Thursday

Earth to Obama, Your Theatrics Are Not Fooling Us!

Our talk-the-talk BS artist in the White House, Barack Obama, stated at a recent jobs summit: "The single most important thing we could do right now for deficit reduction is to spark strong economic growth."


Um, well, Mr. President, you did everything but spark growth with that last $800 billlion or so stimulus package (created by corporate lobbyists and special interests to make a trap for fools). Instead, you dangerously increased the national budget deficit even more! Can you even do the math? ... Now your favorite Wall Street buddies (who bribe you with millions in party benefits then diss you by not even showing up to meet with you at the White House) like CitiGroup, GS, BOA are in the process of desiring to give huge chunks of bailout money back (related perhaps to the severity and threat of the recent Judge Rakoff decision?), money these banks never needed or deserved, money YOU let them have.

In the above meeting, Obama had the unbelievable nerve to state that the federal government pulled these banks from the brink with public money, when WE ALL NOW KNOW that they never needed it in the first place! He creates his own reality as he goes, just like George Bush. He makes me want to have a tantrum!!!


Just so you know, Mr. President, your act isn't fooling everyone. You're watching the polls. You see us getting cranky over it, and you adjust your speechmaking accordingly.

Friday

New Insanity: Why is Carol Moore Still Heaping Blame on The Norfolk Four and Now Blaming John Grisham?

"Let him walk in our shoes, let's see how he would feel," a sobbing Moore told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from her Pittsburgh home. "This is nothing but political and John Grisham."

The above statement, to me, is just as ludicrously false as saying that the earth is flat because Obama has decided it is. How can Carol Moore, mother of the victim in the Norfolk Four case, be so woefully ignorant of the facts? She reminds me of a deluded child talked into believing her nursery school teacher turned into a catlike demon and flew after her! Scary, very scary. And people like her even sit on juries. How do you think Paul Shanley landed in prison?

This poor dear blames the author John Grisham for getting the evil perps out of jail cause he's so stupid, you know, and just looking for attention, and he doesn't care if vicious killers go free.

According to Grisham, commenting on the Norfolk Four case to the Post:

It's the most egregious case of wrongful conviction I've seen, and I travel around the country listening to stories about these cases.

I'm not saying Carol Moore is intentionally lying to get attention or a place on a talk show, or perhaps a book deal, but I am saying I totally and utterly repudiate her contentions that the innocent men of the Norfolk Four had anything to do with her daughter's murder. I'm sure she was lied to by the police and prosecutor, or at least misled.

Please, Carol, really look at the facts. Stop this public display.

__________


Tuesday

Ding Dong, The Prince of Darkness is Dead - Robert Novak To Burn in Hell

Okay, you guys, now's your chance to call me a meanie witch for taking such a caustic view towards the death of Robert Novak, but I have to be honest, he should have died much sooner. When I think of all the lies, damage, and toxic spray of intentional disinformation put out by this evil wizard, I can't help but be wishful. Late in his career he outed Valerie Plame for being a CIA agent, and thus assisted Karl Rove in his retaliation against her husband.

This despicable act alone brands Novak as one of THE most heartless, unethical, and yes, un-American jerkweeds to have ever lived and lied.

Good riddance. Let his "friends" and Republicans belch forth with as much BS praise as they wish. It's all BS after all, just like the phony attacks of indignation he forced us to frequently suffer.

Friday

Last Three of Norfolk Four Finally Released - Attorney General Bill Mims Still Pretends Like They Are Guilty

In one of the most atrocious cases of police misconduct and prosecutorial arrogance, four men were wrongly convicted in 1997 of a murder rape in Norfolk, VA. Because they did not have wealthy parents (like the Duke lacross players), the public and the press have generally ignored them. Who cares, right? They probably had it coming? No way.

You can follow more details about the case out on Google and here. Basically, these guys were falsely accused and subjected to incredible police torture and deprivations until they confessed to a crime they didn't commit. Unfortunately for the VA Attorney General's office, the real culprit was caught, and not only confessed but proclaimed none of the Norfolk four were present. Also, only the real culprit's DNA was found on the scene.

The Norfolk Four were so incredibly innocent that two dozen ex-FBI agents in the Richmond area signed a petition and sent it to Governor Kaine asking for full pardons, because their own investigations proved the men were in no way responsible, but only railroaded by the cops then tortured into confessions. The shamefulness of the crime against them goes unpunished till this day.

In an act of cowardice, Governor Kaine "conditionally" pardoned the Norfolk Four only days ago, but this means they are still treated like ex-cons, made to answer to a Parole Board, and so forth. They will never have normal lives without a real pardon. Kaine has assured them a living death not much better than prison.

But since when does a politician these days have any real courage, I ask you? Well, I guess even a coward like Kaine has more stomach than Attorney General Bill Mims who said in response to the release:

The Office of the Attorney General has represented the interests of the commonwealth and sought justice, as we are bound to do by law, and vigorously defended the multiple convictions of these individuals.


I don't even think Nifong admitted he was wrong about the Duke lacross players. So what does it prove? That guys like Nifong and Mims, who preside over the unjust prosecution of innocent people, will never admit they are wrong. They can't admit it. They won't.

Tuesday

Obama Vs. Freedom of Speech - White House Attorneys Karen Dunn and Ian Bassin Attempt to Censor PCRM Posters in Union Station

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
(PCRM), in a laudable and smart effort to help encourage legislation that will/might actually get junk food out of schools and usher in a new era of nutritious food (God help us all! Is it possible, what with the bribes junk food corps give county school systems? ... Oh, there she goes again!), placed huge posters in Union Station in D.C. with poster children saying:

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S DAUGHTERS GET HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES. WHY DON'T I?

Good question? Are healthy school lunches only for the elite in wealthy prep schools while mainstream kids are lured more and more into unchecked obesity?

I hope not. Regardless, no sooner did the posters go up than Neal Barnard, President of PCRM, was contacted by White House attorneys Karen Dunn (Associate Counsel) and Ian Bassin (Deputy Associate) who wanted Barnard to remove the posters because the "president's children are off limits." Now, this does smell like an effort by White House subordinates to curry favor by drumming up a non-issue and playing crusader rabbit to impress Barrack and Michelle.

Is that so Karen? Ian? Or are you under orders from Michelle? ... And by the way, do you support the Bill of Rights?


Nevertheless, Karen Dunn and Ian Bassin are employees of Obama and therefore Obama is answerable for their actions, and right now his employees are acting very much like the lackeys of any dictator, such as Castro e.g., who do not wish to be criticized or look unfavorable in any manner that can be avoided or negated via the use of force, i.e., if White House legal muscle can intimidate Neal Barnard into removing the offending speech, so much the better. And besides, how dare this Barnard practice free speech and reveal that Obama's daughters get elite treatment and that most of American children do not! But wait, I thought the Obamas were democrats ... uhhhhhh.

No doubt the heat on Barnard will increase, but I sincerely applaud his efforts to resist the White House pressure despite various wags predicting hateful retaliation by Obama (see original Post article in paper).

If Neal Barnard is pissing off the Obama White House, I could not be happier. And I have a message for all White House employees: your boss is slowly murdering your country, in a manner as reckless and sociopathic as George Bush Jr. Why participate in the wreck of your nation?

God speed.

Monday

Xu Zhiyong Jailed by Chinese Tyrants

True to form, the tyrants of China have again jailed, in Kafkaesque fashion, a human being who routinely tries to genuinely help the downtrodden--unlike the Chinese government that maintains the manufacture of the downtrodden. This time it is Xu Zhiyong, a prominent rights defender and legal scholar who has represented migrants, death row inmates, and even the parents of babies poisoned by toxic food.

