Honor Their Memory

Bush just got caught rigging the 2004 elections.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward

Go to every local message board from the south and repeat that as much as possible. Do not let them insulate and de-context that information.

It is simple, they just literally got caught rigging the 2004 election.

Time to scream it. Tell them the truth and they will listen.

Take the deep south, you will take the heart of the nation.

Kenneth Blackwell you son of a bitch. It is over.

Let the whole world know it.

Christy
Also need to take the inner west (Colorado, New Mexico) and even make places like Utah more blue (Salt Lake City already is going that way) - convince new Hispanic voters too that these guys aren't on their side & that some of them should run for office.

Need to have other leaders & heads of industry make positive connections with others OUTSIDE this country, which we can also do as individuals - person to person (such as your blog with Rossi in Australia). Need to get these guys out but also go around them at same time, expose them.

How do we get the common person, even the nonvoter, to know what happened in Ohio and that it needs to be corrected - that we need the vote back? We asked a Secretary of State here who said that if people knew the truth, they would be afraid to vote. How do we get around that problem, if it's true?

Nice story Fe - sorry to change the subject and will get back to it, but mbk had sent me same thing Christy posted & I had meant to post it. Never trusted Carville most of all because he was married to a Republican strategist. Big conflict of interest.

It's on here too:

http://www.progressiveu.org/183022-did-carville-tip-bush-off-to-kerrys-strategy-thus-stealing-the-election-for-the-republicans

Now Carville's busy having surveys done which show losses for Republicans
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=73732

And here he is being interviewed by O'Reilly, about Clinton
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216297,00.html

I have always been suspicious that segments of the Democratic party were unable to cooperate & infighting for power. My antennae are up & I just can't relax.

My choice to remain blissfully blind to the violence in the world, much like the Old Man/Woman suggests in one of my poems, means I am only vaguely aware there was a killing somewhere. It is no more real to me than any other killing anywhere else.

Such is the nature of "ignorance is bliss." It has its advantages. I don't need to know the most current details, the details themselves haven't changed in eons.

But Fe's question:
"It made me wonder aloud, does this world deserve our little girls?"
is one I will answer, and the answer is YES. The world we are creating deserves our little girls, and it most assuredly needs them.

I will continue to write specifically for those girls, their mothers, their grandmothers, their godmothers, their aunts and the women we pray they grow to become.

Change is coming.

"How do we get the common person, even the nonvoter, to know what happened in Ohio and that it needs to be corrected - that we need the vote back? We asked a Secretary of State here who said that if people knew the truth, they would be afraid to vote. How do we get around that problem, if it's true?"

Dianne,

If Woodward is correct, and that article is acurate, then explaining it to the masses just became very simple.

There is no other way to interpret what Kenneth Blackwell did except and unless he was under DIRECT orders from the White House.

ANY contact between the WH and Blackwell that day looks suspecious on it's head anyway, but to show DIRECT influence and show Blackwells known actions... There is ONLY one way to interpret that scene.

This shows a direct link resulting in an election that was called even though those very same ballots instantly came into question.

It is election time, the republicans are already showing their true colors. Tell them the elections were rigged then show them what Woodward says and what you know of Blackwell.

They will KNOW it is a problem and the coming wave of change will include it too.

The return of the grim speaker

Cheney is back with doom speech casting Democrats as danger to security.

MILWAUKEE - Vice President Cheney sometimes starts speeches with a Ronald Reagan quotation about a "happy" nation needing "hope and faith." But not much happy talk follows. Not a lot of hope, either. He does, though, talk about the prospect of "mass death in the United States."

The not-so-happy warrior of the past two campaign cycles is back on the road delivering a grim message about danger, defeatism and the stakes of the coming election. If it is not a joyful exercise, it is at least a relentless one. Even with poll ratings lower than President Bush's, Cheney has become a more ubiquitous presence on the campaign trail than in the last midterm election.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15176106/

Lack of Balance, Diversity, Public at PBS NewsHour
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100806Y.shtml
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS's flagship news program, touts its "signature style - low-key, evenhanded, inclusive of all perspectives." But a new study finds that the NewsHour fails to provide either balance or diversity of perspectives - or a true alternative to its corporate competition.

{{{I had thought my imagination was working overtime when I've written that even The News Hour was way too 'conservative' for me, chastizing myself, thinking maybe I just caught them on bad hair days, that they couldn't really be all that conservative, could they...? Seems it wasn't my imagination after all....}}}

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/business/08religious.html
Secular Laws Cede to Religious Exemptions
Religious organizations enjoy an abundance of exemptions from regulations and taxes. And the number is multiplying rapidly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/washington/08foley.html
Former Foley Aide Expecting to Testify Before House Panel
The former aide, Kirk Fordham, expects to testify under oath that he alerted the speaker's office as early as 2003 to inappropriate contact with teenage pages by Mark Foley.

