Does it seem like there's a new Republican scandal in the news every single week? Well, that may be because there is:
Arizona Congressional Candidate 'Pulls a Coffman'
Colin Powell Expresses His Support for Gay Marriage
Teabagger Mark Williams says: 'Obama is an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief' and tries to defend it!
Ed Schultz Brings National Attention to Florida Voter Roll Purge
Church Member Defends NC Pastor: LGBT People 'Worthy of Death' |
Church Member Defends NC Pastor: LGBT People 'Worthy of Death' |
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Colin Powell Takes Hannity to Task for His Obsession with Bill Ayers and Rev. Wright |
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John Fugelsang: Only in America Can You Be Pro-Death Penalty, Pro-Torture... and Still Call Yourself Pro-Life |
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Arizona Congressional Candidate 'Pulls a Coffman' |
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CNN Host Probes Tony Perkins: 'Why Do Homosexuals Bother You So Much?' |
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Bill Maher Knocks Liberty University: It Cheapens My Degree From a Real School |
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Compassionate Conservatism: Romney Meets Medical Marijuana Patient |
| Plays: 2237 Downloads: 245 | |
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Stockman: Romney Can't Say He Learned How to Create Jobs in the Leveraged Buyout Business |
| Plays: 2264 Downloads: 165 | |
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Krugman: Romney's Business Career is Fair Game |
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Steve Rattner Says Romney Was Not A Job Creator |
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President Obama Asks to See Betty White's Long Form Birth Certificate |
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SNL: Limbaugh Announces New Sponsors |
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'Family Guy' Does the Tea Party |
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Crowd at Santorum Rally Horrified When Two Men Kiss |
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Bill Maher Knocks Liberty University: It Cheapens My Degree From a Real School |
| Plays: 3523 Downloads: 200 |
Perhaps the only way one can serve is if one is a compromised individual. Men who are attracted to young men who also proclaim to be family values guys can probably be counted on to "do the right thing". Perhaps Senator Craig was made an example to try and keep the representatives in line as support for the Iraq slaughter falls apart? Craig's behavior was not a secret.
When you set yourself up as a moral authority, and live your live by absolutes (at least in public), then you end up breaking the rules covertly. And your sense of perspective is screwed ... if everything is a sin, then all sins are equal. Sooner or later, that's going to come out.
dISTRACTIONS DISTRACTIONS,
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/1/183018/1527
This Iran crap is a helluvalot more important than a stupid senator. Seems like its more than a rumor that we'll be attacking anytime.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2369001.ece
This will be the September the world remembers.
Curtilingus @ 3:
The Iran attack has been in the works for years. Everyone knows its insane but since the people running things right now are insane it does seem possible.
Miss Cellania @ #2 -- Very well said.
Independents and Moderates try time and again to tell Conservatives that you can't legislate morality, but conservatives still don't believe it...
It looks like the tighter and tighter the Republican party defines themselves, the fewer and fewer people fit the mold. The end result is quite a few people at the margins.
Report: The Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.
-------
It's ugly.
We need to co opt some of the slimy tactics employed by Republicans. Start "push polling" deep into the bible belt with things like "Are you disturbed by the number of republicans who engage the services of gay prostitutes?" Playing clean is a good way to lose elections.
V V
I think I've uncovered a new, nefarious scheme by the White House: the undermining of prominent minorities. I realized it after reading this article on Condoleezza Rice in the NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/washington/01rice.html) regarding her fall from prominence as a respected foreign affairs expert.
The Republican leadership is placing respected minorities such as Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and (sort of respected) Alberto Gonzales in positions of power and making them implement ridiculously flawed and incompetent public policies. Of course, given the chance to be role models to other minorities desperately in need of positive influences, these once respected public officials were compelled to serve. Knowing their desperation to set a good example and serve honorably, the administration maliciously supplied them with idiotic talking points and ridiculous policies to nationally undermine the abilities of minorities to govern.
At least, that's the only way I can understand it.
anonymousryan @ 9:
Err, that should be something like "undermine the reputation of minorities' abilities to govern." The administrations incompetence, largely created by old, white men, won't affect the actual abilities of minorities in government.
Vitam Vas @ 8:
And at what point do "we" turn into "them"? I guess I'm of a mind that two wrongs don't make a right. Or I'd rather lose on my own terms than win on anyone else's terms. I am not naive enough to think that politics can't be brutal... but I still believe that if you have a populist message that resonates with the people like Kucinnich or Edwards... then I think that you are going to be ok.
I guess this will be George's pre-emptive nuclear holocaust.
The repuke party is now exactly like what they've always railed against; the old soviet communist party.
Communism looks downright attractive under this regime.
LibertyLover @ 11:
Those are lovely flowers you have in your hair. And the rainbows in your eyes cast a warm glow on an otherwise shit-stained reality.
