A Call to Arms: Practical and Necessary Actions in Support of Democracy

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Monday June 02, 2008 · 3:11 PM PDT

2008/06/02 · 15:11

I'm finally starting to feel the urgency and necessity of radically expanding the political dialogue in order to check a runaway executive, of which I'm highly dubious as to the prospect of them going away quietly. As such, this is hands down the most substantial and passionate posting I've ever written. What makes it more significant to me is that I am planning on sending to every single person I know as a personal plea for them to lay down their apathy and realize just how bad the situation has become.

Anyone who's seen/read Naomi Wolf's lecture/book, The End of America understand the urgency of which I speak.

beedee

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Thursday May 29, 2008 · 8:56 PM PDT

2008/05/29 · 20:56

I just saw this posted on CurrentTV and it absolutely needs to be seen by everyone. This fits right in with the narrative that has arisen regarding the failure and interference of the corporate media. If there is one movie that will drive any sane person screaming from their couch watching cable news to the warm hills of the blogosphere and more people powered media.

Artist Brian Springer spent a year scouring the airwaves with a satellite dish grabbing back channel news feeds not intended for public consumption. The result of his research is SPIN, one of the most insightful films ever made about the mechanics of how television is used as a tool of social control to distort and limit the American public's perception of reality.

I implore you to watch the first 10 minutes and recommend as soon as your gag reflex fully kicks in.

[kudos to Trix for the embed code]

beedee

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Tuesday May 27, 2008 · 10:32 PM PDT

2008/05/27 · 22:32

I invite others to join in the discussion and would especially appreciate any criticisms of my interpretations. My point in writing this is to find out if my ideas have any common ground with others, or if I'm wildly off my rocker. It's all part of a larger effort on my part to be a more engaged citizen and begin to express these views to others in my local community, as well as my friends and family.

Politics is all about authority to me. Whether we're talking about a populist uprising, a military coup, or the local election for county comptroller, it's all about who gets to be in charge. Regardless of the form of that authority, the people who are subject to its will will tend to develop into a range of two extremes: those who absolutely trust the established authorities (right wing), and those who absolutely do not (left wing).

beedee

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Friday May 09, 2008 · 8:43 AM PDT

2008/05/09 · 08:43

It's even better for Obama.

This is gonna be a short diary, but I hope it might get some recommends because I think a lot more people need to start making the point that Obama looks like an even stronger candidate right now if you count MI and FL as huge Clinton wins. Just imagine a new retroactive timeline where those two states were HUGE wins for Clinton. Doesn't that just mean that Obama had a huge swing in momentum after those two 'victories', supporting the reality that is his actual momentum?

If I'm not mistaken, even if they seat those states giving the fullest advantage to Clinton in pledged delegates possible, Obama will still end up slightly ahead at the convention and this thing will still be decided by supers. Looking at the full election narrative in this sense, how do the supers not go with the candidate with the biggest 'mo?

Poll

61 votes Show Results

If we count the states, will this end?

61 votes Vote Now!

If we count the states, will this end?

Nope, next Clinton will demand that we give all the states that begin with consonants to her.

40 votes

It has ended. Point well made, sir!

21 votes

My Rebuttal to a unreasonable Clinton supporter

beedee

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Tuesday April 01, 2008 · 10:06 AM PDT

2008/04/01 · 10:06

So I found the following comment from a former co-worker on a link I had posted to Facebook regarding Hillary's slim chances of winning the nomination. Believe it or not, this is coming from a very liberal woman living in NYC:

if he gets the nomination i am either voting for mccain or not voting at all. the guy has nothing to say, and has done nothing. the guy went to a racist church, and frankly race relations will get even worse in this country if hes elected. everything will be black and white. any conservative democrat and most southern white ones will run the other way. if he wins the nomination the only thing its proving is that the dems are once again simply not interested in winning elections. count me as one who refuse to vote for this poor excuse for a candidate. unfortunately, ferraro was 100% correct, and anyone who isnt too PC and/or a whiny cry baby will admit that.

My response below the fold. I'm posting this to a diary in the hopes that others will help me strengthen my response to shit like this, and so that others might have a handy template of their own. My number one overriding goal when discussing politics is to ensure that my response keeps the discourse flowing, any criticisms of my efforts would be greatly appreciated.

beedee

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Monday March 24, 2008 · 9:35 PM PDT

2008/03/24 · 21:35

I'm only part way through the first half of Frontline's latest shining achievement, Bush's War.

I haven't seen one diary on the recommended list yet that's pimping this doc, and it needs to be, but I do take serious issue with Frontline's choice of title. It is not Bush's war. It's our war. He thrust it into our arms like an unwanted Christmas present, only instead of a sweater, it was 4,000 dead soldiers, half a million dead civilians, more chaos in the middle east, and about $9 trillion in debt. Oh, and he lost the receipt at the bar.

That smug fuck and his soulless cronies get to walk away, comfortable in their psychotic certainty that they've made the world a better place.

I'll repeat that:

They get to walk away.

Bush gets to walk away.

This is our war now. It belongs to the people of conscience and decency who must lead this country out of the hell that will be a post-Bush world. Thanks a lot you spoiled, ignorant, egotistical child.

beedee

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Thursday March 13, 2008 · 6:51 PM PDT

2008/03/13 · 18:51

Look, I'm a lazy shitty lurker who doesn't contribute much beyond a few trite observations when it comes to the political discussions here. As far as the candidates go, I donate money when I can but that's about it. I like it this way. You Obama-oheimianite-izans have been doing a kick ass job of keeping the Hillanator down. I've been loving it, it's all been so easy! And I hope you keep it up, because if Hillary Clinton ends up being the nominee, I'm gonna end up having to work my ass off to make sure she's elected.