Christy
I passed it (the Carville-Kerry-White House thing) on to some people and got this reply, for one. Now this person was a Democrat, so references were made to the Democratic party. But if I were a Republican and learned that my party was not in power legitimitely and had not done much, I would certainly hope I would also experience some cognitive dissonance.

His reply:

My answer to your question "Could this be true?" - YES
Almost anything "could" be true with the current administration.

I think the real question is what might they do if they are given or if they make an unchallenged robbery of the House and Senate. Nov 7th "could" be our last real election. The "could" declare martial law due to the unprecedented security issues that they are aware of. They "could" make "1984" look like child's play. They "could" do any horrid thing that you can imagine and possibly more.

I believe that now that there is only one month until the elections we only have one course. Stop asking questions and carrying on intellectual discussions. The Democratic Party may not be the long range answer to many of our issues, but the the future is NOW and for now the Dems are our only answer today. We must put our political energy and money into the Democratic Party.

Contact the Party or contact (local congressonal canddate) or (local senatorial candidate) and ask them what you can do. Don't argue with them; assume they know best what they need and do it. Campaigns like (local safe candidates) may have certain wins; they are committed to victory and will help direct you. The important thing is to be directed - minimum Internet, minimum TV, minimum personal entertainment, you will find sufficient fun in the campaigns.

I believe we are playing Poker for our country and the only chips I have to invest is one month of my energy. I don't plan to save any chips for after November 7th.

One more thing, when we win on November 7th don't let the winners off the hook. Make it a point to keep contacting your representatives and tell what you want. They can only guess what you want. We have an administration that does not care what you want. In their opinion they have a much more important agenda.

My name is,,,,,,,, and I approved this email. If you have any questions i can be reached at ..........

This guy is conservative! He's like the British John Ashcroft!
Bush & Cheney didn't even have credibility with him! He is interesting - first of all he's blind. He became embroiled in a sex scandal. He started out "loony left" and gradually went to the right of Jack Straw, Condi's buddy. & recently it was revealed (like last week) he'd been on such a dose of antidepressants that he didn't properly assess the intelligence information before going into Iraq (see recent Guardian, Observer, & more at Wikipedia). Anyway, now he's saying they were so radical they were unstoppable. & Woodward claims Bush will not leave even if only Laura and Barney the dog support him.

UK Official Says British Govt Warned US on Iraq

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100806X.shtml
The British government tried to rein in US policy in Iraq from the outset of the March 2003 invasion but found itself powerless to do so. David Blunkett, Home Secretary at the time of the invasion, told newspapers that Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could not be diverted from their goal of dismantling the Iraqi Baathist government system.

Fe,

Beautiful article. Girls deserve better and the word doesn't deserve girls.

Just a few days ago, I saw an article about a woman who was to be stoned. That was all the proof I needed to know that women deserve better than the world gives them.

Posted by: Christy at October 8, 2006 09:57 AM

Has Carville given any comments on Woodward's assertion about his (Carville's) communications with his wife?

I find it very strange if Carville did call his wife and inform her of JK's strategy.

How well sourced is Woodward's claim?

a tad more ..

The book also reminds us what a small town this is. On election night 2004, GOP communications guru Mary Matalin was with Bush and Vice President Cheney and talking with her husband, Democratic strategist James Carville , who was close to -- but not in -- John Kerry 's campaign.

Kerry, Carville told her, was going to challenge 250,000 provisional ballots in Ohio, which could change the result there or tie things up for a long time. Matalin promptly told Cheney, and they met with Bush. The Kerry camp made the announcement shortly thereafter.

== A MSM media report of the Woodward book

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100100687.html?nav=rss_print/asection

I think the new Newsweek has a very lengthy article on the Kerry campaign & in it, infighting between the Clintonistas & Kerryits is detailed. I think I'll buy it & read it, painful though it may be. Don't like to wallow in the past, but I tell you - I will never trust a strategist who is married to a Republican in direct contact with the White House. The very idea..

A page reports Foley had sex wit him, but this page was of age.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/WNT/story?id=2541690&page=1

My Republican uncle sent me a joke about how you can tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans just by watching them read but I'd better IRC test the punchline first.

