SUNRISE

Free at last, Free at last... Lord Almighty, we are free at last!

House of Representatives: Check

Senate: Check

Presidency: Check

/

(Told ya so moment: 2005 thoughts on the 2008 elections )

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Not a moment too soon. It does not speak highly of my fellow Americans that we came close to electing another carbon copy of that madman Bush.

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Racism, narcissism and ignorance still fuel a large segment of the American population. I am surrounded my those who are voting for McCain here in West Texas. I have yet to find even ONE of these folks who actually believe in McCain. They fear and hate Obama, though. They send text messages in the millions daily - racist jokes and lynching fantasies. I knew most people in this area were racist. This list includes my co-workers, my family, and even some people I considered friends. But the level that this group of people has outed themselves at shocks even this Redneck. I guess all it takes is one uppity nigger-and the very real fear that the White man's thumb on everything is being removed.

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Change. That's what they fear.

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They can't stop it. But thank Crom we've stopped them, at least for the moment. Every day more of these McCarthyist dinosaurs breathe their last, cancerous breath and new Americans are born to breathe fresh new life into this country.

/

Change is coming.

..
It's not gloating, it is tears of joy and relief...

In case you've forgotten - some memories of the Republican Reign of Terror:

TraitorGate

Treason for Dummies

Palin-publicans

Media Apologists for Bush

Rummy

Crimelords in Office

Conspiracy to Terrorize

Olbermann: We will not fear George Bush

Bush vetoes bill banning Waterboarding

The Bailout before the Bailout

and for shits and giggles:
Images from the House of the Rising Sons from the past 4 years

The Grand Masturbation of the Non-Reformists

"Nothing you do matters! It's all for naught! I am above you because I quit trying! So there! Phbbbt!"

Of course, they throw around their defeatist logic in much more erudite terms, but that's basically the gist of it. I've got no other way to put it but this :

Fucking Cowards.

Sorry. That's you. That's those of you who whine that it doesn't matter. And THEN when we tell you to get off your fucking asses and help do something- you oh-so-smugly "educate" us that it's all some worthless endeavor. "There is nothing you can do to change anything, goddamnit, cuz we-are-Powerless! Don't you see?!" you scream as you pull your asshairs out in clumps-

"Don't you See ?!?!?"

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All I see is a crowd of losers who give up once everything doesn't go exactly their way. The worst of the worst of this ilk- is the Grand Masturbator himself, Ioz. The pseudo-intellectual poobah whom the disenfranchised flock to like a golden Nader idol. "We won't vote- We'll show you!"

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I have never seen such a smug apathy-selling blogger. Wallowing in his own shit, he passes down his judgement on all who would dare attempt to make a difference. Here, again, he restates what passes for his principles:

The Occasional Restatement of Principles

You know, most Americans are imperialists. One of the reasons--the reason--that it so amuses me to find the occasional commenter here ask me why I offer no practical solutions to "our" problems, why the closest I ever come to advocating for direct action is to propose minor acts of cultural vandalism. Being an anti-imperialist in America is like being a Zionist in the Third Reich. I am a fringe radical. If you agree with even a tenth of what you read on this site, you too are a fringe radical. Your beliefs and opinions are not reflective of those of your countrymen. The question, "How do we stop being imperialists?" bears as much practical import as, "How do we live without breathing?" We don't. The United States of America is an empire. Maybe you think it's on the downhill slide? I certainly hope so. But it is what it is, nevertheless. The notions that within the body of empire lurks the heart of an egalitarian, constitutional republic, or a libertarian minarchy, or a parliamentary social democracy are the purest forms of political self-flattery. The subjects here may be largely political, but the program is purely perceptual. I am not a reformist.

He'th Amuthed. Well, shit on me.

Look, you pawn shop Socrates- you can sell fiddles until Rome burns if you like, but don't try to pawn your bullshit on me that you are some kind of radical. "The closest I ever come to adovocating.." Jaysus fucking Christ. Spare me your master plan of breaking windows to stop Imperialism, mkay? "like a Zionist in the Third Reich" ... good fucking grief. While pissants like you were telling your neighbors you can't fight the Third Reich, this Imperialist power did indeed help the Jews win in the end. The Third Reich didn't last, for all the help nihilists like you are. The Neoconservative movement won't last either. Unless a lot of good people stand aside and let them run roughshod because they feel apathetic towards it all. .
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Within the body of THIS Empire, there ARE people like me- and there is the heart of a constitutional republic. We are NOT a minority in this country, although I do surely hope that if you are right about one thing it is that people with your mindset are a tiny, flaccid minority. Everything evolves. And if you haven't noticed, this Empire has actually steadily improved on all fronts- UNTIL the advent of the neoconservative radicals. So don't piss on my head and tell me it's a torrential downpour. There's work to be done. And our actions, and yes, even our votes can be used to shift the direction of this empire.

