totalitarianism today

Politicians and prophets.

Neil Hrab can't help noticing that Ron Paul couldn't help noticing UNESCO's agenda for commodifying culture a long, long time ago. And when Neil urges us to heed Dr. Paul's warnings in the future, I would suggest heeding his concerns about the drug war in this country.

Broken Social Scene.

Broken Social Scene put on a good show last night, though they left a sour taste of the sort that comes from concerts where the band doesn't understand, like the nice gentlemen populating one-night stands, the beauty of a timely exit. At some point (last night, I'd say it was about 12:00 AM), the music just doesn't get better, the best tunes have been played, and only the groupies and drunks remain. Don't wait for that point. Nothing left to say after Lover's Spit. And no point in trying to recreate Loveless between the bars.

What is the Broken Social Scene? So why are there so many people in Broken Social Scene? Leslie Feist replies, "Because the family tree is made of golden titanium and can't be trimmed back". Perhaps another way of saying, "We like to jam"? I'm not interested in their political configuration or how Drew feels about Roy Rogers, Bush, and bloggers.

Feist's performance (see photo to left) of Let It Die verged on the sublime. After encouraging the audience to take out their hearts and bounce them around on the floor like basketballs to fully savor the heart best broken, her voice first shook then soothed the room (jhai, say the pros). No one can fairly follow something as incredible as Leslie Feist.

For more:

• Marc Hirsh's interview with Feist is the best I've encountered.
• Broken Social Scene's tunes for KVRX available online.
• How the social scene changes.
• New album/s from BSS about love and puke on the way?

Competing loyalities.

The Fall 2005 issue of In Character deals with loyalty, the favorite topic of postmodernists and identity politicians. David Gibson probes the current cult of conversion for something more than a shopping spree as James Q. Wilson worries about marriage trends and the decline of loyal partnership.

By far the most postworthy bit, however, is also the inaccessible one-- Sam Schulman's brief, "Europeans Unite!". Schulman makes Jim Jarmusch characters of us all. While no fan of the European Union, I cannot agree with Schulman that EU officials denigrate national loyalty because they are envious. Anyone who has watched the ethnic conflicts in twentieth century Europe cannot help but feel concerned about the resurgence of nationalist sentiment in the post-communist period. Conversations with Poles, Romanians, and Czechs during my travels only highlight this Gellnerian Other-building.

Schulman believes that "the supporters of European unification need to create a feeling of European patriotism to offset the national patriotism that they believe is the primary obstacle to their project". He is correct on the margins. EU officials might indeed be envious of European nationalisms, but this envy is wise (while Schulman suggests that it is slightly fantastic), given the clear incentives of national governments to propagandize patriotism as a means of exerting power vis a vis the European Union. Habermas' "constitutional patriotism" is no match for the potency of state-empowered nationalist propaganda (thanks to Clark Durant for his loose-leafed thoughts on Habermas and other indigenous charms).

Whether you are a fan of the EU or nation-states writ 20th-century, surely the temptation to ignore the realities of modern democracy, with the corresponding emphasis on national loyalty, national interest, and national economic power, are not lost on you. States are here to stay so long as their governments cannot gain more power via other political projects. The European nations remain more powerful than the EU.

Sirens on.

Some aim for the Nobel prize. And then there are some that aim higher-- visit every Starbucks in within the District of Columbia. Jerry, you've outdone yourse;f this time.

Lately loves.

• The Hackensaw Boys and their beautiful, fall-friendly fiddles.
• Vocabulary catfights between nation-states. See blockade v. embargo.
• David Hornik's self-diagnosis of VCitis. Or anything that pokes enormous amounts of fun at DSM IV and the psychobabble industry.
• Cool new cults with modernized masters.
• "The Hit On List". Being a capitalist about pick-up probabilities. Just scroll down to hear the mp3.
• Jim Barker's appreciation for the kind of beauty that keeps me up at night.
• Tiny mix tapes.
• Paul Bibeau's greed.
• Charles Bernstein's "The Ballad of the Girly Man".
• Non-redemptive self-awareness.
• Feel-good arthouse flicks.
• Destroyers who relish their battle scars. Much like Neko Case, Daniel Bejar keeps one finger in the New Porn while concocting his own delicious brew of "so you think?". Comments on Saturday's show at the 9:30 Club-- Neko's worn face is almost as breathtaking as her music; Bejar can't smoke, drink, or scowl too much; the New Pornographers tweaks the bubbled side of a few incredible and quite haunted musicians.

Call it as I see it.

An old friend from my more idyllic days-- Robert Peters-- is currently working on a neat little flick called Isolated, in which he plays a character not too far from his everyday self, give or take the cowboy boots. For more of Robert's work, check out The Cameraphone or Come Fly With Me Nude.