Today .. soon!

http://www.backbonecampaign.org
On Convening a Progressive Shadow Cabinet
A Discussion Featuring Howard Zinn and Numerous Progressive Leaders
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RSVP Now for Monday, October 9, 5:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Eastern)

"Along with inspirational visions, we will need specific schemes for accomplishing important purposes, which can then be laid before the groups that use them. Let the economists work out a plan for food... Let the political scientists work out tactics for the poor, rather than counter-insurgency tactics for the military. Let the historians instruct or inspire us, from the data of the past rather than amusing us, boring us or deceiving us...

Let the scientists figure out and lay before the public plans on how to make autos safe, cities beautiful, air pure. Let all social scientists work on modes of change instead of merely describing the world that is, so that we can make the necessary alterations with the least disorder." ~Howard Zinn, from The Uses of Scholarship, 1969)

Professor Zinn's inspiring words from almost forty years ago resonate powerfully today. Today progressives are recognizing an historical opportunity to respond to a poverty of vision presented by authors of the status quo. We know that now more than ever before, our country needs not merely our oppositional power, but also our propositional genius.

Did anyone see Woodward on Meet the Press? i thought about it but had an appointment. Apparently, Cheney cursed at him & hung up on him after the book.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2871759

Posted by: DiAnne at October 8, 2006 04:59 PM

It's creepy to me that they are married to each other. But who knows. maybe they have the "perfect marriage". I guess if they both respect how well each can twist their respective bosses message, then it must be bliss.

I wouldn't be surprised if it is true that Carville called Matalin and let her know what was happening, but I would rather here his version of events.

Newsweek was very ready to do a hatchet job during and just after the election, and now ready to cut slack by telling a multi-layed level of blame (if that's the story). Love the timing.

There were more consultants, like Mark Penn, doing double Hillary/Kerry duty, running numbers, if I heard correctly. Just in a dispassionate day's work.

The entire Dem party was being self-serving, as well as many waiting for Hillary, the long understood nominee for 08.

Between media misinformation, lack of a Dem organization, as well as the infighting, miracle we did as well as we did. Not that anyone, especially progressives, would give Kerry any kudos for being considered a capable president.

Not that I lost the anger.

When is a glitch not a glitch? Thirteeen states of switched votes, all vendors, experienced odds with exit polls and 90% of the shifting from Kerry to Bush.

hmm. Let me see if I'm following this correctly:

(1) An electoral glitch in Ohio is what put Bush back into power as a re-selected president.

(2) Therefore Bush, as president, is a real son of a glitch.

word,
Otter

Marjorie G
My only consolation is that probably Kerry or Gore would have been blamed for everything that wasn't their fault. At least now they can still do good work & what's his face can work on the "legacy" of his family dynasty. They may try to control what historians say (as W says, "We'll all be dead") but the truth will come out, is already "leaking" (they don't like leaks).

DiAnne, I know you've felt that way for a long time, but I still rankle at the 'blame Kerry for everything' from the minutia to the big, so reflexively.

I just wish for more grown-up awareness of what it takes to win nationally, as a newbie, though always misunderstood and mischaracterized. We'd have a better chance at organization and winning.

It's that wishing for "fair," that mother would always say is a childish expectation. I still wish for fair.

Marjorie G
I don't really feel that way - it's just a rationalization I need. LOL

Well and the other thing is that the first stage of recovery from addiction is hitting bottom. You have to admit you have a problem. This group still hasn't done that (the power addicts).

Fe,

Your post is beautiful and reminded me of the respect that I felt for the Amish who were so ready to forgive and pray for the man who killed their children. Their willingess to forgive is an example for the rest of us (maybe I should say, me). I know that after what Bushco has done to this country, I am not so willing to forgive. I honestly believe seeking impeachment will do little to help this country. I respect Nancy Pelosi's first 100 hour agenda, and feel it is a good framework from which we can right ourselves.

As far as Kerry goes. He does have problems communicating his message in terms that the general population can latch onto. It takes work to understand where he is coming from. That is not his problem, that is everybody else's problem. This country's problems are complicated and simple answers aren't enough. I support him and will continue to support him. But, trying to be a national politician does take an ability to communcate to the masses. Look at Regean's and Clinton's successes. I wont include George Bush because all he has done is lie. Lying doesn't require the inherent talent of communicating and connecting.

Hopefully when the Dems take back Congress, Kerry will get more national attention and his remarks wont continue to be ridiculed by the Bushco Propaganda Machine. After what this country has experienced,I think that most Americans today will be more willing to listen to him. When they do, they will know that Kerry was right all along.

