Independence Day

It’s Fourth of July and a perfect day to be confused.

On the one hand, I started the day by listening to the song “Independence Day” by Bruce Springsteen (YouTube here) and ended up thinking of the Fourth of July in 2002, when I sat on The Mall in Washington DC and discussed the values of the Declaration of Independence versus terrorism with some friends. As y’all know, I admire the US of A in many ways and if you understand Swedish, you have to listen to this hilarious radio-program about two guys driving through the US in their early twenties (Filip Hammar & Fredrik Wikingsson som sommarpratare, lyssna här, hur kul som helst).

On the other hand, we have had an administration (George W. Bush et al) for six and a half years; an administration that has disrespected the values of the Declaration of Independence, notably through the ”war on terror”, the infamous war in Iraq, but also nitty gritty dirty GOP-politics, like the recent pardoning of the felon Lewis ”Scooter” Libby. For a summary of how Bush betrayed what I think America stands for, watch this YouTube-clip: ”Abba explains the War”. [Thanks, Lane]

In short, a big hurray for what the US of A ought to stand for, including HBO, Sopranos, The West Wing, Springsteen, Clinton, Al Gore, JFK, RFK and MLK, Ani DiFranco etc etc. And a major ”nay” to US imperialism and the current administration; remember to always stay out of the Bushes.

Al Gore and The Sopranos

I have written before that I would like to see Al Gore running for the Democratic nomination. He was right on the big issues (environment, balanced and competitive economy, welfare) already 15-20 years ago; he can provide the experienced leadership Americans are asking for; and therefore he will win (I am not that sure that Hillary Clinton would win, and she will get the nomination if Gore won’t run, even if Obama is raising a lot of money).

I have also written about The Sopranos, and what happens when my political world collides with that brilliant show.

Conclusion: Have you heard the story about Al Gore and the last episode of The Sopranos? From The Progress Report:

Al Gore is a ”die‑hard” Sopranos fan, but was going to have to miss last month's season finale because he was scheduled to be on a plane to Istanbul. So Gore called Brad Grey, the chairman of Paramount, and asked for an advance copy.

After originally refusing, Grey eventually ”had a Halliburton‑made steel case, containing a copy of the episode, delivered to the tarmac where Mr. Gore's plane sat in Chicago. The case was locked with a code. ... Mr. Gore could not open it until the plane was in the air, when he was instructed to call Mr. Grey's office for the numeric code.”

Enough said, Al Gore ought to be re-elected.

Worlds colliding again

I wrote about worlds colliding the other day, and then Hillary decided to mix politics and The Sopranos in a new video just the day after! Read more in Washington Post and The New York Times. Don’t miss the new video, featuring Hillary’s husband Bill and ”Johnny Sack” from The Sopranos.

But after meeting with Robert Kuttner (yes, the man who co-founded American Prospect) at Arenagruppen yesterday I am even more convinced that Al Gore should and will run. Gore was right on the major issues 15 years ago (globalization, sustainable development, open economy and strong welfare) and he has been re-born after quitting politics. And is Bloomberg entering the race? If so, remember that Ross Perot took more votes from Bill Clinton then we would like to remember.

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Thanks to a friend I have been listening to Regina Spektor all morning, website with music and even the game ”Spektris” here.

When worlds collide

As readers of this blog know, I like a few things very much. Some of these things exist in parallel and seldom cross path, and when they do I get all fired up. An example for you: Remember when Bruce Springsteen wrote an op ed called ”Chords for Change” in The New York Times, explaining why he supported John Kerry and John Edwards?

Now it is time again. The last episode of The Sopranos has been aired in the US, and even some of the political newspapers I read most often write about it. One example is an article [Lexington] in The Economist, which concludes in the following way:

”American culture has always had a weakness for sex and violence. But since the 1960s it has gleefully eliminated conventional distinctions between good and bad, and since the 1990s it has been supercharged by the dramatic increase in the power of mass communications that are bringing America's cultural offerings to every corner of the world.

