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.

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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
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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
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@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
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"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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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!

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!

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.

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.

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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.

______________

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.

_______

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.
_______

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.

___________

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.
_____

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.
-
A great piece on Amirault here.
-

Air Evac Lifeteam Supporter Goes on Internet To Defend Their Greed

Thank you Christy G., whoever you really are (an employee of Air Evac Lifeteam or the CEO's mistress?) for coming so rapidly and logically to the defense of your company and the masssive debt they inflict on people hapless enough to be hoisted by them into the air for a few minutes.

Christy G., we can find your argument here at the Rushville Truth blog, but I'll summarize the most important points you make, points made time and time again by health care greed-mongers all over the world, from pharmaceutical executives to heart doctors to employees of Air Evac Lifeteam: WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

Arguably, even a simple trip to your internist for a check up is worth MILLIONS since it might potentially reveal a cancer or a condition that is life threatening--kinda like an Air Evac Lifeteam ride on one of their debt choppers. If you didn't let them chopper you for $17,000.00 for 30 minutes or so, you might not make it to the hospital in time to save your life--assuming of course, it is a life threatening condition. And what if it is?

Is your life not worth more than $17,000.00 for a 30 minute ride?

I ask you! C'mon, AEL is doing you a huge favor for only charging you such a small sum to save your life. Really, a far less compassionate managerial culture might well charge $250,000.00 or even half a million, or even MILLIONS. After all, WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

That is the true measure, isn't it, Christy G.? As long as you and other health care sociopaths remain in control of costs, we are assured that not only will they balloon to cosmic proportions served with a side of self-serving LIFE WORTH logic, but that in a very short time, only a tiny percent of Americans will be able to afford such costs. And once that happens, Christy G., you and all your buddies will still be sailing high, sure, cause then you'll be charging a quarter million for a single 30 minute ride, cause there must be enough super rich getting in accidents to keep stock prices at growth levels, eh?

Oh, and btw, if Medicare is stupid enough to subsidize Air Evac Lifeteam costs with American taxpayer money, then it's only because your lobbyists made sure it happened.

And we're all so happy that you, Christy G., and your AEL exec buddies are humane in your approach to collections. How many innocent and hapless Americans have you saddled with outrageous debt in the name of WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

No, Christy G., you are obviously posturing for the Air Evac Lifeteam management team at corporate headquarters. I hope you get a raise for your efforts, or at least a Christmas bonus.

The Historic Rape of The American Treasury, and America's Future, Continues in The Final Days of the Bush Administration

And I thought the deficit was ONLY two trillion? OMG. WE ARE UP TO $7.4 trillion AND COUNTING!

The organized Bush mob are looting and pirating sums that even the wildest fantasy could not conceive. According to a few media patriots at CNBC who are keeping close tabs on the money, we've just spent in the past year, twice the amount of money we spent for all of World War II! And yes, that is inflation adjusted!!!

This is insanity, absolute criminal insanity. We need a revolution. If Obama doesn't clamp down on this and get our money back, he is no one to be trusted.

My poor country!

I have no words to express my rage. America, awake! Please.
_____

BBC Reports Garry Kasparov Jailed Over Rally - Ya Gotta Love Garry!

I've always loved Garry Kasparov and I'm proud of him. He's throwing his own shoe at injustice and tyranny, and Americans should learn something from him.

According to the BBC report:

He and other opposition figures were detained during a rally organised by Mr Kasparov's Other Russia coalition. Police moved in when protesters marched on the election commission. Mr Kasparov was charged with resisting arrest and organising an unauthorised protest.

The incident came a week before polls which supporters of President Vladimir Putin are widely expected to win. Other Russia brings together a broad coalition of mainstream politicians, leftists and nationalists, all of whom are opposed to the Kremlin.

Garry can be bit of a showboat, but whatever helps the cause of true democracy in hammer-and-sickle land is ok with me.

Here is some "Real Time with Bill Maher" starring Garry:

A PROFILE IN GREED - Air Evac Lifeteam Charges College Student $17,000 For a Ride in a Helicopter

This isn't just David vs. Goliath, this is Erin vs. Air Evac Lifeteam, an American college student returning home from a mission of mercy vs. a mercenary helicopter service that charges insanely outrageous fees for the privilege of ferrying helpless accident victims to a hospital, and later, to a lifeteam of crushing debt.

