Anyone who thinks they have all the Answers before they've even heard the Question - is Dangerously Deluded! Real Truth Requires Vigilance, Perseverance and Courage, regardless of Party and who wields Power. Left, Right, Center, Corporations, Government, Unions, Criminals or the Indifferent.
Last night I caught a screening of this Amazing, Funny, Pro-Union, Inspiring and Hilarious new Indie Film called Adventures of Power in Hollywood.
Part Norma Rae, Flashdance, Napolean Dynamite and Rocky this is the best film about NOT drumming you're likely to see - Ever.
I had a chance to participate in a Q&A with Writer/Director/Star Ari Gold at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theaters in Hollywood and when asked why he wanted to make a movie about Air Drumming he said - "Because I do it.. and it's funny."
At the time I didn't think to mention that the kind of Air Musician Event he envisions at the climax of his film actually exists and has been recorded in films such as the documentary Air Nation.
The Faux Musician Championship was even reported by Faux News. Somehow quite fitting.
So even though the basic premise of the film is completely made-up and seems far fetched - it actually isn't.
Laying beneath the basic idea of self-actualization and realizing your dream purely through having the will to believe the film also touches on many real issues as the father of the main character played by Spinal Tap veteran Michael McKean leads his fellow copper miners through a bitter strike against an oppressive greedy corporation. Eventually though even the bitter hyper-realist father realizes just how important it is to dream, as his own hopes and those of his son become joined in a powerful scene of strikers standing up to a bull-gang of corporate thugs sent to intimidate them into submission, instead of running they stand their ground defiantly Air Drumming to "In the Air Tonight" without sticks as they are viciously beaten with billy clubs.
Yes, we bloody well CAN! Yes we WILL!
The film is playing in very limited release, as Ari described the independent film business has been devastated in recent years and resources that used to be readily available are now long gone.
It's scheduled to be shown in Austin in the next week, then move on to Salt Lake City. After that there will be a limited engagement in Pheonix, Portland and New Mexico.
And just to whet your appetite here's a deleted scene featuring Ari as "Power" in an Air/Real Drum-off with Neal Peart of Rush (who does a brief cameo in the finished film).
More info http://www.adventuresofpower.com/ http://www.youtube.com/AdventuresOfPower http://www.facebook.com/adventuresofpower
In the last few days I'd been thinking about writing this diary, then President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize and Rachel Maddow let the cat out of the bag and halfway down the street.
I've come to realize that Obama Derangement Syndrome (or Baracknophobia) isn't just a cute way to play turn-about on the Right Wing, it's the dangerous deadly truth of how the Wingnuts have turned literally against their own country.
Obama loses the Olympics and they Cheer, Obama wins the Nobel Prize and they Cry - "He doesn't Deserve it!" (Except for the fact that Pound for Pound based on what he actually has done - HE DOES! - not to mention the potential of what he may yet accomplish)
Obama ordered Gitmo Closed and Torture Banned. He presided over the UN Security Council voting Unanimously to Bring the World Ultimately to ZERO Nuclear Weapons. His approach to Diplomacy has brought Iran to the table, exposed their Nuclear deceit and allowed them to agree to have IAEA inspectors brought in to ensure their compliance with International Mandates. Those are all good things, but not the Right.
So for a moment lets look seriously at where the original version of the phrase 'Bush Derangement Syndrome" comes from (Dr.) Charles Krauthhammer who suggested it in relation to an offhand comment by Howard Dean that President Bush's attempts to suppress the 9-11 Report was because he didn't want information coming out that he'd already aware of it ahead of time.
Diane Rehm: ``Why do you think he (Bush) is suppressing that (Sept. 11) report?''
Howard Dean: ``I don't know. There are many theories about it. The most interesting theory that I've heard so far -- which is nothing more than a theory, it can't be proved -- is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis. Now who knows what the real situation is?''
Bush Derangement Syndrome: the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency -- nay -- the very existence of George W. Bush.
Now, I cannot testify to Howard Dean's sanity before this campaign, but five terms as governor by a man with no visible tics and no history of involuntary confinement is pretty good evidence of a normal mental status. When he avers, however, that ``the most interesting'' theory as to why the president is ``suppressing'' the 9/11 report is that Bush knew about 9/11 in advance, it's time to check on thorazine supplies.
It's clear from Dean's comment that he doesn't seriously support the theory that Bush was warned by the Saudis prior to 9-11, and that he was doing nothing more than speculating.
However... years later we do know that Bush Received this in the August 6th PDB which at the time of the 9-11 Commission Hearings remained classified. He may not have received a warning from the Saudis but THIS IS WHAT HE DID KNOW more than a month before the attack.
The millennium plotting in Canada in 1999 may have been part of bin Laden's first serious attempt to implement a terrorist strike in the U.S.
