real journalism

The Health Care Reform Blues (for the GOP)

2010-03-23T15:20:00.001-05:00

t remains to be seen if all the emotional exhortation of the wingnut GOP will take hold of the voters in November to "sweep out" the Democrats who actually did what they promised to do in this bitterly fought version of health care reform -- even if the end product is far from perfect or revolutionary legislation.

24 hours a day of Fox News, hours and hours of Hate-Wing radio and a mainstream media that has given an inordinate amount of coverage to the tiny Tea-Party movement somehow failed to prevent the Democratic Party from acting like statesmen for once.

I commend them for their courage; especially House members who will all be subject to the obscene behavior of the noisy, "greasy wheels" of easy media celebrity.

Keith Olbermann's signature turns of phrase will never be heard above the din of the numerous doomsayers at Fox News, but we who are able to understand nuance, wit and sarcasm, truly appreciate his authentic outrage, cleverly conveyed to those of us who see a political world of increasing unreality and a blind march by the easily manipulated towards their own frightening Orwellian dystopia.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ahhhhhh....Now I Get It!

2010-03-22T15:19:00.002-05:00

I've been pulling my hair out (whatever little I have left) trying to understand the dynamics of the "health care reform" fiasco.

Our national soap opera has brought out the worst in many people over an issue that one would think the vast majority of people - anyone in fact who has lived with the insanity and inhumanity of the insurance corporations. Yet something bigger came into play. Something I simply couldn't understand.

But today, it began to make sense. Take away all the rhetoric and bombast, and what do you have?

You have a political victory by one party over another in an area that affects virtually every American in his or her life. Health Care is needed universally, even if it isn't universally available even yet in this country.

But the Democrats have won a major social battle that will be seen as a landmark in American history.

And this, THIS, is what has driven the Republicans, hate radio, Fox News, wingnuts and others in the madcap political arena to lose all sense of perspective and morality in this battle.

But Barack Obama has won!. This black President has changed America in a significant and permanent way.

So more than anything else, as correct-thinking people in this country celebrate, be aware that this is thing that sticks in the craw of so many people who harbor so much hatred for America and Americans on this great and wonderful day.

The $600 Miracle

2008-01-31T16:03:00.000-06:00

These days, our feckless media is all abuzz with talk of the foreign stock market collapse, the burst of the housing “bubble”, the mortgage crisis and the dreaded recession. But fear not America. Uncle George and his rubber-stamp Congress have come together to announce with great fanfare a "stimulus package" to save our tottering economy.

The causes of our current crisis are nothing new to this country. First is the 30-year obsession by Republicans to the sacrosanct concept of free-trade and deregulation that has created a culture of greed and corruption in our corporate boardrooms. This has been done because the federal agencies that should be protecting the health and welfare of our citizens have gradually been stripped of their power or politicized and gutted.

In the past few years, banks and mortgage institutions have led the way with their irresponsible lending practices, only to find themselves burdened by losses in the billions of dollars. As a consequence, some of these corporations have had to go hat-in-hand to overseas sources to bail them out.

But perhaps an even more important, though seldom-mentioned factor in our current economic mess is the cost of the War in Iraq. Through fiscal year 2007, this trumped up and unjustified war has cost U.S. taxpayers $456,100,000,000, or nearly a half trillion dollars. Remember, this was the war that was going to “pay for itself” according to its architects.

To break this down to numbers we can understand, here are some other ways of looking at this enormous sum:

$4,100 for every American household

$1,500 for every American

$3,400 for every taxpayer

$11 million per hour

$275 million per day

This amount doesn't even include the untold amount of money that has gone--and will go--into immediate and long-term medical and psychological care for military personnel affected by their involvement in the war. Nor does it include amounts for fiscal year 2008 and beyond; estimated at $150-200 billion per year for the foreseeable future. In fact, one of the current Republican frontrunners, John McCain, recently stated that "even if the United States were in Iraq for 100 years, it would be alright with me".

Remember, too, that this amount only includes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is only a small part of the overall Department of Defense budget, which this year alone is $481.4 billion. One has to question why nearly 20 years after the Cold War ended, the majority of the Defense budget is still going to non-war spending. But that is another issue entirely.

What is appalling to me is that we Americans--who have been indoctrinated by the Republican Party since at least 1964 that Democrats are the "tax and spend" party--continue to swallow this line when the largest tax increases in history were instituted by GOP patron saint Ronald Reagan in the '80's and George W Bush the last seven years.

Now, our clueless leader and the Democratic and Republican sheep in Congress are falling all over each other trying to jump-start an economy that has been badly mismanaged--or should I say unmanaged--by this "CEO Administration". The President and Congress actually appear to believe the lies they're telling us that $600 will induce each of us taxpayers to go out and buy something--to buy anything.

I'm not sure if the President or Congress has discovered this fact yet, but since virtually all regulatory restraint was taken off the banking and credit card industry, the average credit card user is paying as much as 36% interest per year. That means adding more than 1/3 of the principal to the debt every single year.

Many economists predict that this vast mountain of debt will emerge as the next crisis in our looming recession. I wonder how many families will opt to purchase yet another consumer item during this time when their credit card debts are increasing and average incomes in real terms haven’t increased since the year 2000.

I truly fear that we’re being led down the path to our own destruction, and like lambs to slaughter, we don't even notice. Fear-mongering by this Administration continues to eat away at our Constitution in the name of "homeland security" to the point where we as a nation can’t seem to think critically any longer.

Besides critical thinking, common sense also seems to have disappeared from the plucky American attitude we grew up with. Perhaps 9-11 so traumatized the national psyche that we've yet to awaken to the real dangers that exist right here at home by people we’re supposed to trust.

I am hoping that this country isn't in its last days, because if things continue the way they’re going today, America really is going to be a much different place in the coming years.

And I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t want to live here then.

What a Piece of Work Is Man

2007-04-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

In a week that includes the worst mass shooting in American history by a lone, very disturbed gunman, once again we ask ourselves how this could have happened.

At the very same time, hundreds of people a week are being killed in Iraq as a result of a lone disturbed President, who typifies the insanity of a society that speaks of love, tolerance, compassion and peace while officially committing acts of violence and hatred towards people we once claimed to "shine the light of democracy" upon.

A first reading into the mind of Cho Seung-Hui indicates that he was likely sexually abused as a child. This all-too-secret crime against so many children throughout the world generally causes its victims to turn their rage inward destroying their lives in an atmosphere of desperate silence. When it's directed outwards...well, we've seen what can happen.

I am currently reading "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer, about the history of polygamy in Mormonism. Today, polygamy is officially banned in the Church of Latter Day Saints, and was done so in the late 19th century in order for the State of Utah to co-exist peacefully with the rest of the United States.

Still, the Prophet and founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, is described in the book as mostly a charismatic charlatan who--like so many "cult" leaders--soon believed his own "publicity" and when he tired of one wife, it was "revealed" to him that he could and should take as many as he wished.

So when the official Church banned this sacred tenet of the faith, those who believed in the original revelations of Smith felt justified and even commanded to practice plural marriage.

Today, there are many polygamous adherents of Smith's original Church. While many of these LDS fundamentalists are undoubtedly good and honorable people, the concept of personal revelation as espoused by Smith is the perfect prerequisite for attractive, narcissistic personalities to exploit those around them.

"Under the Banner of Heaven" describes many examples of these kinds of men who have created their own little fiefdoms throughout the world. And invariably, these men have combined a total subjugation of women with an abuse of daughters that include incest and marriage to friends and relatives at ages as young as fourteen, where they would be just one of a virtually unlimited number of wives.

