Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Clear And Present Danger!

I am reprinting this post in entirety from yesterday's News From The Underground because I firmly the belive that the real battle in this election is going to take place at the voting booths. The attempt to steal this election is a clear and present danger to our Republic and it is imperative that you educate yourself and others to this danger!


SPOONAMORE REVEALS THE PLAN TO STEAL THE NEXT ELECTION
Here, in this shattering new interview, Stephen Spoonamore goes into harrowing detail about the Bush regime's election fraud, past, present and--if we don't spread the word right now--to come. Since he's the only whistle-blower out there who knows the perps themselves, and how they operate, we have to send this new piece far and wide.

Here Spoon tells us that McBush's team--i.e., Karl Rove and his henchpersons-- have their plan in place to steal this next election: by 51.2% of the popular vote, and three electoral votes.

He also talks about the major role played by the Christianist far right in the electronic rigging of the vote.

And he defines our electronic voting system as a major threat to US national security, calling for it to be junked ASAP, in favor of hand-counted paper ballots.

Since Spoon is a Republican and erstwhile McCain supporter, as well as a noted specialist in nosing out computer fraud, his testimony is essential--not only for its expertise, but, no less, for the impact that his views will surely have on those Republicans who have been loath to see what Bush & Co. has done to our election system.

That whole story's just about to break. In fact, tomorrow there will be a number of articles appearing, on a recent breakthrough in the lawsuit that Spoon's testimony has enabled, and on other aspects of that all-important case.

MCM

9/26/08: New Spoonamore Interview - E-voting Machines are a National Security Threat

Last week, VR interviewed GOP Cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore about the upcoming election and his testimony in the new Ohio litigation to take depositions of Karl Rove and others.

The video is posted in full below with ten short clips for You Tube viewing. This interview is so important and explosive that we urge everyone to watch it.

Spoonamore says that the GOP wanted e-voting to steal elections but now foreign governments will be hacking and the winner will be determined by the best hackers. He says that if the GOP wins the hacking competition, McCain will win 51.2 percent with three electoral votes over Obama, and it will be a stolen election.

Spoon also makes a crucial point about the people who have been implicated in much of the election theft: "They are religious extremists." He names those who know about stolen elections, and he insists that the only way to protect this election is with paper ballots, hand-counted.

Check out this extraordinary interview here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyByZx5GEaw
It's a network, people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadsHqxid8I
Electronic voting machines are a national security threat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbxuXC4QlMk
The genie is out of the bottleĊ .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHkY7sJ4ZI
Fifty ways to steal an election.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1--KHOo8tkM
Mike Connell: Bush IT Guru
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJHmuG8d2bQ
The Rapp Family: Ohio election cover-up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z7DK3LgiOA
Evangelicals and voting machines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WTe8ppEIic
Paper ballots please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrFkRHrRDI
McCain/Palin will win by theft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s07oi2G_K4c
People should doubt the vote, it's being stolen.

NEW EXCLUSIVE McCAIN COMMERCIAL!



I'M JOHN McCAIN AND I APPROVE OF THIS MESSAGE!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Barack In Detroit!


So I went to YouTube and found this video of Barack Obama's appearance in Detroit yesterday, September 28. I am originally from Detroit and still identify myself as essentially a Detroit Boy! This had me dancing in the streets!
30,000 people in front of the Public Library on Woodward across from the Art Museum.
I saw that Obama is leading in Michigan by 14%!
The daily tracking for September 27 by the Gallup Polls had Obama at 50% to McCain's 42%. I expect to see the numbers rise even more today!
Detroit wants Obama and the restt of the world needs Obama.
It's time to make the world proud of America for making a wise and intellignet choice and seeing the need to take the first steps to a better world!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

No, John, It Won't Go Away....


This is John McCains Keating 5 Scandal and why it is still a big problem for him explained in 90 seconds. Great source of facts and talking points!
Again, a great piece from The Jed Report.

Friday, September 26, 2008

The Greatest Sin....

This ad was actually in the Wall Street Journal this morning!
Is it even neccessary to quote the old proverb?
Pride Goeth Before The Fall!

CANCELLING REALITY!


Today on CNN it is reported that Phil Gramm has said that later today, the McCain Campaign will request that the Biden/Palin debate be cancelled and moved to a later unspecified date.
Again, they are hiding behing a "concern" for the country. We have already seen McCain's concern in the ast 24 hours. He said he was suspending his campaign and it was all to easy to discover the fact that he had certainly not! His emergency trip to Washington was just a photo op and has shoved the teetering economic bill over the edge of the cliff. He has enabled the gaggle of House republicans who want to milk this for personal political gain to push the nation one step closer to economic chaos.
The video I attached to this post is a spoof. Yesteday, I tried to post the video of the real Palin/Katy Couric exchange regarding her foreign affairs experience. CBS was somehow forced to take it down. The entire interview is available now on YouTube in 2 parts. I did faithfully record the transcript of the exchange in my last post, Spin(OUT OF)Control, so if you really want to read what Palin said, please go there.
If you haven't already seen it, you will be amazed. The interview is being referred to in all of the major media as a disaster.
So, enjoy this spoof of the interview...the voice actually belongs to Miss South Carolina 2007 from one of the most watched videos on YouTube!

I will repeat this sobering thought. In the history of the American Republic, in the midst of wars and economic disasters, the elections process was never before impeded.
Debates went on during the Civil War. Now, because of their faltering campaign, the McCain/Palin ticket is trying to derail the electoral process and conduct a cmapaign of Negative ads, Photo Ops and Surrogate Racism. Obama is ahead in all polls. He was reporteds to have a 13 point lead in this mornings Detroit Free Press in Michigan.
It would be easy to simply call John McCain a Chicken shit.......
But it's much more serious than that. The Republicans think that they must win to protect the corrupt power base they have constructed and their Neo Con "Projects".
There is too much to be lost if an "unfriendly" administration got ahold of information that would lead to ciminal prosecution because of lines of constitutional and moral law that have been compromised in the last 8 years.
They want to cancell debate today, but under the emergency powers that George Bush granted himself earlier this year to suspend constitutional law when he deemed it was an emergency, could he, would he suspend an election?

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Common People


I really wanted to hear this song tonight and I'm dedicating it to John McCain.
The song is Common People, originally by the band, Pulp, but brilliantly re interpreted
by William Shatner with heroic assistance from Ben Folds on keyboards and Joe Jackson and a choir.
It's from William Shatner's 2004 recording, Has Been.
Great Lego Animation!

Spin (OUT OF) Control!

