Twin Peaks: The Return 1.3.-4: Coffee and Cole

The second installment of Twin Peaks: The Return - aka episodes 3 and 4 - continued tonight in the unmitigated gonzo, steampunk, B-movie style to which we became accustomed last week.

Let me also say that one of the high points - perhaps the highest points - of David Lynch's work have been the singers on stage at one point or another in the narrative.  The Dean Stockwell character lip synching Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" in Blue Velvet, with Dennis Hopper's self-tortured character trying to sing along but taking the needle off the record, and Kyle MacLachlan's character in shock in the small, standing audience in the room, was so powerful that I've wanted to write a book about that scene as a transcendent moment in popular culture for years.  As it is, it's easily one of the best scenes in any movie.

Performances of original songs by unknown (to me) musicians and singers have ended every episode of Twin Peaks: The Return so far, and they've all been excellent.  But that Everly Brothers-like performance at the end of 1.3 was superb and to my ears and eyes already a classic.

Back to Kyle MacLachlan, the central story in episodes 1.3-4 was Agent Cooper's return to this planet.  It's unsurprisingly no easy return.  Part of the difficulty makes sense.  Cooper can't talk or think normally because he's been in that insane, other-dimensional room for 25 years.  Part of it, like all Lynch works, doesn't - or doesn't quite make sense.  Apparently, Cooper was "tricked," and his doppelgänger is still out and about on Earth, though soon locked up.  But the real Cooper seems to be making at least a little bit of progress, responding well to a cup of coffee in the morning, put on his breakfast table by his doppelgänger's wife (played by Naomi Watts, who starred in Mulholland Drive, generally recognized as David Lynch's second-best work - high praise - and I agree).

And speaking of Lynch, it was good to see him return as FBI Deputy Director Cole these two episodes (he was actually an FBI Regional Bureau Chief in the original), which got me thinking: how about Cole as Comey's replacement, now that Lieberman has bowed out?

Hey, if that actually happened, it would be a lot less strange than some of the developments in Twin Peaks: The Return, which I'll be back to offer a few more paragraphs about next week.

See also Twin Peaks: The Return 1.1-2: Superluminal Sans Cherry Pie

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New Threat to the First Amendment with "Protecting Cyberspace" Act

Senator Joe Lieberman is at it again - the "it" being a disregard for the First Amendment and the freedoms it protects - this time being primary sponsor of a bill that would give any President emergency powers to seize control of the Internet.   Any search engine such as Google, any broadband provider such as Comcast or Verizon, any software company in control of any kind of app on the Web, could be fined it failed to comply with an order from the Department of Homeland Security.

Terrorists have been using the Web - most recently, Twitter - for years (see my "Dark Side" chapter of New New Media).  And the FBI and other agencies should continue to do all they can to root out this and other illegal activities online.  But granting the President emergency powers is not the way to do this.   Think about what Richard Nixon - who tried to dictate what the New York Times and the Washington Post could publish, under the guise of national security - could have done with such power, had the Internet existed in his day.

The balance between doing our all to combat terrorism, and keeping our freedoms, is not easy to achieve.   But certainly we don't want to reward terrorists by turning into the kind of society that they embody, by fulfilling their goal of killing our democracy, from the inside.   Google and Comcast have given us no reason to think they would not cooperate to the utmost with any national security needs - just as no newspaper in the United States has ever published information on troop movements that endangered their security.   Whether we like the President or not, giving that office the power to control the Internet would be a dangerous blow to the political and personal freedom of expression currently enjoyed to a greater or lesser degree by all media in this country, and clearly guaranteed by the First Amendment.

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Here's a link to the full pdf text of the lengthy Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010  - thanks to John F. McMullen for bringing this serious matter to my attention.

The Shame of Joe Lieberman

Senators Joe Lieberman and Harry Reid met today, to discuss Lieberman's future in the Democratic caucus. With the Democrats presently still short of the magic number of 60 Senators needed to dissolve a filibuster, Lieberman's status could be crucial. After the meeting, Lieberman said he and Reid had had a good discussion, and would be thinking these matters over for a few days.

What a strange journey Joe Lieberman taken. He was Gore's VP candidate in 2000 - an election in which Gore won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote, because the Republican-dominated US Supreme Court stopped the recount in Florida.

