"We Almost Deserve It"

or, What Will It Take For Americans To Wake Up?

From In Search of Optimism

Jamie Dimon, the affable grandson of Greek immigrants who runs J.P. Morgan Chase.... Government action is the key, Dimon said. To make his point, he asked the participants whether they were "pissed off" about the high price of gasoline at the pump. Most hands shot up. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!" Dimon declared. "We almost deserve it," he said, because as a country we had dithered for decades rather than transforming our energy economy. "We knew about this in 1974!" he said. The crisis we face now is the result of a "lack of political will." (read the entire article)

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I Am An American

What am I? I am a free man -- a good and decent man -- a man of compassion, generosity, and understanding -- a true friend, a steadfast ally, and a bitter foe. I owe my allegiance to a government founded in the belief that among the rights of man are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, I would acknowledge no other. I can redress my government for injury; not satisfied with redress, I can elect a new one. I have watched my government function smoothly during periods of transfer of power caused by re-election, assassination, and resignation. While other nations have a distinct race, religion, and/or geographic denominator, I live among people of my home without fear of intrusion by anyone -- citizen or government designee -- unless they have my personal invitation or a duly authorized search warrant. I have a press to keep me informed -- a press free to write, without inhibition, the truth as they see it. A press that needs fear no repression, no retaliation, no censorship so long as it prints the truth. I live under a system of justice, merciful and fairly administered, where I am assumed innocent until proven guilty -- a system which provides me appellate privilege while denying it to the power of the state. I am free to go anywhere I want, earn my living in any way that suits me and, based on that freedom, I have created a standard of living unequalled in the history of man and envied the world over. I have suffered in humility at the consequences of my mistakes -- economic deprivation, social injustice, unequal opportunity and racial prejudice to name a few -- but, once aware of these mistakes, I have set out to right the wrongs they created. I have faced challenges to my way of life. I have fought and died countless times from Lexington and Concord to Vietnam. I was humbled at Valley Forge, Pearl Harbor, Corregidor and Malmady. But these experiences gave me the character I needed to go to Yorktown, Gettysburg, Midway and Normandy. I cherish my freedom above all else -- I bow to no tyrant. I am two hundred years old today. I have never been so proud of my ancient heritage, so grateful for my present situation, and so confident of the future. Today, I reaffirm my allegiance to, faith in, and love of my country. To the proposition that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth, I do humbly pledge my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor. I am an American.

An anonymous letter to the Washington Post editor on July 4, 1976.

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Did McCain and his team really squander a four-month head start?

It sure did.

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Baby boomers: Born to be wild? Or ...

Bored…Tubby…Mild!
by Walt Handelsman
Click on image for animated toon.

Get your Motrin ready, Head out on a treadmill. The heating pad is warming, In case your herniated disk kills. We’re aging Boomers but refuse to show it, I just got implants and a tummy tuck. A triple bypass and two knee replacements, Getting old really sucks! I just took Viagra, Both the kids are out late. I’ll go get some Merlot, Let’s hope it won’t inflame your prostate. We’re Baby Boomers! The original rebels, Used to smoke pot but now we drink green tea. We tripped on acid, now we have acid reflux, We’re in the AARP! We were spoiled, pushy, wild, But now we’re bored, tubby and mild. We used to get so high, Now they call us spry!!! Bored…Tubby…Mild! Bored…Tubby…Mild!

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Energy: Carter was right

Carter Tried To Stop Bush's Energy Disasters - 28 Years Ago
by Thom Hartmann
Tuesday, May 3, 2005

In his recent news conference, George Bush Jr. suggested that our nation's "problem" with high gasoline prices was caused by the lack of a national energy policy, and tried to blame it all on Bill Clinton. First, Junior said, "This is a problem that's been a long time in coming. We haven't had an energy policy in this country." This was followed by, "That's exactly what I've been saying to the American people -- 10 years ago if we'd had an energy strategy, we would be able to diversify away from foreign dependence. And -- but we haven't done that. And now we find ourselves in the fix we're in." As is so often the case, Bush was lying. (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Carter Tried To Stop Bush's Energy Disasters - 28 Years Ago

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The G in GOP Stands for Ghoul

June 25, 2008 at 06:26

The G in GOP Stands for Ghoul
by Mary Lyon
http://www.opednews.com/

I've heard of rooting for the bad guys, but this is ridiculous. John McCain's elite adviser Charlie Black opined to Fortune magazine that if there were another terrorist strike against our country in time for the general election, it "certainly would be a big advantage" for McCain's campaign ("a candid and very disappointing glimpse into the thinking of one of McCain's closest advisers.").