This abuse is as destructive to these girls as any kind of physical, sexual or emotional abuse committed outside of these "communities". But since the vast majority of polygamous Mormon wives are taught from infancy that they are little more than worthless chattel--except as a vessel for begetting Mormon children--they suffer the death of any sense of individuality or spirit. And those with a stubborn attachment to a sense of self have actually be sent to mental institutions for displaying a serious independent streak.

I don't know. After I stopped believing in evil around my second year of college--which was approximately the time I stopped believing that religion was beneficial to anyone--I slowly evolved into a scientific materialist. I was proud of my ability to see past the hypocritical religious crap that permeates our society. This was three decades ago and I've softened my determined atheism a bit.

Nothing in my life or dreams has made me believe in any reality other than this one. But I haven't stopped seeking one...just one moment of a sense of "the other".

I've studied the annals of psychedelia and Shamanism and New Age beliefs, as well as Buddhism, and the intellectual rationalist in me can't help but build rationalist arguments for all the phenomena described, else, I conclude, trying to give myself over to the possibilities of extra-realistic dimensions puts me in the same mindset as the Lafferty brothers described in the book, who became so convinced of their conversations with God that they felt both commanded and justified to slash and kill the wife of a brother of theirs, then calmly slit the throat of her baby.

With this and Cho's actions as well as the action of our President, Vice President and so many others in the world, how can I not believe in evil?

But alas, even these kinds of actions can be reasonably understood as the cumulative effects of lifetimes of mixed messages, misunderstood teachings, abuse, lack of real love and millions of other psychic events that create who we are.

So, who the hell do we blame?

No one and everyone. The same incredibly complex organ that creates breathtakingly beautiful works of art and literature; that can display the most selfless actions of bravery and heroism; that can produce such an intense love for others; can also wield death and destroy lives without a second thought and without a moment's regret.

If karmic evolution is the 1st law of metaphysics, that would offer some sense of gnosis for what we witness every single day.

In the meantime, we can only acknowledge the truth of Shakespeare's observation (as reworked for the musical "Hair"):

What a piece of work is man
How noble in reason
How infinite in faculties
In form and moving
How express and admirable
In action how like an angel
In apprehension how like a god
The beauty of the world
The paragon of animals

I have of late
But wherefore I know not
Lost all my mirth
This goodly frame
The earth
Seems to me a sterile promontory
This most excellent canopy
The air-- look you!
This brave o'erhanging firmament
This majestical roof
Fretted with golden fire
Why it appears no other thing to me
Than a foul and pestilent congregation
Of vapors

What a piece of work is man
How noble in reason

2006-12-30T09:00:00.000-06:00

John Gibson is worried. Very worried.

2006-05-16T17:21:00.000-05:00

Last week, Gibson--the Fox News commentator who last year courageously alerted us to the War on Christmas--stunned America once again with a new threat to those of us who are deeply concerned about maintaining white supremacy...I mean, a white majority in our nation.

Here are the shocking statistics in his own words:

"...half the kids under 5 years old in this country are minorities. By far, the greatest number are Hispanic. Know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority population is Hispanic. To put it bluntly: We need more babies."

I know it's not PC to say this, but I don't think our forefathers decimated the Native American population just so that their brown relatives from south of the border could later overrun our nation with their poor, their tired and their fast-breeding masses.

After all, white America massacred thousands of Mexicans in the 19th century just to create the borders of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. If that hadn't happened, where would the good white people of our great land relocate to in their desire to seek the perfect climate...and the perfect tan.

It's good to know that there are still heroes in America. John Gibson, a man who oozes wholesome whiteness from every pore and hair follicle, will undoubtedly be vilified by traitorous liberals and unchristian race-mixers who have given up the dream of creating a color-free America (except, of course, for those lovely tans). But for the rest of us, I will stay glued to my Fox News Channel, where The Truth is always served red, white and blue.

But mostly white.

Let the Name Calling Commence

2006-05-14T22:44:00.000-05:00

In an article from the London Sunday Times--a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper--there is an interview with Hugo Chavez' ex-mistress. It is called "My lover, the great dictator".

This sensational interview conveniently comes just days after Chavez and Bolivia's new president, Evo Morales, faced down the European Union.

While the word dictator has been bandied about rather loosely by our own Bush Administration in regards to Mr. Chavez, it is interesting to note that whenever Chavez is written about, it seems to be impossible to write objectively about the man. For instance, this is the first paragraph of this article.

"The ex-mistress of Venezuela’s leader, darling of Britain’s left, predicts an autocratic disaster, reports Tony Allen-Mills"

Using the phrase "darling of Britain's left" is apparentliy supposed to marginalize Chavez, but I think there are many more people behind Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution than just a few fringe lefties.

As for this woman's predicted dictatorship in Venezuela, let's examine political philosophies a bit.

Indoctrinated in this country to be great believers in democracy as a the best of all political systems, we have witnessed in the last six years the blatant subversion of what is left of OUR democracy with a bought and intimidated media, corrupt and just-plain-wacked politicians and worst-of-all, a manipulated and dull-witted electorate more upset by gays and illegal immigrants than the ruthless redistribution of wealth upward by Republicans and their ilk.

As the United States spirals closer to the kind of banana republic that has generally defined Central and South American nations, I find it a hopeful sign that the endemic poverty of this area is being addressed--in Venezuela at least--by this so-called "dictator".

Few South American elections can be called fair in that region's long history. Certainly the doubts that I now harbor over the democratic process can be easily understood in South American terms. Chavez understands as well as anyone that the direction of a nation can be turned 180 degrees in one election.

For my part, I'm willing to see how the majority of the people fare under Chavez before condemning his mission to raise his people up from a poverty that has never abated regardless of who was elected in the past.

If I can listen every single day to apologists for the Bush Administration downplay and rationalize the evils done by this Administration, then I don't mind in the least being called an apologist for this kind of "benevolent dictator".

Masters of the Southern Universe

2006-05-12T16:07:00.000-05:00

Ever since 2002, when I watched an old US CIA trick being played on the people of Venezuela, I've followed the ongoing war of words between Hugo Chavez on the one hand and George Bush and numerous members of his Administration on the other.

In 2002, as we might remember, Chavez was overthrown in a coup that was wished for, initiated by and presumably financed by the Bush Administration through its foreign swat team, the CIA, and any number of governmental and right-wing non-governmental organizations (NGO's). To the Administration's dismay, however, the coup only lasted a few days, during which the official US position was basically good riddance.

This did little to endear Mr. Chavez to our leaders and only brought back bad memories of another South American nation, Chile, and another Socialist leader, Salvador Allende.

In both instances, those leaders had the affrontery to attack the foreign corporations that were exploiting the resources of the land while offering little to the people whose land and resources it was. Epidemic poverty continued while islands of obscene wealth and exploitation of the indigent population were the visual byproducts of the corporatocracy that really control most of the nations in Central and South America.

In 1972, the CIA and corporations like ITT and Anaconda Copper were instrumental in fomenting civic unrest, and in the coup that eventually resulted, President Allende was assassinated. This led to a nearly 30 year reign of brutal right-wing dictator--but US corporation-friendly-- Augusto Pinochet.

Since, 2002, I've expected the same thing to happen to Chavez--a man who has brought real change to the poor of Venezuela for the first time-- just because of the constant public demonization by an Administration that breathes, eats and shits corporate greed.

Four years later, however, Chavez is still alive and has become a hero to millions in South America, where country after country are turning left because of his example. As a result, the man has become a real threat to world corporatism.

This week Chavez and the latest Chavez-like leader in South America, Evo Morales of Bolivia, strode into Europe with their brand of South American machismo and are fucking freaking out the EU leaders, who all live by the Western corporate code. In their world--as in ours--there is no room for any other system but free-market capitalism.