It's times like this that I actually miss certain things about being part of the Republican sheeple- as stupid as that may sound- I never ran into anyone crying in a corner saying they were ready to give up fighting. We need to rally around the Democratic candidate, whoever that might be- because that's the important battle before us. It isn't proving that some half ass huckster like Nader can make a few votes and pocket some change every four years. It isn't about showing the Dems that they you won't vote because they didn't cater as much to the left as you wanted.

It is about slowing down the Radical neo-conservative ultra Imperalists in our current government. And that battle is won by defeating the Republican party.

It is about winning the class war in America by defeating the Republican party.

It is about defanging the racist, sexist, corrupt Republican party and bringing our soldiers home. PERIOD

I just have ONE Question for you: Of all the legislation that Bush threatened to veto and came out swinging against the Dem party in speech after speech - How much would have passed if there would have been a Democrat, ANY Democrat in the oval office? That, I believe, is a valid question.

So, Ioz, spare some of us who are actually out here trying to improve the country, not help continue the Imperial Corporatocracy- Why don't you focus on something important like this
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And, I'll leave you with one more Warhol quote, useless bastard that he was:
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"I always thought I'd like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph, and no name. Well, actually, I'd like it to say "figment." "
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The Iozs of the world might as well have blank epitaths, because no one remembers the crybabies on the sidelines who champion the Imperialists by default. Nothing WILL change, while the country is populated with these impotent self-important folks who think they are above it all.
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They aren't. And by the time these people are forced into activity from their comfort zones- it will be too late. Don't be just another couch potato. Just because Ioz is intelligent, doesn't mean the sum of his inactions make him anything more than just another Homer Simpson, albeit one with a blog.

I shall conclude with a bit from The Sermon To The Hypocrite by Zos, who may be a spiritual ancestor to Ioz:

O, ye whose future is in other hands! This familiarity is permitted not of thy-but of my impotence. Know me as Zos the Goatherd, saviour of myself and of those things I have not yet regretted. Unbidden ye listen'd to my soliloquy. Endure then my Anathema.

Foul feeders! Slipped, are ye, on your own excrement?
Parasites! Having made the world lousy, imagine ye are of significance to Heaven?

Desiring to learn-think ye to escape hurt in the rape of your ignorance? For of what I put in, far more than innocence shall come out! Labouring not the harvest of my weakness, shall I your moral-fed desires satisfy?

I, who enjoy my body with unweary tread, would rather pack with wolves than enter your pest-houses.

Sensation . . Nutrition . . . Mastication . . . . Procreation . . . ! This
is your blind-worm cycle. Ye have made a curiously bloody world for love in desire. Shall nothing change except through your accusing diet?

IN THAT YE ARE CANNIBALS, what meat should I offer?
Having eaten of your dead selves savoured with every filth, ye now raven to glutton of my mind's motion?

In your conflict ye have obtained . . . ? Ye who believe your procreation is ultimate are the sweepings of creation manifest, returning again to early simplicity to hunger, to become, and realise-ye are not yet. Ye have muddled time and ego.

Think ye to curb the semen SENTIMENTALLY? Ye deny sexuality with tinsel ethics, live by slaughter, pray to greater idiots-that all things may be possible to ye WHO ARE IMPOSSIBLE.

For ye desire saviours useless to pleasure.

Verily, far easier for madmen to enter Heaven than moral Lepers. Of what difference is Life or Death? Of what difference is dream or reality? Know ye nothing further than you own stench? Know ye what ye think ye know for certain? Fain would I be silent. Yet too tolerant is this Sun that comethup to behold me, and my weakness comes of my dissatisfaction of you solicit. . . . but be ye damned before obtaining fresh excuses of me!
...
Cursed are the Reformists! Cursed I say!.

UPDATE: Those defending the idea of that nothing Americans can do matters are working pretty hard to convince me. Not exactly the action I was hoping for, but at least they seem to be doing something to change others, even if they don't believe in it...

A final note (from the comments):

Party affiliation isn't the end-all, be-all. It's important to get in the individuals who will support the issues that you want. Yes, it seems hopeless. But what the Deconstructionists don't seem to realize is that you can get mired in your own complexity. I have no doubt that Ioz (and the rest of you guys, for that matter) are more intelligent than those who support the status quo.

HOWEVER, their continuance of power relies upon your "deconstruction". The less you do, the easier it is FOR THEM to maintain control. They may not be brainiacs, but they realize this simple strategy. The subtleties of the political spectrum are NOT Lost on me, I choose to step over them in order to implement a strategy that sets back the status quo elite. Yes, Hillary and Obama are not the candidate I want- but Change is not some Overnight sensation as some of you seem to feel- it is a gradual evolution.

You have to win small battles and get the most progressive choices you have into office over the worst of the worst. Unfortunately, if the "Ioz crowd" decides to sit this one out, in the name of apathy, or Deconstruction, or what have you- it's a win for the worst. There is a reason they (the status quo pimps) are winning. And it's because there are more people willing to sit out Democracy than participate- And whether you claim it's for some Deconstructionist purpose, or whether you are simply one of those people to lazy to vote, the end result is the same.

Defeat.

