The News of the Impending Dem Bloodbath may be premature

You can look at it from a lot of angles, but it's fair to say that generally speaking the picture for this November is ugly. According to Election Projection Democrats are likely to lose control of the House by 1 Seat :

House Results
Democrats 217 -39
Republicans 218 +39

And in the Senate by 2 Seats

Seenate Results:
Democrats 48 -9
Republicans 50 +9

Although this would be a horrible thing for the Democrats, it appears that it's actually a much more fragile prospect than much of the Punditocracy would like us to believe.

Now Election Projection is simply looking at the most recent set of polls without the benefit of analysis or context, but I think it's shocking to really consider the possibility that we could lose both Houses. That means Speaker John Boehner with Darryl Issa running his own Inquisition with Subpoena power, and Paul Ryan and his Reverse-Robin Hood Plan running the budget committee, not to mention Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with Senators Rand Paul and Sharon Angle?

I mean seriously.

So what does it take to avoid this fate? Looking at this worst case scenario who are the seats and races that we have the strongest chance of preserving and ensuring that Republicans have to take to gain control of either the House or Senate?

The Senate according to Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight.com (which has an excellent track record and is now sponsored by the New York Times) there are just 9 seats currently listed as "Tossup".

FiveThirtyEight Gives us 46 Safe Democratic Seats, 4 Leaning Democratic and these 9 - (Current most likely Winners in Bold)

State	Democrat	Republican	Ind/Other	Chance of Win
Colorado	Michael Bennet	Ken Buck		77% Rep
Florida	Kendrick Meek	Marco Rubio	Charlie Christ	52% Rep
Illinois	Alex Giannoulias	Mark Steven Kirk		53% Dem
Missouri	Robin Carnahan	Roy Blunt		91% Rep
New Hampshire	Paul Hodes	5 Candidates		77% Rep
Nevada	Harry Reid	Sharon Angle		59% Rep
Ohio	Lee Fisher	Rob Portman		82% Rep
Pennsylvania	Joe Sestak	Pat Toomey		88% Rep
Wisconsin	Russ Feingold	3 Candidates		69% Dem

So the more sophisticated projection shows us probably keeping the Senate as long as we keep at least one of the above, even if we do lose Harry Reid (but don't count him out yet!). All we need to do is KEEP THOSE TWO SEATS ON THE BUBBLE. I mean, I won't be satisfied by that considering the filibuster abuse we've been going through already, but even looking at it this far out it doesn't yet seem like a total bloodbath.

FiveThirtyEight doesn't yet have a similar analysis in place for the House, so using the less sophisticated ElectionProjection we basically have this when we look at the threatened Democratic Incumbents and Seats.

Seat	Democrat	Republican	Rep Lead
Arizona-1	Ann Kirkpatric-Inc	Paul Gosar	+0.3
Arkansas-1	Chad Causey	Rick Crawford	+7
Arkansas-2	Joyce Elliot	Tim Griffin	+13.8
Colorado-4	Betsy Markey-Inc	Corey Gardner	+4
Florida-2	Alan Boyd-Inc	Steve Southerland	+1.3
Florida-8	Alan Grayson-Inc	Dan Webster	+3.6
Florida-24	Susan Kosmas-Inc	Sandy Adams	+1.8
Illinois-11	Deborah Halvorson-Inc	Adam Kinizinger	+8
Illinois-14	Bill Foster-Inc	Randy Hultgren	+2.6
Indiana-8	Trent VanHaaften-Inc	Larry Bucshon	+3.8
Indiana-9	Baron Hill-Inc	Todd Young	+1.3
Iowa-3	Leonard Boswell-Inc	Brad Zaun	+3.5
Kansas-3	Stephene Moore	Ken Yoder	+5.3
Louisiana-3	Ravi Sangisetty-Inc	undetermined	+10.3
Maryland-1	Frank Kratovi-Inc	undetermined	+2.5
Michigan-1	Gary McDowell-Inc	Dan Benishek	+5.6
Michigan-7	Mark Shauer-Inc	Tim Walberg	+4.3
Mississippi-1	Travis Childers-Inc	Alan Nunnelee	+3.4
Nevada-3	Dina Titus-Inc	Joseph Heck	+1
New Hampshire-1	Carol Shea-Porter-Inc	undetermined	+2.8
New Hampshire-2	undetermined	undetermined	+2.8
New Mexico-2	Harry Teague-Inc	Steve Pearce	+2
New York-24	Michael Arcuri-Inc	undetermined	+1.8
New York-29	undetermined	undetermined	+10.3
North Dakota-AL	Earl Pomeroy-Inc	Rick Berg	+4.6
Ohio-1	Steve Driehaus-Inc	Steve Chabot	+3.3
Ohio-15	Mary Jo Kilroy-Inc	Steve Stivers	+3
Ohio-16	John Bocceri-Inc	Jim Renacci	+3.8
Penn-3	Kathy Dalkhemper-Inc	Mike Kelly	+1.3
Penn-7	Bryan Lentz	Patrick Meehan	+0.2
Pann-10	Chris Carney-Inc	Thomas Marino	+1.3
Penn-11	Paul Kanjorski-Inc	Louis Barletta	+7
S. Carolina-5	John Spratt-Inc	Mike Mulvaney	+1.3
S. Dakota-AL	S. Herseth-Sandlin-Inc	Kristi Noem	+3.1
Tennesee-6	Brett Carter	Diane Black	+10.3
Tennesee-8	Roy Herron	Stephen Fincher	+3.5
Texas-17	Chet Edwards-Inc	Bill Flores	+1.8
Virginia-2	Glenn Nye-Inc	Scott Rigell	+2.1
Virginia-5	Tom Periello-Inc	Robert Hurt	+8.5
Washington-3	Denny Heck-Inc	Jaime Herrero	+5.6
Wisconsin-7	undetermined	undetermined	+0.8

Although there are a lot of Democratic seats with a huge Republican lead in double digits, what's most notable about this is how many of these races (26) are at just 1% to 3% down - which is within the margin of error. A lot of these races could go either way, and in order to take congress, Republicans Have to RUN THE TABLE.

Beyond the safe Republican and Democratic seats, these Battleground Districts need to be vigorously defended.

We can't afford to lose Alan Grayson, but certainly can't let former Rove Lackey Tim (Vote Cager) Griffin become a member of Congress. Someone who while a member of the RNC violated a Federal Court Order to block the counting of absentee ballots submitted by African American Troops while they were serving in Iraq, then as a reward he was granted a spot as U.S. Attorney - replacing Attorneys like Robert Iglesias who wouldn't setup bogus prosecutions of ACORN and bypassing Senate Confirmation thanks to loopholes in the Patriot act - this Bushie leftover CAN NOT become a member the Controlling Majority in Congress. No way. No how!

We need to show who these people are...

Accurately.