He was stolen in the night for "tax evasion" but in reality because he pissed off the Communist leadership by showing them up for the frauds they are. And how? By trying to get them to live by their own laws. And he is not the only one. Other legal spokespeople for the common good have been jailed and beaten by the government, including Gao Zhisheng, and Chen Guangcheng, a blind man.

And this is a country that we continue to coddle, ignoring their extreme abuses and tyrannical bullying.

Well, Obama wouldn't even punish the Bush era officials who committed crimes. Why should he rock the Chinese boat? After all, they do spread lots of green around D.C., rather like the Saudis.

Madness: Kenneth Feinberg, Obama's "Pay Czar" Pretending to Work For The Public Good by Begging Wall Street Banks To Stop Giving Pay Bonuses

In a farce likely to not raise eyebrows among America's mainstream sheeple (people plus sheep--in case you forgot), Kenneth Feinberg--Obama's Jewish guy in charge of "pay" in the context of Obama's growing-more-absurd-by-the-day bailouts of multibillion corporations that never needed the money to begin with--has been trotting to the plush corporate offices of the absurdly wealthy in an alleged attempt to get them to please? please? please? discontinue their biz as usual of taking American tax dollars and using them to bail out hundreds of needy and utterly deserving Wall Street executives and others with billions in bonuses (to attract and keep top talent, of course).

What? you ask. Are you kidding, Liz?

Come on! READ the Wall Street Journal, or the Post, or some source that at least approaches the terrible truth of the fiasco of American government and the relentless looting of the treasury and America's future.

I am so sick of you Obama-philes and your endless sucking up to an illusion that has already betrayed us again and again. You are no better than the demented Bushies of Texas, esp in the old days. Please WAKE UP and protest the selling of your future and the coming of 60% tax rates that will be needed sooner or later to pay for all this corporate looting!

Anyway, back to Kenneth Feinberg ... He has met privately with execs at the offending companies, "urged them" to "rework" guarantees for big earners. Who are we kidding? These people are stealing from us because they are bold enough to do so and because they know OBAMA IS ON THEIR SIDE AND THERE WILL BE NO REAL REPERCUSSIONS!

Think I am just big capping here because I am possessed or hysterical or both? No. Again, look at the facts. For example, those thieving bastards, the Bank of America (their HQ in D.C. located directly across from the Treasury Building--what a coincidence!), got tens of billions in bailout from Obama (yes, Bush gave birth but Obama baptized the crime) and what did they do with the ill-gotten gains? They bought Merrill Lynch and gave the ML execs OVER FIVE BILLION in bonuses. And illegally at that, against SEC rules. And what punishment did they get? They didn't have to admit anything, and they paid a $33 million wrist slap fine ... Arguably, with our money. Don't believe it? Research the facts, buckos!

This madness is beyond madness. One criminal group after another pirating billions and billions and more billions from America's coffers right under the nose of Mr. Change himself, Barrack Obama, and while we are fighting two ruinous wars and suffering a deficit nearing two trillion.

Madness, madness!!!

Saturday

In the Rage to Consume American Tax Dollars, Congress and Federal Agencies Spar for Hundreds of Millions in Earmark Loot Every Year

Is the American government the biggest criminal enterprise in human history?

Don't believe it?

Well, the ever-bold circus of pirates who pick our wallets are at it again. A new revelation? Senator Bill Nelson, such a great Dem, wants earmarks that senators use to reward the various corporations and special interests that bankrolled their campaigns, to go underground in Committee reports, i.e., he advises they don't even have to appear in a bill, and this in an effort to prevent Federal agencies from pirating the huge piles of cash for themselves and their own pet projects that in turn are being milked by grossly overpaid contractors in places like DOD and elsewhere.

From the NYT:

For example, the Department of Defense withheld $100 million from about a dozen earmarks, on the grounds that there was no statutory guideline for its action because the earmarks were included in the reports accompanying the spending bills and not the bill itself.

Mr. Nelson said the solution would be to specify in legislation that earmarks in committee reports should be treated as if they were written into the spending bills.

Uhhhhhh, so what's wrong with this picture of an American senator? Earmarks in committee reports? How simple and sleazy is that?

God, I hate these people!

Go back to sleep America.

Friday

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics Defeated by Daily Show in Effort to Force Obama Administration to Act Less Bush-like and More Like a Democracy

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics stymied again. Poor FOIA! At least someone is trying, but the judiciary is apparently becoming just another corrupt arm of corporate America.

Politico.Com says it best. This is unf'nbelievable! Obama is acting more and more Bush-like everyday. If this does not help convince you Dems of the fundamental dysfunction of the Illinois corruption machine in the White House, what will? Or is this just simply an act of cowardice? Or is it further evidence of the corporate-ocracy at work, i.e., regardless of regime, the trends continue ...

Rebound marriage, America!

Here we go:

Wrap your head around this: The Obama administration wants to save former Vice President Dick Cheney from the likes of "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart.

That was the thrust of arguments the Justice Department presented Thursday seeking to prevent the release of an interview Cheney gave in 2004 to Special Counsel Pat Fitzgerald as part of his investigation into the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson.

In an afternoon U.S. District Court hearing in Washington, Judge Emmet Sullivan presided as Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith defended the government’s refusal to release the details of the Cheney interview. David Sobel, an attorney for the group suing for the documents,
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, was there to argue in favor of disclosure. Here’s how it went:

Sullivan asked if President Barack Obama’s appointees stood by the Bush administration’s steadfast refusal to make the Cheney interview public, noting, “there’s a new administration.”


“This has been vetted by the leadership offices,” Smith said. “This is a department position.”


“It is disappointing that the new administration apparently is picking up where the old one left off,” said Sobel.


AND FURTHER:

Sobel argued that the government’s stance would render the records of any kind of White House-related investigation off limits to the public — not just an inquiry into a sensitive issue like the disclosure of classified information.

“The argument would apply to a murder in the White House, selling drugs in the White House, bribery in the White House,” Sobel said. “We would be carving out the White House ... for special treatment.”

Sobel also said it was "unseemly" for the court or the Obama administration to be predicting that there would be illegal activity involving White House officials.


Monday

HumanEvents.Com Plays Host To "Weekly Alerts" From Chuck Norris and Miscellaneous Other Far-Right Media Moronics


No, really, you can sign up! How thoughtful Chuck looks? He's jealous of Joe the Plumber ... No kidding!
________________________
CHUCK NORRIS FACTS!

# There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.

# Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

# There is no chin under Chuck Norris’ Beard. There is only another fist.

# Chuck Norris has two speeds. Walk, and Kill.

# The leading causes of death in the United States are: 1. Heart Disease 2. Cancer. 3. Chuck Norris

# Chuck Norris doesn’t go hunting.... CHUCK NORRIS GOES KILLING.

# Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

# Crop circles are Chuck Norris’ way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie down.

# The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.

# Contrary to popular belief, Chuck Norris, not the box jellyfish of northern Australia, is the most venomous creature on earth. Within 3 minutes of being bitten, a human being experiences the following symptoms: fever, blurred vision, beard rash, tightness of the jeans, and the feeling of being repeatedly kicked through a car windshield.

# If you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, “Two seconds ‘til.” After you ask, “Two seconds ‘til what?” he roundhouse kicks you in the face.

# When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes, ever.

# The quickest way to a man’s heart is with Chuck Norris’ fist.

# Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken’s famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear.