I'd like to agree with you ... but I can't. We have the closest thing to a dictatorship this country may have ever seen because the democratic party keeps over-estimating the population's willingness to be reasonable.
I don't give a shit how we get these crooks out of office. But once (if) we do, then I'll hold my party's leadership to higher standards when governing. I'm willing to suspend my outrage during the campaign; I just kinda wish they'd find a way to win an election.
Once we get the power again, by whatever means necessary, we can fix it so no one can play dirty.....but in order to do that we have to get it back.
V V
"Is it time for good liberal/bad liberal?"
"I'm a different kind of liberal"
V V
PurplePatriot @ 15:
OK, OK. Uncle! :lol: Maybe I am being a little polyannaish and maybe it is wishful thinking... but all I know is that when WE vote, WE win. I hate to stoop to Rove's levels - he makes my skin crawl ... but you do have a good point but I guess I wish it wasn't necessary.
man there's a real boy scout is trying to run as a dem against mitch mcconell in kentucky. mc is up for reelection this fall and this guy could beat the pants off him.
he needs some love tho.
i don't know if ppl out side that voting district can sign the petition. I contacted them just a few min. ago to find if I am ok to sign-i'm in bush dog dem chandler's district--i voted for that rat fink. :(
anyway check out this guys brief bio he sounds pretty good to me.
http://drafthorne.org/
Iran.
OK enough about Iran. Did I ever tell you how much I like smoking dope?
I hate it when people start humping "Iran", I just have to say that is WHAT Bushco wants , and that is what CNN wants...they want us all scared and not thinking straight. I mean have we heard ANYONE with a brain mention Iran - NO....and no other fine real journalism ( BBC, Guardian etc) have done any focus pieces on iran...the ONLY person that says Iran is a threat is dumbassDubya...that is all...I think we should see what Leahy and Conyers are up to...and the Iraq report comes out Sept 15th...and I hope many do go to DC that day.
US out of the Middle East, entirely, NOW.
Vitam Vas @ 8:
I would rather lose elections than lose my moral compass.
In the name of democracy we have subverted our democracy. In the name of peace we wage war. In the name of God we persecute those of different faiths.
Forget it. I am not dancing to your tune.
24 xoites defends Constitution is right.
about tactics to use to educate the bible belt. billboards. lots of small picture ads in all kinds of publications: small town newspapers, penny saver type papers. informative, true short radio spots-maybe done by some famous voices? willie nelson? they love geoge clooney in kentucky. make it all stuff that is easy to verify.
i don't know -- gigantic blow ups of geoge bush holding hands with that arab guy. tom delay's mugshot. one or two big fat juicy sentences from one of the most recent sex scandals police reports. how about a big pic of someone wearing an adult diaper with that congressman's face photo shopped onto it.
with name, party affiliation and area 'served' displayed.
also if that time line was published in a whole bunch of newspapers it would reach joe six-pack lots easier.
the left should not focus too much on just the internet where a lot of the time we are preaching to the choir.
PurplePatriot @ 15:
As soon as you follow "the ends justify the means" approach you lose me.
Every single time.
don't cha hate it when you push submit and your comment disappears? i do.
look at it !
that shit made it!
grr
OK some comic relief.
Here's George Bush giving a less coherent answer to a question than the 17 yo beauty queen's answer to geography and education.
Scroll to Bill mahrer clip.
http://www.onegoodmove.org/1gm/
Jenny'O @ 27:
Yes, i do hate it. One thing you can do is copy what you just typed before submiting (if you can remember, sometimes i forget).
Curtilingus @ 29:
The 17 year old beauty queen from South Carolina is definitely brighter than our president. Isn't it sad?
OK I finally read the link on this open thread header. If you added the list of democrat shenanigans, wouldn't it read like a comprehensive directory of our government?
As Roger waters said in an interview I heard more than 20 years ago, our election system inevitably picks the worst possible person for the job. It doesn't matter much if they are democrat or republican.
Curtilingus @ 32:
Perhaps it is a matter of "worse" and "worser."
I did not like Clinton for a lot of reasons but the Republicans climbed up on their high horse screaming about how moral they all are. Turns out they are sinners too.
It is the paid lobbyists (who should be outlawed) and the campaign contributions (which should also be outlawed) that have given us what we have today (and have had for several decades): a corrupt self perpetuationg system that takes as much as possible from those least able to afford it and gives the most to those least in need while killing or disgracing anyone who gets in the way.
They did so well with scandals they made it a weekly series?
I hear you on the money xiotes.
I gave a speech in a college class in the mid 80's about campaign finance reform. In my naive mind back then it seemed like it could solve just about all our election woes. I think my naive mind might have been right.
Curtilingus @ 36:
Out of the mouth of babes... :)
The pursuit of total, perfect and legislated morality will bring this country to its knees.