So, last night John McCain said he was going to suspend his campaign and go immediately to Washington for the "good of the nation" to personally solve the economic meltdown. John, we are waiting...perhaps he is in Washington now, finally for his photo op with Obama and Bush. Maybe he is still taking a nap. Maybe he is still getting his $5,583.43 make up job from his American Idol make up artist.
What ever...the point is that he lied.
The campaigning never stopped.
Until the traditional media types can show some shred of evidence that John McCain suspended his campaign -- besides McCain saying it -- the traditional media types should stop saying McCain suspended his campaign. He didn't.

Evidence abounds that McCain's campaign is operating at full speed. We've been able to document here and here and here. Think Progress found five instances of McCain campaign flacks on t.v. spinning their message. There's active campaign underway in Virginia. And, by doing some actual investigating, Huffington Post confirmed that the McCain campaign is very active today in key battleground states:
Across the country, McCain campaign offices are up and running, accepting volunteers, conducting phone banking, literature dropping and over GOTV activities. This held true on a local, state, and even regional level. The Huffington Post called up 15 McCain-Palin and McCain Victory Committee headquarters in various battleground states. Not one said that it was temporarily halting operations because of the supposed "suspension" in the campaign. Several, in fact, enthusiastically declared the continuation of their work. Others hadn't even heard that the candidate for whom they were devoting their time had officially stopped campaigning.
Here's a little hint for the political press corps: If you can keep reporting on Palin/McCain campaign events and if you keep having McCain staffers on your networks, the campaign ain't suspended.

John McCain tried to dupe the American people. He got a lot of help from the traditional media. If they actually reported what was going on and not what McCain said, this sham would be exposed.

Meanwhile in Washington, the Democrats have finished their version of the meltdown plan. Of course, it will be stalled by Republicans like the Minority Leader, John Boehner who are stalling for McCain to show up for his photo op and give his okay and try to take to take credit for it.
Meanwhile, Sarah Palin who seems to have never heard of the cessation of campaigning was making a speech at Ground Zero in New York, and of course avoiding any real questions from reporters.
She did give an interview on CBS with Katyy Couric yesterday. Katy tried valiantly to get a coherent answer from Palin, who seems to be a master at throwing gobbledeegook to the masses, but always at a loss when forced to actually think on her feet. This is a transcript of a video of last nights pathetic performance. I wanted to embed the actual video, but a half hour ago, it suddenly became unavailable....
Check this out:

COURIC: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?
PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land-- boundary that we have with-- Canada. It-- it's funny that a comment like that was-- kind of made to-- cari-- I don't know, you know? Reporters--
COURIC: Mock?
PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word, yeah.
COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.
PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our-- our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They're in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia--
COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We-- we do-- it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where-- where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is-- from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to-- to our state.

Again, was this real? No wonder it was mysteriously pulled out of circulation.

Another mystery of Spin....I found a new video of Palin at her church last year at a "laying on of hands" service in which the pastor gives a pretty explicit anti-semetic sermon against the "Jews" who run Wall Street and how Christians must sieze control of the economy. I was able to get a transcript of the pastors remarks only to find that the video had been pulled....
The transcript:

The second area whereby God wants us, wants to penetrate in our society is in the economic area. The Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. It's high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations. That's what we are waiting for. That's part and parcel of transformation. If you look at the -- you know -- if you look at the Israelites, that's how they work. And that's how they are, even today. When we will see that, you know, that the top transporters (?) in the lands, we see, you know, the bankers, we see the people holding the parts (?), they are believers, we will not have the kind of corruption that we are hearing in our societies.

We are seeing John McCain trying to control this campaign by trying to control access to the truth. Part of that process is to suppress the debates and access to himself and Palin. He expects to be able to win by Photo Ops, Lying Ads and surrogate racism.
He wants to delay the debates until the Republicans can spin reality to their own advantage.
The trouble is for them, is that reality is spinning at a rather nauseating velocity.
Bush is counting on a Republican win to continue their reign of corruption. He cannot afford an unsympathetic administration too soon for his own comfort. If things get too uncomfortable, do you think he would not stoop to declaring a state of emergency due to the economy and using the executive powers he gave himself earlier this year to suspend constitutional law?

The debates must be held as scheduled. The election process cannot be tampered with!


Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I Hope That At Least Included A $600 Haircut...

The latest post of Celebrity News included this item about John McCain and the $5,583.43 Make up job he needs to make himself presentable for the American public.
That's a hell of a lot more than any drag queen I have ever met.
This news comes on the day as McCain's campaign manager Randy Davis is revealed to have been recieving $15,000 a month to lobby for Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae up until last month! The McCain campaign had been denying reports that Davis had been a lobbyist for Freddy and Fannie in the past. Davis has been reported of earning $30,000 a month for a few years, making a total of over 2 million dollars to use his influence on John McCain for favorable legislation....
Now in an about face, they have had to admit that Davis was employed up until last month. The only way they could spin this was to attack the "Liberal" biased news organizations for telling the truth.
Davis is only one of 83 McCain staffers that have been lobbyist for Wall Street.
This has thrown the McCain camp into total disarray. McCains flustered and frankly scary response to the finanacial meltdown has paralyzed his supporters and drawn severe criticism from normally fawning pundits, including George Will.
To make matters worse for McCain, Sarah Palin proved why she has to be kept away from the press. She actually told reporters that the America was definitely heading for a depression. Her Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll numbers are in the tank, and did I mention todays cover of the National Inquirer?
His approval rating is plummeting and Obama gained a 10 point lead in the polls today.
What else could this desparate inveterate gambler do but try a desparate roll of the dice, and try to cancle the debate this Friday. His strategy is to try to project a show of concern and a need to "act responsibly" in this time of crisis.
Will he? I don't think so......
His strategy is to push the need to pass the Treasury Secretary's bail out plan as swiftly as possible before any one can question the wisdom and examine the guaranteed golden parachutes it insures to the very reckless executives who drove the American economy off the cliff.............
While he says he will "suspend " his campaign, will the negative lies stop for a minute? Will he stop the divisive, misleading ads? His track record says NO!
He is playing for time. He is playing for sympathy. He has proven in this campaign that he will stoop to anything and this is just a lame ploy to delay the inevitable.
THE DEBATE MUST GO ON! JOHN McCAIN IS A LYING HYPOCRITE WHO WILL STOOP TO ANYTHING TO SIEZE THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.
Even wearing more make up than any other 72 year old drag queen could afford!

