RABID INTUITION

Saul Alinsky

2012-02-08T09:56:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time... there was a great hero named Alinsky....

Keep it classy Tea Party...

2011-05-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

So I'm somewhat dumbfounded.

Who knew the girl on the left was such a profound threat to our Constitution.
Menacing isn't she? I know, hard to believe but the keepers of the truth have deemed it so. Her name is Ann Myers, and don't let those braces fool you, she is one dangerous 16 year old girl.

How dangerous? Well get this, she didn't think Michele Bachmann knew the Constitution well enough and so she wrote a letter to Rep. Bachmann and challenged her to a debate. *GASP*

The horror! How did the Tea Party react?

"After it started getting media attention last weekend, commenters on tea party websites have threatened to publish her home address and some have threatened violence. The 16-year-old from Cherry Hill says several commenters have called her a "whore."

The Tea Party, keeper of all that is right and noble in our country has it right. We can't have young citizens, whores no-less, think they understand the Constitution. Ms. Bachmann will tell us what is in it, and even more importantly, what to believe. And if that authority is challenged? Use fear and intimidation. And if that doesn't work? Well, we all know the Tea Party is above violence.

(Original news story here. h/t to The DailyWh.at)

2011-05-02T01:35:00.002-04:00

OMFG! The War for Your Mind

2011-04-29T14:35:00.005-04:00

Should I be surprised?

This is insanity at its worst.

Of course it's fake right? Because a black man can't possibly be legitimate.

They won't be satisfied. EVAR.

I loved the last line. It's a dead give-away as to their strategy.
"We'll keep our eye on it. We'll keep digging....But it certainly opens up that can of worms that there are at least questions."

This is where the War for Your Mind comes in. Agenda Setting theory is a media theory which posits that the more something is talked about in the media, the more salient it is on people's minds. It's been tested again and again and proven true. When asked what are important issues facing the country, again and again, people cite those things that have been highlighted in the media. This prompted noted media theorist Bernard Cohen to pen: “It (the press) may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about.”

The echo chamber of the right has been well documented (ThinkProgress, SourceWatch, Know Your Government). Rachel Maddow does a nice piece on a particular lie regarding Obama's trip to India last year that is worth watching. She goes on to unpack some of the crazy lies that frequently show up in our news cycles and how they come to be.

This is important to recognize because the more the various media outlets report on topic, the more likely it will be covered. And when enough media sources say things that aren't true - they become true in people's minds.

Rick Perlstein had a great article in Mother Jones, Inside the GOP's Fact-Free Nation that's worth the read just for the historical look of political lying. But inside his piece is an analysis of one factor that helps us understand how this has come to pass. He writes:

There evolved a new media definition of civility that privileged "balance" over truth-telling—even when one side was lying. It's a real and profound change—one stunningly obvious when you review a 1973 PBS news panel hosted by Bill Moyers and featuring National Review editor George Will, both excoriating the administration's "Watergate morality." Such a panel today on, say, global warming would not be complete without a complement of conservatives, one of them probably George Will, lambasting the "liberal" contention that scientific facts are facts—and anyone daring to call them out for lying would be instantly censured. It's happened to me more than once—on public radio, no less.
In the same vein, when the Obama administration accused Fox News of not being a legitimate news source, the DC journalism elite rushed to admonish the White House. Granted, they were partly defending Major Garrett, the network's since-departed White House correspondent and a solid journalist—but in the process, few acknowledged that under Roger Ailes, another Nixon veteran, management has enforced an ideological line top to bottom.

The inability to call lies lies because of the need for "balance," coupled with the 24 hour news cycles, coupled with a zealous willingness to lie to further their cause*, has led to a media circus where outrageous claims become part of the daily discourse in multiple media outlets. And when multiple media outlets talk about it, people think that it is important and thus must have merit. Even if it is a lie. Gobbles, the infamous Nazi propagandist once said "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

As long as there are questions, there is controversy. And you can bet your ass that they will keep asking the questions.

But the question I really want answered is how come none of those people in the top video have rejected the accusation that they all fuck goats? Remember, as long as the question is out there, we'll keep digging.

* Perlstein's article also exposed a culture where lying is justified on the right as long as it furthers a noble cause, summed up excellently by this quote from evangelist C. Peter Wagner "We ought to see clearly that the end does justify the means, if the method I am using accomplishes the goal I am aiming at, it is for that reason a good method."

This is important. You should watch it.

2011-04-28T21:27:00.002-04:00

FOLLOW UP: Baratunde Thruston was interviewed by The Village Voice on his YouTube post. It's worth a read.

Spoiler alert, "And Trump says he wants to just walk into the White House and touch this document? That he has the right to do so? You don't have the right to do shit! You don't have the right to roll up to the White House and say, "Show me your papers," like it's apartheid South Africa"

Views of the Tea Party

2011-04-25T12:24:00.004-04:00

In my previous post Rachel told us about the declining numbers of the Tea Party...

But take heart! All of you who want to defend America from evil people not like you, you aren't alone.

Ricky over at Cause for Concern shares a video of South Carolina Tea Baggers who are carrying the standard! I think he summed it up best with the title of the video: OMFG, S.C., Tea? ROFL

Crooks and Liars posted this gem:

Racism in the tea party? How do you get that from things like this? "The United States has a higher standard of living than Mexico because it's populated by white people." No racism to see here... just move on to .... Orange County?

...I know everyone has heard about the GOP official in Orange County sending this photo around:

The Awl has a nice breakdown of racism in photos for us.

And finally, Lyssa over at Leo's Life in Hell takes us behind the scenes and into the mind of a teabagger. Warning: Leo is not a nice man.

PAYGO

2011-04-21T15:18:00.003-04:00

So I've been a big believer in PAYGO and trying to live it out in my activism. I'm not talking about this thing in Congress where they have to justify new spending, but in my own life when it comes to giving money to the Democrats.

The thing is, I've gotten a lot of calls recently from the DNC, the Democratic Senate Campaign, and a bunch of other Democratic fundraising institutions. So far I haven't given money. This isn't to say I haven't given to the Dems, I have, on multiple occasions in the past, but I've stopped for now.

And when they ask me why I tell them I believe in PAYGO

Here, take a look at this thing Rachel has put her finger on...

See, when the Republicans were in control under Bush, I didn't like the way things were going. So I ponied up and gave to the party that I thought would make the difference. I gave to individual campaigns as well as the DNC. And they won!

So the Dems held both Houses of Congress and the Presidency, and I expected Change. The kinds of Change that was talked about during the election. And yes, I'm one of those who believes that not enough Change has happened.

It's not that I don't believe in trying to find a bi-partisan solution to issues. I do. But the Republicans didn't want compromise - they wanted it their way. And no matter what the Dems did, the Republicans fought it tooth and nail. Look, when you get kicked in the nuts repeatedly by the people you're trying to find compromise with, you ought to realize that they don't want to compromise, and that they sorta enjoy kicking you there.

And throughout this time I kept getting solicitations saying "We need money to stay in power, so we can keep those Republicans at bay," and I thought "you've got both Houses of Congress and the Presidency - make something happen."

So the Dems finally got health care passed. When they did - I call them up (ok, I used the internet and did it electronically but the thought is the same), and I donated. (Though I don't think the bill went far enough).

Then came the lead up to the mid-terms and here came the calls again. "We need money to keep the House!".

"Honestly", I thought, "what for? You didn't do all that much when you had it."

And when they passed the finance reform during the lame duck session I donated again. (Though for the record, I don't think that went far enough either).

Now reflecting on Rachel's thesis - that the Democrats in Congress are embarrassed by or ignore their base - I think she's right. There seems to be this notion that the Republicans are so horrible that we should just give to the Democrats to keep them in office. And that fear tactic does have some merit.

But if the best we can do is to hold the status quo versus letting things get worse, how will things ever get better? If the Democrats won't use their power when they have it, why should I expect them to be able to stop the Republicans when they don't?

Think back to the debate around the Patriot Act. Did the Dems stand firm and unified agaist this massive encroachment of our rights? No. 67 Dems rolled over and voted for it in the House. And only 1 Democratic Senator voted against it (Sen. Feingold) and only 10 voted against it when it was up for renewal.

Going to war? Same thing... a ton of House Dems and Senators voted to give Bush the authority to go to war.

But what are the Dems fighting for now? They continue to adopt Republican talking point, allow huge cuts to progressive programs, extend the Bush tax cuts... And we have hundreds of thousands of people marching. Far more than the tea party ever had. So they put Medicare and Social Security on the table.

I'm frustrated by the lack of action on behalf of the Dems. That's why I believe in PAYGO... I'll pay as we go. I'll give them money when they get stuff done. But I won't pay for the empty promises that they'll fight the Republicans. I just don't believe them anymore.

This is sad... so..so.. sad.

2011-03-04T09:41:00.001-05:00

Posted in its entirety from The Dailywh.at

This Is Important, You Should Watch It of the Day: Last month, Tea Party members gathered outside an ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America)-sponsored charity event held to raise money for women’s shelters and hunger relief, and hurled racist epithets and bewildering ethnocentric remarks at the American-Muslim families entering the Yorba Linda Community Center. Several members of congress even showed up to express their support for the protesters and their message.

CAIR-California caught the whole nasty mess on tape, and uploaded the footage to YouTube.

The protesters may pretend, nay - fool themselves - into thinking what they are doing isn't hate, but it is hate, pure and simple.

These are their neighbors. Fellow Americans who happen to have a different faith. Something our very Constitution protects. And yet, in nakedly non-Christian form, they hate their neighbors.

SHAME on Councilwoman Deborah Pauly.
"As a matter of fact, I know quite a few Marines who will be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in paradise"

No incitement of violence there! (Note: that was followed by loud cheering.)

What was it Jesus commanded? Oh yeah, "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

And finally....

"One Nation Under God - Not Allah" - some protester
*sigh*

Allah is simply Arabic for God. Further, the God of Muhammad, is the God of Abraham and Issac...

So, in essence, the protester was screaming out "One Nation Under God - Not GOD!"
If these protesters are representatives of Christianity?
No thank you.

Who's afraid of the dark?

2011-02-08T16:30:00.004-05:00

Jump it up to Hi Def and Full Screen...

Science! I love this stuff!

2011-02-03T10:11:00.000-05:00

Phil Plait over at Discover wrote an awesome post about Kepler's (an orbital telescope) discovery of almost 1200 potential planets found!

Just think of it... by the end of this century, and by the next, how far will we venture?

Get ready to hit the road.... It's time to cross that river.

(Do yourself a favor and watch it full screen in hi-def)

While we cheer for Egyptian's fighting for freedom....

2011-02-02T10:07:00.002-05:00

... back home we're working to take it away from others.

This is important - you should watch it.
h/t to TheDailyWh.at

And while it passed the House it is not likely to be brought to the floor in the Senate. Kudos to Democratic Majority Leader Mike Gronstal who indicated "that he will not bring the legislation up before the Senate, as he does not believe that discrimination belongs in the Iowa Constitution."

Perhaps it's just me but I don't believe discrimination belongs in any Constitution.

We will not be silenced...

2011-01-31T15:53:00.001-05:00

"We will not be silenced, whether you are Christian, whether you are Muslim, whether you are an atheist, YOU WILL DEMAND YOUR GODDAMNED RIGHTS, AND WE WILL HAVE OUR RIGHTS, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. WE WILL NEVER BE SILENCED." - Egyptian revolutionary

You've got to be taught to hate...