I guess that pun was intended.
All this chatter reminds me of what one of my English professors pointed out: "The longer you suppress a fantasy, the more perverse it becomes."
our election system is rigged from the get go . . .
Curtilingus @ 33:
Well, I'm not sure that's necessarily true. However, it is indeed our ELECTORAL SYSTEM that needs to be changed. Electoral reform ought to be a priority of anyone who values our republic. Not just the electoral college that selects our presidents, and not just the Diebold machines, but the entire mechanism by which we elect any officer to represent us.
Most Americans aren't aware that other kinds of electoral systems even exist. And there are ways of incorporating the better aspects of other systems into the one that we currently have.
Oh, and on whether to adopt the slime and smear tactics of the Roves of the world, I don't think we need to "stoop to their level" per se. However, if your opponent brings brass knuckles and knives into the ring, there's not much sense in pretending it's a fair fight, and abiding by the Marquess of Queensbury Rules out of principle. You're gonna get your teeth knocked out.
No, we need to learn to simplify and unify our message, and be willing to fight back fast and hard whenever they come at us with slime. We need to understand their underhanded tactics, and learn to manipulate language in a manner akin to Republicans, but in order better to persuade people that our side is the right side. People already believe it anyway. We just need to show them. We just can't pretend that the Republicans fight fair, and insist on playing as though the world were ideal. If that sounds wishy washy or inconsistent, I apologize. Somewhere, though, there is a happy medium between becoming them and acquiescing to them.
Karen we need Our Election System Protected and resurrected at this point- it is in trouble...and the next election is the ONLY chance we have to get this country back...and back on track..the whole world is watching...and waiting for US to get it right...and this time we should not let ANyone steal it- even it means we need to fight for a REAL recount...( Kerry whimped out and ALL of us and Iraq are paying daily for his cowardice)
Even if we are able to sway the pendulum back, this will happen again and again if we do not give more power to the states and begin to dismantle and decrease the size of the federal government. Some how get the message out about self sufficiency and living locally. It is a strategic advantage that most other countries have over us and we have forgotten about it as a way of living. We hinge on everything our government does because we are joined to it at the hip. That kind of co-dependence can't be healthy in the long run.
Arnie backs universal health care. China's yuan goes a long way. Eighteen hundred dead Iraqis this past month. California water use is killing fish.
enigma4ever @ 41:
I don't disagree with that. Though, when I speak of electoral reform, I'm talking more about revolutionizing the system by which we elect people -- the way we allocate representation. Our single-member, winner-takes-all districts are anachronisms today. No emerging democracy adopts our system. It's archaic. It makes little sense in modern politics. Few countries cling to it. Revamping our electoral system so that parties and ideologies are better represented would go a long way to solving a lot of the problems we all lament in our political system.
I hesitate somewhat to talk at length about it here. I babble about it a lot late night on blogs. Though, I still welcome e-mails if anyone wants to learn more about what I'm talking about. :) (Shameless plug of myself and my writings, I know. Sorry.)
Karen wouldn't you agree that there is a huge problem and lack of distinction between all the front running candidates, be they democrat or republican? they are speaking the same, similar message because they're money is coming from the same/similar sources.
The only ones that are free to change their message are the ones that "Don't stand a chance" like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich. This is dam good support for the notion that the system is so messed up it does not distinguish between democrat and republican anymore.
Karen
I think you can fight tough and fair, it may not be the easy way but the results of everyone fighting dirty in this country are too horrible to contemplate.
Mesia reform is also a top priority. If we can figure out a way to divest these media empires of all their influence things would change in a hurry.
Plug away. :)
Curtilingus @ 45:
I think there is definitely a truth to what you're saying. Indeed the system is so rotten that it needs a revolution. Nevertheless, I still hesitate to say that there is "no difference" between the Democrats and the Republicans. The difference might be shrinking by the minute, but at this point in time, it matters. I would still rather have, say, Edwards than Giuliani. I'd still rather have, say, Obama than Romney. I don't think the differences are so small that such choices don't matter at all.
As for only having the marginalized candidates free to speak their minds, that's absolutely true. And it's part and parcel of our electoral system. And not just for president. Forcing each candidate to aim for that 50%+ fosters partisan duopoly, "centrist" and meaningless stances, mudslinging and more. Until we adopt a new system, though, that's what we'll typically get.
If Hilary is the Dem nominee - we could have 28 years of bushs and clintons should she win elections.
Regardless of her merits as a candidate - is anyone else concerned about this?
Though we broke away from the king/queen thing?
xoites defends Constitution @ 46:
Agreed. Though I stumbled a bit on your typo. Messiah reform? What happened to xoites? Then, of course, I read on, and realized what you meant. :lol:
Vitam Vas @ 8:
Watch Bill Moyers' "Secret Government." After WWII we decided that we had to use covert operations to fight the USSR because "they" were doing it.
