• Down in the desert: Dubai, whose potential sovereign-debt default is in today’s news, is messed up, economically and in other ways. Zero Hedge’s Marla Singer, who has spent time there, offers a pretty readable summary. Key takeaway: Dubai’s travails say a lot less about the pitfalls of capitalism than meets the eye.
• Housing-market update: I’m not smart enough to know what to do about this, but more U.S. homes are in delinquency or foreclosure than are for sale.
• The “deadbeat stimulus”: At least $160 billion a year.
• Tim F. observes how the health-care reform bill is being set up to fail.
• Martyrs: The people trying desperately to help Sarah Palin run her life are getting no help at all from the boss. I’m shocked.
• The Obama-Bush Administration: The Obama Justice Department’s arguments against exoneration for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman are being prepared by the very same people involved in the original frame-up — the one in which Karl Rove was involved up to his eyeballs. So spare me all this talk about how much better things are in government now that Obama has replaced Bush.
• So if we fire all the execs who ran the banking system into the ground, the banking system will crash and burn? Well, pardon me for agreeing with a former public official who barebacked a whore, but I’m thinking we should test that hypothesis.
• Apologies are fine, but the Roman Catholic Church needs to take some of the time it’s spending on apologies and spend it on turning the guilty over to police. Also? Any institution with this kind of problem needs to get itself fixed before presuming to comment upon moral issues.
• Relatedly, not only does a 2007 court filing by Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, last seen denying communion to Rep. Patrick Kennedy because Kennedy won’t oppose abortion, admit the existence of more than twice as many accused priests as the diocese had admitted just three years earlier, it also cites that high number (~125) as a reason why court-ordered disclosure of documents would be excessively “burdensome.” Awwwww …
• Unproductive speculation: If anyone has any ideas about how to end it other than by taxing financial transactions — an idea devised in 1972 by a Nobel winner, by the way — I’m all ears. But it needs to end.

Cheney has some serious problems with President Obama bowing respectfully to foreign leaders. And yet he expects Americans to lay down before him and be trampled over by his corporate cronies. This is a man who has taken advantage of more people to get what he wants than any other American figure in recent history. There is a thorough and complete brainwashing that goes on here. And it’s brainwashing through fear, which has always been America’s greatest enemy. And now he’s at it again trying to convince his incurious hordes that Obama needs to “Man-up” or “step-down.”

Commenting on Obama’s bow to the Japanese Emperor during the president’s trip to China, Cheney commented that:

“”There is no reason for an American president to bow to anyone. Our friends and allies don’t expect it and our adversaries perceive it as a sign of weakness…

“I think it’s fundamentally harmful and it shows in my mind that this is a guy, a president, who would bow, for example, who doesn’t fully understand or have the same perception of the U.S. role in the world that I think most Americans have.

“What I see in President Obama is somebody who bows before foreign leaders and spends his trips aboard primarily apologizing for U.S. behavior. I find that very upsetting.”

Really? Cause Lord knows the world openly embraced our macho posturing during the eight years of the Bush Administration. Why, we were seen as parent figures, protectors, the good guys, right? Thank God for an evolved America. Leading by example, and all that. You know, like the Bush Administration’s charming,  jingoistic vision of  ”cowboy diplomacy.”

No, the truth is Cheney’s view of America has something to do with carrying a gun and shooting your friends in the face. Accident or not, it’s the perfect metaphor for Cheney’s approach to heroism, manliness, and American strength. And anyone who goes “hunting” with this man has what’s coming to them.

What was it Ghandi said?

“The science of war leads one to dictatorship, pure and simple. The science of non-violence alone can lead one to pure democracy…”

Here’s Cheney commenting on war:

“It will be necessary for us to be a nation of men, and not laws.”

Well, that’s never been more on display than in Cheney’s attitude toward war and interrogation. According to journalist/author Mark Danner (Stripping Bare the Body: Politics, Violence, War):

“According to the Bush administration, the Convention Against Torture allows waterboarding; allows confinement in small boxes; allows sleep deprivation for up to eight days; allows beatings; allows the use of insects and various other things to terrify detainees; allows the use of heat, light, severe cold, prolonged nudity.”

Danner also goes on to describe some other “ineterrogation methods” supported by Cheney:

“[They] threatened detainees with drills, that they were going to drill into their heads, threatened to shoot them in the head or threatened to rape their daughters or rape their wives.”

And now Cheney (and his daughter Liz) are systematically attempting to undermine our current president by suggesting he is “weak.” Danner continues:

“Republicans, in the person of the Cheneys, Kit Bond and others, have criticized the Obama administration nonetheless for starting a witch hunt of Bush administration officials, which clearly isn’t the case.

But as you saw in this lobbying group that Cheneys have now set up, the Republicans see rich political ground to be harvested in these issues. And this goes back really to three months after the attacks of 9/11, when Karl Rove stood up before the Republican National Committee and said, “Americans trust us to protect the country. You know, we can win on this terrorism issue.” And indeed, for two elections, they did win. And the Cheneys are now really trying to set up the Obama administration as an administration that’s weak, Democratic weakness, renouncing torture, renouncing the techniques that supposedly are needed to protect the country.

And I think there’s a very calculated strategy at work here, particularly in the event of another attack. That is, the Obama administration is being put in a position where if there is an attack on the country, it can be very vigorously blamed by the Republicans for leaving the country open to the attack by its supposed refusal to torture detainees.”

Liz Cheney commented on Obama’s bow versus her  father’s own stiff meeting with the Japanese Emperor back in 2007:

“You could also look at the comparison and think, Cheney 2012.”

