The Gray Lady's editorial board nails right-wing preachers

This editorial in yesterday's New York Times calls it exactly right. Tomorrow morning, a bunch of conservative ministers and priests across the US plan to defy a 54-year-old federal law that says churches endorsing or opposing particular political candidates, parties, ballot propositions or legislation cannot do so and demand exemption from taxes at the same time. Claiming their First Amendment rights are being infringed, they're staging a mass action and calling it "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." (Give you three guesses which Presidential candidate they'll support, and the first two don't count.)

Even leaving aside my well-known bias against organized religion, the rule makes perfect sense to me. If you want a say in public policy and how government monies are spent, you put some skin in the game. If you're not willing to help pay the cost of government, you can't be held accountable to anyone for the influence you have over who gets elected and what laws get passed.

And it's not as if the clergy aren't already free to express opinions on political matters. They just can't do so in their official capacity as leaders of a congregation, synagogue, mosque or parish, from the pulpit, and still get off not paying taxes. Besides, the Religious Right Wrong already has had far too much access to churches as a political organizing tool as it is, thanks to the late, unlamented (by some of us, anyway) Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority and its successor groups like Focus on the Family. They've been passing out voter guides in church parking lots and using mailing lists provided by sympathizers inside for at least two decades now. "Wall of separation"? Who dat?

They're hoping to get their day in court—the Supreme Court, where they evidently think the current conservative-larded bench will side with them and throw out the law. If there is a God, may She grant my prayer that these cassocked yahoos and their right-wing backers are wrong.

In Memoriam: Paul Leonard Newman, 1925-2008

It's incredibly ironic that I just finished watching PBS' American Masters present its marvelous five-part documentary miniseries, You Must Remember This: The Warner Brothers Story. One episode in this decade-by-decade chronology of the legendary Hollywood movie studio deals with its stars and films of the 1950s...and duly notes the blazing debut therein of a gifted young unknown named Paul Newman. (In black and white; not until color took over did the public get to see the bluest eyes in cinema onscreen.) The award-winning actor, director, auto-racing driver/owner, philanthropist/entrepreneur and liberal political activist died yesterday at 83 of undisclosed causes at his Westport, CT home, surrounded by his family; CNN reports his obit here.
UPDATE, 12:31p: MSNBC.com reports that Newman had been suffering from an unspecified form of cancer for some while, and had canceled an upcoming stage project due to his illness. Wikipedia reports it was lung cancer caused by Newman's long smoking habit.

You know his films, iconic nearly to a one: Cool Hand Luke. Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Verdict. The Sting. The Hustler and its decades-later sequel, The Color of Money. (The latter film finally won him his long-deserved Oscar after eight tries.) And so many more. He even played one of my home state's most colorful figures, the late Gov. Earl Long, brother of Huey, in the film Blaze, opposite the curvaceous Lolita Davidovich as Uncle Earl's mistress, Bourbon Street stripper Blaze Starr.

You know his charities, The Newman's Own Foundation and the Hole in the Wall Camps. You know his causes, from his backing of Eugene McCarthy for President (earning Newman a place on Dick Nixon's infamous "enemies list") to his more recent support of Ned Lamont in Connecticut's Democratic Senate race. You might even know he was also part of the "Greatest Generation," having served in the Navy during World War II prior to taking up acting and witnessed the battle of Okinawa firsthand. Hell, you probably have a bottle of his salad dressing, a jar of his spaghetti sauce or a box of his microwave popcorn or cookies somewhere in your kitchen. (And if you don't, you should; not only do all the proceeds go to his charities, but they're actually good eating, every one. But you'd better hurry; I predict a run on Newman's Own brand products at supermarkets around the country in the next few days.)

We've lost more than just a showbiz legend; we've lost a champion. My heart goes out to his wife Joanne Woodward (herself an Oscar winner) and their five children, grandchildren and his other family, friends and colleagues in this most difficult hour. And you should check out the PBS mini, narrated by Paul's long-time Warners co-worker Clint Eastwood; it's available in condensed form online at the website. (Did they ever do a picture together? If not, it's a damn dirty shame.)

So long, Mr. Newman, and the entire movie-going world thanks you.

Finally, a guy birthday!

Happy birthday today to theo_knight, Medieval Disc Jockey, co-founder and leader of the Boogie Knights...and a pretty nice guy in his mundane identity as well. Hope you're having a great day!

It's finally official: The Kenya trip is ON!

After struggling with a balky airline website, scheduling issues and my own rather shaky finances for the better part of a week, I have finally managed to purchase my plane tickets to Nairobi for next month. I leave Atlanta on the 8th and return home on the 26th. I get a layover in Amsterdam both ways (no airline has direct, nonstop service from ATL to NBO as yet), but not much time to do anything outside of dash to my connecting gate and (maybe) have a quick airport meal. And I get to spend two and a half weeks with the Songbird, seeing for the first time what her life is like there.

We plan to visit the fabulous Masai Mara national park and the Kenyan coastal beaches, as well as partaking of the local attractions of Kenya's capital city. I also am told I will get to do at least a little driving, which should be quite the adventure given that Nairobi doesn't have the signage, signals and lighting we take for granted on US streets and highways—and does have matatu drivers who make New York cabbies look sane and sedate by comparison (not to mention everybody drives British style, on the wrong side of the road). Naturally, I will have my new digital camera with me and take lots of pictures, which will probably end up on Flickr. And though net access is spotty even at the best of times there, I will also have my laptop and should be able to log on at least two or three times a week.

This will be my farthest trip yet, farther even than the ones I took to Hawaii and Europe decades ago. My employer has graciously granted me my full week's paid leave (even though technically, I haven't actually earned it all yet) to defray at least part of the missed income while I am away from my job. Now I just have to get yellow-fever shots and make sure I have $$$ on hand when I get there for the tourist visa and exit fees. And make sure Ari the Humongous Orange Tabby™ is properly looked after while I'm gone. Pray Al-Qaeda doesn't pick next month to attack and the political climate in Kenya stays calm.