It's the Status Quo folks that PUT us down, but its the Ioz's who KEEP us down.

Framing The "Debate"

A friend called me early this morning. He's a default Texas John McCain supporter, which means : He won't vote for no split tail or no negro, by God.

A day before I had ripped McCain to this Truck Driver- and explained why he should be voting Democrat for the rest of his natural born life, apparently, 24 hours set in and he forgot the fifteen damn factors I had instilled in him via reason, logic, and historical example.

He called me from his cell as he was truckin along, and he asked me if I was still supporting Obama. Before I could answer, he followed up with : "Have you seen the news?" - Now, I am a news JUNKIE. I mainline C&L, I shoot MSNBC Straight, I chase it with NPR Radio , and while I'm at it, I have a slice of Yahoo and smoke a bowl of CNBC. And I wash it all down with a suicide of various blogs. So, sitting down at my desk that early morning, I hadn't even booted up my PC yet. All I had was my morning drive with NPR's tibetan updates.

I thought- 'Well, shit! what did I miss?'

"Obama got a terrorist working for him.Yep, it's all over the news!" He exclaimed.

Unawares of what the heck he was talking about, I kinda mumbled- "I didn't see that on the news" But nonplussed, I followed up with the standard West Texas talking point- "Well, hell, Rocky, I'll still vote for a terrorist over Hillary or McCain". That got a chuckle.

"Well, I just thought you should know that's what I heard. That your boy got terrorists working for him."

He couldn't cite a news agency or details, and he had to go abruptly. I quickly got online, thinking to myself- What-in-the-fck-now?

Unsurprisingly it dawned on me that there was no news concerning this soundbite. I had forgotten that the rest of the country isn't quite up to speed on current events. Maybe he had finally heard some shit about Madrassas. Maybe he had heard about Weather Underground. Maybe he heard some uppity black preacher was badmouthing the flag. But whatever bullshit he took in one ear, didn't quite make it out the other.

All that careful conversation I had with him the day before, meant nothing now. All he heard was that I was supporting a black man over the white one. And although he listened carefully and even told me what a sorrry ass Bush was, worst President ever- a day later all that registered was that crazy ass nigga's middle name was Hu-saaaaannnnne and he won't say the pledge of allegiance by damn!

...

He wants to vote Republican. Because he's been told to. But everything is shit and it has been for the past 8 years. Nothing has quite worked out like the Republican party told him it would. He just don't know. But ho-shit- It's not just a split-tail running for President, that's a god-damn Clinton! By Jesus, He'd take a bj in an outhouse with his wife holding a roll of toilet paper outside, but he cain't abide the Preznit getting his jollies in the oval office!

Not if he's damn democrat, at least! And then the other option is a half-breed! And half breeds ain't so bad, Hell this guy's grandson is a "half-breed". But this fucker is half (whisper- BLACK! whisper)

Sumbitch!

McCain is a white guy and hell he's even a War Hero. (If it all it takes to be a war hero is to be captured by a rice farmer in a paddy where you've been bombing civiilians)... So when he hears "Hussein" or "Farrakhan" or "black President" his mind is made up.

The wit and wisdom, the facts and the figures, the history and the truth isn't going to sway him.

UNLESS...

So, what I propose- is to fight like a dirty, piece of shit Republican. Do what they have done to Obama and to Hillary before him- Make up a bunch of bullshit and pass it down the line. Who knows? Knowing the Middle Amerkan dipshit like I know so well, they will PROBABLY improve on it as it goes in one ear and out their ass.

I'm sure you've heard some dirt on McCain. Well, do what THEY do, and just assume its true and pass it around. But frame it in the worst possible way to Right wingers and their ilk; Make a headline about McCain. Say that you heard it from a "reputable source" and let that fucker fly. We are dealing with idiots, slaves, and sycophants. For four years of blogging, I've laid out the truth in careful little lines only to be ignored by morons who want to know who's Britney's Sister's Baby's Daddy is.

FUCK THEM.

McCain wants to Double the Estate Tax! I read it in the Wall Street Journal!

McCain owns interest in a Chinese Nuclear Weapons facility! It was on FoxNews!

McCain called one of Mitt Romney's three wives' (the thirteen year old) a bitch! I heard it on Rush!

McCain beat his ex-wife as she lay in a cancer ward, then had sex with his mistress in the same room as she lay bleeding afterwards! it was on Drudge, I Swear!

McCain wants Cheney as his Vice President! (that might be true)

Rove threatens to blow the whistle on McCain's Bondage Affair with Condi Rice, her lesbian girlfriend and Jeff Gannon! I read it at Free Republic!

McCain secretly vows to George Bush in a satanic blood brother ritual that they will do a 9-11 in every major city until the Democrat party is no longer a majority in Congress! I saw it on Perez Hilton!

Because the horrible truth is- THESE Lies are more likely to get attention than Bush okaying Torture, Blackwater pulling guns on American soldiers with no consequences, Iraq going to hell in a handbasket, our President funneling millions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia and Israel, our government allowing crooked corporations to loot American stockholders, or our military being destroyed by the Incompetent Republican leadership.