Eek. Is Cheney really the reigning example of American “strength?”

If you ask me, I think Cheney’s values are now, and have always been, on display for anyone who wants to see them:

“We have to make America the best place in the world to do business.”

“The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world’s oil and lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies.”

Even Cheney’s comments on Saddam Hussein sound more like another country talking about America’s past and the recent Bush/Cheney’s present:

“Saddam Hussein had a lengthy history of reckless and sudden aggression… and had built, possessed, and used weapons of mass destruction.”

Even in talking about the “terrorist agenda,” Cheney continues to make oblivious comparisons to his own “agenda”:

“Given the nature of the enemy we face today, and the fact that their ultimate objective is to force us to change our policies and to retreat within our borders, the last thing we need is to convey the impression that terrorists can change our policies through violence and intimidation.”

How about that Gandhi fella again:

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?”

Choose your leaders wisely.

The Lie Machine : Rolling Stone.

You just have to read it.  Its hardly possible to imagine.  Talk about the Devil is in the details.  Its the myriad of intervening parties, relationships, funding, events, that crisscross each other so that it takes the patience and minutiae of a Swiss clock maker to put the puzzle together and see the picture for what it is. Big Kudos to Tim Dick Dickinson here.

One theme that can be picked up is the trend of small associations that take on a some grand name, usually with words like Freedom, Patriots, Transparency, that are surreptitiously serving the narrowest interests.  Groups that were set up and funded overnight by unscrupulous politico-corporate insiders and posing as spontaneous grass-roots movements.  The perfidy is ghastly.

I am not going to expand on this.  Rolling Stone’s The Lie Machine is REQUIRED READING.

]]> http://russellbuchanan.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/how-the-democrat-party-lost-its-ic/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:11:22 +0000 Russ Buchanan http://russellbuchanan.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/how-the-democrat-party-lost-its-ic/

Bound and determined to find out why and when Republicans replaced “Democratic Party” with the stunningly childish “Democrat Party” led me to a little known strategy session held by the Republican elite.

Strangely, the minutes of the meeting were written in verse, and can be found at “The Russ Buchanan Blog: Exposing the Enthusiastically Stupid and the Proudly Dumb.” http://wp.me/pClhD-2a

My determination to find out why and when Republicans replaced “Democratic Party” with the stunningly childish “Democrat Party” led me to discover the minutes of a secret strategy session held by the Republican elite a few days after the party’s dramatic defeat at the polls.

Strangely, the minutes were written in verse.

A meeting was held in the town of DC

The Party’s elite were invited

There was Palin and Cheney and Sean Hannity

Their leader Rush Limbaugh presided

Rush called to the crowd, “We’re in trouble, my friends

We’re shrinking with each day that passes

We need new ideas for two thousand ten

Or the Dems will again kick our asses

We can’t argue issues – they win at that game

And just saying ‘no’ has grown old

Drowning them out makes us look quite insane

We need something clever and bold”

“How ‘bout a catchy new phrase?” Palin said

“That says what we’re really about

Like, ‘If you’re not worth millions you oughta be dead!’”

“Sarah, sit down!” yelled the crowd.

So they thought and they thought ‘til their heads throbbed with pain

Thinking – for them – was exotic

Then a pudgy guy called out, “Karl Rove is my name

And by George the Second, I’ve got it!”

He ran down the aisle like a man on a mission

And snatched the mic from Limbaugh’s hand

The people fell silent – when Rove speaks, they listen

He smiled a big smile then began

“That name, ‘Democratic’ is simply unfair!

It gives such an edge to our rival.

As a name, sure it’s only a noun – fair and square  -

But the voters think it’s adjectival

It makes them sound more democratic than us

A typical liberal plot

The fact that they’re commies is hidden because

Their name makes them sound like they’re not

Well, I’ve got a plan that will end all of that

To restore the once great GOP

We’ll change ‘Democratic’ to just ‘Democrat’

We’ll chop off their ‘ic’ at the ‘T’”

The crowd was ecstatic, and shouted “Hooray”

“You’ve done it again, Mr. Rove

You’ve given to us a sure-fire way

To get back the voters in droves”

And, that’s how the “ic” was removed from our name

Believe it or not, you still hear it

It seems everyone to the right of McCain

Is completely insane, or darned near it

They’re down to just one out of five voters now

Soon it will be one of seven

And those who remain will be in Idaho

Storing food for Armageddon

So, when you hear “Democrat Party” these days

Please do try to restrain your laughter

It’s just a Republican’s final hooray

On the way to his party’s hereafter

When not playing footsie with men in next stalls

Or at presidential talks, yelling

They campaign with tea-bagging Neanderthals

Who don’t like black folk…or good spelling

They ran Sarah Palin, they outed Ms. Plame

They green-lighted torture to our lasting shame

Compared to all that, the mere change of our name

Is not something to go to war on

We’ll just put our “ic” back where it’s always been

And hope for their sake that this childishness ends

Then as a gift to our Republican friends

We’ll shorten “Moronic” to “Moron.”

I’m not a huge fan of Lindsay Graham (R-SC). I have substantive reasons for this but no small part of it is that he comes off as a whiny 5th grader complaining to the teacher half the time. But sometimes that 5th grader reminds you of how smart he is and then kicks you in the shins.

Yikes. Or, make up your dang mind on Afghanistan already.

Karl Rove criticizing the permanent campaign is like a crack dealer criticizing tobacco companies.

I may have said this before, but “The State” is the best paper in SC and honestly it’s not really that close. But every once in a while it will have a headliner showing it’s still just a small town paper. This is one of those stories. Actually, that is a great idea, hopefully the city council makes it work.