2011-01-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

Nicole Sandler over at Radio or Not has put together this very nice video...

You've got to be taught to hate.

Furthermore, she's put together a nice post entitled The Role of Hate Speak which details an interesting note: Immediately after the Tucson shooting, the Right went into defensive mode fairly quickly. If what they are saying doesn't matter, why be defensive about it?

Prophets

2011-01-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"

Race you to the top...

2011-01-05T14:01:00.002-05:00

There have to be better ways. Unfortunately Congress seems hell bent on scapegoating migrants than solving problems.

2011-01-05T12:53:00.003-05:00

You can watch Colbert's shout out in his clip Jesus is a Liberal Democrat.

Hope in a Hopeless World Part II

2010-12-01T23:05:00.000-05:00

The world is a tough place. Hundreds of ~~thousands~~ millions of people will go to bed hungry tonight.

But there is hope, and things seem to be converging in such a way it's tough to ignore. Hans is telling us that the world is getting better. And hey - that's cool. And then Dave, over at Tea Party Jesus, writes this really cool blog launching Project Neighbor. Basically that as tough as many of us may have it, we're still light years ahead of most of the world.

And then I stumbled upon the Killers new release Boots. The Killers rock, and a powerful reminder that we still have struggles here at home, but we can overcome.... If you didn't click on the Project Neighbor link above, give it a go.

In the mean time... enjoy the Killers

Hope in a Hopeless World

2010-11-30T12:01:00.000-05:00

Every now and then we need to step back from the crap of today and look back. Where have we been? Where are we going? Hans Rosling shares some information on global health that should give some hope.

Hans has give several other great talks you can find at TED.

H/T to TheDailyWh.at

George calls a douchebag out!

2010-11-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

It gets better

2010-10-20T13:52:00.001-04:00

I had to have a talk with my son the other day. Not because of anything he did, but because of the homophobic attitudes, bullying, and outright violence toward gay and lesbian folks.

I want to raise my children so that they aren't bigots. And so that in the future this beautiful, yet tragically necessary video won't need to be made anymore.

After the talk my son said to me: "Dad, in the future, these talks could be less embarrassing if you were more scientific." Ah! the world of 9 year old boys....

Does it matter what they think?

2010-10-12T11:42:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since my last post...

I've been out of the country - traveling to Africa to see development projects by U.S.Doe NGOs first hand. I flew down in the beginning of September and visited a couple east African countries.

Some amazing work happening which I'll write about later, but one piece I wanted to highlight. When I left the states, the 'several blocks from ground zero community center' controversy was ongoing.

As a freedom loving American I was torn between defending the Constitution which our country is based on (you know, that freedom of religion stuff and those free market principles we hold in such high esteem); and scaring the bejesus out of my fellow Americans by smearing other faiths / those who don't look like me.

It appeared to me that many proud American's decided to chuck the values we hold dear in order to gain political advantage; and they did it in the name of America and Christianity. In doing so they ~~accidentally~~ conflated Islam with terrorism.
I have to wonder what message this sends to the Islamic world, when American Christians position themselves in such a way. But then I remember it doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks because, by God, we're right don't-cha know?

While I was in eastern Ethiopia I was in a region that was 90% Islamic and looking at some development work done by an American Christian NGO. Through local partners they were able to provide clean water in the village we visited. Not just water for drinking, but water for people, water for livestock, water for sanitation, and water for irrigation. It was done in a way where the local community had full ownership over the well and water systems. It was done in a way that brought the local community together for joint decision making, empowering women in the process. And it was done in a way that was sustainable so the people would have clean water into the future.

When we drove into the village, we were met by an Islamic community who came out to celebrate our arrival through song and dance. They cheered to see us coming. The gratitude was obvious and in this village, these Islamic people saw American's as people who want to work with them, to be their partners in life. They saw Christians as people who would come alongside them in their struggles and offer, not just assistance, but empowerment. And at the end of the project, it wasn't the American Christians who owned and controlled the water. They did.

They saw us as friends.
I wonder what they would think if they saw us back home....

Google and the whore of Verizon

2010-08-10T14:11:00.001-04:00

Google...
I loved you! Why'd you have to go and sleep with that whore Verizon?

So this morning I've called about a dozen different Google offices around the country asking to speak to the person who is putting the Verizon deal together. Of course I didn't get to that person, but Google needs to know how people feel that they have betrayed the principles of net neutrality.

What is net neutrality? I'm glad you asked....

You like access to all the stuff you like? Protect it. Speak out.

Look, it matters when people speak out. Good things happen.

I've written my Senators today, and I'll do so again. They need to hear over and over that net neutrality is a value.

Hmmm.... What if I put out a meme to the Tea Party that this is an Obama plan to take away their first amendment rights? Think we could get them to ally with us?

What's a little hateful rhetoric?

2010-08-05T13:12:00.005-04:00

Or games...

h/t to John @ Democurmudgeon

Posted in its entirety:

Amusement Park Offers Alien Attack, Where you get to Shoot Black Man Holding a Scroll Labeled “Health Bill.”

Jaw dropping hardly describes the latest offering at a carnival of horror.

The head of an eastern Pennsylvania amusement company, Irvin Good Jr., has yanked a carnival game in which players shot foam darts at an image resembling President Barack Obama. Good said his company, Goodtime Amusements, won't offer the game again. Good said that he voted for Obama and that the game wasn't meant to encourage violence against the president. He said the image was conceived and painted by a staffer.
"It was just a big, big mistake in judgment, and I feel sorry about it," he told The Associated Press. "I can't take it back, but I can try to make it better."

The figure used as the shooting gallery target, with 'The Prez' belt buckle and 'Health Bill' in hand. Photograph: lehighvalleylive.com

Just how bad was the game? I hope you’re sitting down.

The game, dubbed "Alien Attack," featured a large painted image of a black man wearing a belt buckle with the presidential seal and holding a scroll labeled "Health Bill." Players could win prizes such as stuffed animals by hitting targets on the image's head and heart.
Kathryn Chapman, 55, of Medford, Mass., spotted the game and complained to Good. "What is the message you are sending kids, that if your views don't agree with somebody else's, shoot them? I just found it incredibly disrespectful and violent," Chapman said Wednesday. "And this was the president, the highest office in the country. It was absolutely appalling."
The Obama-themed game had been running since April. Good said he had received one other complaint about it before Chapman's.
Any wonder 42 percent of Americans believe Obama is American?

Is Victoria Jackson a communist?

2010-07-29T11:01:00.000-04:00

A while ago I got a kick out of watching a video of Victoria Jackson of former SNL fame rant about Obama at the Pasadena Tea Party. Why would I get such a kick out of it? Well, for one, she is so completely over the top. Honestly, at first I thought it was a parody... that's how bad she is. But then as I realized she was serious I even more hysterical because she sounds insane. And to think the crowd actually thought she had any relevant arguments!

I searched for more of her appearances and watched them all for a hearty laugh. One of the things which struck me was how she tried to smear Obama as an Alinsky-ite or as someone who used Alinsky-like tactics. Here is a clip of a song she wrote... (which may make me revoke the crown of Worst.Lyric.Ever from Eminem)... IF you can last to the 1:25 - 1:30 mark on the video, it is the place where she details one piece of her 'evidence' that Obama is a communist - he taught a course on Saul Alinsky.

The article you see floating over her left shoulder is from the World Net Weekly titled:

Radical leftist's son: 'Obama learned his lesson well'

Child of Saul Alinsky sees Democratic Party using his father's methods

This caught my attention because it's a common trope on the Right - accusing their opposition of using Alinsky tactics. Now I actually know a thing or two about Alinsky tactics because I was trained as a community organizer in the tradition of Alinsky. I know people who worked with Saul in Chicago. I've read his books. I've taught the same trainings, and using those 'tactics' helped the communities I worked in win better affordable housing, prevented a truck route from being placed right through the middle of a Latino neighborhood, advanced health care, fought for improved services for the homeless, and more.

A lot of the criticism about Alinsky comes from some of his more creative tactics. In his book Rules for Radicals he writes about principles for tactics, some of which include:

Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

A good tactic is one your people enjoy.

In my experience these have proven true. For example, when I worked on the truck route issue I noted above, one of the arguments the city made was that the noise levels would not constitute a problem for the homes in the neighborhood. So... in preparation for a public meeting we held on the issue, folks from the neighborhood went out to the existing truck route, set up a camera and microphone and recorded trucks driving by. Then, during the meeting, we had the City Code Enforcement Officer bring in his decibel measuring device (this is what they use to tell you if the music is too loud at your party...) turned up the sound of the trucks driving by to the level the City said it would be, and had the meeting continue with the sound of trucks driving by. It was obvious to everyone in the room, city officials, the media, the public, that it was impossible to carry on a conversation over the sound of the trucks. We made the city look like schmucks. The folks loved it. And, we won.

But I'm left with this memory of Victoria Jackson disparaging Alinsky-like tactics and all that was a while ago.

The other night, we decided to have a family movie night. Some friends had given us a cute movie called

No More Baths. Now this movie is produced by a company called Feature Films for Families and it's all about teaching how kids can come together to create positive change.

Here is what Amazon reviews said:

"Am I my brother’s keeper?" to 10-year-old Keagan, this isn’t a question but a way of life. After learning to help others by watching his parents work as legal-aid attorneys in his youth, Keagan puts his lessons to good use by watching out for his aging neighbor Jake. Years ago, after a fire took his family, Jake opened up his home and heart to the children of Glenwood Springs who come to play on his lot each day. When Jake gets in the way of a greedy developer, government bureaucrats are content to push him aside, but they don’t anticipate Keagan McPhie. Keagan organizes the Glenwood Springs Kids Corp into a powerful force of peaceful protest to help Jake and remind adults of their responsibility to a friend in need.

Starring none other than.... Ms. Victoria Jackson! (Who, plays the exact same character she plays on SLN and as Speaker at the Tea Parties... a bleached blond bumbling airhead....)

My mind exploded...

See, in the movie, the hero Keagan "organizes the Glenwood Springs Kids Corp into a power force of peaceful protest". OK, all nice and good... but what tactics do they use? When their initial protest of a march doesn't work, they call together a meeting to think about how they could leverage their parents to helping Jake. As you probably guessed from the title, they opt for No More Baths! A tactic that not only uses ridicule, but is guaranteed to be one that Keagan's people (the other kids) enjoy.

The little band of kids soon realize that not bathing isn't enough, so they up the ante by playing in the dirt and mud to make sure they're really filthy. My kids loved this scene and the scenes where they refuse to bathe. And as the protest continues, Keagan and his band of 'filthy' Alinsky-ites involve the media (another good tactic for any organization trying to get its message out).

My family enjoyed the movie and had a lot of fun... but I was left with this bizzaro world moment where Victoria Jackson starred in a movie extolling the virtues of Alinsky-like tactics...

Which leads me to wonder.... Is Victoria Jackson a communist?

Footnote: If you'd like to learn more about Saul Alinsky, his work, and his legacy please check out The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinksy & His Legacy (you can see a preview on Amazon.com).

Smoke and mirrors baby...

2010-07-27T10:04:00.002-04:00

The Tea Party has racists elements in it. Period. (See signs below for proof).

But CNN's Don Lemon missed a big chance here, and I think a lot of other folks have as well. There is this insanity to personalize the public; by which I mean, this incessant pursuit to get people to say they are sorry.