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO THIS BLOG POST MADE SEVERAL YEARS AGO. THE AVERAGE COST FOR A 30 MINUTE TO 60 MINUTE MEDICAL HELICOPTER RIDE, REGARDLESS OF INJURY OR NON-INJURY, HAS RISEN TO $39,0000 - $50,000+ PER TRIP, AND THE RISE IN COST SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING. THIS IS A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS FOR RUTHLESS SOCIOPATHS WHO KNOW THAT INSURANCE WILL NOT PAY EVEN HALF OF THIS BILL IN MOST CASES. 

Now, I support capitalism, but what Air Evac Lifeteam does to unfortunate people unable to compete in a fair marketplace for air ambulance services is unconscionable unless one is a confirmed corporate sociopath, the Enron likes of which intentionally cut the electricity in California to drive up prices.

Now comes the victim, Erin Neff (daughter to the editor of Web del Sol)--returning home from a long trip, organized by her school to help Katrina casualties. Her van spun out of control and Erin was thrown from the vehicle and onto the highway. Miraculously, she did not break anything, but authorities on the scene thought it best to evac her to the nearest hospital for tests. And guess who arrives? AIR EVAC LIFETEAM with a transport price tag that would make even millionaires pause--I mean, who in their right mind would pay $17,000+ for a 30 minute helicopter ride? No one, of course.

Erin didn't mind getting picked up and flown to the hospital. It was fun, in a way. Little did she know that this angel-of-mercy company was going to send her a bill that would potentially burden her with bills at high interest rates for years to come (on top of her student loans!). A copy of that bill can be found here. Note they charged her a whopping ten grand just to step on the copter! The rest of it is a per mile fee that adds up to close to seven more thousand.

Erin Neff cannot pay this bill. She is working with her college to pay some of it. Insurance is covering zip. But even as around-the-block as I am, this kind of story floors me!
Okay, so what is really responsible for the dizzying rise of health care costs in America? One word ... GREED.

Just pure f**king GREED!
Thank you, Air Evac Lifeteam.
_________

Lobbyist Ronald Klain Chosen for Top Post in Obama's New Ethical Administration

After a strong and repeated campaign pledge to “wrest the federal government out of the hands of lobbyists” our upcoming PRESIDENT OF CHANGE, Barack Obama, has just appointed Ronald A. Klain, a former lobbyist for various corrupt organizations, as CHIEF OF STAFF to future Vice President Joe Biden.

Isn't this how it always begins? They claim they will change things, then later deny that business as usual is business as usual. Excuses are made. Negative no-go-with-flow types are fired or ignored. Deluded followers pretend things are still different and refuse to see the truth.

According to the NY Times:

"[Ronald Klain] worked until 2005 as a lobbyist at the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, where he lobbied for clients including the failed mortgage giant Fannie Mae; an industry group seeking help with asbestos lawsuits; a drug maker under federal investigation ..."

Fannie Mae? Drug makers? Yeah, this guy's got moral backbone, I can feel it driving a sharp knife into my backbone even as I type this.

Course, the new "rules" supposedly prohibit Klain from "directly" "working" on any "matter" related to his "employers" over the previous two years. Do we have loopholes here? Is there a potential for lying? Zero application of the new "rules" and so forth? And who the hell is going to enforce these rules, some lower level White House ethics attorney? Sure, sure. He or she will just get on the phone and scold Biden's chief of staff whenever the need arises.

But the bigger question remains: why hire the LOBBYIST in the first place? Are we naive enough to believe that so-called ethics rules will prevent the corrutpion that lobbyists bring with them from job to job rather like pigs slopping bacteria from pen to pen?

Comic Relief - Letter From Red States to Blue States

Though sworn to centrism, and disliking both major political candidates running for president, I find the note below (now circulating on Internet) to be definitely worth a look and a laugh:

Dear Red States:

If you manage to steal this election too we've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly:

You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.We get stem cell research and the best beaches.

We get the Statue of Liberty.You get Dollywood.

We get Intel and Microsoft.You get WorldCom.

We get Harvard.You get Ole' Miss.

We get 85% of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.You get Alabama.

