you were wrong cabinet sanchez

Practice Resurrection

2010-04-04T09:18:00.010-05:00

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant (Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12)

13 See, my servant will act wisely;

he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him—

his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man

and his form marred beyond human likeness—

15 so will he sprinkle many nations,

and kings will shut their mouths because of him.

For what they were not told, they will see,

and what they have not heard, they will understand.

1 Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

And who can speak of his descendants?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul,

he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by knowledge of him my righteous servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

Looking Out - Brandi Carlile

I went out looking for the answers
And never left my town
I'm no good at understanding
But I'm good at standing ground

And when I asked a corner preacher
I couldn't hear him for my youth
Some people get religion
Some people get the truth

I never get the truth
I never get the truth

I know the darkness pulls on you
But it's just a point of view
When you're outside looking in
You belong to someone

And when you feel like giving in
Or the coming of the end
Like your heart could break in two
Someone loves you

I laid this suitcase on my chest
So I could feel somebody's weight
And I laid you to rest
Just to feel the give and take

I got a new interpretation
And it's a better point of view
While you were looking for a landslide
I was looking out for you
Someone's looking out for you

I know the darkness pulls on you
But it's just a point of view
When you're outside looking in
You belong to someone

And when you feel like giving in
Or the coming of the end
Like your heart could break in two
Someone loves you

I am afraid of crossing lines
I am afraid of flying blind
Afraid of inquiring minds
Afraid of being left behind

I close my eyes, I think of you
I take a step, I think of you
I catch my breath, I think of you
I cannot rest, I think of you

My one and only wrecking ball
And you're crashing through my walls
When you're outside looking in
You belong to someone

And when you feel like giving in
Or the coming of the end
Like your heart could break in two
Someone loves you

~ Happy Easter, Indeed. ~

(photos taken by me via my iphone)

Open Up Your Fists

2010-03-16T17:30:00.004-05:00

Daisy, give yourself away

Look up at the rain

The beautiful display

Of power and surrender

Giving us today

When she gives herself away

Rain, another rainy day

It comes up from the ocean

To give herself away

She comes down easy

On rich and debt the same

When she gives herself away

Let it go

Daisy let it go

Open up your fists

This fallen world

Doesn't hold your interest

Doesn't hold your soul

Daisy let it go

Pain, give yourself a name

Call yourself contrition

Avarice or blame

Giving isn't easy

And neither is the rain

When she gives herself away

Daisy, why another day

Why another sunrise

Who will take the blame

For all redemptive motion

And every rainy day

When he gives himself away

Let it go...

The Tea Party Convention in Nashville

2010-03-14T15:11:00.013-05:00

Here are some excerpts of this deft and balanced look at the Tea Party Convention at the Opryland Convention Center titled, "At the Tea Party," from reluctant insider, Jonathan Raban, published in the NY Review of Books journal. Well worth the full read found here: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23723

On the attendees:

As we milled around in the convention center lobby, we might easily have been mistaken for passengers on a cruise ship. We belonged to a similar demographic: most—though by no means all—of us had qualified for membership of AARP a good while ago; 99.5 percent of us were white; in general, smart leisurewear was our preferred style of dress.

...I asked one woman whether she'd been part of "9/12," as tea partiers call the great taxpayer march on Washington, D.C., last September. No, she'd missed it, she said, and "felt really guilty" about doing so, but she and her husband had been on vacation.

"Where did you go?"

"We spent a week in Amalfi, then we toured Tuscany, then we spent a week in Rome."

Another woman, hearing my accent, told me about her and her partner's second home in Torquay, England, which they visited three times a year from their base in Atlanta, and about their thirty-five-foot powerboat, in which they'd crossed the Channel to Le Havre and cruised down the French canals to Marseilles.

On messges:

It would have taken a finely calibrated stopwatch to measure how very rapidly such folksy piety and patriotism could swivel into crude nativism, conspiracy theory, and xenophobia—and to measure, too, the dawning discomfort at this switch of tone registered by a sizable part of the audience.

Reflecting on the Opryland Hotel surroundings in relationship to the speakers' messages:

Such a concentrated dose of surreality, taken before breakfast, helped to prepare one for life in the alternative world that was on offer in the ballroom.

Obama's election was "our Pearl Harbor." We were now living in "the Third Reich": the first two Reichs were FDR's New Deal and LBJ's Great Society. Liberal environmentalists were leading us into "socialist totalitarianism disguised as polar bears." Luxuriant and overreaching metaphors bloomed like the tropical foliage just outside.

On the divisions:

At the march on D.C., there were T-shirts proclaiming "I am John Galt" and "Atlas Has Shrugged" alongside others that said "Obama Spends—Jesus Saves" or had the legend "Yes, He Did" beneath a picture of Christ on the cross. At Opryland, devout, abstemious Christians were breaking bread with followers of Ayn Rand's gospel of unbridled and atheistic self-interest. The convention, designed to unite the Tea Party movement, was helping to expose fundamental differences of belief and mindset between people who, before Nashville, had appeared as interchangeable members of a single angry crowd.

...As we sat down to our steak-and-jumbo-shrimp dinner, my neighbor said, sotto voce, for my ears only, "You know, I phoned my husband last night. I told him that being here has made me realize that I am a liberal conservative."

On Palin's speech / mad-lib:

Most of it was a rambling tour d'horizon of policy issues—national security, defense, Iran, the economy, bailouts, and debt—on which Palin had little more to offer than humdrum remarks like, "So, folks, with all these serious challenges ahead, we've got private-sector job creation that has got to take place and economic woes and health care, the war on terror."

...Palin remarked that "it would be wise of us to start seeking some divine intervention again in this country, so that we can be safe and secure and prosperous again"; the applause that met this line was intense but conspicuously scattered.

...The huge standing ovation ("Run, Sarah, Run!") at the end was more for the concept of Palin, her epiphanic appearance among us in the flesh, than it was for the lackluster speech she'd just delivered. On the way out of the convention center, I heard no one talking about how fired up they were by what they'd heard. In the elevator, a man said, "She messed up some of her lines. She'd've been better with a teleprompter."

(thanks to David Dark for sharing this on twitter (@daviddark)

Logic.

2010-02-26T09:43:00.009-06:00

"Kitty Lambert's Wedding"

This is a real and brilliant and remarkable minute and a bit. MAKE SURE TO Watch til the very end, and see how insane this injustice remains:

(via The Atlantic)

Watching Kitty's "marriage" inspired me to post some of my favorite satirical videos from the past few years parodying the complete lack of logic and total injustice in banning gay marriage. (see also my earlier blog posts on my thoughts on the issue HERE)

1. The Onion covers a new law would nullify marriages of an est 2.4 mil couples currently living in silent resentment or seething hatred:

New Law Would Ban Marriages Between People Who Don't Love Each Other

2. The 2010 California Marriage Protection Act: Safeguarding Marriage from the Evils of Divorce

Taking hypocrisy to task

Creator John Marcotte jokingly describes himself as "a firm believer in traditional family values. He currently opposes government-funded death panels, Obama talking to children and MSNBC's entire prime-time line-up."

In reality, John is a devout Christian, and happily married father of two who created this site to lampoon California's gay marriage ban out of his concern as a Christian, not in spite of it. Making these videos for his site ( http://rescuemarriage.org/ ) he says, "It is truly a blessing from God when your wife can walk in on you watching an Internet video and it actually moves you further from divorce, rather than closer to it." (more on his story HERE, as NPR's original post is no longer available).

3. Stephen Colbert creates his own Anti-Gay Marriage Ad (and it's fabulous)

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Skate Expectations

4 & 5. The Gaythering Storms (more parodies of the infamous NOM PSA)

"Stop it Storm!!" ft. Jane Lynch

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

"...and next they will come for me."

6. & 7. Comedians Stand Up

My Personal Favorite: Louis CK on Gay Marriage ("watch my cereal")

"I find this physically repulsive but I just want to win the argument."

[NOTE: Before watching you should be aware that in the mythical state of Canada (where Santa & Celine live) gay marriage is currently legal. *Oh and don't watch with kids in the room.]

Dylan Rhymer - Gay Marriage - watch more funny videos

8*. Last but not least: The Daily Show (*as in top 8...too many to just pick one)

Top 8 Gayest Marriagiest Daily Show Moments:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Mass. Hysteria

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Vancouverage 2010

Continue watching the rest of the best:

http://www.indecisionforever.com/2009/05/26/top-8-gayest-marriagiest-daily-show-moments/

Cowboys and Indians: Thoughts on War

2010-02-20T11:07:00.014-06:00

War & Education, Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, & the Myth of Redemptive Violence in 3 Parts:

Part 1. "Political Awakenings: An Unpublished Howard Zinn Inerview"
 from The Nation (Feb. 8, 2010)

Harry Kreisler: Before you were in college, you were working on the docks and you were involved in a demonstration at Times Square, and the police attacked. That is an example of a kind of event that changed your thinking, and that's an argument that you make in a lot of your history, that people can be changed by things that happen to them and act accordingly.

Howard Zinn: That's right. Sometimes it's one very vivid experience. Of course, it's never just one vivid experience, but it's that one experience coming on top of a kind of only semiconscious understanding that's been developed, and then it becomes crystallized by an event. I think that's what happened to me at the age of seventeen, when I was hit by a policeman and knocked unconscious. I woke up and said, my God, this is America, where, yes, there are bad guys and there are good guys, but the government is neutral. And when I saw that, no, the police are not neutral, the government is not neutral, that was a radical insight.

HK: Your involvement in the antiwar movement was informed, in part, by your experience as a soldier. In one of the last bombing missions of the war, you were a bombardier on a plane that was responsible for one of the first uses of napalm, on an innocent French village called Royan. Tell us about that experience and what you learned from it, and how it affected your activism in the antiwar movement and your view of war in general.

HZ: I enlisted in the Air Force. I volunteered. I was an enthusiastic bombardier. To me it was very simple: it was a war against fascism. They were the bad guys; we were the good guys. One of the things I learned from that experience was that when you start off with them being the bad guys and you being the good guys, once you've made that one decision, you don't have to think anymore, if you're in the military. From that point on, anything goes. From that point on, you're capable of anything, even atrocities. Because you've made a decision a long time ago that you're on the right side. You don't keep questioning, questioning, questioning. You're not Yossarian, who questions.

 And so, I was an enthusiastic bombardier, as I say. The war was over, presumably--a few weeks from the end. Everybody knew the war was about to end in Europe. We didn't think we were flying missions anymore. No reason to fly. We were all through France, into Germany. The Russians and Americans had met on the Elbe. It was just a matter of a few weeks. And then we were awakened in the wee hours of the morning and told we were going on a mission. The so-called intelligence people, who brief us before we go into a plane, tell us we are going to bomb this tiny town on the Atlantic coast of France called Royan, near Bordeaux, and we are doing it because there are several thousand German soldiers there. They are not doing anything. They are not bothering anyone. They are waiting for the war to end. They've just been bypassed. And we are going to bomb them.

What's interesting to me later, in thinking about it, is that it didn't occur to me to stand up in the briefing room and say, "What are we doing? Why are we doing this? The war is almost over, there is no need." It didn't occur to me. To this day, I understand how atrocities are committed. How the military mind works. You are taught to just mechanically go through the procedures that you have been taught, you see. So, we went over Royan, and they told us in the briefing that we were going to drop a different kind of bomb this time. Instead of the usual demolition bombs, we are going to drop thirty hundred-pound canisters of what they called jellied gasoline, which was napalm. It was the first use of napalm in the European war. We went over. We destroyed the German troops and also destroyed the French town of Royan. "Friendly fire." That's what bombing does.

To this day, when I hear the leaders of the country say, "Well, this is precision bombing and we are being very careful, and we are only bombing military"--that's nonsense. No matter how sophisticated the bombing technology, there is no way you can avoid killing nonmilitary people when you drop bombs. It wasn't until after the war that I looked back on that. In fact, it wasn't until after Hiroshima and Nagasaki that I looked back on that. Because after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which at first I had welcomed like everybody at that time did--"Oh yes, the war is going to be over"--then I read John Hershey's bookHiroshima, and for the first time the human consequences of dropping the bomb were brought home to me in a way I hadn't thought of. When you are dropping bombs from 30,000 feet you don't hear screams. You don't see blood.

I suddenly saw what the bomb in Hiroshima did. I began to rethink the whole question of a "good war." I came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a good war. They may start off with good intentions, at least on the part of the people who fight in them. Generally not on the part of the people who make the decision; I doubt they have good intentions. But there may be good intentions on the part of the GIs who believe, yes, we are doing this for a good cause. But those good intentions are quickly corrupted. The good guys become the bad guys. So I became convinced that war is not a solution, fundamentally, for any serious problem. It may seem like a solution, like a quick fix, a drug. You get rid of this dictator, that dictator, as we did Hitler, Mussolini. But you don't solve fundamental problems. In the meantime, you've killed tens of millions of people.

...continue reading the rest of the interview HERE

 Part 2. "No Exit" by Andrew Bacevich
 from The American Conservative (Feb. 1, 2010) 

America has an impressive record of starting wars but a dismal one of ending them well...  

What are we to make of this record? For Krauthammer, Boot, and Barnes, the lessons are clear: dial up the rhetoric, increase military spending, send in more troops, and give the generals a free hand. The important thing, writes William Kristol in his own assessment of Obama’s Afghanistan decision, is to have a commander in chief who embraces “the use of military force as a key instrument of national power.” If we just keep trying, one of these times things will surely turn out all right. 

An alternative reading of our recent military past might suggest the following: first, that the political utility of force—the range of political problems where force possesses real relevance—is actually quite narrow; second, that definitive victory of the sort that yields a formal surrender ceremony at Appomattox or on the deck of an American warship tends to be a rarity; third, that ambiguous outcomes are much more probable, with those achieved at a cost far greater than even the most conscientious war planner is likely to anticipate; and fourth, that the prudent statesman therefore turns to force only as a last resort and only when the most vital national interests are at stake. Contra Kristol, force is an “instrument” in the same sense that a slot machine or a roulette wheel qualifies as an instrument.

To consider the long bloody chronicle of modern history, big wars and small ones alike, is to affirm the validity of these conclusions. Bellicose ideologues will pretend otherwise. Such are the vagaries of American politics that within the Beltway the views expressed by these ideologues—few of whom have experienced war—will continue to be treated as worthy of consideration. One sees the hand of God at work: the Lord obviously has an acute appreciation for irony. 

...continue reading the rest of the article HERE

 
Part 3. "Facing the Myth of Redemptive Violence" by Walter Wink 
essay hosted by Ekklesia (2007) - full publication in The Powers That Be (1999) 

The belief that violence “saves” is so successful because it doesn’t seem to be mythic in the least. Violence simply appears to be the nature of things. It’s what works. It seems inevitable, the last and, often, the first resort in conflicts. If a god is what you turn to when all else fails, violence certainly functions as a god. What people overlook, then, is the religious character of violence. It demands from its devotees an absolute obedience- unto-death. 

This Myth of Redemptive Violence is the real myth of the modern world. It, and not Judaism or Christianity or Islam, is the dominant religion in our society today...

When the good guy finally wins, viewers are then able to reassert control over their own inner tendencies, repress them, and re-establish a sense of goodness without coming to any insight about their own inner evil. The villain’s punishment provides catharsis; one forswears the villain’s ways and heaps condemnation on him in a guilt-free orgy of aggression. Salvation is found through identification with the hero.

  The Myth of Redemptive Violence is the simplest, laziest, most exciting, uncomplicated, irrational, and primitive depiction of evil the world has even known... 

...continue reading the full essay HERE

images from Global Issues: "World Military Spending"

P.S.(a) An effective little ad:

One Less Thing

2010-02-03T20:11:00.008-06:00

One Thing More

By Matthew Perryman Jones & Neilson Hubbard

What really matters
When it's all been said
And don't know what we've done
Climbing the ladder
With a tighter fist
Looking out for number one
I will not let you drag me down

Maybe it's all not enough
I think we're feeling the weight of a broken love
We're stuck on a stage of parading lust
It seems it's always only one thing more
It's always only one thing more

What's in the mirror
Are there tired eyes
Lookin' back for something new
Is it any clearer
Does the loneliness of ambition bother you
I will not let you drag me down

Nobody calls you by your name
Your hand's on the mouth of fear
All that you build will fall in flame
I will not let you drag me down
Seems it's always only one thing more
It's always only one thing more
Maybe it's all not enough
Maybe it's all too much
Maybe it's never enough
Seems it's always only one thing more
It's always only one thing more

Here we are again: My 'Best of 2009' Lists

2009-12-30T17:26:00.018-06:00

The Best Music, Movies, TV, & Books of 2009 in my little world.

MUSIC:

Fun. - Aim & Ignite
Brandi Carlile - Give Up the Ghost - {"I laid this suitcase on my chest so I could feel somebody's weight."}
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth
Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome - {"...we affix all their scars to our walls so there’s heartbreak for everyone"}
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Sufjan Stevens - The BQE
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane - {"If it doesn't break your heart, it isn't love."}
Thad Cockrell - To Be Loved
The Mountain Goats - Life of the World to Come
Monsters of Folk - s/t
Wilco - s/t
St. Vincent - Actor
Gregory Alan Isakov - This Empty Northern Hemisphere
Sara Groves - Fireflies & Songs
Regina Spektor - Far
M. Ward - Hold Time

Yet to Hear from 2009: Mew, Passion Pit, Dirty Projectors, Girls

MOVIES:

Inglorious Basterds - dir. Quentin Tarantino
A Serious Man - Joel & Ethan Coen - {"Just look at that parking lot."}
Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson
Antichrist - Lars von Trier
Where the Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze
Anvil - Sacha Gervasi
Nine - Rob Marshall - {"You're just an appetite..."}
Humpday - Lynn Shelton
District 9 - Neill Blomkamp
Avatar - James Cameron
Observe & Report - Jody Hill
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman
The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow
Watchmen - Zack Snyder
Coraline - Henry Selick
Up - P. Docter & B. Peterson
Baader Meinhoff Complex - Uli Edel
Sin Nombre - Cary Fukunaga
Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince - David Yates
(500) Days of Summer - Marc Webb

Yet to See: A Single Man, Moon, Invictus, Precious, Sugar, The Limits of Control, In the Loop, Che & Summer Hours

DOCUMENTARIES:

Anvil - dir. Sasha Gervasi
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea - Ken Burns - {"Man can only mar it."}
The Cove - Louie Psihoyos
Food Inc. - Robert Kenner
This is It - Kenny Ortega

Yet to See: The Yes Men Fix the World, & My Neighbor My Killer

On the TEEVEEs:

Glee - {"We're not naming our baby Drizzle."}
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Daily Show / Colbert Report
South Park
30 Rock

Yet to (really) See: Mad Men (come on Hulu!)