This video collection of the 100 best lines from The Wire is so NSFW it isn’t even funny. Actually, it is pretty funny a lot of the time. There are easily 100 more lines just as good, too.

Back in those innocent days when publishers didn’t consider the designation “midlist” a synonym for “leper colony,” Brian Moore was the ultimate midlist writer: a producer of consistently excellent to great and near-great books, a critical fave, unspectacular but steady sales, occasionally courted by movieland — The Luck of Ginger Coffey was an early star vehicle for Robert Shaw, Cold Heaven made for one of Nicholas Roeg’s better films, and Catholics was an unlikely made-for-TV success. This fine essay reminds us of Moore’s qualities, and why his work deserves to be returned to print.

Attercop! Attercop! (Via Jeff.)

As anyone who’s ever enjoyed one can tell you, an eggcream is a drink named after the two things it never contains. The same principle applies to the upcoming memoir by Karl Rove.

Considering that Roger Corman launched the careers of Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Jonathan Demme, James Cameron, Peter Bogdanovich, John Sayles, and Martin Scorsese, I’d say that Oscar was waaaay overdue.

“Her domineering father was the president of Tenneco and pals with men like Sen. John Tower, she grew up with George W. Bush, she was engaged to the son of a diplomat who did the CIA’s bidding. But after years of going to war with her controlling old man, devouring seditious issues of the muckraking Texas Observer, and furtively meeting the bravest Texas progressives, she eventually decided to raise a middle finger to all of her gilded upbringing.”

It was the biggest leopard seal the photographer had ever seen. So, naturally, he dove into the frigid Antarctic waters and swam up to it. And then the strangest thing happened.

Good news, bad news: The good news: The S&P 500 is sitting on a ton of cash. The bad news: The cash came from being overleveraged and from failure to invest in existing business and/or growth, which will lead to bad future news on both revenues and employment.

It’s OK if you’re a Republican: The Obama White House gets criticized for attempting to manage the news cycle … by Karl Rove.

Shorter Peter Wehner: Sarah Palin hasn’t an idea in her head, but just because she’s both stupid and a whiner is no reason to criticize her. (No, I’m not making this up. Even better: I’m linking to Commentary.)

Why competence matters: New Orleans flooded after Hurricane Katrina because the Army Corps of Engineers messed up, a federal judge rules. Cue the lawsuits, and this is one case in which I don’t want to hear any whining about tort reform.

If you want to make an omelette heal a soccer player, you have to break a few eggs birth a few horses: This is the kind of alternative medical treatment for which I might well look for an alternative … any alternative. (h/t: friend and former co-worker Christie on Facebook)

Texas declares war on marriage: Does mathematics’ reflexive property of equality (a = a) apply to Texas family law? If so, then in banning gay marriage, the state might have outsmarted itself and banned all marriage when it added this phrase to its constitution: “This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.” And one of the legal statuses identical to marriage is, well, marriage. At least, so says the Democratic candidate for attorney general.

If you’re going to hire a hack, at least hire a talented hack: President Obama has named former Bush White House spokesbot Dana Perino to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees civilian U.S. government broadcasts. I’m trying to decide whether to be outraged or to conclude that it’s a good idea to have a propagandist in charge of propaganda. Or to conclude that it’s a good idea to have a propagandist in charge of propaganda but wish for a GOOD propagandist rather than Perino.

North Carolina’s Mel Watt is on the side of the demons in the audit-the-Fed debate. Those of you in the 12th District, which includes many of us right here in fair Greensboro, need to get in his face about this. Whether you’re in NC-12 or elsewhere, you can petition the appropriate committee leaders here. More background here.

Because Goldman Sachs didn’t have enough people qualifying for big, taxpayer-financed bonuses already: The vampire squid is promoting 272 people to managing director.

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Banksters. (Bonus: background info on how U.S. credit card fees paid by merchants and passed on to consumers, are some of the world’s highest.) Memo to the Democrats, which will cost them far less than the advice they get from professional consultants: When your political opponent starts gouging the public, during the holidays, in the middle of a recession — when he basically hands you a chair and says “Hit me over the head with this!” — if you want to win elections, you hit him over the head with it. (Key phrase there being, “If you want to win elections …”)

“Nothing bespeaks personal character like the volatile use of violence on your opponents”: Chuck Norris confesses that anger-management issues rule out a political career for him. Hey, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

Why does Glenn Beck hate America? No, really.

Remember: Conservativism cannot fail, it can only be failed: Bonus fun: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting is a “registered hate group.” Where do you register as a hate group? How much does it cost? How often does the magazine come? Do you get movie passes?

And, finally …

Today’s Quote of the Day, on how conservatives are blaming all electoral ills, including legitimate Republican losses, on ACORN, from Hullabaloo commenter “Pseudonymous in NC” (and, no, that’s not me; I only wish I had thought of this): “For wingnuts, ‘ACORN’ rhymes with ‘trigger’. That’s what this poll tells you.”

Yellow Cake: A Modern Parable of Terrorism and Devastating War

Yellow Cake is a short animated film by the award-winning Canadian animator Nick Cross.  Cross explains that he got the idea for the film in 2003, in light of speculation during the Bush administration that Iraq was buying uranium powder called “Yellow Cake.”  Yellow Cake Uranium was one of the Weapons of Mass Destruction that Iraq allegedly possessed.  Cross’s fantastic animated epic becomes a modern parable of terrorism and catastrophic war, a lamentable tragedy featuring geopolitical bullying, social unrest and worker revolt. In the end, as with most revolutions, the revolt is both crushed by foreign intervention and corrupted from the inside until it becomes as evil as the regime the workers had originally fought.

