Under the Microscope

Since man is mortal, the only immortality possible for him is to leave something behind him that is immortal… This is the artist’s way of scribbling “Kilroy was here” on the wall of the final and irrevocable oblivion through which he must someday pass.
- William Faulkner, from Lion in the Garden, 1968.

by Glynn Wilson

I logged into my Facebook account today and was struck by a photo of three women on a beach. Not famous women mind you, but looking like someone famous on those blue chairs to go with the ocean and the sky with matching umbrellas, sporting sunglasses and cocktails, like Hollywood actors of old.

After a month on Facebook, I’m wondering if the rich and famous hate the paparazzi so much, why do complete nobodies take pictures of themselves and post them in the public domain?

Could it be that the rich and famous would not have minded the paparazzi BEFORE they were rich and famous?

Maybe that’s the point. Or maybe there are more interesting questions, some without answers.

If it’s true that humans possess a natural drive to seek answers and really know what’s going on, why then do they often turn to all the wrong places to find out?

Gallup has found that 18 percent of Americans still think the sun revolves around the earth, as opposed to the other way around, which is close to the margin of error of corresponding with President George W. Bush’s final approval rating of 22 percent.

Now I’m not saying that all of Bush’s holdout supporters don’t realize the earth revolves around the sun. But let’s say for the sake of argument that a large percentage of this group is the same.

Now for the next piece of the equation, you have to understand how newspapers work. They are sometimes great sources of information and for narratives of what’s going on in our culture. Yet they are rarely definitive.

The Washington Post Sunday magazine carried a somewhat fascinating news feature today about a kid from Baltimore who got famous for making funny faces in YouTube videos.

Going Viral as a Path to Fame

It starts off as a typical newspaper feature about a person and deals with a modern technological innovation and the phenomenon of fame. Buried deep in the story is a bit of social science research attempting to explain the phenomena of political blogging. What is missing is a further search for the source of the blogosphere map, which leads to Harvard and one of the first big studies of blogging, journalism and the impact on society.

But before you go off reading up on those things, let’s take it a step further and to a question we can answer.

One of the most asked questions today is based on this statement, true or not.

“The urge to be famous has always been a part of human nature. But it’s become worse than ever in our modern society? Why?”

To begin to find out why, I remembered something from a college Psychology class and began to Google updates to the theory of a human drive for immortality in all it’s forms.

There’s actually a grand theory of it all now, and here’s the best quick thing I could find on how the quest for fame complies with the immortality drive I learned about in that Psychology class.

The Immortality Drive plays itself out through three urges: (1) the urge to achieve immortality by extending your physical life and its impact on the world as much as you can, (2) the urge to distract yourself from thinking about the fact you are physically going to die and may not have a spiritual afterlife or reincarnation awaiting you, and (3) the urge to ensure spiritual immortality after physical expiration.

This researcher says the reason fame obsession has gotten worse has to do with how secular our society has become.

As each generation become less religious, the sincere belief in an afterlife also probably decreases, meaning that people have to focus on alternative ways of satisfying their drive for immortality. This causes us to focus more of our energy on wealth accumulation, power, status and of course fame. Fame is an easy way to at least ensure your name and image will endure forever, even if your body won’t.

Another reason for the increased fame obsession, according to this report, is the advancement of technology.

Imagine the days before there was an international media. Before the invention of the telegraph, information could not travel faster or farther than people. And before the invention of the railroad and steam engine, people had severe limitations in how far and fast they could travel. What technology has done is increase the speed with which information travels and the geographic range that information can reach. Fame was much harder for the average person to achieve. You had to do something grand, good or bad, and you had to have some sort of talent. You had to be a war hero, a conqueror, a great politician, an infamous serial killer, etc. Now with television, radio, the 24-hour news cycle, reality shows, the internet and viral videos, 15 minutes of fame is easier than ever to achieve for the average person.

The third reason for this increased fame obsession is the rising narcissism, which this researcher says comes from our modern culture’s self-esteem focused style of parenting. I’m not sure I agree with all of that, but the underlying theory seems solid.