Democracy, as we have found out all too well in the last 6 years, has little to do with what our world is really about. Capitalism is the true game and we should give some degree of gratitude to the Bushies and their larcenous Republican foot soldiers for showing us the real underbelly of American politics; corporate money, unbridled greed and lawlessness.

In their attempts to shake-up the corporations (in the guise of political governments) that have run roughshod though third-world nation after third-world nation since the end of colonialism, I commend their bold efforts.

In their desire to pioneer real change in a part of the world that has known little but greedy exploitation by outsiders, I wish them success.

In their need to stay alive, I can only hope that they stay out of the line of fire from those entities they really threaten.

Stephen Colbert: Hero of Truthiness

2006-05-01T16:34:00.000-05:00

Having watched the Crooks and Liars webcast of the Annual White House Correspondents' Dinner held last Saturday night, I was interested in the mainstream press's reaction, or--as was the case--lack of reaction.

Still, there were a few entries on Huffington Post that I found interesting. As usual, the response in blogovia was generally dependent on whether you like Bush (for god-knows-what reason) or don't like him.

So there was this writer name Nathan Gardels who said that Bush "outironicized" Colbert because he was able to make fun of himself.

Ahh...such a clown our Shrub is. And really, doesn't everyone love a clown?

Unable to keep myself from answering my own question, I wrote this:

Stephen Colbert--in the guise of almost every right-wing talking mouth on radio and TV--was relentless in his courage to stand up and blast so many of the Washington power players in politics and the mainstream media.

cvcobb01 was right on the money. We, the dissident majority, were really the intended audience that night. When else have we, the powerless in America, ever gotten to witness the expression of these kinds of widely-held criticisms of politicians and the press before...with them as a captured audience?

And the reaction of those attending is a perfect example of why it was evidently dangerous to one's career to show dissent even by laughing at such witty and biting satire.

Mr Gardels, it's always easy to laugh at a clown. That doesn't take any great talent or intelligence. But to appreciate the art of great satire as it has been used for provocation throughout the ages takes a mind that is evidently more facile than yours.

Thank you Stephen Colbert for giving voice to 5 long years of our having to put up with a clown rather than a true leader.

And Helen Thomas, you've got more balls than anyone in the White House Press Corps...bar none!

I've been a big fan of Colbert since his new show began last fall. I'm constantly amazed at how he (and his writers) are able to say in such a succinct and funny manner what so many bloggers (including myself) can only say with a kind of seething disdain simmering below the surface.

One of the things I always notice about totalitarian states is the lack of public humor. We should all be thankful, then, for people like Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Will Durst and many others who somehow manage to channel much of our righteous anger into laughter. Doesn't mean that we don't feel the same emotions about the issues that bug us. Just means that our frustration doesn't do more harm to ourselves than to those who are doing us harm.

Shields up, Sulu!

2006-04-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

In classic Rovian style, we've got a hum-dinger of an issue to debate this coming election season.

Is it the war, you ask? No.
Is it the increasing numbers of those without health insurance? Nope.
Is it the widespread instances of Republican corruption and abuse of power? Fraid not.

No...the number one issue for this election looks like it's going to be "The Alien Invasion"!

Yes. In the tradition of family values, gay marriage, swift-boat lies, wars on Christmas and Easter and various other earth-shattering issues, illegal aliens brings to the fore another Repubican "base"; bigots and xenophobes. Because this isn't anti-immigrant really. It's anti-Mexican.

The doomsayers are taking to the airwaves with mad-as-a-hatter Michael Savage and "respected journalist" Lou Dobbs leading the charge. Congress has its many panderers and the lines are being drawn.

Demonstrating against the anti-immigrant legislation being proposed were hundreds of thousands who showed up in a wide number of cities a few weeks ago and even more are expected to show up on May 1st.

Just as swift, however, will be the rebuttal of anti-Mexican groups such as the so called Minutemen, who find their issue on the front burner after years of spotty success in stopping the brown hoards from crossing our southern border.

In the meantime, we'll see in November whether Americans will show up to vote this kind of phony diversion issue or will be more concerned with the immediate serious issues that face this nation.

Then again, with all the questions involving the increasing use of untrackable electronic voting, will our votes mean anything ever again?

Fox Hunting in America

2005-11-24T21:58:00.000-06:00

Imagine if you will.

The Democratic Party creates a successful media outlet that promotes only Democratic Party views using highly-biased news reporting and a lineup of non-news programs that supplement its self-titled "fair and balanced" news.

I can't believe for one second that representatives of the Republican Party would legitimize this network by appearing on this outlet's one-sided programs or by being interviewed by their less-than-objective reporters and anchors.

Yet for nine years I've watched Democrats, progressives, liberals and others continuously legitimize Fox News by appearing on that channel while Brit Hume, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Carl Cameron and an array of other ethically-challenged journalists continue to promote the political views of founder, Republican strategist Roger Ailes, and funder, conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

I don't believe that we can ever insist on higher journalistic standards in the mainstream media without starting to campaign against Fox News, the American version of Pravda; the old USSR's state-controlled media.

I don't know what motivates Democratic politicians to appear on Fox, but their appearances are a bizarre and rather sad form of masochism. Perhaps it's just the overwhelming need for politicians to talk to the media...any media, but these acts of self-flagellation must stop!

Now, we hear that Fox News is about to begin producing the news for a number of Fox's local stations. This will mean a sea change in television news. Rather than being limited to the one smaller cable channel, Fox wingnut values and opinions will soon be broadcast to much larger broadcast stations in the nation's biggest media markets.

It's time for all who value true, objective public discourse to start fighting against Fox's well-established political and cultural biases. I've written to Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean about this issue, but it's up to all of us to let our Senators and Representatives know that their appearances on Fox News programs does nothing but undermine and debase not only the Democratic Party, but democracy itself.

Maybe it's the water

2005-11-12T22:31:00.000-06:00

Have you noticed how many certifiably insane statements are made these days by politicians, media types and even religious leaders?

Just this week we had Bill O'Reilly wishing for a terrorist attack on San Francisco. I guess that is the one city the Right feels comfortable about making such outrageous statements about. If he had said the same thing about New York...or Dallas...or Washington D.C., I wonder if he'd ever be able to visit that city again without a good horse-whipping.

But instead, gay, liberal and evil is the bottom line for the 3/4 million souls as far as the O'Reillys of the world are concerned. Therefore, who more than San Franciscans deserve to be target of terrorism more?

But let's be realistic here. Bill O'Reilly is a low-life slug and most reasonable people know it.

The same thing goes for the most despicable "representative" of Jesus Christ in the nation...and maybe the world: Marion "Pat" Robertson. Actually the title of "Most Despicable" has always been the special recognition given to the "God Hates Fags" pastor, Fred Phelps. But Marion is trying his utmost best to take over the title.

So this week, in his usual role as sole spokesman for the Almighty, he condemned the town of Dover, Pennsylvania to natural and eternal damnation because they "voted God out" of their town. Actually they voted out the 8 brain-dead morons who wanted to teach the other kind of science in their schools...you know: science fiction.

I'm wondering if all those Doverites who still believe in "Creationism" and it's stealthy brother, "Intelligent Design" will have advanced warning of the devasation to come...or will they just have to suffer for the mortal sins of their neighbors. Oh well, apparently that's the way Robertson's maliciously petty god plays it. Does anyone really want a bastard like that as their Supreme Deity? I sure as hell don't!

Okay, I know that Ann Coulter, Jerry Falwell, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and scores of other wingnuts have gotten media attention for similar crazy rantings in the past, but there seems to be an real sense of desperation in these recent ones.

Could it be that even with Fox News' domination of the cable news channels, and the 700 Club's constant prayers for money (oh, and for our nation), Bush's overwhelming failures are finally sinking into the national consciousness? Hmmmm....could be.