I just saw Obama's statement on CNN International and he made the point that a president has to be able to handle more than one thing at a time. He was pretty reassuring and calm and was relaxed and unscripted in contrast to McCains anguished badly read statement. The last 24 hours have put things in perspective for a lot of people. We see the wall of protection around Sarah Palin and the attempt to portray her as a victim of a rabid press, we see and anguished confused McCain trying to cancel everything while he bails out his sinking campaign.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

AVALON


About a year ago, I posted a duet with Chet Atkins and Les Paul playing Birth of The Blues. It's about time to listen to these guys again! This was recorded in 1973. They had been friends since the 1930's. Chets brother was the bass player for Les's first band. They were two of the greatest inovators of guitar technique and technology. Chet died in 2001 and Lester? well he's still going strong every Monday night live at the Irridium Club in New York City. I still get shivers when I hear them play together.
Chester and Lester playing Avalon.

I Recieved An Email Today....

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Dear Mr. American,

Good day and compliments.

I am HENRI PAULSON, the Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America, and the personal financial adviser to GEORGE W. BUSH (the eldest son of the former dictator of America, GENERAL GEORGE HUSSEIN WALKER BUSH).

This letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to determine the future and continued existence of the entire members of my country.

It is with deep sense of purpose and utmost sincerity that I have the privilege to write you this letter knowing full well how you will feel as regards to receiving a mail from somebody you have not met or seen before. There is no need to fear, I got your address from a Wall Street business directory which lends credence to my humble belief. I also assure you of my honesty and trustworthiness. I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

During the last Military Regime here in America, the Government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over-invoiced in various ministries. My country has had great crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of US$800,000,000,000.00 (eight hundred billion US dollars) in cash for safe-keeping. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be of most profitable for you.

I am working with the honourable MR. PHIL GRAMM, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As Senator, you may know him as leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s.

This is a matter of great urgence. We need a immediate blank cheque. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because as civil servants we are constantly under surveillance by Democratic members of Congress, the media, and the American public. My family lawyer, MR. RICK DAVIS, advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please note that this transaction is 100% safe and we hope to commence the transfer latest seven (7) banking days from the date of the receipt of the following information: all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. This way we will use your country's name to apply for payment in your name. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds. That's all. Let me know what you think about this.

We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit your confidentiality in this transaction.

May Allah show you mercy as you do so?

Your faithfully,

Dr. Minister of Treasury Paulson

Monday, September 22, 2008

Life During Wartime Part#3

(from the New York Times, April 7, 2013)

Christian Heartland Commonwealth Declared
Governor Budley Releases Statement

In a message today from the newly created Commonwealth Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Governor Jason Budley, Rep. OK, proclaimed the official establishment of the Christian Heartland Commonwealth. In his statement, Governor Budley stated that in no way would the Commonwealth affect the unity of America, but that it established a zone of economic and moral protection that reflected the will and the wishes of the 4 state area that have voted to join in the project.
"In light of the recent economic upheavals and social unrest that have affected certain areas of The Great United States, we are forming a Commonwealth to protect the pure ideals and the special economic bond we have formed and sealed with our faith", the governor stated.
Governor Budley emphasized that while freedom of the press was one of the cornerstones of American greatness, he would be compelled to respect the will of the people who elected him. The Commonwealth has created a corps of editorial overseers to enforce their standards in the papers and media within the region.
The governor also authorized the standardization of internet resources and access within the Christian Heartland Commonwealth. There will be one server for the time being and they recommend that anyone who wants to conduct business by internet or have unhampered communication with anyone residing within the boundaries of the Commonwealth to subscribe to the newly created "Dovenet" and "Dovemail" services.
The Commonwealths internet service is totally filtered and spam free.
President Palin, who in the past voiced opposition to the plan, today, released a statement praising the Commonwealth and stated that in her opinion it in no way threatened the future unity of the United States.
Her husband and Chief of Staff, General Todd Palin is rumored to have been engaged in talks to head up a committee to investigate the possibility of granting a Commonwealth Status to his home state, Alaska.

(this is the third in a series of alternative reality ficiton pieces entitled Life During Wartime)

What So Never The Dance


Just Music...one of my all time favorite bass lines by my hero Bootsy Collins from the mid 70's in the Cincinatti band, The House Guests with his brother Catfish Collins.
They formed the band right after they quit working for James Brown with the rest of the JB's back in 1972. Soon after, the Houseguests found that they had somehow become part of George Clinton's Parlafunkadeliment Thang....
Yabba Dabba Doo!

Tastes Good Too........


After listening to Sarah Palin try to explain fungible oil molecules,
I decided to listen to Lucille Ball make a lot more sense tryiong to sell something called Vitameatavegimen......'Splain Lucy!

Sheesh! No wonder the Republicans are so afraid of allowing an honest debate between Palin and Biden. In the CNN Clip, even McCain looks frightened!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Free Bumpersticker!


I redid the layout of the last graphic so you can, if you so desire, print out this piece as a bumper sticker or sign...or what ever!
Put it on your dog, your car, your neighbors car when he isn't looking!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

He Feels Your Pain (NOT)


(this piece was also published on themanwiththemuckrake blog today)
Please let me relate a little personal information about myself here. My early life was in a family that was devasted by a major illness. We were a white solid middle class family with health insurance. Over the course of six years, what the insurance didn't cover left my father in such major debt that we lost our house. He died soon after and I was pretty much a homeless street kid in Detroit on my own. I managed to have a pretty interesting life and I learned a lot fast and even ended up in college, but I would say that most of my real knowlege comes from educating myself.
I have always believed that America could do better. I have always believed that health care was a right, not a privilege.

This week, we have seen the dreams of many Americans go up in flames in the biggest recorded loss of personal wealth in modern times. We have seen the government bail out and take over some of the biggest financial institutions on the planet. The people on top, the executives who played fast and loose with regulations and the dreams of the investors are not suffering. They all walk, no matter what happens with pockets stuffed with cash.

John McCain wanted to privatize Social Security. If he had his way when this project was being considered, the future of most of us would be in doubt as a privatized Social Security System would have gone down in flames this week. Your future welfare would have been trashed.
He would like us to forget this proposal now that he is the bad boy of Wall Street, scolding all those who's pocket he still is in. Let's not forget that 83 of his advisors are lobbyists for Wall Street and he has been shifting the same pieces on the game board since his involvement in the last major bank scandal, the Savings and Loan scandals of the 80's. Remember the Keating 5? Anyone?
That's why I was shocked when I read this piece by Paul Krugman about McCains proposal to privatize health care:

McCain on banking and health

OK, a correspondent directs me to John McCain’s article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. You might want to be seated before reading this.

Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!


If you click on the links, it will take you to the article in the current issue of Contingencies Magazine.
John McCain has never had to pay for health care insurance in his life. He was born into an Upper Echelon Elite Armed Forces Family and enjoyed the best health care the service could offer. Now as a Veteran he is totally covered for life as well as the free coverage all members of congress enjoy. His entire life has been one of privilege and the full coverage of the best socialized medical systems in the Western Hemisphere.
And now he wants to put your coverage in the deregulated hands of the institutions that were responsible for the biggest loss of personal wealth in recorded history.

