Alan Grayson sent out this message today:

One of you lucky people is going to receive something wonderful. But first we have to decide what that is.

Due to the kindness and generosity of Howie Klein, an avid Grayson supporter will get ONE of the following items:

1 - A Green Day guitar autographed by all 3 members of the band – a blue Squier Stratocaster.

2 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Platinum Award to Eric Clapton and B.B. King for “Riding With the King.”

3 – The RIAA’s Platinum Award to Frank Sinatra for “The Very Good Years.” This plaque hung in the office of Reprise Records, the company that Sinatra started.

4 - The RIAA’s Multi-Platinum Award to the B-52’s for “Cosmic Thing.”

5 – A rare, framed, numbered art print by famed rock artist Rick Griffin for the Cult's "Wildflower" song, released in 1987. Griffin and all of the band members signed the print.

Howie Klein was the President of Reprise Records for twelve years. Howie Klein is a well-known free speech advocate, a renowned progressive blogger (Down With Tyranny!), and a leader of the Blue America PAC, which has raised more than three million dollars for progressive candidates. Also, a friend.

So here is how this works. First, we have set up a page where you can vote on the item: Green Day, Clapton/King, Sinatra, B-52s or Griffin. Second, anyone who makes a contribution this week on a special webpage that we have set up, called “I Wanna Rock and Roll” (tip of the hat to the band Kiss) will be eligible to receive the item we all choose. (As will anyone who sends an e-mail to rockandroll@graysonforcongress.com.) Void where prohibited, blah, blah, blah.

OK, so:

(1) Vote: Green Day, Clapton/King, Sinatra, B-52s or Griffin.

(2) If you want, make a contribution at the “I Wanna Rock and Roll” webpage. One person will win the item -- once we know what that is. Which we will find out after you all vote.

Got it? Good. Because I’m really curious to know what kind of music you like, and this is one way to find out. So get to it.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

And here you thought that The Manchurian Candidate was just a taut thriller with the odd casting of Angela Lansbury as Laurence Harvey's mother. Not so, says Greg Palast. It's looking very much like our political future:

I'm losing sleep over the millions — or billions — of dollars that could flood into our elections from ARAMCO, the Saudi Oil corporation's U.S. unit; or from the maker of "New Order" fashions, the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Or from Bin Laden Construction corporation. Or Bin Laden Destruction Corporation.

Right now, corporations can give loads of loot through PACs. While this money stinks (Barack Obama took none of it), anyone can go through a PAC's federal disclosure filing and see the name of every individual who put money into it. And every contributor must be a citizen of the USA.

But under today's Supreme Court ruling that corporations can support candidates without limit, there is nothing that stops, say, a Delaware-incorporated handmaiden of the Burmese junta from picking a Congressman or two with a cache of loot masked by a corporate alias.

Candidate Barack Obama was one sharp speaker, but he would not have been heard, and certainly would not have won, without the astonishing outpouring of donations from two million Americans. It was an unprecedented uprising-by-PayPal, overwhelming the old fat-cat sources of funding.

Well, kiss that small-donor revolution goodbye. Under the Court's new rules, progressive list serves won't stand a chance against the resources of new "citizens" such as CNOOC, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Maybe UBS (United Bank of Switzerland), which faces U.S. criminal prosecution and a billion-dollar fine for fraud, might be tempted to invest in a few Senate seats. As would XYZ Corporation, whose owners remain hidden by "street names."[..]

And once the Taliban incorporates in Delaware, they could ante up for the best democracy money can buy.

In July, the Chinese government, in preparation for President Obama's visit, held diplomatic discussions in which they skirted issues of human rights and Tibet. Notably, the Chinese, who hold a $2 trillion mortgage on our Treasury, raised concerns about the cost of Obama's health care reform bill. Would our nervous Chinese landlords have an interest in buying the White House for an opponent of government spending such as Gov. Palin? Ya betcha!

The potential for foreign infiltration of what remains of our democracy is an adjunct of the fact that the source and control money from corporate treasuries (unlike registered PACs), is necessarily hidden. Who the heck are the real stockholders? Or as Butch asked Sundance, "Who are these guys?"

We'll never know.

Scary thought. Richard Power evokes the great Sinclair Lewis cautionary tale of fascism disguised as "freedom", It Can't Happen Here and suggests that the satirical has become too close to the truth:

As craven as much of the leadership of the Democratic Party has become, there is a difference [between the Republican and Democratic Parties], even today, and those who deny that difference are culpable in all that has happened to us. Of course, in the weeks, months and years ahead, there will likely be no difference at all -- because of Citizens United v. [FEC]

As Larisa Alexandrovna points out, in SCOTUS ruling = Powell Memo goal = Fall of democracy..., the decision is not only an abomination in its own right, it is also the achievement of a goal set forth in the Powell Memo.

Now it is not a question of what we must do, but who we are. And the preliminary results on who we are do not bode well.

The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, featuring Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines, Oh, Look At Me Now!

I personally think that Evan Bayh has suffered mightily in comparison to his much more beloved (and for that matter, unapologetically liberal) father, Birch Bayh. For all his hopes of having a notable Senate career, he never did get out of the shadows of his dad. But hey, quit your job with the Senatorial equivalent of a temper tantrum, show your disdain for the democratic process and BOOM! you're in demand for the Sunday shows, especially for whinging how the Democratic Party is capitulating to the "left". Congrats, you has-been, you're on the Sunday shows now. The other oddity for Sunday is not normally a show I even list with the bobbleheads, but First Lady Michelle Obama will be the guest on Mike Huckabee's show, to talk about her pet cause: childhood obesity. There's a joke there, but it just seems too mean to take it.

ABC's "This Week" - Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., and Ed Rendell, D-Pa.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Central Command; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; Reps. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: David Ignatius, Savannah Guthrie, Helene Cooper, John Harris. Topics: The Crucial Crossroads: Will Obama Push His Agenda, or Move to the Middle? Obama's Biggest Asset: Love, Not War, With the Clintons.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Govs. Jim Douglas, R-Vt., and Deval Patrick, D-Mass.; Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; former Rep. Susan Molinari, R-N.Y.; former Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - An exclusive interview with James Baker on everything from the economy to Iran. Plus, is Yemen the next front in the war on terror? Fareed speaks with the country's foreign minister.

CNN's "Amanpour" - Electric Shock: Venezuela's internal crises include energy and water shortages, a significant dip in oil production and the highest inflation in Latin America. We look at how this affects Chavez's base of support. UN: Military Dictatorship? An exclusive interview with the Secretary General of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, Mohammad Javad Larijani, who fiercely defends his country's record on human rights.

"Fox News Sunday" - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Govs. Haley Barbour, R-Miss., and Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich.

So, what's catching your eye this morning?