Yellow Cake initially lures the viewer into a tale of pleasant mirth, filled with adorable blue creatures who spend all day baking and then eating their own  exquisitely delicious yellow cakes.  However, by the end of the film the small town of happy little bakers has been driven to terrorism by the greed of their leader and cake-hungry fat cats, resulting in the town’s ultimate catastrophic destruction.  It seems that no matter what they do, the oppressed have no hope left.

Yellow Cake: A Modern Parable of Terrorism and Devastating War

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Have you noticed the agita in Republican business circles over what we may now call the Obama Bull Market?  Paul Krugman has:

Clearly, the Fox Business crew is having a very hard time.  They bill themselves as being truly pro-business — not like those leftists at CNBC.  But they aren’t really pro-business; they’re pro-Republican.  They’d like you to believe that it’s the same thing; but there’s this awkward fact that markets have, you know, gone up under Obama.

But wait — there’s more:

Look back at stock returns under recent presidents, which is easy using a clever gadget at Political Calculations. Taking real, dividend-inclusive annual returns on the S&P 500, I get:

Reagan: 10.08%
Bush I: 10.16%
Clinton: 14.35%
Bush II: minus 5.81%

Ouch!  Maybe there’s more to managing a capitalist economy than simply shoveling tax cuts to capitalists.  Who knew?

This is where Barack Obama needs to stand up to his progressive base and stop seeming to apologize for a rising stock market.  That kind of “class warfare” (a loaded right-wing term which I hate, but which applies here, since many middle class people own stocks) plays right into Republican hands. 

Instead, he should say that Democratic policies are designed to benefit everybody — and then he should pivot to a call for a more activist government role in job creation.  He should dare Republicans to bad-mouth the portfolio gains many independent voters are now beginning to see under a Democratic Administration.  

Remember the Clinton nineties . . . when life was sweet nectar!

It’s the Karl Rove strategy of going after your enemy’s perceived strength.  Shock and awe on the economic front.

Rumsfeld, Defence Industries, 911, & Corporate Government in Retrospect

On September 10, 2001 Rummy said this in a speech at the Pentagon

“Today’s announcements are only the first of many. We will launch others ourselves, and we will ask Congress for legislative help as well. We have, for example, asked Congress for permission to begin the process of closing excess bases and consolidating the B-1 bomber force.”

One month later…

Rumsfeld Visits B-2 Bomber Base as Afghan Campaign Heats Up

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo., Oct. 19, 2001 – Amid news reports that U.S. ground troops are aiding anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld flew to this Missouri air base today to meet B-2 Spirit bomber pilots and support crews.

Speaking to reporters en route here, Rumsfeld praised the air base’s service members and declared that the B-2’s more than 40-hour missions to Afghanistan are “amazing.”

The secretary declined to give specifics on reported U.S. ground operations in Afghanistan. He noted that providing operations information about U.S. air attacks or the involvement of U.S. troops could imperil lives, missions and damage national security.

Jeremy Scahill mentioned the speech that Donald Rumsfeld made at the Pentagon on the day before September 11, 2001 in his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. In this address Rummy outlined the streamlining of the DOD and changes in CIA policy, where radical changes would be implemented in the military, especially in the organization of the National Guard and the three branches of the armed sevices.

This speech can be found on the DOD web site and should be required reading for those who are interested in the history of what is now being called The Long War.

MORE on Home Nature Report

A week ago today, yet another blue state enacted a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage forever! At least that’s the intent of such amendments to constitutions.  So on a day that I really wanted to address the issue of tort reform that has been dragged by Republicans into the health care debate, I find once again that my attention is pulled by another attack on me and those like me.  Whatever you may think of gay people, we are CITIZENS of the United States of America and our respective states.  Most of us, like myself, were born here into families that go back to the days of The Colonies.  Yet, there is a hateful group of people who has taken it upon themselves to marginalize us because we do not agree with their religious beliefs.  Isn’t that why The Pilgrims came here to begin with?  Of course, that knowledge could only be obtained by actually reading American History instead of listening to some meathead like Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly.  I guess that’s just too much to ask.

In the GLBT community, angst grows and threats are made to mount more demonstrations across the land to protest our ill treatment.  However, judging from the media response to 200,000 GLBT citizens on The Mall in Washington, D.C. recently, I honestly don’t know how that’s going to help us much.  And there are those in the movement who suggest that we should go and visit our elected officials in their offices and protest our treatment.  While as late as two weeks ago I might have gotten excited about such a plan, I have noted in my recent contact with those who claim to be my representatives in Washington, that they are not in the least interested in anything that I have to say.  Of course, they are a trio of Republicans, and I expected as much.  But what about the Democrats?  Where were they when people in Maine were abolishing our citizenship last Tuesday?  As usual, they were AWOL!  For those of you who are unfamiliar with that acronym, it is military-speak for “absent without leave.”

You know, it is bad enough that Republicans are cozying up to their extreme right-wing base in bashing us, but for me the feckless Democrats are far more offensive.  Every two years they come before the gay community with their hats in their hands asking us to come out and vote for them, knowing full well that we don’t have much in the way of an alternative.  And every two years we haul ourselves up, write blogs, become delegates to local, state and national Democratic conventions, work on campaigns and pour out our support and go vote for Democrats running for office only to be dismissed after the election.  Now, this dismissal is not only coming from leadership within the Democratic Party; it is coming in dead silence and lack of support among the rank and file who enjoy the fruits of our labors when their candidates are elected, but fail to show up in support of their fellows when under attack.  What are we doing?