Friday, September 19, 2008

CRETIN ROCK


I don't know how many times I have been asked "Hey, Microdot, why don't you ever post any Ramones music?" and I always say..."uhhh, I dunno."
So here are the Ramones from 1977 live in London performing the perfectly apt ditty, Cretin Rock...this one goes out to all of you McCain supporters trying to think of some semi witty bit of sarcasm to fling at me (especially the sweaty unpleasantly plump evangelical duo, listen ladies, try a dipilatory cream on those mustaches)...keep trying!
1 minute and 40 seconds of perfectly mindlessly brillant pop!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

RETURN OF THE MUMMY

Before he is officially enterred with his legacy in the Bush Memorial Pyramid, the semi embalmed mummified president was reanimated to make rare appearance to make a short statement to reassure the American public that he actually was aware of the economic meltdown. His statement:

THE PRESIDENT: Grrr ahhhgghh kkkkhhh aaaghkkk grrr...BRLECCH! gackaghk
GRRRR!

I took the liberty of translating his remarks using google's ancient egyptian mummy translation device....It seems to work great with only a few little blips, but I fixed them for you:

THE PRESIDENT: The American people are concerned about the situation in our financial markets and our economy, and I share their concerns. I’ve canceled my travel today to stay in Washington, where I will continue to closely monitor the situation in our financial markets and consult with my economic advisors. I spoke to Secretary Paulson this morning, and I will meet with him later on today.

After these remarks, a group of aides came out with flaming torches and spears muttering obscure incantations to force the president back into his sarcophagus where he will remain until after the election to protect John Mccain from The Curse Of The Mummy!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

This Might Help....

During these serious times, people of all faiths should remember these four religious truths:

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.

2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian world.

4. Baptists and Methodists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

Gosh Darned Liberal Biased Truth!



This was on CNN today! Palin has lost 15 approval rating points in three days. Frank Luntz is panicking. Who cut McCains feed on MSNBC on Monday night, just as the questioning got tough?
I dunno, Johnny, it's tough when they just don't love you anymore....
Maybe it's time to roll them dice agin......

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Morse Be Damned!

John McCain's campaign claimed today that he invented the Blackberry, but on Sunday, Karl Rove said he couldn't learn how to use the interent or email because he had been a POW.

Here is a response today from former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, who sharply criticized The McCain Campaign's claim:

John McCain is so out of touch with America his economics adviser says he deserves credit for creating the Canadian company that invented the Blackberry. Message to Republicans: it’s American entrepreneurship our President is supposed to encourage.

Today, ThinkProgress also spoke with Blair Levin, who is currently Managing Director at Stifel Nicolaus and served as Hundt’s chief of staff at the FCC. Levin pointed out that McCain actually voted against the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA ‘93) that “authorized the spectrum auctions that created the competitive wireless market that gave rise to companies like Research in Motion [the creator of Blackberry].”

This is not the first time that McCain has tried to take credit for a technological innovation he actively opposed. In a 2000 GOP presidential debate, he took credit for E-Rate, a program designed to wire schools:

We took a major step forward when we decided to wire every school and library in America to the Internet. That’s a good program.

McCain, however, opposed E-Rate in the late ’90s, concerned about the impact it might have on the telecom industry. Groups such as the American Library Association were so outraged that they encouraged their members to contact obstinate senators, including McCain. More here on McCain’s paltry record as Senate Commerce Committee chairman.


Monday, September 15, 2008

Biggest Political Rally In The History Of Alaska!


On Saturday, September 13, 1500 protestors gathered in front of the Loussac Library in
downtown Anchorage, Alaska to protest the candidacy of Sarah Palin as the Republican...here is a link to the story in the Anchorage Daily News.

Planning for the protest began as discussions over coffee by a small group calling itself "Alaska Women Reject Palin." As recently as Friday, the group thought it possible that just 10 people would show up to the event. But it went viral on the Internet, with friends forwarding e-mails to friends, and people saying they saw a chance to vent their frustration over what several called the myth of Palin.

"Sarah Palin frightens the hell out of me. I don't want her anywhere near the White House," said Marybeth Holleman of Anchorage.

Protesters had a wide range of beefs with the governor. They included backers of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, abortion rights proponents, advocates for wolves and polar bears, opponents of the Iraq war, and people who said Palin is not ready to be a heartbeat from the presidency.

Many in the pro-Palin group said they heard about the event on the Eddie Burke radio show on KYBR AM in Anchorage.

Palin opponents said the Burke show also inspired many of them to show up after Burke gave out cell phone numbers of protest organizers on his show.

"We were bombarded with all kinds of hateful, abusive, intimidating phone calls," said Charla Sterne, one of the organizers.

Burke was at the Saturday protest, carrying a sign that said "Alaska is not Frisco." He said the women sent out the phone numbers in a press release about the protest, and he didn't realize they were personal cell numbers.

Burke said he's apologized for calling the Alaska Women Reject Palin group "maggots."

"I used the words socialist, baby killing maggots," said Burke, adding he's only taking back the part about maggots.

This is a fantastic spontaneous example of people refusing to be intimidated and letting their voices be heard. The press over the week end seems to have really turned against the lies, racism, intimidation techniques and the mindless dogma the McCain Campaign seems to be running on.

In spite of all they do. Trying to control the press and waging their war of intimidation, lies and fear, Americans know that the days of the Bush McCain Era are finally over! JOHN MCCAIN WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!

DIE FOR THE GOVERNMENT!



Here is a piece by a great contemporary political rock punk band, ANTI FLAG!
Thanks to Steve for the suggestion! ANTI FLAG! DIE FOR THE GOVERNMENT

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Life During Wartime Part#2

(This is the second installment of a work of alternative reality fiction which is in progress)