Sharon Angle -"We might have to resort to Second Amendment Remedies", "The People have become Spoiled", "Phase out Social Security" yet she lives off her Husbands Federal Pension.

Rand Paul - "I would have a discussion about Public Accomodations and business right to discriminate", Holding BP accountable is "Un-American"

Joe Miller - "Dismantle Medicare"

Rubio - 'Repeal Health Care", "Make Bush Tax Cuts Permanent" but "Employee Benefit extension must be paid for"

Mitch McConnel - "I take Obama at his word that he's a Christian"

Joe Wilson - "You Lie"

Mike Pence - "I don't think Rush Limbaugh has a Racist Bone in his body"

Joe Barton - "I apologize to BP" for the White House "Shakedown"

Michele Bachmann - "Obama Stands with Achmedinejad", "We have to stop this Gangster Government", "I want people armed and dangers on cap and trade", "We need an investigation of Congress for their Anti-American views..."

John Boehner - "The Stimulus hasn't created a Single Job","We'll Defund Health Care"

To avoid this Democrats need to get out and Campaign Hard as the President did yesterday, they need to stand on their record - be willing to push back on all the GOP Talking points about "Government Takeover" and "Death Panels", note as was mentioned this weekend on Meet the Press that even though this recovery has been tough, it's still been one of strongest recoveries in history (after one of the largest crashes in history) - they need be willing to point to wavering Liberals and Progressives that the final Health Care Bill actually came out a little bit better with the Non-Profit Option than it would have been with the Public Option.

They need to FIGHT, and we need to help them.

We will probably lose some seats this November, but really there's no reason for us to lose All OF THEM - not if we ActBlue and move to protect our Democratic Majorities right now, and keep doing so right until November.

Vyan

Revealing the Stealth Public Option

Heading into the midterm elections, the level of vitriol and energy on the right continues to rise while those and the left feel demoralized, betrayed, and dispirited despite numerous legislative accomplishments by the Democratic Congress and President Obama.

Chief among those disappointments is the lack of single payer plan, or at the very least - a public option within the plan to allow people to avoid having to choose exclusively from health insurance agencies motivated entirely by profit, not patient satisfaction.

What many of us apparently don't know is the final version of the PPACA as passed actually does include something that functions as a public option, and in some ways may even be slightly better as scored by the CBO.

Here's one recent diary which wistfully pines for better non-profit options.

Where we should be talking about the future reforms we need - i.e., opening up Medicare to more Americans on an opt-in basis, creating a more powerful nonprofit option (whether it's negotiated on Medicare rates or not, putting patients ahead of profits), and reining in insurance company abuses and rate increases - instead, we're too busy attacking and ceding political turf to the Republicans, who did NOTHING to support reform and even lied about it to scare voters.

My point here is this nonprofit option already exists.

The final Health Care bill included the "Non-For-Profit Option" as overseen by the Office of Personal Management which scored just as well as the Public Option for Budget Reduction and Cost Savings according to CBO - so for those who desired downward pressure on costs, that's exactly what we have.

The Original Kennedy-Dodd Senate Bill did not include a Public Option and Scored at about $1 Trillion, but after the PO it was re-scored at $389 billion cheaper initially - but also that it's long term projection of over ten years would have increased the deficit by over half a billion

Indeed, according to CBO's July 2 score of the HELP bill, under the legislation, 21 million fewer Americans would be uninsured in 2019 than under current law. In a July 1 letter to members of the HELP committee, publicly released the following day, Kennedy and Dodd wrote that the "Congressional Budget Office has carefully reviewed our complete bill, and we are pleased to report that the CBO has scored it at $611.4 billion over 10 years, with the new coverage provisions scored at $597 billion" -- a cost they noted was a "significant reduction from earlier estimates." The preliminary score of the complete bill that the committee released stated that Title I of the bill would increase the deficit by $597 billion over 10 years.

See that? The Kennedy Bill with the PO included increased the deficit.

The final bill came in with a higher initial costs due to increased subsidies for low income insurance seekers, but long term deficit reductions were an almost $2 Trillion improvement over 20 years.

Comprehensive health care reform will cost the federal government $940 billion over a ten-year period, but will increase revenue and cut other costs by a greater amount, leading to a reduction of $138 billion in the federal deficit over the same period, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, a Democratic source tells HuffPost. It will cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the second ten year period.

The source said it also extends Medicare's solvency by at least nine years and reduces the rate of its growth by 1.4 percent, while closing the doughnut hole for seniors, meaning there will no longer be a gap in coverage of medication. The CBO also estimated it would extend coverage to 32 million additional people.

The Public Option was removed during negotiations with Sen. Joe Leiberman in the "Manager's Amendment". That amendment was scored by CBO here, where it showed that this option saves just as much of a cost savings as the Public Option did, in fact it came out $2 billion cheaper.

This estimate incorporates the effects of the manager’s amendment, which would make a number of changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as originally proposed. The changes with the largest budgetary effects include: expanding eligibility for a small business tax credit; increasing penalties on certain uninsured people; replacing a "public plan" that would be run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with "multi-state" plans that would be offered under contract with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM); deleting provisions that would increase payment rates for physicians under Medicare; and increasing the payroll tax on higher-income individuals and families. Of the total deficit reduction of $132 billion projected to result from the legislation, the manager’s amendment accounts for about $2 billion, and the act as originally proposed accounts for the remaining $130 billion.

...

The proposal would call on OPM to contract for two national or multi-state health insurance plans—one of which would have to be nonprofit—that would be offered through the insurance exchanges.

Considering the intensity of the opposition against the public option, the Stealth Option was able to slip in under the wire without being noticed by the press, and largely without being noticed by the legislators themselves. As a result they haven't been able to respond back to their own constituents on the Left who loudly complain that they caved when the rubber met the road.

In the end, we got 90-95%% of what we wanted and needed.

One of the few Democrats I've even seen bring this provision up was Sen. Mary Landrieu (at 11:58) as she was being attacked and criticized by Howard Dean. (Some of Dean's long list of criticisms here especially the ability to charge older person were removed, along with the "Louisiana Purchase" and "Cornhusker Kick-back" via Reconciliation after the House passed the Senate version of the bill with the Manager's Amendment)

Landrieu: In the Bill that the Governor now says he's not for, there is a national non-profit option that gives the same choices that members of Congress and Federal Employees have...

In all the twists and turns of the legislation - this point was completely lost. We have something that is just as good as what most of us wanted, and maybe having it going through in the background was best, because otherwise if it had gotten more focus and more press - just like Single Payer, and just like the PO, it might have been stripped out too, but it wasn't.

Other issues criticizing the bill, which I've seen are arguments that it doesn't contain "cost controls" - this has especially been brought up by NYCEVE. in What happened to the promise to "control skyrocketing premiums"?!

However, the PPACA does have cost controls, it requires an 85% Medical Loss Ratio, which means that at least 85% of the money paid in as part of premiums has to go to actual care, not advertising, not overhead, not stock value.