Well, speaking of JK communicating in a more informal style, check out his gig on Bill Maher's show...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIF7_P92ORQ

Oncall
I don't think the Bushco Propaganda Machine pays mucha attention to Kerry anymore - they consider him a minor threat since they didn't let him near the Presidency. In the meantime, he's raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for worthy candidates, making brilliant speeches and giving out great press releases, fighting the good fight in the Senate. I almost prefer it when they don't refer to him (or Gore) much, or even Clinton. Actually, I wish they'd just-shut-up, like the Chinese Premier recommended.

Do you know that gold has gone from $360 to over $600 under Bush and the dollar has fallen 1/3 against the Euro? If any of us got really sick in a country with a stronger economy, we'd be in real trouble. Many of us could not relocate if we wanted to (unless to a 3rd world economy). The Federal Reserve just points more money to compensate for the debt and this country is headed for default. That's another thing this Administration and mainstream media doesn't deal with.

It's gonna be a rude awakening one of these days. Already am seeing the same houses sit with "for sale" signs for much longer, and also more of those "new price" and "price reduced" signs. Cutting short-term deals with OPEC to lower gas at the pump by 75cents or so, citing job creation with "revised figures" isn't going to cut it. Business people, economists and those with eyes open aren't going to buy it.

It's a sad day when the message has to be "dumbed down," people ride everywhere, eat more, have more heart attacks, asthma and diabetes (even kids) and we actually had a couple of guys run who were TOO SMART TO WIN. Now that is pathetic.

I agree about the Amish - they are the ones who truly practice the Christian (& other major religions') message of tolerance and love. & they practice what they preach by their lifestyle, which most of us couldn't hang with - using less resources & living simply.

Posted by: DiAnne at October 8, 2006 05:26 PM

Did you hear the crew laughing in the background when Woodward told the story? That was priceless.

Posted by: dwahzon at October 8, 2006 09:34 PM

thanks for posting that, dw. So nice to see him relaxed and keeping it real!

Ah, come on, everybody knows why the Dems lost in 2004. I mean, who was that Kerry guy, anyway? Some two-bit poor kid from a town nobody ever heard of. It's not like he ever made any impact by standing up for anything or anybody he believed in. He was just another uneducated loser who never said or did anything worth mentioning in his entire life. It's not as though he had the stones to actually step up to the plate for his country when things got tough. He dodged every chance he ever had to speak up and be heard, to make some kind of difference, even back in the early '70's when stand-up guys like Bush were doing their patriotic duty instead. So, yeah, it's definitely all Kerry's fault that the Dems lost in 2004, lost fair and square, just like they deserved to.

and fox news is fair and balanced too,
Otter

Dwahzon
that was a pleasure to watch (Kerry)

Dw,

Thanks for that post. I sent it to my e-mail list.

Posted by: Otter at October 8, 2006 09:51 PM

Otter, the master of understated sarcasm.

Personally, I will never believe JK actually "lost" or that Bush won the election.

As regards to the video that dw posted, it only supports my claim that more people will be willing to listen to what he has to say. Americans have been lied to and cheated by their government. Kerry provides some degree of comfort to people because they realize that just as they we were deprived of an individual who would be a better President, Kerry was deprived of the opportunity to lead this country through very difficult times. There is a type of mutual appreciation for what has happened, and I think more Americans will be willing to listen the second time around.

I sent the JK video to my email list too - it's oddly comforting.
Not sure what good it does now except I do believe him - that things are somewhat different than they were 2 years ago (that is to say .. worse). We expected it but don't think quite a number of people did (can't imagine why they couldn't see the writing on the wall but I believe many were duped) - maybe now there's hope that more are waking up. We can only hope .. maybe there is hope.

Posted by: oncall at October 8, 2006 09:20 PM

oncall:

I was reading the same thing about the Amish response after the funerals and thought about what a great example they are to the country.\

In this world of extreme religious fundamentalism, here you have a religious community dedicated to justice without taking it into their own hands by perpetuating violence. What a compassionate, thoughtful and evolved way of being.

Perhaps our current religious leadership can take the hint. Of course, I won't hold my breath for it happening soon...or for our political leadership as well.

Did you hear the crew laughing in the background when Woodward told the story? That was priceless.

Posted by: oncall at October 8, 2006 09:43 PM

Any confirmation that we aren't alone is good - that someone is listening, questioning. I just can't imagine what it would be like to be part of the media now & try to get the truth out. I have seen people like O'Reilly and I can't watch them - I sometimes read the transcripts & I find it so shocking that people like him or Anne Coulter are even on television. In one transcript, O'Reilly was trying to say that Fox isn't "right wing". But he kept saying things like Center for American Progress were "far left." That makes Fox "right wing." Maybe he actually does think they're "centrist" or something! Now that's scary - they want to go even further to the right, is that it?!

