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The Captivity Diaries - How Bad Fashion Saved Me
Greetings, DCPers...
As you may know, recently I was released from a lengthy captivity in the bowels of the White House tunnel complex. My therapist tells me that I am now at a point in recovery where sharing my experiences may be productive. And so I shall...
Fortunately I kept a daily diary while I was held by my captors. Today, I will relate an early episode where the humble black pump played a key role in my salvation.
I believe it was early in the morning, although one is never sure in the dark, unchanging depths of the earth. But I awakened from a fabulous (but sadly not repeatable) dream to the sound of a heavy door creaking. As I opened my eyes and tried to adjust them to the light entering my retinas, I beheld a sight that I can only describe as the singularly most horrifying vision of my life: Dick Cheney in drag. Complete with curly wig. That's right. He was accompanied by two of those men who wear sunglasses and have little electronic things in their ears.
His bulk appeared in the doorway, the light glinting off the sneer that characterizes his face in repose. He made a small chuckle as he looked in. He carried a small whip in one hand, which he kept snapping on his jiggling thigh. He was wearing a lovely party frock of pale green taffeta, with a tiny matching handbag studded with pearls. Always pearls for these people. Why, I ask you?
In any case, as he approached me, I suddenly realized that the pumps he wore were - it hurts me to say this - BLACK. Yes, the imbecile was wearing black pumps with a pale green dress and handbag.
Well, a fashion outrage of this severity shocked me from my fearful state and filled me with righteous anger. I threw caution to the winds, jumped to my feet, and started laughing at him. Quietly at first, to give him time to comprehend the situation, and then louder and more boldly until I was absolutely howling with glee and pointing at his feet.
He stopped suddenly, blinking at me. He slowly lowered his massive head and stared down at his feet as though he hadn't known they were there before this moment. Maybe he hadn't. Tough to say. But by this time his confusion had turned to an inaudible mutter and his hands were shaking. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but I did see the rage that shook his body as he raised his head and came towards me with the whip...
I knew I must act quickly.
I gathered my nerve, looked him straight in the eye and said calmly, "Those are the most pathetic pumps I've ever seen, and they look ridiculous with that dress. I pity you."
I will always believe that it was the use of the word 'pity' that made him stumble. And stumble he did. He let out a small growl, and tried to lash out at me with his weapon. Fortunately, the end of the whip got caught in some of the slimming apparatus that bulged from beneath the pale taffeta.
I heard a loud snapping sound, which so unnerved the behemoth that he spun sharply as if to punish the responsible party. Not being particularly light on his feet, the spin seemed to leave his feet behind and he tottered on his criminal pumps, then crashed to the floor in a heaving, sweating, muttering heap.
The men who stood behind him looked at each other, sighed, and gently reached down to assist him from the floor. His head hung low as they guided him out the door. I heard him muttering something about bad advisors and too many votes as they led him away...
My heart pounding, I sat down and breathed deeply. Then I closed my eyes and went back to that fabulous (but sadly not repeatable) dream, grateful forever to the indefensible black pumps.
So, dear readers, the lesson to be learned here is this: never be afraid to confront evil. Even when they are holding all the cards, you can still call their bluff.
Until next time, Godspeed.
Your friend,
Polly
OH Polly,
We have missed you so.
You give me hope.
Karen
http://theater2.nytimes.com/gst/theater/tdetails.html?id=1125016642883
check it out
Blair 'feels betrayed by Bush on Lebanon'
By SIMON WALTERS
22:57pm 19th August 2006
The alliance between George Bush and Tony Blair is in danger after it was revealed that the Prime Minister believes the President has 'let him down badly' over the Middle East crisis.
A senior Downing Street source said that, privately, Mr Blair broadly agrees with John Prescott, who said Mr Bush's record on the issue was 'crap'.
The source said: "We all feel badly let down by Bush. We thought we had persuaded him to take the Israel-Palestine situation seriously, but we were wrong. How can anyone have faith in a man of such low intellect?"
-snip-
The rift between No10 and the White House stems from British anger that Mr Bush failed to do enough to pursue the 'road map' to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, which he approved, at Mr Blair's instigation, on the eve of the Iraq war.
"We have been banging on at them for three years about the need to address the Palestinian problem but they just won't engage," said a senior Government insider. "That is one of the reasons there is such a mess now."
more on...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401414&in_page_id=1770
Karen --
Would have given anything to see Fear Up in New York. Damn. Sounds like you guys did a great job, which doesn't surprise me in the least.
Twin Cities next, baby! Yee haw!
Congrats Karen, maybe one day I will actually get to see it myself.
This was just posted on Alines site, and I wanted yall to see it. We have ALL of them on record now, and this post is just incredible to see it all together.