The immortality drive is the major driving force behind human nature.

Fame is the most enduring and potent form of immortality humans can actually achieve, but because it used to be so hard for the average person to achieve people channeled their energy into satisfying the drive for immortality in other ways. But now, thanks to increased secularism, improvements in technology and media choices, less barriers to fame and a stark rise in narcissism, fame seems more achievable than ever to the average Joe, which has driven our obsession with it to new heights.

For those who don’t have the wherewithal to get at this immortality any other way, there is also “immortality by proxy,” where individuals talk about the importance of being “part of something” this is “larger than themselves,” like a person, event, or movement.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the latest development in the federal case against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, retired Chief U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon of Birmingham recently wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder seeking a probe of misconduct by federal prosecutors, including their alleged “judge-shopping,” jury-pool “poisoning” and “unfounded” criminal charges in an effort to imprison Siegelman and forestall his election campaign in 2006.

Judge Clemon, a highly respected jurist and one of the first African American judges in the American South, took this unusual step because he felt duty bound to report corruption that occurred on his watch, according to an announcement from the non-profit Velvet Revolution.

This development comes days after detailed evidence revealed that Siegelman’s trial judge, Mark Fuller, was chosen to preside over the trial because he had a “grudge” against Siegelman which bordered on hatred because Siegelman appointed an investigator to look into Fuller’s shady activities.

Siegelman Deserves New Trial Because of Judge’s ‘Grudge’, Evidence Shows

Moreover, the new evidence makes a strong case that Judge Fuller labors under conflicts of interest because he owns a majority share in Doss Aviation, which receives hundreds of millions in contracts from the military and has ties to CIA activities.

Last week, VR called for the removal of Siegelman’s prosecutor, Laura Canary, and for an investigation into the activities of Judge Fuller, both which now have been echoed by Chief Judge Clemon in his letter to Eric Holder.

“What more does it take, Mr. Holder, to clear the stench of corruption from this case?,” the release asks, and then demands: “Step in and enforce the rule of law, now!”

Alabama Democratic Party Chair Joe Turnham praised President Obama’s selection of Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee to the United States Supreme Court in a press release today.

When confirmed, Sotomayor will be the third woman to serve and the Court’s first Hispanic justice.

“President Obama pledged to select a nominee with a rigorous intellect, a mastery of the law and a commitment to impartial justice. He promised to select someone who has a broader perspective on how the world works and has a commonsense understanding of how the law affects the daily realities of everyday life,” Turnham said.

“On Tuesday President Obama delivered on his promise with the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor’s stirring life story and outstanding career — at nearly every level of our judicial system — makes her uniquely qualified to serve as America’s next Supreme Court Justice. Throughout her career on the bench, she has been lauded as a fearless jurist, with a sharp and independent mind and a deep commitment to the rule of law and our constitutional traditions,” he said. “I commend President Obama on his outstanding choice and congratulate Judge Sotomayor on her nomination.”

Bradley Byrne Opposes Alabama Families on Kitchen Table Issues

Bradley Byrne entered the race for Alabama governor this week, bringing with him a track record of opposing popular measures to improve the lives of middle class families, the Alabama Democratic Party said in a press release.

Known as a fierce partisan in Montgomery, Byrne opposed accepting $66 million in federal unemployment for out of work Alabamians available through the stimulus, helping send those tax dollars to other states.

In the State Senate, Bradley Byrne proposed raiding millions of dollars from the Education Trust Fund to pay for other priorities.

“Bradley Byrne is out of touch with Alabama families on kitchen table issues like standing up for unemployed workers and investing in our education system,” said Alabama Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Spearman. “He has consistently sided against ordinary Alabamians struggling to make ends meet.”

What does this story have in common with the coming fight this summer over Obama’s Supreme Court nominee and how the Bush administration politicized the U.S. Department of Justice?

Frado authorized the memos allegedly making torture legal, was heavily involved in turning the Justice Department into a political arm of the White House — and key players in that are at the center of the fight for the Supreme Court. We are working on a major investigative report. Stay tuned…

For all my friends who don’t have MSNBC on their cable package…

Nah, she’s not qualified. She’s a woman Latino — with more experience and top notch degrees than anyone on the court…

by Glynn Wilson

Alabama’s junior Republican senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who will lead the charge against President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, promised a fair if “thorough” hearing as the Senate plays its advice and consent role over the next few months.