#2: General Todd and the Geezer


“Todd...oooh, Todd!” a muffled female voice came from inside the locked doors of the oval office. “Shut up!” replied a gruff male voice. “Just relax and enjoy it. You know you love it”
....The corridor was empty outside in the hall of the White House. There were agents strationed discreetly and there was some activity in the outer halls.
From the door of the Oval Office, the muffled female voice became a passionate moan...an attempt at a plea, “C'mon, Todd, this isn’t right...here on the desk! There’s papers here, important stuff! Please wait!”
There was a sharp slap of a palm on a face and a little yelp, like a small animal and the other voice said, in an urgent gruff growl,
“I’ve never made love to a president before!” He laughed cruelly and the female voice moaned and said “Oooh Todd, you bastard”....
As this little drama unfolded behind closed doors, a phlanx of secret service agents strode purposefully down the corridor. They got to the door of the oval office and began to pound on the door just as Todd collapsed in a spent heap across the prone form of his wife, Sarah. “Open up! Secret Service! Mrs. Palin are you alright?”
“Uhh, just fine...” came a weak voice from behind the door, “just give me a second.”
The door opened and a disheveled Todd Palin, who was obviously adjusting his clothing let the agents in.
The chief agent looked a little embarrassed as Mrs.Palin, blushing discreetly smoothed and pulled her skirt into place.
Todd asked sharply, :”What is the meaning of this?”
The agent said, “Mr. Cheney told us you might need a hand straightening up a little mess here.” After a nervous silence, the agent added, “Madame President!”
Todd and Sarah looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, uh, okay then." Obviously, the call to Cheney had the desired results.
The geezers body is in the anteroom.” he motioned to a side door.
“Look” Todd went on, “Did Cheney tell you what happened?”
The agent looked at the others and said, “No sir, not exactly, he just said that McCain had met with an unfortunate accident which might be hard to explain and we had better get down here and help you clean things up.”
Sarah looked at Todd, with a little embarrassment and pride. She informed the agents that Todd had just been made a General by her order. “I’m sure there is some kind of clause in the Bush Emergency Powers Acts which cover this.” she added carefully, “After all he is still actually in the miltary. He was a member of the Alaskan National Guard Reserve. I’ll sort out his exact rank tomorrow, but as of now, General Todd Palin is my personal military aide and you will listen to his orders!”
The Secret Service men looked at each other warily and the Chief Agent saluted and said curtly, “Yes, Madame President!.”

The Palins looked at each other with elated relief. Who would ever have guessed it would have been this simple? The agents upon opening the door were taken aback. The old geezer had obviously put up quite a struggle. The room was in a shambles, but he was quite dead and obviously had been for quite a while, with the cord from the brass lamp he had been brained with still tightly wrapped around his neck.

Racist? Nawww.......Just More of McSame!


51 days left to until the election and John McCain demonstrates again he hasn't anything to offer but Lies, deciet, distortions and utter racist idiocy like this commercial. In other words, more of the MCCSAME!
This dishonorable racist liar will never be president of the United States!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Racism in America...Naww....

Oh, leave it to those "Values Voters." Many of the two thousand attendees at the conservative political forum Value Voters Summit on Saturday were "snapping up boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap," the AP reports.

Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss, two writers from Franklin, Tenn., created the mix and are selling it for $10 a box from a booth at the Summit in Washington, D.C. -- which is sponsored by the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are among speakers at the forum.

The packaging "plays off the image of the classic pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype," AP relates. "Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly. Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian." On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero.

Lou Dobbs kicked off the Value Voters Forum yesterday morning in Washington, DC. Bob DeMoss had the opportunity to serve Barackfast, er, Breakfast to Lou as he came off the stage.

Lou smiled and said, "My wife will love this."

If I was a "liberal journalist" playing fast and loose with quotes, we might write that Lou said, "Every woman in America needs a box."
Racism in America? Naww.......
Ready for something completely different? Then you are about to enter the alternate reality of the Niggaro Universe creatted when the Hadron Super Collider was switched on last week courtesy of wearerespectablenegroes....It's sort of like the bizarro world, but it's American Presidential Politics... uhh, something like that...go there now!

Friday, September 12, 2008

La Boslavie


Here's another panoramic video from panaramaddict. I am posting this because it is the midway point of one of my regular bike rides. I ride from my house in La Sechere, through Badefols d'Ans to Hautefort and back a few times a week. La Boslavie is the name of a farm on a hill.
The camera starts pointing North and then swings east. It pauses and zooms in on the chateau of my village, Badefols d'Ans. It's very impressive, 12th century battlements with a pointed tower. It's still privately owned and was severely damaged by the Germans at the end of WW2 because it was a center of resistance activity. Members of the family died in Auschwitz.
The camera swings around and when it is beginning to point just north west, it stops and zooms in on the Chateau d'Hautefort. It is a truly magnificent chateau, begun in the 12th century by the troubador, Bertrand le Born. It was enlarged over the centuries and finally in its finished state in the 17th century. The slate domed roofs are great examples of baroque architectural detail. there is a church which is also connected to a hospital built at the same time in the same style. It is a very grand little village. The Chateau d'Hautefort was also severely damaged by the Germans. The roofs were burnt. Interestingly, the chateau was bought by an American woman who with a grant from the French Government, spent millions to restore the chateau and the classic gardens. The work was done in the late 60's. Then another tragedy, one night a cigarette left by a worker on the roof, smoldered away and started a fire which destroyed the entire roof again!
It took another 3 years of restoration to rebuild it.
Today, it and the formal gardens are open to the public. The rooms are furnished and parts of the castle are lived in.
I actually know a lot of the gossip of the last of the Hauteforts...the last Baron and the Baroness and their kinky history, but that is another tale..

I'm John McCain And I Approve This Message


Robert Greenwald has created a very powerful concise piece called, "I'm John McCain And I Approve This Message"
This video contains all the lies and distortions and the rebuttal compressed in a few short minutes.
Please try to get as many people as you can to see this piece.......
This power mad, vain, deceitfully manipulative scumbag will never become the President Of The United States!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Disenfranchising The Dispossessed


The State of Michigan has a popular Democrat Governor, but the Legislature is a Republican controlled body. In the last year, they have stalled an anti-predatory lending bill that would rein in the lending practices that have lured hundred of thousands of American into housing loans they did not understand and consequently led to the loss of homes.
Now this very same legislature is trying to push legislation through as fast as they can to make it impossible for those who have lost their homes to register to vote or use the addresses of the homes they lived in to assure their right to vote.
This is being ramrodded through especially in Macomb County, where thousands of homes have been foreclosed. This is not an isolated effort in a state where close to 70,000 home owners have lost their homes and would be affected by this legislation.
Interestingly enough, one of the biggest foreclosure experts, the firm of Trott & Trott in Macomb County, own and occupy the building housing John McCains regional headquarters. The owner, David Trott has raised up to $250,000 for McCain.
The Michigan Republican Party is being supplied with a list of foreclosures so they can challenge names on the basis of not being "true residents". They claim that this would apply even if the person named on the list still resided in their home during the foreclosure procedure!
The technicalities of this are being argued, but the very attempt of this is so mean spirited and blatantly corrupt in its aim at disenfranchising black voters that it can only be interpreted as the GOPs inherent fear of black voters.
This is also occurring in Ohio, the director of elections in Franklin County( Columbus), Doug Priesse, who is the chairman of the local Republican Party is investigating the use of the same tactics of voter repression.
This seems to be part of a unified strategy by the Republicans to use their officials in counties across America to put road blocks in the way of honest voters trying to vote by their time honored use of the exaggerated claims of voter fraud.
To challenge the right to vote for every one who has suffered the misfortune of home loss through dispossesion will create a legal nightmare for voters in inner cities across America. Long lines of challenged voters who will have to provide documentation to prove their right to vote will discourage those who are dispossesed and those who have to put up with the lines.
The Republicans are probably right to fear the black voters this time. They have created their own race problem that will haunt them for years and they know it.