If they go any further to the right, they'll be in the Lesser Antilles by morning.

Hell just froze over.

France is banning smoking in all public places.

Posted by: DiAnne at October 8, 2006 10:24 PM

The talkinig heads at Fux like to believe that they are neither right nor left. They like to delude themselves with the thought that they are in the middle and don't support either side.

OnCall
I hope they don't think that they provide actual news. It would be nice to have "just the facts," without alot of commentary - like on the weather report you want to know the temperature, wind velocity etc. Would be useful to know where the trouble spots are in the world - both people-caused & r/t geological conditions - and what's being done to make things better. Most of us are busy and is it so much to ask - that there would be people who would investigate what's going on & it could be reported to us?

But no. & in Russia, a famous female investigative reporter was just assassinated. Are we getting close to that? Is that what reporters are afraid of?

Surely, the talking heads (Hannity et al.) proudly flaunt their right wing ideology, however, the news division actually believes it is delivering the news - just like when they labeled Foley a Dem three times. O'Reilley likes to call himself an independent, but I imagine he can't decide between the likes of people such as DeLay vs.those akin to Patrick McHenry from North Carolina (a truly scary fellow).

I need to replace my computer, for all kinds of reasons, and I can't view the You Tube Kerry on Maher.

Could anyone paraphrase/condense what he said?

Marjorie G
Will this work?
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/10/bill_maher_with.html

Oh great
N Korea tested a nuke
Bet Bolton's up late

Let's try Australia - they're up first.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/n-koreas-nuclear-test-backlash/2006/10/09/1160246048496.html

Look at those satellite shots!

"The nuclear test is a historic event that brought happiness to our military and people."

The Real Monster in America

from MJS's blog over at Correntwire today:

Do we all laugh at Mr. Foley, the Urine Drainer, the Sound Effective Love Detective? This Bumpty Humpty story gets the yukkity-yuks while men and women continue to come home in boxes draped with the death shrouds of our national, glorious flag. Very moving, very patriotic, very sad. The real monster in America does not IM DC pages: the Real Monster sends more of our youth out to kill and be killed in the Lands of Oil far, far away. Would that a buggering Congressman were indeed the worst of the current benighted class of conservatives.

http://www.correntewire.com/a_foley_defined_x3

Again, Fe, the answer is Yes. The work you do, via Medea, politics, and the phone call to your niece, illustrate by example how to create a world where little girls are deserved.

No matter how dark, we must not allow any force to cause our answer to be anything *other* than YES. We are alive now, this is our time, we create our reality. The answer is YES.

Isn't it always darkest before the dawn?

Serving hot cuppas for those off phone banking, canvassing, or otherwise volunteering for their candidate(s) of choice. And anyone else, of course. We're all working for the world. @;-)

I could use a hot cup of something right now.

Gone Fission

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Monday condemned North Korea's claimed nuclear weapons test and said the international community "will respond."

Bush said North Korea is one of the world's "leading proliferators of missile technology including transfers to Iran and Syria. The transfer of nuclear weapons to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States and we would hold North Korea fully accountable to the consequences of such action."

"It is like acid always burning in my brain that the stupid
butchering of the last war taught men nothing at all, that they sank back listlessly on the warm manure pile of the dead and went to sleep, indifferently bestowing custody of their future, their fate, into the hands of State Departments, whose members are trained to be conspirators, card sharps, double-crossers and secret betrayers of their own people; into the hands of greedy capitalist ruling classes so stupid they could not even see when their own greed began devouring itself; in the hands of that most debased type of pimp, the politician, and that most craven of all lice and job-worshippers, the bureaucrats."

Eugene O'Neill, in a letter to his son, 6 months after Pearl Harbor.

KJ
Friend in NM mentioned this:

http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org

Monkey
Watch them try to spin this in favor of the "fear factor" people.

However:

FOCUS | North Korean Nuclear Test Another Bush Failure
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100906Z.shtml
North Korea's apparent nuclear test last night may well be regarded as a failure of the Bush administration's nuclear nonproliferation policy. Since George W. Bush became president, North Korea has restarted its nuclear reactor and increased its stock of weapons-grade plutonium, so it may now have enough for 10 or 11 weapons, compared with one or two when Bush took office.

from http://www.thepremise.com

Apparently the stupidest President in the history of our country is going to swagger up to a microphone in a few minutes and tell us something about the North Korean nuclear test that he’s personally responsible for enabling. (I’m assuming here that the test has been confirmed. There’s no doubt about how stupid George Bush is.)