So lie all you want. The truth is far worse.

How bad do you want it?

How did I miss this?

Bill Clinton does the Limbaugh show

..Bill going on the Rush show the day of the Texas primaries, when Rush was exhorting Republicans to illegally vote as Democrats just to hurt the Democratic party- That's just... ..low. Damn, it's lower than low.

Then there's this- Scaife-Hillary

"I don't know just how this went down. But the idea Sen. Clinton and her staff went into an editorial board meeting with Scaife and his lackey reporters without a clear sense that they were going to get at least one choice Jeremiah Wright question just somehow doesn't ring true to me."

The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy is baaaaack... and apparently this time the Clintons are working with it.

Rush Limbaugh!? Richard Scaife?!

I can put up with a LOT from a presidential candidate as long as they are willing to fight for the constitution against the Bushbots. But I'll be damned if I support a candidate who panders to Rush Limbaugh's crowd and then works side by side with the people who worked so hard to attempt to destroy you. Hell, how can she even sit in the same room with that man? Unless...

Unless it's all been a goddamned sham from the get-go.

Any way you slice it, it's NOT what I want from a Democratic leader. And half of Progressive Democrats in America want Hillary to be the next President?

It's times like these that I come close to agreeing with Vlad Kalashnikov on the state of American politics: America is fucked beyond all repair.

I will leave you with Vlad's thoughts on Bear Stearns and the financial symmetry of the Russian collapse with the impending American one...

Everything about Bear Stearns collapse and bailout is a deja vu of collapse of Yeltsin-era banking system. Back then in the 1990s, American advisers created Russia's "market" system, and that ended in a total economic collapse in August of 1998. What is happening today in America is just a repeat. For example, the development this week of the Bear Stearns collapse reminds me so much of the same way Russian banks collapsed under American guidance in the 1990s. In Russia under Yeltsin, when a bank was close to collapse they always assured the public that everything was fine and they blamed "rumors" for causing problems; this week, the CEO of Bear Stearns and all the American journalists on Bear Stearns payroll blamed "rumors" and "irrational psychology" for causing a run on Bear Stearns' money during the week. The purpose of these lies is that it allows the insiders to cash out their money while the rest of the trusting American fools keep their money in, only to lose it later. Then after the insiders cash out, comes the supposed "panic" and "sudden" collapse, best to take place on a Friday of course. The "sudden collapse" and "panic" gives cover for the next even bigger transaction: the connected Bear Stearns banker calls the Central Bank Chief Bernanke, just as Khodorkovsky would call Dubinin or whoever was Central Bank chief then, and naturally Bernanke gives to Bear Stearns as many billions as the CEO asks for, and everyone thinks it's okay because the billions were necessary in this atmosphere of alleged "sudden panic," as if Bear Stearns and Bernanke had not been speaking to each other like phone sex addicts every day 24/7 the entire week. Reports Bloomberg:

The Fed is taking on the credit risk from collateral supplied by Bear Stearns, which approached the central bank for emergency funds, Fed staff officials said today.

The Fed, under Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, voted unanimously to lend the funds through JPMorgan because it would be operationally simpler than a direct loan to Bear Stearns, the staff said on condition of anonymity. The regulator invoked a little-used law that allows it to make loans to corporations and private partnerships, which required a Board vote, according to the staffers.

Yes, you read that correctly. In the exact replay of Yeltsin-oligarchs' strategy to steal and steal, the Central Bank bailout money is not directly from the government to Bear Stearns, because that makes it harder to steal those billions. Instead, it is funneled through another well-connected bank, J.P. Morgan, so that those corrupt bankers can also take a nice cut in the deal ("otkat" it's called). Essentially the "bailout" is a massive bribe from corrupt Bush to corrupt J.P. Morgan, and in return JP Morgan will buy the ruins of Bear Stearns with the government money (minus what they steal). Meanwhile plenty of billions make sure that major Bear Stearns principles all cash out well. Here comes the funny part. How does "free speech" America hide this outright corruption and thieving from the population? Let a Russian explain to your naive innocent little American eyes: stop all this bullshit about "transparency" because it is no longer convenient:

The senior [Central Bank] staffers declined to describe how large the loan to Bear Stearns was, and declined to say whether a private- sector bailout was attempted before the Fed extended credit through JPMorgan.

NO ONE KNOWS HOW MANY BILLIONS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT JUST GAVE TO BEAR STEARNS, AND HOW MANY MORE BILLIONS WILL FOLLOW. The ghost of Yeltsin lives in the Federal Reserve! We don't know anything, and we didn't know it was even legal, because American government and banks exploited "obscure never used" laws to justify outright corruption and fraud, according to Wall Street Journal:

The arrangement employs a little-used Depression-era provision of the Federal Reserve Act.