NYCeve's next major complaint is that their aren't any limits on deductibles in "junk insurance" - but there will be for people buying employer based insurance outside of the Exchange through their employer.

(2) ANNUAL LIMITATION ON DEDUCTIBLES FOR EMPLOYER SPONSORED PLANS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a health plan offered
in the small group market, the deductible under the plan shall not exceed—
(i) $2,000 in the case of a plan covering a single
individual; and
(ii) $4,000 in the case of any other plan.
The amounts under clauses (i) and (ii) may be increased by the maximum amount of reimbursement which is reasonably available to a participant under a flexible spending arrangement described in section 106(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (determined without regard to any salary reduction arrangement).

Prior to the actual implementation of the full plan in 2014, it's not that surprising that some insurers would try to price gouge before they get hit with the ban on life time limits, the 85% medical loss ratio, and the limit on out-of-pocket cost, however they do so at their own risk of being punished for it because there are penalties for Insurers who issue exorbitant rate hikes.

The law allows states that have, or plan to implement, measures that require insurance companies to justify their premium increases to be eligible for $250 million in new grants. Insurance companies with excessive or unjustified premium increases may not be able to participate in the new health insurance Exchanges in 2014.

If the companies try to jack up prices now, as some appear to be doing - although these may be outliers according to the Kaiser Report which says that overall 2010 insurance rates have only increased between 3%-5% - before the exchanges come online if 2014, they either have to justify it or not get any access to the new customers available in the exchanges.

Lastly on this point, if an insurer takes the risk of gouging anyway though the exchange, they can be forced to pay back their customers via rebates.

From the CBO

Several provisions regulating insurers were added, including a requirement for an insurer to provide rebates if its share of premiums going to administrative costs exceeds specified levels and a general prohibition on imposing annual limits on the amount of benefits that would be covered.

If insurers charge more than the 85% limit they have to GIVE THE DIFFERENCE BACK as a rebate. That would be what's called a Price Control.

Nyceve's issue with the junk insurance would not apply to the insurance offered through the Exchanges in 2014 which require that preventative care be offered for free (not with a high deductible), and that a fairly comprehensive minimum set of coverage - for the bronze plans - which haven't even been established by the Secretary of HHS yet be made available at a reasonably affordable price, with subsidies available for those who still can't afford them.

Beyond Health Care the second major criticism of the Obama Administration has been their failure to address the War Crimes of the previous Administration and their overall handing of the "Rule of Law".

The problem isn't just with the Administration, it's with the Law itself and Congress failure to correct that law, although the SCOTUS has been gradually correcting much of this on their own.

After losing the Hamdan case the Bush Administration pushed through the Military Commissions Act which stripped Foreign Enemy Combatants of Habaeus protection, some of which was restored by Boumediene in regards to Gitmo, but as yet has not been restored for Bagram A.F.B. which is were the current detention sore festers. Thus Far the Courts have ruled against Bagram Habeas petitions in accordance with the MCA, but this issue has yet to reach SCOTUS.

On two levels, both via executive order and via both Hamdan & Boumediene at the SCOTUS Habeaus has been restored for Enemy Combatants - but not yet for those held in Bagram, and that is where Congress needs to act.

Don't like Warrantless Searches? Congress essentially Ratified them with the FISA Fix Congress needs to "Unfix" it. Unlike the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration's Justice Dept has been implementing the law as written even if it's a lousy law. The problem is the law itself, not the Administration who has pledged to uphold the law - even when that law sucks.

The investigation of Torture & Bush War Crimes has been handed off to a Special Prosecutor, and although there is no guarantee exactly what that prosecutor will do, or how far they will or won't take the case - it is clearly NOT fair to argue that the Administration has ignored the issue, they've done what they should have done which is let a prosecutor handle this outside of the political process, but under the law. The problem is with the law itself, specifically the MCA which effectively immunized many of these activities retroactively by re-writing the War Crimes Act to match the Bybee Standard (Torture equals Likely Death Only) during the lame-duck session of 2006 right after the Hamdan decision came down. Obama wasn't even in the Senate when that happened.

Admittedly Obama hasn't addressed this since campaigning but he has made it known that he realizes the MCA needs to be repealed and Habeaus restored, the Detainee Treatment Act needs an update to include civilians under Geneva and the AFM, the War Crimes Act needs an update which includes providing legal advice designed to deliberately circumvent the law, and Obama needs to get both Gitmo and Bagram closed down - but those are all works in progress (many of which were delayed by Health Care, The Stimulus and Financial Reform) as the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars wind down, not failures. Not yet.

Even though Bush is gone, he left behind a pile of bad laws that Congress needs to fix, not just Obama - and as a result we need the best possible Congress we can get if we're going to have any hope at all of addressing this continuing issues.

Right now Barbara Boxer is in Trouble. Russ Feingold - the only U.S. Senator to vote against the original Patriot Act - is threatened. We may have our issues with Blue Dogs like Mary Landrieu, but we can't let that frustration be taken out actual progressives like Boxer or Feingold. They need our help, and they need it NOW!

I'm not arguing for anyone to just "clap louder", but to admit these are complex and difficult issues - it will take years to clean up this mess and all the while we're doing it we'll have to fight hard to keep the Conservatives and the out-and-out Wingnuts from rebuilding the mess as fast as they can.

The facts are on our side, we don't have to feel bad or down about anything. This legislation is far from perfect and still has many fixes and changes need, but we're not likely to get any of that done with even fewer Democrats in Congress than we currently have. It's not time give up or give in, it's time to double-down - and to ActBlue.

We all may our issues with how things went down, but one thing we can't do is let the Know Less-Than-Nothing Party steal the day and benefit from their own strategy of obstruction and obfuscation. We have to keep Congress in Democratic hands, at all costs.

Vyan

Restoring teh Stupid

these people are dumber than a pile of broken rocks. And deluded too.

Interviews with Attendees of the "Restoring Honor" Rally...

Restoring teh stoopid - it burns - it Burns!

Frankly, this set of interviews, which is independently done by New Left Media is the best coverage of the event I've seen so far.

Woman: We came out here to stand together and show people we're not crackpots.

Man: We have to take back America.

Woman: We're restoring honor and freedom. The things that are going on in the White House right now are just insane, it's becoming communist and socialist - it's just crazy.

Woman: They used to teach pride in your country in schools, they don't do that anymore.

Woman: We're the only nation like this in the world.

Man: This is the last bastion of hope, in the world. Right here. America. (Ed. "Help me, Obi-Wan Merica - you're our only hope!")

Interviewer: A lot of people are criticizing Glenn Beck for having this rally on the Anniversary of Dr. King's "I have a dream speech".

Man: It's not "insensitive." The idea that Al Sharpton is going to come here, and bring his Black Panthers to try and start some kind of incident...is wrong. Because Al Sharpton doesn't own the day. The Black people don't own the day. The African American People don't own the day.