BOOKS:

Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder - {"...don't wait for people to feel like their lives are not worth living. Once they feel that way, how are they going to feel about another person's life?"}
Animal Dialogues - Craig Childs - {"...people tell me at times they wish to get in touch with the animal spirit. I will tell you this about the animal spirit: it will tear you in two as quickly as it will bring you wholeness. It is not a thing of value or judgment. It is a thing of purity, and it will not take issue with either death or ecstasy."}
Sacredness of Questioning Everything - David Dark
Production Diary from the Heart of Darkness - Werner Herzog
Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller

Yet to Read: The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics, Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion (or Atheism), & How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read (though, clearly, I should just say I've read it)

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T20:30:00.003-06:00

The Word Became Flesh
John 1:1-18

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, [1] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, [2] and his own people [3] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, [4] who is at the Father's side, [5] he has made him known.

Winter

2009-12-15T00:31:00.006-06:00

"Before it Breaks" - Brandi Carlile

Around here it's the hardest time of year.
And waking up, the days are even gone.
Will the collar on my coat,
Lord help me kill off the cold?
Will the raindrops sting my eyes or keep them closed?

but I'm feeling no pain
only the lonely
and my quietest friend
Have I the moonlight?
Have I let you in?
Say it ain't so,
say I'm happy again.

Say it's over.
Say I'm dreaming.
Say I'm better than you left me.

Say you're sorry.

I can take it.

Say you'll wait.
Say you won't.
Say you love me.
Say you don't.
I can make my own mistakes.
Let it bend before it breaks.

I'm alright, don't I always seem to be?
aren't I swinging on the stars?
Don't I wear em' on my sleeves?
But when you're looking for a crossroads,
it happens every day.
And whichever way you turn,
I'm gonna turn the other way.

And say it's over.
Say I'm dreaming.
Say I'm better than you left me.
Say you're sorry.
I can take it.
Say you'll wait.
Say you won't.
Say you love me.
Say you don't.
I can make my own mistakes.
Learn to let it bend before it breaks.

photos from Oconomowoc, WI

2 Songs for November

2009-11-07T23:54:00.007-06:00

I'm going to see some friends from out of state
The very trip that you were supposed to take a while ago
But it fell through
Like all of you
Like all of you

Thought I'd make the drive but a free plane ride is in
the air
And just like that my fear of it disappeared
Like all of you
Like all of you

And I look high and low for yesterday
High and low for you and I
High and low

Once I can see straight I might move somewhere cold
Seattle or the bay area, to see your ghost
What's left of you
What's left of you

And I look high and low for yesterday
High and low for you and I
High and low

Found a letter from a man I might have met, addressed
to you
And I'll steal the words he ended with:
I miss you
And I do
Miss you
And I do

High and low for yesterday
High and low for you and I
High and low

- Greg Laswell - "High and Low"

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

Take your time coming home.
Hear the wheels as they roll.
Let your lungs fill up with smoke.
Forgive everyone.

She is here and now she is gone
We had plans, we can't help but make love.

It's a beautiful thing when we you love somebody,
And I love somebody.
Yeah I love somebody.

Take your time coming home.
Hear the wheels as they roll.
Let your lungs fill with smoke.
Forgive everyone.
I don't think I'd been misled,
it was a rocknroll band,
I'm still standing,
Take your time coming home.

See, of everyone who called,
Very few said "We believe in you."
The overwhelming choice said
I'm just a boy inside a voice
and if that's true, if that's true, if that's true,
then what the fuck have I been doing the last six years?
How did I end up here?
How did I find love and conquer all my fears?
See, I made it out.
Out from under the sun.
And the truth is that I feel better because I've forgiven everyone.

Now I'm not scared
of a song
or the states,
or the stages.
I'm not scared.
I've got friends,
took my call,
came courageous.
Now I feel like I am home.

One more thing, I keep having this dream
where I'm standing on a mountain
Looking out, on the street
I can hear kids in low-income housing singing
"We're through with causing a scene"
I don't know what it means
But I too, I'm through with causing a scene.

She is here and now I think she's ready to go.
For every love that's lost I heard a new one comes.

So come on with me, sing along with me,
Let the wind catch your feet.
If you love somebody,
you'd better let them know.

Take your time coming home.

- fun. - "Take Your Time Coming Home"

11 years later, Hate Crimes Bill Passes

2009-10-28T17:22:00.009-05:00

This blog post contains an excerpt from something I posted back in March. I'm reposting it because there is cause to celebrate today. 11 years after his death, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill that was fought so hard for has been approved by Congress and today signed by the president and sealed in law.

I cannot overstate the importance of this moment. This is the first time ANY federal equality measure protecting LGBT rights has become law. The very first time.

However, in stating this there cannot only be celebration but an effort to talk about why this was necessary in the first place. For example on NPR even, people are asking questions about why you need additional laws for already illegal crimes.

Example: "We have laws already that protect everyone. Is murdering someone who is a black gay women worse than murdering a white man? If people want to be treated equal then the laws should be equal."

Questions like these at first seem logical when you think of sin (or wrongdoing if you like) as purely individual. However, sin isn't just an action that is personal, but it can also be systemic. This systemic injustice is at the heart of what makes a hate crime so dangerous. So here we go...

from my blog on March, 11 2009:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/us/23oxnard.html

Larry (Lawrence King), 15, had said publicly that he was gay, classmates said, enduring harassment from a group of schoolmates, including the 14-year-old boy, Brandon, charged in his death. Larry asked Brandon to be his valentine and the following day the 14-yr-old came to school and shot Larry in the head.

“God knit Larry together and made him wonderfully complex,” the Rev. Dan Birchfield of Westminster Presbyterian Church told the crowd as he stood in front of a large photograph of the victim. “Larry was a masterpiece.”

'Why we can't wait'

Your vote this year has the power to save lives and will affect millions of homosexual people in this country. This is why the Matthew Shepard Act matters, and why a position against it as a Christian is not just debatable but unconscionable...

Hate crimes differ from conventional crime because they are not directed simply at an individual, but are meant to cause fear and intimidation in an entire group or class of people.
All violent crimes are reprehensible, but hate crimes require additional emphasis in the justice system because they target a whole group and not just the individual victim. A violent hate crime is intended to "send a message" that an individual and "their kind" will not be tolerated, many times leaving the victim and others in their group feeling isolated, vulnerable and unprotected. Our justice system should then be able to "send a message" right back that there are not "less than human" unprotected members of society.

The Supreme Court ruled that, "bias-motivated crimes are more likely to provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict distinct emotional harms on their victims, and incite community unrest." And stated that, "When the core of a person's identity is attacked, the degradation and dehumanization is especially severe, and additional emotional and physiological problems are likely to result. Society then, in turn, can suffer from the disempowerment of a group of people."

If that all seems too heady, here's the more practical component. Hate crime legislation gives federal authorities greater ability to engage in crime investigations that local authorities choose not to pursue, and allow courts to consider and present motive in cases in which it previously went unheard. It supports appeals from cases dismissed due to local bias or foul-play. There are countless cases of crimes against individuals dismissed or lessened due to bias. Take the Jena 6 story right now. Without hate crime legislation, it is often harder for victims to have recourse when justice isn't served. This is not only sensible but completely necessary and it should undoubtedly apply to sexual orientation considering that 20% of hate crimes apply to it.

The church is moving forward in many of the arenas in which it has exercised poor judgment. The Catholic church recently unveiled its list of "social" sins declaring that the individual not only sins against him/herself but also systemically against portions of society in a globalized world. Even the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention recently stated that on Global Warming that if it didn't change its stance that it would be disregarded as "uncaring, reckless, and ill-informed johnny-come-lately's just as it had during segregation and slavery and that the poor would be the first to suffer. But despite all of this understanding of implication, nearly everyone, even progressive Christian ethics groups like Sojourners are steering clear of "the gay issue" in America. Why? Why can Christian America love anyone except for their gay neighbor (or mexican one for that matter). Why do Christians in America so hate gays? Christians have to step up on this even if they don't agree with homosexuals. The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, demands care for the "other," and declares the ramifications for those who don't. Regardless of an individual's views on the issues, the church has to be out front on human rights abuses. Are murder, violence and abuse ever acceptable toward anyone? Even more fundamental: Is Love Conditional? These shouldn't be questions the church is allowing to go unanswered. You can't play neutral on this one and come out clean.

"I join the oppressors of those I choose to ignore,
and that's not just murder,
it's suicide."

- derek webb

Further thoughts:

MLK's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" : http://www.mlkonline.net/jail.html

a must see film on the issue: http://www.forthebibletellsmeso.org

Did he deserve it?

2009-10-09T17:18:00.003-05:00

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Norwegian committee said in its statement announcing the prize. "Paramount in the committee's decision has been the president's commitment to diplomacy over warfare, and even more significantly a daring and imaginative idea to rid the world of the ultimate terror with which humanity has lived since Hiroshima."

It seems clear that the award given to the President today was part symbol, part down-payment on a promise, and part reward for successful efforts. Was he the most deserving of the award? It's hard to say. I would argue that he was probably not the best candidate based on actions achieved (the President said so himself: Preliminary Acceptance Speech), but perhaps he was the best candidate based on what could be accomplished through the giving of the award. I have only my opinions and my own education to serve me and nothing more. Some of his actions have been very successful, while many of his policy efforts have yet to bear fruit, or are only just beginning to do so. I can tell you however what he didn't deserve: The lambasting from his critics; the disdain from the "know-nothings" who continue to dominate the public debates.

Constructive criticism is a positive part of democracy, but Destructive criticism for the sake of attack, and often void of logic, is pure politics. Most people who don't follow politics have asked, "what has he done?" There will always be those who take no time to educate themselves yet enjoy throwing stones and operate out of pure dissonance. There's no point even addressing them. However, those who do understand the way our government works and still attack the president are just out to get him. They are not going to give him a chance and they never intended to.

For those who desire to be better than their ideologue counterparts, for those interested in being thoughtful, being permeable, and being informed, the following is a short list of only some of the Obama administration’s recent accomplishments:

FOREIGN POLICY & PEACE

"The basic bargain is sound: Countries with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, countries without nuclear weapons will not acquire them, and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy. If we are serious about stopping the spread of these weapons, then we should put an end to the dedicated production of weapons-grade materials that create them. That's the first step." - President Obama (in Prague, April 5, 2009)

Progress

Ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay and a review of our detention and interrogation policy, and prohibited the use of torture.

Appointed Special Envoys for Climate Change, Southwest Asia, the Middle East, Sudan, and a Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Announced a plan to responsibly end the War in Iraq.
Announced a new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Announced a strategy to address the international nuclear threat. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Non-proliferation talks have been renewed, and a global summit on nuclear security has been hosted. He has strengthened the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by providing resources for international inspections and establishing "real and immediate consequences for countries caught breaking the rules or trying to leave the treaty without cause." He will also boost support for the nation's Proliferation Security Initiative and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism to make them into "durable international institutions."
Agreed to negotiation of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia.
Established a new "U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue".
Announced new policy steps towards Cuba.
Multilateral diplomacy with partnering international bodies/states has regained a central position. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.
His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.
Renewed dialogue with NATO and other allies and partners on strategic issues.
Set a completely new agenda for the Muslim world and East-West relations.

ECONOMY

Progress

The President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

“The massive stimulus package passed last year to blunt the impact of the worst U.S. recession in 70 years created up to 2.1 million jobs in the last three months of 2009, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.” It also lowered the unemployment rate by 2.1% and added 3.5% of economic growth during said quarter. “In CBO’s judgment, that outcome reflects greater-than-projected weakness in the underlying economy rather than lower-than-expected effects” of the stimulus, the research office said. The package is likely to have the greatest impact this year, according to CBO. It is expected to boost GDP by between 1.4 percent and 4 percent and bring down the unemployment rate by between 0.7 percent and 1.8 percent in 2010, higher figures than last year when many of its programs were being set up. The impact is expected to trail off over the next two years. Direct purchasing of goods and services by the federal government and states have been the most effective provision of the act, CBO said. Among the least effective: a tax cut for the wealthy." [http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2311303720100223}

The President announced the "Making Home Affordable" home refinancing plan.
The President launched a $15 billion plan to boost lending to small businesses.
The President and Secretary Geithner announced the details of the Financial Stability Plan.
President Obama played a lead role in G-20 Summit that produced a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis.
The President signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act which gives the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud, from lending to the financial system, and creates a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial practices that brought us to this point.
The President signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures, providing $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness , and helping to stabilize the housing market for everybody.

The President signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act to protect Americans from unfair and deceptive credit card practices.

DISABILITY

Progress

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included a number of provisions of particular concern to people with disabilities.

The Act included $500 million to help the Social Security Administration reduce its backlog in processing disability applications.
The Act supplied $12.2 billion in funding to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA);
The Act also provided $87 billion to states to bolster their Medicaid programs during the downturn; and,
The Act provided over $500 million in funding for vocational rehabilitation services to help with job training, education and placement.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Progress

The President signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers.
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act will be signed by years end.

EDUCATION

Progress

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested heavily in education both as a way to provide jobs now and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity.

The Act includes $5 billion for early learning programs, including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, and programs for children with special needs.
The Act also provides $77 billion for reforms to strengthen elementary and secondary education, including $48.6 billion to stabilize state education budgets (of which $8.8 billion may be used for other government services) and to encourage states to:

Make improvements in teacher effectiveness and ensure that all schools have highly-qualified teachers;
Make progress toward college and career-ready standards and rigorous assessments that will improve both teaching and learning;
Improve achievement in low-performing schools, through intensive support and effective interventions; and
Gather information to improve student learning, teacher performance, and college and career readiness through enhanced data systems.

The Act provides $5 billion in competitive funds to spur innovation and chart ambitious reform to close the achievement gap.
The Act includes over $30 billion to address college affordability and improve access to higher education.

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

"So we have a choice to make. We can remain one of the world's leading importers of foreign oil, or we can make the investments that would allow us to become the world's leading exporter of renewable energy. We can let climate change continue to go unchecked, or we can help stop it. We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad, or we can create those jobs right here in America and lay the foundation for lasting prosperity."

-President Obama, March 19, 2009

Progress

In his first 100 days, President Obama reversed or put on hold a number of misguided Bush administration policies, signaling a more balanced use of public lands. He also put muscle behind campaign promises to reinstate science in federal decision making and to advance a clean energy future. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included more than $60 billion in clean energy investments that will jump-start our economy and build the clean energy jobs of tomorrow:

$11 billion for a bigger, better, and smarter grid that will move renewable energy from the rural places it is produced to the cities where it is mostly used, as well as for 40 million smart meters to be deployed in American homes.
$5 billion for low-income home weatherization projects.
$4.5 billion to green federal buildings and cut our energy bill, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
$6.3 billion for state and local renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts.
$600 million in green job training programs – $100 million to expand line worker training programs and $500 million for green workforce training.
$2 billion in competitive grants to develop the next generation of batteries to store energy.
$2.3 billion in tax credits for the clean energy manufacturing sector, a move aimed at creating 17,000 jobs. (http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/08/news/economy/green_manufacturing_jobs/index.htm)

Increasing, for the first time in more than a decade, the fuel economy standards for Model Year 2011 for cars and trucks so they will get better mileage, saving drivers money and spurring companies to develop more innovative products.

The President issued a memorandum to the Department of Energy to implement more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances, like dishwashers and refrigerators. Through this step, over the next three decades, we’ll save twice the amount of energy produced by all the coal-fired power plants in America in any given year.
Supporting the first steps of a legally-binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide.
On Earth Day 2009, the President unveiled a program to develop the renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents. These regulations will enable, for the first time ever, the nation to tap into our ocean’s vast sustainable resources to generate clean energy in an environmentally sound and safe manner.
Executive Order Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration
Utah oil and gas leases put on hold:
The Department of the Interior withdraws from sale 77 disputed oil and gas leases sold by the Bush administration on environmentally sensitive lands in Utah. Some of the leases were in areas proposed for designation as wilderness.
Closed–door policy overturned:
The president signs executive orders that would improve the transparency of rulemaking. These orders require his staff to consider the non-market benefits of rulemaking, such as the environment and public health.

“Look before you lease” policy:
The Bureau of Land Management directs land managers to more carefully review environmentally sensitive tracts of federal lands proposed for oil and gas development before offering them for lease sale, especially if such tracts contained wilderness values, sensitive species, or other environmentally significant attributes.
Oil shale lease solicitation withdrawn:
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announces the withdrawal of a Bush administration proposal to issue more oil shale “research, development and demonstration” leases in the West, seeking more public input about this energy- and water-intensive fuel source before any decisions on further leasing are made.
Greater funding for conservation proposed:
The administration proposes budget for fiscal year 2010 calling for increased appropriations for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, national wildlife refuges, national parks, wildfire management, and other environmental programs that have suffered from chronic underfunding.
Off-shore leasing delayed:
The Secretary of the Interior extends the comment period on the Bush administration’s hastily prepared Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing program, and prepares to embark upon an April series of public meetings on the East, West, and Gulf Coasts to solicit more public input before making any new OCS leasing decisions.