It certainly appears more and more that the great and shining path the neocons and Radical Right set America on is looking as dangerous and untravelable as is the infamous highway from Baghdad Airport to the city's Green Zone.

In my dreams I see all our favorite preachers, corporate businessmen, authors, media spokesmen and politicians traveling down that highway together...one loathesome and highly-vulnerable pile of human garbage.

Then I wake up and realize that it's kids barely out of their teens who are taking that journey. And they're doing it because they believe in something the hypocrites and chickenhawks who sent them there don't.

They believe that the thing we've all grown up to believe about our "good and just" society might not seem all that possible or imminent at times like these, but it still seems like a worthy cause to live...and to die for.

My Lai - Redux?

2005-11-10T09:31:00.000-06:00

For those of us old enough to remember the shame of our military's use of napalm against Vietnamese civilians, the Italian news report showing the results of our destruction of Fallujah late last year, returns us to a horror we thought we'd put out of our minds decades ago.

While the apparent use of incendiary white phosphorus, or "Whisky Pete" as it's known in the military, isn't chemically akin to the jellied gasoline known as napalm, its effects on the human body are just as horrific as images shown in the report disturbingly attest to.

The Pentagon immediately denied any use of white phosphorus chemical weapons against Iraqi civilians, yet the highly-sanitized coverage of the war using only embedded journalists has done little to keep the real picture of this war from emerging...albeit slowly and belatedly.

When the entire premise of war is fabricated upon lies and political intrigue, the need for stealth and secrecy at every level of operation is intensified.

Let anyone who calls himself or herself a moral person look at this news report and not ask this:

How can a nation call itself a beacon of good when evil such as this rains down on innocent people from that nation's highest levels?

Tom Terrific's Texas Twist

2005-11-08T11:03:00.000-06:00

In the continuing saga, Strange Tales of Texas Justice, a semi-retired judge in Texas has now expanded on the concept "trial of your peers" to mean that judges who preside over the trials of politicians must apparently be members of that politician's own political party.

For Tom Delay, this is just what he wanted, since his own extreme political partisanship has him believing that no judge without Delay's christo-fascist-maniacal beliefs can possibly possess the integrity to judge him impartially.

Without question, the toxins Tom Terrific inhaled during his years as Sugarland's premier bug exterminator have caused a great deal of damage to his mental processes, but like so many psychotic celebrities and power mongers in history, those who fear Delay's insanity would rather give in to his ravings than risk the wrath of the madman.

Bush's run for the border

2005-11-08T11:01:00.000-06:00

The war of words between George W. Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez escalated over the weekend and was a study in contrast between the two personalities.

The odd hybrid swagger and sneer of the Ivy League-educated but West Texas-bred Bush played against the Latino passion and machismo of Chavez, a man brought up in a poor Venezuelan barrio.

And for a change, America's paper-trained press corps wasn't able to present Chavez as colored by the Bush Administration's spin: that of a raving Marxist, drug-dealing, evil bosom buddy of the hated Fidel Castro.

To be a part of the volatile minefield that is South American politics, it takes more than swagger and tough talk to stay in power. And while five years of Bushism have taken our nation much closer to the kind of have vs.have-not economy so prevalent in Central and South America, it has yet to completely destroy the liberal foundation this country was founded upon.

So when a Hugo Chavez or Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came to power with the overwhelming backing of the have-nots of their countries, the corporations that created the inequality get very nervous.

Our shame is that the United States has never stood behind those who want to bring real economic change to our American neighbors, but instead have always stood behind and -- in the case of our CIA -- often ahead of the forces trying to relieve the suffering of the poor and exploited masses.

This happened in Guatemala in 1954, in Chile in 1973 in Panama in 1955 and again possibly in 1981, and in Venezuela in 2002, when Hugo Chavez' government was overthrown in a coup financed and backed by the United States' CIA and other agencies. In the last case, Chavez was returned to power in three days and has understandably railed against George Bush ever since.

This weekend, at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina, Chavez got a little of his own back when George Bush failed to get the biggest nations in the region to back his latest plan Free Trade initiative to benefit the big corporations he represents in his position as CEO President.

In the kind of boisterous bravado well-known and widely-accepted in the region, Chavez called Bush "the big loser"; something most Americans are finally coming to terms with.

In a typical display of Bush doublethink, he declared today that

"the U.S. model of democracy is based on the power of individual freedoms and integration into the global community, whereas other countries in the region "divide into factions and dwell on old grievances, which risks sliding back into tyranny."

As the Bush Administration tries to extricate itself from a unilateral war in Iraq that divided the world and at the same time pushes for allowing the kind of torture Right Wing dictators have always used, he continues to try to convince the world that his "model of democracy" is a shining example for the family of nations. I think many people in Florida and Ohio would take issue with that statement.

One thing is for certain, however. The "fat, little dark-skinned nobody" from Venezuela has made a powerful enemy in George Bush. I'm sure that the sycophants and yes-men who cater to his every political whim will send out their missives to the appropriate agencies telling them that whatever plans they've had to depose Chavez are now full-go.

Venezuela's internal insurgents will find more money coming their way. US Naval Forces off Venzezuela's coast will be put on increased alert and the American mainstream news media will suddenly become privy to more and more "deep background information" that will show Chavez to be an increasing threat to the stability of the region.

Bush desperately wants to leave his presidency with some kind of success. And like our involvement in 1973 in the overthrow and assassination of Chilean President Salvador Allende -- a similar kind of populist working to solve the great inequities of wealth in his country -- I fully expect this war of words to increase until Bush's press minions and talking mouths have convinced a majority of Americans that Chavez indeed is a danger to not only his own people, but to US.

Hypocrisy, thy name is religion.

2005-11-08T10:56:00.000-06:00

It's hard to fathom the kind of mind-bending hypocrisy it takes for a "follower of Christ" to be an advocate for a war as immoral as that being waged in Iraq, but the history of christianity is rife with examples of actions that I believe would make Christ weep.

Nevertheless, I find it fascinating that as soon as there is a story of IRS harassment of a church in which the pastor delivered an anti-war sermon, there is an immediate expression of outrage and support for the pastor by the National Association of Evangelicals.

I would think that this organization -- consisting primarily of bedrock Bush backers and Iraq war supporters -- would applaud the use of a governmental agency to silence anti-war traitors.

But their concern certainly isn't one of freedom of speech, but more likely freedom of commerce. The tax exemptions for religious churches and organizations are held more sacred by many religious than any words of Christ advocating love, peace and tolerance.

As for churches becoming involved in politics, ostensibly the reason for the IRS "investigations", it seems that during every election year we hear about the so called "voter guides" passed out in conservative churches by the millions.

While I'm sure that no overt candidate support is ever given to the faithful occupying the pews by their ministers, the mere hint that the IRS would question an institution's tax-exempt status must scare the bejeesus out of our godly servants of Christ.

Best to nip this development in the bud. After all, it doesn't look like Bush's promise to return this nation to God is really going anywhere. What if, God forbid, the soulless Democrats get back into power. Why they could use the IRS for their own evil purposes and challenge the tax-exempt status of a great many churches and faith-based organizations!

So while politics can certainly make strange bedfellows, it seems that the potential loss of revenue to evil taxation can bring all God's chosen spokesmen together.

D2k

2005-10-25T16:19:00.000-05:00

It takes a special kind of human being to ignore the deaths of 2000 men and women, but as we all know by now, President Bush is a special kind of person.

Imagine the consummate hypocrisy of this man, whose lies led a nation of naive and trusting citizens to send their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and mothers and fathers to fight -- and die -- in a war that has accomplished absolutely nothing, except to enrich corporate war-profiteers like Halliburton, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Electric and a host of others.