The CIA went from intelligence gathering to running top secret activities aimed at undermining or overthrowing governments we didn't like.
Because the operations were top secret, there was no accountability for their actions. When these activities were exposed during the 70's, many people were upset to learn what our government had been up to. We had become like "them."
Our government was involved in assassinations, drug smuggling, bizarre plots and overthrowing democratically elected leaders in order to install "friendly" dictators. Worst of all, many if not most of these operations were done in the interests of a small group of wealthy and politically connected individuals (and the corporations they controlled) rather than the public at large.
It also turned out that often the only people that things were kept secret from were the American voters. A good example is the "secret war" in Laos. The North Vietnamese knew we were in Laos, and so did the Laotions. But the American people were the last to know.
Why is this relevent? Because that's what happens when we compromise our principles in order to "win."
I'd rather lose than become like "them."
Of course, telling the truth is not a slimy tactic.
Karen @ 49:
Karen @ 51:
Hell Yeah! We need Messiah reform too!
myiq2xu @ 52:
Exactly. Very well stated.
littlebear @ 53:
xoites defends Constitution @ 55:
You overlooked the most important "compromise" - a coup de'tat in 1963 - jfk assassination which made the nixon admin and both bush admins possible. It is actually what paved the way for chimpy's criminal cabal.
Check it out: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2928756561478705121&q=conspiracy
littlebear @ 53:
Anyone want a car that runs on compressed air? :)
Karen @ 56:
I do! I like things that make loud noises when they explode!
the QUOTE THIS COMMENT feature really sucks...
Karen @ 59:
So can it run on farts, belches, and republican talking points? If so, I know some people that would really get a lot of economic fuel
littlebear @ 62:
That's what Fox says about the blogosphere!
Curtilingus @ 61:
Great - I got a ford pinto I would love to sell ya...
Karen
I have some problems with Nader too, but not sure i would go that far.
The purging of the voting rolls in Florida seems to be the real determiner in that election. A full recount done later of the entire state by several journalists gave Kerry the election.
In 2004 precincts in Ohio reported 12,000 votes for Bush while having only 8,000 registered voters. Interestingly almost all the ballots in Ohio have been since destroyed.
I lived in Maryland during both elections and i could vote for anyone i wanted and the Democrat would win. I voted for Nader in 2000 and Gore won Maryland. I voted straight democrat in 2004. Kerry won in Maryland.
My vote in either case really did not count.
We need to scrap the electoral college.
Curtilingus @ 64:
well, gotta admit, at least QUOTE THIS COMMENT feature can be used to spread the truth, unlike faux new...
The "sting" narrative is sure being pushed for the Craig story. The AP has it, the AFP (both on Yahoo News), Google News gets 2,870 hits for "craig sting", there's even an editorial in the Washington Post, "A Sting He Didn't Deserve".
Boo fucking hoo. Apparently, seeming to respond to gay restroom signals by moving your foot is considered tantamount to an elaborate confidence game; specifically : such a game worked by undercover police in order to trap criminals.. Yeah, I saw Rockford do it once.
Give me a break. The cop was basically sitting there to see what was going on in the restroom, and Craig aggressively pursued him. What kind of "sting" was it when Craig was peeping into the stall?
littlebear @ 62:
I think you actually like the quote the comment feature little bear.
Curtilingus @ 68:
You keep pressing the button over and over.
tell us how much you hate it again...
Curtilingus @ 68:
prefer to copy N paste and add the italics myself - seems the italics carry over sometimes and make the quote indistinguishable from the comment
Curtilingus @ 69:
how much do I hate it? let me count the ways...
Excellent I got the 69 slot again!
Woohoo!
littlebear @ 67:
how much do I hate it? let me count the ways…
Thank the flying spaghetti monster for CONTROL C (copy) and CONTROL V (paste)
Ooh. Speaking of the flying spaghetti monstor, I tried something really cool today. Google's hidden flight simulator.
Open the latest google earth, press control + alt + A. The simulator opens. You can take off from several airports around the globe, and it uses the same data that google earth uses. Unbelieveably cool, free, and everyone has access to it.
littlebear @ 74:
The flying spaghettie monster didn't invent CTRL-C CTRL-V. It just allowed it to happen...
Karen @ 49:
It was difficult enough to get our current system enacted, back when the US was relatively homogenous group of 13 former colonies geographically isolated from Europe. Even if you could get a majority to agree to scrap the current system, you would never get them to agree on what to replace it with.
Revolutions are violent and bloody, and don't necessarily produce positive results. Any political system is going to have to deal with corruption and the abuse of power.
We should focus on reforming and repairing the system we have, rather than overthrowing it and starting over.
Remember back in 2000, when Ralph Nader and the Green party said there was no real difference between Bush and Gore? Does anyone still believe that?
littlebear @ 62:
Sorry, i guess i may have over used it a bit tonight.