More than 2 million acres of wilderness designated:
The president signs the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, designating more than two million acres of federal public lands as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The law also codifies the National Landscape Conservation System and designates 86 wild and scenic rivers.
Bush’s northern spotted owl plan withdrawn:
The Obama administration asks a federal district court for permission to withdraw the Bush administration’s deeply flawed northern spotted owl recovery plan and revision of that species’ critical habitat.
Energy/climate change task force formed, renewable energy given priority:
Secretary of the Interior Salazar issues a secretarial order making environmentally-sensitive renewable energy development a top priority on public lands. The order establishes a task force led out of the Secretary’s office that will identify preferred areas on the public lands for renewable energy development.
Gray wolf removed from the endangered species list:
The administration takes the gray wolf off the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho, while leaving the predator under federal protection in Wyoming. The administration said that wolf populations and management prescriptions met the original goals for the recovery program established by the Clinton administration in Montana and Idaho.

Endangered Species Act revived:
The administration reinstates requirements that federal agencies consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before undertaking projects that might affect threatened or endangered plants and animals.
EPA finds greenhouse gasses a danger to public health:
The EPA issues a draft finding that, under the Clean Air Act, greenhouse gasses are a danger to public health and welfare, the first step in regulating these pollutants under that act.
Coal strip-mining precautions reinstated:
Before departing office, the Bush administration gutted a federal regulation adopted during the Reagan administration that prohibited coal strip mining activities within 100 feet of streams. Secretary of the Interior Salazar announces that the 100-foot buffer zone rule would be reinstated.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Progress

The President signed an Executive Order on government contracting to fight waste and abuse.
The President launched Recovery.gov to track spending from the Recovery Act, an unprecedented step to provide transparency and accountability through technology.
The President wrote to the congressional leadership calling on them to pass statutory Pay-As-You-Go rules so that any new non-emergency tax cut or entitlement expansion offset in the budget.
The President signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to stop fraud and wasteful spending in the defense procurement and contracting system.

HEALTH CARE

"I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. It will be hard. But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough. So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."

– President Barack Obama, February 24, 2009

Progress

The President signed the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act on February 4, 2009, which provides quality health care to 11 million kids – 4 million who were previously uninsured.
Announced creation of a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record for members of the U.S. Armed Forces to improve quality of medical care.

The President’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act protects health coverage for 7 million Americans who lose their jobs through a 65 percent COBRA subsidy to make coverage affordable.
The Recovery Act also invests $19 billion in computerized medical records that will help to reduce costs and improve quality while ensuring patients’ privacy.
The Recovery Act also provides:

$1 billion for prevention and wellness to improve America’s health and help to reduce health care costs;
$1.1 billion for research to give doctors tools to make the best treatment decisions for their patients by providing objective information on the relative benefits of treatments; and
$500 million for health workforce to help train the next generation of doctors and nurses.

TRANSPARENCY
Progress: Obama moved to curb government secrets

Declassified over 400 million government documents from Cold War era to present and changed the way federal agencies review how and why they mark documents classified or deny the release of historical records. This was the largest declassification in US History (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121681403&ft=1&f=)

Government procedures all broadcast / videotaped via CSPAN

TAXES

Progress

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included a broad range of tax cuts aimed at making the tax code more fair and supporting the middle class:

95% of all working families will receive a tax cut
70% of the tax benefits goes to the middle 60% of American workers
2 million families will be lifted out of poverty by the tax cuts in the Recovery Act
More than $150 billion in tax cuts will help low-income and vulnerable households during the economic recovery
About 1 Million jobs will be created or saved by these tax cuts alone
$2.3 billion in tax credits for the clean energy manufacturing sector, a move aimed at creating 17,000 jobs.

The President's Acceptance Speech Today

(abridged text - full speech in video above)

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

non-linked info from white house.gov, http://obama-truth.blogspot.com/2009/08/defending-president.html, sierraclub.org, nytimes.com, nobelpeaceprize.org

Oh Autumn...

2009-10-05T23:54:00.002-05:00

The heart is a lonely thing to lose in the dead of night
The heart is a sad thing to lose in the throws of a fight
The heart is the match to the fire
And the embers of desire, to keep it burning

I am a shell of the manner and the means
Mine is a story of nothing as it seems
But when we have come this far
And still don't know who we are, does it keep burning?

When it's over, and you see it with your eyes
Would you rather have the truth or a lie?

I call for angels to breathe holy on this rust
I call the snakes to come and slowly from the brush
I need a massive overhaul
A revival to fall, to keep it burning

The heart is a costly thing to sell in the prime of the years
And my heart is thinly veiled in the usual fears
The heart is the dream, and the kiss
That there could be more than this, to keep it burning.

- Caedmon's Call

Information VS. Ammunition

2009-09-28T16:21:00.002-05:00

This is the best short story I've seen making a case against the current news media culture and practices. I usually just share things so I can keep a bookmark & catalogue it, and I'm happy and surprised if anyone reads it. This time if you're reading this, I'd really like to ask you to read the article and if it speaks to you please share it. I think this is important.

The URL for this page is http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200910/media

With journalists being laid off in droves, ideologues have stepped forward to provide the “reporting” that feeds the 24-hour news cycle. The collapse of journalism means that the quest for information has been superseded by the quest for ammunition. A case-study of our post-journalistic age.
by Mark Bowden / THE ATLANTIC
The Story Behind the Story

IF YOU HAPPENED to be watching a television news channel on May 26, the day President Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, you might have been struck, as I was, by what seemed like a nifty investigative report.
First came the happy announcement ceremony at the White House, with Sotomayor sweetly saluting her elderly mother, who as a single parent had raised the prospective justice and her brother in a Bronx housing project. Obama had chosen a woman whose life journey mirrored his own: an obscure, disadvantaged beginning followed by blazing academic excellence, an Ivy League law degree, and a swift rise to power. It was a moving TV moment, well-orchestrated and in perfect harmony with the central narrative of the new Obama presidency.
But then, just minutes later, journalism rose to perform its time-honored pie-throwing role. Having been placed by the president on a pedestal, Sotomayor was now a clear target. I happened to be watching Fox News. I was slated to appear that night on one of its programs, Hannity, to serve as a willing foil to the show’s cheerfully pugnacious host, Sean Hannity, a man who can deliver a deeply held conservative conviction on any topic faster than the speed of thought. Since the host knew what the subject matter of that night’s show would be and I did not, I’d thought it best to check in and see what Fox was preoccupied with that afternoon.
With Sotomayor, of course—and the network’s producers seemed amazingly well prepared. They showed a clip from remarks she had made on an obscure panel at Duke University in 2005, and then, reaching back still farther, they showed snippets from a speech she had made at Berkeley Law School in 2001. Here was this purportedly moderate Latina judge, appointed to the federal bench by a Republican president and now tapped for the Supreme Court by a Democratic one, unmasked as a Race Woman with an agenda. In one clip she announced herself as someone who believed her identity as a “Latina woman” (a redundancy, but that’s what she said) made her judgment superior to that of a “white male,” and in the other she all but unmasked herself as a card-carrying member of the Left Wing Conspiracy to use America’s courts not just to apply and interpret the law but, in her own words, to make policy, to perform an end run around the other two branches of government and impose liberal social policies by fiat on an unsuspecting American public.
In the Duke clip, she not only stated that appellate judges make policy, she did so in a disdainful mock disavowal before a chuckling audience of apparently like-minded conspirators. “I know this is on tape and I should never say that, because we don’t make law, I know,” she said before being interrupted by laughter. “Okay, I know. I’m not promoting it, I’m not advocating it, I’m … you know,” flipping her hands dismissively. More laughter...
STORY CONTINUED - http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200910/media

A Conscionable Voice in Unconscionable Debate

2009-09-05T16:53:00.006-05:00

Moyers prophetically calls for fearlessness and an end to the moral compromises giving our leaders, particularly our president, the call to obey conscience. Know I don't like Maher, but it's not Maher talking, it's Moyers and it's well worth watching. All 3 Parts.

Bill Maher Interviews Bill Moyers: The conscience of a nation Pt 1

Part 2: "We can't say it's over. What makes us great, we're not smarter than other people... [but] we have that self-correcting faculty...We've waiting almost until the ship has sunk. We're close to losing the moral, financial, and economic muscle and the wisdom that makes a huge nation, a great nation. But it's never too late." - Moyers

Bill Maher Interviews Bill Moyers: The conscience of a nation Pt 2

Part 3 "back up the rhetoric."

Bill Maher Interviews Bill Moyers: The conscience of a nation Pt 3

Source: www.youtube.com

Re-reading my favorite book up until my birthday

2009-08-13T18:20:00.005-05:00

...It is chomp or fast. Earlier this evening I brought in a handful of the gnawed mock-orange hedge and cherry tree leaves; they are uncurling now, limp and bluish, on the top of this desk. They didn’t escape, but their time was almost up anyway. Already outside a corky ring of tissue is thickening around the base of each leaf stem, strangling each leaf one by one. The summer is old. A gritty, colorless dust cakes the melons and squashes, and worms fatten within on the bright, sweet flesh. The world is festering with suppurating sores. Where is the good, whole fruit? The world “Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, / Nor certitude, nor peace nor help for pain.” I’ve been there, seen it, done it, I suddenly think, and the world is old, a hungry old man fatigued and broken past mending. Have I walked too much, aged beyond my years? I see the copperhead shining new on a rock altar over a fetid pool where a forest should grow. I see the knob-footed killdeer, the tattered butterflies and birds, the snapping turtle festooned with black leeches. There are the flies that make a wound, the flies that find a wound, and a hungry world that won’t wait till I’m decently dead.

“In nature,” wrote Huston Smith, “ the emphasis is in what is rather than what ought to be.” I learn this lesson in a new way every day. It must be, I think tonight, that in a certain sense only the newborn in this world are whole, that as adults we are expected to be, and necessarily, somewhat nibbled. It’s par for the course… Is our birthright and heritage to be, like Jacob’s cattle on which the life of a nation was founded, “ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted” not with the spangling marks of a grace like beauty rained down from eternity, but with the blotched assaults and quarryings of time?...

But the sight of the leeched turtle and the frayed flighted things means something else. I think of the green insect shaking the web from its wings, and of the whale-scarred crab-eater seals. They demand a certain respect. The only way I can reasonably talk about all this is to address you directly and frankly as a fellow survivor. Here we so incontrovertibly are. Sub specie aeternitatis this may all look different, from inside the blackened gut beyond the narrow craw, but now, although we hear the buzz in our ears and the crashing of the jaws at our heels, we can look around as those who are nibbled but unbroken, from the shimmering vantage of the living. Here may not be the cleanest, newest place, but that clean timeless place that vaults on either side of this one is no place at all. “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.” There are no more chilling, invigorating words than these of Christ’s, “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.”

That the world is old and frayed is no surprise; that the world could ever become new and whole beyond uncertainty was, and is, such a surprise that I find myself referring all subsequent kinds of knowledge to it… knowledge does not vanquish mystery, or obscure its distant lights.

I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done my share of eating too. I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits, but instead am wandering awed about on a splintered wreck I’ve come to care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air, whose bloodied and scarred creatures are my dearest companions, and whose beauty beats and shines not in its imperfections but overwhelmingly in spite of them, under the wind-rent clouds, upstream and down. Simone Weil says it simply, “Let us love the country of here below. It is real; it offers resistance to love.”

- Annie Dillard (excerpts from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek)

Some connected thoughts at 2am

2009-08-05T02:06:00.007-05:00

...These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

- Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln (Mar.4, 1865)

“The love for equals is a human thing – of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles. The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing – the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world. The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing – to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints. And then there is the love for the enemy – love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world."
- Frederick Buechner

If that's all that you will be
Then you'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams
None seem to stick in your mind

Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that
Nobody cares at all

I want to be where I've never been before
I want to be there and then I'd understand
Know I'm right and do it right
Could I get to be like that
How to know what I don't know
Nothing more to gain

Will I get better or stay the same?
I find I always move too slowly
Can't lift a finger
Can't change my mind
I never knew till someone told me that

If that's all that you will be
Then you'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams
None seem to stick in your mind

Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that
Nobody cares at all

And all the people who've seen it all before
And all the people who already understand
Know they're right
and done it right
Could I get to be like that?
I don't know and I don't know
It's harder everyday

Can't lift a finger
Can't hurt a fly
I find I always move too slowly
One thing's for certain
I'm insecure
I never knew till someone told me that

If that's all that you will be
Then you'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams
None seem to stick in your mind

Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that
Nobody cares at all
Nobody cares at all
They never cared at all
   - guster

It comes and goes in waves

2009-07-09T00:13:00.003-05:00

Yeah, went MIA. My blogging season is taking a break. I'm sure I'll have another stint of these in the future. Busy with work, quarter-life, love & loss & love, car wrecks & bike rides, thinking about wanting to work-out maybe, Abraham Lincoln, the 80's, and tiger petting schemes. I seem to be tweeting and still posting items on facebook. So you should probably just stalk me there or you can always call. I like that.

twitter.com/matthewryanward
facebook.com/matthewryanward

The Line

2009-05-15T16:12:00.009-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Moral Kombat

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Ron Paul Interview

“America's war on terror has indeed tested our resolve. We've pushed the limits of our own principles. From warrantless wiretapping, to building a prison outside of our own legal jurisdiction, to not releasing photos depicting our treatment of detainees, to the treatment of detainees itself. ‘Every asset we have must be used all in the service of keeping American safe.’ Is there any line we still will not cross? ....Awww, that's the line!
---- So it was ok to waterboard a guy over 80 times but God forbid the guy who could understand what that prick was saying has a boyfriend.”

We'll build that border fence now.

2009-04-24T08:55:00.001-05:00

Wonkette : Texas Secession Movement Gaining Momentum, With the Rest of America

Fine, Austin is “okay.” And lightly populated West Texas is very nice, what with Big Bend National Park and the Mexican town of El Paso and whatever, as it’s really part of the Southwest. But Texas, that dipshit dismal swamp between, oh, Dallas and Corpus Christi, where the vast majority of the Texans live? It’s just the fucking South. A dumb, toxic shithole that produces little more than incredible assholes, many of whom then insist on taking part in American life. The last “good” Texan in politics was LBJ, and he was a goddamned monster. So, here is the new commercial. Good-bye, Texas! Thanks for all the laffs. (You can take the rest of the South with you.)

Melancholy and the 100 days of media sadness

2009-04-23T20:54:00.004-05:00

The Worst Media Moment of Obama's
First 100 Days
from mediamatters.org

The first 100 days of the Obama administration are coming to a close, and there has certainly been no shortage of unhinged and outrageous media moments.

From Rush Limbaugh saying that "we are being told to bend over and grab the ankles ... because his father is black," to Glenn Beck imitating President Obama pouring gasoline on an "average American," conservatives in the media have wasted no time in stoking a culture of paranoia with extreme, vitriolic, and often irresponsible rhetoric.

VOTE for the worst moment at http://mediamatters.org/action_center/100days/

I'm debating between voting for one of these gems:

Beck leaving an SUV idling outside his studio during his show to "do [his] part for global warming" after his cohort claimed Al Gore looks stupid for insisting on climate change when there is snow on the ground in NYC in winter.
Beck pouring gas on another Fox anchor to demonstrate his feeling that Obama is setting the average American on fire.
Limbaugh telling us that we're allowing ourselves to be anally raped because of White guilt.
Santelli's inane and hypocritical rant from the trading floor.

Now — heretofore — til Judgment Day,

2009-04-16T17:05:00.004-05:00

'The Drunken Driver Has the Right Of Way'

by Ethan Coen

The loudest have the final say,
The wanton win, the rash hold sway,
The realist's rules of order say
The drunken driver has the right of way.

The Kubla Khan can butt in line;
The biggest brute can take what's mine;
When heavyweights break wind, that's fine;
No matter what a judge might say,
The drunken driver has the right of way.

The guiltiest feel free of guilt;
Who care not, bloom; who worry, wilt;
Plans better laid are rarely built
For forethought seldom wins the day;
The drunken driver has the right of way.

The most attentive and unfailing
Carefulness is unavailing
Wheresoever fools are flailing;
Wisdom there is held at bay; The drunken driver has the right of way.

De jure is de facto's slave;
The most foolhardy beat the brave;
Brass routs restraint; low lies high's grave;
When conscience leads you, it's astray;
The drunken driver has the right of way.

It's only the naivest who'll
Deny this, that the reckless rule;
When facing an oncoming fool
The practiced and sagacious say
Watch out — one side — look sharp — gang way.

However much you plan and pray,
Alas, alack, tant pis, oy vey,
Now — heretofore — til Judgment Day,
The drunken driver has the right of way.

Excerpted from 'The Drunken Driver Has The Right Of Way' by Ethan Coen. Excerpted by permission of Crown Publishing Group/Random House.

"You are part of a league of morons. Oh, yes. You see, you're one of the morons I've been fighting my whole life." - osbourne cox

"It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with stupidity, and make it work for you." - Frank Zappa

Oh it's healing bang, bang, bang

2009-04-15T21:52:00.003-05:00

I like the sweet life
and the silence
But it's the storm that I believe in

A little late for Easter, but I had intended to post a reflection. So I picked two holy sonnets of sorts. The above from The Cardigans and below from John Donne.

"Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me."

- [ "Holy Sonnet XIV"]

The Rodeo Clown & A Persecuted Majority

2009-04-11T11:25:00.009-05:00

- Glenn Beck is feeling so disenfranchised by Obama that he feels the President is shooting in the head or setting on fire the "average American" so he demonstrates while lecturing the President on "sanity." What follows is the most insane thing I have ever seen on Fox News and that's saying a lot.

