by Carrie Brownstein

Yet you refuse to talk about the art revolution?
If today was British times you'd being wearing a redcoat now wouldn't you.

Sent by Tom Hendricks | 12:55 PM ET | 04-23-2008

This is gonna sound silly, but I think the stakes seem small because if you compare events to the late 17 and 1800's, (you kind of answered your own question) there's a lot more to distract our attention these days than there was back then. I was watching the mini-series myself and it seemed so true to form when the characters would be so intent and have so much desire on reading letters from their loved ones. That's because it was the quickest and only way to communicate while apart. Now you can send a text message over your cell phone to let the person you're meeting in the coffee shop know how late you're gonna be or what type of latte` to order for you. Focus and patience are lost virtues in our society. Those can be attributed to the downfall in quality to a number of things, from music and entertainment, and even leadership of government. Because if we aren't focused in our beliefs for what makes this a great nation, we won't vote on election day. Everyone these days seems to have to constantly be moving, or doing something. Nobody just seems to lay on the couch and put on a good record and listen to it. The same could be said for the urgency of a change of leadership in our government. If people only hear soundbytes, and don't see a candidates speech in their full context, and take the time to listen. They will make the wrong choice. We need to have focus and patience. Only then will we see how important these issues are.

Sent by Jack | 1:21 PM ET | 04-23-2008

I also thought the John Adams mini-series did a good job of showing what was at stake. Too often Americans see the Independence narrative as a foregone conclusion, which of course it wasn't.

The stakes seem so small because there are so few thinkers in the political arena nowadays just rhetoricticians [sic].

Brokow should have titled his book "The Second Greatest Generation".

Sent by Brian A. | 1:22 PM ET | 04-23-2008

There are many theories to go with, but I think that our obsession with keeping up with the times, being more self-involved than ever and a general sense of apathy are the main reasons. As a luddite (who in the last six months got my first cell phone and iPod), I kind of blame technology for all this. People are obsessed with buying gadgets and video games, which end up sucking hours out of your life every day. Also, with the much talked about death of newspapers, etc., has come a dearth of information that is available on the Web, yet very little of it pushes for critical or intellectual thought, I see most of it as nothing more than titillation that is no more credible than say, Entertainment Tonight or TMZ. That said, I miss the days when I could run into somebody and discuss literature or the latest Noam Chomsky book, instead I usually just get "Hey, did you see that story on the Internet where the guy had the aerosol can removed from his rectum?" Sad!

Sent by A.R. | 2:09 PM ET | 04-23-2008

Regarding the HBO mini-series:

Did anyone else get chills when Washington was sworn in? The reenactment felt so real somehow. Maybe it was the hushed tone that Washington used when speaking the words. I wonder if it had anything to do with his false teeth? That scene really did move me.

However, I could have done without the last episode. I knew going in that it would surround the deaths of at least three individuals (Mr. and Mrs. Adams, and Mr. Jefferson). To throw in Adams' daughter's breast cancer surgery and subsequent death made for some seriously depressing viewing.

Sent by Chad Bly | 2:40 PM ET | 04-23-2008

This is one your best posts yet. Thanks for your thoughtful and humane and funny observations and exhortations.

Sent by John | 2:52 PM ET | 04-23-2008

I agree with Jack, that focus and patience have gone by the wayside in favor of speed and distraction. And with that, we forget that the world is not becoming a better place and that there is a war going on. The stakes are huge right now, but human consciousness is resilient and capable of revolutionary action, but we have to make the choice to work towards that end (and put down the cell phone and the latte)because soon enough the struggles will be real and will be at our own door.