The success of “The Sopranos”, both commercially and critically, can only serve to reinforce this trend. The tensions created by the growing global reach of shows like “The Sopranos” may prove far more difficult to manage in the long run than the tensions created by the passing neoconservative moment.”

The New Republic has written about The Sopranos quite a few times over the years, but now concludes that it is time to say goodbye. An article, called ”Addio”, compares the language in The Sopranos with my other favorite show; The West Wing:

”Consider only the language. Or more precisely, compare David Chase's dialogue to Aaron Sorkin's dialogue. In Sorkin's shiny nonsense, people speak in repartee, and always find the words they need, and nothing insignificant, nothing tedious, is ever uttered. They talk as nattily as they look. Even their afflictions are oddly high-spirited, as coolness conquers all. There is not an unmordant or unmoralized second in anybody's day. Sorkin's phony people go from portentousness to hipness and back. They are the figments of a disastrously glamorous imagination, the polished puppets of a shallow man's notion of profundity.

In ”The Sopranos”, by contrast, there is no eloquence, even when there is beauty. Silences abound. These people speak the way people actually speak: they lie, and lie again; they hide; they repair gladly to banalities, and to borrowed words; they struggle for adequacy in communication; they say nothing at all.”

When will Season 6, part II of The Sopranos be aired in this forgotten country?

US-vacation 2: “On Demand” in Sweden, please

One good thing with vacationing in Washington DC is all the nice houses my “no longer in grad school” friends have bought (thanks for having us, Jim, Bob and Kevin; Lukas and Lucrecia; Jeff and Holli). And a great thing that my friend Jim has in his house is “On Demand”; a service that automatically downloads movies and HBO-series to your flat-screen TV. So if you want to see all the latest episodes of The Sopranos, you just grab the remote and then you watch’em. I saw the latest episode of The Sopranos (shown in the US last Sunday) and let me just say that it seems to be as good ever -- but somewhat darker and even more weird.

When is “On Demand” coming to Sweden? It makes life so much easier -- especially for all of us who wants quality (news, documentaries, politics, sports and HBO-series) the few hours one has time to watch TV.

[Photo of Jim with the requested “Welcome home” sign when he picked us up at the airport]

All work and no play

Last week was very busy. Our managing editor, who helps me to put the three newspapers I am editor in chief of together, was on a holiday. He has been a journalist for maaaany years and to cover up for him took quite a few extra hours. But I learnt loads and I am proud of the people I work with cause we made three really good papers, despite being a few people short.

So, I did not blog that much, but I must underline one thing: The foreign policy debate last Wednesday showed how the Social Democratic party should act in opposition. The party was not simply against the foreign policy declaration presented by the Conservative government, an alternative, progressive declaration was presented, and an open seminar about Social Democratic foreign policy was organized in the center of Stockholm. I wrote my editorial about this [Swedish], cause we cannot only be against things...

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After congratulating Dixie Chicks, I got an e-mail asking if I listen to Joe Ely. I didn’t, but I have started now. Here is YouTube-clip from Tribeca Rock’n’Roll Club in NYC, and here is Joe Ely’s website. [Thanks for your e-mail, Bo]

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I just cannot stop praising The Sopranos, saw the two first episodes of season four yesterday. If you live in Stockholm, they have a dvd-boxes sales at Buylando, Kungsholmen (S:t Eriksgatan 34). 499 kronor for two seasons/boxes…

Sopranos? A lot better than Bush’s budget...

There are loads of things to read in Aktuellt i Politiken this week, don’t you miss Jens Henriksson’s essay about the economics of conservatives. And my editorial is here.

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And then we have Bush’s new budget (also known as the war on poor people). A good way to start reading about this is the Progress Report. And don’t miss this additional info: Only 13 percent of congressional Republicans say they believe that human activity is causing global warming, compared to 95 percent of congressional Democrats.

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One question we nerds should ask ourselves: Is Hillary Clinton’s victory inevitable?

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I am now watching the third season of Sopranos and it is still brilliant. Don’t miss out for as long as I did, folks.