“I’m a rodeo clown. It takes great skill." - Glenn Beck

Mr. Beck’s success “is a product of the collapse of conservatism as an organized political force, and the rise of conservatism as an alienated cultural sensibility.”

“It’s a show for people who feel they belong to an embattled minority that is disenfranchised and cut off." - David Frum

[NY Times: "Fox New's Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star"]

[Gawker: "David Frum: 'What the Hell is Going on at Fox News?'"]

To suggest as Beck does that white Republicans are "alienated," "embattled" and "disenfranchised" is so laughably delusional and disgusting that you have to chuckle to keep from crying. The very idea that someone like Beck is being disenfranchised or persecuted and is some how a voice for the voiceless is so ostensibly offensive that it would be hard to even deal with if not for the fact that the "rodeo clowns" playing these roles do so willingly and without remorse fueling the fire from those that would fall prey to and identify with such ideas.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - Glenn Beck Cries

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The 10.31 Project

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

NASA Name Contest

UPDATE: Beck announces his own comedy tour. You can't make this stuff up.

A Vote of No Confidence

2009-03-25T19:32:00.012-05:00

Most news media outlets (tv, radio & internet) lack any credibility and foster destructive transitory pop culture, encouraging 'info-tainment' within the context of no context. Whether biased or balanced it's all still blather. Yesterday, a Fox News Reporter actually said of Obama's latest address: "I hope there are no more of these five-minute answers. It's hard to stay awake." Looking at unemployment numbers it's more than disheartening to see that THESE people HAVE jobs and even worse... Platforms.

Media find Obama news conference insufficiently entertaining

Summary: Several media outlets echoed the assertion of a Drudge Report headline that President Obama's March 24 press conference was "boring."

Discussing President Obama's then-upcoming press conference on the March 24 edition of Fox News' Special Report, when asked what he was looking for, Fox News contributor Fred Barnes stated: "I hope there are no more of these five-minute answers. It's hard to stay awake." Subsequently, during the press conference, Internet gossip Matt Drudge posted the headline "Being Boring" below a picture of Obama on his website. Drudge's headline initially did not link to an analysis by Drudge or to any articles but instead linked back to the Drudge Report homepage. After the press conference ended, Fox News hosts Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity echoed Drudge, with O'Reilly calling Obama's performance "dull and repetitive," and Hannity calling it "boring and dull and uninspiring and unconvincing."

Full article at:
- mediamatters.org

---------------------
UPDATE (3/26)

Reporter Asks Gibbs About Question Selection And Teleprompter

from wonkette.com

Hey does anyone know what the hell is going on with the media? Did all professional journalistic reporters catch idiot cancer overnight? Here we have the Washington Post’s Lois Romano, a fine reporter usually (we guess?), landing an interview with Robert Gibbs. A GOOD JOURNALISTIC OPPORTUNITY. And the two questions she asks immediately… well you know what those are going to be, don’t you?

First this Washington Post reporter asks why Obama did not call on any “major newspapers” during his press conference, GAHHH! Wait. No! She says, “President Obama turned the longstanding press conference tradition on its head last night by, uh, bypassing the major newspapers. What do you think about the reaction to that?”

Just no self-awareness at all, no idea how this looks, no idea that no one, except the political reporters for four newspapers in the United States, in any way cares about this. And this is just going to get so, so much more grating over the next few years as more people stop reading 24-hour-old news physically printed on oversized sheets of tree pulp.

Anyway, Gibbs more or less tells her that no one cares, fine.

Then, Romano’s second question, actual quote: “The teleprompter changed last night. What was that about? It’s a big Jumbotron now.”

WELL LOIS THERE USED TO BE TWO SMALLER SCREENS ON EITHER OF HIS SIDES, AND THEN ON TUESDAY THERE WAS JUST ONE BIG ONE STRAIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. HE WANTED TO LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD INSTEAD OF SIDE-TO-SIDE. WE KNOW IT’S HARD TO UNDERSTAND BUT THAT IS WHY.

Robert Gibbs also yells at her, for asking stupid questions. This teleprompter stuff, and the fact that every level of reporter is talking about it… really, just how does that happen? There is no more controversy in the use of a teleprompter than there is in the use of a microphone. “Did you hear that Obama uses a microphone, because his supposedly ‘great speaking voice’ isn’t LOUD enough, like an IDIOT?” That’s going to be a New York Times front-pager in a few months at this rate, just you watch. Even believing the chain e-mail Muslim conspiracy rumors is more valid than finding controversy in a teleprompter. Really! - wonkette.com

Let's end this with a bang...

Have you ever wondered how much your government was like the mob? No, you haven't? You think that's a ridiculous analogy and that you'd have to be a complete moron to make it in the first place? Well, let me ask you this: Does the government make you fear for your life? No, again you think you'd have to be an insane person to think that's a legitimate question? Well of course you do, you're sane. Questions like these belong on the interwebs and message boards and ron paul forums right? No one in their right mind would say, intentionally bring a guest onto a prime-time cable news show to ask them these kinds of questions, right? Wrong. Guesssss whoooo???

I love that Fox brings on a mobster to give their narrative credibility. I hope that irony isn't lost on all of their viewers. Actually, I'm sure it was.

Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

2009-03-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

The Evangelical Collapse... quickly come

2009-03-19T08:50:00.002-05:00

"The Coming Evangelical Collapse"
An anti-Christian chapter in Western history is about to begin. But out of the ruins, a new vitality and integrity will rise.

By Michael Spencer
from the March 10, 2009 Christian Science Monitor

Excerpt:

...the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close. Why is this going to happen?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

3. There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile. Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive.

4. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to "do good" is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

6. Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

7. The money will dry up.
FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html

Great article and I agree almost entirely, (especially with his list 1-7) but with a few exceptions. The largest being this:

The ascendancy of Charismatic-Pentecostal-influenced worship around the world can be a major positive for the evangelical movement if reformation can reach those churches and if it is joined with the calling, training, and mentoring of leaders. If American churches come under more of the influence of the movement of the Holy Spirit in Africa and Asia, this will be a good thing.

This movement is primarily devoid of the very things the author says Evangelicals problematically lack in #2

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

...so I don't see how the author thinks that movement will sustain or be a "good thing." It is growing in poverty-ridden areas because it often preaches a false gospel of self-improvement, holiness and works-based righteousness benefits and wealth according to "faith". So it preys on the praying poor, but it is NOT Christianity, in fact it's the antithesis. In my line of work we've seen vibrant growth in healthy faith in Africa that eclipses some of the best the Western church has produced, but we've also seen growth in bastardized faith with a false gospel and most of it has come from these very Charismaniacal circles.

The Christian "church" as a whole is bigger than it's ever been and the center of Christianity is no longer Europe, nor the U.S., but South America, Africa, & Asia. People talked the "death" of the church many many times before and they will continue to do so. The author is primarily correct about his evaluations of the Western church and the resurgence of Orthodoxy. Orthodox faith (not Eastern Orthodox, but Biblical based traditional faith) is growing slowly, especially in Europe and centers of education rather than declining as popular opinion suggests.

What is true and troubling is that as the American "Evangelical" church declines, which it is, it will not die out but rather become more troublesome and hard-lined. Like a dog in a corner (literally, because as the author suggests correctly, these groups will retreat further and further into their subcultures) it will lash out and become more hateful and destructive and entrench itself further into its culture wars of irrelevance and continue to serve as fodder and a red herring for critics of Christianity.

Finally, I do also agree with the author that this is all mostly GOOD news for the Church. True Christianity has stood strongest and most in line with its own teachings when it acts as counterculture and in opposition to the lies and destruction of its particular place in time (the irony is that now it needs most to be those things to its own adherents!). The Church was most successful when it stood against the Hellenists and the Romans and offered its alternative even in the face of persecution. It was then most successful again when it stood against its own co-option with the State and the abuses of the Catholic heads during the Reformation. It will be so again if it will stand against is new idols and false leaders and actually teach the Gospel instead of social conservatism, prosperity theology, and numerous other distractions (at best) and murderous lies (at worst).

The author says, "The integrity of the church as a countercultural movement with a message of "empire subversion" will increasingly replace a message of cultural and political entitlement." Let's hope so, because that will not be the legacy of our parents, but maybe it can be ours.

Stewart & Colbert matter.

2009-03-12T12:58:00.005-05:00

"It’s the most ruthlessly honest, sobering conversation — from both sides — you’re likely to see on any show. Good. And note the lack of shouting." - Jim Newell

"I couldn't help but wonder why it takes a comedian on Comedy Central to do the kind of interview the non-fake news shows ought to be doing. When the media establishment marvels at Jon Stewart's popularity, they tend to think it's his humor. It's not. It's because he calls "bullsh*t" when most major media players won't. He did so last night, and it made for important viewing." - Steven Benen

From Washington Monthly:

"Cramer seemed anxious to avoid getting skewered. Before the interview, he was lowering the temperature, making self-deprecating jokes, and talking about how he patterned his own show after Stewart's. On the "Daily Show," Cramer continued to try being nice, telling Stewart what a "fan" he is. He even agreed with Stewart on the whole Santelli rant.

But that didn't stop Stewart from saying what needed to be said. It was like watching a trained prosecutor destroy a fumbling defendant on the stand.

Jon Stewart hammered Jim Cramer and his network, CNBC, in their anticipated face-off on "The Daily Show," repeatedly chastising the "Mad Money" host for putting entertainment above journalism.

"I understand that you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a f@#king game," Stewart told Cramer.

Cramer apparently went on the show to make nice and end the "feud." Stewart apparently had him on the show to expose how ridiculous and irresponsible CNBC is as a network. The result wasn't pretty, but as Alex Koppelman noted, it was "a riveting half-hour, something almost completely unlike anything else ever seen on television."

Not leaving out Colbert:

The Word - Rand Illusion -
Stephen wants to live on an island with the CEOs, hedge fund managers, House Republicans and TV pundits where the poor can't selfishly tax them. Conservatism is just so Biblical. I can't see how I've missed it all this time.

Even Conservatives Don't Want to Be Conservatives Anymore

2009-02-25T08:43:00.001-06:00

Republican Columnist/writer David Brooks thinks Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's speech in response to Obama's address was "insane".

Watch Obama's Address to Congress

2009-02-24T08:55:00.005-06:00

Short video summarizing the speech's message in case you didn't see the whole thing:

In all seriousness though:

"This plan will require significant resources from the federal government -- and yes, probably more than we've already set aside. But while the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction will be far greater, for it could result in an economy that sputters along for not months or years, but perhaps a decade. That would be worse for our deficit, worse for business, worse for you, and worse for the next generation. And I refuse to let that happen.
I understand that when the last administration asked this Congress to provide assistance for struggling banks, Democrats and Republicans alike were infuriated by the mismanagement and results that followed. So were the American taxpayers. So was I.
So I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you -- I get it.
But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment. My job -- our job -- is to solve the problem. Our job is to govern with a sense of responsibility. I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single Wall Street executive, but I will do whatever it takes to help the small business that can't pay its workers or the family that has saved and still can't get a mortgage.
That's what this is about. It's not about helping banks -- it's about helping people. Because when credit is available again, that young family can finally buy a new home. And then some company will hire workers to build it. And then those workers will have money to spend, and if they can get a loan, too, maybe they'll finally buy that car, or open their own business. Investors will return to the market, and American families will see their retirement secured once more. Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover.
So, I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever proves necessary. Because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession. And to ensure that a crisis of this magnitude never happens again, I ask Congress to move quickly on legislation that will finally reform our outdated regulatory system. It is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation, and punishes shortcuts and abuse.
The recovery plan and the financial stability plan are the immediate steps we're taking to revive our economy in the short term. But the only way to fully restore America's economic strength is to make the long-term investments that will lead to new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete with the rest of the world. The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care; the schools that aren't preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit. That is our responsibility.
In the next few days, I will submit a budget to Congress. So often, we have come to view these documents as simply numbers on a page or laundry lists of programs. I see this document differently. I see it as a vision for America -- as a blueprint for our future." {Full Transcript HERE}

Are we done with them yet?

2009-02-20T08:40:00.009-06:00

Imagine your neighbors being targeted and arrested without cause, simply because they are Latino. Then, imagine undocumented immigrants being paraded in shackles across town to publicly humiliate them in front of media cameras. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona’s Maricopa County creates dehumanizing scenes like these on a regular basis.

According to The Arizona Republic, Sheriff Arpaio's track record includes immigration sweeps that target anyone “guilty of looking Latino,” entering private homes without warrants, taking mothers from their children during traffic stops, and parading shackled detainees in front of the news media.

Arpaio calls himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” but not only are his practices of racial profiling discriminatory, they are downright ineffective. As a result of his obsessive focus on the Latino population, his county has more than 40,000 outstanding felony warrants, and 911 response times have worsened, making his county a less safe place for all people.

Think abuses in Maricopa County are only a local concern? Think again. Sheriff Arpaio illustrates the dangerous consequences of our broken national immigration system. Since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot effectively enforce our current laws, it gives authority—and your federal taxpayer dollars—to local officials. Some local agencies use this power responsibly; others, like Sheriff Arpaio, do not.

Sheriff Arpaio once said, “Do you think I’m going to report to the federal government? I don’t report to them. If they don’t like the contract, they can close it up.” Couldn’t agree with his suggestion more, but ending his contract is not enough: a deeper investigation is in order.

Join prominent members of Congress and the Mayor of Phoenix in requesting a Justice Department investigation into “discriminatory harassment, improper stops, searches, and arrests” of Latinos by Sheriff Arpaio. [Sojourners]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"They're probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of."

So what's America's greatest threat? The weakest economy in 80 years? Widespread layoffs, bank collapses, meltdown in the auto industry and a housing crisis?

Not according to Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars. In a recent interview obtained by HRC, he says America's greatest threat is the LGBT community. He goes on to call lesbian and gay relationships "abominations" and claims LGBT people lack morals. Watch now >>

In the interview, Sen. Buttars calls LGBT people "the meanest buggers I've ever seen" – this kind of rhetoric creates an atmosphere of hatred that incites violence against LGBT Americans.

Here are a few more lowlights from Buttars' rant:

LGBT people "are destroying the Constitution."
Their "number one goal is to proselytize to youth" and use schools as "a recruiting station."
Thanks to them we are, "moving toward a society that has no morals."
They will "destroy the foundation of American society... In my mind, it is the beginning of the end."

What's more, Sen. Buttars also takes clear pride in saying he's "killed" every piece of pro-equality legislation in Utah for eight years.

Call on Utah's Senate President to publicly condemn Sen. Buttars' remarks immediately. [HRC]

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

Now, let's talk poverty:

Want to find out how people have voted in your state or district? Go to this interactive map at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law’s Poverty Scorecard to find out how your representatives voted. Bet you can guess, but in case your imagination is lacking here's TN's to the right. How anyone with any speck of decency could vote against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, I'll never understand.

Of course in each of these instances they're all Republicans. All this party knows is how to alienate, discriminate, and harm what they consider as "the other." Whether it's immigrants or gays or the poor, time and time again the leadership on all levels, state, local, and federal we continue to see this kind of bigotry and xenophobia, fearmongering and divisive speech serving as fodder for the least of our nature going so far as to result in physical and psychological violence, systemic injustice and widespread rights violations against those on the outside of power.

For Jesus and the prophets before, true righteousness consisted of deeds of love, mercy and justice, especially to the most vulnerable. This had slipped from the center of tradition in Jesus’s day and the focus from the Pharisees was on ritual purity of which Jesus had very little interest. Jesus said our righteousness must go beyond theirs and made a huge emphasis on expanding our circle of love to include strangers and even enemies. This was the true standard of holiness: to practice communal hospitality, so that the burden is shared within the body of Christ rather than being carried by one individual, to help our brothers and sisters in need, not to divide one as “stranger” or “other", to love God, our neighbor as ourselves, Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with God. The Republican party, the party of the 'older brother' from the Prodigal story knows nothing of these things. And the cooption of religion in this country under their moniker is perhaps one of the greatest scams ever committed. To use Sen. Buttars's own language:

"They're probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of."

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." [Matthew 25:31-46]

P.S. for my Libertarian friends:

"We all hate the same things"

2009-02-16T22:02:00.002-06:00

Maddow interviewing Alexandra Pelosi (Nancy's daughter) filmmaker of "Right America Feeling Wronged" & "Journey's With George" (about a minute or two in)

The only performance worth watching last night....or this year.

2009-02-08T23:55:00.002-06:00

Pop & Hiss
The L.A. Times music blog

Parting thoughts: Another Grammys, another year without any surprises. When it comes to album of the year, always pick old over innovative. With "Raising Sand," Robert Plant and Alison Krauss crafted an engrossing and timeless country-influenced album, one that certainly deserved to be rewarded for best contemporary folk album.
But album of the year? Not against Radiohead's "In Rainbows," an album that took more chances, pairing Radiohead's electronic and studio experimentations with some of the group's warmest songs to date.

A year after awarding Herbie Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters" album of the year over Kanye West's "Graduation," the Grammys had the opportunity to show a little more relevancy. But they missed it. Instead of awarding record of the year to M.I.A.'s arresting "Paper Planes," the trophy again went to Plant & Krauss for "Please Read the Letter." But give them a point for giving best new artist to Adele over the Jonas Brothers.

They Need a Hero...(to save them from themselves)

2009-02-07T16:30:00.004-06:00

Who will the Republicans turn to in their search for a qualified leader to guide them with fresh vision and ideas? Who possesses the sober-mindedness and wisdom that will help the country wade through the complex financial milieu most Americans currently face? Who will have the experience, insight and courage to take their tattered party forward? What representative tour de force will display that they understand the gravity of the situation while also offering helpful hints on how to stop the toilet from running or how to increase the water pressure through your shower head all the while being unlicensed and unqualified for any of the above?