Convicted plotter Ahmed Ressam has told the FBI that he conceived the idea to attack Los Angeles International Airport himself, but that in ---, Laden lieutenant Abu Zubaydah encouraged him and helped facilitate the operation. Ressam also said that in 1998 Abu Zubaydah was planning his own U.S. attack.
Ressam says bin Laden was aware of the Los Angeles operation. Although Bin Laden has not succeeded, his attacks against the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 demonstrate that he prepares operations years in advance and is not deterred by setbacks. Bin Laden associates surveyed our embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam as early as 1993, and some members of the Nairobi cell planning the bombings were arrested and deported in 1997.
Al Qaeda members -- including some who are U.S. citizens -- have resided in or traveled to the U.S. for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks.
Two al-Qaeda members found guilty in the conspiracy to bomb our embassies in East Africa were U.S. citizens, and a senior EIJ member lived in California in the mid-1990s.
A clandestine source said in 1998 that a bin Laden cell in New York was recruiting Muslim-American youth for attacks.
We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting, such as that from a ---- service in 1998 saying that Bin Laden wanted to hijack a U.S. aircraft to gain the release of "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman and other U.S.-held extremists.
Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.
They had a ton of information right there - including methods and targets, everything but the date - and Bush did nothing. Nothing. Zero. Zip. ZILCH about it.
In addition to this it was revealed by Bob Woodward that an urgent meeting between CIA director Tenet and then National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice calling a Four Alarm Warning about Bin Laden and al Qeada in July of 2001 was Concealed from the 9-11 Commission.
"The July 10 meeting of Rice, Tenet and Black went unmentioned in various investigations into the Sept. 11 attacks, and Woodward wrote that Black 'felt there were things the commissions wanted to know about and things they didn't want to know about.' "Jamie S. Gorelick, a member of the Sept. 11 commission, said she checked with commission staff members who told her investigators were never told about a July 10 meeting. 'We didn't know about the meeting itself,' she said. 'I can assure you it would have been in our report if we had known to ask about it.'
"White House and State Department officials yesterday confirmed that the July 10 meeting took place, although they took issue with Woodward's portrayal of its results."
It may not have occurred as Dean theorized, or even as Michael Moore suggested in Fahrenheit 9-11 that Bush was slow in his response, and more interested in ready "My Pet Goat" because of his families long standing direct financial ties to the Bin Laden family.
It was not about George W. Bush the person it wasn't just because some people simply had a pathological dislike for George W. Bush - in fact at this point in his career just a month after 9-11 Bush approval ratimgs were in the high 80 percent range - this was because of HIS ACTIONS!
But to Krauthhammer, the intense dislike an eventual calls for "Impeachment" by his most vocal critics had nothing to do with George Bush's Policies... it has to do with those who suffered from "Compromised Intellectual Immune Systems" like of course Barbara Streisand.
Now it's clear Krauthhammer had at least half his tongue in his cheek, never the less the term has stuck - and is even more appropriate now in reverse.
People had good reason to question President Bush on his reasons and rationale for rushing headlong into the Iraq War before the nearly re-inserted Inspectors had finished their job. People had good reason to question Bush's rationale for by-passing the FISA Court to implement broadbased surveillance of U.S Citizens, Journalists and Servicemen without a warrant. People had good reason to question Indifinate Detention in Secret Prisons and Gulags of suspects without Trail access to Habeus Corpus or protections from Mistreatment and Torture.
People had good reason to wonder why it took FIVE FUCKING DAYS to get Fresh Water to New Orleans.
Bush's decision to attacked killed more Americans in a pointless Iraq War than died in 9-11.
Bush CRASH OUR FRACKING ECONOMY by ignoring dangerous lending practices until it was far too late - just like he ignored Bin Laden, just like he ignore Katrina, just like he ignored Afghanistan and Tora Bora, just like he ignored everything - and slammed the country head first into a thick Stone Reality Wall.
These were not Fever Dreams. These were not the Phantasms of a Deranged Mind!
Those of us were bothering to notice had good reason to be upset about all this.
But Death Panels?
Using the Census Bureau to Round Up Republicans and send them to Detention Camps?
We have to fear Socialism and Fascism by Barack Obama when it was George W. Bush who implemented the TARP, took over the Banks and Auto Industry?
We have to fear that Barack Obama is trying to Indoctrinate our School Children by telling them to Stay In School?
Barack shouldn't have bothered even trying to get the Olympics for Chicago unless we pretty much were going to have them anyway?
Barack Obama Doesn't Deserve the Nobel Prize but Yasar Arafat did when the Peace agreement he signed with Izhak Rabin ultimately led to Rabin's assassination? When Desmond Tutu received it years before South African Apartheid ended - a long before there was even any strong evidence that it ever would?
If you have to look for people who are suffering from a serious issue of DERANGEMENT - it's the right wing of this country who have been throwing a massive Temper Tantrum for the last ten months because they think they lost "Their America" - the one where all the really SHITTY things only happened to the Poor and the Brown.