In earlier times, corporations like these would have become pariahs in our country. Today they are praised daily by financial pundits who are only able to see profit and greed as the true American virtues.

As for Bush, just as the 2000th American casualty was announced by the Pentagon, our conscience-free President was on the road selling his his usual pabulum about this being a moral war against freedom-hating terrorists and that we will win this war no matter how long it takes.

And his audience today? In yet another staged farce, it consisted of the wives of military officers, whose Stepford-like duty to their military husbands would only allow them to display the utmost respect and allegiance to Bush's every inane utterance.

In the meantime, the families and loved ones of 2000 men and women have been ignored by the man whose own greatest tragedy was having his vacation repeatedly interrupted by the "disgraceful" actions of people like Cindy Sheehan.

Our War on Christmas - A Confession

2005-10-24T15:05:00.000-05:00

In American conservatism's endless effort to add absolutely nothing to the national storehouse of wisdom, Fox News talking mouth, John Gibson, has added his own page waster with the explosive title, The War on Christmas - How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought.

Aside from being one of the worst titles I've ever heard for a book, the grammer is questionable. So here's my question: Shouldn't this really be How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday is Worse Than you Think? Unless you already considered this wacked notion and dismissed it as just more wingnut hype, your average brain-dead christian probably thinks we liberals are still out to destroy the festival that celebrates the natural expulsion of the fruit of Mary's womb, Jesus.

Still, how could I fail to respond to such an idea. And so I did, in an Amazon review of the book that many others also commented on. Writing under my nom de plume, Justin Case, this is what I wrote:

This is dangerous information - not for the faint-hearted!, October 23, 2005
Reviewer: Justin Case

I must speak out against John Gibson and his inflammatory book, The War on Christmas, etc. Unfortunately, due to his pit bull-like research, Gibson has revealed the previously secret struggle that Christmas-hating liberals have been involved in for nearly 40 years.

While most of his facts are indisputably true, Gibson's history of the so-called Xmasian War fails to examine the true underpinnings of our grievances against Santa Clause and his regime.

With the advent of industrialization at The North Pole -- which due to a lack of infrastructure in the Polar region began later than in most parts of the world -- the highly-regarded Santa Claus style of management began to take on a more exploitative tone. Polar elves had for centuries been the main workforce, but as the Polar middle class grew and prospered, the original elves began to leave the harsh, frigid environment of the North Pole and started moving to warmer climates, most notably Las Vegas.

Back at the Pole, an alarming number of foreign elves were arriving, mostly from third world nations. In addition, ARFTA (Arctic Regions Free Trade Agreement) rules allowed more and more toy making to be done by children in countries like India, China and even the United States, where, fortunately, the true meaning of Christmas was lost decades ago.

When The ELF (Elven Liberation Front) began their insurrection in 1967, liberal knees jerked spasmodically, and with the covert assistance of the anti-Christmas Israeli Secret Service, the American Liberal Cabal declared formal war on Christmas in 1969.

At the time, our declaration was based on incontrovertible evidence that Santa had stockpiled WMD's (nuclear-tipped iceballs) and had used laughing gas on his own people.

Despite Gibson's revelations of our involvement in World Humanistic Terrorism, I want to assure all our comrades and supporters that liberals will never end the struggle against Christmas until all the goddess's children end this blind belief in the dangerous red menace known as Santa Claus.

With dangerous admissions such as these, you can now understand why I used an alias on the massively-accessed Amazon.com. Since viewer statistics for these pages are so low, I have no doubt that my complicity in this plot will remain anonymous.

Discover the Stephanie Miller Show - and be entertained

2005-10-21T11:14:00.000-05:00

Funny, smart and beautiful (not necessarily in that order) lefty talk show host, Stephanie Miller, is a recent, happy discovery and a consistently enjoyable listen in the morning from 9-12 (Eastern).

I first saw Stephanie -- of all places -- hosting a game show on the Oxygen Network; a redo of the old "I've Got a Secret" program. Her show quickly became a favorite while eating breakfast and perusing the morning newspaper. Her quick wit and charm endeared her to me.

So when I found out that she had one of the oldest Prog/Lib radio programs in the country, I had to find out what she was like there.

Let's put it this way. Her show is a morning zoo with the main focus berating hypocritical, immoral and just-plain-stupid Republicans, conservatives, gun-nuts, gay-haters and whoever else needs lampooning.

Her all male posse is good, but they can't keep up with the constant funny patter of Stephanie herself.

She'd be a great addition to Air America Radio, but it's also good that she is syndicated in her own right. Let's hope more station owners catch her show and regardless of their own political biases, will make a decision to add real entertainment to their lineups.

Also, check out this blog entry from her site, Quotes from the American Taliban.

If Bush's Brain resigns, will the body follow?

2005-10-18T14:33:00.000-05:00

All this talk about Rove, Libby and (God-willing) Cheney resigning has apparently given George Bush a nervous condition as those in the know have observed rather gleefully.

It makes me wonder what will happen if his closest handlers are out of the picture. For years, we've watched his every event, speech and utterance staged...to the point where a male hooker was planted in the White House Press Corps (WHPC) to ask softball questions. The latest White House production occurred last week when one of the stage directors, The Pentagon's Allison Barber, blocked and choreographed a Presidential off-the-cuff question and answer session with some hand-picked troops in Iraq.

We all know by now what happened when the curtain was drawn back and the Wizard was revealed to be nothing more than a country bumpkin with a good memory for learning lines.

But even this showed us that the days are numbered for The Not Ready for World Leadership Players. Would Karl have missed such an obvious gaffe as forgetting that satellite feeds can be intercepted? And would he have not written a slick retort for Press Secretary McClellan in response to a surprisingly feisty WHPC?

No wonder our dear President is feeling the pressure more and more. No one told him that he would have to go it alone! Laura's adoring looks can only go so far. Condi's travelling the world. Mama's in Texas.

Maybe it's time for the George Bush to get reacquainted with his oldest and truest friend, Mr. Jim Beam!

"A conservative civil war"

2005-10-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

If there is, in fact, a conservative civil war going on right now, those of us on the sidelines must ask this question.

If Harriet Miers decides to protect her padron by withdrawing, or if she is ultimately not approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, what would Bush's response be?

I believe that since the Religious Right have been Bush's most ardent supporters since 2000, he'd crawl back into their arms by selecting a nominee who would be 100% Pat Robertson-approved. And since Robertson and his minions have been praying hard for vacancies to occur, these prayers would finally be answered.

Then, for Reverend Pat, it would be on to praying for the assassination of that nuclear-totin', Castro-lovin', freedom-hatin', corporatocracy-abusin', commie-pinko Hugo Chavez.

Damn! Too little time. Too much to pray for.

There's the beginning of a smile on my face

2005-10-12T11:47:00.000-05:00

The blogosphere is abuzz with anticipation about what might befall the White House mafia this week as Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald (a Republican, no less) concludes his investigation into the "Plame Affair".

Perhaps the most optimistic outcome can be found in Talking Points Memo today. When the names Karl Rove, Andy Card, Scooter Libby and even King of the Undead, Dick Cheney, can be combined with the word indictments, it can only bring joy to the hearts of all us American liberals who have watched futily as these men -- and a host of others -- have come as close as possible to turning this nation into a tyrannical theocracy. But somehow, it seems that the tendency for people like this -- and Tom Delay and Bill Frist -- to see themselves above the law will usually backfire.

To believe, then, that 'outing' a CIA agent without impugnity is an example of hubris that truly amazes me.

It's apparent to me that even 'The Company', in direct contradiction to the powers given them by novelists and moviemakers, was powerless to retaliate for this crime. Instead, it took (what appears to be) an honest federal prosecutor to reign in the crime bosses in the White House.