Why JOE THE PLUMBER of course. For Christ's sake.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Joe the Political Strategist

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

Joe the Plumber is the savior who will lead the Republicans beyond the wreckage of lost elections and into a new era. "Jiggle it."

Playing With Fire

NY Times - Bob Herbert

Published: February 6, 2009

Neither the job losses nor the president’s prodding was enough to prompt much of a response from the Republicans. But by Friday evening, it appeared that a small number of G.O.P. senators, enough to assure Senate passage of a revised (and watered-down) stimulus package by a very slim margin, had come aboard.
But only a small number. Even as the report of an agreement was being circulated, Senator Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, was bad-mouthing the package on CNN. “This bill is a disaster,” he said.
It’s been clear for years that the G.O.P. is a party without a heart. But its pointless obstructionism, its overall lack of any serious response to what is a clear national economic emergency, seems to indicate it’s also a party without a brain. [full article]

The Party of No Ideas' Big Idea is to Just Say No, Regardless.

2009-02-03T20:18:00.006-06:00

Usually I post quotes from articles, snip-its, etc., but this one is too priceless, so I give it to you in all its snarky glory [of course, via Wonkette.com]

GOP Against Stimulus Part of Stimulus Bill
- Ken Layne

So the Republicans are all for a good Economic Stimulus bill, meaning one that would stop taxing the rich and stop any corporate taxes and also, somehow, further ruin the environment and whatever. As a result of this clear “small government” philosophy the big-spending corporate-welfare closeted homosexuals adopted last week, GOP congressional leaders have found the parts they just can’t tolerate in the Economic Stimulus legislation: the parts that would create jobs and build American infrastructure. Yes we can’t!

Look, whatever anybody’s uninformed opinions about this Rescue the Economy package, you should at least be able to reconcile “support for economic stimulus legislation” with “support for legislation that will throw a bunch of money at the economy, in the form of money paid for goods and services, manufacturing and labor, and other traditional uncontroversial gears of Capitalism.”

So, here are some specific things the GOP will not condone, in this bill they’re not going to vote for, anyway:

A billion dollars extra for the 2010 U.S. Census, which is going to pay good money to many jobless people in every American town — and shore up Lockheed-Martin, which is getting $500 million to build the data systems and run the machinery.
$75 million for FBI employee salaries, because why would you want to pay America’s top cops to do law enforcement and investigations, in America?
$500 million for Mississippi River flood control projects, which would employ thousands of laborers and keep dozens of construction companies in business, because nothing makes Republicans happier than seeing a Katrina repeat on the teevee every other hurricane season.
$200 million for green vehicles on U.S. military bases and $600 million to replace the federal fleet of cars with hybrids, because only a gay communist could see the economic benefits of $800 bmillion in sales for U.S. auto manufacturers while simultaneously cutting the government’s gasoline bill by billions per year.
$1.4 billion for rural garbage-disposal and recycling programs, because who but an Islamo-Fascist would want to provide much-needed jobs for the Red State countryside while keeping toxic garbage out of those people’s drinking water?
$125 million to rebuild the broken, rotten, third-world sewer system of our Nation’s Capital. You give the blacks this, and who knows what they’ll want next! And by “give,” we mean “pay a decent wage to laborers in D.C., to rebuild their sewers.”
$6 billion to pay dozens of big regional contractors, hundreds of local businesses and tens of thousands of American workers to retrofit federal buildings so that they’ll be energy efficient.
$200 million for computer centers at community colleges, because if poor unskilled workers want to “learn the computer,” they should just go to Stanford instead of complaining.

[wonkette.com]

FURTHERMORE...

"...nine days after being inaugurated, Obama still hadn't erased decades' worth of partisan squabbling. That's a reasonable standard, right? If Republicans simply do not want to cooperate in any meaningful way with Democrats, is there anything Obama can do to change that? No, not really. But according to the press, Obama -- and Obama alone -- is supposed to change that mindset." - Eric Boehlert ['Obama, the press, and the "bipartisan" trap']

The Fear Imbalance: A Montage (time to get back on the meds)

2009-01-25T09:53:00.004-06:00

With Obama in office, you'd think our wingnut friends would have found a nice hole in the sand in which to bury their heads by now, but nah, they've turned to their trusty standby...WILLFUL IGNORANCE. Enjoy this salute:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Fox News Fear Imbalance

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - Hannity Reveals the True Obama

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Since values are hobbies how can we exploit this?

Well, with the the latest fear-mongering campaign in the U.S.; one devoted to scaring Americans into believing that they will be slaughtered if Guantanamo is closed and terrorism suspects are brought into the U.S. for real trials of course. (Glenn Greenwald)

"Both before and after 9/11, the U.S. has repeatedly and successfully tried alleged high-level Al Qaeda operatives and other accused Islamic Terrorists in our normal federal courts -- in fact, the record is far more successful than the series of debacles that has taken place in the military commissions system at Guantanamo. Moreover, those convicted Terrorists have been housed in U.S. prisons, inside the U.S., for years without a hint of a problem. Here is but a partial list of the accused Muslim Terrorists who have been successfully tried and convicted in U.S. civilians courts and who remain imprisoned inside the U.S." (Click to Read)

And yet the United States, under George W. Bush, actually sought to have these dangerous people extradited to the United States, exposing our citizens to danger! Not only that, we succeeded! OMG!! Americans are at risk!!! What shall we do???

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Gitmo's World - Death to America

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

With Gitmo on the loose and Obama preaching a consistent set of ethics what shall we do? What shall we do?! Well, what any good-natured, god-fearing conservative would do: encourage people to knock-off Democratic senators....oh yes.

"Conservapedia, ~~the home of conservative pedophiles~~ “The Trustworthy Encyclopedia.” For example, say your home-schooled-in-Christ kid needs to do a report on which states would benefit from Dem senators who, tragically, “were unable to complete their terms and were replaced by qualified Republicans by their Republican governors.” Where to go? That homosexual devil box “Wikipedia” surely would be of no assistance, to Patriots!" (Wonkette)

Here is the actual entry, “Senate Democrats from States with Republican Governors”:

(Conservapedia)

After all this insanity I think a high-five is well in order:

HIGH-FIVE INAUGURATION! - watch more funny videos

'Oscar' the Grouch, why so serious?

2009-01-23T19:33:00.013-06:00

So here was my LIST. Below is what the Academy came up with along with my picks out of their choices. Despite some obvious beef, I have to say, the Academy more often than not recognizes quality over numbers unlike their musical counterpart which remains a de facto marketing arm of the labels.

Best Picture (My Pick: Technical nods (AKA 'the guilded ghetto') aside, "The Dark Knight" was snubbed. Period. They'll regret it later and make up for it by nominating years later some categorically similar flick that's half as good and no longer timely as they've done time and time again. "Frost/Nixon" deserves to be in contention for Best Actor for Frank Langella but not Best Picture. From their list though, I have to go with "The Reader" (which was NOT an "obligatory Holocaust entry" as some have called it) but if not "Slumdog" they'll probably pick "Milk" to make up for letting overly mediocre "Crash" beat out "Brokeback Mountain" and "Capote" in 2005.

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* The Reader (My Pick)
* Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director (My Pick: Again, I would have gone with Nolan for "Dark Knight" but I'll say Daldry for "The Reader")

* Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
* Stephen Daldry – The Reader (My Pick)
* David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
* Gus Van Sant – Milk

Best Actor (My Pick: DiCaprio actually deserved to be nominated this time for "Revolutionary Road" but I'm going to go with Rourke since "Rev" didn't get much love.)

* Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
* Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
* Sean Penn – Milk
* Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler (My Pick)

Best Actress (My Pick: This is Winslet's year b/t "Reader" and "Revolutionary" she deserves it. Although the irony is not lost after her role on "Extras")

* Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
* Angelina Jolie – Changeling
* Melissa Leo – Frozen River
* Meryl Streep – Doubt
* Kate Winslet – The Reader (My Pick)

Best Supporting Actor (My Pick: Hoffman any other day of the week but there is no denying Ledger. Do so and be damned. Also, Hirsch over Downey please. )

* Josh Brolin – Milk
* Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
* Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
* Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (posthumous) (My Pick)
* Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress (My Pick: I love Adams but in her short time Davis stole the show.)

* Amy Adams – Doubt
* Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
* Viola Davis – Doubt (My Pick)
* Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Original Screenplay (My Pick: "In Bruges" was all around underrated. Just hope someone else noticed.)

* WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
* Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
* Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
* In Bruges - Martin McDonagh (My Pick)
* Milk - Dustin Lance Black

Best Adapted Screenplay (My Pick: It's an art to make a great play also a great film, so I'm going with "Doubt" but I bet they choose "Millionaire")

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
* The Reader - David Hare
* Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
* Doubt - John Patrick Shanley (My Pick)

Best Animated Feature (My Pick: Seriously?)

* Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
* Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
* WALL-E – Andrew Stanton (My Pick)

Best Foreign Language Film (My Pick: They missed a lot of the best foreign films in their list in my opinion, but I didn't see 3 of their choices, so it's hard to say.)

* Revanche (Austria) in German
* The Class (France) in French
* The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German
* Departures (Japan) in Japanese
* Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew (My Pick)

Best Documentary Feature (My Pick: This is a tough choice between "Encounters" & "Wire", but I have to go with Herzog.)

* Nerakhoon
* Encounters at the End of the World (My Pick)
* The Garden
* Man on Wire
* Trouble the Water

Victor and I have been productive.

2009-01-16T18:24:00.004-06:00

isthenewgay.com

Best of 2008

2009-01-11T18:11:00.010-06:00

I'm not doing a music list this year for two reasons: 1. I didn't digest enough & 2. I didn't find enough compelling. In other words if I did a Top 20 like usual, it wouldn't be the "top" but rather the only 20 records of which I actually really listened. Sorry.

Here's some other people's lists though:
1. NPR Listeners Pick The Year's Best Music
2. PASTE Magazine: Signs of Life 2008: Best Music

Movies on the other hand didn't disappoint, or maybe I was just a visual learner this year. It was a good year for film with the best movies telling stories of complex and unique characters not wholly good or bad, new worlds and mood strong landscapes (even an animated film unafraid of silence). Though there was a desert season mid-year, with Oscar season near Christmas was full of a gluttony of gifts. This was the year of the director auteur. "And. here. we. go..."

Best Overall Films of 2008:
1. The Dark Knight - dir. Nolan
2. The Reader - Daldry
3. Revolutionary Road - Mendes
4. Doubt - Shanley
5. Milk - Van Sant
6. Wall-E - Stanton
7. In Bruges - McDonagh
8. Synecdoche, New York - Kaufman
9. Slumdog Millionaire - Boyle
10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Fincher

Honorable Mentions:
Frost/Nixon - Howard
Gran Torino - Eastwood
Paranoid Park - Van Sant
Burn After Reading - Coen Bros.
Australia - Luhrmann

Best Documentaries:
Man on Wire - Marsh
Encounters at the End of the World - Herzog
American Teen - Burstein
Flow - Salina
Standard Operating Procedure - Morris

Best Foreign Films:
Waltz with Bashir - Folman (Israel)
TimeCrimes - Vigalondo (Spain)
Let the Right One In - Alfredson (Sweden)
Son of Rambow - Jennings (UK)
A Christmas Tale (France)

Best Action Movies:
The Dark Knight - Nolan
Iron Man - Favreau
Quantum of Solace - Forster
Hellboy II: The Golden Army - del Toro

Best Comedies:
Be Kind Rewind - Gondry
Burn After Reading - Cohen Bros.
Son of Rambow - Jennings
Hamlet 2 - Fleming
Pineapple Express - Apatow

Most Disappointing that should/could have been good:
W - Stone
Changeling - Eastwood
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Spielberg

Movies I wanted to see but didn't (yet):
Rachel Getting Married - Demme
Firaaq - Das (India)
Ballast - Hammer
The Wrestler - Aronofsky

In the Christmas Spirit

2008-12-25T14:09:00.005-06:00

In the spirit of Christmas reconciliation, here are two positive articles showing signs of President Bush's late-developing conscience. (though Cheney remains an ass) ~Merry Christmas~

Grinch Bush Revokes Real-Estate Crook’s Pardon

-Ken Layne from Wonkette.com

Brooklyn fraud king Isaac Robert Toussie got the gift of Innocence from George W. Bush on Tuesday. But just a day later, on Christmas Eve, mean old Grinch W. Bush’s heart shrunk three times. Even thought Toussie’s dad sent the GOP a $28,500 “reminder” that his convicted felon son really needed a presidential pardon for running an elaborate and cruel housing/mortgage scam that pretty much defines the amoral real-estate boom & bust of this miserable decade, the White House suddenly decided they really didn’t fully understand how this famous crook screwed over hundreds of working-class and low-income minority families.

The Bush Administration claims it learned from news reports, yesterday, that Isaac R. Toussie is a criminal who did terrible things in Suffolk County, New York, as well as being a convicted mortgage-fraud ringleader who falsified stacks of loan applications for HUD-backed home loans.

What’s shocking is that the Bush Administration is suddenly sensitive to a flood of outraged blog posts and news stories about whatever corrupt thing the Bush Administration just pulled. They weren’t bothered by the outrage over Iraq or domestic spying or Halliburton or Katrina or Abu Ghraib or Enron or Waterboarding or … jesus christ, do we really want to list all this stuff, again?

Let’s all hope President Jenna Bush will finally bring justice to the world and pardon this great man, the real-estate crook, in 2020.

Pardon Lasts Just One Day for Developer in Fraud Case [New York Times]

Looking Back, Bush and Cheney Reveal Different Views

- Sheryl Stolberg from NYtimes.com

WASHINGTON — President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have been unusually talkative in recent weeks, sharing candid thoughts in a string of exit interviews. But after eight years of a tight partnership that gave Mr. Cheney powerful influence inside the White House, the two are sounding strikingly different notes as they leave office, especially on one of the most fundamental issues of their tenure: their aggressive response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Bush defends his decisions as necessary to keep the nation safe, yet sounds reflective, even chastened. He has expressed regrets about not achieving an overhaul of immigration laws and not changing the partisan tone in Washington. And the man who got tangled up in a question about whether he had made any mistakes — he could not come up with one in 2004 — recently told ABC News that he was “unprepared for war,” and that “the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq.”

Mr. Cheney, by contrast, is unbowed, defiant to the end. He called the Supreme Court “wrong” for overturning Bush policies on detainees at Guantánamo Bay; criticized his successor, Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.; and defended the harsh interrogation technique called waterboarding, considered by many legal authorities to be torture.

[story continued here]

The Hidden Cost of War

2008-12-24T01:07:00.001-06:00

from GOOD Magazine.

Striking

2008-12-11T10:18:00.004-06:00

Advertising Agency: Marked for Trade
Creative Director / Art Director / Illustrator: Phil Jones
Copywriter: Ryan Coleman
Published: February 2008
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/1877vet2vet_hopelinecom_ribbon?size=_original

A Proud Supporter of Operation Humble Kanye

2008-12-03T20:14:00.003-06:00

The latest update in the Kanye saga that never ends...

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Operation Humble Kanye

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Colbert has launched "Operation Humble Kanye": a mission to topple the arrogant borderline-retarded "sunglasses display mannequin."

It's funny cause it's true...actually it's not funny, it's not funny at all.

2008-11-22T22:46:00.004-06:00

from 'The Onion'

I'm Not One Of Those 'Love Thy Neighbor' Christians

By Janet Cosgrove
Christian
November 19, 2008 | Issue 44•47

Everybody has this image of "crazy Christians" based on what they hear in the media, but it's just not true. Most Christians are normal, decent folks. We don't all blindly follow a bunch of outdated biblical tenets or go all fanatical about every bit of dogma. What I'm trying to say is, don't let the actions of a vocal few color your perceptions about what the majority of us are like.

Like me. I may be a Christian, but it's not like I'm one of those wacko "love your neighbor as yourself " types.

God forbid!

I'm here to tell you there are lots of Christians who aren't anything like the preconceived notions you may have. We're not all into "turning the other cheek." We don't spend our days committing random acts of kindness for no credit. And although we believe that the moral precepts in the Book of Leviticus are the infallible word of God, it doesn't mean we're all obsessed with extremist notions like "righteousness" and "justice."

My faith in the Lord is about the pure, simple values: raising children right, saying grace at the table, strictly forbidding those who are Methodists or Presbyterians from receiving communion because their beliefs are heresies, and curing homosexuals. That's all. Just the core beliefs. You won't see me going on some frothy-mouthed tirade about being a comfort to the downtrodden.

I'm a normal Midwestern housewife. I believe in the basic teachings of the Bible and the church. Divorce is forbidden. A woman is to be an obedient subordinate to the male head of the household. If a man lieth down with another man, they shall be taken out and killed. Things everybody can agree on, like the miracle of glossolalia that occurred during Pentecost, when the Apostles were visited by the Holy Spirit, who took the form of cloven tongues of fire hovering just above their heads. You know, basic common sense stuff.

But that doesn't mean I think people should, like, forgive the sins of those who trespass against them or anything weird like that.

We're not all "Jesus Freaks" who run around screaming about how everyone should "Judge not lest ye be judged," whine "Blessed are the meek" all the time, or drone on and on about how we're all equal in the eyes of God! Some of us are just trying to be good, honest folks who believe the unbaptized will roam the Earth for ages without the comfort of God's love when Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior returns on Judgment Day to whisk the righteous off to heaven.

Now, granted, there are some Christians on the lunatic fringe who take their beliefs a little too far. Take my coworker Karen, for example. She's way off the deep end when it comes to religion: going down to the homeless shelter to volunteer once a month, donating money to the poor, visiting elderly shut-ins with the Meals on Wheels program—you name it!

But believe me, we're not all that way. The people in my church, for the most part, are perfectly ordinary Americans like you and me. They believe in the simple old-fashioned traditions—Christmas, Easter, the slow and deliberate takeover of more and more county school boards to get the political power necessary to ban evolution from textbooks statewide. That sort of thing.