When George W. Bush was first elected, they told the Democrats and those who support Al Gore through the long month of Hell that was Florida to Suck It Up, that they need to Just GET OVER IT and MOVE ON!!
I'm thinking these people are far behind any such good and reasonable advice, and worse -- Thorazine is probably too good for 'em.
Obama Derangement Syndrome is Real! Get the Flynets, the padded rooms are waiting.
Dylan Ratigan has been a recent addition to MSNBC's morning lineup, and has been seen doing an ad sport where he says "The job of the Media is to HOUND Money and Power until you get at the Truth.."
Now I know that he wasn't kidding or exaggering after I saw this clip of him taking on Former NY Lt. Governor and current Health Care Shill Betsy McCaughey the "Death Panel" Queen.
He starts over and over again, "What would you like to see (In Health Care Reform)?" - and she continually dodges the question.
Early on she suggests "High Risk Pools" as a method to address the currently uninsured - this would be low-premium high deductable insurance which would provide coverage that would be too expensive to actually use.
This does nothing to contain costs, it simply shifts those costs onto the backs of the sick.
Ratigan comes back again and asks "What are you going to do about this Corporate Communism" that is destroying our country right now?"
To which she says; "That's a Preposterous Statement!"
Preposterous after the failures of AIG & Lehman Brothers followed by a $Billion bailout? Uh, Massive FAIL!
She then goes on to try yet again scare the bejeezus out of Grandma with her Death Panel talk, talk about "Preposterous Statments".
McCaughey: These Bills are a Medical Assault on Seniors
Ratigan: I want to address that, but how do you answer the question that Insurance Companies have a anti-Trust Exemption?
McCaughey then plays the "Tort Reform" Card and both Ratigan and Wiener pounce.
Ratigan: As a percentage of the overall costs Tort Reform is a very small percent. Why would you start with Tort Reform when Insurance Companies have an anti-Trust exemption? How do you contain costs?
Weiner: CBO has asked what would happen if you eliminated 30% of all Tort Cases? The answer is .04%. 48 out of 50 states already have Tort Caps, and what happens is that the Insurance Companies take whatever "Savings" they get and put them in their pocket - it doesn't bring down costs. How do you contain the costs?
Again and again and again they ask how do you cut costs, and this time she answers - "Education, we can have people take better care of themselves with obesity as we have with smoking"
Ok. Right, we cut costs by making people work out more. I'm sure Bally's just saw their stock tick up slightly.
Then starts the whining -
McCaughey: You're not a very fair moderator.
Ratigan: You're not a very fair answerer - it takes one to know one.
...
McCaughey: This has to go down as one of the most brow-beating interviews in television history...
Ratigan: I Hope That it DOES! And maybe you’ll learn at that point then to answer questions as opposed to go on television and cast accusations.”
Then she start whining about those "State Laws" and says Anthony Weiner is "Ignorant about Health Care Issues" - to which Weiner then proves he absolutely IS NOT without losing a breath.
Ultimately she finally admits that her primary method for cutting costs --- is the increase the eligibility age for Medicare up from 65 to 70!
Ok, so while she railing that all these bills in Congress are going to hurt seniors her final answer is to TAKE HEALTH CARE AWAY FROM SENIORS, until they're 70 years old. Brilliant.
There's more but it's truly classic. Even better than John Stewart Take Down of McCaughey.
This week Rush Limbaugh got his ultimate wish - Barack Obama Failed! Let the Trumpets Sound and Horns Blair - Huzzah! But you know what else happened? America Failed too.
This is the true face of who these people are - petty, vindictive and apparently really into a "Socialist" country like Brazil. YAY SOCIALISM!!
We haven't seen such inappropriate celebration since dozens of Black Kids Lept up in elation at the reading of the Firxt OJ Verdict exactly 14 Years ago TODAY!
Anybody remember that? Anyone remember the Outrage? I think a lot of people still do - and it might even be argued that at least *some* of the Backlash against Barack, and against those who benefit from the so-called "Race Card" - helped fueled yesterdays reaction.
Blacks Cheered and Whites Raged!!
To many of them Obama is just another "Black (Kenyan) Guy who Got Away with It (Winning the Presidency)", y'know - like OJ got away with it, for awhile. We may still be experiencing the slow burn of the "White Riot" against Black Priviledge.
Or of course, they simply hate Democrats like the White-Hot Core of a Supernova!
Oh - but wait, there is some argument that America's Failure in this doomed Olympic endeaver may actually have been - George W. Bush's Fault.
In the official question-and-answer session following the Chicago presentation, Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, asked the toughest question. He wondered how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the United States for the Games because doing so can sometimes, he said, be “a rather harrowing experience.”