# CNN was originally created as the “Chuck Norris Network” to update Americans with on-the-spot ass kicking in real-time.

# Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

# Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.

# What was going through the minds of all of Chuck Norris’ victims before they died? His shoe.

# Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.

# Police label anyone attacking Chuck Norris as a Code 45-11.... a suicide.

# Chuck Norris doesn’t churn butter. He roundhouse kicks the cows and the butter comes straight out.

# Chuck Norris doesn’t wash his clothes, he disembowels them.

# A Handicapped parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.

# Chuck Norris will attain statehood in 2009. His state flower will be the Magnolia.

# Chuck Norris once bet NASA he could survive re-entry without a spacesuit. On July 19th, 1999, a naked Chuck Norris re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, streaking over 14 states and reaching a temperature of 3000 degrees. An embarrassed NASA publically claimed it was a meteor, and still owes him a beer.

# Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.

# It takes 14 puppeteers to make Chuck Norris smile, but only 2 to make him destroy an orphanage.

Thursday

Fox News Whores, Glen Beck and Michelle Malkin, Do Their Best to Smear GIVE

While I worry about any Obama-inspired program or legislation further adding to the budget deficit without good reason, I nevertheless feel the urge to vomit when I watch cretins like Malkin and Beck. It's almost enough to make leave my centrist views and become a Democrat just to spite them.



100 Days of Spin - FactCheck.Org on Barack Obama's False Statements Made For Political Gain

My dear dems, this is a must for those of you who actually care more about your nation than the worship of idols. Here is undeniable proof of President Obama playing VERY fast and loose with the facts, not unlike W himself. Yes, I'm sorry, don't crucify me. Judge for yourself.


... we find that the president has occasionally made claims that put him and his policies in a better light than the facts warrant. He has claimed that private economists agreed with the forecast in his budget, when they were really more pessimistic. He's used Bush-like budget-speak trying to sound frugal while raising spending to previously unimagined levels. And he has exaggerated the problems his proposals aim to cure by misstating facts about school drop-out rates and oil imports ... [more]


Wednesday

Swine Flu Fraud! The Latest Media Scare Hoax That Will Make Millions. What is Worse -- Fear or Flu?

OMG! On the third rock from the sun, a planet of billions where malaria alone still kills 3000 people every day, and 36,000 die of influenza every year in the U.S., less than a hundred have died from "Swine Flu" (now mutated to a human influenza virus that causes sore throats, coughs, fever, and runny poop), President Obama asks Congress for another billion or so to help prevent the ONCOMING GLOBAL PANDEMIC THAT WILL POTENTIALLY KILL MILLIONS! Oh, yes, the mainstream media is running hours of flu scare 24 hours a day, ratings are skyrocketing while swine flu masks, gloves, and $49.00 Swine Flu Kits are flying off the shelves faster than drug stores can stock them. Megatons of Tamiflu are on the way to save America (half a billion in sales at least?) and shares of Roche and GlaxoSmithKline are rising on the stock market. In this recession, at least someone is making money off of scaring the shit out of people. The American way!

Oh, echoes of BIRD FLU! Remember? The weeks of scare tactics by CNN, Fox, and everyone else? The millions of bird flu products sold, the circulating video of bird flu killing millions, etc. etc. Now the media marketing types are at it again and now America is falling into the abyss of fear again. How many times can we be fooled?

Indefinitely?

Monday

Writer-Author Janet Burroway Reveals Professional Relationship With Tom Jenks Prior to Her Big 2009 Contest Win

Not only do we have Janet Burroway now connected to Jenks and Edgarian prior to her big Narrative Magazine Winter 2009 Story Contest win this year, but in 2008 a fantastic coincidence took place: in the huge "Love Story" competition of 2008, we had Elizabeth Stuckey-French coming in first and Janet Burroway coming in third. Out of a field of many hundreds if not thousands of contestants, can it be just a coincidence that Burroway and Stuckey-French (who collaborated on a writing book together), were winners?

And now Burroway takes number one in the recent story contest after admitting openly to me in a recent letter that Jenks and Edgarian know her well? Judge for yourself. From the Burroway letter, detaling her relationship with Narrative's editors:

· I signed up on the Narrative web site, therefore read about the 2008 Love Story contest, sent in a story, “Blackout,” from a still-unfinished novel-in-stories, and won third prize.
· On the site I also learned that Narrative was having a party in New York that summer, in a week when I was to be there, so I wrote, again to an assistant, and invited myself. I was told I would be welcome.
· I went to the party, introduced myself to Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian, who said very nice things about my work, but they were of course busy and we didn’t have a real conversation.
· When my novel Bridge of Sand was scheduled for publication by Harcourt, my agent sent a copy to Narrative, and they published an excerpt earlier this year, as did Prairie Schooner.
· When Carol Houck-Smith died (with whom I did have a very real and close relationship, though she kept rejecting my novels)­ I emailed Tom Jenks and asked if he would take her place on an AWP panel about the author-editor relationship ...


Obviously, Jenks knew Janet Burroway in several ways before personally choosing her to win the Winter 2009 Story Contest. She had invited Jenks to be on a panel, Jenks published a slice of her novel, she invited herself to a Narrative party and socialized enough with Jenks and Edgarian to receive praise for her work (without a conversation?), and she'd been a winner of a previous contest chosen by Jenks and Edgarian. And who knows what else?

What's wrong with this picture?

So why isn't Burroway agreeing to return the prize money rather than burrowing into me for calling them all out on it? In her letter, she states:

And on the other hand, you do successfully gain attention to yourself, because I will forward your letter and this reply to everyone who emailed congratulations and everyone implicated on your blog. But you shouldn’t call yourself a “recovering lawyer.” The point of recovery is to avoid drink or drugs or sex or whatever your addiction is, and you are far too litigious to be in recovery.

Sincerely,
Janet Burroway

There is nothing "litigious" about it. No one threatened her, and yet, she appears to feel threatened.

Why Janet?

And here is my original email to her (due to her admitted relationship with the Narrative editors and her statement re going public with my mail and her response, I feel it my obligation to publish this):

Dear Janet Burroway,

I recently wrote a blog post article about ongoing fraud in contests sponsored by Narrative Magazine. Before I jump to conclusions due to hearsay about an alleged relationship you have had with Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian, I want to ask you whether or not in fact you have had any form of relationship with Jenks or Edgarian prior to winning the recent Narrative Magazine contest. I am investigating this matter and speaking to various people involved in their ongoing scam. I have contacts with many people who will provide testimony that winners of their contests nearly all have prior relationships with them.

I urge you to think carefully before attempting to avoid this growing situation with Narrative. My blog has a reputation for expose and a factual article connecting you with Narrative before the contest was judged will not go well for anyone involved in the crime. Jenks and Edgarian, in my opinion, are engaged in highly unethical and even illegal behavior. Tricking hundreds of writers into entering contests they have no chance of winning is mail fraud and incurs federal penalties. For example, do a google search on Tom Jenks and you will find my blog post exposing his behavior, number three, I believe.

Please do the right thing and tell the truth about any relationship you've had with Jenks or Edgarian prior to being chosen for their contest. You must know that taking a prize under unethical circumstances makes you unethical also. Prizes accepted under such conditions must be returned immediately. That is the right thing to do, and I know you know that. I have no wish to do damage to your reputation, but this ongoing fraud by Narrative must come to an end.

If the rumors of your relationship with them are false, then please go on the record. If you had no relationship or contact whatsoever with Edgarian and/or Jenks prior to winning the contest,then all this will go away. This matter concerns everyone in the literary field in America. I really hope you can see that ...