We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22% lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families.You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq , and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80% of the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines, 90% of all cheese, 90% of the high tech industry, 95% of the corn and soybeans (thanks Iowa!), most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92% of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% believe that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico

Peace out,
Blue States

They Want to Believe, They Are Religious About Obama as Messiah

But do they know his #1 corporate-bundled contributor is GOLDMAN SACHS, followed closely by LEHMAN BROTHERS?

I know I've harped on this, but go tell the U.S. to face the facts.

Oh, and what exactly is his plan for ending the war?

And for ending the incredibly damaging budget deficit by cutting more taxes, as opposed to cutting the overbearing size of government?

And so forth, on and on?

America is headed for a bad rebound marriage, Oprah notwithstanding.

Gods save us.

Debate on Palin Earmarks, etc - So She's Lying About Being a Reformer? No!

A Majority of Republicans in the House Voted Against the Wall Street Bail-Out, But A Majority of Democrats Voted For It!

Yes, it's true, and I was originally blaming the Republicans as a whole/hole when in fact many of them remained very opposed to the corporate welfare package. Much to their credit, many of the Dems didn't cave until they were able to add their own personal wasteful pork products to the bailout bill--$150 billion extra in lard. I suppose you could say, they were bribed? Does that happen in America?

And guess what? Obama's top corporate buddy in terms of bundled donations is GOLDMAN SACHS. More shockers from the NY Times:

When you break it out by individual companies, you find that employees of Goldman Sachs gave more to Obama than workers of any other employer. The Goldman Sachs geniuses are followed by employees of the University of California, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, National Amusements, Lehman Brothers, Harvard and Google. At many of these workplaces, Obama has a three- or four-to-one fund-raising advantage over McCain.

Shine, Perishing Democracy!

Obama is a total fraud and a sellout.

Bush Pushes $700 Billion Bail-out Plan -- Just When We Thought He Could Not Get More Ruinous or Foolish - Shine Perishing Democracy!

The last biggest lie of George Bush Jr with regards to the $700 billion corporate welfare package for fellow Republican golfers in the predatory financial industry:

"And that over time, we're going to get a lot of the money back."

Kinda like NAFTA, eh? Another crock of outrageous poop from the Republican party and George Bush Jr. Another instance of the corporate Democrats knuckling under. And Obama? Are you kidding? Do you really think he will stand up to this historical rape of the American wallet? ... No, really, we're talking mega-criminal activity here on a scale never before seen. This is the result of the insurance the financials bought with all their political contributions over the years ... or should I say, bribes? Don't fool yourself.

Also, this is an historic opportunity outside of the Iraq War to so strain the budget as to force deep and permanent cuts in social programs, social security, and everything else mainstream Republicans hate.

Also, it is an opportunity to keep press focused on a Republican plan to HELP AMERICA just before a pivotal presidential election. (Will McCain whore himself out to this also?)

And, oh, um, what happened to supply side economics? This "bailout" is going to terribly burden all Americans with large-scale, ruinous taxes. And for what??? To give free money to a pack of Wall Street speculators and scoundrels who should be learning a big lesson? It's not a matter of IF, only a matter of WHEN. The politicians are avoiding the consequences, and hiding, depending on the usual media schizophrenia to confuse the issue, as well as the American penchant for ADD, and the formidable skills of their Big Lie marketing teams to rescue them from the consequences of reality.

The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) put it best in call to protest the bailout:

It is clear that the Federal Reserve and the Administration continue to blame homeowners facing hard financial difficulties in making payments on mortgages that were structured to fail, while using billions of taxpayer dollars to bailout the same predators who created this mortgage crisis and have hugely profited from it. The Federal Reserve’s orchestration of JPMorgan/Chase’s takeover of Bear Stearns with taxpayer dollars is an outrage.

_____

McCain Attack Ads - Some of The Most Despicable

Did Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian, Editors of Narrative Magazine, Fix The 2008 First-Person Story Contest for Friend Gina Oschner?

Getting back to the "Arts" in this blog, I was just tipped off about potential fraud in a recent, showboat-and-yahoo contest held online by one of the biggest players in the literary arts biz: Narrative Magazine. Given Narrative's young history, I found it hard to believe that the editors would really be guilty of anything unethical. Usually that only comes after many years of status and power finally add up to an equal measure of hubris and arrogance.