How far up this will go, only time will tell. Will Cheney be indicted? Will Bush?

One can only smile...and hope.

On a Mission From God

2005-10-06T13:35:00.000-05:00

My God, but it frightens me to think that the most powerful leader in the world is hearing things from his Almighty.

It brings to mind those oft-heard news reports of murderers who were certain that God commanded them to slay their victims in one way or another. Now far be it from me to accuse President Bush of being a mass murderer...unless you're obligated to count the 2100+ coalition soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians killed as a result of his obsession with invading Iraq. But who's counting?

Now it has surfaced that in a June 2003 meeting with Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, Bush expressed how he came to invade Iraq, as well as some of God's other plans for him. In an interview with the BBC, Foreign Minister Shaath declared,

"President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq." And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"

Later Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."

When I read about many of the Old Testament Prophets, they sounded to me a bit more..how can I put it...psychoactively exuberant than the average person. Today, I suspect that some of the more powerful anti-psychotic elixers would quell the commanding voices in their heads. Granted, the Bible would be that much less dramatic without these characters, but let's face it, meshugana is meshugana!

So when I hear about a man who spent more years inebriated than his daughters are old getting his orders from the Supreme Universal Commander, it scares me to think we've entrusted the welfare of our planet to this guy. And so far, his record is pretty much of a massive cock-up on whatever level you care to view it. Maybe something's getting lost in the diety to mortal translation.

So George, if you will listen to some advice from a less other-worldly source than what you're apparently used to, I'd say...please come down to earth. Those voices in your head are nothing more than the alcoholic remnants of your years of self-abuse. Us mere mortals must rely for real leadership on some small part of your rational mind that might still be active. But honestly, after five years of waiting for it to surface, we don't hold out much hope.

God willing, however, you'll do right by your earthbound minions yet.

With a Wink and a Nod

2005-10-04T14:41:00.000-05:00

In a campaign intended to keep the wingnuts from deserting him, Shrub and his minions have spent the last two days assuring them that his nominee for Supreme Court Justice, Harriet Miers, is a true believer just like the Shrub himself.

The selection of this true stealth candidate came as a surprise to everyone, but true to form, cronyism reigns in this administration, and who better to fill this important vacancy with but perhaps the most loyal of his subjects.

And what of Harriet Miers herself? Well, let's try a little amateur psychoanalysis.

Ms. Miers is a never-married, self-described feminist who opposes abortion. For the past decade, she has been everything from Bush's personal attorney to White House counsel. It appears from all acounts that her relationship to the Prez is first and foremost in her life. Perhaps it is her life.

Friends and foes alike express her strong sense of loyalty to the man. Wingnut former White House insider, David Frum, has said of her,

"In the White House that hero worshipped the president, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal: She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met."

Okay, that is perhaps the most frightening statement I've ever heard from a reputedly sane individual. So much so that I would prefer to believe that the woman is less mad...than madly in love!

Think about it. She works day and night with the guy and (to give him his due and his apparent asexuality) he's probably never made any kind of non-professional overture to her. So over the years, her fantasies and admiration have grown into -- as Frum calls it -- hero worship; a hero for whom she would sacrifice anything.

Karl Rove, knowing that in three short years, his reign as President will be over...and always on the lookout for political opportunity, has observed her tendencies and concieves a brilliant plan.

The twin vacancies of The Supreme Court were just the opportunities he needed. The first would have to be someone who was not only an able judge, but one who had an impeccable conservative paper trail. Judge Roberts filled the bill admirably.

But for the second vacancy, he would have the opportunity of a lifetime: the ability to get inside SCOTUS. Deep inside! Who better, then, but a person who had NO paper trail, but had displayed unquestioning loyalty to his wooden protege, the West Texas marionette?

Best of all, no one yet knows what to think about her. Her conservative leanings are well-known, yet when she was announced yesterday, the talking mouths of hate radio and faux television derided the choice as a sign of weakness and an inability to take on the Democrats. This in itself is ludicrous as the Dems have shown little or no spine in the past five years and this didn't seem like the kind of choice that would finally get their backs up.

In fact, the outcry was so uniform that some have suggested that the daily emails that spread like a noxious odor from Rove to Rush to Hannity to Buchanan to Kristol to O'Reilly to Hume and then to the mainstream media executive offices must have outlined the suggested response.

All the while, important statements were being put out by the White House.

Dick Cheney said yesterday on (where else?) the Limbaugh Hatefest, "You'll be proud of Harriet's record, Rush. Trust me. "

"I know her heart," Shrub told a Rose Garden news conference this morning "Her philosophy won't change."

One of the things that totally freaked out the Right Wing Freakazoids yesterday was this statement by Senate Democratic Minority Leader, Harry Reid.

"With so much at stake, we shouldn't rush to judgment about this or any other nominee, but even at this early stage of the confirmation process, I will say that I am impressed by what I know about Harriet Miers."

So what is this about? Who the hell knows? Maybe Reid met her at a White House function and dug her eye shadow. Washington is a strange area where bedfellows can be even stranger.

Nevertheless, I have to believe Bush...this time. She's certainly not going to be an intellectual leader of the Court. Probably more like, dare I say, Clarence Thomas? And Like him, she will probably vote solidly with the Scalia, Thomas et al cartel.

Why? Because more than anything, Ms. Miers won't do anything to upset her Enamorata-In-Chief.

Now...scuse me while I upchuck my lunch. All this talk of love between The Chimp and the spinster has upset my tummy.

Bennett Diction

2005-10-02T13:28:00.000-05:00

Everyone in the know knows Bill Bennett.

He's the self-appointed moral arbiter of the nation. His cutely books like "A Book of Values", "A Children's Book of Values" and "A Children's Book of Heroes" were best sellers because his readership would rather take their easy, unself-sacrificing platitudes from a man who's own vices like gambling and now racism would give pause to people who take the New Testament more seriously than Bennett apparently does.

This former Reagan "drug czar" has long been a darling of the "Rightly wrong" and like the most vocal of his ilk, has his own syndicated radio program to add to the din of conservative chatter already on the air.

On Friday, he spoke one of those unfortunate subconscious "but this is what I really think" beliefs over the air when he said, "It's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could - if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."

College-educated Mr. Bennett apparently didn't take many history classes, because it only takes a superficial knowledge of America to know that with every wave of immigrants, came an associated rise in the criminal activity of America do to the new immigrants. This happened with the Germans, Irish, Italian, Vietnamese and most of the others that found America to be less than the refuge for the tired, the poor and the huddled masses than advertised.

Poverty, the scourge of those at the bottom of the capitalistic ladder, brings with it psychosocial problems that shouldn't take Mr. Bennett that long to recognize. But in his white, upper-class world, thoughts of poor people are such a "bummer". George Bush found this out last month with hurricane Katrina and look what happened to him. A major bummer for the Chimp.

Now, Mr. Bennett is getting his just desserts. The White House is distancing itself from his racist spewings. Editorials across the nation are excoriating him for such utterances and the only person (besides the largely brain-dead crowd at FreeRepublic.com) is his brother, influential Washington attorney, William Bennett.

Poor Bill! It was only two years ago that his moral compass was found to point quite often toward gambling establishments where he admitted to losing at least $8 million over ten years. Now most people these days are pretty laissez faire over gambling, but the irony of the Morality Man with a gambling addiction still amuses many.

And the hypocrites of the Republican Right continue to come out of the woodwork. Just this week, besides Bennett's faux pas, we saw the downfall of Tom Delay and the burgeoning insider trading scandal of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He was contemplating a run for President in 2008. I guess that dream's gone caput.

As some have quite rightly said, "Time wounds all heels".