9/11

There is no illustration for this post. The images of the World Trade Center Tragedy are being pimped by the Republican Party and the media non stop.
I have related in years past on this blog and on others, my own personal eyewitness account of the disaster. Of course we mourn the innocent people murdered and injured by this insane action.
Instead of trying to understand what happened, America has internalized the trauma.
The injury continues to fester and develop into a cancer.
The fear of America is pimped by the Republicans as the card for total control, to wage wars to gain an imaginary, unreachable dominance of the planet.
My own traumatic experience caused me to question a lot of things I believed.
The things I have learned since then only make me want to open up to the world. I want to communicate, not isolate.
I want to understand and to be understood.
I will not allow my pain to become fear and to be exploited by the Pimps of Fear!
That is only one of the many reasons that John Mccain as President of the United States of America is unthinkable!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Pig With Lipstick

In 24 hours, John McCain has managed to bring the presidential race to the gutter.
In the last week, he has definitively demonstrated that he is absolutely not qualified to be president of the United States. He has run a campaign that has nothing but lies and distortions to stand on. He picked a totally unqualified vice presidential partner in a desparate bid to turn the race around on pure culture shock.
He has demonstrated that he will use Sarah Palin as a shield to ward off any criticism directed to him.
In the last 24 hours he tried to turn a comment directed at him into a sexist slur by contorted logic. He released a commercial so blatantly full of lies and distortions, using footage of Katie Couric that CBS demanded it be taken off the air.
He responded to Barack Obama's educational program by releasing an ad that has touched the bottom of the sewer. He tries to insinuate that Obama is a black pederast after kindergarden children.
What is apparent is that John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest and race-baiting campaign of our lifetimes. So let's stopped being shocked and awed by every new example of it. It is undignified. What can we do? We've got a dangerously reckless contender for the presidency and a vice presidential candidate who distinguished her self by abuse of office even on the comparatively small political stage of Alaska. They've both embraced a level of dishonesty that disqualifies them for high office. Democrats owe it to the country to make clear who these people are. No apologies or excuses. If Democrats can say at the end of this campaign that they made clear exactly how and why these two are unfit for high office they can be satisfied they served their country.

LIPSTICK ON A PIG?





Lipstick on a pig? Obama attacks John McCain and all he can do is hide behind a woman?
Lipstick on a pig? This is what politics in America has devolved into?
Look at the two videos. One is the Obama comment which is being hyped today.
The second is John McCain a few months ago using the same language and making basically the same analogy.....
John McCain, what a fucking scum bag! John McCain, the biggest hypocrite of modern political history. He knows that he doesn't look good anymore and is so vain he has to be have an hour or so of makeup and be shot through a fuzzy filter like some over the hill starlet to do an interview.
He's so threatened by Barack Obama that he made his big gamble and chose Sarah Palin to totally distract America from the real issues that he knows he would only lose on!
This is going to be the rest of the campaign? John McCain hiding behind Sarah Palin because he's too chicken shit to let the American people see what a lame sorry ass excuse he has devolved into? I picked up the latest issue of le Canarde Enchaine today, which is a French political weekly newspaper that mixes political intelligence with satire and the view from here doesn't look good! The reaction is "Is this some kind of joke?" Is America really so brain dead?
LIPSTICK ON A FUCKING PIG?

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Gregory Of Tours

About 15 years ago, I picked up a copy of The History Of The Franks by Gregory of Tours. Gregory was born in 539 ad in what now is Clermont-Ferrand in the Massif Central, in the center of France.
He lived through the reign of the Merovingian king, Chilperic and became the bishop of Tours.
He wrote many books, some of which survive today.
Most were lives of Saints, the histories of those who lived in his time or before him.
Near the end of his life(he died in 594), he decided to write a history of the world, his world as he knew it.
At the time, my interest was purely scholarly. I was fascinated with the early history of Europe and the emergence of French civilization and I wanted to know about the Gauls, the Franks and the reign of the first kings, The Frankish Merovingians.
This book gave me a direct link into the mind of a man who lived 1,500 years ago and the more I read, the more I began to really like this guy. The dry history came to life and when he got to his era, he began to concentrate on personalities with long gossipy digressions. I was hooked.
It seems that every few years, I get the desire to reread this book. I have just began it anew.
It starts with Gregory's fervent recital of the history of creation. His math is the same as the creationists today. He had the strict interpretation of the bible for his calculations and of course, knew nothing of the discoveries of geology and astronomy and physics that shape our world view today. He begins the book with the biblical account of creation, then a synapsis of biblical history, the old and new testament and then segues into the Gallo Roman synthesis which ruled Gaul for 600 years, after the center of the Roman empire had moved to Byzantium. You learn about his family and of course his hero, St. Martin of Tours.
He recounts the invasion of the Franks and the first kings. His history really starts with Clovis, the legendary king who converted to christianity.
How factual is this book? Much of it has been verified and much has been put in question as Gregory repeats stories that have become distorted as they travel. He lives in a time of wonders and signs. Falling stars are portents. The Aurora is harbinger of doom. There are reports of blood falling from the sky and a rain of frogs and fishes far any sea. This is a history of one man trying to explain his world through the system of belief and logic that are his tools of perception.
I could not recommend this book more. It is a way to understand the universality of emotion. A look into the mind of one who is far removed, but as you get to know him, not so very far removed at all.
I have the Penguin Classics paperback based on a translation from latin made in 1836.

Monday, September 08, 2008

KICK OUT THE JAMS!


40 years ago there was a Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the band playing as the tear gas was drifting in and the choppers were flying low over head and the cops were busting heads was Detroits MC5.
I posted a video of the band, Rage Against The Machine playing in St. Paul at the Republican National Convention last week. They were shut down by the police and kept playing in spite of having no power.
The week earlier, they played another convention, The DNC in Denver and it was not shut down and one of the high points was a guest appearance of Wayne Kramer, the lead guitarist of the MC5. They play Kick Out The Jams...a song while not overtly political in content, was one of the most potent revolutionary anthemns of its time. It was a celebration of total freedom.
Wayne proves again that after 40 years, he still can sonically blast anything in his path to smithereens! His guitar solo is awesome!
On Wayne's solo record, Citizen Wayne produced by David Was, there is a piece called On The Ground which is a pretty good MC5 style version of that day in 1968 when the MC5 Kicked Out The Jams in a tear gas filled park in Chicago.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

PALIN FOR PRESIDENT!