Upon first glance, it appears that Narrative Magazine is more interested in running a lucrative business than anything else. Everything about it feels corporate. Money-making contests abound. The editors, Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian, look like celebs with their air-brushed faces poking out in sharp digi-color from the slickly designed web pages. Is this "vision" of corporate cut and egoistic self-promotion the future of literary journals on the Internet? ... Well, argh. Let's hope not. Perhaps good news for some, but a lot is potentially bad news.

Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian recently judged their latest contest, the 2008 First-Person Story Contest. I find it highly irregular that the editors, rather than choose an independent judge or a panel of judges, picked themselves to judge. Egoistic? Foolish? All the above? Regardless, it definitely opens them up to charges of favoritism, and more importantly, fraud, especially if the winner of their expensive, big pay-off contest turns out to be someone they know, e.g., an associate or friend in the literary world.

Writer blogs across the Internet helped Jenks and Edgarian publicize their contest. Narrative Magazine tapped everyone on their huge mail list (mail fraud?) and generally let out all the stops to push this competition.

Years ago, a poet board run by Alan Cordle, Foetry.Com, made it a holy mission to expose fraud in poetry contests. It made everyone realize (despite the overzealousness of some Foetry followers) that favoritism was rampant in the literary world and that closer scrutiny was needed to asssure contest-paying customers got a fair shake.

Now, back to Narrative Magazine's contest. Here is the announcement of the winners broadcast all over the Internet.

THE 2008 FIRST-PERSON STORY CONTEST
First Place ($3,000) Gina Ochsner On Principle

Second Place ($1,750) Heather Brittain Bergstrom Celilo Falls

Third Place ($1,000) Holly Wilson Night Glow

Now, here is where it gets ugly. A simple google search with Edgarian's name and Gina Oschner, the big $3000.00 winner, reveals what appears to be a strong relationship between the two writers before the judging of the contest in question.

As follows:

http://www.ugapress.org/0820323144.html
Gina Ochsner writes with the delight and knowing of a born conjurer. Her world is that liminal space, that disconnect, between nature and our lives-heaven's winking outside the office window, grass pushing up around the casket, umbrellas opening like the great beating of wings. — Carol Edgarian

Okay, so after reading this gushy blurb we are able to place Oshsner and Edgarian close enough in relationship that the Narrative editor agrees to blurb her book.

Next we have this little eye opener right from the pages of Narrative:

http://narrativemagazine.info/pages/rcntbks.htm

Ochsner's story collection The Necessary Grace to Fall won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction from the University of Georgia Press. Afterward, Ochsner wrote to Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian to say, "Many thanks for your superb editing of 'Signs: Markings.' It found a happy home with Image: A Journal of Arts and Religion. Thanks to you, Carol, for your encouragement and excellent teaching.

"Thanks to you, Carol, for your encouragement and excellent teaching."

I believe this proves without doubt that Ochsner had pursued a relationship with the editors of Narrative Magazine and had established that relationship effectively. She personally thanks Carol for "encouragement and excellent teaching."

One can't but wonder if Edgarian also helped edit the winning piece that Ochsner submitted to the contest.

Narrative ... I'll be watching you closely, as I hope will thousands of others.

______________________

Paul Shanley Deserves a New Trial - When Will Prosecutor Martha Coakley and Judge Lynn Rooney Admit They Were Horribly Wrong?

Was Paul Shanley jailed by people who themselves should be in jail?

Before anyone goes berserk on me, let's agree that facts are facts. You can hate Catholic priests all you want, you can believe all the negative, biased press you want, you can point to the theatrics of sobbing accusers (remember the Salem witch trials?), you can quote Freudian nonsense till you verge on Oedipus Complex, but facts are facts, and only those should matter when it comes to deciding guilt or innocence.

Several years ago, a priest named Paul Shanley was accused by prosecutors Martha Coakley and Lynn Rooney of the Middlesex District Attorney's office (Rooney is now a district court judge who, like Coakley, made her reputation with "recovered memory" cases) of sexually molesting a boy in his parish 20 years earlier. Without a single witness to corroborate a single charge, Lynn Rooney put on a theatrical performance in the court room worthy of an Oscar. Why? Because she had no choice. All she and Martha Coakley had on the accused were the "recovered memories" of a solitary man, Paul Busa, who had a background of gambling and questionable ethics.