We have two sheriffs and the sitting DA since 80 all together on record in one post. I do not even know how to describe it
http://fayealineself.blogspot.com/2006/08/three-amigos-whenever-aline-came-up.html
Sheehan's Rally Disrupts Rove Reception
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082006Y.shtml
Chanting "Try Rove for treason," Cindy Sheehan and more than 50 other war protesters disrupted a reception before President Bush's top adviser Karl Rove spoke at a fundraiser Saturday.
US facing wave of murders and gun violence
Aug 20, 10:27 AM (ET)
By Jason Szep
ROXBURY, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Analicia Perry was kneeling to light a candle at a makeshift shrine to her brother when she was shot in the face and killed -- four years to the day after her brother was gunned down on the same spot.
The slaying of the 20-year-old mother -- on a narrow street behind a police station in Boston's poor Roxbury district last month -- is one of the shocking examples of a rise in the murder rate across the United States that is raising questions about whether police are fighting terrorism at the expense of crime.
In a shift from trends of the past decade, violent crime is on the rise, fueling criticism of Bush administration policies as a wave of murders and shootings hits smaller cities and states with little experience with serious urban violence.
From Kansas City, Missouri, to Indianapolis, Indiana, places that rarely attract notice on annual FBI crime surveys are seeing significant increases in murder. Boston, once a model city in America's battle against gun violence, is poised to eclipse last year's homicide tally, which was the worst in a decade.
Explanations vary -- from softer gun laws to budget cuts, fewer police on the beat, more people in poverty and simple complacency. But many blame a national preoccupation with potential threats from abroad.
"Since September 11, much of the resources that were distributed to crime-fighting efforts in Boston and other major cities were redistributed to fight terrorism," said Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University.
"The feds had supported after-school programs. They had supported placing more police officers in crime hot spots in major cities. These federal efforts were reduced," he said.
more on...
http://tinyurl.com/p8j2t
Happy Election Season... Oh, Feel Safer???
Posted by: DiAnne at August 20, 2006 01:48 PM
"I want him arrested. He planned the war that killed my son," Sheehan, referring to Rove, told the officers guarding the door. Sheehan's oldest son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004.
Police then ordered the group to leave, but some protesters had paid for rooms for the night. Those protesters went upstairs, including Sheehan.
One protester was able to slip inside the ballroom during the dinner but was escorted out after shouting about men and women dying, the Austin American-Statesman reported in its Sunday editions.
"Pat, did you get her check before she left?" Rove quipped to the GOP group's executive director, Pat Robbins, as the crowd of 300 laughed, the newspaper reported.
"I don't question the patriotism of our critics. Many are hardworking public servants who are doing the best they can. Some of them are people looking for a free meal," Rove said, drawing more laughs.
Polly,
Your experience is a metaphor for our country having gone from the relative peace and tranquility of the Clinton years to the national nightmare of Bushco. Hopefully we will return to the days when America stood for more than just Christian Fascism. If we are not careful we will NEVER see those days again.
"I don't question the patriotism of our critics. Many are hardworking public servants who are doing the best they can. Some of them are people looking for a free meal," Rove said, drawing more laughs.
Posted by: monkey at August 20, 2006 01:56 PM
It goes without saying, so leave it up to me to say it. That guy is an asshole.
Monkey
Didn't realize Rove was a stand-up comic. Too bad he's ugly.
About the gun violence - we had two horrific cases here that would not have happened without easy access to major arsenals by unstable young individuals.
One was the guy from Montana who decided to go blow away a rave party. The other was the guy from rural Washington who was raised Muslim, converted Christian, became confused not only about religion but off his meds in general & abducted a hostage, let loose with his weaponry in a Jewish Center.
Neither of these appeared to have a clear ideology or to be acting with any group. Even their best friends, and in one case, a twin brother - had any warning. They were able to just percolate paranoid thoughts around in their brains, easily gain access to weapons, and go blast away.
One of the victims is now advocating against easy access to weapons and the official position here has been that these are hate crimes.
People rail against Michael Moore because they don't want to hear what he has to say. He's criticised for not being "balanced" when it's HIS movie! I recommend a rewatch of "Bowling for Columbine" for anyone who thinks we're safer with guns. I saw a few people walking around alone in black trenchcoats (even leather) in the hot sun yesterday. If they took an irrational dislike to some person or group, it would be quite easy for them to become armed.
Then we have the Aryan brothers who are joining the military for training and arms. & we're so hard up that they're inducted without difficulty.
Troops Long Out-Of-Uniform Sent to Iraq
Aug 19, 5:45 PM (ET)
By REBECCA SANTANA
CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq (AP) - Spc. Chris Carlson had been out of the U.S. Army for two years and was working at Costco in California when he received notice that he was being called back into service.
The 24-year-old is one of thousands of soldiers and Marines who have been deployed to Iraq under a policy that allows military leaders to recall troops who have left the service but still have time left on their contract.