Lieberman in 2006 lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut, but went on to be reelected to the Senate as an "Independent". He has since the "caucused" with the Democrats, which gave the Democrats a crucial one-vote majority in the Senate - not enough to stop a filibuster, but still a majority.

So far in this story, I still have some praise for Joe Lieberman. I disagreed strongly with his pro-war policy, but I respected his right to speak his mind, and admired his win as an Independent.

But then Lieberman took a turn for the worse.

He endorsed John McCain for President. On the plus side, Lieberman was entitled to stand up for his friend. On the negative side, did Lieberman agree with all of McCain's policies?

Word at first was that Lieberman would be speaking on behalf of McCain's foreign policy.

But Lieberman's speech at the Republican convention went far beyond foreign policy.

And, he irrevocably crossed a line for me when he stood up there on the stage, beaming next to McCain, as the Republican candidate attacked Obama's economic domestic policy.

What happened to Joe Lieberman, the hawkish Democrat, who still professed to support the Democratic progressive economic agenda? Did he want McCain to be President so much, that Lieberman was able to swallow and endorse the Republican lies about Obama's tax policy and all the rest?

I always liked Josiah Royce's Philosophy of Loyalty (1908), and its thesis there's no greater good in the universe than loyalty - but loyalty both to people and to principles. We need both. Lieberman put his loyalty to McCain above his loyalty to his progressive principles. He allowed his loyalty to McCain to betray his principles - either that, or he never had those Democratic principles in the first place, but just pretended he did.

Shame on you, Joe Lieberman. Were it up to me, I would rather see the Democrats have one vote less in the Senate than ever see you counted as part of our party.

A DA (Not Really) and a Democrat (Not Really) Address the Republican Convention

Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman addressed the Republican National Convention tonight.

Thompson was a Senator a decade ago, but he's best known for more recently playing a New York District Attorney on Law and Order. He did dismally in the Republican presidential primaries earlier this year. He gave a good biographical speech for McCain tonight, but what sticks most in my mind is his swipe at Obama for giving speeches from teleprompters (this comes from an actor) to please America's critics overseas. So much for not attacking an opponent's patriotism, Fred.

Next, we have the strange case of Joe Lieberman. He actually won the popular vote for Vice President, along with Gore for President, as a Democrat in that election of 2000. Had not the Supreme Court unconstitutionally stopped the recount in Florida, Lieberman might well have become Vice President then.

As a science fiction writer, I couldn't have a written a better alternate history than what we saw at the Republican convention tonight. Lieberman, who according to most accounts was McCain's original first choice as VP running mate, addresses the crowd and praises not only McCain, but Sarah Palin, who is indeed the Republican VP candidate. Lieberman says he's doing this as Democrat, based on his long association with McCain - ok, but has Lieberman also had a long association of working with Palin?

Lieberman also lied - saying that he knows of no time that Obama reached across the aisles and worked with Republicans on anything important. Could Lieberman have forgotten about The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (which requires full disclosure of all organization receiving federal funds), of which Obama and McCain were primary sponsors, along with numerous other Senators of both parties, including ... Joe Lieberman?

But politicians often exaggerate to the point of deception. What strikes me most about this evening is the other-worldly quality of Lieberman up there on that Republican stage. I wonder - if he taken office as VP in 2001, and if he was finishing his second term as Democrat in that office now, would he have also addressed the Republican convention tonight as a long time friend of McCain?

Stranger than fiction ... a night of impostors at the Republican convention.

And I'll be make with more tomorrow ...




See also: Republicans Bash Media for Covering Palin, Who Gives Sarcastic Speech at Convention

And Coverage of Democratic Convention:

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day Four: Obama Deliver's New Kind of Speech: Calls McCain on "Temperament" ... Al Gore: The Two Lines of History Converge

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day Three: America Moves Up - Obama Nominated! ... Biden Hits McCain on Everything from Afghanistan to Amtrak

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day Two: Patrick Buchanan on MSNBC: Hillary Will Campaign Hard for Obama, But Won't Shed Tears If He Loses ... Hillary Speaks Powerfully at Democratic Convention, in a Scene for the Ages

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day One: Olbermann to Scarborough on MSNBC: "Jesus, Joe, Get a Shovel!" ... Ted Kennedy at 2008 Democratic Convention: JFK Would Be Smiling ... Michelle Obama's Speech: Bringing Home America