Sent by Leilani | 3:23 PM ET | 04-23-2008

while i agree with some of what jack posted above and the sentiment of the original post, i'd really like to point out that this younger generation today is more politically involved and civic-minded than any other generation in history. young people now are voting and volunteering in record numbers. most of these people are organizing and voting for barack obama. and they're using the internet to do much of their organizing and communication. so that does give me some hope about the future in regards to our population and the internet. if obama does win, these people who were so energized may only become even more so, and get involved in many other ways (local government, organizations, etc.) and we could really see a societal shift. i realize that this view isn't as easily seen everywhere. i'm lucky to be in portland and out talking to potential voters often. what i see is so exciting. and even if you look at registration and voting numbers overall, it seems more people are under the impression that the stakes are larger. this is all without seeing john adams (but it's in my queue).

i hope we can keep this involvement and excitement up.

carrie, the thunderant video made me laugh, which i really needed. can you or anyone now recommend a body shop for my poor wrecked hit and run car?

Sent by allison | 3:32 PM ET | 04-23-2008

i let my dog, gustav, have poop freedom yesterday too*. i figured it would be like him planting a tree.

*this is totally true

Sent by katheryn | 3:43 PM ET | 04-23-2008

To anyone reading through these comments, please click on the link that Carrie has to the Esquire article about the journey that Sgt. Montgomery took home from Iraq. The most moving magazine article I have ever read.

Thank you Carrie, for the thread.

Sent by Chad Bly | 4:38 PM ET | 04-23-2008

Good story. As for Esquire's Jessica Simpson cover, all I can say is "nice nihilism."

I had the same feeling ("best story of the year") when I read this:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/19733160/the_troubled_homecoming_of_the_marlboro_marine

Sent by Paul | 6:38 PM ET | 04-23-2008

I had never mentioned Thunder Ant before, but in "The Perfect Song," when you say, "Columbine: the flower, not the massacre," that was probably my favorite funniest/most wrong moment last year.

I caught part of a John Adams episode over the weekend. Relations with France were straining, and Adams was about to put in effect the Alien and Sedition acts, acts that would make it illegal to be French in the United States and make it illegal to speak any words of dissent towards the government and its position regarding foreign relations. It's not at all shocking that a little over one hundred years later Woodrow Wilson took similar action when recruitment for World War One was far less than hoped for. Being German in America was not very pleasant, and speaking out against the draft could get you thrown in jail on charges of treason. Fast forward yet another hundred years and we have our wonderful Patriot Act. Some things never change. I believe it was Ben Franklin in one of his wonderful quips who said, "Those who would sacrifice liberty for the sake of freedom deserve neither and will lose both."

That being said, I almost joined the Army a couple of years ago. I was tired of hanging around my white friends who hate this war, but friends who are so unwilling to do anything but complain. So you hate this war. So what? I hate it, too. What are you DOING about it besides complaining? You're attending a rally? Okay. What are you DOING besides complaining? I think of 3000 kids who have died in the name of nothing and all I can say is that they actually did something. They had a job to do and they did it. Whether I agree with the people who sent them is beside the point. They did their job. They did SOMETHING. The only thing that kept me form signing up was realizing I would be signing up for all the wrong reasons, ie, to piss off my friends. The futility of everything stared me down and I knew I was smaller than those 3000 kids. Everyone is smaller than them. Everyone who likes to drink wine and hang out with their privileged friends and complain about a war they are in absolutely no danger of having to fight is smaller than those 3000 kids until they decide to get off their butts and break down the doors of Congress demanding to bring our children home. I honestly wonder if electing either Obama or Clinton will make any difference. They can talk all they want. The sad fact of the matter is that we're stuck in Iraq for at least another decade. We knew what we were getting into. I don't want to hear anyone complaining about it.

Sent by Nick L. | 7:14 PM ET | 04-23-2008

Sorry, no thoughts on the John Adams show (missed it. Crap!)or the worthy comments thereof, but let's talk Thunderant. Carrie, is much of the editing based on you guys totally loosing it while filming? The whole shoot must just be one laugh attack after another. Keep 'em coming. Jay

Sent by Jay Pack | 10:02 PM ET | 04-23-2008

Carrie,

Your Thunderant site links to the "Perfect Song" video from the "Katchenza" links. "Perfect Song" is ?p=27 and "Katchenza" is ?p=29 (http://www.thunderant.com/?p=29) (I just tried counting upwards from 27, figuring I'd give up around 35).

