False Flag

I came across this article today, which suggests that the suspect behind the vandalism of a Democratic legislator's Denver office is...a Democrat.

Now, this did not surprise me in the least. Indeed, I often wonder why we don't hear more about this sort of "false flag" operation by political partisans. I'm sure it happens a great deal, on the right and the left. Yard signs are probably a big item, for example: how easy would it have been for Democratic operatives in 2008 to go around, steal Obama signs, then have a local Dem organization talk to the press about the fear and intolerance of the right? (And, before you start, I bet similar operations were carried out by the right.)

Whenever some information or story is too good to be true, my mind tends to consider a false flag cause. The Bush National Guard/Dan Rather dustup is one case in particular: the documents were such poor forgeries, and their appearance and debunking did so much to undercut the tale of Bush's service, that I have to wonder...was this cooked up by a right-wing operative? If so, I say kudos. 'Cuz you have to salute excellence, wherever you find it.

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Democrats, Democrat, False Flag, Partisan, Denver

Processing Teddy's Death

So Ted Kennedy is dead, felled by cancer at age 77.

Let me say up front that I am not pleased in any way by his death. I considered him the poorest form of statesman, and he seemed a man of few admirable personal qualities. But he was, in the end, a man; and I can mourn his death on this basis.

We hear from Shakespeare's Mark Antony that "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." If recent events are any indication (and I'm looking in your direction, Michael Jackson), it appears that this antique approach is long dead. The advantage here, if there is one, is that most media outlets are rolling out prefab encomia, composed during the course of Ted's long and terminal illness.

I know firsthand how popular he was with many of the people of Massachusetts; I know that he will be hailed as a champion of the poor and downtrodden. But what I hope people also remember was that he was a drunken womanizer whose reckless action resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

So let's not get too crazy here. His soul is in God's hands, but his record here on earth shouldn't be scrubbed clean.

One of my periodic epiphanies

Five minutes on the right side. Roll onto back. Five minutes. Roll onto right side. Five minutes. Return to start and repeat again and again and again.

It kept me up for about two hours last night. It wasn't the usual wakeful worrying about money or health or any of the big life issues. No, instead it occurred to me that I wasn't writing enough.

This is a ridiculous thing. I am, after all, a writer. When someone asks me what I do for a living, I say, "freelance writer." I say this despite the fact that, since late in 1999, caring for the children has taken up the vast majority of my nonsleeping/noneating time.

The last time I abandoned Log & Line was about a year and a half ago, in early 2008. Maybe this return will be the same--a flurry of posts for a month or so, then a disappearance. But is the possibility of failure enough of a reason not to try? And at least, for a while, it may exercise my long-dormant fingers.