The Tea Party is a public institution and Mark Williams was acting in a public role when he posted his 'satirical' letter to Lincoln on his blog (I'll give him it was satire... racist satire...). You can see a screen shot of the blog at the bottom of this post but the point I'm trying to make is how we have moved from public to private...

We witness it here in this interview with racist Mark Williams...

The key point of Williams post was misdirection and he continues it in this interview. Lemon reads the quote from the blog post emphasizing the word ‘colored’.

Lemon: Are you still defending this as satire Mark?

Williams: I defend the idea behind it… but when a group that calls itself ‘colored people’ says it is against freedom, and emancipation, and it’s against self-determination… uh, the first thing that pops into my mind is that those colored people must be speaking for some bizarre group of people that I’m not familiar with…

Lemon sticks on the word colored…

Williams later in the interview… “I used the intent behind their resolution”

Lemon, trying to get the on air scoop of “I’m sorry”…. : Are you sorry for writing those things?

Williams: (F*** off, I’m not going to say it… ) "When their goal in the resolution they passed was to increase government dependency…"

The NAACP’s resolution condemned extremist elements within the Tea Party, calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches.

What racism you ask?

By focusing on the personal Lemon missed a huge hole in the Tea Party’s argument. If he had asked Williams to repeat the resolution, or read it to him, he could have followed with…

“Mark, you’re a smart guy, tell me how a resolution that calls on you and other leaders in the Tea Party to repudiate those who use racists language... how is that akin to increasing government dependency? Or how is rejecting racism akin to standing against freedom, emancipation, and self-determination?"

Instead of getting him to say he's sorry, how about ask him about how he is using misdirection to avoid the charges of racism?

If are interested in more of how the Right uses racist language, I urge you to check out

Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane

by Amato & Neiwert

Here is William's original post:

Gotta give creds...

2010-07-19T10:38:00.002-04:00

As the Tea Party tries hard to prove it is not racists after clearly racist rants, a spokesperson for the Tea Party, David Webb, draws a clear line and kicked Mark Williams out. What I'm impressed about is the amazing job this spokesperson does.

As they throw him under the train (and just as they should have) they do so in a way that crisis-communicators would have to applaud...

Let me be totally clear here... I think the Tea Party movement is an orchestrated astro-turf created movement which grew its own legs and now runs around saying and doing crazy stuff. I think they are ill-informed, dangerous, lose cannons.

But this guy Webb impressed me. Simply from a communication point of view. He comes across strong and confident. He admits Wiliams is over the top, throws him under the bus without blinking an eye, and moves to control the debate.
I thought it amazing how he skirted the racism issue... I thought it was a fair to use the line 'I don't know what is in his heart'... but it was a clear skirt.

Ben Jealous does a great job as a spokesperson for the NAACP picking apart the Tea Party talking points.

A win for the NAACP here but creds go to David Webb for a great interview.

And in contrast to the last post...

2010-07-16T15:31:00.000-04:00

From The Cat Empire's latest release Cinema, I present Only Light

Thank you Cat Empire for being so ridiculously good it blows my mind.

Worst. Lyric. Ever.

2010-07-14T16:01:00.001-04:00

Eminen has as new song out featuring Rihanna called Love the way you lie.

It's a decent song but in Eminen raps about his woman leaving him...

"Now you get to watch her leave out the window...I guess thats why it's called window pane"

Ouch.

Worst. Lyric. Ever.

Dear God....

2010-07-14T12:39:00.001-04:00

Please let this be true!

Can you imagine a Beck / Palin ticket? Sadly for me, (as well as John Stewart, Steven Colbert and all other comedians) it doesn't look like that is a possibility.

My dog might be slightly retarded.

2010-07-09T10:14:00.001-04:00

I read a great piece over at Hyperbole and a Half and wanted to share it...Dog

A lingering fear of mine was confirmed last night: My dog might be slightly retarded.

I've wondered about her intelligence ever since I adopted her and subsequently discovered that she was unable to figure out how stairs worked.

Read the rest of the hilarious piece here ...

Allie is a brilliant writer and you should spend your days reading her posts.

Fight the power ...

2010-06-29T14:10:00.000-04:00

When street artists become social commentators, they fight for all of us.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

2010-06-18T11:18:00.001-04:00

h/t to Crooks and Liars for this...

I am stunned. Absolutely stunned.
I know Rush is a political hack who like to use inflamatory language to divide...

Listen to this. Rush, in his own words, expressing his concern for hungry children in our country.

I don't know about you, but listening to this made me sick. To suggest to hungry kids, "just go home and open the fridge." How cruel. Because those kids know, as do their parents, that there isn't anything there.

And when Rush tells his audience, parents won't let their kids starve... Not if they have means Rush. I could be wrong here... didn't Rush support raising the minimum wage? NOPE.

I know Rush make a lot of money. And I suppose one can get to the point where we just don't believe people could be hungry while we're so fat and stupid.

The reality is, across the nation, poverty is up, demand on food banks is up, donations to food banks are down. And sadly, hunger, in our country is up.

In 2008, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.4 million adults and 16.7 million children.

Here, you can go take a hunger quiz. Let's see if you know more than Rush.

(btw - the title was taken from here)

Your daily "Wait! - What?"

2010-06-16T11:08:00.005-04:00

German student attacks Hell's Angels with puppy

(Reuters) - A German student created a major traffic jam in Bavaria after making a rude gesture at a group of Hell's Angels motorcycle gang members, hurling a puppy at them and then escaping on a stolen bulldozer.

German police said on Monday that after making his getaway from the Hell's Angels club, the 26-year-old dumped the bulldozer, causing a 5 km (3 miles) traffic jam near the southern town of Allershausen, local police said. He then fled to his home nearby where he was apprehended by the police.
"What motivated him to throw a puppy at the Hell's Angels is currently unclear," said a spokesman for local police, adding that the student had lately been suffering from depression.
The puppy was now in safe hands, the spokesman added.
(Reporting by Max Chrambach, editing by Paul Casciato)

(Source: NOT the Onion)

Oh so many things here...

Why use a puppy as a weapon? And how?
And if you did... why would you get it back?

And the puppy v. Hell's Angels wasn't enough... escape on a bulldozer?
And got away? On a bulldozer?

And what are Hell's Angles doing in Germany?....

My head is spinning.
(Note to self... don't give a puppy to depressed friends to cheer them up.)

Holy Double Standards Batman!

2010-06-15T09:09:00.005-04:00

I happened to be perusing the Federation for American Immigration Reform's website when I came across this:

"America uses the term “illegal alien” to describe someone in our country in violation of our immigration laws not to demean someone, but rather because it is the correct, and legally recognized, term." (source)

OK, perhaps it's not simply a term used to make people think hardworking immigrants are really sneaky criminals intent on harming you. (Though they do have sections on their website that will tell you just how those illegal aliens will harm you.)

The fear mongering gets a bit overwhelming...

But this story jumped up on CNN today: Arizona bill would deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants and it got me wondering how FAIR talks about this issue.

Lo and behold... they have a section called: Anchor Babies: Part of the Immigration-Related American Lexicon where they write: "The term 'anchor baby' may be unfamiliar to most Americans but it succinctly describes a troubling aspect of American immigration." (source)

Hey FAIR - I've got news for you... The legally recognized term for someone born in the United States is: U.S. Citizen.

Am I shocked that they would claim the 'legal term' when it scares the bejesus out of people, but ignore the 'legal term' when it suits their purpose? No, but let's call hypocrisy when we see it.

Remember - FAIR isn't!

We have nothing to fear... well, except maybe fear.

2010-06-11T14:40:00.026-04:00

Roger Ebert wrote a great post on the mural controversy down in AZ...
(Photo courtesy of AP Photo/The Daily Courier, Matt Hinshaw)

The back story is that basically this mural (right) got painted on the side of a school. It was a nice mural... the theme was "Go Green" and the goal was to promote "environmentally friendly transportation". Four kids from the school were used as models for the figures depicted on the building.

Then, some City Councilman, a real winner of a human being named Steve Blair, complained that the brown looking kids in the mural didn't represent the community. Did I mention that four kids from the school were used as models for the figures depicted on the building? Yep. I did. But it's important enough to mention twice.

He had some things to say... like:

"I'm not a racist by any stretch of the imagination, but whenever people start talking about diversity, it's a word I can't stand." Daily Courier

"I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's President of the United States today ..." Daily Courier

"To depict the biggest picture on the building as a Black person, I would have to ask the question: Why?" AZCentral.com

"Personally, I think it's pathetic," he says. "You have changed the ambience of that building to excite some kind of diversity power struggle that doesn't exist in Prescott, Arizona. And I'm ashamed of that." - AZCentral.com

This councilman wasn't just a councilman, he had a day job as a DJ at KYCA (he's been fired over this...). During his time on air he riled people up. Did it work?

Well, the kids and the artists, painting it together, got to know if it worked... "We consistently, for two months, had people shouting racial slander from their cars" Wall said. "We had children painting with us, and here come these yells of (epithet for Blacks) and (epithet for Hispanics)." (From the AZ Central story quoted above in the first line)

So, as I mentioned, Roger Ebert wrote a great piece... but it wasn't on the controversy per say. He wrote:

How would I feel if I were a brown student at Miller Valley Elementary School in Prescott, Arizona? A mural was created to depict some of the actual students in the school.

Let's say I was one of the lucky ones. The mural took shape, and as my face became recognizable, I took some kidding from my classmates and a smile from a pretty girl I liked. My parents even came over one day to have a look and take some photos to e-mail to the family. The mural was shown on TV, and everybody could see that it was me.

Then a City Councilman named Steve Blair went on his local radio talk show and made some comments about the mural. I didn't hear him, but I can guess what he said. My dad says it's open season on brown people in this state. Anyway, for two months white people drove past in their cars and screamed angry words out the window before hurrying away. And the artists got back up on their scaffold and started making my face whiter.

We went over to my grandparent's house, and my grandmother cried and told me, "I prayed that was ending in my lifetime." Then there was more news: The City Councilman was fired from his radio show, the Superintendent of Schools climbed up on the scaffold with a bullhorn and apologized for the bad decision, and I guess the artists went back up and started making my skin darker again, but I didn't go to see, because I never wanted to go near that bullshit mural again.

(Take the time to read his whole post here...)

What Roger is writing about isn't the mural or the controversy itself, but the people driving by in the cars yelling stuff...

What I cannot imagine is what it would be like to be one of those people driving past in their cars day after day and screaming hateful things out of the window. How do you get to that place in your life? Were you raised as a racist, or become one on your own? ... But what about the people in those cars? ... They don't think of the feelings of the kids on the mural. They don't like those kids in the school. It's not as if they have reasons. They simply hate. Why would they do that? What have they shut down inside? Why do they resent the rights of others? Our rights must come first before our fears. And our rights are their rights, whoever "they" are.

(I really encourage you to read is whole piece.... it's great.)

So who are they? I suspect they are the same sort of people as these:

These fine folks just took part in a rally to support the AZ law SB 1070 (which I wrote about here).

What strikes me is their fear.
What I don't understand is, well... their fear.

Yes, there is crazy mixed in there as well, and crazy and fear can be deadly. I recently spoke with a family member who tends to the right politically. I asked him if all the language about government take over, and socialists, and blatant racial undertones bothered him. He said "No, it's all just talk."

Later I'll post something on language being more than "just talk."

In the meantime, I encourage you to try to do both, put yourself in the shoes of the kids at that elementary school and imagine what it is like to have very angry grown-ups yelling very ugly stuff at you. And then try to put yourself in the shoes of the very angry adults.