Oops! There i go again!
Curtilingus @ 4:
yep......it was reported that Iran has been firing shells into N Iraq(the Kurds) for over 3 weeks now...not sure if i beleive it or not yet....but we'll have to wait and see..
I hear you Karen but I think alot started to go south when our government increased its size and presence between wwI and II. Although many great social programs came from that period, it created a behemoth that started to sustain and fund itself with little input from the people. It had to serve the interest of an extremely diverse and unevenly populated nation. Shifting power to the states may have some disastrous consequences but I'm willing to take the chance. Two layers of redundant government structure are bankrupting our country, create a separation between the people and their government, and are also more a republic, than a democracy.
mudshark @ 79:
Who reported it? If the news came from the
Roach MotelWhite House or one of their shills, don't believe any of it.Mudshark I saw a similar report and that's the first thing I thought, that it wasn't entirely true.
remember Turkey was invading the Kurds just a few weeks ago?
WTF happened to that?
Isn't that just as bad, or is it worse when Iranians do it?
Their trying to divide up the electoral votes here in Calif...I would just as soon get rid of the whole electoral college.....popular vote works better.
Popular vote = democracy
Electoral college, representative government = republic
I think I read it today on MSN.com...news.....how is anyone supposed to believe anything they read now?After all the lies we've gone through.......Bill Maher was right about one thing.....Cynicism
myiq2xu @ 77:
Revolutions are violent and bloody, and don't necessarily produce positive results. Any political system is going to have to deal with corruption and the abuse of power.
We should focus on reforming and repairing the system we have, rather than overthrowing it and starting over.
Remember back in 2000, when Ralph Nader and the Green party said there was no real difference between Bush and Gore? Does anyone still believe that?
Heh, well, I already answered the part about there being no difference between Republicans and Democrats as per Nader's assertion. And anyone who believes no difference exists between Bush and Gore is living outside of reality.
As for electoral revolution, I wasn't using the term in the violent sense. I think we can reform our system in such a way that it "revolutionizes" politics. I've written rather extensively on the subject. ;)
And it has to start slowly. No, you'll never get a majority of the U.S. to agree on a new system. And it doesn't matter much anyway, since we don't have any national elections in this country.
No, we need to demonstrate in municipalities, cities, and then states, that there are other systems by which representation and power can be allocated. I designed a system myself specifically to work within the current U.S. voting process. One that would withstand judicial scrutiny, ask voters to do nothing differently from what they do today (pick their one favorite candidate on a ballot) and yet offer better choice and better representation. It's called "Consensual Representation." Again, happy to e-mail anyone who wants more information or my writings themselves.
What? Xoites said I could plug away. ;)
Curtilingus @ 84:
Not quite.
Without an electoral college we still get a representative government but large states get less pull in a general election for President.
mudshark @ 83:
I agree. Do you know that there is nothing in the Constitution that says you even get to vote for President? States can choose "electors" any way they want. Although all states choose electors by a vote, it would be constitutional for it to be done by a state's legislature or governor. State legislatures used to pick the Senators until the 17th Amendment was passed.
84 Curtilingus
(This will be my third attempt to respond to this.)
Not quite. Without the electoral vote we will still have Representative Government but the large states will not have as much influence over who is elected President in a General Election.
Curtilingus @ 80:
As a libertarian-influenced progressive, I'm quite open to these kinds of arguments. :)
Personally, I do think there are a lot of Constitutional and practical problems with the growth of the federal government. If you ask me, though, it's not the programs themselves, but the fact that no Constitutional philosophy, method or justification for them was ever really devised. Instead, the Supreme Court abandoned it's strict scrutiny of economic programs in favor of a "presumption of Constitutionality" for almost anything citizens couldn't prove was unconstitutional. That's ass backwards. Citizens should not have to prove that the government is acting unconstitutionally. The government should be forced to prove that it's actions are Constitutional.
Incidentally, this jurisdprudential presumption is causing a lot of problems in the basic civil liberties arena as well. Good luck trying to enforce your unenumerated rights in a system that presumes the government is acting properly.
The thing is, though, a sound philosophy and method can be devised to determine precisely what the federal government can and cannot do. We've just never really done it. I wouldn't say simply that I want to dismantle the federal government. I just want to devise sound arguments and processes of reasoning that enable us to discuss, adjudicate and allocate power in a principled fashion.
Maybe we could sub out the government. Hire the dutch to do it or something. We'd save a lot of money, the government would be more efficient and we wouldn't have to deal with all this election nonsense.
86 Karen
Please be aware that i do not run C&L, i am neither a contributor nor a monitor. I just have a big mouth. :)
xoites defends Constitution @ 91:
I'm well aware. ;)
What ever we do it has to be radical. It cant be subtle and it can't be slow change.