For years the GLBT community has mocked and belittled The Log Cabin Republicans, a group of gay Republicans.  These folks just keep slogging away at the Republican Party by showing up at conventions and rallies only to be denied admission or participation.  We shake our heads at their naiveté and accuse them of stupidity for banging their heads against a brick wall.  The Log Cabin Republicans still cling to the idea that they can only change the Republican Party from the inside, so they persist in their efforts.  To be fair to them, they really believe in the more moderate message of the Old Republican Party that deals with fiscal issues and the joys of capitalism.  Believe it or not, there are many, many gay small business owners, and I do not fault them for taking care of their own economic interests.

But what about the rest of us in the GLBT community?  If we are political—and not everyone is—we tend to think of ourselves as Democrats because of the social oppression that we have experienced in our lifetimes.  We are attracted to the Democratic Party because it tends to address social injustice.  Recently, we have watched in horror while George W. Bush promised not to do anything against gay Texans while Governor and then gay Americans while president, then turned into a supporter of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to permanently take away our rights.  In fact, when running for Texas governor as a moderate Republican, Bush commented the old, “Some of mine and Laura’s best friends are gay.”  While not naming names, I have always suspected that this is the “secret reason” that so many right-wing crazies came out swinging when Harriet Myers was nominated for Supreme Court Justice.  Now, that’s just based on rumors I heard around Dallas in my court reporting days there.  So, I’m not stating that as a fact.  Like Rush and Glenn, I’m just putting it out there as a thought.

Anyway, we all know how fervent “W” became in his support of the right-wing anti-gay agenda, particularly during his re-election campaign.  In fact, he and Karl Rove used it very effectively to get the “right” voters out in Ohio and swing the election in his direction.  And it has been downhill for us ever since that chilly November day in 2004.  With a steady push by the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party, state after state has adopted anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendments, more often than not putting them out there in off-off-year elections to get those who are gung-ho out there with little pushback from everyday citizens.  This was the successful tactic in Maine last week, but let us not forget California.  One year ago, Democrat Barack Obama handily carried The Golden State, reputedly the most liberal state west of Massachusetts, while leaving the gay community behind in the dust of defeat.  In electing their first president, the black community of California came out and voted against equal rights for gay Californians.  How shameful!  After being called on to help elect Barack Obama, gay voters in California were stabbed in the back by many of Obama’s supporters.  OUTRAGEOUS!

So what should we do?  I’ve given this much thought since the news from Maine.  I was by no means stunned by yet another defeat.  I was hurt that it came in a so-called blue state instead of a state like mine that is more RED than Mao’s China in its group-think.  But what it really tells me is that those folks that turned out to support and vote for Barack Obama last November were unwilling to give up their plans last Tuesday night to help a friend in need.  After basking in the warm glow of last year’s victory, liberals who are not gay are not particularly interested in returning our support.  Instead, they stay home and let those who oppress us manipulate democracy to deny freedom of religion to American Citizens who happen to be gay.  Is this more their fault or more our fault?

One of the maxims of psychiatry is that “insanity” is defined by doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Isn’t that what the GLBT community is doing politically?  Aren’t we blindly giving support to Democrats who then turn around and ignore our oppression once they are comfortably installed in office?  Of course, we are.  How do we stop?  We just STOP!

I know it’s radical, but here’s my plan.  Bear with me while I explain, and don’t give up on me until the end, okay?  I thought about just dropping out and refusing to vote for a few years.  We all know that the Democrats, who are wrangling among themselves to the point of total inability to get anything done in Washington, are going to really, really need our votes next year as the Republicans mount their comeback offensive.  It’s time to say no and mean no.  I know that sounds dangerous because that puts more Republican power back into Congress, but to me that’s a risk we have to take.  Then, after that, come 2012, with the country still in a funk and the prospects of a Sarah Palin or Tim Pawlenty or even Mitt Romney on the presidential horizon, President Obama is going to come calling yet again, hat in hand, begging for support, dragging Oprah behind him.  We can pretty well bet that those same old swing states will be swinging and every vote will count.  What if we say no one more time?  It could cost Barack Obama his re-election.   I know that for many in the GLBT movement this is a frightening thought, but stick with me.

The greatest problem with this plan, other than the election of some nut job like Palin, is that the “gay vote” is dismissed or discounted as being unimportant in the outcome.  That’s because there is no way for us to be counted if we stay home in protest.  So, let’s do something really radical! Let’s form our own third party.  I would call it The Pink Party so there could be no doubt about where it’s coming from.  It would work like this.  We would run as many candidates as we could for every federal office, including President of the United States.  Crazy, you say!  Of course, it’s crazy.  That’s why it will work.  Let’s not fool ourselves that we will win seats in Congress or actually mount any kind of a serious run for the presidency, but our votes will show up as a protest.  And just like the myth that Ralph Nader and the Green Party cost Al Gore Florida in 2000, if in fact a swing state is carried by the Republican Presidential Candidate by less than the Pink Party vote, the Dems will realize that they need us after all.  Then we will have a seat at the bargaining table, something we do not have now.

To put the icing on this cake,  I was “treated” to the sight of the whining Carrie Prejean on Today this morning.  Oh, poor dear, she’s under attack from everyone for daring to exercise her right to free speech.  BOO HOO! In a few years she will marry a young guy she really loves, or an older man whose bank account she loves, maybe even somebody else’s husband, and she’ll go on to live a happy life with kids and all the rights and benefits that inure to a married lady in America and California.  And you, my dear, sweet, gay person, will still be prohibited from seeing your ailing “partner” in the hospital unless his/her fundamentalist family grants you permission.  So, Miss Prejean, spare me your troubles.  They are fleeting, and in the end they will be unimportant to your life, once you get one.  And my dear, sweet, gay person, your problems are not fleeting.  This is your life!  Isn’t it time you got off your pink, but lovely ass, and did something about it?  VOTE PINK!