Sincerely,
Liz
http://artsandpalaver.blogspot.com

Thursday

Dark Gems From The GAP Whistleblower Blog

Michael Neff turned me on to this one. The GAP Whistleblower Blog is a tremendous source for the latest in gov corruption in the Obama administration, and past admins. Yes, yes, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. And this is just the beginning. My apologies to my Dem buddies for disconcerting them!

Will Obama ever prosecute even a single Bush criminal?

As follows:

In a serious blow to government accountability, and on the heels of last week’s announcement by the Obama administration that criminal charges against CIA officers involved in torture would not be sought, Obama’s Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel announced that the administration would also not seek any prosecutions against those Justice Department lawyers who drafted controversial legal memos justifying the use of torture.

The ABCs of Drug Safety: Accountability, Balance, and Citizen Empowerment, which focuses on the severe problems with the current system for conducting and regulating clinical trials. The report details the urgent need for reform. From AllGov: “Things are so bad with the Food and Drug Administration’s clinical trial system for approving new drugs that the country is “virtually defenseless” from preventing another Vioxx scandal. This finding, and many others regarding dangerous conflicts of interest in the FDA process, are reported in a new study by the Government Accountability Project.”

... Gina Gray, who took over as the public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery in April 2008, when she discovered that cemetery officials were attempting to impose new limits on media coverage of funerals of the Iraq war dead – even after the fallen warriors’ families granted permission for the coverage. She said that the new restrictions were wrong, that Army regulations didn’t call for such limitations, and advocated restoring full coverage. Six weeks after the media reported her efforts, she was demoted. A few weeks after this, she was fired.

Monday

New York Pitch Conference Makes Writers Into Authors

The folks at Algonkian have asked me to say a few words once more about the New York Pitch Conference held quarterly in New York City at Ripley-Greer Studios. I attended the workshops not long ago and found it a challenging and worthwhile adventure that improved my novel 100%. I'm still working on it, yes, but I'm a lightyear ahead of where I would have been without it.

They use the pitch as a means of examining the novel and focusing on the major fictional elements. As Michael Neff says, "If they're not in the pitch, they're not in the novel." It's a great way of making you realize that market and story are meshed together in ways you never realized.

I highly recommend the New York Pitch Conference to anyone serious about writing a novel for the commercial market.

Tuesday

Liz Brody vs. The Black Racist Jerk Who Thinks He is Funny and Refers to White People as Bumpkins

The below are comments made by a stereotypical, educated, black American racist who has become successful in life despite the torrent of white racism he endures, as he puts it, every single day. He begins, of course, not by addressing the issues but by vehemently insulting white people; next, he establishes himself and all black people as perpetual victims, and then goes on to vindicate his own brand of virulent racism. Later, he tries to act funny and thoughtful, but falls flat.

This thread was in response to a post about Ebony magazine. I believe these comments are worth a new post because they clearly reveal that "well-meaning and enlightened" black racist philosophy is a clear and present danger to harmonious race relations in this country, and in more ways than one.

Judge for yourself.

====================================================

Anonymous said...

You guys are idiots. I've always been a strong advocate of reading and more importantly studying history. It becomes painfully obvious when reading this drivel, that white ppl are not willfully ignorant of racial issues/history rather grossly uninformed. One blogger actually concludes if "we" (blk ppl) simply stop talking about it--racism will simply go away. Using that logic the civil war nor the civil rights movement were necessary. If we simply stop talking about racism blk ppl would have been free and equal. Brilliant!

No the real logic behind not discussing racism is to put the "pitiful" white ppl at ease for having such wretched ancestry and being the "unwilling" inheritors of white privilege. rofl. (sorry i almost thought this blog was satire)To say Al Sharpton and Jesse are racist is a tepid attempt to silence the canary in the coal mine. Every democracy should have private citizens willing to speak against the institution and the powerholders.

Now you brain trusts are declaring Ebony a racist mag. Wow. Has it ever occurred to you intellectual morlocks that Ebony magazine is the only forum where blk ppl can openly express their opinions. I don't see any mainstream mags asking the same questions of blk ppl. Talk about double standards.And yes Ebony is a black magazine formed during a time when blk ppl could not have a forum to discuss issues in mainstream media. Forged during racism, not a product of racism.

Thanks for laughs!

March 31, 2009 7:28 AM
____________

Dear Anonymous Insulting Ebony-loving Black Racist,

I am so glad you posted here, and that you are defending Ebony Magazine because it perfectly demonstrates the point.Who is an idiot? Let's recap.

White People are "grossly uninformed." That's not a racist statement, of course. And "the pitiful white people" must be put at ease for "having such wretched ancestry." Now, that's not racist, of course. Well, to this "white person" of "wretched ancestry" it is racist, pathologically racist in the vein of Adolf Hitler. Nothing said by you, Anonymous Black Racist, has the least credibility due to your mind having been dipped in the hateful well of black racism, so absolute and self-cleansing that you can openly make the most obvious racist statements while decrying racism, so egoistic and ignorant that anyone with "white" skin who doesn't agree with your opinion is at least ignorant and pitiful.

This isn't a satire, it's a tragedy, but it points to why race relations in America will continually be troubled by racists in the black community who are enthralled by the commentary and slanted truth of Ebony Magazine.

Thanks for the tears, you miserable jerk. Rejoice in your time.I'm off to double-check my ancestry now. It seems you know far more than I do.

LB

March 31, 2009 10:12 AM
____________

@Elizabeth Brody.

Acidic commentary tends to milk the truth from those normally unwilling to give it. (hence my vitriol).It's hysterically funny to hear you guys depict Ebony magazine as racist.(rofl!!). When its obvious that many of you posters only become aware of it either through this blog or random sightings on newstands.

Want to know why blk ppl are obsessed with race.....??? because we live it everyday. White ppl have the social privilege of not having to think about race nor engage in it by thought, activity, nor establish any values around it and suffer ZERO impact on their daily lives. And yet race still works to a white person's benefit. It's also retarded (yes i'm being abusive again because it warrants it) to say that somehow its only okay for blk ppl to have racial pride, and have media devoted to it. How about People Magazine, NBC, the NY times. Seriously every major media outlet pours out more positive images of white ppl. If one were not from the US and read USA today, the NY times, or the Wall street journal, you wouldnt think the US had ppl of color. These media outlets all reinforce "whiteness". Just because the title isn't White Chocolate doesnt make it any less potent in socially reinforcing whiteness.and elizabeth---you calling me racist doesn't offend me. "racist" as an epithet has been reserved exclusively for white ppl (lol). since you guys tend to take such umbrage at being called one (true or not).you guys are dying to call blk ppl out as racists, as if the existence of blk racists somehow perpetuates the inequality in our society. white racism only matters because white ppl control the system. racism w/out power is empty. guys get off your high horse. and again i would try my best to educate you bumpkins, but i'll leave it to your own kind to do that. maybe you will take it better.

April 1, 2009 2:15 PM
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Dear Black Racist Who Works for Ebony Magazine,

Yes, there is a good chance you are employed by Ebony. Why? Because you refuse to address the specific black racist viewpoints and statements made by contributors to that magazine. Some highlights of your most recent hate speech that pathetically attempts a tone of light humor:

- "racist" as an epithet has been reserved exclusively for white people ..."
- "I would try my best to educate you bumpkins ..."
- "These [white] media outlets all reinforce "whiteness".
- "white racism only matters because white people control the system"

I love the last one, black racist person, since it conveniently gives you the moral license you need to not only practice your own ugly racism, and thereby bond daily with your peers, but to wallow indignantly in whatever failure you have made of yourself. After all, since whites "control the system" (whatever that really means) then whites can be scapegoated for your inability to succeed. No? Yes?