It is sad to see Americans imitating the very worst Russians 10 years late, what incredible fucking losers you are! And meanwhile the American masses have no fucking idea, free press or no free press, they just stand around like retarded jackasses with a sign on their backs that reads "ASS-FUCK ME", because they trust their leaders. Americans don't know anything about Iraq anymore except that they're winning, they don't know hundreds of billions being stolen in front of their fat stupid faces, they don't know anything except where to find a bargain on hamburger buns. I almost cannot blame Bush and the bankers for stealing from American fools, it's just too easy! Let the bloodthirsty corrupt elite steal from the bloodthirsty retarded masses, it will hasten the final collapse of this cruel and shameful empire called "America."

...

No, Americans have no fucking idea what is happening to them. We Russians were not such trusting dumbshits, even against all odds, we did understand when it happened to us in the 1990s. We are not trusting dumbshits Americans. We fought but we were too weak to fight against Yeltsin regime, supported with hundreds of billions of American "loan" money, sophisticated propaganda which we still didn't understand, and guns. Do not forget that the entire Yeltsin economy, including the notorious corrupt banking system, was forced upon us by United States government and the American investment bank advisers who were seated inside the Russian government at all times. That is why today's American banking collapse is so easy to understand for Russians. Russians tried as early as in 1993 to stop the vicious Yeltsin/American "shock therapy" economics that turned a proud nation into desperate paupers. I remember the dark time because even though I was just a student in 1993, my family suffered through this years together. First we lost all savings, and first my grandfather and then two uncles died quickly and brutally. Our democratically elected parliament tried to stop Yeltsin "shock therapy" and throw out American "free market advisers" to save what was left. Americans and Yeltsin decided democracy was not good anymore so Yeltsin, the democrat, ordered tanks to attack the opposition parliament in 1993. He killed several hundred brave Russian patriots, who died fighting against this corrupt ruinous American "shock therapy" economics. We were crushed with tanks, you see. Naturally President Clinton immediately supported Yeltsin, showing who was the real master of that putsch against Russian democracy. It meant something that Clinton immediately gave his support to Yeltsin. It was like a wartime defeat. I can tell you, back then we were in such awe of America, we had no choice but to accept defeat, it was hopeless. We lost the power to stop banks and government from stealing every last part of Russia, until the final collapse in 1998.

It took tanks to keep Russians down while they robbed the country. Tanks, and American money.

What is your excuse today, Americans? There are no tanks, no Russian interference to destroy you and demoralize you. Why do you let your leaders steal everything your country has? Why do you sit passively like slaves who mated with sheep, the sheep-slaves with a big stupid smile on your fat fucking faces? You are not even human beings, you deserve worse than a total collapse of you country, you deserve to be wiped off the face of this planet forever, as if you were just an embarrassing accident and it will never happen again, you sickening pussy sub-human dumbfucks!

Oh fuck, now ruined my good mood. I need to run back to my friends now to celebrate your collapse. There will be time for bitter memories of the 1990s.

And for me, I'm sure, time for bitter memories of the 2008 elections.

They're still there, we're still here.

Polishifter posts about the antiwar protests at Huntington beach recently...
There's a lot of great pictures of patriotic Americans using their freedom to speak out.

How many more? lives, souls, dollars, years..?

And to those of you who have recently been championing Nader - A vote for Nader won't stop the war. It won't stop lives from being wasted in Iraq. The ONLY way to do that is to vote for whichever Democratic candidate ends up running for President and holding them to getting us out of Iraq. THIS ELECTION is it. War or No war? It's a simple enough choice to me.

Whoreocracy

We thought, because we had wisdom, we had power.

"Don't have a bad heart about it, white man. Of all the things the Indian fears about the white man, he fears your guns least."

Here's a quote from Red Cloud, as told to Ohiyesa- (from Red Cloud Remembered )

"Friends," said Red Cloud, "it has been our misfortune to welcome the white man. We have been deceived. He brought with him some shining things that pleased our eyes; he brought weapons more effective than our own: above all, he brought the spirit water that makes one forget for a time old age, weakness, and sorrow. But I wish to say to you that if you would possess these things for yourselves, you must begin anew and put away the wisdom of your fathers. You must lay up food, and forget the hungry. When your house is built, your storeroom filled, then look around for a neighbor whom you can take at a disadvantage, and seize all that he has! Give away only what you do not want; or rather, do not part with any of your possessions unless in exchange for another's.

"My countrymen, shall the glittering trinkets of this rich man, his deceitful drink that overcomes the mind, shall these things tempt us to give up our homes, our hunting grounds, and the honorable teaching of our old men? Shall we permit ourselves to be driven to and fro -- to be herded like the cattle of the white man?"

Red Cloud's final address to the Lakota people-

"My sun is set. My day is done. Darkness is stealing over me. Before I lie down to rise no more, I will speak to my people.

"Hear me, my friends, for it is not the time for me to tell you a lie. The Great Spirit made us, the Indians, and gave us this land we live in. He gave us the buffalo, the antelope, and the deer for food and clothing. We moved our hunting grounds from the Minnesota to the Platte and from the Mississippi to the great mountains. No one put bounds on us. We were free as the winds, and like the eagle, heard no man's commands.