Yeah, I'm really glad to know that everybody has the day, both the Black AND African Americans..., and their Black Panthers with Al Sharpton.

Woman: No one owns George Washington as an occasion.

Well, that would be correct ma'am - I have yet to have the occasion of George Washington. Owned or unowned.

These people are like meat - with eyes.

Interviewer: A lot of what people were concerned with was the fact the person who was speaking at this event is someone who had accused Barack Obama of being "a racist, with a deep seated hatred for white people".

Man: They're saying that Glenn Beck said that?

Interviewer: Yeah.

Man: I don't think he said that, you're getting that wrong. No, I don't think he said that.

Interviewer (Asking woman): You think he said that?

Woman: I haven't heard him say that.

Man: I never heard Glenn say he was a racist. I never heard him say that. I've never heard him be disrespectful to the President.

Man: Glenn Beck wouldn't say that. You're just turning words around here and I ain't talking to you no more.

Man: Well, if I heard that I'd believe it - because he is a bit of a racist, and a bit of an elitist.

Woman: I agree with him.

Interviewer: And why is that?

Woman: Barack Obama has done nothing but separated this country, and caused Blacks and White against each other. (That's an exact quote!)

Interviewer: How's he done that?

Woman: Oh, a long list of things.

Woman: I can't believe this country would elect someone so anti-progress and pride of America. That would willfully destroy the country and divide us on the issue of race.

Woman: I believe with the Birther People, I don't believe he's even a legalized citizen. I don't think he's a Christian, I think he Muslim at heart and he only joined that Church in Chicago for political reasons.

Wow. Just wow. Now we know that even without all their stupid signs, they're still pretty stupid and more than a little bigoted.

It's not like you sound like an ignorant hick, but yes you're fat ass does racist and idiotic in those pants.

For further context - you have this bit from Sam Seder and "That's BULLSHIT!"



.0046 percent Black people? And to think that instead of Park Police estimate of 87,000 if you use Glenn Beck's attendance estimates (over 100,000) or worse - Michele Bachmann's (500,000) - you start having to deal in negative exponents of 10. Which is pretty damn small.

Man: I love Glenn Beck, I just wish he's be more consistent about one thing. When it comes to Van Jones, Anita Dunn, Barack Obama he shows the communist connections very well, he demonstrates that and gives proof. But when it comes to Martin Luther King he feels the need to toe the political correct line

I'd love to see more black people at tea party events, because when they do come they're treated like celebrities... I wish there were more.

I'm thinking that "Dr Martin Luther King the Communist" rhetoric isn't going to get us to jump up and come running your way. Not hardly. It's more like shades of Hoover and COINTELPRO with that noise pal.

Anyhoo - back in the first video they did start to discuss the "Victory Mosque" at Park 51, not that any of them even knew what it was really called. Black people don't "own the day" and have no right to feel "sensitive" about King - who was also killed by a terrorist - or Beck - who insulted the first Black President by calling him a racist - but all the White Christian-Americans (who don't live in New York and had no direct connection to the attack) apparently have Ground Zero and the blocks East, West, North and South of it around Tikrit, on Escrow!

Man: I think it's a stick in the eye to the American people.

Man: This has nothing to do with religious freedom.

Man: How many mosques are in New York right now, a bunch of them. why do they another one - just to slap us in the face?

Man: Islam is not just a religion, they couch it as a religion - but it's a lifestyle. When you buy into the Islam Religion, it's everything.

Woman: It's not that they can't build the mosque, but why do they have to build it there? They don't need to thumb their nose up at us.

Man: I think it's sticking the eye in the America people. 3,000 people died there - by Muslims.

Man: They're sticking their thumb in our eye. (Ed: Ok, this guy at least got the anatomy correct)

Man: We don't want this to become another Mecca, a Muslim victory.

Man: Not only does this smack the families in the face, but America in general. (Ed: Well, at least they didn't try to ram it down your throat, like Health Care - now it's all about eyes and faces!)

Interview: How far away should they put it?

Man: How about 100 miles?

Woman: They have more mosques in New York than you can shake a stick at, why the devil do they need another one?

Interviewer: Some say they are confusing radical Islam with more moderate Islam?

Man: I learned everything I needed to know about Islam on 9/11.

Well, I think one of the actual 9/11 families might have something to say about that.... especially Talat Hamdani who lost her son, an EMT who rushed into the Towers to save people, on 9/11.



First people assumed that because he was muslim, her son was somehow involved in the attack. She is now receiving HATE MAIL, apparently through someone who had access to her DMV records.

My favorite portion of this interview occurs about 6 mins in ... it should be on a permanent loop in front of Park 51.

Hamdani: He (Gringrich) has no right to get involved in this issue. He did not lose anyone over there. He is not a New Yorker.

All of these politicians are just jumping on the bandwagon, ostracizing me - Americans or muslims like me. Our people are dying. Why are we being held accountable for this action of a foreign terrorist group?

Olbermann: Do you have any concerns about speaking out, in favor, and with your group 9/11 Families in favor of the Park 51 project?

Hamdani: I have no worries because I am standing for what is duefully mine. They are cloaking this issue - as a sensitive issue, too close, too soon. To me it's a issue of Freedom of Religion. All the people who were murdered that day, where not murdered for their faith, race or ethnicity, but for being American and believing in the American values of democracy, freedom, liberty of speech and to persue a faith of your own choice. So the best we can do as a tribute and a legacy to them is to uphold those American values. Unlike, New Gingrich and whoever who is jumping in on this feeding on the bloodshed of 2,700 Americans like vultures. They are the lowest of mankind.

THAT is what being an American is all about. It's not about wearing your cute flag t-shirt while your spouting hated about the "Commies" and the "Muslims" and the "Insane Socialists" - it's not about putting on the clothing and mantle of Ben Franklin while knowing nothing about the values that he stood for - it's about having the courage to say that Rights Matter, even when it makes other people uncomfortable or "sensitive". To be willing to Lead by Example not via Entitlement and whining that "America used to be Special", but not willing to actually stand up and Be Special.

Talat Hamdani is Ten Times the American that any of those thimble brains on the mall will ever be.

Vyan

We can't possibly Lose Congress & America to these Wackjobs!

I mean seriously, are we really looking at having Sharon (Obtuse) Angle as a U.S. Senator instead of Harry Reid? Or Rand (Anti-Civil Rights) Paul? Carly Fiorina who shot her mouth off as financial spokesperson for McCain and was benched as being too embarrassing by his Campaign? Mega Millionaire's Rick (Medicare Fraudster) Scott and Mega-Ebay Bucks Whitmann buying their way into Governorships? Jan (Icabod) Brewer who sees dead head-less torsos in the Arizona Desert? Tim Pawlenty who says the Federal Government is a like a Drug Dealer for cash strapped towns and business?