We oppose gay marriage as an abomination against the laws of God and America, we're against gun control, and we fervently and unwaveringly believe that the Jews, Muslims, and all on earth who are not born-again Pentecostalists are possessed by Satan and should be treated as such.

When it comes down to it, all we want is to see every single member of the human race convert to our religion or else be condemned by a jealous and wrathful God to suffer an eternity of agony and torture in the Lake of Fire!

I hope I've helped set the record straight, and I wish you all a very nice day! God bless you!

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

How 'Ordinary' Christians do business:

More layoffs at Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family spent more than $500,000 to pass California's Prop. 8 gay marriage ban. The ministry announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950.
Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry. [The Colorado Independent]

Want to learn how to lie with a 'straight' face?

2008-11-13T18:35:00.007-06:00

...then take notes from Tony Perkins:

Civil Rights are not a matter of "majority rule", they are "inalienable". In who's reality should civil rights be eliminated through popular vote? What do you think would have happened if the actions passed through the Civil Rights movement were to have been voted on?

California made history last week, to be sure, but not the kind of history we like and can be proud of and certainly not the kind of history we're known for. In 1948, California led the nation by becoming the first state to strike down bans on interracial marriage. In the Perez v Sharp decision that found marriage to be a fundamental right, the state Supreme court stated "the right to marry is the right to join in marriage with the person of one's choice" (emphasis added). Nearly 20 years later, the United States Supreme Court agreed that marriage was a "basic civil right" when it struck down anti-miscegenation laws all across the country.
Last Tuesday a very narrow majority of voters decided to make history again: California is now the first state in the nation to take away a currently existing civil right from a group of citizens. This national embarrassment by way of constitutional amendment is made all the more painful and unjust by the manner in which it was passed: the subjection of individual rights to a popular vote. [Prop 8 Makes Wrong Kind of History]

The ruling by the California Supreme Court earlier this year that sparked the signature campaign placing Prop 8 on the ballot spoke of the "overarching values of equality and human freedom," the "fundamental right" of marriage, the importance of giving same-sex unions "equal dignity and respect," and the constitutional obligation of the court "to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority." I've been wanting to get to this story for some time now and want to be clear that I am NOT here to make a theological statement. This is not a religious issue, but a constitutional one, and the constitution does not allow for this kind of infringement. The church can determine who it shall and shall not marry and God can decide who's bonds are held in His eyes, but the State should be in no business of withholding a minority's rights in accordance with fluctuating public opinion. The truth is not a democracy. The truth is not determined by a majority vote (Especially not 51 to 49). If anyone should know this it should be Christians. Congratulations to the Church for leading yet another movement in American history that will be on the wrong side of history.

Let's Talk Bias

2008-11-12T19:02:00.002-06:00

Let's be honest, the media's true bias is sensationalism and newness. Nothing gets under my skin more than the "Liberal media bias" strawman, and apparently I'm not the only one. Even Fox News' Shepard Smith (that's right, Fox) is tired of the ridiculousness of this scapegoat:

The Right's "bias" charade - It's time to put these face-value assertions to rest.

Source: mediamatters.org

The truth is that when John McCain says "jump," the media still ask, "How high?" Think about this: When was the last time McCain or his campaign has wanted the news media to focus on something, and they have refused? From "lipstick on a pig" to Bill Ayers, the media have scampered after whatever mud McCain has flung, like a puppy dog chasing a stick thrown by its master. Sure, sometimes they have pointed out that McCain is lying -- and that's tremendous progress for a profession that has spent a decade flatly asserting McCain's honesty. But -- as I've explained in the past -- even as they've debunked McCain's claims, they've too often privileged the lie by allowing those claims to drive their coverage.

The long-term goals of the right wing's attacks on the media: to delegitimize an Obama presidency in the eyes of many Americans, and to browbeat journalists into covering an Obama administration much more critically than they otherwise would.

Whether those goals are met depends in part on whether journalists take the attacks seriously, or recognize them as the predictable continuation of a right-wing work-the-refs strategy that is so fraudulent it even involved claiming the media were devoting insufficient attention to Monica Lewinsky. And it depends in part on whether progressives push back on the bogus narrative that the media handed Obama the election, or simply ignore it.

Why McCain is getting hosed in the press - John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei - Politico.com

Source: www.politico.com

Some see a mother lode of bias in this year's election coverage. But there are other factors at play....indulge us in noting that the subject of ideological bias in the news media is a drag. The people who care about it typically come at the issue with scalding biases of their own. Any statement journalists make on the subject can and will be used against them. So the incentive is to make bland and guarded statements. Even honest ones, meanwhile, will tend to strike partisans as evasive or self-delusional.

In efforts to look balanced at all costs this campaign's coverage and even fact checkers have been too often awash with false equivalence and balance for the sake of balance, neither of which honor truth in an effort to not be labeled or discounted. If there are 3 Factual stories breaking that are unflattering toward one candidate and only 1 Factual story unflattering toward the other, there is no integrity in airing one and one for the sake of a false balance. Tell the truth. That is the job. That is the responsibility. As the journalist says,

"Imposing artificial balance on this reality would be a bias of its own....when journalists try so hard to avoid accusations of favoritism it clouds critical judgment. A good example were stories suggesting Palin held her own or even won her debate against Joe Biden when it seemed obvious she was simply invoking whatever talking points she had at hand, hanging on for dear life."

The Day After Tomorrow

2008-11-05T10:42:00.007-06:00

Full Transcript: Click Here

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people."

Opinion Round Up:

NY Times: "The Next President"

LA Times: "Obama's Victory is a Mandate for Change"

Amanpour / CNN: "World Welcomes Obama with Open Arms, Demands"

Truthdig: "Morning Again in America"

The Flaw in the Plan

2008-11-03T20:12:00.006-06:00

Trading ambition for ideals, McCain made the mistake of aligning his campaign with the culture warriors instead of running as himself. The fatal flaw was exposed: because before God, America worships money, and culture wars call a truce when the economic woes reign supreme. Sure the tide has shifted in Evangelical circles to bring about more progressive tendencies, but on the whole the Almighty Dollar supercedes the Almighty God (and sometimes they're one in the same). The only thing evangelicals love more than God is money, and this ultimately marked the end of John McCain. He would have known this if he hadn't been such an outsider. Only a true evangelical would have known.

In the Washington Post today, Peter Beinart says Culture War just isn’t selling anymore, and that only 6% of voters now name “issues like abortion, guns and same-sex marriage” as a big deal:

The economic challenges of the coming era are complicated, fascinating and terrifying, while the cultural battles of the 1960s feel increasingly stale …. Although she seems like a fresh face, Sarah Palin actually represents the end of an era. She may be the last culture warrior on a national ticket for a very long time.
The relationship between prosperity and cultural conflict isn't exact, of course, but it is significant that during this era's culture war we've gone a quarter-century without a serious recession. Economic issues have mattered in presidential elections, of course, but not until today have we faced an economic crisis so grave that it made cultural questions seem downright trivial. In 2000, in the wake of an economic boom and a sex scandal that led to a president's impeachment, 22 percent of Americans told exit pollsters that "moral values" were their biggest concern, compared with only 19 percent who cited the economy.

Today, according to a recent Newsweek poll, the economy is up to 44 percent and "issues like abortion, guns and same-sex marriage" down to only 6 percent. It's no coincidence that Palin's popularity has plummeted as the financial crisis has taken center stage. From her championing of small-town America to her efforts to link Barack Obama to former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, Palin is treading a path well-worn by Republicans in recent decades. She's depicting the campaign as a struggle between the culturally familiar and the culturally threatening, the culturally traditional and the culturally exotic. But Obama has dismissed those attacks as irrelevant, and the public, focused nervously on the economic collapse, has largely tuned them out.
Palin's attacks are also failing because of generational change. The long-running, internecine baby boomer cultural feud just isn't that relevant to Americans who came of age after the civil rights, gay rights and feminist revolutions. Even many younger evangelicals are broadening their agendas beyond abortion, stem cells, school prayer and gay marriage. ["Last of the Culture Warri ors" - WashingtonPost.com]

Sarah Palin may symbolize the last Republican culture warrior:

They’re still out there, still angry and still illiterate. But there’s not enough of them to win elections anymore, and the new Great Depression has even knocked some common sense into a few of these people — this year, a lot of bitters sort of cleared the Rove Goo from their eyes and realized being permanently enraged about guns or Mexicans is not really the path to wealth and happiness.
Younger voters just don’t care much about race, they aren’t paranoid about homosexuals trying to do whatever it is they fear homosexuals want to do to poor dumb white people, and they’re very much in favor of the kinds of things Dingbat Palin mocks with such enthusiasm: environmental protection, alternative energy and government-backed health care.

And surprise, surprise, younger voters are going heavily to Obama and Democrats across the board. Older voters are surprisingly in the tank — that Medicare and Social Security is pretty good stuff, HENGHH? — and “that one” has the wealthy and the educated on his side. ["Palin Fighting 'Culture War' Nobody Cares About" - Wonkette.com]

Finally, much of what we think we know about values in America isn't really of much value:

The reason that recent presidential elections have been so close, and Congress so narrowly divided, is that voters actually share both a broad distrust of both political parties and government and a basic civic outlook. For example, in 2000, the Mother of All Red/Blue Elections, he found that exactly 62 percent of voters in red states and blue states should tolerate each others' "moral views." But finding neither team attractive, voters naturally split their votes about evenly between the two unpopular sides. That isn't polarization; it is simple sorting.

Noisy, persistent conflicts aren't a sign of civic rot, but of humans being human. Americans are indeed frustrated and challenged by a lack of community, by rapid social and technological change and by economic pessimism. But our values are not the problem. ["Five Myths About Values Voters" - WashingtonPost.com]

"America is just not gonna be the same"

2008-11-02T19:40:00.007-06:00

I love watching how satisfied the first lady is after her little rant. Her head twitching, you can tell she doesn't even believe it, she's just angry. It's all over her face.

Oh the lies they believe...that's a pretty good grouping of most of the things I've heard from the less-than-critical class, and it's all at one rally!

"And I keep looking for that blindfold faith
Lighting candles to a cynical saint
Who wants the last laugh at the fly trapped in the windowsill tape
You can go right out of your mind trying to escape
From the panicked paradox of day to day
If you can’t understand something then it’s best to be afraid

And they keep moving at a glacial pace
Turning circles in a memory maze
I made a new cast of the death mask that is going to cover my face
I had to change the combination to the safe
Hide it all behind a wall, let people wait
And never trust a heart that is so bent it can’t break"

- "Classic Cars" - Conor Oberst

America's Socialist Tendencies or Just More GOP Fearmongering?

2008-11-01T06:00:00.010-05:00

The latest desperation jab from the McCain campaign accuses Obama of wanting to "spread the wealth."

Thank you, John McCain, for shoving the issue of "redistributing wealth" back into political primetime. Just two problems. You're only a quarter-century or so late -- and you have everything backwards.

When the Bush Administration is in the process of spending $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars to bailout some of the richest people in the country, while refusing to extend unemployment benefits for victims of the financial collapse or force banks to renegotiate predatory loans, I've gotta think that a few of Sarah Palin's "real Americans" are warming to the idea of spreading the wealth.

What Republicans don't want you to know is that redistribution of income and wealth toward the rich has be happening for decades, and it has accelerated since 2000 under a Republican Administration. [http://www.alternet.org/workplace/105653/the_massive_wealth_redistribution_that_doesn%27t_bother_john_mccain/]

The United States currently ranks 4th worst in income inequality, according to a recent report from 30-nation Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - or OECD. Here's a link to the The U.S. has the 4th worst income inequality, behind Mexico, Turkey and Portugal of the 30 OECD nations. Here's a link to the report summary for the United States.

Report highlights:

The U.S. has the 4th worst income inequality, behind Mexico, Turkey and Portugal of the 30 OECD nations.
U.S. wealth inequality is even worse. The richest 1% hold 25-33% of the country's total net worth, the top 10% hold 71%. (By comparison, OECD average: top 10% hold 28% of wealth.)
Redistribution of income by government plays a relatively minor role in the United States. Only in Korea is the effect smaller. This is partly because the level of spending on social benefits such as unemployment benefits and family benefits is low – equivalent to just 9% of household incomes, while the OECD average is 22%.
The distribution of earnings widened by 20% since the mid-1980s which is more than in most other OECD countries. This is the main reason for widening inequality in America.
Social mobility is lower in the United States than in other countries like Denmark, Sweden and Australia. Children of poor parents are less likely to become rich than children of rich parents. [AnyIdiot.org: U.S. 4th Worst In Income Inequality]

Republicans preached "trickle down" Reaganomics, but what we got was geyser up. This was no accident or inevitable result of globalization or free market Darwinism. Plutocrats in robes of free market theology designed the system to deliver the goods by changing tax code, trade policy, labor policy and corporate governance, by reducing oversight and regulation, and by attacking safety nets in place since the New Deal.
http://www.oecd.org/document/25/0,3343,en_2649_201185_41530009_1_1_1_1,00.html

American Socialism for the Already Rich

By Christopher Howard, Democracy: a Journal of Ideas. Posted March 27, 2007.

"Call it phony universalism, Robin Hood in reverse, or socialism for the rich -- whatever the name, the U.S. government is effectively targeting tax subsidies and legal protections at the more advantaged members of American society. The level of support is enormous, amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars each year. For every dollar spent on traditional anti-poverty programs, the United States spends almost as much through the tax code helping individuals who are lucky enough to have health and pension benefits at work or rich enough to buy a nice home (these are often the same people). This is how the United States can spend a ton of money on its welfare system and yet make fewer inroads against poverty and inequality than other affluent nations. Imagine a campaign against child obesity that encouraged kids to exercise daily and eat more Cheetos: U.S. social policy is beset by the same kinds of contradictions.

Some policy makers realize what's going on. When the Bush administration proposed new tax incentives for Health Savings Accounts, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities quickly pointed out that most of these benefits would go to affluent taxpayers. The Democratic authors of the American Dream Initiative, a set of policies designed to expand and strengthen the middle class, were careful last year to propose refundable tax credits for college tuition so that more people with below-average incomes could benefit. But it's not enough to oppose bad ideas, or layer potentially good new programs on top of dysfunctional old ones. We also need to scrutinize existing programs and figure out how they got started, whom they really help, and what we can do to change them. Otherwise, we may find ourselves repeating these same mistakes as we respond to persistent poverty and growing inequality today. Moreover, if we can find ways to spend less on some of these existing programs, we can free up monies to serve more pressing social needs. The goal should not be to exclude the middle class from these programs but to ensure that more governmental benefits are distributed to those who truly need help."

continue reading here: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/49768/

Bill Moyers examines the current financial crisis and growing income divide in the October 24 edition of Bill Moyers Journal.

McCain endorsed a plan similar in principle to Obama's years ago, (as the New York Post reported) so he's got no room to talk as satirized here in this clip from the Daily Show:

But neither McCain nor Obama should be labeled undercover socialists since in the past 150 years there have been innumerable differing socialist programs in America enacted by both parties. For this reason socialism as a doctrine is ill defined, although its main purpose, the establishment of cooperation in place of competition remains fixed. Which by this definition, Sen. Obama, would be labeled a raging capitalist (Plus, seriously folks, would the Economist, the Financial Times, the CEO of Google, Warren Buffet, the Wall Street Journal editor and numerous columnist, and the current Noble prize winner in Economics among countless others be advocating Obama if he were espousing true socialism?! Give me a break. This is just another distraction from the McCain camp).

The effects of socialism in America can still be felt today. According to the Future of Freedom Foundation, any government-owned, -funded, or -subsidized operation is considered to be a socialist program. For example, publicly owned airports, sports arenas or government-funded universities would be considered socialist operations by that definition.

We've long embraced as a nation the positive effects of our dabblings in social insurance programs or "socialism lite" through various government organized programs such as Medicaid. The Social Security Act of 1935, one of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal creations, is seen by many as a socialist program because it is a government-organized and -regulated system. Social Security was designed to provide retirement benefits to citizens through mandatory donations to the program during one's employment years.

In this clip Stephen Colbert interviews the ACTUAL Socialist Candidate for President - Brian Moore who says Obama is "the furthest thing from a socialist candidate:

"It's misleading for Republicans to say that," the local peace activist and perennial candidate said Wednesday from his Spring Hill home. "They know (Obama's) not a socialist."

Now, more than ever, Moore and his party are getting attention thanks to the $700-billion financial bailout and the rhetoric from the Republican presidential ticket. John McCain and Sarah Palin have repeatedly labeled Obama as a socialist in recent days when what they're advocating is socialism (by their definition) for the wealthiest 5% of Americans. Moore said McCain and Palin are abusing the "socialist" label. Likewise, he said Obama's programs wouldn't create a true wealth redistribution.

As more Republicans are latching on to this talking point, it is important to separate spin from reality as the election comes to a close and so much is at stake.

Growing up as a committed Christian in the South, I've been skeptical to the promises of government from either party. I know that politicians alone cannot solve our nations problems, much less save the world. However, I do honestly believe that with Obama elected and the House and Senate in Democratic control that things will become better than the last 8 years. I believe that Obama means what he says and does have a new and healthy vision for the country. I believe things will change, no matter how small, for the better. I know that he and congress will be limited in what they can actually do and that they will disappoint anyone who's hope is in government alone. But one of the biggest things I love about Obama is that he isn't trying to save it himself, but rather build a massive movement of Americans who will step forward inspired, not cynical and apathetic, and try to make change alongside their neighbors.