Sci fi fans might enjoy The Ticket, and Carrier looks just plain cool. Read a few reviews of Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight. Or just visit Robert's website more frequently for updates. There aren't enough libertarian actors who can also pull off a good sex scene as well. Some more enlightened minds might argue that Robert Peters is the entire package. My opinion? He's just a damn good friend.

Campaign watch-list.

General Zod's 2008 campaign for the White House deserves at least a small part of your attention. His position on Social Security is particularly remarkable.

And academia continues to bargain itself out of the relevant conversations.

Too bad for the University of Chicago.

Focus on James Dobson.

For those who managed to get through childhood without hearing about Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family, the world was probably a prettier, safer place. Brian MacQuarrie profiles Dobson-- and his increasingly powerful evangelic machine-- for the Boston Globe. MacQuarrie conveys Dobson's perspective on abortion, gay rights, and all the despicable human actions currently taking place in his world:

In his view, Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, has caused the ''biggest holocaust in world history"; the Supreme Court is guilty of ''judicial tyranny" that threatens religious liberties; wide approval for gay marriage would send the nation ''hurtling toward Gomorrah"; and the federal judiciary is a despotic oligarchy that represents ''the last playground of the liberal left."

Millions of people who have turned to Dobson for family advice apparently are willing to accept his political counsel as well. The share of white evangelical Protestants who voted for Bush increased to 78 percent in 2004, a sharp increase from 68 percent in 2000. Dobson is credited by many observers as playing a critical role in their mobilization.

''I'm going to promote the values I think are best for our country, and of course I hope that laws that reflect them are enacted," said Dobson, who rarely grants in-person interviews. ''Isn't that how a democracy operates?"

To Dobson, Focus on the Family is a God-ordained ministry. To his critics, including the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Dobson is a dangerous demagogue.

''He smiles, he's articulate, he has some quality advice about child rearing," said Lynn, a minister in the United Church of Christ, whose leaders have endorsed gay marriage. ''But on some of these big political questions, he's extremely far to the right, and people ought to recognize that before they start walking down the road with him."

In one lightning-rod example, Dobson used a radio broadcast in August to compare the ethics of embryonic stem-cell research to Nazi medical experiments on prisoners.

''There is no question that the beliefs of conservative Christians are under attack," Dobson told the Globe. ''Any conviction founded on religious faith is vilified; any stand on absolute truth is denigrated as old-fashioned at best, or reminiscent of the Taliban at worst; any view out of lockstep with the left's agenda is met with anything but tolerance and acceptance."

Dobson's ultra-conservative views are not the problem; a marketplace of ideas will reveal some people's preferences for less stringent religious sects. And his practice of registering people to vote for candidates that reflect his religious/ideological views only mirrors the practices of Rock the Vote and Planned Parenthood.

The real problem with Dobson is his narcissism, steeped in self-righteousness. For example, the Focus on the Family website provides a daily update on Dobson's health for the faithful flocks preparing to bomb an abortion clinic on the day when Dobson ascends to heaven.

Dobson's followers are not just conservative Christians-- they are Dobsonites, Dobson defenders, footsoldiers in the movement to purify the world of sin. Dobson and his crew refuse that most Christian virtue otherwise known as "understanding" to gays, choosing instead to describe men who have returned to their straight lives as those who have "left homosexual involvement" rather than those who either experimented with their sexuality or reidentified their sexual selves. His book, Portraits of Freedom, offers "sexual healing" of the sort that makes heresy out of homosexuality. All choices must be made in ways that reflect his religious proclivities. No conscience is correct if it does not buy into his view of Christianity.

Dobson's opinions are elevated to Biblical truths and science. Rather than admit "I think Jesus thinks living in sin is just terrible", Dobson plays the scientist, claiming that "Living together without the benefit of a marriage license can be hazardous to your health". Does this have anything to do with the physical aspect of the marriage license itself (i.e. should you keep it by the bed or in the family room)? Does marriage decrease the likelihood of getting cancer? Have we tested this against the large number of co-habiting European couples?

And Dobson also knows what is best for your baby. In a thoughtful little advice column for women who get pregnant without a marriage license, he writes:

It is difficult to get an accurate picture of adoption with all the trends and ideas in our society about single motherhood. In particular, when magazines and TV shows glamorize the growing numbers of actresses and other female entertainers having babies outside of marriage, it’s tempting to get the idea that single motherhood is just another acceptable “option” for life and parenthood.

Of course, the media fails to mention that raising a baby on a celebrity’s income is an entirely different situation from the poverty-level existence that most single mothers and their babies experience. Nor do you hear much of anything about how these “Hollywood babies” are turning out without fathers in the home ... and the statistics about the effects of fatherlessness on children are anything but glamorous.