Were looking at losing Congress to this pack of wackjobs and hucksters?

I mean really?

How the hell can we not be motivated by that?

How the hell can we let people who think that the Constitution was built upon numerous references to "God", "The Free Market" and "Capitalism" be the ones running this Country?

(For the record, No - I'm not against or disparaging "God" or "Capitalism" only people who wrongly think those are Constitutional Tenets when they aren't even mentioned once in the entire document.)

They want to "Take the Country Back" to it's original founding? Back to where the Declaraion of Tea Bagging Independence read: We hold that all White Male Land and Business owners are created (more) equal, with the inalienable right to pursue and exploit anyone elses land, labor or oil especially from Non-Christian Heathen Socialist/Communist Illegal Alien Islamic Scum!

This can't be happening.

The facts are the Illegal Immigration is actually down by 60% over the past two years, while enforcement and deportations are up as much as 25% from the where they were at the start of Bush's first term.

Yet they continue to Fear-Monger and claim Obama has "Done nothing" about it? Yeah, except send 6,000 Troops and Predator Drones to the border.

On our side we have Facts.

On their side they have Ridiculous Bigoted Ass Clown Propogandists like Andrew Breitbart and his buddy/felon James (Pimp Daddy) O'Keefe, Louie (Run from the Terror Babies!) Ghomert, and Paul ("I have a Reverse-Robin Hood budget scheme") Ryan.

During this year the private sector has gained back over 760,000 jobs with a 63,000 private sector job increase reported for August. Yes, of course we need more - much more - but do you really think we're going to get what we need as a nation from Speaker Boehner!?

Let that sink in - we're seriously looking at having SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER.

Or Senate Majority Leader Mitch (Mc'Chinless) McConnell who takes "Obama at his word" that he's not a Filthy Muslim Traitor.

(shiver)

With the minority they currently have in the House and Senate, Republicans have done everything they could to block relief for small business with increased lending, blocked support for those who remain unemployed, stalled and watered down Wall Street Reform to prevent more financial disasters like the one that we're still recovering from, stalled and watered down desperately needed Health Care Reform, watered down the Economic Stimulus, DEFENDED BP and Big Oil despite their negligence causing the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. History and on and on and on...

It was Bush who ballooned the spending all out of proportion before Obama became President. Nearly all of our current Deficit goes straight back to him.

Together with the economic downturn, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years (see Figure 1).

The deficit for fiscal year 2009 was $1.4 trillion and, at nearly 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was the largest deficit relative to the size of the economy since the end of World War II. If current policies are continued without changes, deficits will likely approach those figures in 2010 and remain near $1 trillion a year for the next decade.

Rather than let Bush's deficit busting tax cuts expire, their agenda is to shut it all down. All of it.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he thinks the Republicans are hinting at shutdown with their promises to defund everything.

"They want to shrink it to where it doesn't work, and then when it doesn't work, they go, 'Look! It doesn't work, get rid of it.' And that's been their strategy all along," Trumka told TPM Thursday after speaking to reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "They don't talk about how to make things effective; they talk about how to get rid of them."



The push to shut down the government that Dick Morris floated to conservatives last week is picking up some steam. Democrats who experienced the shutdown in 1995 and 1996 told TPM it was disastrous and it would be "un-American" to force people to endure another one.

Their clear goal was to functionally disable the Government, then turn around a whine "See the Government is Disabled - you can't trust it, you can't DEPEND on it - so let us RUN IT (into the ground)!" They're a pack of Bible-thumping nihilists. A God-Squad of Social-Economic Darwinists. Survival of the Most Entitled and Economically Protected Classes Only, screw the rest of us out here in the cold. For them it's as if America was still a frontier, and there was enough open space for anyone to put up a fence, build a cabin and live off the land - (that the government Gave THEM after stealing it from someone else!)

Why on earth would we EVER want to give these guys more power to block, obstruct, limit, defund and destroy our country?

We may not like everything Obama has done or how he's done it. We may be unhappy about the lack of a Public Option, comments about the "Professional Left" or "Fuck the Unions" or Gitmo, Indefinite Detention, escalating Afghanistan, a lack of action on War Crimes Tribunals or Torture Trials. While we may grumble about all that we also have to recall that Obama never campaigned as a Liberal or Progressive so we shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't act like one now, but on the other hand he certainly Isn't a Wackjob like these Frackers!

We're gonna have to grin and bare our disappointments. Pull it together and hit the pavement, and hit the phone banks to support the Democrats this November. Yes, gulp, even the Blue Dogs if they win the nomination. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate. If we can't generate excitement and enthusiasm over all the historic legislation that has passed, from the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act, to the Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Bill, the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty, the Iranian Sanctions, the First Serious Health Reform in 45 years, tax cuts and credits for 95% of Americans and small business to help them hire, $26 Billion to keep our Teachera, Firefighters and Police on the job, saving our economy from collapse and the American Auto Industry from the brink of bankruptcy and disaster, beginning the largest investments in clean energy in history, cutting tax loopholes that encourage businesses to ship our jobs overseas... we need to take a page from the oppositions book and point out exactly what we have to Lose if the other side gains power.

EVERYTHING.

If you don't exactly like the Democratic candidate - just take a look at their opposition and motivate yourself to Keep them Out. If you don't feel energized to vote for something - you've got to get out there and VOTE AGAINST THESE PEOPLE.

We have got to keep them OUT of Power. Period. Let's get energized about that if nothing else.

Vyan

Kelly & Crowley Defend Ridiculous Obama Myths

You see, it's dishonest and unfair "pablum" to point out that accusations that Obama is a "Dangerous, Muslim, Socialist" are simply a pack of deranged lies - but then he is kinda socialistic isn't he?
The really funny part is when they start accusing Newsweek of being a "Partisan Rag" - not that's there's anything "wrong with that", but...

Kelly: Shouldn't you admit and tell people you're a partisan rag?

Well, geez, I don't know has Fox News told anyone that Rupert Murdoch gave $1 Million to the Republican Governors Association?

Has Fox News told anyone that the biggest shareholder outside of memeber of the Murdoch Family, is a Saudi Price whose also given money to the Cordoba House/Park 51 project?

They again repeat the frankly ridiculous talking point (which Andrew Breitbart loves to spout) that "Nobody looked into Obama's background", after we had months and months of coverage of Reverend Wrong and Bill Ayers the Terrorist Pal.

Obama is the supposed "socialist" who didn't support Single Payer, and didn't support the Public Option and invited Insurance Lobbyists into the discussion who them demanded the Individual Mandate, and signed a weakened Stimulus Package chuck full of tax cuts for small business, and signed a weakened Financial Reform package, and still has Gitmo open and just gave George W. Bush a verbal reach around as he declared the Iraq War Combat Operations complete?

Regardless of what these partisan hacks spout, it's very clear that Obama Derangement Syndrome is very, very real.