I'm a lazy son-of-a-bitch and I am aghast at how this woman has campaigned, but that doesn't change the goddamned stakes people! Lately I've been reading bullshit here for far too long about not working for the nominee.

I've got three words to close this mini-rant with, they are magically connected to much more important words than I am capable of producing, so here they are: Department of Justice.

Poll

82 votes Show Results

C'mon, admit that it's really fucking important NOT to have a republican in charge again

82 votes Vote Now!

C'mon, admit that it's really fucking important NOT to have a republican in charge again

Fine, you got me

15 votes

Look, I know you're right, but I can't admit it right now. Have you been reading this Ferraro crap??!

24 votes

Just stop writing and leave asshole

7 votes

I can't believe some people were so mean as to choose that previous option

6 votes

Seriously, people are dicks.

4 votes

Is this going somewhere?

12 votes

Yeah, it is towards a Democrat in the White House

14 votes

Indefensible

beedee

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Tuesday March 11, 2008 · 7:08 AM PDT

2008/03/11 · 07:08

I know as well as you do that our DoJ has been highly tilted towards political witch hunts under the watchful eye of Karl Rove. I know that the warrantless wiretaps easily breed justifiable suspicion of how Spitzer's actions became the scandal du'jour. I know that it is also very interesting how many of the details of the case were made public and the timing, especially when contrasted with how the republican sex scandals of late have been uncovered through back channels and almost always involve a coverup by other ranking Republicans.

More importantly, though, I know that what Eliot Spitzer did is absolutely, unquestionably indefensible. And no, I'm not talking about sex.

beedee

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Friday December 07, 2007 · 12:07 PM PST

2007/12/07 · 12:07

In a stunning revelation at a press conference today, republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani announced to the world that he possesses a vast array of mental powers, including psychic abilities, telekinesis and lightning bolts. This stunning revelation was prompted by recent reports that the taxpayer funded chauffeur services and protection she received predated the undisclosed "threats" which Giuliani claimed were the reason for her being afforded such special treatment.

The story broke early on December 7th, and a spokesman for the Giuliani campaign told reporters that a statement would be issued at 10:30 that morning. The press conference was located at the mouth of a large cave deep within central park. At 10:30 exactly a bolt of lightning struck the podium, the shock of which shorted out several reporters recording devices, and when the smoke finally cleared, Rudy Giuliani was standing at the podium. His remarks below the fold...

beedee

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Friday April 27, 2007 · 10:14 AM PDT

2007/04/27 · 10:14

Boy oh boy do I hope that Giuliani becomes the Republican nominee in 2008. Why? Because he’s now made it abundantly clear with his rhetoric that he’d be nothing but a younger, crueler and more incompetent version of Dick Cheney. And anyone who’s paid the slightest bit of attention to the polls should know that he’s scraping even further down in the bottom of the barrel than Bush.

I think Democrats would be wise to start pointing out the similarities to Cheney and Giuliani sooner rather than later, as the entrenched myth of Giuliani's competence as an executive officer is much more formidable than that of Cheney as an assessor of intelligence. The myth of Cheney has been adequately demolished by the Iraq war, but Rudy's remains somewhat in tact for a large portion of the politically disengaged. In the most recent issue of The Washington Monthly's Scoop Rachel Morris does a superb job of illuminating these two men's similarities by way of Ron Suskind's book The One Percent Doctrine, and by reminding us of Cheney's rhetoric leading up to the 2004 election:

beedee

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Tuesday April 17, 2007 · 3:02 PM PDT

2007/04/17 · 15:02

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume it's very important to everyone that we have a healthy number of small and independent publications in this country. You know, to help keep the big boys honest if they should ever become lax in their duties as the fourth estate (heaven forbid). Unfortunately, it looks like these publications are under a stealth attack, via Common Dreams:

The Post Office is in the process of implementing a radical reformulation of its mailing rates for magazines. Under the plan, smaller periodicals will be hit with a much larger increase than the big magazines, as much as 30 percent. Some of the largest circulation magazines will face hikes of less than 10 percent.

The new rates, which go into effect on July 15, were developed with no public involvement or congressional oversight, and the increased costs could damage hundreds, even thousands, of smaller publications, possibly putting many out of business. This includes nearly every political journal in the nation. These are the magazines that often provide the most original journalism and analysis. These are the magazines that provide much of the content on Common Dreams. We desperately need them.

beedee

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Friday April 06, 2007 · 9:52 AM PDT

2007/04/06 · 09:52

Just wanted to share a couple of letters I wrote over at Salon on their latest article on John Edwards. Both were prompted by comments questioning John Edwards authenticity, and the level of cynicism being thrown about towards him.

He still seems disingenuous
Having read this piece, I still can't get past the sense I had in the last election that Mr. Edwards is just fake and that everything he says and does is just calculated. I have felt badly about expressing it aloud when his wife is terminally ill and everyone is giving him a pass but he still seems fake. Everything from the kids on the campaign, to using the sympathy notes to generate a list of potential financial contacts. I hope it turns out not to be true but for now, I'm just not buying the total transformation from moderate, cautious candidate to a far left gospel.
--foolmetwice

My response below the fold

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A Call to Arms: Practical and Necessary Actions in Support of Democracy

SPIN: One Year of Unseen Cable News Footage

My Political Vocabulary: Left Wing and Right Wing

Go Ahead, seat MI and FL as Clinton 'Victories'

My Rebuttal to a unreasonable Clinton supporter

Bush's War: Great Documentary. HORRIBLE Title.

I'm lazy, I like being lazy, please vote Obama

Indefensible

BREAKING! Rudy Giuliani comes clean, "I have many powers."

Giuliani == Cheney == Dems Win

Time Warner's Postal Rate Attack on Independent Publishers

Authenticity and Bigotry, a John Edwards Defense