Now - which side are you on?

(As an aside: I have to wonder how many of them are Christian? And by that I mean, people who believe that we are all brothers and sisters...I'm sure there is a caveat in the bible for not having to love people who aren't like you... isn't there?)

A truly diabolical conspiracy

2010-06-04T22:37:00.001-04:00

I invented a time machine. One that allowed me to go all the way back to May 25th. So what did I do? I found evidence of a conspiracy. A truly diabolical conspiracy. The kind hatched in a secret lair hidden in an ice cap.

Shhh... come close so nobody hears *looking around nervously,* my source over at Zero Energy Construction came forward with all the details. This is too hot to handle, so I'm sharing it right away. Remember, you didn't hear it from me....

Dear Tea Party Friends,

I have a confession to make, a confession that may shock and alarm you. I am a liberal Democrat, and at the last strategy session/homosexual blood orgy, I became aware of a dastardly plot being perpetrated by my fellow socialists. As many of you in the Tea Party have correctly guessed, the census is a trap. Let me repeat that for the search engines: the 2010 census is a trap. Porn, porn, porn.

Whatever you do, do not fill out and return the census survey. Yes, it’s only 10 questions, and it only takes 10 minutes, but that’s not counting the years you will spend in forced labor camps once Nancy Pelosi rounds up everyone who bought Going Rogue and puts them to work in the medical marijuana fields. Think of your children, who will be confiscated by liberal shock troops (black liberal shock troops) and used to feed the giant underground blast furnaces that President Obama has installed beneath the White House to power his…

Okay, I’m still working on that part.

Some people, even a few in your own party, will try to tell you that the census is just a benign headcount that collects demographic information about the country. Some may even say that the census is an important way to make sure you are fully represented in Congress, and that if you don’t fill it out, your party might lose seats when the congressional district lines are redrawn.

It is very important that you hit these people with sticks.

The 2010 census is an unprecedented conspiracy of epic proportions, way worse than the 2000 Census or the 1990 Census. It’s a complicated plot, with layers upon layers of deception and misdirection, but let me see if I can explain it as simply as possible. The census process is composed of three steps:

Distributing the census survey to every home in America.
Encouraging all Americans to complete and mail back the survey.
Race war.
This is the truth they don’t want you to know. Whether you’re a Republican, a Tea Partier, an NRA member, a Texan, or you just plain hate the Jews, it is very important that you do not, under any circumstances, complete the 2010 census.

Army of bat robots. That’s what the underground blast furnaces power. The ones Obama is going to feed your children to. For real.

I’m just asking questions here, people!

Don't drunk dial...

2010-06-02T13:05:00.004-04:00

Wanna learn more about Freedom Works? Click here.

H/T for the video to Cause for Concern followed by a thank you for telling me all about the follow widgit.

What are we so afraid of?

2010-05-15T22:59:00.001-04:00

“Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere.” MLK Jr.

Televisions were barred from the Prop 8 trials in CA., but because the testimony is compelling, Academy Award-winning actress Marisa Tomei and actor Josh Lucas reenact Kristen Perry's Prop 8 trial testimony in Plummer Park in West Hollywood.

When you're done watching, please ask yourself what we're so afraid of.

Imagine if the Tea Party was black - part 2

2010-05-05T12:16:00.001-04:00

Tim Wise was interview on CNN. Check it out .

AZ - A Racist Zone?

2010-04-28T23:44:00.001-04:00

So I couldn't stay away from it.
AZ passes a bill basically shredding the 4th amendment rights of its citizens (yes, citizens... well at least the brown skin ones).

The Jurist notes Arizona Legalizes Racial Profiling

The amazing thing here is how the GOP is handling it. On the local AZ level the Governor is in a tight reelection and signs the law saying something like "We had to act because of the inaction of the federal government!".

So around the country we have Republican lawmakers supporting the decision of the AZ Gov. by holding up their hands saying "Gosh, what else could she have possibly done?"

And then everyone looks at Congress to say "so what's up?" and we all remember now why the immigration bill didn't go through last year. THE GOP BLOCKED IT!
(See the thing with our Government is we keep writing stuff down... don't believe that the GOP killed it? See for yourself:

"Roll call showing votes on the cloture vote, which killed the bill S. 1348 (vote number 204)" at senate.gov, June 7, 2007 11:59 AM
"Roll call showing votes on the cloture vote, which killed the bill S. 1348 (vote number 206)" at senate.gov, June 7, 2007, 08:24 PM
"Roll call showing votes on the cloture vote, which killed the bill S. 1639 (vote number 235)"at senate.gov, June 28, 2007, 11:04 AM

So as the GOP continues to be on the wrong side of the immigration debate - which is insane as the number of businesses demanding immigration reform is huge, groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, and newspapers like the Wall Street Journal....

And because of the awful rhetoric used they lost the Hispanic and Asian demographic in a big way in the '08 election.

Some in the GOP are at least politically savvy enough to get it... Dick Armey notes that Hispanics are the fasted growing demographic in American, and then says the GOP seems to be saying, "Let's go out and alienate them." And ol' Dick isn't the first to be saying it.

So how's it going for them this year?

From Politico: "It’s just the start of the 2010 election season, and Republican candidates are already lining up to use the same old anti-immigrant rhetoric."

We already know what the Governor in AZ did.

And as the the Alabama gubernatorial race is heating up after Republican candidate Tim James released a controversial "We speak English" ad.

But now I find this:

GOPer: I Support Deporting American Citizens Whose Parents Are Illegal Immigrants (VIDEO)

I can't believe the stupidity of the GOP. Seriously.

Touching Strangers

2010-04-28T22:26:00.001-04:00

Today a little break from the world of politics... Though with AZ trying to be the most racist state in the nation it's a bit hard.

But I stumbled upon this and couldn't help but share:Touching Strangers is an ongoing photographic project by photographer Richard Renaldi. In it he asks strangers, both to each other and to him, to pose with the stipulation that they must be touching. It's an amazing photo essay which touched my heart and, as he says, makes me "think about how relate physically to one another" and entertains "the possibility that there is unlimited potential for new relationship with almost everybody passing by."

Take a look.

"Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - Tim Wise

2010-04-25T10:38:00.001-04:00

(Cross-posted in entirety from Ephphatha Poetry)

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure - the ones who are driving the action - we’ll envision black folks or other people of color instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in America, at the end of the game, wins.

So let’s begin.

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.

Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington.

Imagine that a rap artist were to say, in reference to a white president: “He’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun.” Because that’s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about President Obama.

Imagine that a prominent mainstream black political commentator had long employed an overt bigot as Executive Director of his organization, and that this bigot regularly participated in black separatist conferences, and once assaulted a white person while calling them by a racial slur. When that prominent black commentator and his sister — who also works for the organization — defended the bigot as a good guy who was misunderstood and “going through a tough time in his life” would anyone accept their excuse-making? Would that commentator still have a place on a mainstream network? Because that’s what happened in the real world, when Pat Buchanan employed as Executive Director of his group, America’s Cause, a blatant racist who did all these things, or at least their white equivalents: attending white separatist conferences and attacking a black woman while calling her the n-word.

Imagine that a black radio host were to suggest that the only way to get promoted in the administration of a white president is by “hating black people,” or that a prominent white person had only endorsed a white presidential candidate as an act of racial bonding, or blamed a white president for a fight on a school bus in which a black kid was jumped by two white kids, or said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives, but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” After all, these are things that Rush Limbaugh has said, about Barack Obama’s administration, Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama, a fight on a school bus in Belleville, Illinois in which two black kids beat up a white kid, and about liberals, generally.

Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military, were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do.” This is, after all, what Pastor Stan Craig said recently at a Tea Party rally in Greenville, South Carolina.

Imagine a black radio talk show host gleefully predicting a revolution by people of color if the government continues to be dominated by the rich white men who have been “destroying” the country, or if said radio personality were to call Christians or Jews non-humans, or say that when it came to conservatives, the best solution would be to “hang ‘em high.” And what would happen to any congressional representative who praised that commentator for “speaking common sense” and likened his hate talk to “American values?” After all, those are among the things said by radio host and best-selling author Michael Savage, predicting white revolution in the face of multiculturalism, or said by Savage about Muslims and liberals, respectively. And it was Congressman Culbertson, from Texas, who praised Savage in that way, despite his hateful rhetoric.

Imagine a black political commentator suggesting that the only thing the guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was not blowing up Fox News instead. This is, after all, what Anne Coulter said about Tim McVeigh, when she noted that his only mistake was not blowing up the New York Times.

Imagine that a popular black liberal website posted comments about the daughter of a white president, calling her “typical redneck trash,” or a “whore” whose mother entertains her by “making monkey sounds.” After all that’s comparable to what conservatives posted about Malia Obama on freerepublic.com last year, when they referred to her as “ghetto trash.”

Imagine that black protesters at a large political rally were walking around with signs calling for the lynching of their congressional enemies. Because that’s what white conservatives did last year, in reference to Democratic party leaders in Congress.

In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of those same people of color?

To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.

And this, my friends, is what white privilege is all about. The ability to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without consequence, to be viewed as patriotic and normal no matter what you do, and never to be feared and despised as people of color would be, if they tried to get away with half the shit we do, on a daily basis.

Game Over.

Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, on over 400 college campuses, and to community groups around the nation. Wise has provided anti-racism training to teachers nationwide, and has trained physicians and medical industry professionals on how to combat racial inequities in health care. His latest book is called Between Barack and a Hard Place.

Update - Tim was interviewed on CNN about this topic... Take a look here.

Stop what you're doing!

2010-04-02T13:40:00.000-04:00

And take a listen to these guys!

Broken Bells - The High Road

Broken Bells - Vaporize

Remember this outrage?

2010-03-30T16:26:00.001-04:00

Back from Sunday Apr 19, 2009

DHS issued a report suggesting some right wing groups may get violent?

How did the GOP react?

What do we do now?

And they keep talking....

Take a listen to this interview

And....

And now they're calling for an Armed March on Washington!

Not just the "Party of No"

2010-03-30T12:58:00.000-04:00

So in this video here... John McCain is campaigning for reelection to the Senate. He brings in Sarah Palin to energize his base. I suppose it does. There are some protesters who get pushed around and ejected from the event.

What caught my attention is the parting clip from McCain himself...

McCain: "We're not the party of No like Sarah said, we're the party of Hell NO!"

He then leads them in a chant.

I suppose running against something can be politically expedient at times but it seems very short sighted to me.

Elect me, I'll say Hell No!

Pat Robertson - “Dude, STFU.”

2010-01-14T12:16:00.000-05:00

Cross-posted in it's entirety from The Baltimore Sun - In Good Faith: A blog for news and discussion on matters of faith

January 14, 2010
Guest post: A message for Pat Robertson

The Rev. Jason Poling is pastor of New Hope Community Church in Pikesville.

It’s been said that if you give an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters an infinite amount of time they will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. Then again, this scenario may explain the genesis of the blogosphere.

There’s a basic principle to keeping blogs healthy: Don’t feed the trolls. Every blog has them, the people who delight in vituperative attacks on others (known as “flaming”), obnoxiously long screeds, and monopolizing the virtual conversation. But if you engage the actual content of his remarks, you will find yourself sucked into a black hole of back-and-forth posts involving bad logic, worse grammar and endless frustration. It’s a lot like arguing with a four-year-old: the minute you start, you’ve lost, because in doing so you have effectively declared that a rational adult ought to seriously debate the merits of sleeping under all of the blankets in the closet sorted first by color then by texture.