"I thought it was crazy," said Carlson, who has found himself protecting convoys on Iraq's dangerous roads as part of a New Jersey National Guard unit. "Never in a million years did I think they would call me back."
-snip-
Jason Mulligan, 28, of Ridgefield, Conn., left the army back in 2002 after two years in the infantry. He was working as a painting contractor while studying wildlife conservation when he received his letter last fall alerting him that he'd been mobilized.
The letter was followed up by another warning to Mulligan that if he didn't comply, the government would prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.
"My family and my fiancee were telling me 'Don't' report. Don't show up,' said Mulligan, who also serves with a New Jersey National Guard unit as a gunner on a Humvee helping patrol the territory around Camp Anaconda, a base about 50 miles north of Baghdad. "And I thought, 'Well I got that nasty letter saying they were going to put me in jail if I don't show up.'"
-snip-
Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Arlington, Va.-based Lexington Institute, said part of the reason that the military has called up so many people who were on reserve status is that certain skill sets such as military police or civil affairs were concentrated in the reserves after the Cold War ended.
But he said the sheer numbers of IRR soldiers being mobilized also are a sign that the military doesn't have enough people to fight this war, now in its fourth year.
"It seems clear in retrospect that the active-duty force wasn't big enough to sustain a 'long war' against global terrorism, and also lacked the proper mix of skills to wage that war with maximum effectiveness," Thompson said.
That thought is echoed by many of the IRR soldiers. Mulligan said the military's reliance on IRR soldiers shows how "desperate" the services are for troops.
"Maybe it says something for maybe the way the military is treating the people that are over here, because they're just not wanting to stay on," said Mulligan.
more...
http://tinyurl.com/k7gx8
Shimon Peres met with Ned Lamont to dine. He is one of three in Israel's Parliament who voted for more diplomacy before going into Lebanon and is considered "dovish." I like this.
Now I've lost my link and the article is buried somewhere, but it was New York Times. Consider that Peres is 84 years old. Cam Kerry had good things to say about him. Consider that the Republicans are helping Lieberman, and both support more the hardliners (neocon types). Oh to be in a country where the more dovish, antiwar side would prevail beyond primary elections!
If there is a heaven, it will be full of McGoverns and Eugene McCarthys and Dennis Kucinichs. If there is a hell (from any religion), it will be full of neocons. If there is reincarnation, may they come back as sufferers. If aetheism is true, may the worms eat them and then they get covered by freeway.
Monkey
Where are you finding this stuff?! I'm hiding my son! Seriously, I'm glad he's 25 because he's less draftable. I don't even feel as bad that he has scoliosis. We've been talking about making sure his expired passport gets renewed. I'm glad my husband was diagnosed with a seizure disorder around the same time he had a high lottery number. If draft dodging is a sin, send us to the bad place too!
Military warfare is one reason I'm glad i wasn't born a man.
Women join but it's still not expected. Military warfare is one reason I thought a long time before having even one son. It's one reason he was part of "Babies Against Bombs."
There are all these arguments about defense (but nowdays we "pre-empt", which is like going through your neighborhood and shooting anyone who looks dangerous because they MIGHT have robbed you).
Yet most of the fighting I've ever done has been in my own country and in the name of "freedom from" - freedom from sexism, freedom from class warfare, freedom from censors.
I don't think Bush has given HIS definition of freedom, liberty or said much about justice.
Will be thinking alot as we go off to celebrate the 1st Amendment today (registering voters again today).
Posted by: DiAnne at August 20, 2006 02:28 PM
Hey D, remind me... is it the dove or the hawk that embodies peace in the Good Book?
Bird is the Word.
Credit Chicago Tribune
Giving new meaning to Secret Service
Pity the poor member of Shimon Peres' security detail who, while his boss was lunching Saturday at Barneys New York in Manhattan, was mistaken for a waiter.
The woman who asked the man to get her a napkin said later he was a bit annoyed; she hadn't recognized Peres either.Peres, the Israeli deputy prime minister, was with about eight others at Barneys. As he left, he toted a Hermes bag.
Here's the lost link (Lamont/Peres)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/nyregion/20lamont.html?ref=nyregion
Monkey
Yes it gets so tiresome being on the right side, which is the left.
Identifying with the underdog is one thing, but getting kicked repeatedly gets kind of old.
Posted by: DiAnne at August 20, 2006 02:44 PM
Which is why I adapted a zero tolerance policy for lameass, crappy statements from those who claim to thinkmuch.
Kickback.
Yes dialogue and tolerance are important but so is knowing where we stand on the really critical things.
For example, it is almost impossible for someone to get me to justify a war, offensive or defensive. There just hasn't been a strong tradition of diplomacy, intelligence, asset freezing, political solutions, economic solutions (not sanctions) rather than reflexively going to war.
We & our couple of allies are easily the worst offenders.