Other accusers seeking millions in compensation were shouting to be heard, also claiming the accused priest had fondled them, but apparently the honorable district attorney of Middlesex decided they were utterly unreliable (which they were), dropping three of them (buddies of Paul Busa-what a surprise!) before the trial. God, what I would give to have a video tape of the meeting between Martha Coakley and those guys!

Anyway, let's review the proper sequence of events involving Paul Busa, his recovered memories, and Lynn Rooney's crowning achievement--the prosecution of her victim in a kangaroo court:

- Paul Busa suddenly remembered the sexual abuse on the afternoon of Feb. 11, 2002, when his girlfriend told him about a newspaper article that reported someone he knew (Gregory Ford -- dropped as a credible witness by Martha Coakley because of his changing story and mental history) had alleged molestation by Father Shanley.

- The next day, brimming with recovered memories, Busa was talking to a personal-injury lawyer about pursuing a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Church (according to testimony by his own psychologist, Dr. Drozd, and documents presented in the criminal trial).

- Busa and his personal-injury lawyer, Roderick MacLeish, make the outrageous public claim to the press that the accused was "a founding member of NAMBLA and openly advocated sex between men and little boys." (NAMBLA is the North American Man Boy Love Association -- It was later proven this charge was a total fabrication.)

- The honorable Lynn Rooney decides to prosecute. The public and the press are frothing and demanding justice! The window is open!

- Not a single juror in the case had not heard of the false NAMBLA charge (they had all been biased by the press).

- Busa testifies that Shanley pulled him out of Christian doctrine classes and molested him in the church bathroom, the pews, the church confessional and the rectory.

- Not a single witness of the prosecution confirmed any of Busa's "recovered memories" of Paul Shanley removing him from classes or doing anything else that Busa claimed had taken place over a SEVEN YEAR period in the 1980's. (Not a single teacher or classmate of Busa could be found to agree with him, not a single person who Busa had been in contact with for seven years, SEVEN WHOLE YEARS during which he alleged he was repeatedly sexually abused.)

- At the end of the trial, Paul Busa declares, "I want him [Paul Shanley] to die in prison, whether it's of natural causes or otherwise. However he dies, I hope it's slow and painful."

Wouldn't you say that Paul Shanley deserves a new trial with an unbiased jury?

A few useful links on this subject:

The Railroading of Paul Shanley (interesting facts about his accusers and their mental history)
http://www.ncrj.org/Shanley/JimShanley2.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn02192005.html

http://www.chicagoreader.com/hottype/2005/050218_1.html

http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/x1878563848/Lawyer-for-ex-priest-questions-repressed-memory-science

http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/September-October-2004/feature_wypijewski_sepoct04.msp

Uncle Jay Explains The News - August - This One is a Keeper

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

And this one is old news, but still funny.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Why Does Katherine Spillar, Editor of Ms. Magazine, Support NOW and Their Bid To Censor "Sexist" Speech?

Page 19, Ms. Magazine, Summer 2008: MAD AT MEDIA SEXISM? WE ARE TOO! JOIN NOW'S CAMPAIGN FOR FEMINIST MEDIA.

Once again, Katherine Spillar, editor of Ms., approved a full page ad that attempts to foment a movement against free speech. How? By using that vast and never-satiated feminist reservoir of bitterness and hatred towards men (and female stooges of the Patriarchy) and focusing it on those who make "sexist" remarks in the television news media. And who are we talking about? Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann, and Maureen Dowd???

As our eyes glance over this full page ad from NOW, we see a shot of Keith Olbermann with a cartoon balloon coming out of his mouth, and inside the words: KATIE COURIC IS THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD. Um, ok. So this is an example of the pernicious influence of sexist male media? It's laughable! What in hell is Katherine Spillar of Ms. Magazine thinking??? Also, did Olbermann actually say this, or is NOW lying?

Okay, so Olbermann doesn't like somebody who happens to be female. Fair enough. I guess he has that right, yes? So according to NOW and Ms. Magazine he should therefore be censored? ... And by who? The American government? The FCC? What exactly do Katherine Spillar and NOW want? New federal laws that will slap fines or jail time on any male or female media personality who dares criticize or express displeasure with any female human being for any reason?