But there is a remedy: the universal shorthand “Dude, STFU” which translates to “Kindly be quiet.” This treatment, which only works if applied sparingly, essentially declares: “What you are saying makes absolutely no sense. Nothing good will come of discussing it with you. You’re annoying everyone on this blog. So cut it out.” Such an approach steadfastly and resolutely refuses to reason with the unreasonable, to join a battle of wits with the unarmed, to punch the tar baby.

Much the same principle applies to the outlying voices in our media landscape. There may have been some gaps in my seminary education, for I cannot begin to fathom how I might evaluate Pat Robertson’s claim that the entire nation of Haiti in the course of its battle for independence made a pact with the devil. What would be the text of such a pact? Would everyone in the nation need to agree to it? Every adult? A majority, or perhaps a super-majority? Would it need to be signed in blood? The mind boggles.

In much the same way, I have difficulty finding handles with which I might begin to grapple with other ideas promoted by Robertson: that Hurricane Katrina constituted an exercise of God’s wrath against New Orleans for its wickedness, or that 9/11 happened when God withdrew his protection from America when some obscure ACLU lawsuit was filed somewhere that morning and he decided he had simply had enough.

But I think maybe I’m not supposed to. That would be a relief, because I have absolutely no interest in feeding this troll. I don’t want to begin to engage his statements because I do not want to effectively declare that a rational adult ought to seriously debate whether a particular nation’s misfortunes derive from a binding contract with the Prince of Darkness executed over 200 years ago. I certainly do not want to engage these ideas when that nation’s capital lies in ruins with tens of thousands of its citizens, if not more, lying dead in the wake of a massive earthquake.

No, all I really want to say to Pat Robertson is, “Dude, STFU.”

Global Con-spir-a-cy

2010-01-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

So I don't have the time right now to talk about the War for Your Mind contained in the Right's talking points.

But I thought this guy clearly explains the 'hoax' of Global Climate Change that's recently been 'uncovered' by some emails.

About him: "I've been a journalist for 20 years, 14 years as a science correspondent. My degree is in geology, but while working for a science magazine and several science programs I had to tackle a number of different fields, from quantum physics to microbiology."

Captain Obvious Strikes again - in the War for your Mind this time

2009-12-30T12:31:00.000-05:00

I normally don't get hysterical watching the news but Rep. Peter King (Republican representing Long Island) was quoted saying the most remarkable thing...

Following the attempted bombing of the Delta airlines flight into Detroit there has been a lot of chatter about the need to profile Muslims. He is clear to point out that the majority of Muslims are good people and then spews this line:

"One hundred percent of the Islamic terrorists are Muslims"

Really? You mean there is a link between Islam and Muslims? Whoever thinks that Members of Congress are elected because of their superior intellect are sadly mistaken.

Honestly, I almost spit my coffee out I was laughing so hard.

(You can watch the clip that include King's remarks here. His Captain Obvious statement comes in at the 1:25 mark.)

Side note: I liked it when the former CIA analyst took on profiling by saying: "Look, I think when people make an argument for racial profiling they’re either lazy, they’re either arrogant, or frankly they’re racist."

As we move into the War on your Mind section of the post, please take a moment to watch this clip where talking heads are talking about profiling.

Perhaps there can be an intelligent conversation about profiling... Right? Do we need to pull a 78 year old Mexican grandmother out of line to question her? Even if we wanted to engage in the debate listen again as to how the question was framed....

"Are the political correctness police putting our safety at risk?"

(at the 3:00 mark just before the break)
(and then again at the 3:15 mark just after returning from the break)

"Is political correctness jeopardizing our security in the sky?"

(Sidebar: Note the use of fear. It's like those teasers for the 11:00 news. "Can the common household cleaners you have in your home right now, KILL YOUR CHILDREN? Tune in at 11 to find out". Seriously - if there is something serious enough to kill my children you should tell us now.)

OK - back to the War for your Mind. What's happening here?

Any real debate on the merits of profiling need to happen within a different context. Is it feasible to pull out all Muslims? First off, how do you tell if someone is a Muslim? You can't. Ideology isn't seen. But let's put this aside and put down the fear mongering.

Is this 'Political Correctness' that is preventing us from doing this? No. Are there 'Political Correctness police'? No.

In our great nation we have laws that govern our land and protect people from unreasonable search and seizure (it's in the Constitution, look it up). So it is our Constitution and our laws that say we can't stop and search someone without a reasonable cause. Not political correctness.

But when the argument is framed as political correctness, people think that it's just silly, naive liberals who want to create a 'magical Utopia'. Right? The reason that the terrorist was almost able to kill all those people is simply because of some 'political correctness'. That is, we were somehow afraid of offending his (or others) sensibilities so he was let on the plane.

Within the American culture it is widely held that the political correct movement has come from the Left. So this links the Left with preventing America from protecting itself. And why? As we see here, it's framed again in terms of political correctness - of 'offending someone':

When Professor Fair (of Peace Studies) says "One-third of the world's population is Muslim. Trying to treat every single Muslim as a terrorist is simply untenable, it's fearmongering" she presents a cogent argument suggesting that trying to lump billions of people into a group for extra screening isn't a practical or realistic solution.

Gallagher responds: "Who are you afraid of offending Christine? Al Qaeda? " (5:15 mark).

So again, this isn't about coming up with realistic solutions to these problems, it's about framing a political group as being 'weak' when it comes to defending America. And why do we say they are weak? Because they are afraid to 'offend' people. Gallagher's remark pulls the debate to the extreme. Can we realistically profile that many people? (a reasonable question) answered with : 'of course, the only thing that is stopping us is that YOU ARE AFRAID OF OFFENDING Al QAEDA'.

I'd say it's a bizare leap of logic, but the logic behind it isn't resting in the merits of the debate, it rests in how the debate is perceived.

Several times you hear Professor Fair state "I'm not opposed to profiling", but that is flatly ignored. Why? Because having someone from the Left say that there could be reasonable profiling, but it's complicated, doesn't fit with the image that they are trying to produce.

In the War on your Mind, this conversation is trying to convince you that because the Left doesn't buy into simplistic, unrealistic solutions, they are weak. From the way the question was asked, there was no real debate.

What if the moderator asked, "Is our Constitution up to the task of protecting us or should we cut back on the Rights it affords to us?" You think the conversation would play out differently?

There is a War for your Mind.

Oh baby..... Waddle like that!

2009-12-03T17:39:00.000-05:00

No Illegal Immigrants!!!

2009-11-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

Punk'd

From his speech:
It's no secret that with an invasion of immigrants comes waves of crime. We see them involved in massive theft, in murder, and bringing diseases like smallpox, which is responsible for the death of millions of Americans. These aren't new problems, though -- they have been going on for hundreds of years, and continue to this day.

I say it's time for us to say enough is enough! Are you with me? Are you with me? Let's send these European immigrants back where they came from! I don't care if they are Polish, Irish, English, Italian, or Norwegian! European immigrants are responsible for the most violent and heinous crimes in the history of the world, including genocide and slavery! It's time to restore the sovereignty of people native to this land!

I want more workplace raids, starting with the big banks downtown. There are thousands of illegals working in those buildings, hiding in their offices, and taking Dakota jobs. Let's round them up and ship them out. Then we need to hit them at home where they sleep. I don’t care if we separate families, they should have known better when they came here illegally!

If we aren't able to stand up to these European immigrants, who can we stand up to? We need to send every one of them back home, right now.

Thank you very much, and we'll see you in the streets!

Columbus Go Home! Columbus Go Home! Columbus Go Home!

Update:
Over at Bluestem Prairie the authors went down and witnessed the event. They write about it, including the reaction (pushing, shoving, intimidating) by the anti-immigrant crowd (classy as always).

...we watched "Robert Erickson" of Minneapolis rally the anti-immigration part of the crowd with his objections to the mass invasion of America by immigrants who brought disease and took away jobs. They stayed with him as he called for a mass deportation of these invaders.

To Europe.

Most of the MINN-SIR supporters were slow to catch the satire, and so the cheering from that side of the crowd took a while to subside. As they realized they'd been punk'ed, they stood in a cold, stunned silence, while the 30 or so counter-protesters urged Columbus to go home. Read the rest here.

The good folks over at I Don't Hate America! have also written about it, including the reaction from the anti-immigrant organizers.

UNBELIEVABLE

2009-10-27T10:11:00.000-04:00

This just makes me sick. Honestly.

This is our free market capitalist system at work...

Here is the set up - a woman, with insurance, gets raped. Because she was drug raped and they did not know if the attacker used a condom or not, she was put on anti-HIV/AIDS meds. Her insurance company finds out she's on these meds and in therapy so, the compassion of the market takes over and they drop her faster than a conservative politician (who cheat on their wives) vote for family values.

And on top of it - she's an insurance agent. She talks with the underwriters with this 'hypothetical' case and they all answer the same - drop her - she's uninsured until out of therapy and HIV/AIDS free for 3 years.

Don't believe me? Watch the video your self.

Then do something....
Join A Woman Is Not A Pre-Existing Condition and advocate with congress.

So denying a rape victim insurance isn't bad enough? How about this one? Peggy Robertson needed insurance but there was one pesky problem... she had a previous C-section. Solution? Voluntary sterilization.

And then... let's deny coverage to her son!

My wife and I ran into this same thing when our son was born. At the time my company was trying to get private insurance because of the costs for group coverage. At his first check-up the doctor noticed my son 'looking down'. Apparently that can be a sign of something very serious - hydrocephalus, or water on the brain. To rule that out he had an MRI at the tender age of 8 days old. Needless to say, we were terrified through the proceedure and so relieved to find out he was perfectly healthy.

Then the insurance company shared their good news with us: Because he had an MRI at that age, he was uninsurable. Good news for them that is because it reduces their exposure to potential problems. Seems any medical intervention increases the statistical risk for future intervention and therefore - my son was no longer a potential profit center but a liability.

PLEASE CALL CONGRESS... Tell them to get off their 'lifetime covered asses' and fix healthcare including a public option.

Wanna know what Congress gets? Coverage that includes "a choice of 10 healthcare plans that provide access to a national network of doctors, as well as several HMOs that serve each member's home state...[They] also get special treatment at Washington's federal medical facilities and, for a few hundred dollars a month, access to their own pharmacy and doctors, nurses and medical technicians standing by in an office conveniently located between the House and Senate chambers.

In all, taxpayers spent about $15 billion last year to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents, including postal service employees, according to the Office of Personnel Management."

2009-10-05T09:49:00.001-04:00

Illegals, Watch Out - We're Taking Back Our Jobs!

2009-09-25T08:31:00.000-04:00

Alicia Morgan over at Last Left Turn Before Hooterville has a warning for all those so-called Illegal Immigrants...Watch Out - We're Taking Back Our Jobs!
She writes:
There's a new movement afoot in the American Right. Inspired by the rabidly anti-immigration, tirelessly pro-American-worker Lou Dobbs, it's springing up all across America. From the meatpacking plants of Iowa to the dairy farms of Arizona, from the kitchens of New York's finest restaurants to the Salad Bowl of California's Salinas Valley, in hotels, motels, and Holiday Inns all across this great nation of ours, the patriotic men and women who for years have stood by and watched illegal immigrants swarming across the border to brazenly steal their jobs have had enough. (Read the rest here)

2009-09-09T23:07:00.001-04:00

This whole thing is getting out of control. There are outright lies - not just misinformation - out there. There are people who are are willing to shout down a handicapped woman while she tries to talk at a health care rally and Congressional Representatives calling the President a liar (See the video here or a different kind of attack here.)