In other news this weekend, the NATO commander in Afghanistan said that the country risks falling back under Taliban control in the next six months if conditions don’t improve for the country’s inhabitants. Apparently they’d rather live under a repressive regime than in the middle of an incompetently-waged and half-hearted Western war.

In Iraq, and specifically in Baghdad, troops deaths and casualties have risen sharply. Presumably some of our troops are being injured and killed with arms and explosives obtained from Iran. I’ll have more on what the math means this afternoon.

Finally, Mark Foley was warned more than five years ago about his conduct toward House pages. That’s at least two years earlier than previously known.

Given all of the above, I think it’s safe to say that the President will avoid the Foley scandal, and talking instead about the axis of evil, and how our bold, aggressive military moves over the past five years have successfully limited threats of violence from Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

Don’t you feel so much safer?

Remember

From Americablog:

CNN reports that the North Korean bomb probably weighs ten tons. And they have no way of delivering the bomb anywhere - their recent missile test was a flop, and at ten tons, it's not like they're going to drive it anywhere.

Speaking of big - here's how big HALF of the heroin produced by Afghanistan poppies is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dustindewynde/264358419

(I'm a visual person)

DiAnne,

Synchronisty! As it happens, I have my Poets Against the War tee shirt on this morning. To wear downtown when I get my hair cut in an hour or so.

You'll find a couple of my poems on the site from February, 2003. @;-) Also, PAW is one of the very few organizations I haven't unsubscribed to. (All the calls to actions became overwhelming in their stridency!)

Note to Matt: Sam Hamill has put out his translation of the Book of the Way, ie, the Tao.
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/1-59030-011-4.cfm

DiAnne, LOL! Gives a whole new meaning to the word "freedom," doesn't it? As in "Freedom's on the March!" (subtext) "Just get high and all will be fiiiiiiiiiine."

Who says the rest of the MSM never pays attention to what happens on the cable teevee talking-heads shows?

----------------------

OLBERMANN NEWS COMMENTARIES TARGET BUSH

By David Bauder, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Keith Olbermann's tipping point came on a tarmac in Los Angeles six weeks ago. While waiting for his plane to take off he read an account of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's speech before the American Legion equating Iraq War opponents to pre-World War II appeasers.

The next night, on Aug. 30, Olbermann ended his MSNBC "Countdown" show with a blistering retort, questioning both the interpretation of history and Rumsfeld's very understanding of what it means to be an American.

It was the first of now five extraordinarily harsh anti-Bush commentaries that have made Olbermann the latest media point-person in the nation's political divide.

"As a critic of the administration, I will be damned if you can get away with calling me the equivalent of a Nazi appeaser," Olbermann told The Associated Press. "No one has the right to say that about any free-speaking American in this country."

Since that first commentary, Olbermann's nightly audience has increased 69 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research. This past Monday 834,000 people tuned in, virtually double his season average and more than CNN competitors Paula Zahn and Nancy Grace. Cable kingpin and Olbermann nemesis Bill O'Reilly (two million viewers that night) stands in his way.

[snip]

Olbermann has become a hero to Bush opponents, who distribute video files and transcripts of his commentaries. One poster on the Daily Kos who's been trying to spread his own four-year boycott of cable news wondered: "Is it time to modify the boycott to allow for Keith's show 'Countdown' -- and only his show?"

On the right, he's known as Krazy Keith and OlbyLoon, and the Olbermannwatch.com Web site is devoted to picking apart his words.

[snip]

That Olbermann has been permitted to do what he's doing is evidence that "the political zeitgeist has changed dramatically in four years, and especially (at) MSNBC," Cohen said.

[snip]

Even before this fall, Olbermann's ratings had been on a slow rise as viewers connected with his entertaining way of delivering the news, Griffin said.

Early in his second tenure at MSNBC, Olbermann said he wanted to do a segment on whether some of the more heroic elements of former POW Jessica Lynch's rescue were exaggerated. He was told by NBC News executives that he had to balance it with a commentary by conservative radio host Michael Savage, and he refused. He was prepared to walk, he said, but it never came to that.

Olbermann said he hasn't spoken to NBC Chairman Bob Wright or anyone at corporate owner General Electric Co. (GE) about his commentaries. No one's asked him to tone things down; in fact, "I've had to calm them down a little bit," he said.

Such is the almighty power of the Nielsen meter.