It may also deal with the undoing of the corporate entity. If all business were proprietors or partners, it would bring accountability back to that level of power and influence.
:O
Curtilingus @ 93:
I would disagree. Radical change is disruptive, and you need to allow for the law of unintended consequences.
myiq2xu @ 95:
No matter what we do and even if we do nothing there will be unintended consequences.
Hmmm. Bush signed this? Billions of funding for science? Our Bush? Was there a signing statement that said the funding would actually go to his church or something?
I missed this somehow. (I'm too friggen busy these days.) I wish it had received more coverage, so we could debate how Bush has undermined science in during his stolen office tenure.
Karen @ 97:
He can't veto everything.
xoites defends Constitution @ 98:
Don't tempt him. :)
Seriously, though, I'm surprised this passed at all. And it appears to have been a bipartisan effort. I'd kinda like to follow the studies that they do. And have it get more coverage. I mean, the fact that we're so behind in science education and understanding in this country is horrible. We don't seem to manufacture anything anymore, and we're not innovating. Not to mention that we're plagued by irrational theocrats who deny the legitimacy of science anyway.
Karen @ 99:
Of course they dumb this all down - could never get away with such blatantly stolen elections and the repugs know that their agenda would never be supported by the majority of Americans.
They rule by fear, ignorance, and hook & crook
Pretty difficult to get citizens to support fake terrorist attacks and the exploitation of that fear to enable the military industrial complex to steal BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars from the federal treasury.
To really understand the depth of the criminality behind this administration, you must watch this: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2928756561478705121&q=conspiracy
Of course, the chimp-in-chief is not really our problem. He is just the moron that they parade in front of the cameras and microphones to distract us from the real issues.
I want to see a scientific study on how the right consolidated media power and convinced Americans they have no power so they should just shut up and let the media do the talking for them.
Not that i would expect it to be reported on...
The republican party has evolved into a major criminal enterprise, however, to be fair one needs to know history.
The republican party was created as a "recasting" of the old WHIG party that became unelectable after years and years of corruption and scandal.
They stood for BIG GOVERNMENT and using the federal treasury as a public trough to enrich the politically well connected.
This is really what the party of Lincoln was all about - that is why they chose to run a railroad lawyer in the first place.
Of course, the criminality of the current repug crooks greatly exceeds that of the WHIG party - one can only hope/pray that they suffer the same fate - political extinction.
xoites defends Constitution @ 102:
Thats easy - 5 global corporations control 80 percent of the media. They have decided that these assets are more valuable "catapulting the propaganda" than being legitimate sources of information to keep the public informed.
There is much more money looting the federal treasury as a result of the media lies than there is in running an honest news media.
xoites defends Constitution
Here's your study - its all about the consolidation of ownership and the elimination of "free markets" for news:
Media Consolidation on NOW
http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/mediaconsol.html
littlebear @ 104:
You are correct, stating it is easy. Scientifically studying the history and the process that allowed or encouraged it with an eye on dismantling it and preventing it from ever happening again is not.
xoites defends Constitution @ 102:
Don't know about a study. But such control over the media has happened before in the U.S. J.P. Morgan Interests Buy 25 of America's Leading Newspapers and Insert Editors
History isn't much use for predicting the future. But it at least let's us see if we're repeating the same mistakes.
xoites defends Constitution @ 106:
Of course it is easy - just follow the money trail and look at the who owns who. There really isn't any need for anything else.
No? No study to figure out how to end it forever?
Because i sure as hell do not know how.
If the news media is owned by people that directly profit from the propaganda that the same media "catapults", what else is there to "study"?
But nothing will change as long as we just pay attention to the chimps, morons, and criminals that they parade in front of the cameras and microphones.
The people that are looting BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS know that you have to be very quiet when you steal - they use the likes of chimpy and cheney as distractions.
xoites defends Constitution @ 109:
great question - the answer is to STOP SUPPORTING THE CORPORATIONS THAT ADVERTISE IN THE MSM!!!!!
Of course, the so-called "advertise liberally" crowd has flamed and banned that dialog, but obviously the superblogs have the reach and power to put out a meaningful call to action.
There was once a Web and organization called BUYBLUE.ORG but they could get no support...
The only vote you have that is actually counted is the DOLLARS you spend - but for some reason, discussion that in most self-proclaimed "liberal" online forums is flamed or banned.
Karen @ 97:
This should shed some light on the subject:
"This legislation shares many of the goals of my American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI)," Bush said after signing the bill.
"ACI is one of my most important domestic priorities because it provides a comprehensive strategy to help keep America the most innovative nation in the world by strengthening our scientific education and research, improving our technological enterprise, and providing 21st century job training," he added.