Go back to school, get an education, start your own business, do what you want. Then once you have become black entrepeneur of the year, you can sit back with your martini and find even more reasons why you are constantly being discriminated against. Why? Because it's your religion my friend. You are a slave to it, not to white people.

Open your eyes, learn that all racism is bad because it simply continues the circle of hate and misunderstanding.

Peace and Love

LB

April 2, 2009 3:07 PM
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@elizabeth brody.

"wallow indignantly in whatever failure you have made of yourself." why would you assume that i have neither academic nor professional success. what in my tone, manner, speech, or vocabulary would indicate that i'm a failure. hmmm.

"Go back to school, get an education, start your own business"...too late i already have. I have a BS in Info systems from one of the top schools in the country, work for a Fortune 100 company, and have my own web design business. Who the hell is blaming white ppl?!??! roflmao!!!

"bond daily with your peers", why would you assume that my peers bond over "racist" rhetoric? Your comments alone indicate your own prejudice of me as a blk individual, without having even the slightest hint of knowledge about me you have already defined my educational attainment and professional success. Just because i criticize white ppl is not because i hate them nor because i feel grossly inhibited by white ppl. Its because it needs to be said. And too be honest i've never actually been a big reader of Ebony magazine. But i know your "Black Racist Who Works for Ebony Magazine" is a silly attempt at jest.

"Why? Because it's your religion my friend"--haha. Racism being bad versus racism have ill effects are two different things. I could actually hate your guys live next door to you, work with you, etc. Would my simply hating you have an ill effect on your way of life? Of course not. Now when ppl who have power collectively hate, thats a different scenario. Whether racism is bad or not becomes a moot point taken into this context. And my initial point was --to label Ebony magazine without having any previous knowledge about the history and nature of the magazine is misguided.

Trust me on this-- Ebony magazine is far from racist. If you are looking for examples of blk racist then you are far off target if Ebony magazine is your culprit. Trust me i could find more explicit examples of Blk media that are explicitly racist.

But again, my point is that all of this finger-pointing is sheer nonsense. I've noticed that for some closet white racists, finger-pointing of "blk racists" has become a sport. Partially because it attempts to deflect any criticism of white racism, which is far more entrenched, vicious, and enduring. In all seriousness, check out Tim Wise if you are serious about why there are misunderstandings between the races. If not, I'll just continue to bash you with comic induced diatribes. Haha!!!

April 3, 2009 8:58 AM
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Dear Black Racist Trying to Be a Comic,

Just a few notes and comments below.

Finally, after bashing all white people as bumpkins, racists, idiots, pitiful with wretched ancestry (LOL!!!), and so forth, and after making your self-serving case that your racism is justified, you reveal the following:

"I have a BS in Info systems from one of the top schools in the country, work for a Fortune 100 company, and have my own web design business. Who the hell is blaming white ppl?!??!"

Ho, ho, black racist jerk! I finally got you to reveal some pertinent info about yourself. And I was right! You are just the stereotypical black racist I thought you were. The worst black racists seem to be those who meet with the most success in this white power society. Casual, armchair, educated black racists. Ah, so, you are not the victim of racism after all, and I assume that a couple of bumpkin white racists assisted you in your climb to the top? Oh, but I'm sure you'll come up with some slight or other to prove you are or were a victim of the bad old white people!

"bond daily with your peers", why would you assume that my peers bond over "racist" rhetoric?"

Because racists hang with racists. Who else could put up with the racist crap that flows like a Brooklyn sewer out of your mouth?

"Your comments alone indicate your own prejudice of me as a blk individual, without having even the slightest hint of knowledge about me you have already defined my educational attainment and professional success."

Part of that was a ploy to get you to come clean, but "prejudice" had nothing to do with it. It's all related to the way you talk and the racist views you have of the world. The fact you assume me prejudiced is a statement about your own black racism. Don't you just hate having to justify yourself to this white bumpkin of wretched ancestry, eh black racist?

"Just because i criticize white ppl is not because i hate them nor because i feel grossly inhibited by white ppl. Its because it needs to be said.

Now, you are being totally dishonest, not only with our readers, but with yourself. If you didn't hate white people, you would not have made such abhorrent comments about them. But your hate is really hatred of yourself. You need to be happy with who you are. Revel in your blackness and don't try to be white.

"Now when ppl who have power collectively hate, thats a different scenario."

No, my black racist friend, people create power when they collectively hate. It has a ripple effect on all they say and do, and it makes others hate them. That is incredible power. I assume that the white people didn't hate you enough or you wouldn't have your great career, eh?

God, you are so pathetic!

Liz

April 7, 2009 5:37 PM
____________

Monday

"Pathologizing Your Period": Paula J. Caplan Argues in Ms. Magazine That Prementrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a Lie of the Patriarchy

That sneaky, sexist patriarchy is at it again! Where do these guys live? Where do they meet and plan this stuff? Perhaps in a dark castle in the Alps? Whatever. In one of their biggest schemes ever, they're sexually abusing and harassing women in order to create false readings of PMDD and thereby sell lots of drugs women don't need.

Now, while I DO agree that the sociopath pharma culture does indeed load Americans with too many chemicals they don't really need (not just women!!!), I cannot agree that it is conspiring to create a worldwide myth of PMDD.

Who could believe such absurdity?

Answer: speaking with forked tongue and loaded with sexist insinuation, Paula J. Caplan, a clinical and research psychologist from Harvard and DuBois University, has written a tabloid article for Ms. Magazine entitled, "Pathologizing Your Period." While the article at first appears to be sane and thoughtful (especially noting that the DSM includes categories not based on solid science--so true!) it soon degenerates into the kind of counter-productive, anti-male sexism that skews and taints even the best of articles in Ms. Magazine.

Ms. Magazine can't let its readers forget even for a moment that for every female problem, there is a troll of the patriarchy lurking in the background as the cause. I've used the comparison many times, but Ms. always reminds me of Fox News running orange alerts all day across the bottom of the TV screen, frightening the dumb and gullible into believing there are terrorists behind every bush in every town in America.

Without a reference to a single study or statistic, Paula states emphatically:
The absence of science leaves a void into which every conceivable kind of bias has been found to flow—including sexism.
And so, Paula insinuates that the decision to identify symptoms of PMDD and place them in the DSM is a sexist plot. But of course, she can't prove it.

Furthermore, with our dear Paula J. Caplan, resident psychologist celebrity looking for attention, we see a form of Orwellian doublespeak coming into play. While Paula can't deny studies that have surveyed women countless times that prove they do report "feeling worse" before their periods (as she notes: "Do some women report feeling worse before their periods than at other times of the month? Certainly ...") she goes on later to say:
Hundreds of researchers have tried unsuccessfully to prove that women are more likely to have mood problems premenstrually than at other times.
Huh? ... But she is working on an answer. The "mood problems" are not caused by PMDD, but by MEN! Why didn't I think of that? As follows:
Premenstrual discomforts are also more often reported by women who were sexually abused as children, are struggling with abuse or harassment ...
Right, thank you Paula! That solves it all. But wait ... You are a scientist, so why don't you quote a viable study that supports this keen observation of yours? You have the opportunity, why not use it? Where is the proof that sexual harassment creates a false reading of PMDD?

