Gold Star Awards, November, 2010

The Joe DiMaggio Gold Star #29: ALECWatch

Well, this month started with a piece about ALEC, which may have (finally) represented my loss of innocence when it comes to American Democracy and the death of any remaining idealistic misconceptions I may have had about who’s really in charge in this country. So it’s only appropriate that I start out the final post of the month by awarding the prestigious (ha!) Joe DiMaggio Gold Star to a group dedicated to exposing the truth behind the greatest shadowy political conspiracy the world over that nobody’s talking about.  Now… Unfortunately, it seems that this site has not been updated for several years. And I think that’s a shame, because what they DO have there is critically important information that people need to know about. So, if anyone has some information about a more up-to-date ALEC watchdog site, PLEASE let me know and I will be sure to highlight them as well. IMHO, ALEC, more so than any other organization in the world, represents the single greatest threat to the American Democracy. Al Qaeda are bush-league compared to ALEC. Al Qaeda can only know down buildings and kill a few people. That’s horrible, to be sure, but we lost more Americans last year due to reduced vaccination rates than we typically lose to terrorism.  (So Al Qaeda's roughly as dangerous  to America as Jenny McCarthy.) ALEC, OTOH, is actively and effectively destroying the very soul and fabric of the Country and of the very ideals of popular, representative Democracy that the terrorists hate so much. And at least we’re actually FIGHTING Al-Qaeda. ALEC is a CANCER that we WELCOME into our political system the way an addict welcomes his own chosen poison. They are WINNING in territory that terrorists never even considered fighting for.


The Gabby Hartnett Gold Star #30: Mother Jones

I’ve made no secret of the contempt that I feel for what remains of mainstream journalism. IMHO, even the least of the bloggers do a passably better job of analysis than the average Cable news show, who so often can’t even get basic FACTS right. But if there is a website anywhere that’s more than a blog, and yet practiced journalism the way it is MEANT to be practiced, that site is Mother Jones. I’m a newcomer to their publication, but I have been consistently impressed at the depth and fearlessness with which the pursue their stories. To call them the “NPR of the web” would not even be complimentary. Check them out.


The Ted Lyons Gold Star #31: Down with Tyranny

I’ll have to apologize to the folks at DWT… I am having an increasingly difficult time finding ways to praise my favorite blogs in a way that differentiates them from those that I’ve honored before. The problem is that when I come across a blog that I want to add here, it is usually for the same reasons that I’ve included so many others: Well written; witty, if not humorous; makes me think / challenges me intellectually; etc… And in that regard Down With Tyranny is right up there with Left Hook, Midnight Review, Political Irony, etc… So while I hate to say, “One more great blog that I follow,” unfortunately there is not much I can say that hasn’t been said two or three times before. But they rock. So check them out!


The Dazzy Vance Gold Star #32: Beck Unhinged

Who can’t admire a site that highlight just how utterly bat-shit crazy the now face of Fox News, Glenn Beck, is. Funny in the same way as “$#!t my Dad Says” or Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin (using Palin’s own words) this site makes Glenn Beck look ridiculous but using only quotes from… GLENN BECK. If that’s not doing the Lord’s good work, I don’t know what is. LOL.


The Frank “Home Run” Baker Silver Star #21: Blip

Blip is another of my favorite web comics. It’s about a girl who’s existence was not fated to happen, and thus represents a threat to fabric of reality itself. Heaven has set about suppressing the girl’s creative talents – in order to save the universe, but making her miserable in the process – while Lucifer attempts to unleash her power – by allowing her a modicum of well-deserved happiness. It’s a well written story, with crative and original characters, taking place in a well conceived world of angels, demos and even ancient Gods. It’s at times philosophical, hilarious, poignant, romantic and (recently) tear-jerking. In short this is #1 on my list of favorite web comics at the moments, and well worth checking out. As with all web-comics, I recommend reading it from the beginning.


The Ray Schalk Silver Star #22: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

I’ve recently used several pieces of SMBC that I’ve found relevant, but in truth, if I didn’t stop myself, I’d probably be able to find a use for about 99% of the site’s content. They’re absolutely hilarious and absolute relevant, politically and philosophically. You will seldom find a comic that is both finnier and more intelligent. Check them out. You’ll laugh. A lot. (And since the strip is not serial, this is not one you have to read in any particular order.)


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BTW... The Fred Clarke Silver Star winner, Item Not as Described has been taken down and/or been devoured by the Cheeseburger Network.  And that's cool, but since (1) They're no longer maintaining the "Free Shit from Craig's List" content, and (2) they already has several Silver Stars to their credit already (FailBlog, Ugliest Tattoos, Engrish) I'm going to replace this link with a new one at some point.