Bush praised legislators for their "bipartisan spirit" in tackling the competitiveness challenge. He also chastised Congress, however, for failing to authorize his Adjunct Teacher Corps program. He also complained that the new legislation "includes excessive authorizations and expansion of government."
The act creates more than 30 new programs "that are mostly duplicative or counterproductive," Bush charged, including a new Department of Energy agency to fund late-stage technology development "more appropriately left to the private sector."
Such duplications and excesses "will divert resources and focus from priority activities aimed at strengthening the basic research that has given our nation such a competitive advantage in the world economy," he added.
"Accordingly, I will request funding in my 2009 budget for those authorizations that support the focused priorities of the ACI, but will not propose excessive or duplicative funding based on authorizations in this bill," Bush said.
Goodnight all. I enjoyed the conversation. :)
Sleep becons...zzzzzzzzzzzzz
I really know how to clear a room:(
Let's see, about 15 months, at roughly 4 a month: 15 x 4 = 60 more scandals to go before November 2008 elections. I'm stocking up on popcorn.
PS: I am gay and would never attempt what Craig did. I know cops patrol washrooms (whether we like it or not; simple fact. Don't like it? Tell your Congressman.). If you like that type of danger, go for it, but don't go crying when you get nabbed. Everyone knows it's a "no no" and there are risks. Those risks, and fag bashing too. Fag bashing goes on every day of the year. Common sense required.
[deleted--anti-Semitism is not welcome here.]
"We Are Going To Hit Iran. Bigtime"
I have a friend who is an LSO on a carrier attack group that is planning and staging a strike group deployment into the Gulf of Hormuz. (LSO: Landing Signal Officer- she directs carrier aircraft while landing) She told me we are going to attack Iran. She said that all the Air Operation Planning and Asset Tasking are finished. That means that all the targets have been chosen, prioritized, and tasked to specific aircraft, bases, carriers, missile cruisers and so forth.
I asked her why she is telling me this.
Her answer was really amazing.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/1/183018/1527
This is war.
Wasn't there a "Sweet 16" of GOP members that need to retire/get busted that was a spoof of March Madness? I remember that some 13 or 14 of them from the 2006 edition actually did leave, most of them due to a scandal. I forgot what the 2007 edition looked like.
VIDEO MARINES KILLING CIVILIANS IRAQ
http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/987/59/
K I still hesitate to say that there is "no difference" between the Democrats and the Republicans. Isn't that how we got the the chimperor in the first place - in 2000 nader spread that lie and it provided the cover to steal that election.
I don't know that it was a lie - Nader said America would never wake up to the damage corporate fascism would do to the country until we experienced the full effects of it. The full effects are what we've been getting the last 6 years, and maybe it's made people take more notice. It's certainly caused a huge rise in progressive successes at the local and state level. the only true and lasting way Democrats rebuild is from the local level upward - it's Dean's 50 state strategy: all politics is local; it's where people truly change their attitudes. If you believe that Dems who really want change, must also be supporting those national candidates that recognize and believe it too - I think that's Edwards and to some extent Obama - but Hillary hasn't come on board yet - she's still counting on the big money and media blitzes; she's still one of the no-difference politicians.
what's disheartening is there are still 4 months left in the year. makes me wonder what other scandals will surface?
i didn't understand the video on al franken and the picture of norm coleman. coleman is a republican and as such is supporting every move gw makes. i don't find that too surprising. what am i missing. it's really early here and i know i must not be thinking right, so give a fellow some help. ron.
Orangutan @ 121:
Dante: ...
Circumstances don't make people --- they REVEAL THEM
especially appropriate. what is the fear in all of this, first, these soldiers will return to the US as civilians some day and they will bring their baggage, their hatred with them and i fear it will be directed at any people of color or in fact anyone who utters anything negative about our involvement in this "war." Secondly, the attitude of those in the video i'm afraid is not unique. this is the attitude of the majority of those in uniform. Forget the ill conceived philosophy that placed them there or the brain washing they underwent to keep them as the fine, uncaring heartless killing machines that they are, just know that they represent the majority of those who serve, those who represent us. if that be true, and i truly believe that it is, we as a country have no hope. GW, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
IRAQ is and was about killing perceived third world minorities to achieve power and oil. the crook now is trying to push iran on us in the same way. Fear them, fight them there so we don't fight them here, they have "nuclar" capability. Again this will be a war perpetrated again a perceived third world country that supposedly cannot stand up against the might of the united states. odd thing, people have the inner strength to fight back when it's their homeland and their families and their culture that they are defending. would you do any less. in doing so, what would you be called, a terrorist or a patriot.
GOD BLESS AMERIKA.
Orangutan @ 121:
Ah, shit. I don't even know what to say.
Islamabad News For Musharraf
anonymousryan @ 9:
As a 'minority', I must disagree. The people you cited, as well as 50% of the Congressional Black Caucus and Barack Obama, are conscious, responsible adults.