Meanwhile, the media completely overlooks those in pain...

Tell Congress you want a public option. Go ahead - pick up the phone and dial 202-224-3121. Tell them you want it now.

Don't let these classy folks stop the debate:

Rep. Wilson (R SC-02) shouting "You lie" at the President of the United States

Seriously...

2009-09-01T10:04:00.001-04:00

'nuff said.

2009-09-01T09:59:00.001-04:00

Great post by Roger Ebert...

2009-08-26T14:19:00.000-04:00

I'm safe on board. Pull up the life rope

Roger Ebert

on August 20, 2009 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (775)

Having read through some 600 comments about universal health care, I now realize I took the wrong approach in my previous blog entry. I discussed the Obama health plan in political, literal, logical terms. Most of my readers replied in the same vein. The comments, as always, have been helpful, informative and for the most part civil. My mistake was writing from the pragmatic side. I should have followed my heart and gone with a more emotional approach. I believe universal health care is, quite simply, right.

It is a moral imperative. I cannot enjoy health coverage and turn to my neighbor and tell him he doesn't deserve it. A nation is a mutual undertaking. In a democracy, we set out together to do what we believe is good for the commonwealth. That means voluntarily subjecting ourselves to the rule of law, taxation, military service, the guaranteeing of rights to minorities, and so on. That is a cheap price to pay.

Read on...

Support the Stauts Quo

2009-08-24T12:36:00.000-04:00

As an organizer I teach people that, no matter the system, someone benefits from it. It may be broken for many, if not most people, but at the end of the day?... someone benefits from it.

The Billionaires for 'Weathcare' go to thank all those on the right protesting health care reform. "Save the Status Quo! It works for us!"

I speak "Insurance"

2009-08-19T15:17:00.000-04:00

When does equal not mean equal?

2009-05-28T10:59:00.000-04:00

The status quo is a funny thing. It provides a normalizing context where everything seems to be 'in order', the 'way it should be'. Throughout our history we've had different opportunities to take a look at what is 'normal' and decide that, well, perhaps normal isn't such a great idea.

Remember slavery? Once upon a time in our country it was normal to own another human being. They were treated as less than human. We could do what we want with them. We bred slaves like animals and then sold their children away from them. Millions of people taken from their homes in Africa or were born into bondage in America. And yet, it was normal. Heck, even our Presidents owned slaves. The practice was so normal that even the church used the Bible to justify slavery. (Not all churches mind you, the Quakers were out front and during the Abolitionist movement many other churches joined in condemning the practice. If you haven't seen the movie Amazing Grace I highly recommend it). Still, slavery lasted for 258 years in America, from the founding of Virginia in 1607 until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed in 1865.

So African American's won their freedom and everything was hunky-dory right? Wrong. The status quo still said African American's weren't equal. Remember the term Separate but Equal? Today we know it's not but the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that it was. It wasn't until Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that it wasn't. That's a long status quo. And let me assure you, people were none too happy about these changes in their communities. Everyone knows blacks know their place - at the back of the bus right? Wrong!

Oh, and what about those women? Silly girls, thinking they are equal to boys. People actually thought this. It took a movement to even allow women to vote. Once again, people weren't happy about suggesting women had a place in society. Women were beaten and jailed. They were harassed and persecuted. I pray my own daughter won't ever forget the sacrifice by other women, decades before she was born, that will allow her to pursue her dreams. And the torch was passed down to women in the 60's and 70's who fought for equal pay. But why did they need to fight? Because the status quo said women don't need to earn as much - they aren't the breadwinners. (By the way - that fight isn't over. In 2007 women still earned 77 cents on the dollar to what men were making).

Interracial marriage. We don't think a thing of it today. Why wouldn't people get married if they loved each other. Richard and Mildred Loving fell in love and got married. The only problem? They did it in Virginia where interracial marriage was illegal. The Virginia district judge Leon Bazile ruled against them saying:

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

Today we look at statements like that and think - how crazy?!? Still, it took a Supreme Court decision to allow couples of different races to marry. June 12, 1967 the Loving decision was handed down, striking down state laws that prohibited interracial marriages.

Then the 80's rolled around and gaybashing became all the rage. I find it alarming that in many of these cases the church is complicit in supporting the status quo. We can be so rightous about our believes.

We stand on the "moral authority of God" on these issues. But when we look back, that authority seems to bleed away. Does God support slavery? Condemn interracial marriage? Does God think that Separate is Equal? Would Jesus call women to be second class citizens? (I know this one is still being hashed in in many churches today - and that too makes me sad).

"But Chris" I hear you say, "the Bible is clear about this."
I'm sure it seemed clear when it supported slavery too. That doesn't make it right.

When we look back, years or decades from now. Which side of the fight do you want to say you stood for?

Equal means Equal.

Memorial Day.... lest we forget....

2009-05-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

Defending the myth of the American Dream

2009-05-18T14:15:00.000-04:00

I saw this clip on Fox News and was really amused by how the interview went. Check it out.

OK, let's analyze it for a minute.

First off, remember that the Professor's thesis is that it takes a bit of luck to be successful in addition to hard work etc. That often that luck comes in forms that we don't typically think about, such as our place of birth. If hard work is all it takes, why are there more millionaires in first world countries than third world countries? You can read the Professor's article in the New York Times.

OK, now that we're grounded in the Professor's thesis, let's review how the host tries to challenge it. From the very introduction the host sets up a black and white dichotomy - is it hard work, talent and determination OR luck. Remember, the professor never claimed that hard work, talent and determination aren't important. You can bet that the host will later suggest we don't need to work hard - just be lucky.

And we haven't even gotten to the first question! Watch how quickly Varney, the host of the show, personalizes the Professor's thesis....

"Wait a minute, Professor, do you know how insulting that was... when I read that"... and he goes on to talk about what a tough time he had as an immigrant to America and how he worked so hard....

"I came with nothing"... (I'm getting teary eyed thinking about this scrappy little immigrant kid)... Oh but wait - he did come with a degree from the London School of Economics. Most likely not a poor kid from Calcutta eh? He got hired by CNN back in the 80's and has continued his career in "journalism". Today he earns $20,000 to $30,000 for speaking engagements. That's on top of his FOX News salary.

Even when the professor says that hard work is important, Varney tries to flip it again. This time the personal gives way to an iconic argument.... "You're saying the American Dream is not really there".

And to even suggest luck might have anything to do with anything is "OUTRAGEOUS!"

Yep, being born to my parents wall all skill on my part baby.

And then we see it... Varney flips the luck argument (as predicted) and says "Then there's not point in trying hard."

(As a side note, I'm wondering if conservatives are simply incapable of holding 'both/and' ideas in their head. Perhaps their world is so black and white that holding two positions simultaneously would cause the to explode. I mean seriously - is this that big a deal that luck might accompany hard work?)

OK - so we shift from luck to taxes. Again, as a conservative it's an all or nothing point of view. If taxed, obviously the government is socialist. Wild swinging extremes.

And what does this professor think the tax rate ought to be? Why is he asking this question? Does the professor set tax policy? I suspect he's asking because he knows the professor favors a higher tax rate and therefore wants to paint him as someone "who wants to take your money".

Then there is comparing the US with the rest of the world. And when that doesn't pan out the answer is "then you go live there".

And of course, we couldn't have a rational discussion about these issues without the requisite labeling of the opposition as socialist. And again, even after the Professor explicitly says the opposite, Varney repeats how insulted he is and that the Professor is "going against the American Dream".

My favorite part was when Varney says "If you come to America with nothing, if you play by the rules and get disciplined....you WILL make it in America" etc. I guess hard working is in the eye of the beholder. I guess if you have a degree from the London School of Economics you work much harder than tomato pickers. That whole "I came with nothing" rant... Please.

We could analyze this deeper but I'd suggest that one reason why wealthy people want to cling to this idea that they are 'self-made' is that they don't want to be obligated to anyone. We live in a country where the laws make it possible for business to succeed and have a world class infrastructure that allows for the distribution of goods and services. All paid for by the government but conservatives discount all that.

OK, one last point and a bit of humor. Varney suggest to the Professor "Why don't you go live there"..... just for fun - the Daily Show took a look to see how hellish life in a socialist country might be...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

The Stockholm Syndrome

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

and part II

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

The Stockholm Syndrome Pt. 2

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

2009-05-11T11:28:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Josh Nelson at the Huffington Post

Teabaggin'

2009-04-17T19:56:00.000-04:00

Honestly I laugh too much when I read about these events.

Great examples of Astroturf movements but I digress...

Matt Taibbi has written a great piece on this 'movement'....

"Anyway this teabag thing has really gotten out of control. It’s amazing, literally amazing to me, that it wasn’t until Obama pushed through a package containing a massive public works package and significant homeowner aid that conservatives took to the streets. In other words, it wasn’t until taxes turned into construction jobs and mortgage relief that working and middle-class Americans decided to protest. I didn’t see anyone on the street when we forked over billions of dollars to help JP Morgan Chase buy Bear Stearns. And I didn’t see anyone on the street when Hank Paulson forked over $45 more billion to help Bank of America buy Merrill Lynch, a company run at the time by one of the world’s biggest assholes, John Thain. Moreover I didn’t see any street protests when the government agreed to soak up hundreds of billions in “troubled assets” from Citigroup, a company that just months later would lend out a jet furnished with pillows upholstered with Hermes scarves to former chief Sandy Weill so that he could vacation in Mexico over Christmas."

Feel free to run over and read the whole pos t (Warning... grown up language and content).

An example of the type of hate running loose in the country today

2009-04-06T12:14:00.000-04:00

The Miami Herald ran a story about a Cuban trying to escape from Cuba. While trying to get into Gitmo (of all places) he stepped on a land mine, blowing his legs off. A medic saved him and he's gone onto become a radiologist - a fairly inspiring story of overcoming adversity etc.

I guess the problem was he was an immigrant. And in todays hostile climate around immigration, inspirational stories aren't enough.

The first comment following the article was:

FLA707 wrote on 04/04/2009 04:45:05 PM:

Perhaps land mine technology can be improved. Too bad it was not successful in this case. But, mine fields can be an effective anti-immigrant tool. We need mine fields along the mexican border. Stop the immigrant invasion by any means necessary. American jobs for American citizens.

(I reported it as hate speech so it may be taken down)

I just don't understand peoples total lack of humanity. What sick, perverted thinking we've come to...

Driftglass has it going on...

2009-04-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

As Driftglass said: Been There, Done That

Holy Crap. Please pray for Kevin ....

2009-03-20T09:57:00.001-04:00

.... and the hundreds of other just like him.

Blessed are the children. Not in America apparently...

Pssst.. Wanna DO Something about this? You can!

Shameful!

2009-03-20T09:52:00.001-04:00

A HIDDEN SYSTEM

What I was talking about....

2009-03-15T18:13:00.000-04:00

This domestic terror stuff. Rachel Maddow did a segment on it on the 12th. Take a look.

And Crooks and Liars gives us a good run down on other low life's:

"The Maine incident is only the latest in a long string of cases of serious domestic terrorism emerging from the extremist Right since 9/11. Some of the others include:

-- The anthrax killer.

-- The far-right "Patriot" who constructed a sodium cyanide bomb capable of killing hundreds.