Wow. Nice. Which American city would you like to see take it in the shorts this time, Mr. Black? How many thousands of us are expendable for the sake of your candidate's success? Let's see, New York City has already been there. Same thing for Arlington, Virginia, home of the Pentagon. And don't forget New Orleans. No, that wasn't terrorism, per se, but it was still a disaster that needed - but did not get - government foresight and planning wisdom from seasoned, credible public service professionals as well as swift and effective response.

Is this the newest round of "October Surprise" paranoia? Or is it paranoia? A terrorist strike on American soil would be a major campaign boost for John McCain? Does it sound at all as though someone regards such a tragedy as a good thing? Really nice.

(read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of The G in GOP Stands for Ghoul

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A Comedic Giant... Gone

Sadly, the world is now a less funny place...

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Carlin's Seven Words

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Carlin on Religion

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George Denis Patrick Carlin
1937-2008

I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

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Carnival of the Liberals, Edition #67

Welcome to the June 18, 2008 edition of The Carnival of the Liberals, hosted by my blog, Situation Awareness. I think that you'll agree with me that there are some great entries this week.

I have also included, at the bottom of this entry, a Blog Talk Radio player featuring my March 29, 2008 interview of Leo Lincourt, founder of The Carnival of the Liberals.

Enjoy!

- Hans

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general interest

• Only Three Notes presents Congratulations Obama! posted at Business & Controversy of Technology by Arnab Tagore.
  
  
• Gbariela Baron presents posted at Internet Business Blog.
  
  
• Joe Bechtold presents The Importance of Religion in America posted at Joe Bechtold's Political Journal.
  
  
• Niharika presents The Top 100 Civil Liberties Advocacy Blogs posted at Criminal Justice Degrees Guide.

current events

• Allen in Fort Worth presents QUEERS AND DYKES ARE GONNA GET MARRIED ! ! ! so don't worry about anything else posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, "the YouTube video in this post makes me ill."
  
  
• Gracie Passette presents Republicans Suffer From Dementia & Can't Understand Satire posted at Cult Of Gracie, saying, "This post is rather a mish-mosh or current events, opinion, and frankly (or Franken lol) humor. :)"
  
  
• John presents McCain and Obama Court Pro-War AIPAC posted at The Largest Minority.
  
  
• Andrew Heath presents What the Hell Got into the President's Pet??? posted at Andy, saying, "Why did Scotty write that awful book about Bush when everyone thought he was Bush's biggest fan?"
  
  
• Keith Wick presents Signs of Barack Obama posted at Weith Kick.
  
  
• Jon Rochetti presents Photo of the Week - Hillary Tees…3 for $10 posted at The DC Traveler – Washington DC travel & tourism information, saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
  
  
• Ian Welsh presents Clinton’s Legacy: Never Say Die posted at Firedoglake.
  
  
• Shan Siddiqi presents Howard Dean is the Light into Obama's Future posted at Globally Rational.
  
  
• Patrick Schwerdtfeger presents Check out my new Smart ForTwo Passion posted at Tactical Execution, saying, "The Smart Car is finally introduced in the USA! This post offers details about these tiny gas-powered fuel-efficient cars."
  
  
• Phil B. presents Why Demonstrations and Petitions Do Not Work posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "If demonstrations and petitions work, then the 1960s would have seen a lot more political, social, and environmental changes."

liberalism

• Phil B. presents Global Warming is Ruining the Earth posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "A list of how the world has changed so dramatically."
  
  
• Greta Christina presents Loading The Dice: Bisexuality And Choice posted at Greta Christina's Blog, saying, "This post is about bisexuality -- and how the gay political community's focus on the "It's not a choice" PR strategy about gay rights leaves bisexuals out in the cold."
  