“The president’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court today is an important step in a constitutional process that includes the advice and consent of the Senate. I congratulate Ms. Sotomayor on her nomination,” he said in a press release posted on his Website.

“The Senate Judiciary Committee’s role is to act on behalf of the American people to carefully scrutinize Ms. Sotomayor’s qualifications, experience, and record. We will engage in a fair and thorough examination of Ms. Sotomayor’s previous judicial opinions, speeches, and academic writings to determine if she has demonstrated the characteristics that great judges share: integrity, impartiality, legal expertise, and a deep and unwavering respect for the rule of law,” he said.

“Of primary importance, we must determine if Ms. Sotomayor understands that the proper role of a judge is to act as a neutral umpire of the law, calling balls and strikes fairly without regard to one’s own personal preferences or political views.”

President Obama has stated his desire to have a full court seated at the start of its next term. That’s a reasonable goal toward which the Judiciary Committee should responsibly and diligently move, he said.

“But we must remember that a Supreme Court justice sits for a lifetime appointment, and the Senate hearing is the only opportunity for the American people to engage in the nomination process. Adequate preparation will take time. I will insist that, consistent with recent confirmation processes, every senator be accorded the opportunity to prepare, ask questions, and receive full and complete answers,” he said.

“I look forward to the coming months as we move forward with this process. As I told the president this morning, I will do all I can to ensure that Ms. Sotomayor receives a fair hearing before the Committee,” he said. “I firmly believe that the American people deserve a full and thoughtful debate about the proper role of a judge in the American legal system, an issue that will be central to our review of Ms. Sotomayor’s record.”

Other Analysis Links

NYT: Judge’s Rulings Are Exhaustive but Often Narrow
Republicans Weigh Risks of a Supreme Court Battle
Tailored Messages on Supreme Court Choice

Judge Sotomayor has made the American dream her own, according to President Obama, who nominated her for the United States Supreme court today.

Born and raised in a South Bronx public housing project to Puerto Rican parents, Sotomayor has distinguished herself in academia, as a big-city prosecutor, and as a leading figure on the federal bench. If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor would start with more federal judicial experience than any new Justice in 100 years.

First appointed to the Federal District Court by President George H.W. Bush, and then elevated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton, Judge Sotomayor is widely admired as one the finest legal minds in America today. As a trail-blazing Latina whose career has spanned nearly every aspect of the law, Judge Sotomayor will show fidelity to the Constitution while bringing to the Court a common sense understanding of how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives.

We can’t wait to see how Alabama’s junior Senator, Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions, will approach his staring role in opposing President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama tapped federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a justice.

If confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor, 54, would succeed retiring Justice David Souter.

Administration officials say Sotomayor, with 17 years on the bench, would bring more judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice confirmed in the past 70 years.

WP: Obama Chooses Sotomayor for Supreme Court

NYT: Obama Selects Sotomayor for Court

Breaking News: Obama Picks Sotomayor for Supreme Court

Just Not Quite Yet in Alabamaland…

Under the Microscope
by Glynn Wilson

You know conservative talk radio must by dying when attack machine shock jocks toss insults at us smart people in their desperate attempt to get anyone to pay attention to them.

Most of the country is yawning and putting their kid pictures on Facebook and have confidence that the administration of President Barack Obama is getting the country back on track after eight years of devastatingly crass, commercial capitalism about ran the country into the ground under George W. Bush.

The talking heads must put assholes like Dick Cheney on TV to show they are “fair and balanced,” but the country is not buying it. Conservatism as a political philosophy is as dead as the Confederacy and the National Republican Party is left with nothing but the remnants of the Old South to support it.

The polls clearly back this up, but don’t tell that to the idiots left crying in the wilderness on talk radio in places like Alabamaland, where the “Democrats are socialists” mantra just keeps on going, and going, and going, like the Energizer Bunny headed for the edge of a cliff. No one with half a brain buys that stupid shit.