Keep in mind who’s most important here. The one truly helpless, innocent person in this situation is your baby. Your child needs you to act responsibly and unselfishly in this situation — which means not rushing into a quick decision based on current emotions, loneliness and sentimentality. The truth is that single mothers often wish they had chosen adoption after only a few months of caring for their child. Therefore, you’ll want to gather information on adoption vs. single motherhood and get input from people you respect (preferably, people who are already parents).

Before you make a decision, you owe it to your baby — and yourself! — to get all the facts about adoption.

Dobson's empire is one where you can count on the following:

• single mothers obediently hand over their babies to loving two-parent homes steeped in what some of us might consider abusive, repressive practices.
• young girls give up the "pornucopia" of fairy tales and romantic dreams.
• Weezer finally awakens to the "truth of Titus 3-3:7".
• the Corpse Bride shows less cleavage and more ribs.
• "missionary daters" would see the double-edged err of their ways.

It is also an empire that my conscience would never allow me to condone or support. Let's just say I reject James Dobson because he is immoral.

A bordello kind of ready.

Everything Is Illuminated (2005), directed and screenplayed by Liev Schreiber, promises to relieve my post-Serenity bends a bit.

The plot is an increasingly popular one-- child of immigrants travels back to country of his ancestors to find discover some implacable truth about his past and hence himself. As an immigrant, who has returned to Romania as often as possible since 1989, my sentimental education predisposes me to appreciate such plot lines. IMBd breaks down the plot as follows:

A young Jewish American man (played by Elijah Wood) endeavors to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II in a Ukrainian village, that was ultimately razed by the Nazis, with the help of a local who speaks weirdly funny broken English.

Schreiber cast Gogol Bordello front-man and contender for most-interesting-gentleman-alive Eugene Hutz in the role of Alex. If you've ever been to a Bordello show, or backpacked around eastern Europe via train, for that matter, then the "gypsy punk" appeal will ensnare you, accordions and all. Official Hutz bio follows:

Born in Kiev in 1972, Hutz's road to the United States was a long trek through Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Poland an immigrant experience that informs much of his band's material. When Hutz was 14 and living in Striy, a small Ukrainian village near the Hungarian border, he and his family packed their suitcases and fled the country.

Descendants of Gypsies called the Sirva Roma (a tribe known for its blacksmiths, pottery makers and musicians), they found themselves wandering throughout Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Italy moving from one refugee camp to the next.

A seasoned busker with a headful of ideas, Hutz arrived in Vermont in 1993 through a relocation program. Joining him were his mother, a Gypsy tap dancer/singer, and his father, a butcher by trade who also played guitar in one of the Ukraine's first rock bands.

In 1996 Hutz formed a band called 'Flying Fuck,' an early prototype for what would finally become 'Gogol Bordello,' a Gypsy-driven collective of multi-national punk music. After some time in Vermont, Hutz moved to Ne York and met what would become the eight-piece lineup of 'Gogol Bordello.'

Gogol Bordello refers to the 19th Century Ukrainian author Nikolai Gogol and the institution of the bordello with its connotations of erotic pleasure and street vulgarity.

In addition to starring in "Everything is Iluminated," Hutz will tour this summer with Gogol Bordello on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour and will release his third full-length album of rock mayhem "GYPSY PUNKS: Underdog World Strike" (Sideonedummy Records) on Aug. 9. Produced by Steve Albini (Nirvana, Jimmy Page/Robert Plant) "GYPSY PUNKS" is an expansive 15-track salvo that expands the band's cultural crusade to build a bridge between Gypsy sounds, rock'n'roll and other brands of rebel music.

So Hutz will bring an Americanized immigrant's perspective to Alex's character. More importantly, he will bring the experiences of a still-persecuted ethnic minority (i.e. the Roma) to bear on Alex's Jewish identity. As with all films pivoting around identity politics, and questions of ethnicity or lineage, the protagonists' conflicts will be shadowed on the faces of their parents. I look forward to the show.

Also, to note: the soundtrack is as close as you can get to Eastern Europe without losing your mind in airport security. Other objects of potential desire include:

• The trailer.
• Brent Hallenbeck talks to Eugene Hutz about the Ukraine, restlessness, Gogol Bordello, and misunderstanding the past.
• Erin Adler interviews Hutz for the Minnesota Daily.
• Laura Miller reviews the book  for Salon.com.
• David Edelstein's review for NPR.
• Who Is Augustine?
• Read The Gypsies by Angus Fraser or The Traveller Gypsies by Judith Okely, available online thanks to Google.
• Recipe for the Flying Fuck, a drink that might entice fans of Jack Daniels.
• A bad review from Variety magazine.