  
• Greta Christina presents Greta Christina's Blog: The Amazing Mechanical Leftie: Reflexive Thinking in Alt Culture posted at Greta Christina's Blog, saying, "This piece is about the tendency alternative culture sometimes has to reflexively reject anything that's mainstream or conventional. It talks about how this tendency makes people just as controlled by the mainstream as they would be if they were going along with it. And more seriously, it talks about how it puts alt culture in common cause with the anti- intellectual, know- nothing strains of right wing American culture."
  

opinion

• Allen in Fort Worth presents Cal Thomas Says Barack Obama's Not A Christian posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, "here is an analysis of an idiotic Cal Thomas column."
  
  
• Andrew Heath presents How to Achieve Peace in the Middle East posted at Andy, saying, "An interesting and unconventional solution to our conflict in the Middle East."
  
  
• phil F. presents WEEKEND FEATURE: Globalization and the Small Business posted at E-News Daily: Articles Without Borders.
  
  
• Andrew Heath presents Why We Must Forgive President George W. Bush posted at Andy, saying, "There are some compelling reasons to forgive George W Bush, even if you currently hate him."
  
  
• Hans Meyer presents The Historically Challenged posted here at Situation Awareness, saying, "The right-wing noise machine tries to re-write history."
  
  
• Shan Siddiqi presents The Supreme Court has "legacies?" posted at Globally Rational.
  
  
• Phil B. presents A Plan to Destroy All Weapons of Mass Destruction posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "No leader and therefore no country can be trusted enough to control weapons of mass destruction."

politics

• Ames presents Fox News: A Trifecta of Racism posted at Submitted to a Candid World, saying, "Fox News may be playing into our hand, by running a racist smear campaign against Barack Obama."
  
  
• Jon Swift presents McCain: Make Sure You Have the Right Change posted at Jon Swift, saying, "We don't need to take a risk on a President who could make things even worse than they already are. We need a President like McCain who, when the telephone rings at 3:00 in the afternoon, waking him up from his nap, would be ready to answer it and solve whatever crisis needed to be solved."
  
  
• Holly Ord presents John McCain Doesn’t Support the Troops posted at Menstrual Poetry.
  
  
• Jason presents 1962: Adolf Eichmann posted at Executed Today, saying, "Adolf Eichmann remembered on the anniversary of his execution: the competent company man blithely earning his promotions by engineering mass-murder."
  
  
• KevinBBG presents McBush posted at DAILY BBG, saying, "This is a clear and somewhat harsh statement as to whether or not to vote for McCain or Obama with reasons outlined."
  
  
• Ron Britton presents Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ! posted at Bay of Fundie.

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That concludes this 67th edition of Carnival of the Liberals.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of the Liberals using our Carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of the liberals, blog carnival.

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GWB: Worst. President. Ever. Part II

Sorry, Mr. President, But Your Legacy Is More Awful Than You Think
by: Bob Cesca

Posted June 11, 2008 04:57 PM (EST)

From the article: War mongering is a significant aspect of your legacy, but I think we can conclude, and without much debate, that your legacy will also be one of criminality, failure and a degree of incompetence rarely achieved by any American president, much less one whose deficit of character is rivaled only by his nearly unprecedented lack of humility in the face of his unprecedented roster of inadequacies. Sorry. As it turns out, you won't have much control over your legacy and the history of your administration anyway. You might have some cursory input, but no-one really takes you seriously anymore and anything you put forth will be taken as just another work of fiction; another bit of propaganda. Your legacy will ultimately be written by those of us who have been actively documenting your presidency in real time -- millions of voices authoring the narrative of your awful regime and preserving it with digital clarity one trespass at a time. And everywhere we look, we can plainly observe your smirking, affectless footprint. Death, poverty, war, pain, ignorance, blind patriotism, joblessness, and abandoned homes. And guess what? We're writing it down on the Internets. Your history, Mr. President, is being written at this very moment by those of us who are watching our homes collapse in value and our friends and relatives sent to places like Ramadi and Fallujah and, in some cases, Walter Reed or worse. Your history, Mr. President, isn't going to be settled and published decades from now. It's being published immediately and without the fog of memory to obscure the ugly details. (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Sorry, Mr. President, But Your Legacy Is More Awful Than You Think

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Senator McCain wants context? Fine.