It is funny, although I am inferring that it is making fun of something I have never seen or a restaurant (or type of restaurant) I have rarely been to.

However, if your goal is to stop members of your blogdience (blaudience?) from having unrequired crushes on you by pretending to be mean, you are continuing to fail.

In the crueler version of the skit, Fred would not have retracted his "don't come to the restaurant" line.

Sent by David G. | 10:54 PM ET | 04-23-2008

Given further thought I think the stakes seem small because in a relative fashion they are small.

To disagree with a previous post, the world IS becoming a better place everyday. Never in humanity's history has there been more prosperous and peaceful time. Now of course everything is not perfect and there are serious problems that will take concerted efforts and sacrifices to solve. Humans are putting in a lot of effort to understand and solve these problems, albeit not always in the most efficient or altruistic way, but that's another discussion.

Compare the stakes (from an American perspective) of today to that of the 1770's, the 1860's, the 1940's and heck I'll even throw in the 1960's and the Cold War years...

How many of you have been drafted to fight overseas, are living in a country that is determined to split itself apart, have been oppressed by a foreign government let alone your national one?

It's a testament to the foundation that the founding fathers provided that we can discuss and tackle the "small stakes" of today's world.

Sent by Brian A. | 8:29 AM ET | 04-24-2008

I hope it's a reservation!

Sent by Darren | 9:38 AM ET | 04-24-2008

LOL I thought the story w/ the asterisk at the end was real... I was like oh my I didnt know u were so bold? lol. Newho cant wait to check yr. new Thunder Ant addition... they're so hilarious.

Sent by Marissa Dailey | 9:52 AM ET | 04-24-2008

And to think, had I taken the early bird job at the rt. Air Powell's, I might've salved this ill-founded buyer's remorse re: buying a Simpson anything.

Lawyers must sell magazines, after all.

p.s.--Thundergnat: Made of Awesome.

Sent by Esquivel Snell | 10:11 AM ET | 04-24-2008

It's well w/in the bailiwick of what you've written recently, so I'll put it here http://www.instituteforinquiry.org/inquiries/wireless.php as an enticing amuse-bouche for the brain re: our multiplying ways of communicating and what we may soon feel to be at stake.

Sent by nsf | 6:20 PM ET | 04-24-2008

It has never struck me until I read this post that one reason I seek so much in music is that it's the one place that still seems honest. I don't mean the factory-made, prepackaged stuff. But the good music, the stuff made by people working hard to make it transcend everything else, is one of the vestiges of honest-to-goodness emotional honesty left in the world. Good writing, such as the article you posted or a great novel, also fit the bill. Nowhere else do we really face ourselves.

Sent by Michael | 10:08 PM ET | 04-24-2008

First of all, the juxtaposition of Katchenza with a call to arms about the state of the world is something I can't get over because I am still giggling, a little bit.

Secondly, someone up there said they blame technology and I have to say I agree in part. I highly recommend Lee Seigels latest book "Against the Machine." It is a frightening and honest look at the way the internet in particular has created a society that is work obsessed (or more just working always... mostly without knowing...) slower, and completely C average. While he disses the blogosphere hardcore I would count this as one of few exceptions to his thesis that bloggers are essentially inarticulate, whining babies which spawn anonymous teenage commentary.

Shortly after reading that book I read "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer which discusses the phenomena of mass movements. It's even more frightening how technology and progress have been sold to us as a democratizing, non-hierarchical system that is beyond critique. Beware of your comfort friends. The new mass movement is virtual.

Sorry, I don't know what this has to do with John Adams. But I do know you are funny and I will avoid restaurants that spell things "funky."