BTW, is the truth, sexist?

And sure, it's fine if Olbermann slams George Bush, Jr., no problem. But if he doesn't like Katie and says so, he should be jailed, fined, or at least fired from his job? Let's read on: NO MORE SEXIST INSULTS, SLURS AND ATTACKS, NO MORE RACISM, HOMOPHOBIA AND OTHER "ISMS" THAT PROMOTE INEQUALITY. Wow! I have to refer to my piece on Jeremy Waldron and his need to censor speech for similar reasons.

And who makes the rules? Who? ... Very scary.


Why can't supreme hypocrites like Katherine Spillar and her stooges of the Ms. Magazine Matriarchy do something useful for a change, like maybe supporting the boycott of products that advertise on Black Entertainment Television (the most sexist channel this side of the galaxy) or any of the many horrible programs and reality shows that encourage young women and girls to emulate shallow and foolish behavior? (Wouldn't that be more productive than bashing Keith Olbermann?) Why? Because they won't risk making powerful enemies of big corporate advertisers and major media execs, and they especially don't want to attract negative attention by potentially harming popular TV shows watched by millions of young women.

Their consultants won't let them.

It's simply best to stick to the same old formula, i.e., continue to foment causes that efficiently tap the black well of feminist hatred. After all, it's the safest way to assure donations and grants, no?

SOME VINTAGE KEITH OLBERMANN

____________

Proof That a Vesitge of Democracy Still Exists in America - Voting Machines Scrapped - Deborah Hastings of AP Reports

Excerpt of Article By DEBORAH HASTINGS (AP National Writer) From Associated Press, August 19, 2008 6:23 PM EDT:

The demise of touch-screen voting has produced a graveyard of expensive corpses: Warehouses stacked with thousands of carefully wrapped voting machines that have been shelved because of doubts about vanishing votes and vulnerability to hackers.

What to do with this high-tech junkyard is a multimillion-dollar question. One manufacturer offered $1 a piece to take back its ATM-like machines. Some states are offering the devices for sale on eBay and craigslist. Others hope to sell their inventories to Third-World countries or salvage them for scrap.

A few more are holding out hope that the machines, some of which were purchased for as much as $5,000, could one day be resurrected.

"We store them very, very carefully in the hopes that someone, someday may decide that we can use them again," said San Diego County Registrar Deborah Seiler, whose jurisdiction spent $25 million on the devices.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. After the disputed 2000 presidential recount, Congress provided more than $3 billion to replace punch card and lever-operated machines. State officials across the country said the new systems would eliminate human error and political tampering.
But problems with the machines soon followed: vanishing votes, breakdowns, malfunctions and increasing evidence that the devices were vulnerable to hackers.

Beginning last year, states including California, Ohio and Florida abruptly ordered election officials to mothball their electronic machines. Over the last two years, the percentage of registered voters relying on touch-screen technology dropped from 44 percent to 36 percent.

The Comic Book Murder - Prosecutor Steve Kaplan Convicts Michael George After Miraculously Finding a Lost Note in The Cold Case File!

If it takes a great prosecutor to convict an innocent man, can we therefore consider Steve Kaplan of the Macomb County Cold Case Unit to be one of the greats? I believe so. Indeed, it takes art, tenacity, and skill to generate the credible witness testimony necessary to convict an accused "wife killer" after a full 17 years of peace and silence--not to mention the incredible and lucky miracle of finding a crucial, pivotal, personal note concerning THE NEW key witness jotted down by the homicide detective 17 years ago and then mysteriously forgotten and neglected till our hero Steve Kaplan looked in the case file box and just saw it sitting there.

Now we got that wife killing bastard! he must have shouted.

Thank God that you found that overlooked and forgotten note that might have turned the case around 17 years ago, eh Steve? Thank God it was just sitting around, plain as day and waiting for you to find it, eh Steve? What luck! I mean, if not for that homicide detective being so inexplicably careless 17 years ago, you might not be such a big shot now, a real celeb after appearing on television and posturing for the camera, looking all righteous and wrathful! What a career-boosting miracle for you, Steve Kaplan. Will you be running for office any time soon?

Ahhhh, the mystery of fate!