But Paula J. Caplan doesn't need facts, or solid science to support her wild claims. Is she no different than the DSM that she condemns? Can we diagnose hypocrisy then? No? It must be evident beyond need of proof that PMDD appears to exist only in women who have been sexually abused or harassed by men. Follow the big money if you don't believe it.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT = PMDD = BIG PHARMA DOLLARS.

The math is simple. And before I forget, one final quote from Paula:
Another study showed that men identified PMDD symptoms in themselves as commonly as women did.
I can't stop laughing! Paula has gone from disingenuous to tabloid mental, all in a few hundred words. Again, she fails to quote this pivotal study that proves men have PMDD symptoms even though they don't have periods. Were they also the victims of sexual harassment then? I mean, it follows, right? Joe Palooka Jones of Jonestown, Ohio is all grumpy-wumpy-slumpy because the 7-Eleven clerk told him she liked his buns.

I encourage any and all women who read this piece to write Paula J. Caplan directly and tell her what an ass she is and how lying about PMDD for the sake of an article in Ms. Magazine only punishes women who really do suffer from PMDD and who must deal with the problem realistically, and without being told they're dupes or dummies of the patriarchy.

Thank you for your support.

Wednesday

Rasmussen National Survey Proves Republicans Do Not See Rush Limbaugh as Their Leader

As a matter of fact, only two percent of Republican voters polled in a telephone survey see the obese shock-comic of conservatism, Rush Limbaugh, in the role of party leader. A whopping 68% say the party has no leader, while McCain and Steele get five percent each.

In all fairness, I must note that Rush Limbaugh was not at rock bottom. That spot was held by Sarah Palin, who received one percent.

More information on the results at POLITICO.COM.

Is it remotely possible that the electorate is not as dumb as we make it out to be? Or is this just a temporary semblance of sanity caused by the failing economy and the psychological effects of despair?

As With Exceptions for Powerful Lobbyists, Obama Retains the Infamous Power of Bush to Issue Signing Statements

Much like his Orwellian about-face on appointing influential lobbyists to carry on biz as usual in the White House and at the Pentagon, among other places, President Obama has opted to retain the hated Bush power of "signing statements" ... And what are those? Bush would often issue written direction to his appointees in federal agencies to ignore provisions in law passed by Congress, while citing the Constitution as a basis for doing so.

Though Obama signed a memorandum negating the old Bush signing statements by telling the agencies not to follow them without consulting DOJ in advance, he nevertheless failed to end the policy. Rather he reserved his "right" to issue signing statements should the need arise. As Andrew Cohen at CBS put it:
... the Obama White House sacrificed a measure of principle to achieve a form of pragmatism. In both cases, it reversed the practical import of Bush policy but kept for itself the option of reversing back yet again should circumstances require it.

But "pragmatism" that benefits who? I cannot use that as a basis for excusing Obama (like Cohen does), not when it comes as an excuse to potentially abuse power ... But will he? Time will answer.

For a comprehensive look at how and why signing statements become an abuse of presidential authority, please read the American Bar Association study that opposes Bush-like signing statements (very interesting and full of history!)

The New Dr. No - Eric Cantor of Virginia Opposed to Everything Obama Does

While I support Cantor's classic free market views that would deny select automakers access to tens of billions in taxpayer dollars for "bailout" purposes, I can't help but fault him for his transparent status climbing by taking a stand as Minority Whip in the House and automatically and publicly opposing everything Obama does. It's just too easy!

The Dems have acknowledged his contribution by programming him into their relentless and tireless robocallers that methodically target potential voters in states like California and Florida (where Republican seats are in danger) and say things like, "Why follow the party of no and it's leader, Eric Cantor?"

When can we centrists get our own robocallers? ... Stupid Question.

Last month, Keith Olbermann told his audience, "If House Whip Eric Cantor is the future of the Republican party, it is time to register as a Whig, or possibly a Bull Moose."

I love Keith, despite the fact that Ms. Magazine and Katherine Spillar targeted him a SEXIST who must be eliminated from the media.

Tuesday

From Associated Press, March 3: Obama Retains Earmarks Despite Campaign Pledge and Dangerous Budget Deficit

If not now, when?

6:18 PM EST

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted overwhelmingly to preserve thousands of earmarks in a $410 billion spending bill on Tuesday, brushing aside Sen. John McCain's claim that President Barack Obama and Congress are merely conducting business as usual in a time of economic hardship.

McCain's attempt to strip out an estimated 8,500 earmarks failed on a vote of 63-32. The Arizona senator's proposal also would have cut roughly $32 billion from the measure and kept spending at last year's levels in several federal agencies.

Last year's Republican presidential candidate said both he and Obama pledged during the campaign to "stop business as usual in Washington," and he quoted the president as having said he would go line by line to make sure money was spent wisely.

The White House has said that Obama intends to sign the legislation, casting it as leftover business from 2008. Spokesman Robert Gibbs pledged on Monday the White House will issue new guidelines covering earmarks for future bills.

----------

Sunday

Obama's Daschle Plan for Health Insurance "Reform" in the Stimulus Bill The Result of Bribes Paid To Daschle by Health Care Industry

Following up on my previous post, this just in from POLITICO. Dems who won't do an ostrich routine need to slap themselves and read this ... NOW:

Daschle made nearly $5.3 million in the last two years, records released Friday show, including $220,000 he received for giving speeches, many of them to outfits that stand to gain or lose millions of dollars from the work he would do once confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services.

For instance, the Health Industry Distributors Association plunked down $14,000 to land the former Senate Democratic leader in March 2008. The association, which represents medical products distributors, boasts on its website that Daschle met with it after he was nominated to discuss “the impact an Obama administration will have on the industry.”

This week, the group began openly lobbying him, sending him a letter urging him to rescind a rule requiring competitive bidding of Medicare contracts.

Another organization, America’s Health Insurance Plans, paid $20,000 for a Daschle speaking appearance in February 2007. It represents health insurance companies, which under Obama’s plan would be barred from denying coverage on the basis of health or age.

There was a $12,000 talk to GE Healthcare in August, a $20,000 lecture in January to Premier, Inc., a health care consulting firm, and a pair of $18,000 speeches this year to different hospital systems, among other paid appearances before health care groups.

The speaking fees were detailed in a financial disclosure statement released Friday, which showed that Daschle pulled down a total of more than $500,000 from the speaking circuit in the last two years, and $5.3 million in overall income.

And furthermore, from nextGov:

Daschle received speaking fees in 2008 from Premier Inc., which collects and analyzes clinical and financial data for hospitals, and America's Health Insurance Plans, an association that represents 1,300 health insurers, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Premier and America's Health Insurance Plans belong to the Confidentiality Coalition, which sent a letter in December to Senate and House leadership opposing plans to include in the economic stimulus bill provisions that would protect the privacy of patients. The bill includes $20 billion for promoting transforming American's paper health records to electronic form to reduce costs and improve health care.

______________

Saturday

Daschle and Obama Create the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology to Curtail Costs by Depriving Americans of Needed Care

Excuse me, my Dem dears, but why isn't our camera-loving, speechy Obama crowing about this as one of his triumphs? Read on and find out.

How best to control the absurd costs of health care in America? According to the disgraced Daschle and our new Messiah, President Obama, you penalize the consumers while doing little or nothing to prevent the medical mega-corps from continuing to pad the nation's indefensible medical bills with never-ending demands for more profit.