I don't think Bush has given HIS definition of freedom, liberty or said much about justice.
Posted by: DiAnne at August 20, 2006 02:36 PM
Remember... When W saw a parody site of his campaign site in 2000, he said:
"There ought to be limits to freedom."
There is no such thing as freedom in W's worldview, beyond empty rhetorics to euphemize his wars.
The Dems need to pound away on this.
Frank Rich: America's 'fearing fear itself' era is over
America's "fearing fear itself" era is over, declares New York Times columnist Frank Rich in Sunday's edition..
"The results are in for the White House's latest effort to exploit terrorism for political gain: The era of Americans' fearing fear itself is over," writes Rich.
"In each poll released since the foiling of the trans-Atlantic terror plot -- Gallup, Newsweek, CBS, Zogby, Pew -- George W. Bush's approval rating remains stuck in the 30s, just as it has been with little letup in the year since Katrina stripped the last remaining fig leaf of credibility from his presidency," Rich writes.
"While the new Middle East promised by Condi Rice remains a delusion, the death rattle of the domestic political order we've lived with since 9/11 can be found everywhere: in Americans' unhysterical reaction to the terror plot, in politicians' and pundits' hysterical overreaction to Joe Lieberman's defeat in Connecticut, even in the ho-hum box-office reaction to Oliver Stone's 'World Trade Center,'" continues Rich.
more...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Frank_Rich_Americas_fearing_fear_itself_0819.html
Posted by: monkey at August 20, 2006 02:50 PM
I'm with you, Coco!
Posted by: monkey at August 20, 2006 02:50 PM
Hey, a monkey that can reason. Kinda cool.
We were talking about examples of web sites that are creative and effective and call people to political action, today at Camp Wellstone.
This site is hilarious: http://www.arnoldsneighborhood.com/
My reply (from the previous thread) to Ira regarding allowing Lieberman to be a member of the Democratic caucus.
Ira,
You point is well taken, but I wonder on which issues Lieberman would actually vote with the Dems and would it really make much of a difference? As the country slowly (and unfortunately way too late) begins to distrust the "Republican Agenda" it will be easier for some centrist Republicans with Presidential aspirations to break from the fundamentalist Christian dominated base. Therefore, I am not too sure his vote will be as important as you predict. If it is, then we really are screwed. One man's vote in the Senate should not have so much influence. The Constitution, as you know, provided for the VP to break any ties and therein is the single most valuable vote.
Posted by: Ira at August 20, 2006 05:45 PM
That really is entertaining. I wonder if they get a lot of donations? I seem to recall a study whereby clever commercials were remembered not for their product, but for the production. I am sure many of us can recall certain advertisements that amused us, but we can't recall exactly what they were selling. Perhaps that is best in the long run.
This is in no way a critiism of the video, but just a concern. Does anybody know what Arnold is polling at in California?
I found the answer to my question.
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=06b89895-db4e-4212-9475-4e3691fa624a
Posted by: monkey at August 20, 2006 01:52 PM
Home invasions are on the rise also, below is an article about what happened to my daughters friend, the sad thing is she isnt the only one. There have been more murders and domestic violance this summer than in the last 16 years. The pundits keep talking about how good the economy is, yet we are not seeing a reflection of this "Great Economy" on the streets. Most people who would know agree that a strong economy makes for less violance not more, we saw this proven out during the 90's when a combination of great domoestic programs and a strong economy lowered crime rates in most cities and rural areas. These people need to come out of their towers and really look at whats happening with normal everyday American citizens and quit talking about what they wish were happening to us all. The middle class is becoming all but non-existant.
http://www.observernewsonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=350&Itemid=5
Woman robbed at knife-point
Written by Sarah Newell (O-N-E Staff Reporter)
When a man was refused a ride, he stole the keys to the car.
Police arrested a man only hours after he broke into a Newton home and threatened a woman at knife-point Monday morning.
At 1:22 a.m. Monday, the Newton Police Department was called to the Cameron Court Apartments on South Cline Avenue about a break-in, which resulted in the female tenant, Lisa Null, 20, needing to go to the hospital.
According to NPD Officer Dan Harris, Null’s boyfriend, Donald Beverly, 22, left Null’s apartment with one of his friends early Monday morning. When he got out to his car in the parking lot, Beverly saw a black male sitting inside of Beverly’s car.
“The man asked him (Beverly) to take him to Hickory, and he said no. Beverly saw a knife down by the man’s side, and he and his friend ran back to his girlfriend’s apartment,” Harris said.
Beverly made it to Null’s apartment before the other man, Michael Eric Chapman, did, and closed and deadbolted Null’s apartment door. Beverly’s friend hid in the parking lot between some cars, Harris said, when he wasn’t able to safely get to the apartment. Chapman yelled threats through the door after Beverly locked it.