And now for something completely different.......

Freedom From Surveillance


Surveillance mania is spreading. Governments and businesses register, monitor and control our behaviour ever more thoroughly. No matter what we do, who we phone and talk to, where we go, whom we are friends with, what our interests are, which groups we participate in - "big brother" government and "little brothers" in business know it more and more thoroughly. The resulting lack of privacy and confidentiality is putting at risk the freedom of confession, the freedom of speech as well as the work of doctors, helplines, lawyers and journalists.

The manifold agenda of security sector reform encompasses the convergence of police, intelligence agencies and the military, threatening to melt down the division and balance of powers. Using methods of mass surveillance, the borderless cooperation of the military, intelligence services and police authorities is leading towards the construction of "Fortresses" in Europe and on other continents, directed against refugees and different-looking people but also affecting, for example, political activists, the poor and under-priviledged, and sports fans.

People who constantly feel watched and under surveillance cannot freely and courageously stand up for their rights and for a just society. Mass surveillance is thereby threatening the fabric of a democratic and open society. Mass surveillance is also endangering the work and commitment of civil society organizations.

October 11, 2008 is International Freedom Not Fear Worldwide Action Day! To learn more about how you can participate and make this a part of the agenda in this presidential election, go to their website.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

WAR



I just saw Sarah Palin speaking live in Sterling Hights, Michigan and I found it so disturbing that I just had to go listen to Edwin Starr singing War!
Here is the man live from 1970.

Friday, September 05, 2008

They Walk Amongst Us

The sordid unearthly rites of the Republican National Convention have drawn to a close. The bizarre unatural union was consummated to a chorus of shrieks, groans and supernatural wailing emanating from the pit of Cheney. The leagues of zombies shuffled about aimlessly grunting prepared statements. The undead were unleashed to walk amongst us spreading their message of terror and confusion. The unholy couple cackling on stage exhorted the unholy hoardes of damned souls to "Attack! Attack, My Pretties!"

Be afraid, be very afraid. They want nothing more than the ultimate domination of the earth, the subjugation of every living soul to feed the perverted inhuman appetites of the damned! Don't look into their eyes and above all, think twice, or maybe three times, even, before you do lunch with the undead!

(THE FINE PRINT: I know most of my readers expect much more intelligent analysis of reality than what I have offered here. My apologies, but after 4 days of the Republican Nattional Convention, do any of us actually know what reality is anymore?
Believe everything, trust no one!)

Dumb Ass Cracker Calls Obama Uppity


The Hill reports that on Tuesday, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) used the racially-loaded term “uppity” to describe Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL):

westmore.jpg Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

Thursday, September 04, 2008

If This Had Happened In St.Paul....

FBI Wanted Obama Plotters Charged, But A Rove Appointee Said No
Wednesday, September 03, 2008



[Tharin Gartrell, 28; Shawn Robert Adolf, 33; and Nathan Johnson, 32]

-- by Dave

We noticed last week that it was awfully peculiar that Colorado’s U.S. Attorney, Troy Eid, had so airily dismissed conspiracy charges against the three white-supremacist tweakers who were caught planning to assassinate Barack Obama at last week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Now it turns out that those suspicions were fully warranted:

KUSA - 9Wants to Know has learned three men in Denver planned to assassinate U.S. Senator Barack Obama during the Democratic National Convention in Denver by sneaking into one of his events and shooting him with a gun hidden inside of a camera, according to federal court records.

Nathan Johnson's girlfriend, whom 9NEWS is not naming because she's a juvenile, said it would have to be a suicide mission.

The plot is similar to that in the 1992 movie "The Bodyguard" starring actors Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. In the movie, Costner stops an assassination attempt against Houston by spotting a weapon hidden inside a gutted-out TV camera.

Johnson, Shawn Adolf and Tharin Gartrell all thought that Obama had a suite in the third floor of the Hyatt hotel, where they were staying. In fact, the Senator was staying in another Denver Hotel.

The men were doing methamphetamine inside the hotel with two women on Aug. 23 discussing the plot to kill Obama, according to federal records.

Adolf said "it would not matter if he killed Senator Obama because police would simply add a murder charge to his pending charges," according to the records. There were seven outstanding warrants for Adolf's arrest.

The underage woman told law enforcement that Adolf also talked about using "a high-powered rifle 22-250 from a high vantage point" to shoot Senator Obama during his acceptance speech at INVESCO Field at Mile High during the DNC.

Even more significant, beyond the details of the plot, was the fact that, as the Colorado Independent notes, the FBI asked for more serious charges to be filed and were turned down.

O...MY...GAWD!

A Jackboot On The Neck Of Freedom


Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, her producer, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and cameraman, Nicole Salazar were arrested by the Minneapolis Police Department. Charged with conspiracy to riot. Footage from Rick Rowley and Brandon Jourdan.
Amy was doing an interview with the Governor of Minnesota when she was notified that her producer and camera man were being arrested for filming the Police action on the streets of St. Paul. She left the interview and tried to ask what was happening and was bruitalized. Sharif and Nicole both required medical attention.
Over 300 journalists have been arrested and detained by the police at the Republican National Convention. Very little of the footage of what has occurred has made it to the airwaves. There is something so creepy about the atmosphere inside and outside the Convention Arena.
The reports we hear on the media news are those blaring hysterical tales of mobs of anarchists and one person who was allegedly plotting to use a molotov cocktail. The pre convention law enforcement preparations included warrantless break ins and taking people that had been under surveillance into custody. The bulk of their targets were young people invlovrd in politcal activists groups of all varieties.
The reports I have read really indicate that the violence is caused by small groups, embedded with in a protest, creating a incident which allow the authorities to begin clubbing, gassing and arresting.
The blog, Making Light has a very interesting post with eyewitness accounts of what has been occurring there.
Here in France, protests are a very common occurence. It is part of how people let their voices be heard. Through out the history of protests here, there has always been the tradition of Casseurs...agents provacateurs who are recruited to foment violence and cause problems. The use of Casseurs is a way of generating negative publicity.
It is also a tool of fascism to sway public opinion and intimidate legitimate protest!