-- The Alabama militiamen who plotted to go on an anti-Latino killing rampage.

-- The ex-Army Ranger who planned an anti-abortion killing spree.

-- The young skinheads who wanted to kill 107 black people and cap it off with Barack Obama.

... The FBI has been public about its concerns regarding the resurgence in white-supremacist hate groups and their activities and recruitment since Obama's election. We'll have to see if that translates into tackling the problem seriously."

Crazy Alert part II

2009-03-06T14:42:00.000-05:00

After posting the previous post I remembered the horrific shooting in TN. The shooter was a guy named Jim David Adkisson. He opened fire during a church service.

He did leave a note as to why. The .pdf is tough to read but in it he writes:

Know This If Nothing Else

I. This was a hate crime:
I hate the damn left-wing liberals. There is a vast left-wing conspiracy in this country and these liberals are working together to attack every decent and honorable institution in the nation, trying to turn this country into a communist state. Shame on them.

II. This was a Political Protest:
I'm protesting the liberal Supreme Court Justices for give the terrorists at GITMO constitutional rights. I'm protesting the major news outlets, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS for being the propaganda wing of the Democrat Party. It's criminal what they're getting away with. They're traitors. They must be stopped. I'm protesting the DNC running such a radical leftist candidate. Osama Hussein OBama, yo mama. No experience, no brains, a joke. Dangerous to America. Hell, he looks like Curious George!

III. This was as Symbolic Killing:
Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate, and house, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book. I'd like to kill everyone in the Mainstream Media. But I knew these people were inaccessible to me. I couldn't get to the generals and high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickenshit liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Some one had to get the ball rolling, I volunteered. I hope others do the same. It’s the only way we can rid America of this cancer, this pestilence!

... I'd like to encourage other like minded people to do what I've done. If life ain't worth living anymore, don't just kill yourself. Do something for your country before you go. Go kill Liberals!

So this is the thinking we're dealing with. And shows like Glenn Beck on Fox are warning people that we're on the road to radical socialism and it must be stopped!

"He will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing Greg McKendry, 60, and Linda Lee Kraeger, 61, after opening fire with a sawed-off shotgun inside the church where more than 200 people were gathered to watch a children’s musical. He admitted wounding six others."

The problem is that there are others out there just like him.

Crazy Alert!

2009-03-06T12:14:00.000-05:00

*sigh*

With the election of Obama the wingnuts have gone crazy. Unfortunately I predict we'll see a rise of homegrown militias again, as we did during the Clinton administration.
Remember what that was like?

Are these folks just fringe crazies? Maybe. But these fringe groups have members who receive training through our military. For example, the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented cases where White Supremacists groups encourage members to join the military for training.

Way back in 2003, when most of the country was terrified of Islamic terrorists, the federal government broke up a major terrorist plot. "F.B.I. agents discovered a weapons cache containing fully automatic machine guns, remote-controlled explosive devices disguised as briefcases, 60 pipe bombs and a chemical weapon -- a cyanide bomb -- big enough to kill everyone in a 30,000-square-foot building." This was a huge disruption of a terrorist network that received little media coverage. The frightening thing to me is that the terror group were homegrown 'patriots'. This is known as the Noonday Conspiracy and you can read more about it here.

Watch the following video. Listen to the rhetoric. And then ask yourself if you think they are serious.

(Great music isn't it? From the movie The Last of the Mohicans (1992)).

For my Dad...

2009-03-06T09:54:00.001-05:00

Why I'm a fan of increased federal regulations

2009-03-06T09:41:00.000-05:00

When food industry giants like Kellogg want to ensure that American consumers are being protected from contaminated products, they rely on private inspectors like Eugene A. Hatfield. So last spring Mr. Hatfield headed to the Peanut Corporation of America plant in southwest Georgia to make sure its chopped nuts, paste and peanut butter were safe to use in everything from granola bars to ice cream.

The peanut company, though, knew in advance that Mr. Hatfield was coming. He had less than a day to check the entire plant, which processed several million pounds of peanuts a month.

Mr. Hatfield, 66, an expert in fresh produce, was not aware that peanuts were readily susceptible to salmonella poisoning — which he was not required to test for anyway. And while Mr. Hatfield was inspecting the plant on behalf of Kellogg and other food companies, the Peanut Corporation was paying him for his efforts.

“The overall food safety level of this facility was considered to be: SUPERIOR,” he concluded in his March 27, 2008, report for his employer, the American Institute of Baking, which performs audits for major food companies. A copy of the audit was obtained by The New York Times.

Federal investigators later discovered that the dilapidated plant was ravaged by salmonella and had been shipping tainted peanuts and paste for at least nine months. But they were too late to prevent what has become one of the nation’s worst known outbreaks of food-borne disease in recent years, in which nine are believed to have died and an estimated 22,500 were sickened.
Remember- markets, of any kind, are amoral. To believe that they will self-regulate is delusional.

The War for your Mind part 732

2009-02-11T01:18:00.000-05:00

OK, perhaps I've missed a couple of installments but...

Watching the Sunday Morning Shows this week I saw an interview with the new RNC Chair Michael Steel on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. You can catch the interview here:

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6830288

It's worth watching only because I doubt you'd believe me if I just told you.

(I'd normally type out a transcript but I found driftglass did it already... I liked his take:)

On “This Week” George Stephanopoulos asks Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele about Dubya.

Shorter Michael Steele: Bush was awesome. His economic politics were fooking brill. He inherited a recession from the Evil Bill Clinton.

And then came the Stupid Of The Month.

Steele: Government doesn’t create jobs. Only the private sector creates jobs.

Stephanopoulos: What?

Steele: Government jobs don’t count as jobs,

Stephanopoulos: What…squared?

Steele: They don’t count as jobs, because they have an end point.

Stephanopoulos: So people who will rebuild our shitty schools don’t really count as people who have jobs?

Steele: No. Because those jobs will eventually end. They’re just make-work. And private sector jobs never, ever end.

Stephanopoulos: But…but…3.9 million people lost their jobs year? All of those “private sector jobs” ended.

Steele: Sure, but private sector jobs always come back, George. The Majyk Jobs Unicorn brings them.

Stephanopoulos: OMFG. You’re a complete douche, aren’t you?

Steele: I’m a Republican, George; we’re all douches.

Wow. So this is now the official policy of the Party of God.

That cops don’t have “jobs”.

Neither do teachers.

Or firemen. Or sewer workers. Road construction crews. Bridge builders. Snow plow drivers. Bus drivers. Train conductors. Coast guard.

Go on... Read the rest over there... it's awesome in its awesomeness but - it's NSFW.

But my point on this is the War for your Mind. This is a perfect example of how, in this case, the head of the RNC is trying to get the American people to think up is down and black is white. They're not 'jobs', their just work. Really?

Here's another quote that's been thrown around lately - "this isn't a stimulus package - it's a spending bill." See, what you really want America are more tax cuts - nevermind that you just lost your job so your effective tax rate will be 0%. America needs a tax cut.... Look into my eyes... You are feeling sleepy and you want a tax cut...

Insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different outcomes. We've just had 8 years of tax cuts. OMG.

The sad thing is the longer the debate goes on the less people are supportive of something so complex that they can't possibly understand it. I don't. I don't pretend to. But I watch and hear a Noble Prize winning Economist say it's a good idea - minus the tax cuts and I'm thinking to myself... 'should I listen to the Noble Prize winning Economist or Michael Steel'?

Bigotry

2009-02-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

Plain and simple. There isn't another explanation.

big·ot
Pronunciation:: \ˈbi-gət\
Function:: noun
Etymology:: French, hypocrite, bigot
Date:: 1660

: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices ; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group with hatred and intolerance.

I am so sick of the "church" telling us that Prop 8 in California isn't bigotry. It is. Plain and simple. This 'sanctity of marriage' is a load of crap. That same argument was used to prevent interracial marriages. This is marginalizing an entire group of people. And if the passage of Prop 8 wasn't enough? Now the proponents of it are trying to void the legal marriages of 18,000 couples.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Think they ought to be able to stay married? Then do something about it!

So much going on ...

2009-02-05T11:09:00.000-05:00

A good friend noted I hadn't posted since before the new Prez...

As she said on the 20th...

"WhoooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

I think that says it all.

I've started my thesis and that is killing me. I'm sure one day I'll look back and think "wow... that sucked" but for now I'm just trying to keep my head above water.

And watching the news does not help. I saw this little gem on CNN the other day. An actor cussed? HOLD THE PRESSES!!!

This is news? Good God. We're on the brink of a major depression, jobs being slashed left and right. We're still involved in two wars. A 93 year old man froze to death when the utility company decided to cut off his power without checking the home first. People are killing their families in LA and in OH because of the economy.

"Next up CNN, how is the downturn in the economy affecting little Susie's lemonade stand? We'll go live for an interview because there is a little girl crying somewhere in America"

Though I did have to smile at this story:

2009-02-05T11:08:00.001-05:00

The Right to Food

2008-12-26T00:39:00.001-05:00

John Amato posted a blog on the 24th that stopped me in my tracks.

Seems that some people in the world think that it is a bad thing that 6 million children die every year of hunger (and related-illness) before they turn five. So these people got together at the United Nations and passed a resolution to try to do something about this.

The good news is that it passed - 180 to 1.

The bad new? We're the one .....

By a vote of 180 in favour to 1 against (United States) and no abstentions, the Committee also approved a resolution on the right to food, by which the Assembly would “consider it intolerable” that more than 6 million children still died every year from hunger-related illness before their fifth birthday, and that the number of undernourished people had grown to about 923 million worldwide, at the same time that the planet could produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, or twice the world’s present population. (See Annex III.)

You can read the entire thing here.

I don't know how this administration can do this....
Maybe they don't understand the reason for the season.
I'm pretty sure God's plan does not include letting 6,000,000 children just die.

Just to recap:

In favour:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monao, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against:
United States.

Proud to be an American?

2008-12-02T19:14:00.000-05:00

So I'm listening to NPR the other day. They're doing a series on immigration and they profiled a 40year old 'illegal immigrant' in Mexico who had just been deported. He was waiting to cross over again.

"HOW COULD HE?" I hear the anti-immigrants cry as they start talking about the horrible 'criminal behavior' he's planning. But then there is the story. He came to the states when he was 5. His folks brought him over - yes, 'illegally' - but here's the crazy thing, he's not a criminal. He's actually a home owner in southern California where, for the last 35 years of his life, he's lived and worked. He raised a family there. What kind of family? One where two of his sons (American because they were born here) are fighting in Iraq.

But fate was against this 40 year old man. He got picked up and it was discovered he didn't have the right papers. So his American wife and children watched him get deported. Two of his children hear about it while they are in a combat zone.

I have to wonder how that makes them feel.... Do they think:
a) Thank god SOMEONE is enforcing the very rule of law I'm risking my life for... or
b) How could my country, the country I'm risking my life for, deport my dad?

And then... 60 Minutes has done a nice piece on another aspect of our broken immigration system. Deporting widows. Yep, that's the rule of law for you. These women just didn't stay married long enough to clear the paperwork before their husbands died...

Watch the story and then tell me, does this make you proud to be an American?

Watch CBS Videos Online

Who knew? Matthew Alexander knew

2008-12-01T13:14:00.001-05:00

A while ago I blogged "Who knew?" about how waterboarding is torture. In yesterdays Washington Post an Air Force interrogator wrote about how his team got Zarqawi without torture and how al-Qaeda actually used US torture as a recruiting tool...