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Okay, so, this bird walks into a store...

A seagull in Marinette, Wisconsin has developed the habit of stealing snack chips from a neighborhood convenience store. The seagull waits until the manager isn't looking, and then walks into the store and grabs a snack-size bag of cheese Doritos. Once outside, the bag gets ripped open and shared by other birds. The seagull's shoplifting started early this month when he first swooped into the store and helped himself to a bag of Doritos. Since then he's become a regular. And he always takes the same type of chips. The Manager thinks it's great because people are coming to watch the feathered thief make the daily grab and run, and that's good for business, and especially since customers have begun paying for the seagull's stolen bags of chips because they think it's so funny. However, the Manager did say, "This is Wisconsin , and if that seagull starts to grab a 6-pac to go along with the Doritos, I may have to put a stop to it."

With thanks to my colleague, Brian Wolf, for forwarding this story along to me.

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Yes...An Amazing Accomplishment!

May 7, 2008 Jonathan Schwarz: What an Amazing Accomplishment It’s September 12, 2001. You’re sitting in front of a TV, watching footage of the World Trade Center collapse over and over and over again. All of a sudden, someone from seven years in the future walks out of a tiny temporal vortex, and tells you: George W. Bush is going to fuck this up so badly that in 2008, the United States of America will likely elect as president a black man whose middle name is Hussein and whose father was Muslim. Oh, and he also admits he’s used cocaine. I think it would have been easier to convince me of the reality of time travel. “No, no, I believe you really are from the future. But the other stuff, that’s CRAZY.” posted by Jonathan Schwarz at 3:33 PM

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You'll Get What You Deserve

click on image to enter site

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The Fool on the Hill

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The Gravity Express: 42 minutes to anywhere

A 7,964 mile deep hole:

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Cats on a treadmill

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Show us the money...

If there's a so-called "whitey" tape out there I, for one, would like to see it instead of hearing all of the "I heard from someone who heard from someone who knows someone who has seen it" hype.

Even the National Review agrees.

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Bathroom Wall Wit and Wisdom

Sometimes a person can find nuggets of wit (and even wisdom) written on the walls of public bathrooms. In this most recent entry:

WWJD...

... for a Klondike bar?

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GWB: Worst. President. Ever.

There are those who erroneously claim that Jimmy Carter was the worst president ever. They cite the economic situation during his administration and the Iranian hostage crisis as proof of their assertion.

I would argue that, without a doubt, we are witnessing and living through this country's worst president ever: George W. Bush. It isn't a matter of the so-called "irrational hatred of President Bush." Nope. I believe that future historians will reflect what this Michael Hirsh article from Newsweek has to say, and it isn't pretty:

An Unnatural Disaster by Michael Hirsh In a month of horrific natural disasters—the China quake, the Burma cyclone—it's instructive to consider what one of the biggest unnatural disasters in memory looks like. That is the decline in America's position in the world from where we were when George W. Bush inherited power on Jan. 20, 2001, to what he will bequeath to the next president eight months from now. (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of An Unnatural Disaster

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The Reason for $4.00 a gallon gasoline

From our friends at Democratic Underground, and the 336th edition of The Top Ten Conservative Idiots (in this case, #7, George W. Bush):

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Frank Lynch on The Story

My good friend of over 35 years, Frank Lynch, just appeared on tonight's edition of The Story ("A Voter's Drive") on NPR.


For those who couldn't tune in here are two (2) versions of Frank's interview:

1. Lynch interview in a Windows Media format


2. Lynch interview in an MP3 format

GREAT job, Frank! You have every reason to be proud of this accomplishment!

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Debate, Charlie Gibson Style

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For any studly guy...

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Always think ahead...

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Rightwing Racism on Display

This continues the discussion from tonight's broadcast of The Political Atlas.