A “harrowing experience” may be an understatement. Immediately after 9/11, the Bush Administration began requiring fingerprints and photographs of tourists from all but 28 countries entering the US. President Bush required that all foreigners register online within three days of travel. Thirty-five (mostly European) countries now participate in the US Visa Waiver program, however tourists from the rest of the world still have to jump through the following hurdles:
* Pay hefty visa processing and issuance fees. * Undergo an interview by a visa officer at the US Embassy. * Provide evidence which shows the purpose of the trip, intent to depart the United States, and arrangements made to cover the costs of the trip may be provided. * Present convincing evidence that an interested person will provide financial support if the applicant does not have sufficient funds to support him or herself.
The idea that America has become more onerous to foreign travelers (and their economy boosting dollars) than Communist China was just last year - should be a daunting thought.
But then again maybe that's unfair to pin all of this on Bush, the No Fly Lists, shoe removals and dumping of beverages before the inevitable wanding and question - many countries that have experienced terrorism have upped their security requirements and tightening their Visa requirements.
Maybe it's not all Georgie's fault - it's Mitt Romney's.
The scandalous behavior of IOC members and Salt Lake City Olympic bidders in the 1990s triggered reform that effectively banned the gifts and favors. The reform effort also made it difficult to apply legitimate politicking to the bidding process. This not only hog-tied the savvy political operatives in Chicago, it also minimized the role of President Obama, the Olympic bidder-in-chief.
The tough bidding rules established after the Salt Lake City scandal made it impossible to conduct even the most fundamental political campaign. IOC members are not permitted to visit bidding cities and even meet with the bidders, except under very limited and controlled circumstances.
The rampant glad-handing and corruption of process that led to the Salt Lake City Olympics may have tainted the waters for America, and for our ability to use similar tactics in the future.
Isn't this Blame Game Fun?
Maybe we all should have jumped up and Cheered that Bush Lost Us Another One - on top of the Two Wars he failed to Win, the failure of his Administration at anticipating, stopping or capturing the Al Qeada Leadership, the skyrocketing deficit and broken American Economy.
Yeah - We're #1 (in National Debt and Unemployment!)
Cue the Streamers!!!
None of this should be a surprise, as the Lord-God-King-Bufu of the Con-Americans already announced this is what he wanted.
It doesn't matter to Rush that Obama didn't take over the Banks, the Car Companies and the Mortgage Companies - GEOEGE W. BUSH DID - or that beside the fact neither of them really had a viable choice since all those agencies utterly failed as a result of unregulated crony capitalistic greed, that none of those corporate entities could ever be deemed "The Middle Class".
Down with CHICAGO! Down With CHRYSLER! DOWN WITH CITIBANK! DOWN WITH FORD! Down with - America!
Yeah, good times.
Rush still wants Obama - and hence the Banks, the Car Companies and the Mortgage Companies - To Fail because that's what's "Good" for America. And when they all go down - he and the rest of the cons will Cheer! YAY - Up Yours OBAMA!
Then again, maybe we just plain lost the Olympics not just a city, not just a country- but An Entire CONTINENT that has never before hosted an Olympic games while the U.S. has hosted at 8 Times already (Los Angeles Twice, Salt Lake City, Lake Placid Twice, Atlanta, Squaw Valley & St Louis) so granting us our Ninth Olympics versus South America First is a pretty tough argument to beat.
We've had our turn, over and over again - now it time for someone else to shine.
But instead of being gracious in defeat we have this...
Not exactly "Country First" is it? Why do the CONS Hate America so?
Over and over, from the Bailouts to the Health Care Debate we've heard the repeated complaint of "Socialism" used against Democrats and the President. Time has come to slap this ridiculous canard down hard.
This started out with of course, Sammy-Joe the Unlicensed Plumber-Pundit who said "That Sounds Like Socialism" to then Candidate Barack Obama.
Does anybody even remember what that conversation was really like?
Joe Said he was going to buy a company - He wasn't. He said he was a Plumber. He doesn't have a License (And therefore couldn't buy or operate the company). He said it made about $250,000. It didn't. Barack told him that under his plan He'd get a tax Cut! And otherwise his taxes would go back to where they were under Bill Clinton.
So this is "Socialism"?
Under Bill Clinton we had more people reaching the American Dream than ever before, more Millionaires, more new business and at the same time we Balanced The Budget and put programs like Social Security on a path toward solvency - all of which was ruined by George W. Bush's Tax Cuts for the People that Don't Need Them.
All the Wingers talked about was Barack saying he wanted to "Spread the Wealth Around" - but what he clearly meant by that was return us to an America where more people had a opportunity to become wealthy rather than just a few people getting richer and richer while the rest of us fall further and further behind them. All of their arguments were CRAP and we know it. America was NOT a "Socialist" nation between 1992 and 2000, and going back to that tax plan won't make it one.
But don't just take it from me according to Bloomberg News - if all of Wurzlebacher's bogus claims had been true - this is how badly Obama's Tax Plan would "Hurt" Him.
