 is the year in B.C.E. then the previous year is 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,619 B.C.E.
987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,618 is the year in B.C.E.
Therefore, the previous year of 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,619 B.C.E.

If B.C.E. years are unable to start then A.D.E. years are unable to begin.
B.C.E. years are unable to start.
Thus, A.D.E. years are unable to begin.
If A.D.E. is endless in year then the years in A.D.E. don't cease.
A.D.E. is endless in year.
Therefore, the years in A.D.E. don't cease.
If I teach a mentally capable 8 year old for 20 consecutive minutes to replace an alphabet letter with a new letter and pronunciation then the mentally capable 8 year old writes and pronounces the new letter and pronunciation that's replacing an alphabet letter in 20 consecutive minutes.
I teach a mentally capable 8 year old for 20 consecutive minutes to replace an alphabet letter with a new letter and pronunciation.
Thus, the mentally capable 8 year old writes and pronounces the new letter and pronunciation that replaces an alphabet letter in 20 consecutive minutes.

Every human who's mentally capable is always able to be treasurer of their new currency.
If you create one new currency then you're able to create a second new currency.
If you're able to create second new currency then you're able to create third new currency.
You create one new currency.
Thus, you're able to create a third new currency.
You're a treasurer for a new currency, listener?
You create and distribute your new currency, listener?

You don't allow the government to control your grammar structure, listener?
If you create one new language then you're able to create a second new language.
If you're able to create a second new language then you're able to create a third new language.
You create one new language.
Thus, you're able to create a third new language.

All humans are in need of sleep.
Jared Loughner is a human.
Hence, Jared Loughner is in need of sleep.

Sleepwalking
If I define sleepwalking then sleepwalking is the act or state of walking, eating, or performing other motor acts while asleep, of which one is unaware upon awakening.
I define sleepwalking.
Thus, sleepwalking is the act or state of walking, eating, or performing other motor acts while asleep, of which one is unaware upon awakening.
I'm a sleepwalker - who turns off the alarm clock.
All conscience dreaming at this moment is asleep.
Jared Loughner is conscience dreaming at this moment.
Thus, Jared Loughner is asleep.

Terrorist
If I define terrorist then a terrorist is a person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.
I define terrorist.
This, a terrorist is a person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.
If you call me a terrorist then the argument to call me a terrorist is Ad hominem.
You call me a terrorist.
Thus, the argument to call me a terrorist is Ad hominem.

Every United States Military recruit at MEPS in Phoenis is receiving one mini bible before the tests.
Jared Loughner is a United States Military recruit at MEPS in Phoenix.
Therefore, Jared Loughner is receiving one mini bible before the tests.
I didn't write a belief on my Army application, and the recruiter wrote on the application; None.

The majority of citizens in the United States of America have never read the United States of America's Constitution.
You don't have to accept the federalist laws.
Nonetheless, read the United States of America's Constituion to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws.
You're literate, listener?
If the property owners and government officials are no longer in ownership of their land and laws from a revolution then the revolutionary's from the revolution are in control of the land and laws.
The property owners and government officials are no longer in ownership of their land and laws from a revolution.
Thus, the revolutionary's from the revolution are in control of the land and laws.

In conclusion, reading the second United States Constition, I can't trust the current government because of the ratifications: The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar.
No! I won't pay debt with a currency that's not backed by gold and silver!
No! I won't trust in God!
What's government if words don't have meaning?

OOOOO-KAY.

The "mind" that came up with this deathless bit of philosophy that only the gods among us will understand decided that he could not trust the government. Show of hands, who does? But unlike the majority of us, he felt he had to begin the building of a government he could trust by killing his local congresswoman. But it's not just the legislative, or just the federal level we can't trust, eh? So he kills a state judge. But it's also the local level too, isn't it? So he kills a 9-year old just elected to her student council.

Now, THAT will get the point across.

And MY point is this, or actually these:
1) The murder, its motivations, and its ultimate manifestation are the product of a warped, diseased mind that could not cope with the concept that the world won't revolve around himself.
2) Any of these so-called "political commentators" who are trying to assign blame to their own political enemies are only a step higher on the food chain than the scum that pulled the trigger. Despite their claims, we are not quite at the point where a talk-show personality can incite murder, and not quite at the point where a person of one end of the political spectrum will order (directly or indirectly) the death of an opponent at the other end. Because of their claims though, we get one step closer every day.

Fools, say I, fools! Silence your finger pointing, and let us all share the sorrow of those who've lost.