It was a conscious decision on Colon's part to spew his lies before the world stage.
It was a conscious decision on Condimelda's part to spew her lies on every talk show she could. It was also her conscious decision to shop for shoes while 'her people' were drowning in NOLa.
It is an ongoing conscious decision on the part of Clarence to join in SCOTUS rulings which oppress, women and minorities and the poor in this country.
It is an ongoing conscious decision on the part of the CBC to promote and support legislation which promotes and supports corporate objectives over the interest and often against the better interests of the citizens of the US.
It is an ongoing conscious decision on the part of Barack Obama to promise to bomb Iran, deal with dictators and propose corporatized solutions to the problems Americans face.
The Alberto saga is beyond pathetic.
Even if they are being used, all are being consciously, willingly complicit in their own being used and often have profited handsomely from it and continue to do so.
mudshark @ 79:
reported by whom?
xoites defends Constitution @ 27:
As soon as you follow "the ends justify the means" approach you lose me.
Every single time.
====
Which is why you voted for Nader ... which is why Bush is el Presidente. I'm not talking about a complete sellout and subversion of what we feel is important morally. What I'm talking about is calling a spade a spade.
Instead of taking the high road and expecting the truth to prevail, e.g. the swiftboating of Kerry, I'd like to see the dems grow a pair and say, "No. Fuck you. This is the truth. How dare you!" I'd like to see them grow a pair and say, "Morals? Family values? How about this ..." Then follow it up with thirty minutes of why the repubs are dirty, lying hypocrites.
They give the dems plenty to work with; but the dems won't take the truth and use it to shove it up the republicans' asses. Fuck the high road. If it's true, and not illegal, then say it. We'd still at least be better than them; because they won't even hold themselves to that standard.
I'm not disparaging your sense of morality, or your opinons. But Xoites, you need to run for office. Run an honorable campaign based on the ideals of goodness. Then see how much good you can really do outside of being able to claim you stood by your values. In the meantime, I'm cynical enough to expect that you'd lose the election to a process that doesn't give a shit about your values. Then some asshole who wants to funnel money to his rich friends will win the office and you've changed nothing.
Do we have to become them? No. But we sure the hell could do a better job of using their own tactics to shove it right back up their asses. We can still be honest and stand for what is right while we're skewering them by pointing out how full of shit they are.
enigma4ever @ 22:
Study: US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran
Read the Story, source it, then believe it or not!
xoites defends Constitution @ 27:
There is an integral difference difference....we would be telling the truth, as opposed to the lies that they push when they do this. And regarding all this high mindedness, I'm not willing to have the blood of another million dead Arabs on my hands, and another half trillion dollars pumped out of the national treasury (where it could be paying for Universal Healthare or alleviating a famine in Africa........) into the hands of military industrial scum so I can smugly stand around saying "I stand by my principles.
V V
Curtilingus @ 82:
are you assuming the shelling from Iran story is true?
myiq2xu @ 52:
You're comparing apples to oranges. No one said that we should be conducting secret wars or otherwise governing like they do......but they have actually through various means fully distorted the reality (giving tax cuts to rich guys and allowing the minimum wage to be a pittance is actually GOOD for me) of some of their followers, and we need to get out the big nasty guns to combat this.
At least you draw a distinction between our telling the truth with these tactics and their lies.
V V
BaScOmBe @ 134:
Never going to be sure of anything anymore....but google Iran attacking the Kurds...and take a look...
131 PurplePatriot
133 Vitam Vas
PurplePatriot @ 15:
Your words speak more for my point than for your own.
You want to use slime tactics? Join the Republican Party.
anonymous @ 127:
say fuck shit! its all a video game , no people were hurt or killed its sheer joy , and these assholes will come back and feel its ok to herd our ass into consintration camps, good thing ive got protection !
tyree @ 138:
Actually, Tyree, most come back and only then realize what they have done.
yeah thats why they sell thier ass to the military for another tweny grand reupping for more of that shit , very few see that they are just mercenarys fucking over folks for the corporations , twenty grand buys a lot of sadists!
xoites defends Constitution @ 137:
You want to keep losing? Join the green party.
PurplePatriot @ 141:
Well said. No, the ends don't always justify the means. But sometimes they do. And reasonable intelligent people free of ignorance, bigotry, racism, xenophobia, et. all, can make rational decisions about where the line needs to be drawn. This is an integral difference between "us and them" so well will never BE them.
V V
I understand the cops busted Barney for soliciting an undercover toy poddle at a fire hydrant.
BaScOmBe @ 130:
MSNBC and the ASSociated Press.. no less. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20542458/
Republican politicians have to live a double life because most of them are educated enough to know that their uneducated constituents don't know what is good for themselves, and the world. Still, I think the real scandal with the last two in-the-closet repugs is the fact that cops are hiding in our bathrooms
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