Bloomberg reports that "one other problem in making Wurzelbacher a symbol of the overtaxed" is that — even if he did earn an adjusted gross income of $280,000 — "he would pay just $773 more in taxes under Obama’s plan than McCain’s." That amount would hardly deal a crippling blow to his potential small business.
That's about $2 per day. Ouch, break my back why don't ca.
"And Alaska—we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs. ... It’s to maximize benefits for Alaskans, not an individual company, not some multinational somewhere, but for Alaskans" stated Palin.
Alaska is sometimes described as America’s socialist state, because of its collective ownership of resources—an arrangement that allows permanent residents to collect a dividend on the state’s oil royalties.
As former 1/2 Term Governor of Alaska, Sarah "Death Panels" Palin oversaw the Redistribution of Wealth from Alaska Oil Companies to it's populace to the tune amounts as high as $3,000 per citizen.
So wasn't Sarah Palin Spreading the Wealth Around by taxing the Oil Companies and giving away checks to the people? Sounds a whole lot like WELFARE to me.
Speaking of taxes how about this - the tax rate over the last half century - and the split between the most wealthy and the rest of the Country has looked like.
When George W. Bush left came into Office he had a Surplus, when he left there was a $1.3 Trillion Deficit. That was NOT Barack Obama's Fault!
It was George W. Bush who passed the Wall Street and Automaker Bail Out Plans. He Originally wanted to spend ALL OF IT IMMEDIATELY and do so with no questions asked.
Congress asked questions, and restricted his ability to only spend half - leaving the other half for the next administration.
Yes, Obama followed up with the Stimulus Package - and although it did increase the deficit (mostly because of it's Tax Cuts) - and it's clear the recovery from the Bush Bust has a long way to go - but so far the result has been This!
On Health Care we've had accusations that Democrats want a Big Government Socialized Medicine Take-Over - and they've followed that up with these kind of comments.
– “Last week Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America’s seniors: Drop dead.” [Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), 7/21/09]
– “They’re going to save money by rationing care, getting you in a long line. Places like Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe. People die when they’re in line.” [Rep. Steve King (R-IA), 7/15/09]
– “The Republican plan will] make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government.” [Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), 7/28/09]
– “That’s exactly what’s going on in Canada and Great Britain today…and a lot of people are going to die.” [Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), 7/10/09]
– “One in five people have to die because they went to socialized medicine! … I would hate to think that among five women, one of ‘em is gonna die because we go to socialized care.” [Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), 7/15/09]
Yet when one Democrat finally throws their ridiculous Lies BACK AT THEM - pointing out that their meager proposals to implement buying across state lines and so-called "Tort Reform" would only benefit the pockets of the Insurance companies and would reward BAD DOCTORS while punishing GOOD LAWYER's for doing their job on Malpractice cases - the Republicans demand - DEMAND that he apologize for his "Outrageous Rhetoric!"
The simple fact is that 44,000 Americans Dying Every Year isn't a Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda - it's the Current Reality. And yes, it IS a Holocaust - just do that math all the way back to the 40's when Truman first proposed Universal Health Care.
That's clearly MILLIONS of people dead unnecessarily and prematurely - just like in the Armenian Holocaust. (Any Armenians out there screaming for an apology from Rep Grayson? Didn't think so!)
In exchange for jacking up prices and cutting expenses by dropping care for Millions of Americans - the Health Industries see profits like this:
None of this is "Socialsm" - anybody who makes such a claim might as well tattoo "Fracking IDIOT" to their forehead.
Are the Nations Police Forces "Socialist" because they aren't privatized? They're paid for with Tax Dollars. Would it be better if people would only get the police protection they could afford to Pay For it? Those with money get protected from Rape and Robbery, those without money have to Suck it up?.
How about Fire Protection, people who've paid up their insurance get their House Saved - everyone else gets to watch their Home burn down?
"Socialism!!!!"
What about Paramedics? You got your payments up to date and they pull you out of the car-wreck - you don't and you bleed out on the pavement?
The fact is those scenarios are exactly what our actual Health Care Insurance System is like - We Already RATION our Health Care and let the poor suffer - and that's the way Republicans want to KEEP IT. Corporations don't have a "Right" to get Rich by doing everything they can to keep America Sick, and yes - "Help them DIE FASTER."
Fighting against them isn't "Socialist" - it's Humanist!
The Constitution of the United States requires this...
Preamble: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Under Article 1:
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
The point is that Congress has the Power to pass all Necessary and Proper laws which will Regulate Commerce across the states - including how Health Care is delivered - in order to promote and protect the General Welfare of the Nation.
Only those people who currently benefit from the system being as broken as it is - and their lapdog syncophants - would dare call this "Socialist!"
Yes, believe it or not - in this segment from last nights O'Reilly Factor, Fox News Consultant Bernie Goldberg actually calls out other Fox Shows/Hosts - although he doesn't name names - for spreading "False Information" and for "Cheerleading at Rallies and Tea Parties".