Sent by KM | 1:55 AM ET | 04-25-2008

To Brian A.-
Come one dude, your neck of the woods may seem rose colored but in Haiti, Zimbabwe, Palestine, Darfur, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other places all over the world, it is a very hectic, unjust, and messed up affair. I'm thinking maybe you should share your place with the millions of refugees of war from around the world and together you can discuss these "small stakes".

How in the world can you think people starving in Haiti is a "small stake"?

By the way Carrie- John Brown's Bio by W.E.B DuBois is excellent as well. And cap that off with Thoreau's two essays about John Brown.

Sent by ras3 | 9:47 AM ET | 04-25-2008

I knew you were just fronting about letting your dog take that poop, but I got a vicarious thrill when I read it. Animals unite! Take back the grass!

Sent by Gina V. | 1:08 PM ET | 04-25-2008

A few weeks ago, I was working early one morning, listening to the Blackfire album "Silence is a Weapon". Blackfire being, the Navajo Punk/Rock band, with 500 years worth of wrong doings funneled into their music. As I listened to the songs, I read an article in the paper, about some company that wants to start digging for GOLD beneath a river up in norther Wisconsin / Upper Michigan. Gold of all things... something that does not help us in any way shape or form, to LIVE... yet something SOME people seem to think we NEED.

As I read the article, and just thought how stupid we humans are, digging the earth, I looked outside and saw all the garbage on the sides of the road... There was still alot of snow piles around, but most were melting... so you were seeing all the garbage the plows picked up during winter and had deposited on the sides of the streets.

We humans, take, and take, and take from Mother Earth...

and all we ever give back, is plastic bags and dead bodies...

Weve fought over her lands, weve fought over her waters, weve fought over her oils...

Back in the day of John Adams, Mr Franklin once spent some time among the Iroquios Nation. He would take the ideas he found there, and help form the ideas that created the Constitution. A quote from the book 'The Earth Shall Weep' pg 121 "It would be a very strange thing, if 6 Nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such a union, and be able to execute in such a manner as that it has subsisted ages, and appears indissoluble; and yet that a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English Colonis."

Yet, all the warnings American Indians have given us over the years, to PROTECT MOTHER EARTH... fell on deaf ears...

were still digging her for gold
were still drilling her for oil
were still chopping down her trees
were still polluting her air and water

I'll leave you with one last thought for the day after Earth Day...

Boats and Aeroplanes...
Do we really need to go up and down the lake all weekend? or go fly out over the country side? For transporting foods and other goods, yes, I can understand... but for recreation?

Aeroplans and boats dont have miles per gallon reading... they have gallons per minute...

Now I should add, Ive grown up next to an aeroport, and love the history of the old WW2 aircraft...

But when I heard that a P-51 Mustang burns, on avg, at cruising speeds, 1 gallon of gas, PER MINUTE...

My heart sank...
and Mother Earth... shall weep

Sent by Kramer | 3:35 PM ET | 04-25-2008

thunder ant and this blog needs a widget. i'd post it on all my band's sites (i manage bands) they are all huge fans of this blog and thunder ant. We'd love to help spread the word.

Sent by Ginna | 3:11 PM ET | 04-26-2008

E.S.--Esquire isn't actually written *by* lawers! Just 4 'em.

Sent by Quentin Bert | 9:50 PM ET | 04-27-2008

Dear Carrie and Mixers,

I realize it's pretty pointless to respond to an ancient (by "information age" standards) post, but what the hell:

If you're interested in John Brown and all that he suggests about America, then I recommend highly the novel "Cloudsplitter," by Russell Banks. It's written beautifully from the point of view of his son Owen, looking back as an old man on his life with his father and his participation in the Underground Railroad, the horrifying violence of Bloody Kansas, and the rest.

It's a devastating book.

Sent by Ralph | 5:06 PM ET | 05-12-2008