It's like Christmas!

2005-09-29T10:56:00.000-05:00

Seldom these days does the left in this country have anything to cheer about. But the news that one of America's greatest scumbags, Rep. Tom Delay, has been indicted by a Texas Grand Jury truly does bring joy to our bleeding hearts.

The sins of the pious Mr. Delay have been well-documented by the non-mainstream press for years now. The cynical and egregious use of power he has displayed in his powerful position as House Majority Leader has been tyrannical and ruthless.

He uses the religious Right as a shield and their venues as a pulpit to pander to the immensely stupid among us who believe anything spewed forth by those who call themselves "christian".

But today is America's day. Delay, of course, dodged a shitload of bullets by being indicted on only one count of conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws when his "rap sheet" includes numerous illegal and unethical activities. But like the feds felt when they got Al Capone for tax evasion, at least the bastard will be out of commission for awhile.

He has already "temporarily" left his post as Majority Leader, although we know that like everything in this Republican government, this is only window dressing and he will hold the reigns of power in Congress until he is carted off to the country club prison that awaits all formerly-powerful white collar shitheads.

Long live Tom Delay...at least as long as the rats he killed in his former profession as exterminator got to live. Human waste like Delay gives the whole country a stinking odor. And he ain't even dead yet.

Cave Pantings

2005-05-20T10:50:00.000-05:00

Remember how a few days ago, it was all evil-Newsweek vs the good and honorable Administration?

Well, as was to be expected in this day of managed news and spun journalism, it now comes out that the International Red Cross warned the Pentagon about abuses of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as far back as 2002 and 2003. As mentioned previously, the substance of these warnings were not the least bit out of character for those in charge of our military interrogation procedures. A simple recall of the abuses in Abu Ghraib should convince anyone of that.

Yet for days now, Newsweek has been vilified by wingnuts and average citizens alike for the implications that their story ignited riots and killings in Afghanistan last week. Newsweek, for their part, caved in to the government and the rest of the media who were ever so quick to march in lockstep with the Administration lest they be next on the hot seat.

Newsweek's reputation is now severely damaged. The news story itself was...until today...assumed to be false and the PR advantage went quickly to the Administration.

Newsweek deserves all the bad press it can get, not for this story, but for so quickly caving into the pressure of the anti-media crowd in and out of the White House.

We, the people, rely on information that outlets like Newsweek provide, even if the information has become less and less truly informative over the years. Still, if the shift to Fox News and the endless spew of right-wing hate radio increases while Time, Newsweek and the major newspapers continue to dumb down their journalistic standards, Americans will increasingly come to believe like an Administration officially so candidly observed, ""we are an empire .... we create reality and you react to it ...".

War of the Words

2005-05-17T11:40:00.000-05:00

Newsweek retracts Koran desecration story

White House bashes Newsweek report on Koran

White House to Newsweek: Do more

The shite, as they say, has hit the fan.

And yet another PR coup for the White House is in the works.

Newsweek, like its sister publication, Time, are mainstream news magazines that generally walk a fine line between cutting edge journalism and true sycophantic hackistry. The fact is that as general interest publications, they never really hit either end of the spectrum. Instead, they are content on having the luxury of some hindsight...even if just a few hours...before their weekly deadline to digest the news stories that they feature. By that time, there is usually some kind of consensus in the land as to how the magazines should present the stories lest they not antagonize too many of their advertisers (and to a lesser extent, their readers).

It is primarily for this reason that Time, Newsweek and virtually every other mainstream medium helped the White House sell a war in Iraq that we came to find was cynically and deceptively conceived and executed.

At no time during this time did the corporate mainstream media ask hard questions of the President and his co-conspirators during the runup to the war. Instead, they timidly offered a constant barrage of palatable hawkish opinion and an endless supply of "experts" on neo-con foreign policy, weapons of mass destruction and terrorism that the media sucked up like an anteater attacking a termite mound.

This singular lack of journalistic duty offered a myriad of benefits for the media; most importantly, the promise of favorable rulings by government regulators towards the media's giant corporate parents. This tasty carrot, however, also came with the sharp little stick that held out the threat that all access to Administration sources would be withheld if the questions put forth were of sufficient strength to cause any kind of embarrassment or real injury to it.

And so for the past four and a half years, except for a brief period just before 9/11, the public has been spoon-fed bland White House pablum by the corporate news media, with the result that American public opinion has become blinded by the continuous din of White House propaganda.

So as with the CBS/Dan Rather fiasco last year, the White House now has another opportunity to demonize the "liberal press", a term that in and of itself would be ludicrously funny if it wasn't so pathetically untrue.

Perhaps the most incredible headline I found today was this one:

US image damaged: White House

Since the United States, in the person of Colin Powell lied his ass of at the UN General Assembly in February, 2003, the image of the United States has been lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut. The ignorance of this US President and the malevolence of his handlers has left the United States in a position where the rest of the world simply watches in amazement as a once-powerful and somewhat respected nation begins to devour itself from the inside in an orgy of religious hatred and intolerance, corporate cupidity and an almost prideful post-literate stupidity of its citizens.

US Image damaged?

Over 1500 US soldiers have died, thousands more have been wounded and perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqi non-combatants have been killed because of the lies and treachery imposed by this Administration.

The information from the public reports that have recently demonstrated the lies that led to this war was available to the media before we proceeded to get ourselves entangled in the mess over there. Yet that information was not allowed to be heard before we began this slaughter.

The Abu Ghraib torture episode of a year ago seems to have been neatly and finally attributed primarily to a genetic halfwit woman-child and her horndog lover; even though our current Attorney General Gonzalez explicitly stated in a memo to the Justice Department only acts that were specifically intended to cause severe pain and suffering or organ failure would qualify as torture. Moreover, the President, as commander–in-chief, could essentially disregard international treaties and U.S. domestic law governing torture, so long as he was acting in what he thought was the defense of the country.

Coincidentally, the headlines of this week that stated that the Bush's approval ratings were heading for the cellar once again harkended another terror threat level readjustment, but as it turns out, this story is doing the same thing for the Administration that an Orange Alert would do. Put a positive spin on an Administration doing what it can against the contrivances and lies of an adversarial press.

Not only do we have the "false" revelations in Newsweek's story causing riots and death in Afghanistan, but, according to the wingnut media machine, the gross negligence of the Newsweek reporters has demonstrated their hatred of America and lack of respect for the honorable troops who have fought so valiantly against the scourge of Islamic terrorism.

Just how does Karl Rove do it every single time his boy-puppet is in trouble? It's remarkable. It's also tragic, because this will undoubtedly cause any reporters who still have a modicum of integrity to retrench farther into the silent background. And if not them, then certainly their editors will do so.

The ultimate question here is whether the report is true and (if you followed any of the reporting about Abu Ghraib this does have a definite ring of truth) when it is at last safe for the truth to be told, will any real journalists be around to report it?

REPUBLICAN BROADCASTING SERVICE

2005-05-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

Not content on owning and controlling just the Mainstream Corporate Media, the wingnuts are now going after one of the last outlets for occasionally liberal programming.

If you've been educated and informed over the years by such quality programming as Frontline and NOW beware that the bad guys are out to bring these shows into line with such winning fare as Tucker Carlson's Unfiltered and that granddaddy of all talking nobs shows, The McLaughlin Group.

Other than this ongoing development, it's good to know that PBS will probably maintain its commitment to on-air fundraising and highbrow entertainment. Still, has the issue with that gay character on Teletubbies been straightened out?

Looks like the RePugs still have their work cut out for them over at PBS.