A majority of Republicans believe that President Barack Obama “sympathizes with the goals of Islamic fundamentalists who want to impose Islamic law around the world,” according to a survey released on Monday.

That figure, buried at the very end of a newly released Newsweek public opinion poll, reflects the extent to which a shocking bit of smear and misinformation has managed to become nearly commonplace within the GOP tent.

There is no evidence, NONE, ZERO, that Obama "sypathizes" with Islamic fundamentalists.

The article they're all wee wee'd up over is simply an attempt to analyze and explain the previously reported Newsweek poll which says that well over 50% of Republicans think Obama wants to impose Sharia Law on the nation. And Alter's explanation makes sense...

Associational distortion and GOP complicity are certainly part of the explanation for the belief that Obama is Muslim. So is the prevalence of something psychologists call motivated reasoning. As I wrote last year, when people engage in motivated reasoning they “seek out information that confirms what they already believe,” as sociologist Steven Hoffman, visiting assistant professor at the University at Buffalo, told me then. They do not “search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief.” In this Internet age, there is no shortage of sources you can find “proving” that Obama is Muslim (or that the moon landings were faked, or other false claims). “People completely ignore contrary information” and “develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information,” Hoffman explained.

...

McCain supporters said there is a 56 percent chance that Obama is Muslim, the scientists report in a paper in the current issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. But when the same McCain supporters were asked to fill out a card asking for their own race, which brought the topic of race into their consciousness, that jumped to 77 percent. Just thinking about a social category that differentiated the volunteers from Obama was enough to get them to believe a falsehood. This effect occurs with age, too. Undecided voters said there is a 43 percent chance McCain is senile; when they filled out a card asking for their (usually young) age, that increased to 73 percent.

Kelly & Crowley want to argue that "most" Republicans don't believe this nonsense, when the fact is They Do and part of the reason they do is because it's part of the GOP/Fox strategy to demonize the President, rather than honestly, openly or fairly critique him - let alone report the news. They are the masters of the Smear and Dodge tactic, repeatedly rationalizing and justifying outright lies and paranoia for political gain, then proclaiming no responsibility for it like Bart Simpson walking out of a candy store with a pocket full of M&M's.

"I didn't do it, Nobody saw me do it - You can't prove anything!"

But we did see you do it - you're doing it right now - and we can prove every bit of it.

Vyan

Why Obama couldn't "Thank Bush" for Iraq

When it comes to finding the first car along the crazy train you can count on the GOP to always deliver, especially via twitter.

SarahPalinUsa Obama speech tonite may make u dig out ur old Orwell books so rewritten history can be deciphered, depending on who gets credit 4 Iraq surge

Drudge_Report FLASHBACK: Sen. Obama -- 'The Surge Will Fail'... http://drudge.tw/cZD8BP

Drudge_Report McConnell: Obama should credit Bush on Iraq... http://drudge.tw/dsWfmZ

In response to this I had a few tweets of my own.

Iraq War was Lie, sold using Fear, Forgeries and Torture - Surge was Luck @SarahPalinUSA Obama speech make u dig out ur old Orwell books

Where were the WMD'S?? Mushroom Clouds? Links to Atta? @SarahPalinUSA Obama speech tonite may make u dig out ur old Orwell books

Orwell is GOP Operation Manual, who started war again? @SarahPalinUSA Obama speech tonite may make u dig out ur old Orwell books

According to 2007 NIE the main drop in Iraq violence was due to Sunnis Awakening & Change in Congress, not Surge http://tinyurl.com/35c9joe @SarahPalinUSA

Only reason Conservs are trying to bash Obama over Surge? 1 Colorful distraction they have for every other Bush War Failure @SarahPalinUsa

"There is no doubt" Republicans will stop at nothing to trash Obama when he's simply giving us good news that even Bush agrees with #Iraq

"There is No Doubt" that @SarahPalinUSA & @Drudge_Report care more about their talking points than America, Our Troops or the #Iraq People

"There is no Doubt" that the Surge actually *Delayed* the Sunni defeat of AQI, which had started 4 months previously @SarahPalinUSA

"There is No Doubt" that all excuses for 4,000 US Troops dying in #Iraq for a pack of Lies fueled by Torture & Forgeries has finally Ended.

"The Surge" worked, eh? How's that "breathing space" for #Iraq Political Reconciliation Thangy working for ya? @SarahPalinUSA

One Last thing @SarahPalinUSA, do you still believe that Saddam Hussein attacked us on 9/11 as you said when Trig Track shipped out?

When Bush proposed "The Surge" it was just common sense to assume it would fail, Since Everything else that Bush done related to the War had already FAILED. Why should they get this one thing right?

Saddam Hussein did not have a stockpile of WMD's left over from the first Iraq War, those had been destroyed back in 1991 as George Bush was specifically told by Habbush the former head of Iraqi Intelligence said before we invaded. Rather than listen to the truth, Bush authorized the forging of a letter which attempted to Link Saddam Directly to al Qaeda and 9/11 to help justify his desire for the War.

The Iraqi Nuclear program was long dead, as the Niger Forgeries, the State Dept and Energy Dept told us in the original Iraq NIE when they pointed out that the Anondyzed Coating made the Aluminum Tubes improper for Uranium Enrichment, but that information was classified while Scooter Libby was given free reign to Lie to the New York Times in an effort to discredit Joe Wilson, in the process leading to the outing of his wife, who was a Covert CIA Operative working on Weapon's Proliferation in Iraq and Iran.

Talk about destroying U.S. Foreign Policy and Counter-terrorism goals.

There were no Mobile Chemical Weapons Labs as we were told by paid informant Curveball.

Lastly, Saddam Hussein and Iraqi Intelligence DID NOT train Muhammad Atta on the use of Chemical Weapons as we were told by al Libi after he'd been tortured in Egypt.

[W]hat I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002—well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion—its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida.

So furious was this effort that on one particular detainee, even when the interrogation team had reported to Cheney's office that their detainee "was compliant" (meaning the team recommended no more torture), the VP's office ordered them to continue the enhanced methods. The detainee had not revealed any al-Qa'ida-Baghdad contacts yet. This ceased only after Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, under waterboarding in Egypt, "revealed" such contacts. Of course later we learned that al-Libi revealed these contacts only to get the torture to stop.

Still to this day the acolytes of Dick Cheney, his daughter and people such as Marc Theissen continue to this day to expound on the value of "enhanced interrogation" when honest reporting shows that these types of techniques WERE WHY THE INTELLIGENCE WAS FLAWED and consequently helped lead to the death of over 4,000 U.S. Troops and far far more innocent Iraqis.

More importantly the Wingnuts continued crowing over the "Success of the Surge" is incorrect as I stated years ago (and linked in one of those tweets) - the Surge didn't Work, the problems in Iraq largely solved themselves.