I’m Jack, I am who I am, and I’M HITTING BACK!

With Liberty and Justice for ALL!

Devoted Democrat Kasim Reed

How will Mary Norwood and Kasim Reed approach the December 1 Atlanta Mayoral run-off?

When we left this story, my candidate — who had spoken so eloquently in so many forums and appearances about bringing Atlantans together for a better tomorrow – had decided that the most important issue he had to communicate to ATL voters was his belief that his opponent in this non-partisan race was a closet Republican.

I’m a yellow-dog Democrat, a committed left-winger, and don’t recall ever voting Republican. That said, the word “Republican” doesn’t translate to “evil” to me. I’ve known Mary Norwood since she’s been on the Council, and if she’s a Republican, then I’ve voted Republican in every ATL election… for her. In my experience, Mary’s politics translate into standing up for neighborhoods, working to protect the people she represents – which, as an at-large council rep. – is every neighborhood in the city, and helping all those who contact her office navigate the byzantine ways of City Hall. What’s more, her politics mean connecting with people all over the city, no matter where they live, what they do for a living or their cultural, religious, political or sexual orientation.

The biggest fear I have of Republicans is that they seem to value business over people, development over neighborhoods. “The business of America/Atlanta is business” kind of thinking. That is definitely not Mary Norwood. As a matter of fact, “Committee for a Better Atlanta,” which bills itself as a “citywide business coalition,” rated the ATL Mayoral candidates. Mary Norwood scored 86 while Kasim scored 93, just behind Lisa Borders.

Kasim says Mary is a Republican. If what I’ve described is a Atlanta City Council Republican, then fine. Obviously, party affiliation in city politics doesn’t matter. It hasn’t affected how she’s served her people, or her city. Maybe that’s why COA races are non-partisan.

So, on Election Day, I cast my vote for Kasim, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to wait and see how he and his campaign-brains would approach the run-off.

“We are saying to the candidates, avoid gutter politics and raise the bar of unity…”
Then I read an article in the AJC by Eric Stirgus, who has been covering the mayoral election (including attending countless public forums and debates).  It confirmed that many Atlantans are worried about the tone of this  run-off: a group of Atlanta pastors was calling on the candidates to focus on the issues. Stirgus spoke with the Rev. D.L. Winston, president of the Greater American Ministerial Association, which represents 60 Atlanta churches.

“We are saying to the candidates, avoid gutter politics and raise the bar of unity,” said Winston, himself pastor of Greater Works Assembly in southeast Atlanta.  And, God bless him, Wilson also “urged voters to focus on the issues and not vote based on race.”

The responses from the two candidates?  Stirgus reports:

Norwood campaign manager Roman Levit said the candidate agreed with the group’s appeal. “Mary welcomes the sentiments expressed by the ministers, and her whole campaign has been about bringing Atlanta together and solving our problems through common purposes,” he said.

Reed spokesman Reese McCranie made a similar commitment. “Senator Reed has spoken about issues that affect Atlanta and will continue to do so in the runoff,” he said.

How is that a “similar commitment”?  To me, it couldn’t be more different. Mary’s people are committing to run the campaign in a way that brings Atlanta together.”

Kasim’s people are saying… nothing. No commitment to a clean campaign, no assurances of developing a unifying message.

“Senator Reed has spoken about issues that affect Atlanta and will continue to do so in the runoff.”  

Do the Reed campaign-brains think that casting doubt on Mary’s commitment to all Atlantans – by painting her as a Republican – is speaking about “issues that affect Atlanta”? Can we expect more of that kind of campaigning?

Does this mean Kasim going to continue to talk about non-issues that are really great subjects for misleading voters or casting doubt on his opponent’s commitment, politics, or life choices? Who knows? Are Reese McCranie’s words deliberately vague?  Kasim claims to be a devoted Democrat, but his campaign’s tactics feel less like David Plouffe and more like Karl Rove… or that master of slime, the late Lee Atwater. 

This path could split this city, perhaps irrevocably?  Will we soon hear the kind of radio ad used against Lee Morris in the Fulton County Commission Chair race? 

“We understand that campaigns are campaigns and governing is governing.”
I wonder and worry, especially as I continued Stirgus’ report, and read a quote from Kasim that gave me chills.

Stirgus asked Kasim about his meeting with Lisa Borders, at which he sought her endorsement. Things were barely civil between the two in the last days of the campaign. In fact, Stirgus observes, they “sparred with an increasingly bitter tone in the final two weeks of the campaign.”  

“We understand that campaigns are campaigns and governing is governing.”

Read it again: “We understand that campaigns are campaigns and governing is governing.”

I guess the “we” means Kasim and Lisa, their campaigns… But it sure doesn’t mean this voter.

I’ve voted for negative campaigners in the past when I felt I had no choice. I had made a commitment to Kasim, and despite his Mary-is-a-no-good-Republican maneuver, I took a deep breath and voted for him.

It’s not really that bad, I told myself as I took my voter card and handed to the poll worker; really, it could have been worse.

Then I remembered saying that to my friend Earl at work one day: Ah well, it could be worse.  He laughed at me and shook his head: But Marcia, he said, it could be better. 

Of course it could be better. What’s more, it has to be better.

Why? It’s simple:

If the candidates won’t campaign with integrity, how can they govern with integrity?