Bless the Beasts and the Bookies

2005-05-10T18:06:00.000-05:00

An interesting contribution on the new celebrity-post, The Huffington Post, by Sportscaster Jim Lampley includes this recollection:

"At 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Election Day, I checked the sportsbook odds in Las Vegas and via the offshore bookmakers to see the odds as of that moment on the Presidential election. John Kerry was a two-to-one favorite. You can look it up.

People who have lived in the sports world as I have, bettors in particular, have a feel for what I am about to say about this: these people are extremely scientific in their assessments. These people understand which information to trust and which indicators to consult in determining where to place a dividing line to influence bets, and they are not in the business of being completely wrong. Oddsmakers consulted exit polling and knew what it meant and acknowledged in their oddsmaking at that moment that John Kerry was winning the election.

And he most certainly was, at least if the votes had been fairly and legally counted. What happened instead was the biggest crime in the history of the nation, and the collective media silence which has followed is the greatest fourth-estate failure ever on our soil."

This, The Greatest Story Never Told, has sealed forever the deal between the Republican government and the Corporate Mainstream Media. Each has betrayed any notion of a belief in the American democratic system by the cynical realization that the control of information is the same as control of power. In addition, we've seen many of the children of the 60's grow up to become a generation that has become the most selfish and least interested in a better future. In the inexorable push toward maximum wealth and immediate satisfaction, they have sold out their the futures of their children and of their children's' children.

Finally! A journalist with balls

2005-05-09T00:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, the title is an easy joke, because this journalist is a woman. But what I want to emphasize is that photojournalist Molly Bingham asked questions recently that virtually no male reporter has had the balls to ask.

A little about her background shows that Ms Bingham has earned her professional creds.

"Bingham, a Louisville native, was detained in 2003 by Iraqi security forces and held in Abu Ghraib prison from March 25 to April 2, 2003. Eighteen days after her release, she returned to Iraq to pursue stories for The New York Times, The Guardian of London and others. Taking a short break during the summer of 2003, Bingham had the idea of working on a story to explore who was involved in the nascent resistance that was becoming apparent throughout Iraq. She scanned the papers that summer, looking for an article that would show some journalist had reported the story, had gone deeper to find out the source of the new violence. No one had. So in August 2003, Bingham returned with British journalist Steve Connors and spent the next 10 months reporting the story of the Iraqi resistance."

In an article from the Louisville Courier-Journal that was based on a speech given at Western Kentucky University,
Bingham raised serious questions...and also gave her opinion on why the run-up and continuation of the War in Iraq has been waged with virtually no probing journalistic queries by the American media.

"If you look closely, you will notice there is very little, maybe even no direct reporting on the resistance in Iraq. We do, however, as journalists report what the Americans say about the resistance. Is this really anything more than stenography?"

After her many months in Iraq, Bingham related the 5 lessons learned by her and her team:

Lesson One: Many journalists in Iraq could not, or would not, check their nationality or their own perspective at the door.
Lesson Two: Our behavior as journalists has taught us very little. Just as in the lead up to the war in Iraq, questioning our government's decisions and claims and what it seeks to achieve is criticized as unpatriotic.
Lesson Three: To seek to understand and represent to an American audience the reasons behind the Iraqi opposition is practically treasonous.
Lesson Four: The gatekeepers -- by which I mean the editors, publishers and business sides of the media -- don't want their paper or their outlet to reveal that compelling narrative of why anyone would oppose the presence of American troops on their soil.
Lesson Five: What it's like to be afraid of your own country.

This compelling article does what so few have done since this Iraqi insanity began. It attempts to dig beneath the rampant propagandizing that has become part and parcel of this Administration and all its public utterances, whether on issues domestic, defensive or offensive.

I'd urge anyone interested in getting beyond the barrage of lies to read this article. What's more, it should be required reading for all working journalists and more importantly, for all students of journalism who are just learning the craft.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

Apparently, newspapers were quite a bit different in Jefferson's day than they are today. The shameful evidence is that it was incredibly easy for a government with evil intent to seduce and/or intimidate today's media into submission. And that cannot portend good for any democracy.

Where are they now?

2005-05-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

When I first began reading political websites a number of years ago, one of my favorites was called Media Whores Online. This site was anonymously written and took an irreverent and sometimes outrageous look at the media.

The biggest names in so-called Journalism were skewered for their often pusillanimous rendering of the news. At the time, as a more naive consumer of information than I am today, I often took exception to some of my favorites being taken to task like that. Still, I enjoyed the daily flinging of excrement at the perfectly-coiffed crowd

Perhaps more than any other website, however, the serious intent of the author(s) was hidden by the site's wit and irreverence. The attitude was fuck all the whores, but beneath the attitude there was an almost desperate attempt to wake people up to how egregiously American attitudes and public opinion were being manipulated by the corporate mainstream media. And interestingly enough, it was said that among journalists, the site was very popular.

Then about a year ago, suddenly the site was gone. No explanation. Just gone. Even a Google search reveals nothing of why it disappeared. Perhaps it was simply that the site's author had gotten a job that didn't allow for the time it takes to produce a website like that. Or perhaps there were more sinister explanations for the site's demise. What's surprising is that even on the conspiracy-drenched Internet, there's little or no speculation about it.

More surprising to me, however, is that no one has taken up the gauntlet to out the increasing number of whores in journalism.

The irony and perhaps delicious prescience of Media Whores Online is that with the Jeff Gannon/White House Press Corps saga, an actual honest-to-god whore became George Bush's favorite go-to guy for questions at White House press conferences.

exempli gratia (e.g.)

2005-05-08T08:12:00.000-05:00

Atrios begins his Sunday posts with a perfect example of how in lockstep with the White House PR machine the media is.

Regarding this "news" story, Bill Maher on his HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher, asks the pertinent question,

Isn't this like the third time we've captured the #3 leader of Al Qaeda?

UPDATE: 5-10-2005.
Gee whiz. Maybe there was just the teeniest bit of hype!

real journalism?

2005-05-07T13:06:00.000-05:00

Trying to come up with a name for this blog was a bit difficult...not because I didn't have anything to go with, but because what I want to say covers a lot of issues and ideas.

There are many things that need to be said, but as I've gradually come to realize over the past decade or so is that the really important things are not being said by the people whose jobs it is to say them.

I doubt that American journalism was ever the zenith of the profession that many would believe it to have been. Yesterday's William Hearst and Colonel McCormick types have bequeathed their shoddy, corrupt and blatantly-biased brand of journalism to today's Rupert Murdoch, Sinclair Broadcasting, Clear Channel Media and the financial fairy godmother of so much right wing malfeasance, Richard Mellon Scaife.

But the steady loss of professionalism that has occurred to American journalism since the heyday of the Watergate years has been concomitant with the increased consolidation of the media into a few major corporate entities. And with that came the increased collusion between those corporations, always beholden to the federal regulators and politicians who can do so much for and against them.

So what we have in this country today is an American version of the old soviet-style media, with the major newspapers serving as Tass, the official news agency, giving the American public only the information needed to stay generally ignorant about issues that might reflect negatively on either the government and/or the corporations that control the flow of information.

What's more, in an increasingly post-literate America, where most people don't get their information from newspapers, but from television and radio, these media have become the de facto governmental news source.

Only in the past few years, with the increasing popularity of the Internet, has more complete information been able to rise above the din of these semi-official news outlets.

And what I've found is that there is a wealth of information available to anyone who seeks to find the truth; not only from foreign sources, but from a great many individuals in this country who have taken up the vital duty to inform from the many so-called journalists who have prostituted themselves and bastardized the profession. They have shirked their responsibilities and walked away from their obligation to serve the public and not their corporate masters.

This blog, then, will recognize those who, ignoring the onslaught of talking heads and chattering voices in the "real" media today, refuse to give up on this country. To me these are the real heroes of the continuing American revolution.