I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq

By Matthew Alexander
Sunday, November 30, 2008; B01

I should have felt triumphant when I returned from Iraq in August 2006. Instead, I was worried and exhausted. My team of interrogators had successfully hunted down one of the most notorious mass murderers of our generation, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the mastermind of the campaign of suicide bombings that had helped plunge Iraq into civil war. But instead of celebrating our success, my mind was consumed with the unfinished business of our mission: fixing the deeply flawed, ineffective and un-American way the U.S. military conducts interrogations in Iraq. I'm still alarmed about that today.

I'm not some ivory-tower type; I served for 14 years in the U.S. Air Force, began my career as a Special Operations pilot flying helicopters, saw combat in Bosnia and Kosovo, became an Air Force counterintelligence agent, then volunteered to go to Iraq to work as a senior interrogator. What I saw in Iraq still rattles me -- both because it betrays our traditions and because it just doesn't work.

Read the rest here....

Who are you listening to?

2008-11-25T13:14:00.000-05:00

The war for your mind - election results

2008-11-07T11:42:00.000-05:00

Now that the election is over we'll start seeing a lot of analysis. Most of us will see maps that look like this:
This is the map we're use to. Red States and Blue States. And by all appearances it looks as if the country is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

There is a problem with this map however; it only colors the states and fails to actually capture the population of the United States.

If we wanted to look at a map that was weighted for population, it would look like this (it's called a cartogram):

Cartograms redraw the states based on the actual population that lives in the state. As you can see, the Washington DC is actually larger than several western states, such as Wyoming. So in the war for your mind be aware of this.

So that's the first step in understanding how we become conditioned to being divided. Still, it's misleading. I know people voted for McCain in California and I know people voted for Obama in Texas. How do we reconcile this?
We could look at a map that would break out the votes by county:
We can see that there are red parts of blue states and blue parts of red states. This map looks awash in red. How on earth did McCain lose? Obviously the election had to have been stolen.

Well, again we've run into a rural versus urban problem. More people live in cities than they do in the country.

What does the map start to look like if we adjust it for population by county?

OK, so there are large swaths of blue in the northeast, the west coast and the great lakes regions. No surprise that we have major cities in those areas.

Also, if you look at the heartland, you begin to see where major cities are located. Was Sarah Palin right when she divided up the country into 'real' America and 'fake' America? I think that was a poor choice of words, but was she onto something between rural and urban voters?

Political operatives have noticed this for a long time and pay attention to such. But still... something doesn't fee quite right does it? Driving around my town I see both McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden signs in people yards. So we don't even really vote by county block. Really we need a map that helps us see the nuance at the local level. How about this?

There. Much better. Obviously the more red the more Republican voters and the more blue the more Democrats.

In this map we can certainly see strongholds of red and blue, but we also start to see alot more shades of purple. And of course, this map has not been adjusted for population.

That would be a mess. One big beautiful swirling blob of red and blue and purple. It is alot easier to control a people when they are divided. And dividing us up isn't as simple as it appears to be.

I am not suggesting for one second that there aren't real differences between the candidates, their idology or emphasis. There are.

What I'm suggesting is that we are alot more complicated than the traditional Red and Blue state maps make us out to be.

And we haven't even begun to examine individuals who like parts of both parties platforms. For example, what about a person who sees themselves as pro-life but but is anti-gun? Or for the second amendment but supports a woman's right to choose? I'd respectfully suggest that there is a lot more complexity in the mix than any pundant would like to admit.

I think this sais it all....

2008-11-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

This map is a comparison of how the country voted as compared to 2004....

President Obama

2008-11-05T00:56:00.000-05:00

True.

All the pundits and all the spin. All the hype and all the ads. All the smears and all the lies. It's over.

There will be a new President in America. One who has pledged to serve ALL America, not just "real" America. A President who will be honest with us. To challenge us and to invite us to work with him in recreating America to be a great beacon of light once again.

I am so proud.

President Barack Obama.

True.

True....

2008-10-29T13:05:00.001-04:00

More... Jesus help us.

2008-10-19T11:49:00.000-04:00

From the fine (not) folks over at Federal Review we get this little gem...

A new story broke over at the Federal Review entitled:
Oppose Obama and Lose Your Job? Joe the Plumber Gets Threatened By Toledo Officials.
See, it turns out, Joe the Plumber isn't a plumber (doesn't have a license) and because of the media scrutiny the Toledo Division of Building Inspection is trying to contact Joe and let him know he can't work without a license. Hardly a threat.

This is the graphic that accompanied the story at the Federal Review.

This thinking is so sick I don't even know where to begin. If the shoe were on the other foot I wonder how the R's would handle this?

Let's say, a homeless person collecting welfare confronts McCain and asks a question in front of the Media. That person's comments are woven into the presidential debate and therefor the press wants to track it down. Turns out this person isn't eligible for welfare after all and is scamming the system. Would the Federal Review post this headline?

Oppose McCain and Lose Your Benefits? Bob the Welfare Recipient Gets Threatened By Toledo Officials.

Somehow I don't think so...

a LONG three weeks to go....

2008-10-19T11:42:00.001-04:00

Click to see the larger image

Isn't 3 the magic number?

2008-10-16T23:57:00.000-04:00

Isn't 3 a magic number? While it might be… I think the magic number we’re looking for is 270.

Check out these electoral polls: (Need 270 to win) As of 10/16/08

http://www.electoral-vote.com/ (leans left – has Obama at 352)

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ (leans right – has Obama at 286)

http://www.electionprojection.com/index.shtml (overtly republican – has Obama at 369)

http://www.270towin.com/ (Has Obama at 264) and says:

Probability of Reaching 270

Obama - Biden

> 99%

http://www.coldheartedtruth.com/politics/ (has Obama at 338)

http://federalreview.com/ (has Obama at 358)

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ (has Obama at 352.2)

And More Racism...

2008-10-16T23:43:00.000-04:00

Pam, over at Pam's House Blend found more examples of the overt racism....

And I don't even know how to begin to talk about this:

This beauty comes to us from the Sacramento (CA) County Republican web site. Officials there took it down after getting blasted by their own party. Yet this passes for discourse on the right.

The Sacramento Bee intervied Craig MacGlashan who takes credit for the site (www.sacramentorepublicans.org) and its content. He happens to be the husband of Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan.

With the Bee he defended his Web site. "I'm aware of the content," he said. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things."

Really? Waterboard Obama - you can't be sure how people might interpret that?

You might want to contact them:

Betty Axup, 2nd Vice President
(916) 483-8856

William Chan, Membership Secretary
(916) 849-7796

This is what I'm talking about....

2008-10-13T01:34:00.000-04:00

Nicole Belle had a post over over at Crooks and Liars that summed up what I've been fearing:

It's gone too far...

John McCain opened the Pandora's Box of hate and bigotry, of disenfranchisement and scapegoating, and there's no way for him to reel it in. Nor do I suspect that he truly realizes the power of it either. Not when he says things like:

"After I whip his you know what in this debate, we're going to be going out 24/7," McCain said of his upcoming debate with Obama, but seeming to consider recent criticism that his words have been too inflammatory, he quickly told supporters to be respectful.

Really? Telling supporters you're planning on whipping (no loaded imagery there) your opponent seems like a smart way to let them know that they must remain respectful? Frank Rich writes an excellent op-ed on how McCain's campaign has framed their battle against "The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama":

(I)t’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.

What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.

Read the rest.....

I'm getting worried.

2008-10-12T11:06:00.000-04:00

This is what our political discourse has come to. While Obama may not support the policies you like, he is an American. I'm stunned by this level of hatred.

More to come.

Hubris

2008-10-02T15:53:00.000-04:00

And they laughed...

9/11... I'll never forget you

2008-09-12T14:59:00.000-04:00

Hard hitting immigration video

2008-09-08T11:14:00.001-04:00

America's Voice has put out a hard hitting video on immigration.

Check it out.

Really?

2008-09-08T10:05:00.000-04:00

"A small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." - Gov. Sarah Palin at the RNC

Full disclosure - I've been a community organizer for 15 years, so I take this personally. It's one thing to go after your opponents policies or their record, but to demean their work? Their professions?

I'll let Bishop Roy Dixon of the San Diego Organizing Project of the PICO National Network expressed his disappointment here:

"As a life-long Republican, the comments I heard last night about community organizing crossed the line. It is one thing to question someone's experience, another to demean the work of millions of hard working Americans who take time to get involved in their communities. When people come together in my church hall to improve our community, they're building the Kingdom of God in San Diego. We see the fruits of community organizing in safer streets, new parks, and new affordable housing. It's the spirit of democracy for people to have a say and we need more of it."

Others are speaking out as well.

Sarah - I'm guessing you don't understand community organizing. Try asking Angela Liston at Anchorage Faith. She's a community organizer, and according to you, has a lot of time on her hands for chatting. All their doing is bringing together churches and communities together to create safe neighborhoods, tackle affordable health care, push for better education, and secure opportunities for Alaskan youth (aren't these things that something a Governor should be doing?).

Come on Sarah, you should be better than that.

Reverse Swift Boat?

2008-09-08T09:47:00.000-04:00

A former POW is speaking out against McCain. I am opposed to 'swiftboating' and feel that what the Republican's did to Kerry in '04 was despicable.

As you watch this video remember that this is one person's opinion.

What it did do for me was remind me that John wasn't the only POW and simply being a POW isn't a qualifier for higher office.

2008-08-25T15:04:00.001-04:00

Moral Guardians exposed as Hypocrites yet again

2008-08-08T11:13:00.000-04:00

*SIGH*

Honestly I'm disgusted. Yet again we find a Republican at the center of a sex scandal. Why couldn't he just cheat on his wife? Go visit a prostitute or something? But no... Missouri state Representative Scott Muschany was indicted for sexual assault on a 14 year old girl. Muschany had co-sponsored tougher sex offender laws.

And this part just creeps me out: "The document also alleges that the mother "did admit that the incident did take place, including her witnessing same."

Really? Eww....

So I'm talking with a friend who tries to tell me this happens on both sides of the aisle. Yes. But only one side claims to be the moral guardians of the society, knowing what is best for us and damning those who fail to live up to those standards.

From Vito Fosella (R-NY) who loved family values so much he had two families; to Senator Vitter (R-LA) who was a frequent client with a DC Madam (he sponsored the Federal Marriage Amendment) with Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) who was arrested for soliciting gay sex in an airport bathroom; to Mark Foley (R-FL) who was soliciting underage Congressional pages.

If you really want to have your stomach turned... Check out this list of Republican Sex Scandals.
Here is another story on it - from the Salem-News.com: Republican Sex Scandals Dwarf Those of Democrats

Now I know Democrats get involved in scandals as well... I'm not suggesting they don't. But the volume is larger on the right and the hypocrisy is ... well... nauseating.

Are African Americans Missing the Point on Immigration?

2008-08-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

From Eric Ward at Imagine 2050

Eric has another well thought out take on the anti-immigrant groups.

I don’t know about you, but one of the ways that a movie can become one of my all time favorites is by having a great line. The Usual Suspects is one of those movies. Most people like the film because of its incredible acting and one of the best plot twists of all time. I’m not one of those people; I love the film because of one simple line. That point in the film where Kevin Spacey who plays the role of Verbal Kent, who is read more

I'll see you at the debates bitches!

2008-08-07T09:47:00.000-04:00