Like the New Deal, Works Progress or Kennedy's "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" initiative before him, Obama has offered practical solutions to increase individuals involvement in our democracy. From increasing Ameri-Corps and Peace-Corps support, to college tuition in public schools for those who contribute over a 100 hrs/community service, to a new 'New Deal' to repair America's infrastructure and energy independence that in doing so creates new jobs, Obama offers clear points of action. And furthermore, not only will we not depend solely on government to make change, but we will not go it alone in the world under Obama. We'll repair our alliances and restore our nation's leadership role with partners and our moral authority in the world freeing us to actually address areas of injustice that we are impotent to touch now. THESE are solutions. I haven't heard a one from a Republican. Not one. The Republicans have fought hard to distract people from talking about the real issues that th ey don't believe this election is about. No more. In a few days there will be enough people who will make the better choice and Barack Obama will be our next President of the United States.

Godless Americans? -OR- "Perfect Love Drives out all Fear"

2008-10-30T16:41:00.014-05:00

This video should replace the definition of desperation.

**UPDATE - Kay Hagan responds to Dole's attack ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k76tRXq0ZC0
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Be Not Afraid

by Jim Wallis 10-30-2008
from Sojourners

In the final days of this election campaign, a new message has emerged. For the entire political year, the overriding theme has been change—with each candidate competing to be the real champion for a new direction. With 80 percent of Americans unhappy with our country’s current direction, it seemed that no other theme could break through.

A new message has, and it is this: “Be Afraid— Be Very Afraid.” Most of that fear is directed at Barack Obama, the leading candidate with just days to go before November 4. Instead of being content to offer a competing policy vision to Obama’s, the Right has now focused on the man himself in an attempt to stir the fears of the electorate that “he” is not really like “them.” “Do we really know who Barack Obama is?” has been the refrain of partisan peddlers. A parallel and ugly national innuendo campaign stokes the fear. Is he a Muslim? An Arab? A pal of terrorists? Or maybe even a closet Socialist? Where did he grow up? Why such a funny middle name? Doesn’t his support come from those parts of the country (and those people) that deep down inside are anti-American? And, of course, what has quickly become a campaign classic—guilt by association.

The fact that Barack Obama is the first black nominee of a major party for president gives all the fear a decidedly racial undertone. YouTube has quickly become populated with video after video of the dark underbelly of American fear and racism. The innuendos and rumors have brought to the surface latent fears and thinly veiled biases that many had hoped were gone from our country. The message of fear is the same: Obama may look okay on the surface, but we don’t know what might lie beneath.

Regardless of whether one favors Obama or McCain, this development should be of concern to all Americans, and especially people of faith. There is now a new spiritual dimension to this election, and it is decidedly evil. Christians believe that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear…” (1 John 4:18.) There are, of course, good and decent motivations to vote either way in this election. Strong people of faith will be marking different boxes on Election Day, but for people of faith there will be a spiritual decision to be made as well. Will we put our trust in the power of fear or hope?

Conservatism did this with the bright and hopeful theme of “Morning in America” with the Ronald Reagan years. I disagreed with most all of Reagan’s agenda, but his appeal was to ask us all to choose hope, not fear. Similarly, the best of liberalism was seen in the power of John and Robert Kennedy’s appeal to build a “newer world.” Both conservatives and liberals can appeal to the better instincts of the American people, or to their worst—and each side has done both over the years.

Fear has always been the dark side of American politics, and we are seeing its resurgence in the campaign’s final days. Demagoguery has come from both the right and the left in America, and the most dependable sign of it is the appeal to fear over hope. Facts don’t matter when fear takes over. Fear covers over the debate on a candidate’s tax plans, the wisdom of their foreign policies, their experience and judgment to handle the economic crisis. Fear attacks character and lies with false prophecies of what a candidate would do if they are elected.

Some of the worst fear-mongering has sadly come from leaders of the Religious Right who are worried about losing their control over the votes of the evangelical and Catholic communities, especially a new generation of believers. Their apocalyptic rhetoric has been among the worst and most irresponsible. When religious leaders sound so desperate and seek to stoke fear and hate, they have lost their theological perspective by putting too much of their hope in having political power. It is that loss of power and control which seems to be motivating the current campaign of desperation and fear now being waged by so many conservatives. Instead, scripture points to a better way:

For “Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:10-15, emphasis added)

With that reminder that Christ is our ultimate hope, let us pray that, on November 4, the need for change will finally prevail over the appeals to fear. Pray that the voters will choose either Barack Obama or John McCain as the best agent of change, rather than submit to the tyranny of fear. It is always better to live (and to vote) in the light of hope than in the darkness of fear. It is always an act of faith to believe that, in the end, hope will prevail over fear. So pray, and vote.

http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3287
-------------------------------------------------------------------

{SIDE NOTE: It's not just the "dark underbelly" of America that still holds racial prejudice. Rather, it effects us all to different degrees.

What? Me Biased?

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: October 29, 2008
"For the last year and a half, a team of psychology professors has been conducting remarkable experiments on how Americans view Barack Obama through the prism of race.

The scholars used a common research technique, the implicit association test, to measure whether people regarded Mr. Obama and other candidates as more foreign or more American. They found that research subjects — particularly when primed to think of Mr. Obama as a black candidate — subconsciously considered him less American than either Hillary Clinton or John McCain."

Continue reading article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/opinion/30kristof.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Take the test yourself & choose the Obama/McCain IAT test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

I scored the following:
- Your data suggests no automatic preference for White people over Black people
- Your data suggests a moderate automatic preference for Barack Obama over John McCain

The real "Gotcha" media

2008-10-28T00:53:00.003-05:00

In this video receiving a remarkable amount of attention despite it's unremarkableness, Biden makes the point clear that Obama's ony taking about returning us to the Clinton era tax rates with a further cut in the middle class. Was Clinton a Marxist too? If we're going to start throwing labels out there and go down to the letter, then we should probably get rid of those socialist programs like Medicare and Social Security,...or those new nationalized banks we just bought up, ...oh wait that was Bush.

This is running on desperate from Drudge and FoxNews who are making a big deal of it. The reporter laid out a bunch of rhetorical questions that are straight out of John McCain and Sarah Palin's stump speeches. The reporter's bio on her site shows she's a major republican supporter, family donates thousands to RNC. Surely it's just a coincidence that her husband is a GOP MEDIA CONSULTANT! And on Thursday she asked McCain a set of softballs. But look, tough questions are great, but not if some of them are 100% false or aim to equate the Democratic candidate for president with Karl Marx. There's no equivalence between the Obama tax plan and Marxism. Have the Republicans been taking cues from McCarthy? Biden kept his cool in the face of some really woefully ignorant questions, that were obviously taken from talking points. What’s actually newsworthy is Biden’s elegance at disposing of the wingnuttery so frankly. If she had more time she probably would have asked for “a penetrating expose on who is an anti-American in Congress"!

I will agree on one thing though; it does seem a bit silly for the campaign to have said in response to the interview that Jill Biden wouldn't appear on the show next week. So the lady asked some stupid questions; so she's a tool for an agenda; Jill's a big girl and could have taken advantage of the opportunity.

But since just two days ago the PA McCain campaign told 75K jewish voters that if they voted Obama they could be repeating the same steps that led to the Holocaust, I guess a Marxist or socialist charge isn't the worst they have done.

How I wish this all had gone:

Anchor: Senator Biden, what do you say to the people who think that Barack Obama likes to rape kittens while feasting on the entrails of Republican virgins that were sacrificed at the Satanic Marxist altar built by the Democrats using money that Acorn stole, with the help of Willam Ayers, from old white women?

Joe Biden: [cuts a bitch]

Funny how things change:

The Systematic Theology of Modern Mainline Evangelical Christianity in America

2008-10-26T23:00:00.013-05:00

*note: what you are about to read is a caricature based upon isolated realities. It is tounge-in-cheek and meant only to spur polemical debate, not to flame.

1. The Bible is a book of absolute statements (absolutely understood by the reader) to be read in piecemeal segments used to identify who is "other"** and what the other is doing wrong and to determine the physical and spiritual fate or should be fate of the other. It's secondary use is to help the reader feel better about themselves or "encourage" them in their current path. The only statements that should be read and taught are those that accomplish this goal and can be most easily understood and espoused by the reader (i.e., John 3:16, Phil 4:13, some of the 10 Commandments, or the ones about abortion, evolution and the gays).

2. The aforementioned minutia of Biblical teachings will make up 10% of one's belief system. 50% will come from the culture of your first 18 years of life (anything learned after these years is to be mistrusted, especially if it is learned in a college or university or other institution of higher learning [*Bible colleges excluded] & universities are solely useful as issuers of passports to privilege). 10% will come from Fox News, Drudge Report & talk radio (avoid NPR). 10% from music & television (top 40, Christian radio, & nu-country are excellent truth tellers). 10% from commercials & advertisements (Mama's got the magic of Clorox Bleach). The final source would be 10% from friends that share the previous 90%.

3. Any teaching that is presented that goes against one's personal happiness or belief should be regarded as relative, figurative or misunderstood. If these options are not possible then cognitive dissonance should be employed to dizzying effect (Anything that looks communistic or confronts one's ideas, interests, or allegiance to country should be discounted most quickly & Remember, self-sacrifice is Jesus's job...or the troops).

4. Doctrine can best be understood in bumper sticker form and is a sociological trend (see also #1).

5. The heart (or gut) is always to be trusted above the mind (see also #3).

6. The Gospel is understood as a personal decision that Jesus will pay your airfare to heaven upon death. If you believe this hard enough, repeat a mantra and don't screw up. Jesus will also pay for other things on earth for you...just don't mess up!!! Believe harder maggot!!

7. Salvation is limited to a person's soul and has no other broader ramifications. It only addresses the most "spiritual" aspects of life. God cares about nothing else going on in the world and neither should you unless it effects your personal happiness (God may choose to place a real "burden" on your heart for maintaining the status quo to your betterment).

8. Personal salvation is the single most important moment in one's life (keywords: single & moment). Again, don't mess up!! (but if you do, you can always "recommit" yourself).

9. A Pro-life stance only concerns the time in a person's life between conception to delivery.

10. Prayer is a tool to pursue happiness or to indicate your disapproval with a person or their behavior (i.e., "I will pray for you, _____").

11. Community most often refers to a neighborhood with a gate around it.

12. Unquestioning faith is second only to unquestioning nationalism (to the "pro-America" regions of the country***).

13. "Afterlife, Slavery to the Law, and Liberty to fully Pursue Happiness & Safety First" is the creed.

**(The "other" includes Jews with the dispensationalist exception of when it involves protecting Israel so as to encourage the return of Jesus.)

*** Pro-America regions are represented by the red and orange areas on the map.If I was an outsider looking in, from that perspective, this would be my 13-point assessment of the beliefs of American Evangelicals.
What would you add?

UPDATE: HOLY HELL

2008-10-25T23:51:00.007-05:00

America's REAL favorite domestic terrorist, James Dobson is baaaack. Prepare yourself, according to Dobson, an Obama presidency will force your boys to sleep with pedophiles in tents thanks to the Supreme Court and Boy Scouts. OH YEAH, he's that apeshit.

CHRISTIAN RIGHT INTENSIFIES ATTACKS ON OBAMA

AP, October 24, 2008 · Terrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The end of the Boy Scouts. All are plausible scenarios if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president, according to a new addition to the campaign conversation called "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America," produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family Action.

The imagined look into the future is part of an escalation in rhetoric from Christian right activists who are trying to paint Obama in the worst possible terms as the campaign heads into the final stretch and polls show the Democrat ahead.

"It looks like, walks like, talks like and smells like desperation to me," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston, an Obama supporter who backed President Bush in the past two elections. The Methodist pastor called the 2012 letter "false and ridiculous." He said it showed that some Christian conservative leaders fear that Obama's faith-based appeals to voters are working.

Like other political advocacy groups, Christian right groups often raise worries about an election's consequences to mobilize voters. In the early 1980s, for example, direct mail from the Moral Majority warned that Congress would turn a blind eye to "smut peddlers" dangling pornography to children.

"Everyone uses fear in the last part of a campaign, but evangelicals are especially theologically prone to those sorts of arguments," said Clyde Wilcox, a Georgetown University political scientist.

continue full article and a partial list of the insane remarks from Focus on the Family here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96128513

Focus on your own damn family, James.
http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/

Hard to watch no matter the frequency

2008-10-23T22:36:00.003-05:00

I'd normally just laugh this kinda malarkey off for the absurdity that it is if I wasn't STILL hearing this or some variation of it from so many Christians. It's not just on the satire shows or even out of the mouths of the Mississippi folks I grew up with (that would be too easy) but from surprising places like students, recent college grads or people I meet through work. The same dissonant, divorced from reality nonsense, it just takes different forms with different levels of vocabulary. The mind balks. (and Jesus weeps)

NPR: How McCain Shed Pariah Status Among Evangelicals

by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96031231

Exerpt: "In May, McCain began to court the evangelical leaders he had once disdained, with the help of Bauer, his friend and religious insider. All summer, McCain met privately with leaders and stressed his credentials that he is strongly pro-life, anti-same-sex marriage, a religious conservative by record if not by countenance."

Brooks calls Palin "Fatal Cancer to Republicans," Decries culture of willful ignorance

2008-10-08T22:24:00.006-05:00

Conservative columnist/writer, David Brooks, (with whom I have a long standing love/hate, or more appropriately the other way around, relationship) spoke frankly about the presidential and vice presidential candidates Monday afternoon, calling Sarah Palin a "fatal cancer to the Republican party" but describing John McCain and Barack Obama as "the two best candidates we've had in a long time."

In an interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg at New York's Le Cirque restaurant to unveil that magazine's redesign, Brooks decried Palin's anti-intellectualism and compared her to President Bush in that regard:

[Sarah Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party. When I first started in journalism, I worked at the National Review for Bill Buckley. And Buckley famously said he'd rather be ruled by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. But he didn't think those were the only two options. He thought it was important to have people on the conservative side who celebrated ideas, who celebrated learning. And his whole life was based on that, and that was also true for a lot of the other conservatives in the Reagan era. Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices.

Brooks praised Palin's natural political talent, but said she is "absolutely not" ready to be president or vice president. He explained, "The more I follow politicians, the more I think experience matters, the ability to have a template of things in your mind that you can refer to on the spot, because believe me, once in office there's no time to think or make decisions."

The New York Times columnist also said that the "great virtue" of Palin's counterpart, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, is that he is anything but a "yes man."

"[Biden] can't not say what he thinks," Brooks remarked. "There's no internal monitor, and for Barack Obama, that's tremendously important to have a vice president who will be that way. Our current president doesn't have anybody like that."

Brooks also spent time praising Obama's intellect and skills in social perception, telling two stories of his interactions with Obama that left him "dazzled":

Obama has the great intellect. I was interviewing Obama a couple years ago, and I'm getting nowhere with the interview, it's late in the night, he's on the phone, walking off the Senate floor, he's cranky. Out of the blue I say, 'Ever read a guy named Reinhold Niebuhr?' And he says, 'Yeah.' So i say, 'What did Niebuhr mean to you?' For the next 20 minutes, he gave me a perfect description of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought, which is a very subtle thought process based on the idea that you have to use power while it corrupts you. And I was dazzled, I felt the tingle up my knee as Chris Matthews would say.

And the other thing that does separate Obama from just a pure intellectual: he has tremendous powers of social perception. And this is why he's a politician, not an academic. A couple of years ago, I was writing columns attacking the Republican congress for spending too much money. And I throw in a few sentences attacking the Democrats to make myself feel better. And one morning I get an email from Obama saying, 'David, if you wanna attack us, fine, but you're only throwing in those sentences to make yourself feel better.' And it was a perfect description of what was going through my mind. And everybody who knows Obama all have these stories to tell about his capacity for social perception.

Brooks predicted an Obama victory by nine points, and said that although he found Obama to be "a very mediocre senator," he was is surrounded by what Brooks called "by far the most impressive people in the Democratic party."

"He's phenomenally good at surrounding himself with a team," Brooks said. "I disagree with them on most issues, but I am given a lot of comfort by the fact that the people he's chosen are exactly the people I think most of us would want to choose if we were in his shoes. So again, I have doubts about him just because he was such a mediocre senator, but his capacity to pick staff is impressive."

original article from HuffPo | author: Danny Shea | October 8, 2008 02:09 PM

example of some of that "willful ignorance":

Related Film to Topic - Stupidity - http://stupiditythemovie.com/moviebody.html

"Stupidity sets out to determine whether our culture is hooked on deliberate ignorance as a strategy for success. From Adam Sandler to George W. Bush, from the IQ test to TV programming, to the origins of the word moron, Stupidity examines the "dumbing down" of contemporary culture. Stupidity embarks on an exhaustive search into its meaning, and the implications of a culture that is obsessed and saturated with stupefying culture."

Bad Gospel, Bad Mortgage

2008-10-03T13:28:00.007-05:00

Foreclosures: Did God Want You to Get That Mortgage?

By David Van Biema Friday, Oct. 03, 2008
Time.com

Has the so-called Prosperity Gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That's what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of pentecostal Christianity believes. While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California Riverside, he realized that Prosperity's central promise — that God would "make a way" for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, toxic expression during sub-prime boom. Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe "God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house." The results, he says, "were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers."

Others think he may be right. Says Anthea Butler, an expert in pentecostalism at the University of Rochester in New York state, "The pastor's not gonna say 'go down to Wachovia and get a loan' but I have heard, 'even if you have a poor credit rating God can still bless you — if you put some faith out there [that is, make a big donation to the church], you'll get that house, or that car or that apartment.'" Adds J. Lee Grady, editor of the magazine Charisma, "It definitely goes on, that a preacher might say, 'if you give this offering, God will give you a house. And if they did get the house, people did think that it was an answer to prayer, when in fact it was really bad banking policy." If so, the situation offers a look at how an native-born faith built partially on American economic optimism entered into a toxic symbiosis with a pathological market.

story continued at time.com

In preparation for tonight's debate

2008-10-02T15:35:00.003-05:00

what we might expect (HOPE HOPE HOPE) to see:

Where we're at...

