Anyway, once you get upstairs it’s literally a few short steps to Valerie Jarret’s office.  She’s been crazy busy integrating Van Jones into the new ruling class, so you might pass her office and it’s only one more door to go.  Now you’re at the corner suite of Christina Tschen, Chicago lawyer, long-time Obama crony friend and major fundraiser for his campaign.  She must have raised a lot of dough, because her office is pretty sweet, and it’s right above Barack Obama’s Oval Office.  Cool, huh?

Anyway, as you two gaze out across the South Lawn from your boss’s corner digs, it must occur to you that life has brought you a long way, and then you remember that you have actually brought yourself most of that way.  You helped Obama take power, and now you find yourself in a position of real power and influence, standing up in the second floor of the White House.  What will you do with it?  Will you stay within the bounds of laws and ethics?  Was that what worked back in Texas?

When the subject of a campaign and a call to directly enlist some people in the arts community comes up, do you raise the question of whether or not the Administration should be actually recruiting and coaching creative people who are hoping to receive NEA grants in the future?  Oh wait, it was kind of your idea, the whole signing up artists thing?  Well, did you wonder about the ethical violations that will be created by your participating in that call, being that you’re in the White House and all?  No, darn it, you really want people to serve the president.  You’re Buffy Wicks, you oversee Serve.gov for the White House, and before you can get people to serve, you need to get their attention.  If that means bending a few rules, what’s new.  I mean, public financing? – LOL  Situational ethics apply, because the President is right about his agenda for the American people.  The President is awesome, and people just need to serve him.  I mean serve America, but it’s kind of his idea, so…

This is what you wrote two years ago, live-blogging from a star-studded campaign event in Los Angeles where the Goo Goo Dolls introduced BO: “The crowd was thunderous. Obama could barely settle them down they were so excited. But when he did, the Senator delivered another in a long line of beautiful oratories. The crowd clapped at Obama’s outrage at the current situation in Washington and cheered at his plan for bringing the country back together. By the time he was done, not only was I convinced he’s going to win this election, I felt that I could actually help him make a real difference in this country’s future. Judging by the roaring crowd, they felt the same way.”

Goo Goo Dolls and everything?  Ah, the smell of the hair gel, roar of the crowd…Those were the days, weren’t they?  It was like the Summer of Love for you guys, or something.  But what if you’re not supposed to be talking directly to artists through the NEA about Presidential initiatives?  Oops, then what if you did?  What if Yosi Sergant was quickly demoted after his words from that darned conference call were released?  Would you be in any trouble?  Probably not, because you have friends in VERY high places.  After all, the only thing that would be really bad would be if you were speaking as someone from the White House, sort of instructing artists, people looking for NEA money, sort of telling them what the White House wanted and what you hoped they could do for the President.  That would be very bad.  It would breach the ethical boundaries of the NEA by suggesting a quid pro quo, something that would change the relationship between the government and the arts.  What’s that?  Oh.  OK let’s say you did.  You should… um, apologize, maybe?  No thanks, not when what you’re trying to do is so good.  Stepping down is unthinkable.  As you said on the call, “It’s the world we live in now – we’re actually running the government.” And don’t you know it!  Heck, you guys won the leadership of the free world (which we know the President is trying to relinquish so you can all focus on ‘fundamentally changing’ America) on an image, a smile, soaring words that almost no one can remember, and an awful lot of cool posters.  There was some other stuff, some of that rule-bending stuff, but whatever.  Republicans do it, right?

People are ready for this kind of propaganda ministry, because if it’s fighting for the truth, it’s not really propaganda, is it?  Conservatives just hate progress, that’s the bottom line.  Look at the way they’re going after ACORN, the good people you relied on and funneled lots of money to during the campaign.  Sure, they’re sloppy sometimes, but they’re on the right side of the big issues – your side – so who cares?  They’re great at showing up and forming a protest when your union friends can’t be bothered.  In fact, come to think of it, you’ve got some pretty intimidating friends.  Let these right-wingers try to come and take your office away.  Let them cross the United Food and Commercial Workers.  Those are your peeps!  OK, where were we?  Oh right, you’re Buffy Wicks.  People love you.  You made a real difference in the campaign, and there’s no way you’ll be tossed under the Obama bus.  Nope, no way.  No sir, no how.