Listen up, you Dems who support the Messiah, this is all in black and white. The government will function like a corrupt HMO, using bureaucrats to make rules that will deny specific treatments not only for specific age groups, but potentially everyone, and thus relieve medical professionals from the need to use their experience and brains. Medicare will also take a big hit as the elderly will suffer terribly from this. Medications will suddenly not be covered. Important innovations in Alzheimer's disease, e.g., will be denied. You think I'm joking?

We will all suffer from this. Yes, CHANGE is coming, and Obama will make sure of it.

Also, more windfall profits for insurance companies. Why? Because they won't have to pay off on billions worth of treatments suddenly deemed inappropriate or unsuitable by the Washington bureaucracy, they will get access to a uniform medical database that will make it easier for them to deny claims and coverage based on "pre-existing" conditions, and as a bonus, they won't have to lower their rates or make it easier for the uninsured to acquire needed insurance.

Health care costs to the consumer will remain the same and we are assured the enshrinement of a well-defined two tier health care system: one for the rich, and the Daschle-Obama plan for everyone else. The "change" helps only the corporate supporters of Obama and Congress.

According to Betsy at Bloomberg.com:
One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.”
There was zero national debate on this. It was cleverly included with the stimulus package, disguised and kept quiet by Obama at the advice of Daschle.

True? Yes, it's true!

As a friend of mine would say, Shine Perishing Democracy!

More Hypocrisy From The Messiah Force? Obama Appoints Top Defense Lobbyist William Lynn to Powerful Number Two at Pentagon!

First Ron Klain, then others, and now the biggest face slap of all: William Lynn, the supreme darling lobbyist of none other than top defense contractor RAYTHEON appointed to be number two man at the Defense Department--easily one of the most powerful jobs in Washington.

According to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs: "Reasonable exceptions" granted for "uniquely qualified individuals."

Oh, this macho prick of Obama's holy world of can-do-no-wrong is certainly qualified! How much more ANIMAL FARM can we get guys and gals? Well, let's see. Brace yourselves, Obama-loving followers of the holy temple. According to Huffington Post:

Raytheon is no mom-and-pop defense contractor shop. It is the type of industry behemoth that protesters of the Iraq invasion bemoaned for profiting off of the war and encouraging militarization. And as the man who led "the company's strategic planning and [oversaw] the government relations activity," Lynn was intimately involved.

A former employee of DFI International -- a D.C. consulting firm -- Lynn joined Raytheon in August 2002 and was elected an officer in May 2005. The firm and its subsidiaries are a major force on Capitol Hill, having spent more than $14.5 million on federal lobbying activities during the six years Lynn was working there, according to a review of lobbying records. Raytheon worked to lobby the House, Senate, DARPA, Defense Department, Energy Department, Treasury Department, State Department, and others on issues ranging from long-range guided munitions, sea based missile defense and joint standoff weapon systems.

The government outreach efforts seemed to pay dividends. Raytheon Company received more than $54 billion in contracts from the federal government during that time period, according to fedspending.org, a project of OMB Watch.

If this appointment of the lobbyist's lobbyist, William Lynn, doesn't prove that Obama and his apostles in the White House are as close to frauds as you can get, I don't know what does.

You go by the rules, even when it gets tough, or they count for nothing!

Friday

What's Wrong with Chris Matthews? "Bad form," he says. Why Does He Deny Americans the Right to Demonstrate Their Loathing of Bush?

"Bad form!" Chris Matthews says in the background as you watch the video below, as you watch Bush come before his fellow Americans at the Obama inauguration. And again, "Bad form." Matthews is getting angrier by the moment, or at least, more sanctimonious. Another announcer can be heard expressing his surprise.

What planet do these talking heads live on? Is this yet another example of our darling media being divorced from reality, and more importantly, from the mainstream feelings of most of America?

So it's the inauguration? What of it? George Bush so devastated this country in so many ways that he's lucky to leave alive. In other countries they would have stormed the White House and executed him. How can we not respond to the vision and presence of the sociopath Bush with contempt and loathing?

Unlike the sanctimonious Chris Matthews who cries Bad Form, I think it a sign of incredible restraint that the open hatred of Bush did not take on a more violent and enduring tone. It should have!

Congrats to the Americans who had the nerve to boo at Bush. Thank you all!

And BAD FORM, Chris!


Thursday

Is This View by Obama a Bit Mushy, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, or Just Foolish? Is He Really Saying Reagan Was Preferable To Clinton?

I find his viewpoints concerning the election of Reagan to be abstract, almost academic in nature, rather than based in hard reality. The America of that time was simply fed up with Carter's failures. Reagan, for most of the campaign, was considered a joke. Whatever, it's classic Obama, a guy who loves to hear himself talk.


Wednesday

Obama Inauguration Party Planners Budget $45 Million Acquired From Wall Street and The Wealthy Elite of America

Remember the days of Madison and Jefferson? The parties on the White House lawn, composed of all types of Americans, from clerks to diplomats? Remember Dolley Madison cordially welcoming all Americans to her house, regardless of their wealth or status, simply because they were fellow Americans who shared her vision for democracy?

Well, of course you don't!

In those days, our Founders shunned anything that imitated the corruption and vanity of the European courts, the fabulous, glittering, absurdly expensive elite parties wherein only the most wealthy and influential could participate, i.e., those most suited by virtue of their positions to rub shoulders with the King and Queen, not to mention their teams of court lackeys and sycophants.

One can't help but call to mind the bumbling and arrogant aristocrats of France on the eve of the French Revolution; and that image in turn recalling some of the wealthiest on the Titanic who refused to believe the ship could sink even while it was sinking.

Now, 2009 America. Has American democracy evolved? Our shining new Democracy with our shining new god, Barack Obama, whose closest circle of newly appointed staff and cabinet officials will only shoulder-rub with a party list consisting exclusively of America's elite, from Wall Street bankers (who received or who will receive bail-out money!) to ridiculously wealthy actors.

Is this Obama inauguration an indicator of true democracy? Is Obama akin to the great American leaders he so often attempts to imitate?

Where are the special meetings and parties and balls packed floor to ceiling with America's best, you know, the thinkers, teachers, philosophers, authors, scientists, and artists? Where? There just isn't room. Or what about a few balls and parties for representatives of Americans who have lost their jobs or whose kids have died pointlessly in Iraq? What about them? Or what about the firemen, construction workers, plant employees, carpenters, etc.? Those poor bastards. Why don't they get a chance to sip a martini and talk in the ear of an Obama staffer, or God help us, even the president himself?

Sorry!

Democracy of 2009 must first entertain the real estate moguls, the $10,000-a-plate lobbyists, the flashy media darlings, the whores of Wall Street and the silicone-injected tramps of Hollywood, and so on, as well as all other manner of "mover and shaker" that might benefit the Obama image in the future ... Yes, no time, no room for anyone else. In order for Obama to serve the country, he must first and always serve himself.

This is AMERCIAN DEMOCRACY in 2009.

Get with it! Be realistic. Stop your whining! He is better than Bush, right?

And don't come back at me with the money Bush spent on his parties. What do you expect from that cretin? We expected more from the Democrat man of change during a severe, job-killing recession in a country that is steadily growing the largest and most unreasonable debt in world history. Oh, and don't throw "little people" photo ops in my face and point to those examples of Obama shoulder-rubbing with the less fortunate.

Please stop living in the fantasy world of high school civics class. If we expect more from President Obama, then he should deliver more. He should restore true democracy, not further mire it in the politics of elitism.

___________

Tuesday

While the Crowds Swoon Over Obama's Speech, I Can't Help But Look For the Change. What change? What's the Plan?