Kasim says: “…campaigns are campaigns and governing is governing.”

No, really, Senator, they’re the same. At least to this voter.

So, I’ve taken down my Kasim Reed for Mayor yard sign until I see if Kasim is willing to step back, re-evaluate his strategy and take a different approach. I hope he’ll realize that his original strategy is best: statements that bring all Atlantans together; reminds us of our shared issues, troubles and accomplishments; and promises a unified future.

Like the Rev. Wilson says: “We are saying to the candidates, avoid gutter politics and raise the bar of unity.”

Is anyone listening?

So the University of Central Florida basketball team pretty much exists in a vacuum. Local media barely care, national media, ha! The Knights have rarely gotten any attention.

Until now. A few months ago UCF, located in Orlando, signed a guard from Chicago named Marcus Jordan. Seems his dad was kind of an OK basketball player for the Bulls back in the day. Michael something, I think. Anyway, at the time Jordan signed, he asked UCF if it was OK if he continued to honor his father by wearing Air Jordan Nike sneakers. See, UCF has a contract with adidas that states all of its players will wear their sneakers, and in return for that the school will get a few million dollars.

UCF said it was OK. adidas, apparently said it was OK, too, at that time. Only now, not so much. Marcus Jordan wore Nikes during the Knights’ first game the other day, and presto! adidas has cancelled its $3 million contract with UCF.

This is one of those “Only in America” stories, I think. It reminds me of the great Olympic controversy of a few years back, when Shaq and other Reebok endorsers didn’t want to wear Nike warmups at the Olympics.

This may be even more ludicrous. How incredibly tone-deaf is adidas, not realizing how stupid and petty this makes them look. The kid is the son of the greatest player of all time! Who cares if he wants to honor his father.

Some people, including the excellent writer Ann Killion, have taken shots at Marcus, for putting himself before the team.

Me? I’m willing to chalk it up to the kid simply learning from his Dad, and not knowing any better. What Nike ought to do, as several others have pointed out, is come in as the knight in shining armor, and give UCF a Nike contract worth at least as much as what adidas was playing. They have a chance to look like the good guys in all this.

What a strange, strange story. Only in America.

***So maybe only people between the ages of 25-35 will get this, but here goes. I’m reading the celebrity blurbs in my newspaper this morning (the very fine Daytona Beach News-Journal, where yours truly has a big story today about a high school swimmer who’s gone through some serious health issue, not that I’m trying to plug my own work or anything), and I come across something about Mario Lopez.

And the blurb, taken from the AP wire, referred to Lopez as the “Extra” host and as a former “Dancing With The Stars” contestant.

And I’m going: Excuse me? No mention of “Saved By The Bell?” No mention of A.C. Slater, the man who stole Kelly Kapowski’s heart, and then Jesse Spano’s? No mention of the character who turned himself in during a very special Driver’s Ed episode, and helped the Bayside High football and wrestling teams to important victories?

Sigh. It’s a sad, sad day when Mario Lopez and “Saved by the Bell” aren’t even in the same sentence anymore. Ah, A.C.

***And finally today, nothing like a little Karl Rove to brighten my day. I wish I could chalk this article he wrote in the Wall Street Journal up to amnesia, but I don’t think that’s it.

Get this: The man who directed a President to spend more money, and waste more money, than anyone else in history, the man who sent us spiraling into some of the worst debt ever, now says we have to curb the runaway spending of the Obama administration.

My favorite line in this piece, which may break the record for Unintentional Comedy: “Tuesday’s results were the first sign that voters are revolting against runaway spending and government expansion.”

Rove warning against runaway spending is kinda like Jesse James telling those railroad conductors back in the day to watch out for thieves. Unbelievable, the chutzpah on this guy.

BLOCKBUSTER BOOK

The spiritual sequel to the greatest global warming documentary ever (sorry Leo the 11th Hour just didn’t do it for me) has arrived!

Its incarnation is a new book, not a film as many people expected. The documentary fanboys were gravely disappointed by the news. I guess this release rules out the former vice president and Oscar winner from becoming a Hollywood player anytime in the future.

I still have high hopes for Dick though -

RETURN OF THE GOP

[Probably won't be a huge smash but like many producers he's at least plugging away]

SPIRITUAL MESSAGE OF A SPIRITUAL SEQUEL

All kidding aside, Al Gore’s latest book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis takes a self reflective look at Gore’s past brand of advocacy.

Gore argues that facts alone will not motivate people to solve the climate crisis and that a spiritual argument must be made. The idea has been touched upon by the former vice president many times as he has frequently said that climate change is a “moral issue.”

This is the first time, however, the climate change advocate has acknowledged that spouting pure science will not win this devisive debate. Its a far different type of Gore than the man who several years earlier stated that science ended the debate on climate change.

Al wants to win on moral grounds now not just on the factual. He has admitted to Newsweek that “laying out the facts won’t work.”

GREEN-AGAIN

Its a strange admission from a man who won an Oscar doing just that with his slide shows around the country. Has he hit a roadblock in just laying out the facts and figures? He might need to say something different after touring the country extensively so, going on the moral road is not such a wild idea.

Could he be reacting to a common criticism that he has recieved his entire public life? Gore can be very wooden in his public persona and perhaps going with a spiritual tone would soften his image as well as his message.

Gore has trained thousands of volunteers in taking that message and framing on moral and religious grounds, having advocates fromthe Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu faiths argue for going green.

It is possible that Gore has stumbled upon the greatest of Inconvenient Truths: humanity won’t address a problem unless religion has an issue of contention with it.