“The boyfriend went into the kitchen to find something to defend himself with. While he was in there, the suspect kicked down the door and put a knife to his girlfriend’s throat,” he said, adding that the knife was a pocket knife with a four-inch blade. “She he could have anything he wanted, and gave him her car keys. He said that wasn’t enough, though and wanted more.”
Couple of errors Donnie is not Lisa boyfriend but a friend, he is Leahs best friend. Lisa and Leah grew up together and have hung out for years this scared her back home with her mom.
Look at this polling on McCain. This guy is getting a free ride. It sickens me. I know it is way to early, but we can help people to understand where that guy stands (as close to Bush as a boil on his butt). Anybody who doesn't come right out and denounce Bush as the lying bastard for what he really is, a mouthpiece and puppet of the 15% who wanted to keep Schiavo alive, then we have only ourselves to blame for letting the Christian fascists continue to ruin this country. McCain realizes they are the real power in his party and he is too afraid to do anything about it. Hell, he will prostitute himself and go to one of their "universities" in order to get their money and blessings.
http://www.pollingreport.com/
Here is something I just realized. Go ahead and call me slow, it is true, and I don't mind one bit.
Within the same twenty four hours that Bush's wiretapping was ruled unconstitutional and therefore impeachable, we heard about the JonBenet Ramsey case after not hearing one word in ten years.
Coincidence?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Mark Crispin Miller came to speak to us this past Friday. Here's my account:
http://ellenofthetenth.blogspot.com/2006/08/devil-shoplifted-our-country-while-we.html
oncall anold is ahead by 8% points. Our instructors felt that site encouraged viewers to not only have a cheap laugh or just drop by but moved them to volunteer or contribute rather than just be informational like most sites. Since we at dcp are here to learn I thought it might be a good learning example.
John Kerry calls Joe Lieberman, Dick Cheney Redeux on ABC This Week:
Aug. 20, 2006 — Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., blasted a fellow Democrat, Sen. Joe Lieberman, for continuing his bid in the Connecticut Senate race despite a narrow loss to newcomer Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary earlier this month.
"I'm concerned that [Lieberman] is making a Republican case," Kerry told ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" in an exclusive appearance.
Kerry accused the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate of "adopting the rhetoric of Dick Cheney," on the issue of Iraq.
"Joe Lieberman is out of step with the people of Connecticut," Kerry added, insisting Lieberman's stance on Iraq, "shows you just why he got in trouble with the Democrats there."
Posted by: Ellen Beth at August 20, 2006 06:34 PM
Ellen,
I saw Mark Miller on Saturday. He gave what sounds like the same lecture to our group as well. You gave an excellent summary.
What struck me the most about his lecture however were his warnings that too many citizens don't think "it can happen here". However, it is starting to happen here he suggested. He observed that while liberals were becoming Chairman of university English Departments, the right wing Christian fundamentalists were taking the government.
Bush has appointed "theocratic enablers" to head many of the government departments while he acts as the front man for them. Not only that, he recalled the Terri Schiavo issue and how the theocrats felt no compulsion to listen to their constituents.
We were also reminded prior to his speech that three private companies count 80% of the vote. Given that fact, why is it so hard to believe (accept) that a group of people willing to force feed a comatose woman with no hope for survival, expose a CIA agent dedicated to protecting us from domestic harm, lie in order to start a war in the region where the Bible claims that those who accept Jesus as savior will be "saved", steal an election? Of course they would do it. They feel it is their God given duty.
However, it is not only the technology that needs to change - eliminate touch screen voting - it is the people who need to be more vigilant. He used Mexico as an example that despite paper ballots, an election can be stolen.
To me, his talk crystallized many of the questions and observations I had as to why our country was in such dire straits.
HIs comments about John Kerry suggested that he believes that Kerry can not viscerally accept that one of the most cherished institutions in our country - voting - could be so corrupted by such Machievellian individuals. I tend to think otherwise. If it is true that Miller and Kerry met, and Kerry stated his support for Miller to Miller's face, then subsequently denied a discussion took place, Kerry did it to help protect America from falling into anarchy. Because once most American's believe that their votes have been stolen, there will be blood on the streets.
At the end, he reminded us that the Constitution is designed such that when one party rules, Americans are in danger of losing the freedoms upon which this country was founded. The Constitution is a living document designed to evolve with the people. Once the people become beholden to one small radical fringe group, the Constitution itself will enable them to do just about anything they want, because they can change the laws to fit their agenda. If those laws are unconstitutional, it doesn't matter, because the radical sliver controls everything.
I posted a response to Miller's claims on Ellen's site, which I will not repeat here. But while I respect many of Mark's analyses, his information on what happened election night is simply untrue.
Karen,
I read your comment on Ellen's site. What you say undoubtedly is true. I suspect that Edwards who has his own Presidential aspirations, is unwilling to put to bed the myth that Kerry did not want to count all the votes. I must wonder aloud why Kerry doesn't call him on that?