What is occurring in St. Paul now is one of the most oppressive actions of suppressing protest and the voice of the opposition I have seen in America. It's happening in the streets and it is happening in the media. John McCain has let the media know that he is angry with them. He cancelled appearances on CNN because someone asked too many embarrassing questions about Sarah Palin.
The mainstream network media let an entire day go by at the RNC with out having any opposition analysis. I have to call it as I see it. The repression of the press is a jackboot on the neck of the people. This is Fascism.

To continue my series of great political music, I'd like to post this video from Tuesday of the band, Rage Against The Machine performiong live at the Republican National Convention on the streets. Midway through the performance, the authorities cut off the power, undaunted, the band played on!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

LAST NIGHT AT THE RNC

It was quite a night at the Republican National Convention last night, Joe Lieberman spoke and then everything got very fuzzy.................

Tonight, Sarah Palin gives her speech. I'm sure it will be a real doozy. For anyone who has any interest in knowing her record and previously stated stance on issues,
ThinkProgress has put together this nifty reference page that gives you the known, established truth to date. As we know, reality is subject to change at any given moment when you are dealing with republicans en masse... just stare into the Liebermans eyes........

Tumblin' Down.....

It's been a wild ride since Friday night when John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick. The speculation as to what led him to this decision and the lack of judgement has grown hourly as the revelations about Sarah Palin break like the ice on the Yukon River in April.
I haven't had a lot of time to write tonight, I have been reading the latest news. I just read that McCain blew his top with CNN after they aired an interview with one of his aids who couldn't name any specific item of interest that might shed some light on Palins foreign policy experience. The entire Republican Campaign has sort of degenerated into the "You Cad! You Wouldn't Hit A Lady!" defense or offense....

I just read about her ability to use her connections to secure 27 million dollars of pure pork barrel tax dollars for her town of 5,000 inhabitants while she was mayor. She paid a lobbyist group to do it.
I read about her blatant lies regarding her involvement in massive Alaskan pork barrel boondoggles including the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere". She was responsible for securing over 200 million dollars of Pork Barrel Money.
I just read about the pastor of her church condemning those who dared to vote for John Kerry in 2004 to hell.
I read about her involvment with the Alaskan Independance Party. An Ultra Right Wing Fringe Party that advocates the independance of Alaska. Her husband, Todd was a member and she has addressed them on numerous occasions.
We already know about the Trooper Gate Scandal. In spite of McCains reps trying to blame the liberal bloggers for the story of her daughters pregnancy, it was his campaign which released the news originally....The Conservative Press is jumping through hoops trying to put a positive spin on all of this and holding their collective breath hoping that there isn't a Meth Lab Explosion or something like that in the basement of the Alaskan Governors Mansion...how would they spin that?
Just as I thought that perhaps it was time to bring in Jerry Springer to help make some sense here... I read that the conservative press is beginning to rumble and hint that maybe, possibly, this was not such a great idea and perhaps, just a suggestion, John was a little hasty in his decision and should think again.
This is how things fall apart...denial, rejection and then finally the acceptance of reality.
This would have been a really great movie...along the lines of National Lampoon's Presidential Campaign From Hell...starring Chevy Chase and Reese Witherspoon!
It would have made a billion bucks at the box office and we all could have had a big laugh, with lines like Bristols boy friend, Levi saying,"Awesome, does this mean I'm going to be first Dude-in-Law?"
It would have been hilarious, if it wasn't our national insanely stupid reality.

Monday, September 01, 2008

WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN!


I asked for your favorite songs of protest and The Engineer of Knowlege sent in this suggestion...it still goes, if you hava a favorite song that expresses a political protest or ideological stance, let me know and if I can find it...I'll post it and we can all tune in to that feeling!
I feel this song is especially appropriate as a soundtrack to my last post "It's All About John"
WE WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN!

It's All About John....


John McCain suspends the schedule of the 2008 Republican National Convention and tries to salvage what political capitol he can from this disaster. He uses the opportunity to make another grandfatherly platitude stuffed statement about absolutely nothing. Then He and Sarah Palin went to Alabama to show that they were ready to take command. A move that if it came from the Democrats, would draw criticism of presumptuousness. This is polititcal pandering on the lowest level.

What really seems odd is that McCain thinks Gulf Coast residents will forget how he, George W. Bush and the then-Republican Congress turned their backs on them so many times in the months after Katrina thundered ashore in 2005.

Sure, McCain was big on rote sympathy right after the disaster, saying on September 1, 2005 “American citizens have proven time and again how generous and selfless a people we are, and now we have an opportunity to come to the aid of those in need.” A week later he stridently said “Our work to help the victims of this national tragedy has just begun, and Congress must do all that is necessary to fund essential relief and recovery efforts and help those in need.”

It must be nice to have staffers writing that stuff for you.

Too bad he spent the months to follow leading the Republican charge against every Senate bill that would have actually helped Katrina victims or mandated investigations on how the Bush administration could have blown disaster response so thoroughly.

Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden jumped immediately to the aid of hurricane victims in the week after the 2005 disaster, authoring S.Amdt. 1661 “…to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina.”[..]

But with John McCain’s help, the Republican-led Senate shot down the funding on a 41-56 vote with McCain voting against, while Biden and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding.

When Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) proposed the creation of a Congressional Commission to “examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.. and make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future,” John McCain was once again exactly where George W. Bush wanted him to be: On the “nay” side of a straight party-line vote (44-54) that killed that legislation.

So when McCain tells the people of the Gulf Coast now that we’ll pray for them, is that the only assistance they can expect from him?

It's not about them. John McCain is incapable of caring, he is a truly psychopathic personality and time and time again, he has proven, in his totally self centered world of cruel personal vanity, it's all about him.

Strange Fruit


In my opinion, the most powerful "protest" song ever written. This is a wrenching performance by Billie Holiday who wrote the song. This is about racism. The infection that is rotting America from its inner core. A virus that has found its vectors and opportunistically spreads via radio, television and the internet. It insinuates and is hidden beneath platitudes and the fuzzy logic and sloppy thinking that is a part of American Culture.
Did racism play a part in the handling of the "assinnation" plot uncovered against Barack Obama during the Democratic Convention? The alleged plotters were described as suspected white nationalists. The sherriff dismissed them as a bunch of "meth heads" and went on to talk about them as if they were just a harmless bunch of drug addled youths. I will post more about this, in lieu of the treatment that the perpetrator of the fake anthrax threat to John McCain recieved.

Meanwhile, what do you think are the most powerful pieces of "protest music"?
If I can, I will find performances and post them.
My #2 favortite is Trouble Comin' Everyday by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention from the 1966 Freak Out Album. Still relevant, the music snarls and burns and the lyrics could be about race and media today!
Frank said in the song, "You know, people? I'm not black but there's a whole lotta times I wish I could say I'm not white!" Play your harmonica, son..........