"I was born a Lakota and I shall die a Lakota. Before the white man came to our country, the Lakotas were a free people. They made their own laws and governed themselves as it seemed good to them. The priests and ministers tell us that we lived wickedly when we lived before the white man came among us. Whose fault was this? We lived right as we were taught it was right. Shall we be punished for this? I am not sure that what these people tell me is true.

As a child I was taught the Taku Wakan(Supernatural Powers) were powerful and could do strange things. This was taught me by the wise men and the shamans. They taught me that I could gain their favor by being kind to my people and brave before my enemies; by telling the truth and living straight; by fighting for my people and their hunting grounds.

"When the Lakotas believed these things they were happy and they died satisfied. What more than this can that which the white man offers us give?

"Taku Shanskan is familiar with my spirit and when I die I will go with him. Then I will be with my forefathers. If this is not in the heaven of the white man I shall be satisfied. Wi is my father. The Wakan Tanka ofthe white man has overcome him. But I shall remain true to him.

"Shadows are long and dark before me. I shall soon lie down to rise no more. While my spirit is with my body the smoke of my breath shall be towards the Sun for he knows all things and knows that I am still true to him."


And this all leads me to wonder - Why should I fight to repair the white man's democracy, which is as fake as his religion? Why should I, of all people, continue to believe this lie that we tell ourselves each day- that this way of life is all some noble endeavor, and not simply a the eternal whoring ourselves for gold?

The Presidential Rat Race

The Leading Candidates...



Guliani - This is the face of Conservatism?


This is the face of Liberalism?




True Centrism- He'll say anything to get your vote, then do whatever he wants to. Too bad no one knows what the hell that is.

Keep your religion out of government.

This guy is the biggest joke on the campaign trail. But, he's laughing all the way to the bank. And with Republicans throwing away their money on him, I AM TOO.




Lone "Wolf" McCain - a cur that not only sits around licking his own balls, but also licking those of the rest of his pack...





Edwards - the only person who should AND Can be elected. I like Ron Paul's foreign policy. I'd love to see him run as Edwards' running mate once the Republican party kicks him to the curb and goes with Guliani or Romney. But Paul's economic policies don't make much sense and he doesn't have the desire to help save middle America. Kucinich would be great as a running mate for Edwards as well. But as for electability, we are talking Mondale here.

Make your own mind up. I've made up mine watching Edwards beat all the Progressive candidates on the issues time and again. And while Obama and Clinton beat Edwards on the money trail following their consultants' advice, Edwards is following policies, not rhetoric. Support the candidate who will do the most to repair our country.

Civics and Duty

This is a simply stated and yet eloquent appeal to every American.

If our children don't understand what's at the heart of Democracy, and we fail to teach them- then we will lose it.

Hat tip to Americablog

Halfway through November

November's Casualties in Iraq

Life

They bruised my soul with a proverb,
They bruised my back with a rod,
And they bade me bow to my elders,
For that was the word of God.

They pent up my soul and bound me
Till life was a living death,
They struck the wine from my fingers,
The passion from my breath.

I reached my hands to living,
They hurled me back into school,
And they said, "Go learn your lessons,
"You innocent young fool."

They yowled till they woke the trumpets --
And the sword blade rent the plow,
And they said, "It is your duty
"To die for your elders now."

They cowered far from the battle
As I went into the strife,
And I spilled my guts in the trenches
In the red dawn of my life.

And the elders named me hero,
But more than their words and ire
Was the scent of a strange wild flower
There where I died in the mire.

Robert E. Howard

It has been a week since the elections and already ALL the news I see is Republicans talking about MORE Troops, More involvement, More "staying the course". And the Democrats snipe at each other and jockey for their own committee positions : "Whee! Let the lobbying begin!" The Democrats voted Steny Hoyer OVER Murtha. Who in the hell is Steny? Why are the ONLY times I have seen his name is when he's badmouthing other Democrats? And why is Carville attacking Dean, the man whose 50 state policy worked so well?

I don't think that some of the old-school Dem Dinosaurs get IT, exactly.

We voted out the bastards who got America where we are right now. We didn't kick those bastards out so you could merrily take their goddamn place taking kickbacks and sitting on your fat asses. Get our TROOPS out of Iraq. Fuck Bush I's and Bush II's "Study Groups". The only thing these cronies are studying is how to best separate oil from Iraqis. Redeployment plans IMMEDIATELY. Every minute that is wasted on the Republican's Failed plans is a minute that a new American soldier may die in.

If the Democratic party Fails in this, because they are too busy marketing themselves- WE WILL NOT FORGET. Do your damn jobs. The ones that Republicans HAVEN'T DONE For 12 damn years!

It's time to start fixing America.

Victory, part one

Now, our job STARTS.

What!? As you spew coffee all over your keyboard... I know, you thought we HAD been working, fighting, clawing and exposing the Republican party over and over again until we could finally declare "Victory". Well we have. And we've done a good job - getting the word out to America about the dirty little truth about the Republican party.