You think maybe John Moody forgot include an Goldberg's cc on his daily memo to Fox Contributors to Ixny on the Ruth-thay!?
The gist of this is pretty simple, Goldberg doesn't think it's appropriate for a News Organization to have people becoming part of the story and advocating for a particular side of an argument, because THAT's NOT JOURNALISM.
He's been on Fox all these years and he's just now noticing this?
He also points out that much of the advocacy coming from these programs is based on completely False Information. Kinda like this stuff.
(In the above section John Stewart Points out how ridiculous the ACORN ATROCITY has become and contrasts it with the latest "Obama is Indoctrinator our Kids like the Khmer Rouge" Kerffule - only to show that Bush Did It Too with a group of kids singing about Hurricane Katrina and FEMA)
Yeah, there's a whole lot of False Information Out there.
O'Reilly's counter argument is that many of these people are Commentators who are simply providing Editorials which advocate for a point in the same way that the Editorial Page of the New York Times or Los Angeles Times might. In doing so he ignores the large number of Conservatives from Jonah Goldberg to Bill Kristol who have worked on the Editorial Pages of those papers - and fails to point out ANY Legitimate or Credible Liberal Voices on Fox - ones that real Libersls actually respect unlike the Token Porch Pseudo-Liberals they currently sport like Juan Williams.
And No, I didn't say that because Juan is Black, I'm Black too - he, Colmes and Kirsten Powers are political tokens - red-headed step children ready for their daily beating - who're only on the station to give cover to Fox's overt and over-the-top bias.
But then again, Media Bias is apparently perfectly fine with O'Reilly Now - as long as is properly marked as such, y'know - like SPAM.
But that's the other thing that O'Reilly Fails on, which is the fact that in papers such as the NYT or LAT there is a clear bright line between the News Journalists and Reports and the Editorialists. Is there really that big a difference between Chris Wallace and Sean Hannity? I mean really? They've both done Presidential Interviews of Bush, Cheney and Clinton. In exactly what ways did the approach those interviews differently?
What's the big difference between Fox News Commentators and Republicans in Congress? Glenn Beck talks crazy about ACORN and the next thing you know the issue is on the floor of Congress.
The last thing though, before we start a I (Heart) Bernie Goldberg Fan Club is to realize that these guys are just as likely to completely renounced everything they've both said here in the next 24 Hours and to take their mutual sign-off in this segment "It Shouldn't Get Personal" with a couple Tanker Trucks of Sea Salt.
You have of course the incredibly rude treatment that O'Reilly gave Joan Walsh of Salon over her opposition to the Shooting of Dr. George Tiller.
"This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book. I'd like to kill everyone in the mainstream media. But I know those people were inaccessible to me.
One could argue that assigning blame to Goldberg for this would be like blaming Catcher in the Rye for the shooting of John Lennon or Jody Foster for the Shooting of President Reagan.
Except for this commentary from Goldberg when O'Reilly was criticized by papers such as the NYT in a way that they both currently claim is "Perfectly Acceptable" - Yeah, right.
Bernard Goldberg: If NY Times attacked me like it attacks O'Reilly, "I probably would have gotten a baseball bat and gone down to the New York Times with it and found the person that wrote the editorial, but that's me."
Yeah, so much for not getting "Personal" Bernie - I wonder if "Somebody Should Take Baseball Bat" to the Times for the things they've said, what do you really think should be done to those who've "Cheerled the Tea Partiers with False Information?" Would a Blow Torch be a little over the top - y'know considering we're now making these two things equivelent within the Fox Uni-mind?
Still all-in-all despite their past comments, this new perspective - if it lasts more than a nano-second - is an improvement. Maybe they've turned a corner, maybe not. Baby Steps.
In the Murder of Census Worker Bill Sparkman we now know several key facts - he was naked, bound hand-and-foot with Duct-Tape, Gagged, Blindfolded, Hung (Lynch style) and the word "FED" written on his chest with Felt Tip Pen.
What I want to know is - where is the "America First Gang" who are always so all fired up to protect so many of our other Federal Employees and Government Workers - such as the Soldiers who committed Rape and Murder at Haditha or Moumudiya or the Cop who Arrested Prof Skip Gates for Breaking into his own House?
Where's their Holy Hell-Fire Outrage for the Murder of this man?
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Anyone?
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Anyone???
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Bueller???
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Are those Crickets I Hear?
I have a variety of thoughts on this subject so pardon my meandering a bit.
It's clear the distrust and hatred for the Federal Government in area such as Rural Kentucky is nothing new, going back through prohibition and all the way to the confederation - but there's a reason you don't hear a peep from those who love to stand in front of the flag and Pimp it for their own ends.
Those people have spent just as much time screaming "America Love it or Leave It" as they have saying things like this...
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann told the Washington Times that she and her family will not be fully filling out the 2010 census forms. Bachmann, a Republican, said her family will only be indicating the number of people in the household, because "the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."