It should be noted that violence does seem to be going down in many parts of Iraq as a result of Sunni Tribal leaders turning against and fighting al Qeada, a trend that began four months before the Surge was even announced, but what should also be noted is that the Political Reconcilliation - which was the entire POINT of the surge - hasn't even begun yet, and isn't likely to begin anytime soon.

So is the violence down because of the Surge or the Sunnis?

Or was it possibly both? Were the Sunni's emboldened by America's new found commitment to their security? Well according to the Iraq NIE for 2007, not so much.

August 24, 2007 : Yesterday, the National Intelligence Estimate reported "measurable but uneven improvements" in the security situation in Iraq. While the White House has rushed to suggest that the modest gains were the result of escalation, the improvement can more plausibly be the product of Iraqi expectations of a U.S. withdrawal.

" "[F]earing a Coalition withdrawal, some tribal elements and Sunni groups probably will continue to seek accommodation with the Coalition to strengthen themselves for a post- Coalition security environment" [...]

"The IC assesses that the emergence of ‘bottom-up’ security initiatives, principally among Sunni Arabs and focused on combating AQI, represent the best prospect for improved security over the next six to 12 months, but we judge these initiatives will only translate into widespread political accommodation and enduring stability if the Iraqi Government accepts and supports them.""

Now why would Iraqis have been anticipating a withdrawal of U.S. Troops - Four Months Before Bush initiated the Surge? Could it have been the fact that was September of 2006, just when the Democrats were poised to take control of both houses of Congress?

I think it could.

The Ill-fated, Ill-conceived and Ill-executed Iraq Conflict is now over. The Bushies should be stopping while their miles and miles behind not doubling-down on the biggest example of their MASSIVE. EPIC. FAIL. particularly at a time when the American people have much larger challenges with the economy, the recover for the Gulf and our own future in a world turning increasing Green in the months and years to come.

Vyan

Park 51 Protests Make More Jihadis

It's Official: Newt Gingrich & Mark Williams have been emboldening the enemy with their anti-Islam Crusade (Yes, I said Crusade).

Taliban officials know it’s sacrilegious to hope a mosque will not be built, but that’s exactly what they’re wishing for: the success of the fiery campaign to block the proposed Islamic cultural center and prayer room near the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. “By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor,” Taliban operative Zabihullah tells NEWSWEEK. (Like many Afghans, he uses a single name.) “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.”

Nice going Newt, Nice going.

Taliban officials say they’re looking forward to a new wave of terrorist trainees from the West like this year’s Times Square car bomber. “I expect we will soon be receiving more American Muslims like Faisal Shahzad who are looking for help in how to express their rage,” says a Taliban official who was a senior minister when the group ruled Afghanistan and who remains active in the insurgency.

As an indication of the anger that is growing among some Muslims in the West, this official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, mentions the arrest of three Canadian Muslims in Ontario last week on charges of plotting to build and detonate improvised explosive devices. (A fourth individual was arrested in Ottawa last Friday in connection with the case.) The Ground Zero furor will likely add to that anger. “The more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get,” Zabihullah predicts.

Not only has the hate-speech coming from the right begun to inspire the Taliban who we are fighting in Afghanistan, it's begun to inspire domestic terrorist including the arsonist who set fire to the Mosque in Murfeesboro Tennessee.

Local and federal authorities are investigating a fire at the construction site of an Islamic community center and mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend, as well as reports of gunshots as community members gathered at the site.

The fire, which damaged a large piece of construction equipment, was discovered early Saturday morning. The local sheriff's office, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau and the FBI are investigating.

A spokesman for ATF said today that although they aren't ready to say the fire was intentional, an accelerant was found.

"We're leaning toward arson," Special Agent Glenn Anderson said on MSNBC.

Church burning! We've returned to Church Burning, like what used to happen during the Civil Rights Era. Fighting Terrorism with Terrorism. Brilliant.

But we have to realize that this isn't a battle between Christians and Muslims, it's a battle between Extremists and Moderates as Imam Feisal Rauf himself has stated.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Election-year politics are interfering with the plan to build an Islamic center near the site of the September 11 attacks, the Muslim cleric leading the project said in comments published Monday.

Kuwait-born Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has been tight-lipped on the planned cultural center as he tours Gulf Arab countries to speak about religious radicalism, but said he felt the uproar was linked to the U.S. congressional elections in November.

"There is no doubt that the election season has had a major impact upon the nature of the discourse," Abdul Rauf said in an interview with Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper.

The imam said the issue was "not between Muslims and non-Muslims, but between moderates of all the faith traditions and the radicals of all the faith traditions."

Amen to that brother, Amen.

Vyan

Battling the Punk Rock Supremacy

The other day Radio Host Johnnie Wendel put forth the following question on Facebook.

After the Dickies, Me First + Gimmie Gimmies and too many others to name have made a career out of "punk rock versions of non punk songs", the question remains: Has there ever been a song that cannot be turned into punk rock?

I don't usually wade into musical discussions because they don't generally end well, and can be even more angry than discussions of politics - but this time I did anyway.

Now for those who don't know this is what Me First & the Gimme Gimmie's do, take songs from Pop, Classic Rock, Funk and even R&B and give it a "Punk Rock" make-over as they do here with the R. Kelly song "I believe I can fly".



My answer to the question was simple - there are some songs that where this can't be done. Admittedly I came down hard.

Is there is a song that can't be musically dumbed down into simple-minded 3-chord crap? Yes. Try "Roundabout" by Yes or "2112" & "La Villa Strangiato" by Rush - would turn most Punk Bands to puddles of quivering mush with bleeding fingers and tendinitis.

Now I admit my answer was based in the fact I don't like (most) Punk, hate it even, because I'm a musician who cares about actual musicianship - and Punk at it's core has become ANTI-music.

Be that as it may, I got an equally saucy response from Johnny, who himself is a punk rocker (ne "musician").

"Roundabout" is basically "Eight Miles High", which was punked up impressively by Husker Du, so, that would be easy, changes and all.

No, it's not really "Eight Miles High" - that song is completely different. Contrast and Compare:

Roundabout vs Eight Miles High

He also said this.

No sane human being would bother spending more time on Rush than it takes to hit an "off" button.

To which I responded, rather hotly.

‎"No sane person" eh? That's a typically bigoted and ignorant punker position. No surprise, I've heard that crap for years. If you were talking about Dream Theater you might have a point, but you don't. Fact is, Rush has had more consecutive Gold and Platinum Records than any band other than the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Lots of proud to be "Not Sane" people out there. If this is how little respect you have for a group of genuine musicianship and integrity, it's no surprise that all it takes to "punk up" a song is to remove the talent, ability, and play it lousy. See, it doesn't suck - it's the "Punk" version. Feh!