But, I WAS a Republican Conservative back in the Contract with America days. And I saw our party destroyed by greed and political gamesmanship. I sweated bullets during Bush/Gore 2000. I couldn't believe it- What were they trying to pull on George Bush. I couldn't sleep as I watched the elections. It all seemed kind of weird. Why Can't they just recount all the votes. What the hell WAS Going on in Florida? But still I was happy that Bush was finally "declared the President" even though it left a really bad taste in my mouth. Something wasn't right. Things never did quite add up after that. Then 9-11. Then Afghanistan. And then the workup to Iraq. At that point, I realized that "Conservative" notions had been thrown out the fucking window by the Republican party.

And so, here I am again- this time on the Democratic side. But I am not a blind cheerleader for a party this time. There are goals we have to meet. We have to stay on top of not ONLY the Republicans but also the men and women of the Democratic party. We need to make sure they do not become complacent in their victory. We need to make sure they don't set Americans by the wayside as the Contract with America crowd so quickly did. We need to follow their every action, their every vote and make sure they keep Americans at the heart of their interests.

The most disheartening thing that I saw on the news today was CNBC interviewing Lobbyists, Under the heading of "Lobbyists Suck up To Democrats". One thing about the Greedy Bastards on CNBC. They call it like they see it- Even as they PROMOTE the fucking lobbyists for the corrupt Corporate mentality...

That is JOB ONE- Making sure that Our Public Servants SERVE The Public and not the Corporations- Not the 10% of the super rich, but the 90% of Americans.

I won't play partisan politics any longer- The goal of getting the Corrupt Republicans OUT of control has been met. Now it is time to see them on equal footing- and for us all to make sure they do their JOBS.

wow, I can breathe now..

Democracy ain't dead yet, praise gods, the founding fathers and liberal bloggers!

It's a grand day for America- that much is sure. But It ain't over!

We have come a long way. I am very glad to have men of vision and moral clarity who have made their dedication to our democracy and constitution their FIRST Priority. Men like John Amato, Glenn Greenwald, Keith Olbermann and the thousands of my fellow C&L'ers and bloggers who have helped expose this band of crooks for what it is.

Accountability starts today. If the Dems who got in today sit back on the laurels in the spirit of bi-partisanship then they will fail us.These Repubs aren't going to roll over. Look at Tom Delay, listen to Rush Limbaugh- Watch Tucker and company spin "bipartisanship" in the hopes that NO Republicans will be Held accountable for their despicable actions.There's a long way to go. But yesterday was helluva big step.

Democrats took the house, the jury is still out on Virginia and Montana for the Senate.
I shudder at how racist/sexist the state of Virginia must be, for so many people to vote for George Allen. I mean, that guy put a horse's head in the mailbox of his black neighbors as a joke, calls people niggers and macacas and spit in his ex wife's face. Classy.

Republicans are going nuts all around me. My boss is particularly upset today, he sent an email of pics of puppies out to "cheer up" his fellow rich republican/libertarian elites... They probably shudder at the fact that minimum wages may finally be raised. Thank god. Only a working man who busts his ass all day and still can't feed his family can properly understand what a charade making $200 / week for 40 hours of work is. Its fucking ridiculous but the Rich Republicans have fought this tooth and nail for the past 12 years.

God bless the working man- Only Democrats support these men. I don't know any Republicans that put in a full day of actual work. God knows that these rich fuckers that come in and out of my financial group all day don't.

The Bush/Rove Cult is irreparably damaged. I can hold my head high again as an American in light of the America's actions yesterday. Hopefully we can get rid of the corrupt closeted self hating fags and corporate sellouts in the Republican party and bring some Accountability back to our government.

The first step is deploying our troops out of Baghdad and into Afghanistan. Hell, there's no reason to LOSE BOTH WARS. Bechtel has given up on Iraq. They made 2.3 billion of American money, FAILED to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq and now are cutting and running. This is a big deal, people. The only thing we are building in Iraq NOW is our multibillion dollar Embassy/Castle/Mansion. And maybe one or two permanent bases...

But the point is- with no reconstruction efforts, our troops are stuck there with no American benefits coming to the Iraqi people. Our occupation becomes even less desirable to Iraqis (is that possible?!)

The Shia have put up with the occupation more or less = give or take a few fiery Al-Sadrs... But the fact is, Shiites Haven't put forth any substantial effort to killing U.S. troops the way the Sunnis are. The Sunnis are responsible for 80% of the U.S. casualties. But Al-Sistani is basically ignored by the Iraqi people in deferment to Al-Sadr nowadays, and Sistani is, in turn avoiding speaking to U.S. officials. Maliki is trying to show that he isn't another Bush poodle. The Shia politicians have pointedly asked the American occupation to end, immediately. Iraqis want us gone, except for the ones who were milking Halliburton and Bechtel- But like I say- that is ending. With the civil war getting more and more intense, the Mahdi army won't avoid open firefights with troops much longer. We need to get our boys and girls out of harm's way, immediately.