Bachmann believes the upcoming census to be "very intricate" and "very personal" and expresses concerns about ACORN's involvement in the data collection. The community organizing program came under scrunity after charges of voter registration fraud during the 2008 presidential elections.
"I think what the threat of ACORN would be deluding the ballot box and the effectiveness of our vote," she said. "They will be in charge of going door to door and collecting data from the American public, this is very concerning."
It should be easy to blow this off as just so much Wing-Nutbaggery if it wasn't for the fact that two Neo-Cons with a Punk'd Fetish just managed to get Congress to Completely Defund Acorn! - although such a move may in fact be completely Unconstitutional if they don't similarly defund Criminal Contractors such as Blackwater/XE, KBR and WackenHut.
Be that as it may, it still isn't the worst of it - on HuffPo right now you can actually VOTE on which is the Craziest Census Conspiracy Theory of All.
For the Record we have so far...
. ACORN! (Bachmann) . Internment Camps (Bachmann) . Taking Away Property (Neal Boortz) . Indoctrinating Our Children (Michelle Malkin) . GPS Low-jack for Massive UN Roundup (AmericanDailyReview.com) . Predator Drone Missile Targeting of U.S. Citizens (Infowars.com) . Obama Power Grab (Washington Post) . Takeover via Illegal Immigrants (Malkin)
Certainly it's premature to speculate presume than one, more or any of these particular theories may have been a motivation for this crime - but it's not unreasonable to ask the question, particularly since this is far from the first violent incident of this type.
We've had the Holocaust Museum Shooter who believed similar Conspiracy Theories involving Neo-Nazi Rhetoric, we had a Pittsburgh Cop Killer who allegedly believed "Obama is coming for my guns" and we have five people (two fatally) shot in Knoxville Tennessee by a man who wanted to Kill All The Liberals that Bernie Goldberg Told Him too.
Then of course you have Glenn Beck and his incessant Hate Speech against the President, Govenment and of course - Democrats.
Is there a firm connection in this case between all this Hate Speech and this obvious HATE CRIME?
No.
But I do think that rather than back slowly away from sounding such alarms we should be thinking hard, long and seriously about them as Nancy Pelosi did just a few days ago. We do have to wonder if the overall tone and intensity of this type of rhetoric doesn't pave the way for the greater "acceptability" of the most wild and outlandish ideas - isn't it a bit like shouting "GUN!!" in an already burning theater?
To be fair, it could be argued that Dkos has itself thrown more fire than water on this subject with photoshop cartoons of Joe Lieberman and Antonin Scalia that made Bill O'Reilly loudly proclaim "They're a HATE SITE, the worst of the worst..."
But I'm thinking even the most viotriolic poster Dkos has ever had hasn't got anything on Stormfront or ArmyofGod.com.
Nobody on this side of the argument ever advocated Lynching a sitting U.S. Senator or Supreme Court Justice simply because we disagreed with him. No one on this side ever did a Mock Poisoning of the Speaker of the House! No one on This Side of the argument every actually Killed Anyone, meanwhile on the other side - the pile of bodies is simply rising higher and higher...
It's not a matter of "when" it all will erupt into violence - it already has the only question is when will it go from lone actors as the cases in Washington, Pittsburgh and Knoxville have been to becoming the pre-meditated organized actions of like-minded violent group?
Then again, maybe we've passed that Rubicon already as well.
How many people does it take to truss up a grown man in duct tape and hang him from a tree?
Just wondering...
Vyan
Update: 9-26-09 2:37 pm Michele Bachman was confronted by Dave Weigel of the Washington Independent for her response on the killing of Bill Sparkman - being true to form and as outspoken as usual she Ducked and Covered!
After the speech, Bachmann had only a few minutes to sign autographs and collect a stack of CDs and books from fans who’d followed her into the lobby. I caught up to her as she headed outside and asked if she had any response to the murder of a Kentucky census worker, having noticed that the Census, a constant target for Bachmann, did not figure into her speech. Bachmann recoiled a little at the question and turned to enter her limo.
“Thank you so much!” she said.
Way to stand up for responsible free speech and against Hate there Michele.
And even the Media has begun to notice all the Hate as well as the strong influence of Fox News on the Facts.
Republicans and Conservatives claim that "This isn't Partisan" - that this "Isn't Racial" - that this is just the act of a "few on the fringe".
Oh really?
So what's with The Bone or the War Paint? The Spook President? What part of Watermelon on the White House Lawn isn't Racist?
This kind of imagery is directly out of Birth of A Nation, the D.W. Griffith film the inspired the Klan. If you need a refresher this is what classic racists from the 30's and 40's used to do - wanna check the similarities? Look at this.
There is a clear and obvious link to the perspective of the new graphics/cartoons and the type that were used to justify Jim Crow and Lynchings for over a Century.
Yes, it's Racist Damnit.
