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An Ode to Bob Dylan
Tweet Share on Facebook November 27, 2009 Comment (16)By Jamie Stiehm, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
If there dwells a pilgrim soul in this land of ours as vast as Bob Dylan, please call me.
An English friend and I heard him in concert on a recent November night. A hard rain was falling on Virginia's Highway 66 going west. But he's still traveling at age 68, touring from city to city in America like a rolling stone.
Dylan sang that '60s electric classic with a hip, youthful, and dressed-so-fine band which infused verve into the familiar sound. Remember "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright"? He sang that, too, and the parting line, "Good-bye is too good a word, babe," still stings pretty sharp.
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President Obama v. Sarah Palin--As Different As Hawaii and Alaska
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2009 Comment (37)By Jamie Stiehm, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Hawaii and Alaska came late to statehood in 1959, but our two youngest states produced the two new shining stars on opposing party tickets in the 2008 presidential election. A year later, now look at 'em: high in the skies of two different Americas.
Hawaii gave us President Barack Obama, of course. Alaska's gift to the Lower 48 will forever be Sarah Palin, author of a rambling tome titled Going Rogue: An American Life, published this week. The former Alaska governor, Palin was the Republican vice presidential nominee, chosen by Sen. John McCain as his running mate.
There we have it: the President and the Rogue. Quite a pair as far apart as, well, Alaska and Hawaii.
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The Army Deserves Better Than Afghanistan--and Fort Hood
Tweet Share on Facebook November 9, 2009 Comment (27)By Jamie Stiehm, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Let's get real about the Army and Afghanistan. Now's not the season to study more war.
Let me count the ways, saving the Fort Hood tragedy for last.
Clearly, the Army has suffered enough in the Iraq War—so has the nation and the world since 2003. The president of peace, Barack Obama, has a historic opening to close out two conflicts started by the bellicose George W. Bush. The 43rd president's fingerprints are all over these scenes; let him own the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nor is this a matter of sending 35,000 or 40,000 troops to take care of the problems in Afghanistan. Guess what: All those troops mean another 10 years on the ground (at least). Those troops cost more money and resources than our distressed economy can afford right now. We have lost so many lives—more than 5,000—in these cruel winters of war.