"As dangerous as it can sometimes be for news, it is also our great protector," Olbermann said. "Because as long as you make them money, they don't care. This is not Rupert Murdoch. And even Rupert Murdoch puts 'Family Guy' on the air and 'The Simpsons,' that regularly criticize Fox News. There is some safety in the corporate structure that we probably could never have anticipated."

What he's doing now is little different from what he did in sports, he said. "You see the events happening before you and you describe them to the audience."

As for his hero worship on the left, Olbermann said, "I'd love to say it's totally irrelevant. I'd say it's 99 percent irrelevant."

More important to him was when he was approached by a Republican media operative on Sept. 11, who complimented him on the commentaries despite utterly disagreeing with them.

"The purpose of this is to get people to think and supply the marketplace of ideas with something at every fruit stand, something of every variety," he said. "As an industry, only half the fruit stand has been open the last four years."

--30 --
Read the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/m5x22

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'zeitgeist'? what's going on that everybody's talking about 'zeitgeist' these days?,
Otter

Yes, great to hear MFI's voice again. Everyone is still working and doing what they do best. @;-)

Okay, Good Day, ya'll! And HI to Patti if she's around!

kj:

Word, girl.

the politics that can speak of the Tao is not the true politics,
Otter

Well that's good about Olbermann - that guy trying to boycott cable tv - all he needs to do is watch online. That's what I do.

KJ - I don't unsubscribe to anything - I just read really really fast. Being overwhelmed is unavoidable & I agree that all the deaths matter. Have been reading more about Darfur, for example. Genocide - people look the other way. Regime change - a big deal. It should be about social justice, not controlling resources, but we know the moral values of this administration center around the latter.

DiAnne, fast reader, fast talker, fast internal processor. I know you! @;-)

I tore off the battle-scarred thick skin after the move. Relishing this time and allowing the new skin a chance to stay sensitive and grow without scarring. (That's my strength, why not lead with it?) Besides, the masses are awake.

As the Hopi's said: "Keep our eyes open, and our head above the water. See who is in there with you and Celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over, Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner And in celebration. "We are the ones we've been waiting for..."

I'm all about the celebration. This election is about joy. It's been a long time coming, but it's a place to begin a center around social, world-wide, justice.

Otter!
"the politics that can speak of the Tao is not the true politics"

LOL!

An interesting point about boycotting cable tv versus watching it over the web, DiAnne:

Purveyors of online onstream media can always tell exactly how many clicks any given item gets over the web, and a surprising amount of extra (non-personal but still informative) data about where they've clicked there from.

However, the only way that a broadcaster or cable-content generator can tell how many people might be watching any given item is to extrapolate the numbers from a statistically tiny number of Nielsen-tracked watchers.

Broadcasters also try to gauge their mass viewerships' response to any given broadcast item by interpreting the quantity and quality of emails and other feedback that they & their advertisers receive after the fact.

So if you want to boycott any given cable-content item, then you specifically should *not* watch it over the web. But if you want to make sure your watching any given item gets duly noted, then click through to it over the web *and* send appreciative emails to the providers afterwards.

...As we all do, and should keep on doing, with Olbermann and any other purveyors of news, opinions, and information that we approve of and wish to encourage the further exposition of.

and yes I do so know that I just ended a sentence with a preposition so sue me,
Otter

and yes I do so know that I just ended a sentence with a preposition so sue me,
Otter

I think that's allowed now.

Is it, kj? I thought that was the sort of thing up with which many people still will not put.

here's hopi you are the sane,
Otter

Also, as the suggested program for last month's Annual Prayer Vigil at the Washington Monument pointed out, speaking of principles that we can all relate to and can apply to what we are doing here as well:

"At the 2006 Prayer Vigil we are asking everyone to do the following:

-- To raise the level of tolerance to pioneer in a new consciousness.
-- To leave the dogma and proselytizing behind.
-- To allow yourself the opportunity to stretch to see other points of view.
-- To do more than share your faiths, traditions and customs –- take it to
the next level of honoring diversity.
-- To stretch beyond our own comfort zones to participate in the grand
experiment to practice tolerance and peace.
-- To listen.
-- To be respectful and honor others without judgment.
-- To focus on our commonalities.
-- To focus on our relationship with the earth.
-- To let go of differences and separateness.
-- To BE in the place we are CHOOSING to co-create.
-- To invite and encourage youth dialogues.
-- To participate in interfaith, multi-cultural dialogue."

it's all about the mindfulness thing,
Otter

Posted by: Otter at October 9, 2006 11:41 AM

It's all good, brah. @;-)

(And since we seem to be going native with the tao-of-mindfulness thing while honoring the memories this morning, kj:)

"Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind, whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.

"Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

"Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

"Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.

"Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me.

"Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

"Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others.

"Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me.

"I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.

"Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.

"So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame."

so many paths so few journeys,
Otter

it's all about the mindfulness thing,

Otter, I so agree. And as always, our mindfulness is reflected in our actions. And our actions create our reality.

As a 60+ year-old man said to me yesterday, "The 2006 elections will show us where the country's at."
(It's the midwest, a preposition was expected. ;-)
Then he said, "And if that doesn't do it, then we have 2008. If that doesn't do it, the country's lost."

I liked his optimism. :-)

Ah, Otto! "The Beauty Way!" One of my favs!

My last boss and I used to start the day committing to walk the beauty way. When the day would turn, as it invariably would, we would ask each other, "Are you still on the Beauty Way?"

Gentle reminders. ;-)

Must go, no time to type out the entire Navajo chant, "House Made of Dawn" but here's a couple of verses:

May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
It beauty it is finished
In beauty it is finished.

You know what? The discussion earlier on this message board stuck in my mind.

How do you not only make people listen but give them the tools to fight back all in one neat package that can be bundled and served with full effect?

The key is the language.

I think we can all safely agree that the propaganda is the blow that brought this nation to its' knees.

This is what makes the truly poetic truly dangerous to a government going wrong. A poet will be the first to hear the lie in the tone, or realize the context has been obscured. Any good writer will not only see it, but be able to articulate it.

What I am about to ask is a serious yet rhetorical question that you all should think more about. It is not directed at any one person here:

When someone lies to you, to your face, and you know for a fact they are lying...Are you the type of person that will call them a liar?

If not, why not...?

When trying to give the masses, your friends, your family, the message of what is happening, re-inforce to them what they already know to be true.

Lying is wrong, and good must confront wrong or be consumed by it.

How do you deal with politicians that do not give a damn about you? Again, the key is language. What you say will change everything.

I almost attempted the other day to explain to DW 'the shut down effect' we have been dealing with in Alines case for 23 years, but I did not feel it needed much explaining in that context.

What the police have been doing here is the exact same way corruption works everywhere.

If you demand answers they turn their backs on you. They pretend to listen for a little while, then they freeze you out until you shut up.

They, the corrupted, all depend on one thing. That you are polite and mannered enough not to simply call them a liar to their face and demand to know why they are lying.

If you are not the type of person that will confront them, then and there, they will keep lying and keep spinning and keep drawing it out and drying it up until you could scream.

They DEPEND on you being good and decent. They depend on you being politically correct. They thrive on it.

Being a kind person, and being rude to liars are not mutually exclusive acts.

How does simply calling someone a liar when you know they are lying, to their faces, how does this help?

I will tell you how.

Because in that moment, in that instant when they are exposed, you have just began to hold them accountable.

Even if it does only last a moment, it will be a moment that lying politician can not just walk away from uneffected. It may just last a moment, but it may also just be the ONLY moment in his whole life that they will be held to account.

If your accusations and facts are true, it may be the moment others were waiting for.

If everybody does it, those moments will keep adding up until someone does come along that can nail their ass to a wall for it.

If everybody does it, and is expected to do it, to toss off that political correctness in the face of liars, then those that lie will not be so eager to keep doing it.

History will belong to those that write it, however, it will be won by those bold enough to speak the truth even when that is all you have.

Confronting liars with the truth, is the only thing we have left.

The courage to actually do it, will also be found in the words of poets.

Alas, though, while kj is giving us all a beauty call, famed rant-wingnut Neal "Unlike Rush I Actually Mean What I Say" Boortz is busy blaming the North Korean nuke test on, you guessed it, the same old three horsemen of the reich-wing apocalypse:

"Ahhhhh ... appeasement. It makes you wonder just how long it will be today before the Democrats start making similar statements. My bet is that some leading Democrat will step forward and demand two-party talks before the sun goes down. I'm betting on either John Kerry or Al Gore. Maybe Hillary!"

I'd post the link to the famous fathead's eponymous website here, but I'll be hanged if I'm gonna give his site any click-thru links from our own. Feel free to find it for yourself if you want. But please practice safe nanosecs and wrap your computer in a condom first.

or a large garbage bag will suffice in a pinch,
Otter

Christy
I would probably say "That's not true."

Christy,

And I would say, "Bullshit." @;-)

There is nothing more annoying or such an affront to reasonable intelligence than tip-toeing around the elephant in the room. Raturd elephant takes up all room, for one thing. Or, in other words, the only lies I'm apt to believe are the ones I tell myself. *grin*

Beauty call over. Regular programming resumed.