Has America as a whole become so accustomed to misinformation, bullshit, and hypocrisy that it becomes blind when its brand new "leader for change" creates an enormous act of BS hypocrisy right before their very eyes? How about more than one? So where is the change?

Is Obama really a human being, or an alien with the power to suck minds free of all reason? For God sakes, I know intelligent people who are Obama hajj-ing at this moment, even if they're not in D.C. In dreams, they pilgrimage to the gaudy shrine of Obama, but the rebound marriage of America to Mr. Obama appears headed for divorce within two years at most. That is my prediction.

So let's deal with facts. He swoops around the country decrying the FEAR politics of the past, encouraging HOPE, but even before he becomes president, he opts to keep the Homeland Security agency, the bureaucratic infrastructure of red-level fear designed by the Bush administration to not only spike the loose cannons in FBI and CIA (to make certain they bowed and scraped to Bush), but to keep Americans in a constant state of anxiety. Why doesn't Obama eradicate this toxic animal? Why? Why? He's smart enough to know the true nature of it. Why is he keeping this horrid relic of the Bush years (along with Gates at DOD!)? Where is the change? What is the change?

Not many months ago he told Christian churches he would continue subsidizing them, and even give them more money. Where is the change? What is the change?

On the campaign trail, Obama was anti war, but what is the plan to get us out of Iraq? It's iffy and nebulous, susceptible to vacillation at a moment's notice. Where is the change? What is the change? Why isn't Obama decrying our bogus war with Iraq? He's way way too quiet on the subject. As we all know, I'm in favor of prosecuting Bush and Cheney for murder. Obama hangs out with the sociopath Bush and they grin and slap backs like old war buddies. It's enough to make me hurl! Is this the kind of government we want? Is this let-bygones-be-bygones attitude by Obama towards the nation-killing, Treasury-sucking, war mongering, world polluting George Bush Jr., the kind of attitude we wish Americans to adopt going forward?
If you don't pay all your taxes, you are punished by the government. But if the president goes on a sociopathic killing and looting spree, along with his train of pirates, the country does nothing? It only elects a man who will act cozy with its greatest enemy?

I hate politics as usual.

America awake! Write Obama, picket the White House, demand an end to the war, the prosecution of Bush, an end to pork barrel bailouts by Democrats in Congress, Evangelical subsidies, and especially, an end to hypocrisy in all its forms!

Have I forgotten anything? I'm sure. But I'll come back with more.
______________

Saturday

Obama’s Inauguration: A Secular Hajj - From PoliGazette


January 17th, 2009 By: Michael van der Galien


(the following is a post from PoliGazette--I could not resist!)

In what has to be the most over-the-top description of the upcoming inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama, Ali Eteraz compares it to the ‘hajj’ (religious pelgrimage for Muslims to Mecca). ‘Millions will make their way to the National Mall. More than 10,000 buses will be chartered.

At a website called Inauguration or Bust, people anywhere in the country can find locals to travel with. At the site, the contingent from Savannah, Georgia, refers to its trip as a “pilgrimage”. That word, most often associated with religious fervour, is appropriate here. The inauguration buzz is reminiscent of the excitement I have encountered in Muslim countries in the days preceding the hajj,’ the Muslim commentator, columnist, poet and former blogger writes for the Guardian.

‘The inauguration is a ritual, akin to Muslims touching the walls of the Ka’bah in Mecca. It renders tangible the ethereal. It is a reminder that the government is like an idol, a fact that was well known to those who introduced the modern nation-state - the French even raised a new goddess after the revolution - but which goes entirely forgotten by us.

_______

Thursday

Limbaugh Seen Assholing Around at the White House

Recently, Limbaugh was invited by Bush to the White House for the purpose of celebrating the asshole's birthday. But which asshole are we talking about? Why, Limbaugh, of course? Though Limbaugh cannot sign legislation that screws the average American or send people to die in other countries for no good reason, he does have the power to lie to millions of other assholes who swallow his every smelly word, much like dogs eating vomit.

I am in such a rare mood! But when you put Bush and Limbaugh together for any reason, the shit just piles and piles till you can't hold back.
_______

Wednesday

Farewell to Thee - Our Nation Needs The Likes of You




Pelosi: Pass stimulus by mid-February - Seize the Day and Pass The Pork

In an era of multi-trillion dollar deficits, Nancy Pelosi and House Dems can't resist using the economic era as an excuse to push forward a massive pork bill (and while Obama does what?)

Just in off the AP wires:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pressed top congressional Democrats on Wednesday to pass a massive economic recovery bill by mid-February, a call tempered by new projections of unprecedented deficits ahead.

Pelosi emphasized the infrastructure and energy components of a massive stimulus package that Congress and President-elect Barack Obama are fashioning in response to the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The combined spending and tax cuts of the plan are expected to cost nearly $800 billion.

"Many will focus on the cost of it," Pelosi told the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. "While we are not discussing small sums, the bill is fiscally responsible because it will provide a fiscal dividend by returning 40 percent of the cost to the Treasury — at least that much in increased revenue."

Noting that the proposal will include spending on roads and bridges, clean energy technologies, expanded Internet access, and modernizing schools, she declared: "This is not your grandfather's public works bill."

No, it isn't. This is far more wasteful and insane. Borrowing to SPEND in an era of dangerous deficits is a very bad idea.


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Friday

Martha Coakley of Middlesex Witch Hunt Fame, Now Attorney General of Massachusetts

Mulling over the Paul Shanley case and marveling at the ability of ambitious, corrupt prosecutors to place innocent people in jail no matter how ridiculous the charges are against them, I ran into this letter from 2001 involving Martha Coakley (now ATTORNEY GENERAL). You recall Martha from my prior post involving Paul Shanley.

This letter is eye opening. I'm just glad to see that at one time, in a galaxy far away, a few sane people existed, even in a witch-burning, Martha-loving state like Massachusetts. How wonderful that a human being, as loved as Martha Coakley, as full of integrity and sociopathological instincts, can rise from being a mere prosecutor to being Attorney General, and in such a progressive and educated state. How many bodies did she have to step over? How many innocent people did she have to jail? How many thousands did she have to fool?

And now, the letter.

The Boston HeraldAugust 12, 2001 Sunday ; Pg. 026
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A scandal continues


The cynical manipulation by the Middlesex County prosecutor's office of the child witnesses against Gerald Amirault who are now young adults makes it depressingly clear that the office of prosecutor is intended by its occupants to serve their political ambitions and not the cause of justice ("Amirault victims come out of hiding to keep him jailed," Aug. 3). Martha Coakley and her cohorts and precursors know full well that children who were 3, 4 and 5 years old at the time of the Fells Acres trials some 15 years ago - 15 years filled with constant reassertions by prosecutors and parents of the validity of the original claims - do not, cannot and will not ever be able to have untainted memories of their experiences. Hauling these innocent young people out for a press conference was disgraceful.

These children were victims of politically ambitious and woefully ignorant prosecutors who chose to disregard the coercive interrogations by the inexperienced graduate student assigned to dig the "truth" out of the children, to ignore bizarre claims that defied all rationality (e.g. sodomy with lobsters and knives) and to close their eyes to the utter lack of substantiating physical evidence.

- Margaret A. Hagen, Department of Psychology Boston University.
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Margaret A. Hagen is the the author of Whores of the Court: The Fraud of Psychiatric Testimony & the Rape of American Justice (1997); Regan Books-Imprint of Harper-Collins.
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A great piece on Amirault here.
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