Is Al Gore turning his movement into one that ask you to “Go Green” to one that asks you to become “Green Again?”

STILL STUDYING

Al Gore isn’t trying to fight the ignorance of his adversaries with more ignorance, however. His new book has even more research from top researchers as well as more than a dozen solution summits on climate change over the past two years.

He also covers new topics such as deforestation and population control. These and other new issues serve as referrendum to some of the problems that he may not have adressed in his previous film/book/slideshow.

The new problems are also what Gore and his fellow advocates argue are demonstrative of the growing problem of climate change – that if we do not stop it now, more issues will arise.

THE EYE OF THE STORM

Gore also appeared on Katie Couric this week and gave a summary of where he sees the climate change movement heading.

The interview features some good cross examination by Couric and she raises another concept in the new “green-again” Gore strategy. She points out to Gore that Karl Rove and other GOP strategists argue that going green will lose American homes money.

Gore maybe trying to avoid the economic debate by turning it into a spiritual and philosophical one. Wars are thought of in the same way. Many times the tremendous cost to taxpayers, governments, and families are ignored because wars are thought of in moral terms.

GORE.O

Gore’s new book doesn’t raise as many questions as his new methodology. What I would like to see more than just the grassroots and spiritual brands of advocacy is a stronger Internet presence for the green movement. What is greener than a virtual campaign?

It wasn’t to long ago that we wrote about Chris Christie being accused of copyright infringement by the New York Times.

Well Deja Vu, literally, Chris Christie is at it once again and this time Chris Christie Rips Off Monty Python, in an ad spot titled… you guessed it Deja Vu.

The Huffington post reports the story and also goes into Christie’s ties to the mafia.

UPDATE, 11:12 p.m.:

Having been exposed for their copyright theft and facing a lawsuit from Monty Python, the Christie campaign moved into damage control mode at high speed on Sunday night to try and limit the political fallout from their illicit action. Within an hour of the story appearing, the Christie commercial using pirated footage of a Monty Python skit was scrubbed from the campaign’s website and their separate campaign site on YouTube. The only evidence left was the tell-tale wording on the clip’s YouTube page “This video has been removed by the user“

Monty Python captured the video before it was removed. The Christie campaign should now be expecting the Spanish Inquisition…

Watch the ad:

//

———-

Chris Christie, the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in Tuesday’s knife-edge gubernatorial election, has been called out as a copyright thief. The 47-year-old lawyer, who was controversially appointed by George W. Bush as a U.S. Attorney in 2001 on Karl Rove’s recommendation after being a top Bush fund-raiser in the 2000 election, has created an election commercial that steals copyright-protected material from British comedy troupe Monty Python — without permission or credit.

The official campaign advert — titled “Deja Vu” — attacks incumbent New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine by using scenes from a famous skit on the “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” TV show that features Michael Palin. The ad is on Christie’s official YouTube campaign site, and has already aired on national TV.

But neither Christie — a lawyer for 22 years — nor anyone in his campaign bothered to seek any permission for using the copyrighted material in his election spot.

Alerted to the theft of their copyright, members of Monty Python are most unhappy. Michael Palin, who appears in the clip pirated for the advert, is especially displeased that his likeness is being used by the Republican candidate without permission.

“I’m surprised that a former U.S. Attorney isn’t aware of his copyright infringement when he uses our material without permission. He’s clearly made a terrible mistake. It was the endorsement of Sarah Palin he was after — not that of Michael Palin.”

Monty Python’s Terry Jones says that the troupe is strongly considering suing the Republican for his copyright infringement:

“It is totally outrageous that a former US Attorney knows so little about the law that he thinks he can rip off people. On the other hand — another of Bush’s legal appointees was Alberto Gonzales and he didn’t seem to know much about the law either…,” Jones said.

There is a long history of Republican politicians stealing content by entertainers for their political advertisements and rallies. Three months ago, Jackson Browne won a financial settlement and apology from Senator John McCain for the politician’s unauthorized use of his song “Running On Empty” in the 2008 election. Other musicians who have successfully protested the theft of their music by Republicans include Jon Bon Jovi, Don Henley, John Mellencamp and rock bands Foo Fighters and Hear

Christie is no stranger to the world of crime. As the New York Times reported on September 23rd this year, Christie has family ties to the notorious Genovese crime family. As a child, he mingled at family parties with Tino “The Greek” Fiumara — the brother of his aunt’s husband — described by the Times as “a fearsome and ranking member of the Genovese crime family: twice convicted of racketeering, sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, and linked by investigators to several grisly murders, including one in which a victim was strangled with piano wire.”

(A United States Senate sub-committee investigating organized crime in the early 1980s attributed three murders to Fiumara, including the 1967 slayings of two brothers of one of his co-defendants in the 1980 trial. In 1983, Lt. Col. Justin Dintino of the New Jersey State Police called Fiumara “a callous killer who has resorted to violence with little provocation,” and said Fiumara had ordered the murder of the godfather of one of his own children.)

Asked what he had learned from his family connection to Tino “The Greek” Fiumara, Christie says: “It just told me that you make bad decisions in life and you wind up paying a price. Really, for most of my life, he spent his life in prison. That teaches you a lot.”

Asked in 2007 about the presence of organized crime in his home state — such as the Genovese mob in which one of his family members is so prominent — Christie said: “the Mafia is much more prominent on HBO than in New Jersey.”

With Monty Python about to sue Christie for his copyright theft, he may have more in common to discuss with Tino “The Greek” Fiumara at his family Thanksgiving this year.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/files/20091030%20-%20Cheney%20302%20(redacted).pdf