Because of that note, that terrible wife killer, Michael George, is finally behind bars after 17 years of serving a peaceful and productive life as a businessman, father, husband, and pillar of his small community. The fact that he collapsed and wept at the verdict is only further vindication for you, isn't it? As well as for your bosses, the media, and the idiotic jury enthralled by the theater of court you directed like a true professional. Did you test juror IQs before they took their seats? Did they all score in the low 20 percentile? Whatever. At least they had enough collective brain power to take at face value the witnesses you coached before they took the stand a full 17 years later to accurately recall the wife killer and his wife arguing with each other before the murder. And it didn't matter that the defendant had no history of domestic violence, or any criminal history whatsoever. Because your "witness" recalled some "yelling" from 17 years ago, that was enough to help secure a conviction. After all, what did you term the defendant, "The husband from Hell?" Wasn't that it?

And rumors were started, whispers in the media. That husband from Hell, Michael George, had not even cried at the funeral, not wept a tear as he went about town looking cruel-eyed behind his sunglasses. Isn't that what your minions told everyone? Certainly, every juror knew Michael George had it coming! And now, every gullible spectator watching you perform on television knows he had it coming. It takes skill to manipulate the media into tainting a jury pool to help get a conviction. Is that what you did? Hmmmmm ...

And you claim Michael George, the Comic Book Murder guy, did it for the insurance, and oh, because he wanted a new wife? Well, then why wasn't the policy he took out years before well above the minimum? He only got $130K, Steve. That's a small pot for such grand plans. Why didn't Michael George take out $500K, or more? Isn't that what killers almost always do? Such a modest sum. And if he wanted a new wife, Steve, why didn't he just get a divorce? How does a guy with no mental history, zero criminal or domestic violence background, just wander into his own store one day and savagely shoot his wife in the head? Kinda strange. I mean, he doesn't fit the profile at all. Did the jury consider that?

And why didn't the jury believe his mother and daughter who said he was home when the murder took place? Why? Because of the mysterious note you found! ... The note jotted down by the homicide detective, then immediately forgotten, the note that a witness claimed he called the store and spoke with Michael George when the defendant was supposed to be home sleeping on his couch, as his mother said. Then you wheeled out the witness to tell everyone that the note was true. He had told the homicide detective 17 years ago that he called Michael George and thereby placed the wife killer in the store, thus canceling the wife killer's alibi. Finally, the truth was out. The homicide detective had just forgotten all about it!


But wait ... Did you or Judge James Biernat inform jurors of the notorious unreliability of witnesses, especially when it comes to confirming times? No, don't think so. You wanted them to believe that the key witness, Michael Renaud, could accurately recall the time of a phone call (without any corroborating phone records whatsoever) after 17 years. And it was easy, you had the mysterious note to prove it. Police had jotted down Renaud's claim 17 years ago. The note was proof. It must be a fact. Time for a conviction. Besides, everyone knows that mothers and daughters lie!

A note to Judge Biernat: please explain why you didn't throw this incredible crap out of the court room. Did you actually believe a man should spend the rest of his life in prison based on such flimsy and easily corruptible testimony? Did you actually believe that no forensics were necessary in this case? Did you actually believe police overlooked or lost or forgot the presumably crucial testimony of Renaud written down on a note 17 years ago and then quite suddenly discovered it again just sitting there in the cold case file? Or is it more likely that the note never existed in the first place and was invented at the last minute to help bolster testimony in this flashy Comic Book Murder case destined for a two-hour special on the lynch-mob television channel?



Regardless, the networks reaped the rewards of advertising revenue. At least someone is getting rich due to Michael George's conviction.

U.S. District Judge John Bates Denies Immunity To Rove and Other Cretins

At last! A judge who defends democracy, unlike the one who let Bush get away with losing emails.

Judge John Bates rejected Bush's contention that his White House employees don't have to obey subpoenas, thus siding with Congress and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.

The ruling undercut three presidential confidants who have defied congressional subpoenas for information that Bush says is protected by executive privilege.

Judge John Bates, who was appointed to the bench by Bush, issued a 93-page opinion that strongly rejected the administration's legal arguments. He said the executive branch could not point to a single case in which courts held that White House aides were immune from congressional subpoenas.

"That simple yet critical fact bears repeating: The asserted absolute immunity claim here is entirely unsupported by existing case law," Bates wrote.