One More Piece of News... The Hughie Jennings' Silver Star winner, web comic YU&ME: Dream has finished it's run. (*sad*) The author, Megan Gedris, finished the story on her own terms and created what I honestly believe to be one of the most complex, creative, whimsical, romantic, thoughtful, and just flat out cool, (not to mention COMPLETED!) web comic around, and has now moved on to another project, which is also totally worth checking out.  I'll read anything she writes at this point, but only time will tell if it'll get a Star of it's own in the future.  If you haven't read YU&ME: Dream yet, you can do so now, knowing that you will actually be able to FINISH it.  And I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

The Bible Kicks ASS!

Ok, I know I've bashed Religion plenty in this blog, and there's no shortage of verbiage on my part showing my contempt towards the completely nonsensical things one is asked to believe in the name of society's most recent trend in organized superstition.

But as well as religion, in general, and Christianity, in particular,  has done for itself, believe it or not it really has missed the bus on a HUGE marketing opportunity.  See... I just had no idea, truly no idea, just how much ASS the bible kicks.  Check that out. Seriously.  I laughed my ass off and gained a whole new respect for the Chistianity, sure, but it Judaic origins in particular, all at the same time. 

If that nun who's bullshit I called at the age of five had whipped some of THIS SHIT out?  Dude, I'd STILL probably be a believer!

Kudos to Cracked.com for another masterpiece.

Practical Advice for the media...

Practical Advice for the media, from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:

Oh hells yes this is a good rule!

Home again, DADT

Did you hear? It turns out even the troops don't support "Don't ask don't tell!"

This country is so absurd.  DADT costs us a fortune in recruiting, undermines our National security (in the same way: it eliminates qualified people) and isn't even supported by the very troops who's morale it's repeal is supposed to undermine.  This is a policy that exsists for no other other reason than to pander to the funny mentalists.  And it's high time the whack-jobs were kicked to the curb. As far as I'm concerned, they don't even deserve a seat at the table, they should not even be allowed into this debate or any other, because they don't possess even an elementary understanding of the Constitution and how our laws our SUPPOSED to be made.  Their opinions on matters of law have no validity and their differences are in no way legitimate.

Speaking of people who's differences are far from legitimate and who's opinions deserve nothing more that the most rank derision, check out the view from our hotel room when we were visiting my Brother-in -Law in Lynchburg...



Yes folks, we slept in the shadow of the late Reverend Jerry Falwelll's Orwellianly-named LIBERTY UNIVERSITY; truly one of the greatest temples of ignorance ever constructed by mankind.

(Young earth creationism is another viewpoint that deserves nothing but scorn, and whose proponents have no place in any debate either, as they do not possess even an elementary knowledge of how science works or how knowledge is created.)

God, I hate that place.

BUT... It's good to be back.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Ironic

We're in Washington D.C. visiting my sister for a few days before heading [even farther] South for Thanksgiving.  And we took the kids on a tour of the Capital building this morning.  The tour begins with a very patriotic film about the history of democracy and the trials and tribulation that our country in general and the Capitol building in particular had been though, from being torched in the war of 1812, to the dome's construction being continued during the Civil War, to demonstrate Lincoln's commitment to keeping the union together.  And the ongoing theme was that CONGRESS was the place where we find COMMON GROUND, despite our many LEGITIMATE DIFFERENCES.

It was hard not be awestruck by the place, and the the trials it had endured and the ideals it represents.

Unfortunately, it was equally hard not to be dumbstruck at the though of some of the absolute CLOWNS now responsible for governing and safeguarding those ideals.

I mean... What part of "legitimate differences" or "finding common ground" is it when the Senate Minority Leader makes it his TOP PRIORITY (not "A" priority, but his "TOP" priority!) to deny the President a second term.  It like he thinks all of the problems facing this county magically came into existence sometime between Pelosi and Reid taking power in 2007, and Barack Obama taking office in 2009! His TOP Priority?

The deficit? The economy? The War on Terror? Education? Health Care? The Environment? 

Nope.

The most important thing for this asshat to accomplish is to put an "-R" after the next President's name.  I wouldn't mind it half as much if they planned on accomplishing this by actually DOING ANYTHING, as opposed to just sabotaging the current government.  I'll just never understand how someone can listen to an inspiring tale of Patriotism and Democracy and then think of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner and do ANYTHING other than laugh their asses off or cry in their soup. 

We know that so many of today's politicians are little more than cheap rent boys for the special (read: corporate) interests, but standing in the halls of power this morning only served to diminished them even farther in my eyes; to make them seem even more petty and out of place.  The Tea Party yokels won't last 5 minutes here.  I have a feeling this incoming class of Right Wing amateurs is going to lose it's "idealism" faster than any other.

For mish...

Since you were foolish enough to indulge me helpful enough to offer some constructive feedback, here are the pencils for the first page.  Let me know what you think.