And when I say I've heard that for years, I'm not kidding. I heard nothing but a complete disdain for musicianship all through the 90's. Nothing but excuses for bad playing, bad singing and bad writing which grew to it's peak in the wake of Nirvana's rise to fame and misfortune. The problem wasn't necessarily with Nirvana, but with Kurt's specific anti-guitar attitude (he even used to badmouth Pearl Jam because they had extended Guitar Solos, until he met them and got to know them) which permeated the music scene and destroyed tons of bands and tons of perfectly fine musicians. Some of those guys were friends of mine. It was like a plague, and yeah, I'm still miffed about it. Always will be.

Kurt wasn't a great guitarist, but that was ignored because he was treasured as a "Great Songwriter" - however many people don't know what many of his songs are about. Few even realize that "Teen Spirit" was a women's deodorant. Even fewer realize that the reason he could hit the notes during those Meat Puppets songs he was covering was because he was being "so emotional" - it was simply out of his range. What happened, largely because of him - but many others who put him on a pedestal, was that a lot of bad playing and bad singing became treasured and good players and good singers were trashed.

People kept telling me that Chino from the Deftones was such a great singer, I said he's trashing his voice. What happened? He had to have throat surgery, just like Jon Bonjovi who also had lousy technique and some horrific glottal stops in his singing. It's wasn't "Jealousy" - it was just physics - they were SINGING WRONG, and Cobain if he's survived long enough was headed vocally right down the exact same road.
I've heard Chino since his surgery and he was retrained to sing properly and Now he's great, he sucked balls before. That's a fact.

I was told then that good singers and players were just "Technicians" - they didn't have "feeling", they didn't have "Emotions". They had "No Soul". All crap. Define "Soul", please? It's all subjective, in the ear and eye of the listener, not something you can quantify and measure. It's about what the listening thinks about someone, whether they think they "Cool" - not whether they actually perform well or not. Yes, there were some who went over the top and overplayed or over sang, but the vast majority didn't. It's like saying that only someone verbally illiterate has the ability to speak, or should be heard. I'm not saying Kurt wasn't great at what he did as a writer and his ability to connect with his audience, I'm saying he became the standard bearer for everyone else to follow and that's always a bad thing. No one should be put on a pedestal that way, as used as a weapon to denigrate everyone else. It's like saying that everyone should eat Italian Food, because suddenly French Food, and Mexican Food and Chinese Food are just no damn good.

We battled further, and all the whlie I kept asking - "How do you convert a song like La Villa... into Punk?" as others jumped into the fray.

Johnny Angel Wendell - Rush couldn't write a concise, succinct song if their lives depended upon it nor could me leben G Lee sing it if they did--might be the worst lead singer in history.

Lee Joseph - Punk by Rush? The least organic thing I could ever think of. Rush does not have the heart nor soul to do punk rock either of the 60s or 70s variety.

Lee Joseph Frank, three words. 1) "pretentious" 2) "bullshit" 3) "yawn"
Turn blue, dude.
Done.

Fair enough, I came out swinging - but what's writing a concise song have to do with whether someone can do a punk version or not?

The issue to me is one of Musical Supremacy that drives Punk. Is not an accident that it's the chosen music of the Skinhead movement. Certainly they aren't alone in this of course, I've seen the same type of Supremacist attitudes among Classic Musicians and Fans (Oh the compositions are so elegant, you just don't understand how the melodies interweave with the counterpoint in such creative ways).. or Jazz (the inspiration and improvisational nature is just so *special* with Jazz music), or with Metal (Dude, those bands are just so Heavy!) or with Death Metal/Grindcore (Everybody else is FAKE!")

This comment of Johnny's completely betrays the smug hubris of the genre.

Johnny Angel Wendell - Rush, for all of their skill, couldn't possibly write a "Personality Crisis", "Pale Blue Eyes", "Deny", "God Save The Queen", "I Wanna be Sedated", because they do not have it in them to write a song--y'see Frankie, assembling a composition... out of meticulously rehearsed parts doesn't equal "good song", it takes zero inspiration or imagination to "compose", it takes raw talent to make three simple chords and a beat come alive--which is why "Wooly Bully" or "I Fought The Law" or "Dance Franny Dance" are light years beyond Rush and why Al Jackson or Tommy Ramone playing a backbeat are vastly more talented than an uptight rightist ham hander like Neil "Ayn Rand is God" Peart.

So many things wrong with that from "Ayn Rand is God' to "They don't have it in the to write a song"... Yeah, they didn't write "Tom Sawyer", "Freewill", "Working Man", "Spirit of Radio", "Nobodies Hero", "One Little Victory", "Ghost Rider", "Vapor Trails" or "Subdivisions"?

No Songs? Here check this Rush cover by Jacob Moon, if this doens't bring you to the edge of tears you've got compassion deficit disorder.



Or this "Earthshine" from the Rush in Rio Tour

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Or I said, even a "Punk" song like Dog Years

But here's the bottom line and has purely to do with music. The way that groups like Me First (who I actually like) do what they do is boil a song down to it's essential chord progression, shift the tempo upward to double-time - possibly with a Bo-Diddley Shuffle, and sing the original melody on top. Viola. Presto, Chango - It's Punk.

The reason you can't do that with "Roundabout" is that it's got a specific signature bassline which is integral to the song. It's not about how "cool" the line is... it's that it's not "ROUNDABOUT" if you don't play that part. If you just play a chord and sing the vocal melody - it's an imitation of "Roundabout" but it's not "ROUNDABOUT". Plus it's already pretty fast, so trying to speed it up any further doesn't really work either. You either aren't really playing "Roundabout" or you've sped it up so fast a human being can't perform the parts. Not Les Claypool, not Billy Sheehan, not John Entwistle - nobody could do that part that fast.

La Villa Strangioto.


My point wasn't the "La Villa" Is such a awesome song no punk rocker could play it - although chances are they CAN'T except for maybe the Gimmie's or Taylor Hawking's solo and Coat Tail Riders who already mix punk and prog - but the same thing is true about it as Roundabout, and even worse because it's an instrumental - so simplifying the parts and pretending you're doing the same song by singing over isn't possible - there are no words. Also again, La Villa isn't just a "lot of notes" it has various movements and changes - some of them a very slow and quiet, some of them fairly fast. but the primary portions is just one chord played three times followed by a fast 16th note guitar fill. If you aren't playing that fill - you AREN'T PLAYING LA VILLA STRANGIOTO - you're just playing a power chord three times. If you try and speed the part up and do it double-time, you'd need YNGWIE to pull it off that fast - and Yngwie's not gonna play your dirty little punk song.

Just like the bass line on Roundabout, you've got a simply problem with human physiology and temporal physics. IT CAN"T BE DONE. These songs can't be tempo shifted and work, and IMO you can't remove crucial parts and pretend you're actually playing the song, because YOU'RE NOT.

The fact that Punk Rockers don't know the musicality of that fact is why I started out so harsh, and why I continue to hold my view that some songs can't be reduced to 3-Chord Punk Crap, because once you do that - they aren't the same song anymore, period.


Vyan