But as we take the time to view images of the coffins of veterans killed in Iraq on this Memorial Day, images the Bush administration didn’t want you to see, it seems far more interesting to talk about some issues where the world is not so black and white as the right wingers think, like the issue of guns in our national parks.

I know this will come as a complete shock to my conservative enemies, but I’m kind of glad the gun amendment made it into the credit card bill passed by Congress before the Memorial Day recess.

For starters, Obama has said he will sign it, so that should put an end to the mantra of conservatives on talk radio that Obama is out to destroy the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by taking way the National Rifle Association’s guns. It won’t end the talk, I know, because the idiots on talk radio will say just about anything to keep that rabid, Republican base listening, even if they are dwindling in numbers and dying off at a rapid pace.

Why am I all for allowing guns in national parks? Well, because I always carry a loaded shotgun around with me when I go van camping, even in national parks.

It’s not that I will ever need to use it, but I figure there’s always the chance that some crazy, right-wing, redneck might take exception to my endorsement of our first black president and decide I deserve the first bullet in the new, all white American Revolution. Call me paranoid, but that’s what they tell me in the death threats I get via e-mail.

Besides, what you may not find out from listening to talk radio is that Bush had already signed a policy allowing loaded guns in our national parks. If the Democrats in Congress really had their way and were not worried about being targeted by the NRA in their re-election campaigns in 2010, the policy would have been repealed. But when Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) couldn’t help himself from attaching a totally unrelated rider to that credit card regulation bill that would allow individuals to carry rifles, shotguns and semi-automatic weapons in national parks, the Democrats caved and went home for the holiday.

Laws are made for honest people. Criminals would have violated this law with impunity anyway.

Check this post from Buzzflash:

I’ll carry my pistol in National Parks no matter what happens with this. The 2nd Amendment IS my concealed weapons permit. It’s nice to see some Dems getting on the pro-gun/constitution wagon. Of course 2010 is an election year and by looking @ gun & ammo sales most politicians who are anti-2nd A might get their ass handed to them.

Uh, huh. Right. My 16-gauge is loaded, nutjob, and I know how to use it.

Then, there’s always the issue of other more natural threats to personal safety when camping in the wilderness, more natural than rednecks, that is.

On a recent camping trip to Tennessee, the bears were still mostly in hibernation and the wolves normally stay far away from people. But you know, just in case…

On a recent camping trip to the Gulf Coast, they say panthers have been sighted in Gulf State Park. Perhaps it’s someone’s vivid imagination.

My question: Would a National Geographic photographer ever go looking for photos of dangerous animals without being armed? I’m not sure about that so I think I will ask. When I find out, I will post the answer in the comments.

But before I end this and get on with Sunday breakfast, I feel compelled to take one more shot at a different brand of conservative that seems to be on the rise.

Don’t think for a second that talk radio is the only place left in the U.S. where media managers are out of touch with Americans. The Tuscalooosa News just hired a conservative columnist to try and save that newspaper, one of the two remaining New York Times properties in the state.

I doubt it will work, since Robert DeWitt is about the most boring guy I have ever seen in print. Best I can tell from a Google search, his prior experience mostly consisted of writing about fishing. Now there’s an exciting sport.

If he wants to fire up the base, he might want to check out the fastest growing sport in the world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. They say it’s now bigger than Nascar. I know, that’s hard to believe.

But after walking into a redneck bar in suburbia to have some barbecue last night and watching a crowd of people go crazy over guys rolling around on the ground on top of each other beating each other’s brains out — without padding mind you — I know that anything is truly possible in America. Rome didn’t have much on us as an empire, including the taste for blood.

Fortunately, the kind of people who go for that sort of violence as sport apparently don’t know how to find their way to the polls to vote. They would support Sarah Palin for president in a heartbeat, perhaps, but we say bring her on. There are enough people in America now who understand what is at stake and they proved in 2008 that they will turn out to vote.

The so-called conservative revolution is over. Get over it. I know I am.