Not a Townhall meeting… (Photo: MoreMarin.com)

After co-authoring her second book in spite of very little demand, it must be difficult to shoulder the meet and greets all by her lonesome.  Yet, today’s news tells me that the word has already gotten out, so, in the interest of free public debate, consider this a humble public service announcement.  Senator Boxer will be signing and reading from her new book this weekend – enjoy:

8/13/2009
Books Inc.
Books Inc. (Opera Plaza) in San Francisco book signing- 7pm
601 Van Ness 415-776-1111
http://www.booksinc.net/SFOpera

8/15/2009
Book signing at Barnes & Noble- San Jose 1pm
3600 Stevens Creek Blvd, San Jose, CA 95117
408-984-3495
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/1944

8/14/2009
Rakestraw Books
Book signing at Rakestraw Books in Danville 7pm
522 Hartz Avenue Danville, CA 94526
(925) 837-7337
http://www.rakestrawbooks.com/

No Townhall meetings with her constituents are scheduled for our renaissance Senator during this national debate on health care, so this might be as close as you can get.  You read that right.  She’s very busy.   Last night she did take some general questions, so if you attend, be civil and please, leave any Nazi garbage out of it.  It may seem funny or rebellious since Pelosi launched it as a smear, but it only undermines important discussion.  Plus, you’ll get thrown out much more quickly.

Here are my two suggestions for peaceful protest.  First, someone (maybe Chuck Devore?) should organize a flashmob RickRoll during one of her readings.  That would make him a legend, at least in my corner of the world.  Boxer might even enjoy it.  She seems like a nice lady and I’m told that she really is…..oh, wait, I just read the article again…

The story pits short-statured Senator Ellen Fischer–who happens to be a Democrat (sound familiar?)–against a power hungry, civil rights trampling Vice President (sound familiar?) in a universe populated by characters like “Sam Slaughter,” a right-wing radio host without principles (sound familiar?).  As the Senator told the audience, “You write about what you know.”  Boxer, who has written one previous novel, A Time To Run, told the crowd she found writing fiction “therapeutic.”  At one point she made reference to a point in the book where the Vice President faces the possibility of impeachment–

“It was very cathartic writing a book like that,” she said to big laughs from the audience, just before beginning to read an excerpt from the book.

While she was reading, protesters outside the store, pressed their signs to the windows.   When one particularly offensive sign went up, the Book Passage people lowered the blinds much to the Senator’s–and the audience’s–relief. As she moved to the question and answer period, someone shouted “Vote for Peace!” before they were ushered away by security personnel.  Most of the Q and A time was reserved for questions specifically about her book, but Boxer did take a few general questions from the audience.  Not surprisingly, all of them–with the exception of a single rambling 9/11 conspiracy wing-nut–were about the health care debate.  The only prickly moment occurred when the Senator pointedly requested that one audience member not point at her while she asked her question.”

Ok, so with that in mind, I think most signs should include the word “Ma’am,” as in “Ma’am, George Sand would be proud, proud, that you are here today co-authoring a book of fiction under your own name!”  Now, about health care…

To read this and other blog posts by Jude, go to HughHewitt.com.

I focused on his creative output and what it meant to musicians and culture as best I could in our impromptu conversation.  In other words, we didn’t dwell on the fact that it SURE seemed like he was a serial molester of male children.  His music will stand alone.  HUGE talent, obsessive artist, stratospheric career from childhood into his thirties.  Iconic images and motion pictures of him, dancing and performing unforgettably at his peak, will probably always be tainted for our generation by what he became, by what many of us now know he was for a long time.  His strange celebrity outran his music, but maybe now it will stop running… all this will be said better over the next few days and probably weeks by others.

What I’m looking forward to, after whatever period is gentlemanly to wait, is our own FBI undercover superagent, Bob Hamer dropping the…well, dropping his last name plus another “m” on the kind of man who SURE seemed like he built elaborate playgrounds to lure children to himself.

So let’s make fun of the thing we really like to: 24!  Drinking game remains Kiefer Sutherland head-fake before line delivery.

Tonight’s drinking game: Jack Head Twitches!

Make sure to use the new live-blog software.

Dammit.  Dammit there isn’t time!