I need to check with the Iraqi blogs today, and see how the Iraqis are taking the Anti-Bush statement that was made yesterday. I predict that they will receive this news with welcome. The farther that the American people can push Pres.Bush and his cronies from us, the better the world will receive the United States. But still, welcome news to Iraqis or not- they want us gone from their country. Yesterday. And in that, I am in perfect agreement with them.

Callous as it may sound, Here's what I think needs to be done-

Redeploy our troops to Afghanistan. Crush the Taliban and hold a serious presence there, not the half ass job that is being done right now. Build permanent bases in Afghanistan. Crush the drug trade and build some REAL infrastructure for the Afghani people.

Let the Iraqi civil war begin in earnest. I hope the Shia win. And don't fret about Iranian ties just yet. Remember, as soon as Iraqis control Iraq- they will remember their distate for Iran. And if they don't, I must confess, I don't give a damn. Iran is not a threat. And the more we leave these people alone, the less they will fucking hate us. Got it?

Iraq will rebuild itself. It will be bloody, but its a necessary transformation. And for those of you who are only concerned about the oil: Relax, you immoral greedy bastards! Rest assured, the U.S. will wheel and deal with whoever ends up controlling Iraq. You can bet your last dollar on THAT.

Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone Article "The Worst Congress ever" is must read stuff. It has the benefit of being written by in a scathingly funny tone while simultaneously delivering more insight into the way our government is currently being run than ANYTHING ELSE I have read this year. A tour de force Expose' of - the not-so-hidden overbelly of the Republican congress.

The whole article can be found here: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/worst_congress_ever/page/6

This passage, for me, spotlights the worst of the worst:

EXCERPT
When one considers that Congress has forsaken hearings and debate, conspired to work only three months a year, completely ditched its constitutional mandate to provide oversight and passed very little in the way of meaningful legislation, the question arises: What do they do?

The answer is easy: They spend. When Bill Clinton left office, the nation had a budget surplus of $236 billion. Today, thanks to Congress, the budget is $296 billion in the hole. This year, more than sixty-five percent of all the money borrowed in the entire world will be borrowed by America, a statistic fueled by the speed-junkie spending habits of our supposedly "fiscally conservative" Congress. It took forty-two presidents before George W. Bush to borrow $1 trillion; under Bush, Congress has more than doubled that number in six years. And more often than not, we are borrowing from countries the sane among us would prefer not to be indebted to: The U.S. shells out $77 billion a year in interest to foreign creditors, including payment on the $300 billion we currently owe China.

What do they spend that money on? In the age of Jack Abramoff, that is an ugly question to even contemplate. But let's take just one bill, the so-called energy bill, a big, hairy, favor-laden bitch of a law that started out as the wet dream of Dick Cheney's energy task force and spent four long years leaving grease-tracks on every set of palms in the Capitol before finally becoming law in 2005.
Like a lot of laws in the Bush era, it was crafted with virtually no input from the Democrats, who were excluded from the conference process. And during the course of the bill's gestation period we were made aware that many of its provisions were more or less openly for sale, as in the case of a small electric utility from Kansas called Westar Energy.

Westar wanted a provision favorable to its business inserted in the bill -- and in an internal company memo, it acknowledged that members of Congress had requested Westar donate money to their campaigns in exchange for the provision. The members included former Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin and current Energy and Commerce chairman Joe Barton of Texas. "They have made this request in lieu of contributions made to their own campaigns," the memo noted. The total amount of Westar's contributions was $58,200.

Keep in mind, that number -- fifty-eight grand -- was for a single favor. The energy bill was loaded with them. Between 2001 and the passage of the bill, energy companies donated $115 million to federal politicians, with seventy-five percent of the money going to Republicans. When the bill finally passed, it contained $6 billion in subsidies for the oil industry, much of which was funneled through a company with ties to Majority Leader Tom DeLay. It included an exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act for companies that use a methane-drilling technique called "hydraulic fracturing" -- one of the widest practitioners of which is Halliburton. And it included billions in subsidies for the construction of new coal plants and billions more in loan guarantees to enable the coal and nuclear industries to borrow money at bargain-basement interest rates.

Favors for campaign contributors, exemptions for polluters, shifting the costs of private projects on to the public -- these are the specialties of this Congress. They seldom miss an opportunity to impoverish the states we live in and up the bottom line of their campaign contributors. All this time -- while Congress did nothing about Iraq, Katrina, wiretapping, Mark Foley's boy-madness or anything else of import -- it has been all about pork, all about political favors, all about budget "earmarks" set aside for expensive and often useless projects in their own districts. In 2000, Congress passed 6,073 earmarks; by 2005, that number had risen to 15,877. They got better at it every year. It's the one thing they're good at.

There is simply nothing more I can add to that, is there?

Vote ALL Democrats / Progressives/ Independents / Liberals. NO MORE REPUBLICANS.

Our country can't afford it. This is Capitalism as the Golden Cash Cow idol. And your prayers to this cash cow, your checks written for a slice of salvation- are just making these fat cats fatter.