Miller's account at the speech he gave to us was about a different encounter with Kerry, not election eve. Still Miller, who is very angry about the election does not fail to blame Kerry and other Democrats for not being courageous enough to publicize the stolen elections. He also ridiculed, and rightly so, the New York Times for discussing Bobby Kennedy Jr.'s Rolling Stone article in their Style section and not the news section. He again attributes that to the "media" being beholden to the right wingers and neglecting their obligations and responsibilty as honest brokers in the evolving dissolution of American freedoms and rights.
Another thing to keep in mind about November 2004 is that Kerry was never ahead in the polls near the end. I have no doubt today that we lost the popular vote. Blackwell and Co. may have attempted voter surpression in Ohio, but Kerry lost nationally. Now, Ohio may have been the difference in the Electoral Vote, just as Florida was the difference in 2000. But I do think that they won the popular vote - and the blame for that loss rests with a shamefully inattentive American people.
In a democracy, you get the government you deserve, that a people have earned in consciousness. With Dubya's poll numbers today in the 30s, I wonder how many of the people who pulled for lever for him have the courage to acknowledge their own culpability?
I wonder how many of the people who pulled for lever for him have the courage to acknowledge their own culpability?
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at August 20, 2006 09:02 PM
Yeah, all of a sudden, lots of people I talk to claim they didn't vote for him...even those who I know once had big ole "W" stickers on their cars... Guess delusional & denial are party traits.
Just back from Indianapolis. I'm grateful to see Polly Sigh escaped the evil clutches of dead-eyed-dirty-minded-Dick.
I 'm happy to read that Blair is unhappy with Bush now. Join the crowd and get in line, Tony.
Also happy to read that Cindy and other wise protestors were giving Rove a little bit of a reality check. When someone thinks the death of others is the appropriate moment for a stand-up comedy routine is the time when that person needs to resign.
Anyway, will check in more later. Missed all of you...
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at August 20, 2006 09:02 PM
Every once in awhile I will see somebody with one of those oval W stickers on the back window of their SUV, but that is very uncommon around here. One of my neighbors, an evangelical Christian who was a dedicated Bush supporter admits that yes, Bush has corrupted everything that my neighbor feels is important to the truly Christian mission. My neighbor has removed the Bush sticker from his car and replaced it with one that promotes charity and faith.
Posted by: karen at August 20, 2006 08:35 PM
Karen,
Ellen posted a comment to you on her site. I too have the same question she raised.
We registered over 300 voters down in the den of iniquity next to the Puget Sound, amidst the "Repent or Parish" signs. The voters will tend to be liberal/progressive/at least libertarian if they will just follow through! ;)
answered, as best I can.
Thanks Karen.
I don't know if there really is *an* answer, we have yet to discover *it*. After hearing Miller yesterday, I am convinced that there are some issues that creat too much cognitive dissonance for many people. Whomever can make people "feel better" (as ridiculously superficial as that sounds) the more likely that group is to win an election. I know that seems in contradiction to the fear theme that has propelled Bushco into power; however, Bushco was able to make more people feel that Bushco would be able to protect them from the "terririst". Yet, when the Dems expose the flaws in our security: ports, chemical plants, airports, etc., many people develop a sense of unease and can not comfortably process that the solutions does not lie with Bushco who claims to be here to protect us. The people who get viscerally angry feel too threatened by those of us who point out the contradictions. They are psychologically unable to process the truth. Trying to explain the process is pointless. It is only by example i.e. demonstrating, passing out literature, engaging in discussion, wearing T-Shirts with the message, putting bumper stickers on our cars and a myriad of other things can we only hope to help people who are blinded by their fears can we begin to help others realize what has happened to them.
Are people wising up? I don't know, but I certainly hope so.
In a democracy, you get the government you deserve, that a people have earned in consciousness. With Dubya's poll numbers today in the 30s, I wonder how many of the people who pulled for lever for him have the courage to acknowledge their own culpability?
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at August 20, 2006 09:02 PM
Very good question. And I do think Kerry blew it in his campaigning in a few places - though I don't think this is time to bicker again over what he did or didn't do.
Fact is, W did win the popular vote, even without cheating. Despite W's inept handling of the 9/11 attacks, he had Karl Rove and the media on his side, and we (America as a whole) believed that W was the Security President. And we re-elected him, and for that, we deserve the scorn of the world (alongside our unwillingness to implement universal healthcare and abolish the death penalty, among other things).
Even in the heart of Red California Reagan Country though, I am seeing a change. My Republican father is telling me about how American foreign policy is winning few friends despite good intentions, and that he's sick of his beloved W continuing the status quo. He's sick and tired of American-led regime changes around the world. And today, he's even asked me about retiring in Canada. This from a man who, just a year ago, was talking about how lazy black people had only themselves to blame in the Katrina fiasco!