Partisanship Is Back! on The Hotline: On the right, bloggers accused Obama of offering "false moral equivalence," "blame whitey," and "the politics of grievance." ... One thing is clear: those who predicted that an Obama-John McCain race would lead to a "civil" debate about this country's future (we're looking at you, Andrew Sullivan!) are deluding themselves. If the conservative reaction to the Wright controversy is any indication, an Obama-McCain race would be just as nasty as a Hillary Clinton-McCain race. (read the entire article)

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Response to Obama's Speech on Race from Andrew Sullivan

One of the best I've read:

Alas, I cannot give a more considered response right now as I have to get on the road. But I do want to say that this searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime. It is a speech we have all been waiting for for a generation. Its ability to embrace both the legitimate fears and resentments of whites and the understandable anger and dashed hopes of many blacks was, in my view, unique in recent American history. And it was a reflection of faith - deep, hopeful, transcending faith in the promises of the Gospels. And it was about America - its unique promise, its historic purpose, and our duty to take up the burden to perfect this union - today, in our time, in our way. I have never felt more convinced that this man's candidacy - not this man, his candidacy - and what he can bring us to achieve - is an historic opportunity. This was a testing; and he did not merely pass it by uttering safe bromides. He addressed the intimate, painful love he has for an imperfect and sometimes embittered man. And how that love enables him to see that man's faults and pain as well as his promise. This is what my faith is about. It is what the Gospels are about. This is a candidate who does not merely speak as a Christian. He acts like a Christian. Bill Clinton once said that everything bad in America can be rectified by what is good in America. He was right - and Obama takes that to a new level. And does it with the deepest darkest wound in this country's history. I love this country. I don't remember loving it or hoping more from it than today.

Do you recognize the answer?

Here is a fun math trick.

1. Key in the exchange of your telephone number (the first three digits of your phone number, NOT the Area code)



2. Multiply by 80



3. Add 1



4. Multiply by 250



5. Add to this the last 4 digits of your phone number



6. Add to this the last 4 digits of your phone number again



7. Subtract 250



8. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer ??

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Sounds in nature

Have you ever heard the sound of a French existentialist seagull?

"PourQUOI!? PourQUOI!?"

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Makes a lot of sense...

Why modern-day conservatism makes no sense to me

By media girl

Once upon a time I was a moderate. I believed in Keynesian economics. I believed in using market forces to help institute desired policy. I believed in empowering people so that they could take charge of their own lives. I believed in incentives in business and personal tax deductions and rebates. I believed that people had a right to privacy. I believed that the government should stay out of people's private lives, but that the government is needed to protect people from not just crime but from abuse through pollution and fraud. I believed in free speech. That was then. I was a moderate. This is now ... and I still believe all those things. But now I find myself labeled as "left." (read the entire article)

Third-Tier Pundits, Part 6

Jonah Goldberg's Bizarro History

In his new book, Goldberg has decided to dream up fascists on the left rather than acknowledge the fact that the real American fascists have been lurking in the right's closet for lo these many years.

by David Neiwert
January 8, 2008

The public understanding of World War II history and its precedents has suffered in recent years from the depredations of revisionist historians -- the David Irvings and David Bowmans of the field who have attempted to recast the meaning of, respectively, the Holocaust and the Japanese American internment. Their reach, however, has been somewhat limited to fringe audiences. It might be tempting to throw Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning into those same cloacal backwaters, but there is an essential difference that goes well beyond the likely much broader reach of Goldberg's book, which was inexplicably published by a mainstream house (Doubleday). Most revisionists are actually historians with some credentials, and their theses often hinge on nuances and the interpretation of details. Goldberg, who has no credentials beyond the right-wing nepotism that has enabled his career as a pundit, has drawn a kind of history in absurdly broad and comically wrongheaded strokes. It is not just history done badly, or mere revisionism. It’s a caricature of reality, like something from a comic-book alternative universe: Bizarro history. The title alone is enough to indicate its thoroughgoing incoherence: Of all the things we know about fascism and the traits that comprise it, one of the few things that historians will readily agree upon is its overwhelming anti-liberalism. One might as well write about anti-Semitic neoconservatism, or Ptolemaic quantum theory, or strength in ignorance. Goldberg isn't content to simply create an oxymoron; this entire enterprise, in fact, is classic Newspeak. Indeed, Goldberg even makes some use of Orwell, noting that the author of 1984 once dismissed the misuse of "fascism" as meaning "something not desirable." Of course, Orwell was railing against the loss of the word's meaning, while Goldberg, conversely, revels in it -- he refers to Orwell's critique as his "definition of fascism." And then Goldberg proceeds