2008-10-01T22:32:00.000-05:00

Moderate Conservative Peggy Noonan and Jon Stewart talk about the general heartbreak and small-town offs.

Starting to believe in Karma.

2008-09-03T09:11:00.016-05:00

In 1 week Republicans have lost all ground to criticize Obama.
and here's 8 reasons why:

(UPDATE: I could make this a Top 10 list if I had added the Immigration flipflop and the say one thing do another attitude about keeping family members out of this.)

1. After Focus on the Family asks people to pray for epic rain during the DNC so that Obama's speech could not be delivered, the DNC experiences record attendance and record ratings all the while basking in perfect weather. While, the RNC is overshadowed by a hurricane following the same path as Katrina which laid bare the Bush administration management 3 years ago. (Oh, and I enjoyed my friend, Don Miller's little reference before his benediction at the DNC. Nicely done.)

2. After over half-a-year of Republicans belittling Obama's experience and calling him "not ready to lead" and touting John McCain as the experience candidate, Barack Obama chooses 36-year serving foreign policy expert Joe Biden. While, McCain chooses 20-month-serving Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate whose previous experience was serving as mayor of a town of 7,000, being runner-up in Miss Alaska, an undergrad degree in journalism from the Univ. of Idaho and whose foreign policy experience [according to Cindy McCain] is said to be her state's "close proximity to Russia" and who doesn't even "know what a VP does."
But don't you dare ask them about her limited experience as evidenced here.

3. After ludicrous attempts at undermining Barack and Michelle Obama's patriotism by Republicans from distractions like flag pins to Muslim lies, John McCain runs a "Country First" sloganed campaign. While, Sarah Palin's husband was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP), which since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States. And while McCain's motto is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always." Palin even did the welcome message at the 2008 AIP Convention!

4. The party of family values tries to paint Democrats as out of line with "moral America" and selects Palin to secure values voters and social conservatives. Palin, who champions abstinence-only-ed as the "only solution," her teenage daughter Bristol begs to differ as she is pregnant by a self-proclaimed, "f--in redneck" who will "kick anyone's ass." If this had happened in the Obama family he would have been crucified by Republicans but when it happens in their own ranks this just "makes her more real," "she's just like us," and "she lives her values." The very objections that Democrats raise about Palin, conservatives hold up as talking points. Example:

Summer Vanderbilt is the youngest member of the Colorado delegation. The 21-year-old college student from Colorado Springs, a center of Christian conservative activism, says Palin's pregnant teenage daughter is making "a pro-life statement."
"It's a very interesting turn of events," she says, laughing. "Look, we have a very exciting party. We have a very exciting time. We've got a hurricane. We've got a baby. ... We're just having fun with all the different turns and we just don't know what's happening next."
- [from NPR] (click the link and listen to it with audio, much more "fun and exciting" that way. Summer's quote starts at 4:30 in)

5. After abandoning his once somewhat legitimate reform credentials in an "anything to win" blitzkrieg to the White House over the past year, McCain now seeks to re-brand himself as the "Reform" candidate and hopes Palin's record will bolster that...too bad he didn't seriously vet her. The governor's past practice on earmarks stands in contrast to the branded views of her running mate, as well as her initial support the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" pork project, times spent as the director of a 527 group for indicted Sen. Ted Stevens, and her retention of his lobbying group in her campaign.

6. After years of sexist jokes toward Hillary Clinton from conservatives and even more years of opposition to equality protection laws for women, Republicans now have to pander to voters and pick a woman VP to try to shallowly pick up Clinton supporters for McCain to win and in doing so further insult and undermine women. (enjoy Samantha Bee's satire of this in the latter half of this Daily Show video on the Palin pick).

7. McCain. War Hero. Survivor of "Torture." Why is torture in quotes now? Well because apparently the McCain camp no longer calls it that. John McCain who as little as a year ago used to stand up against torture and decry it at all levels; McCain who "literally serves as the living embodiment" of the case against torture and has said, "One of the things that kept us going when I was in prison in North Vietnam was that we knew that if the situation were reversed, that we would not be doing to our captors what they were doing to us," has buckled on torture and now accepts it as long as you don't use THAT word. And in every speech last night supporting McCain at the RNC, Bush included, McCain's time as a POW in Vietnam now no longer includes "torture." Reason being: If it's put that way, if they describe what was done to McCain as torture, they have incriminated the Bush administration for war crimes.

8. And finally, and perhaps my favorite, Republicans have attempted over and over to tie Obama to every disreputable friend, co-worker, or acquaintance that he has ever known, met, or lived in the same state with. They even went so far as to create BarackBook, a Facebook type website to draw 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon attachments to Obama so as to attach the beliefs or actions of anyone and everyone to Obama despite evidence otherwise. The most obvious of these is of course the Jeremiah Wright spectacle which consumed the pundits talking points for a month and in which Obama could do no (w)right in conservatives eyes. Even with Hillary he had to famously "denounce" and "reject" Wright's comments as one verb meaning the same thing was not good enough. All the while, McCain was allowed to receive endorsements from all kinds of bigoted and xenophobic pastors from all walks of life. Meanwhile as of just TWO WEEKS ago, Sarah Palin sat in her Assembly of God church where a pastor gave this message:

Brickner described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity.

"Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. It's very real. When [Brickner's son] was in Jerusalem he was there to witness some of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment — you can't miss it."

But apparently it would be unfair to attribute Palin's views to Brickner, though not Obama's to Wright's.

The complete and utter hypocrisy in all of this is astounding.

"I have to say that the 2008 Minneapolis Convention and the 1968 Chicago Convention have some eerie parallels. An unpopular war, a deeply divided country, and a ruling party having a mental breakdown on live television. In Minneapolis, in some kind of freak political weather system, all the centrifugal forces that have been tearing at the GOP for two decades now have merged. The veneer of a serious governing party is colliding with the reality of a theocratic, fanatic base. The pull of foreign policy realism is busting up against an unrepentant neoconservatism made even more extreme by the McCain candidacy. The whole collision makes one want to look away.

And when you see who may inherit the spoils of this disaster, we can only breathe a sigh of relief. The Democrats do not have their version of Nixon to swoop in, and triumph. They already have their Reagan.

(It was close though.)" - Andrew Sullivan [Atlantic]

Oh, and just for fun...here's Lieberman on Obama two years ago.

and Cheney on invading Iraq 14 years ago.

Press Arrested for Legally Covering RNC protests

2008-09-02T20:43:00.000-05:00

STATEMENT FROM DEMOCRACY NOW! & PBS

Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC

Goodman Charged with Obstruction; Felony Riot Charges Pending Against Kouddous and Salazar

ST. PAUL--Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.

All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Salazar's violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, "I'm Press! Press!," resulted in her nose bleeding, as well as causing facial pain. Goodman's arm was violently yanked by police as she was arrested.

On Tuesday, Democracy Now! will broadcast video of these arrests, as well as the broader police action. These will also be available on: www.democracynow.org

Goodman was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful detention of Kouddous and Salazar who were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman's crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were arrested on suspicion of rioting, a felony. While the three have been released, they all still face charges stemming from their unlawful arrest. Kouddous and Salazar face pending charges of suspicion of felony riot, while Goodman has been officially charged with obstruction of a legal process and interference with a "peace officer."

Democracy Now! forcefully rejects all of these charges as false and an attempt at intimidation of these journalists. We demand that the charges be immediately and completely dropped.

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities' law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested, law enforcement officers used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, including a photographer for the Associated Press.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism's top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and the subsequent criminal charges and threat of charges are a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists.

Democracy Now! is a nationally-syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

The Best of the Sarah Palin Video Collection (no, not Skinemax)

2008-09-01T19:33:00.002-05:00

Let's start with Colbert:

add some Stewart:

and a 2-parter from Palin "herself":

The Slow-Witted Beast

2008-08-26T17:10:00.004-05:00

Jon Stewart lectures reporters on coverage (CNN)

As Comedy Central's "Daily Show" descends on Denver for four days of coverage, Jon Stewart took after the "established" media for getting too cozy with candidates and regurgitating campaign spin when it comes to political coverage.

In a breakfast with reporters, Stewart directed most of his ire at the 24-hour cable news networks, which he called "gerbil wheels," and said the media at-large had "abdicated" to what he called the "slow-witted beast."

He said the never-ending television news cycle creates a "false sense of urgency" and forces reporters to "follow the veins that have been mined," instead of pursuing serious and in-depth reporting.

Stewart said politicians in recent campaigns are "animatronic" because all of the "humanity has been managed out of campaigns." He referenced the back-and-forth during the Pennsylvania Democratic primary over Obama's lack of bowling skills.

"It's stunning what this election is going to be decided on," he said. "Or what we allow it to be decided on."

No Joke: Jon Stewart Takes Aim At 24-Hour Cable News 'Beast (Washington Post)

Jon Stewart ripped the cable news networks Monday as a "brutish, slow-witted beast" and castigated Fox News in particular as "an appendage of the Republican Party."

The "Daily Show" host told reporters at a University of Denver breakfast that Fox's "fair and balanced" slogan is an insult "to people with brains" and that only "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace "saves that network from slapping on a bumper sticker. . . . Barack Obama could cure cancer and they'd figure out a way to frame it as an economic disaster." "I'm stunned to see Karl Rove on a news network as an analyst," he said of the Bush White House aide turned Fox commentator.

Stewart included CNN and MSNBC in a far-ranging indictment of what he called "that false sense of urgency they create, the sense that everything is breaking news. . . . The 24-hour networks are now driving the narratives and everyone else is playing catch-up."

The Comedy Central funnyman touched a nerve when he criticized journalists for having off-the-record dinners with politicians, such as a barbecue in March at John McCain's Arizona ranch. "That colors your vision of them so clearly and so profoundly," he said.

When New York Times columnist David Brooks and others protested that there was value in getting to know candidates privately, Stewart stood his ground: "I don't say access is useless. But the more you get sucked into it, the more you become part of that machinery." And when another reporter accused him of courting the press at the breakfast as skillfully as any officeholder, Stewart called the comparison "crazy."

---------------------------------------------------------------
a good example of the "gerbil wheels" at work:

Hillary Clinton speaks at convention. The press concocts a story

by Eric Boehlert
MediaMatters.org
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200808260005

Writing at his Atlantic blog, Marc Ambinder, who seems to enjoy regular access to Obama sources, noted that "reports of strife between negotiators for Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are exaggerated" and that "multiple sources in both campaigns have described the negotiations as relatively free of acrimony."

The next day, Ambinder returned to the topic perplexed, wondering why so many members of the press were pushing the clearly inaccurate story line that the Obama and Clinton camps were practically at war over the convention schedule.

Ambinder was either being naïve or playing nice with his Beltway colleagues. (My guess is the latter.) Because it was obvious the press didn't care whether the rift about Clinton's speech was real or imagined. The story helped journalists advance their beloved narrative that Clinton is a political-party wrecking ball and that Obama is too weak to control her. So even if the evidence ran counter to that, the press was sticking with its story line.

This newly manufactured media attack on Clinton is just the latest in a long line of press grenades thrown her way this year. But this time, she's not the only victim, because the media's concocted story line is being used to unfairly skewer Barack Obama, too.

Consider New York magazine: "Obama Agrees to Roll-Call Vote for Clinton. Does That Make Him a Sissy?"

What's so startling in watching the coverage of the Clinton convention-speech story has been the complete ignorance displayed about how previous Democratic conventions have dealt with runners-up like Clinton. It's either complete ignorance or the media's strong desire to painstakingly avoid any historical context, which, in turn, allows the press to mislead news consumers into thinking Clinton's appearance (as well as the gracious invitation extended by Obama) represents something unique and unusual. Something newsworthy.

Based on previous conventions, if a candidate had accumulated as many delegates and votes as Clinton did during the primaries and then did not have her name placed into nomination, that would represent a radical departure from the convention norm.

But, boy, in 2008, an awful lot of media outlets have played dumb. When covering the August 14 announcement about Clinton's role in Denver, they miraculously forgot to make any historical reference to similar names-placed-in-nomination at previous conventions.

Instead, readers and viewers were left with the obvious impression that what was scheduled to happen in Denver was remarkable, an anomaly. And I suppose if you look at the events through a soda straw, it does look unusual. But if you include the slightest bit of context, the story changes into something normal and routine.

But that's not the story the press wants to tell (the Clintons are not normal!), so the press simply erased the context and stuck to its preferred story line that Clinton's appearance in Denver and the placing of her name in nomination are one for the record books.

I Called It!

2008-08-24T22:25:00.001-05:00

I got my first and second choices for President from the primaries on the same ticket. When has that ever happened? I don't know when, but it feels good, a feeling Clinton supporters will never know! Ha!

Hoping It’s Biden - NY Times (David Brooks Op-Ed)

"Biden’s weaknesses are on the surface. He has said a number of idiotic things over the years and, in the days following his selection, those snippets would be aired again and again.

But that won’t hurt all that much because voters are smart enough to forgive the genuine flaws of genuine people. And over the long haul, Biden provides what Obama needs:"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/opinion/22brooks.html?hp

On Becoming Joe Biden - NPR (Interview)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12389154

A Senate Stalwart Who Bounced Back - NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/us/politics/24bio.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Biden Strong On Foreign Policy, National Security - NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93903313

Profile: Joe Biden - BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7574085.stm

Note:
Media outlets reported allegations Biden plagiarized Kinnock, but not that he had previously credited him - Media Matters

Summary: The Los Angeles Times reported that when Sen. Joe Biden ran for president in 1987, he "was accused of plagiarism when he did not credit Neil Kinnock, then leader of the British Labor Party, for much of his stump speech." The New York Times and the Associated Press made similar reports. But they did not note that Biden reportedly had credited Kinnock, as The Washington Post reported at the time: "John Quinlan, a reporter for the Sioux City Journal, said his notes showed Biden said he was quoting Kinnock when he used the same passage in a speech Aug. 14. Stories in The [New York] Times, The Boston Globe and other newspapers also said Biden had used the rhetoric and credited Kinnock for it."

http://mediamatters.org/items/200808230003?f=h_top

you were wrong cabinet sanchez

Practice Resurrection

Open Up Your Fists

The Tea Party Convention in Nashville

Logic.

Cowboys and Indians: Thoughts on War

One Less Thing

One Thing More

Here we are again: My 'Best of 2009' Lists

Merry Christmas

The Word Became FleshJohn 1:1-18

Winter

2 Songs for November

11 years later, Hate Crimes Bill Passes

Did he deserve it?

Executive Order Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration

Oh Autumn...

Information VS. Ammunition

The Story Behind the Story

A Conscionable Voice in Unconscionable Debate

Moyers prophetically calls for fearlessness and an end to the moral compromises giving our leaders, particularly our president, the call to obey conscience. Know I don't like Maher, but it's not Maher talking, it's Moyers and it's well worth watching. All 3 Parts.

Part 3 "back up the rhetoric."

Re-reading my favorite book up until my birthday

Some connected thoughts at 2am

It comes and goes in waves

The Line

We'll build that border fence now.

Melancholy and the 100 days of media sadness

The Worst Media Moment of Obama'sFirst 100 Daysfrom mediamatters.org

VOTE for the worst moment at http://mediamatters.org/action_center/100days/

Now — heretofore — til Judgment Day,

'The Drunken Driver Has the Right Of Way'

Oh it's healing bang, bang, bang

The Rodeo Clown & A Persecuted Majority

A Vote of No Confidence

Media find Obama news conference insufficiently entertaining

Summary: Several media outlets echoed the assertion of a Drudge Report headline that President Obama's March 24 press conference was "boring."

Reporter Asks Gibbs About Question Selection And Teleprompter

Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

The Evangelical Collapse... quickly come

Stewart & Colbert matter.

Even Conservatives Don't Want to Be Conservatives Anymore

Watch Obama's Address to Congress

Are we done with them yet?

"We all hate the same things"

The only performance worth watching last night....or this year.

Pop & HissThe L.A. Times music blog

They Need a Hero...(to save them from themselves)

Playing With Fire

The Party of No Ideas' Big Idea is to Just Say No, Regardless.

GOP Against Stimulus Part of Stimulus Bill- Ken Layne

The Fear Imbalance: A Montage (time to get back on the meds)

'Oscar' the Grouch, why so serious?

Victor and I have been productive.

Best of 2008

In the Christmas Spirit

Grinch Bush Revokes Real-Estate Crook’s Pardon

The Hidden Cost of War

Striking

A Proud Supporter of Operation Humble Kanye

It's funny cause it's true...actually it's not funny, it's not funny at all.

I'm Not One Of Those 'Love Thy Neighbor' Christians

More layoffs at Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family spent more than $500,000 to pass California's Prop. 8 gay marriage ban. The ministry announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950.

Want to learn how to lie with a 'straight' face?

Let's Talk Bias

The Day After Tomorrow

The Flaw in the Plan

"America is just not gonna be the same"

America's Socialist Tendencies or Just More GOP Fearmongering?

Godless Americans? -OR- "Perfect Love Drives out all Fear"

Be Not Afraid

I scored the following:- Your data suggests no automatic preference for White people over Black people- Your data suggests a moderate automatic preference for Barack Obama over John McCain

The real "Gotcha" media

The Systematic Theology of Modern Mainline Evangelical Christianity in America

UPDATE: HOLY HELL

Hard to watch no matter the frequency

Brooks calls Palin "Fatal Cancer to Republicans," Decries culture of willful ignorance

Bad Gospel, Bad Mortgage

In preparation for tonight's debate

The Word Became Flesh
John 1:1-18

The Worst Media Moment of Obama's
First 100 Days
from mediamatters.org

Pop & Hiss
The L.A. Times music blog

GOP Against Stimulus Part of Stimulus Bill
- Ken Layne

I scored the following:
- Your data suggests no automatic preference for White people over Black people
- Your data suggests a moderate automatic preference for Barack Obama over John McCain