Look at this polling on McCain. This guy is getting a free ride. It sickens me.
Posted by: oncall at August 20, 2006 06:17 PM
I have my best friend (who just defected to the Republicans over immigration) living in Yuma. And in Arizona, McCain commands tremendous respect, and any Democratic attacks on him will only backfire.
Right or not, McCain is still being seen as an independent maverick - so much so that my friend thinks McCain would make a great Democrat. I always correct him, and tell him that he is too socially conservative to be a Democrat.
The problem with my friend is that he's (1) in a covenant marriage to a hardcore anti-choice Republican, and (2) interning as a pharmacist at Yuma's Marine Corps Air Station, where the only "truth" he sees emanates from Fox News. I am in faraway Los Angeles area, and have little influence over his politics compared to these sources, and it's a shame that there is nothing I can do about this.
The State of Arizona once held me as a political prisoner in a mental ward. I will never forgive that state.
Going to watch V for Vendetta.
If you want to see Hempfest photos go here, comment.
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/
Ann Coulter Conquers, Air America Sleeps
Brent Budowsky
We will win elections, lead the nation, and make America the best it can be when we build and finance the megaphone that will end the one party state once and for all, by ending the one party media that makes it possible.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brent-budowsky/ann-coulter-conquers-air_b_27610.html
I was just at the DNC Convention at Chicago, as part of PDA's new working group on election protection. The Democratic party is doing something, but not enough at this late date, or with enough leadership aware of the problems. The GOP opposition has had almost 25 years head start at election administration to perfect the tactics to disenfranchise.
Before posting suggestions mentioned, I need to go through my notes and confirm statements. I'm a bad note-taker.
Oncall, some of the group went to hear Fritakis and Miller, whom I call the Stolen Election Tour. Fritakis can be self-serving, making claims which can't be proven, and always blaming Kerry for things he knows untrue. But the recount gave him a career. Almost saw you!
HAVA's electronic databases will now be used to put more people to provisional ballots by creating false challenges to the matches, which will never get counted, like all the other votes with laws inadequate to get them counted.
New Jim Crow ID laws are a winning issue for the GOP on the basis of protection from terrorism.
They reiterated the need for a paper ballot, as first choice, with the many machines still requiring a paper trail also mentioned (however unable to protect anything).
I understand Matt's usual care to facts, but I have studied this and met Mark C Miller numerous times. However apocalyptical he sounds, and mad at getting dissed by the press not wanting to entertain the possibility of the systems being gamed, or disappointed he didn't get Kerry's leap to the (unproven) admission of theft at the beginning of his book tour (whatever was really shared in private a couple of days before his October Iraq speech. He nods a lot while preoccupied), Mark is fully aware of how the uneasy manipulation of polling creates opinion, and the election system, somehow, conveniently, confirms. Like the media constantly saying the tape played to Bush's strength on the war on terror.
When we read about Jim Dobson getting millions registered as a new legion of GOP footsoldiers for Christianity, Mark absolutely has good points. That's why we get all the Congressional time spent placating the right, however laws passed ultimately help the corporate class.
I have studied all the anomalies, in the red states, like 100,000 extra votes than people in Alaska, 2004. Maybe the bridge to nowhere was a quid pro quo.
We don't know anything about the 2004 election for sure.
At the roundtable was the counsel who figured key for the Ohio recount, an effort gamed by efforts before to disenfranchise and after to prevent a real recount. His suggestions expressed impatience we don't hit back harder to at least create more suspicion about the systems, tactics, gaining more advantage for 2008. We need to know before we go the polls that they suspiciously voted absentee 10,000 votes a few days before the Busby race, etc.
We finally created the Voting Rights Act because there were so many lawsuits, they gave up obstructing.
He, and other highly placed counsel, say we lost in 2004 by a 1,000 cuts and will never be able to prove the result for sure. Knowing what I know about the highly motivated, untraceable, and immoral tactics that have been honed, don't be so reluctant to believe the potential in our systems for theft or the killer motivation of the opposition.
I simultaneously believe 2004 was stolen and will never be proven. At least Suzie Turnbull, vice chair of the DNC, finally "gets it," after wanting to move-on immediately after 11/2004, and has said that any money donated for election protection-to her-would get directed in that effort. Promise.
Democracy, representative government, our national security and future elections will be lost if we don't pay attention. This a non-partisan problem.
I agree that the public was led astray before voting in 2004, made to be afraid, and did not know the consequence of their votes. Kerry still did better than anyone realizes.
In the airport today, returning from Convention, everyone was told to be afraid by constant repetition we're in orange alert, and what we can't carry on. Maybe to change the subect of the mideast wars, failing policies and win the midterms. Craven, but entirely possible.