This is kind of stuff Republicans have been emailing to each other - have shown up on the Editorial pages of the New York Post - and putting on posters at the Tea Parties - and now they trying to play "innocent" when they get called on it?
Please.
That's simply NOT credible. It's not believable that the people who made these cartoons and posters, who have screamed at their top of their lungs in a crazed out of control fashion are doing so purely because they have a policy and ideology difference with the President.
That is not how people behave when they simply have a difference of opinion and want to openly discuss it. This is all generated by HATE.
The question isn't whether it's racial or not - SOME OF IT CLEARLY IS - it's really a question of HOW MUCH of it is Racial, and HOW MUCH of it is simply based in a deep seated fear and HATRED OF LIBERALS - which as far as I'm concerned is just as bad, if not worse than Racism.
But now what the Republicans spend nearly all their time doing is whining about being called Racists!.
You smelt it - you delt it, pal.
And It's not something many of us, certainly not I, have come to this conclusion lightly.
You have to understand that when Janeane Garofalo called all the Tea Baggers "Racist" - I argued AGAINST her view and initially defended the Tea Partiers, as I thought it was irresponsible to make such a blanket accusation.
I think one of the worst things you can do is make an unfounded and unjustified accusation of Racism against innocent people because it poisons the waters of communication. I defended Bill Clinton - even though I didn't support Hillary or Obama, yet - when he was unfairly accused of Racism during the Election, and even though the source of some of those pictures was originally The Clinton Campaign, so no one can claim that Democrats are completely above this sort of thing. People are willing to do all sorts of things if they think they can "Win" with it.
Bill's problem then was the problem the Republicans are having now - rather than admitting that IT'S A PERFECTLY FAIR INFERENCE to look at what they've done and said and think it MIGHT be racist, they instead decided to get all BUTT HURT about people potentially thinking that.
Bill has years of anti-racist credibility to fall back on in order to get the benefit of the doubt, and as a result he recovered. Republicans not so much.
It's their self-conscious narcissistic over-reaction to the suggestion that has changed my mind. After Janeane made her statement she was Ambush-Interviewed by Fox News and she fully defended herself, arguing that if people at the Tea Parties were not motivated by Race - why is it they didn't say anything when George W. Bush was running the deficit through the roof? (He left office with the Deficit at $1.3 Trillion - but I don't see any Bush-the-Hitler-Monkey signs on April 15th, July 4th or September 12th - did you?)
No, You didn't.
I eventually concluded, particularly when the Fox reporter accused Janeane of being "A BIGOT AGAINST CONSERVATIVES" - that she had a point. NOBODY in those crowds seem to object to the clear racist implications of those posters. NOBODY said "I don't agree with that...", and if they failed to say - "I'm not with this!" then it's fair to conclude that *ARE* With it.
Obviously they AGREE AND SUPPORT that type of vile Hate Speech, and that's on them - not on anyone else. Not all of them are Racists, but *ALL* of them are supporting those Racists and Bigoted statements.
I still have argued again on DKOS that the larger source of Hatred probably isn't the just fact that he's Black, it's the fact that he's a Democrat and *perceived* as a Liberal (Which to some mean Socialist and Communist) and I still feel that's true. But Racism is still *part* of the picture - just not all of it as Garofalo and President Carter has suggested.
Now Republicans are using a boomerang attack against Democrats. "Accuse ME of Racism, and YOU must be the Racist!"
Just this weekend you had Roy Blunt at the Value Voters Forum tell an elaborate Monkey Joke and then advise the Conservatives in attendance not to be intimidate by accusations of Racism. He was EGGING THEM ON, not pulling back the reins and saying "Woah, that *not* what I meant - I meant this over here!". But If you went back and listened to what Clinton said about Obama's victory being like Jesse Jackson's - he *also* said both Jesse and Obama ran a great campaign, so it's believable that the racial-link is merely coincidental rather than the core of his point.
But that doesn't work with an African Witch-Doctors simile.
That doesn't work with Water-Melon References.
That doesn't work with Al Jolson Black Face Jokes.
That doesn't work with APE References.
The history of these types of references being used against Black people are too deep, too raw and too serious to be ignored.
Republicans like Blunt are attempting to Dance on the Edge of this Racial Fire and not get burned by it. They're kidding themselves. Anytime anyone calls them out - they will try and pretend what they said and what they did - has Nothing to do with Race. It's not a dog-whistle anymore, it's a right-cross to the eye and when you say - "Why'd you HIT Me - was it because I'm Black?" - they're like "No I didn't - you're Playing the Race Card!". It's cynical, it's sad and what's worse it's going to do some long term damage to the nation as a whole, not just over race, but over our ability to function as a Democratic State.
Is it possible that a Non-Racist person might unwittingly use such a reference and not fully understand the long-standing racial connotations of it? Maybe, but then that person would be something else entirely. That person might not necessarily be Racist - but they are FRACKING DELUDED!!