Agree with Frank Rich. Whatever happened to fireside chats and that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
NOTE: Bill Clinton, and another DC source in the know, say McCain will be the nominee. Accounts for a lot in his behavior. Integrity and maverick labels, Bush's Mark McKinnin as PR/marketing, say he will be tough to beat or beaten up by the media.
Karen, Fear-Up is just building, and ending. Hope attendance was good last Thursday.
Marjorie G
Elizabeth will want to hear about Chicago.
Lieberman calls on Rumsfeld to resign
RAW STORY
Published: Monday August 21, 2006
In an interview yesterday on CBS News's Face the Nation, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut called for an end to Donald Rumsfeld's tenure as Secretary of Defense.
Referring to an apperance on the show several years before, Lieberman remarked "three years ago in October on this show you asked me and I said that I believe that it was time for new leadership at the Pentagon. I think it's still time for new leadership at the Pentagon."
He added, "With all respect to Don Rumsfeld, who has done a grueling job for six years, we would benefit from new leadership to work with our military in Iraq."
more on...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Lieberman_calls_on_Rumsfeld_to_resign_0821.html
August 21, 2006
Violent Remarks
British Law Against Glorifying Terrorism Has Not Silenced Calls to Kill for Islam
By SOUAD MEKHENNET and DEXTER FILKINS
LONDON, Aug. 20 — From his home on the northwest edge of this city, Muhamad al-Massari runs a Web site that celebrates the violent death of British and American soldiers. It is visited by tens of thousands of people every day, he said.
Mr. Massari maintains the Arabic-language site, tajdeed.org.uk, in the face of a strict new law aimed at curtailing violent speech and publishing. Just last week, the Council of Holy Warriors, a group affiliated with Al Qaeda, posted a declaration on the site praising a suicide bombing in Iraq that killed or wounded 55 people.
“If you kill our civilians, we kill your civilians,” Mr. Massari declared during an interview.
Mr. Massari’s Web site, and his public remarks, appear to violate of the Antiterrorism Act of 2006, which makes it a crime to glorify or encourage political violence. Inciting violence has long been illegal here but the new rules, drawn up after the London subway and bus bombings in July 2005, are intended to be much tougher.
The law’s underlying assumption is that speeches and publications by Britain’s more extreme Islamists may play a role in leading disgruntled young men toward violence. In addition to banning speech that encourages terrorism, the new law also criminalizes reckless speech that may have the same effect.
Yet despite the antiglorification law, and an array of other measures approved since last summer’s bombings, Islamist leaders like Mr. Massari persist, some of them declaring it the duty of British Muslims to kill in the name of Islam.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/world/europe/21london.html
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at August 21, 2006 09:05 AM
Where do it end, I axe you?
Rhesus rhetorical.
Bush is going to do a news conferance at 10 am this morning. He gave no reason for it, he will issue a statement then take reporters questions(translate he will let SOB's ask questions I doubt anyone who will ask an honest question will get a word in edgewise). Should be interesting but I can not stand to watch him.
Dust off those dictionaries...
Bush to hold news conference shortly
Lebanon will be focus of opening statement
WASHINGTON - President Bush will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. ET, the White House announced Monday morning.
The president was expected to take questions from reporters after making an opening statement at the White House on the fragile cease-fire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
The president was expected to talk about humanitarian aid for Lebanon after 34 days of fighting. He also was expected to speak about the international peacekeeping force for southern Lebanon.
It will be Bush’s first full scale news conference since July 7 in Chicago.
This news conference was to be held in the White House conference center, the temporary quarters for news reporters during a renovation of the media briefing room in the West Wing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14450808/
Posted by: monkey at August 21, 2006 09:28 AM
They have a Bushism dictionary? Wow where can I buy it.
Any bets on what will be conected to the war on Terror in this interview?
1 The Ramsey Story (top of MSM's list of stories)
Somehow Warrentless Wiretapping will have helped catch the idiot who claims to have done it)
2 Lebanon of course.
3 THe Lieberman defeat, now terrorist will really win.
4 Any news that has been bad for the White House in the last several weeks will all the sudden embolden terrorists.
5 THe word Historical will be thrown around a lot
as well as the words freedom, democracy, terrorism, society.
Pretty much the standard Bush lines, why do reporters even show up they can just copy the script from every other speech the man has ever given, he doesnt actually answer their question just the same talking points over and over. It's like watching a wind up doll honestly.
They have a Bushism dictionary? Wow where can I buy it.
Posted by: April at August 21, 2006 09:43 AM
America already bought it, although rumor has it sales are on the decline, along with everything else that the moron touches.
Posted by: monkey at August 21, 2006 09:47 AM
I never bought it thank goodness, it took watching one interview in 1999 for me to know I did not want this moron for president. Sadly it appears some people like morons to hold our highest office.
new thread