Hands are hard. :(
LOL.
Like I said... A little cleanup is needed. ;)

First Panel Pencilled!

First Panel - Pencils.

I'm sorry that I keep posting this kind of stuff.  It's a bit indulgant, I suppose.  I'm just really happy with how this turned out.  A few line-errors here and there, but nothing I can't fix in the inkining. (LH Window & Starcase, for example? LOL.)  I don't plan on posting to much more of it here.  (We'll see.) But to finish a panel, even in pencil, and be pretty satsified with the result?  For me? That's EPIC. LOL. (One down, sixteen thousand to go!)

Also, in case anyone was wondering, I do still plan on maintaining a political blog.  Probably more angry rants than realy thoughtful pieces (which take more time) but the rants sometimes seem to get a better response anyway. LOL.  I'm also going to keep up with the Hall of Fame inductees, if nothing else.  Even though they don't get many replies, I take it as a bit of a civic duty to link to good stuff in order to help it rank higher in teh Google.

But I have made a goal to myself to spend at least an hour a night drawing.  And unfortunately that will leave less time for blogging.  BUT... I think it will be better fo my mental health, in the long run.  Sorry.  AND, as I've said before, this thing is going to have Religious, Philosopcial and Political themes running throughout it, not to mention some references to pop-culture-y stuff that I just like.

And to answer ClassicLiberal's and Conchobhar's inevitable quetsion about the club name: YES. 

Doodles & Sketches

And the amazing part...?

When someone in the meeting asked me a question, I was still able to answer as if I'd been paying attention!

LOL.  Yeah... it's was one of those days.

This is mostly crap, but I am fairly proud of the chick on the upper right.  I think we've got a decent intial sketch down for Epiphany there.  Gabriel (upper left) needs a lot of work. (But that was also done much earlier in the meeting, before I got too bored. LOL)   Gretchen* (lower right) needs some additional translating to make her look a little more realistic, and a little less like her inspriration (Sora Hasegawa from Ah! My Goddess) but I can live with it for now.  The guy in the middle (and lower left) started out as the protagonist, Edward, but I'm think he'll change a bit first.  He may yet end up as either John or Paul, who are kind of like Edward's Left Hand and Right Hand men, respectively, or I might just keep him as he is, we'll see.  (Yes, I realize I'm babbling here, and no one knows WTF I'm talking about, but these notes are as much for my own reference later on as anything else.)  In any case I said I might throw up some of the early sketches, and this is about as early as it gets, although I didn't figured they'd come out of being bored in a team meeting. LOL.

Oh well. 

You gotta have some fun wherever you are.  That's my philosphy anyway.

*The other half of Gretchen's inspiration, comes from Faust which is a HUGE influence on the overall story. It's really sort of a modern, reinterpretation of Faust.  Other influences include Death Note, Hell Girl, King Lear/Ran, MacBeth/Throne of Blood, and various non-Canonical Judeo-Christian (and other) mythologies, heavily re-interpreted.  Meh... We'l see how it goes.  Hopefully it will interest some one other than me, but I plan to do it anyway.

Glenn Beck meets Donald Duck

OMG! Have you seen this yet?


Funny as hell.  Captures the spirit and message of that hypocritical, lying snake PERFECTLY, not to mention the double-speak!  The gap between rich and poor keeps growng, so vote REPUBLICAN?! 

That he is both (1) somewhat popular and (2) still a net positive for the GOP, is proof of just how stupid this country has become.  Listening to this, I've decided that Glenn Beck is NOT crazy, and NOT stupid.  He's a very, VERY EVIL MAN.  And I never would have thought I'd have underestimated that quality in one of these Right -Wingers.  But he is, and I did.  He's an damned evil genius!  He rubs people faces in everything the Right-wing has done to them, and yet somehow convinces then it's all the LEET's fault! (And they you should give him money!) It abso-fucking-lutely BRILLIANT!

For more like this, check out http://www.rebelliouspixels.com/.

And if you haven't given me your two cents yet, here's my paypal address... no, just kidding! LOL If  you haven't given me your two cents yet, please be sure to comment on my Question for y'all post.  I've got about 3/4 of the overall plot roughly outlined, but I still want to know how "real" (or how fictional)  this 'real world' shoudl be. Thanks!

Fiction Writing Style Question for Y'all...

I'm asking this because I know you guys to be readers with the highest quality of taste.  (And not just because you read my stuff either! LOL) 

You see... I've been kicking around some new ideas web-comic for a little while now.  I do have some web-comic / artistic credentials, although my other project is kept separate from this blog in order to maintain its completely apolitical nature.  But this new one would be HIGHLY political, so I'm thinking about doing it under "Niceguy Eddie" rather than my other pseudonym.

The reason I bring all this up is that I have a kind of stylistic question for y'all.  Let's say, for example, that one is writing a work of fiction about, say, a vast Left-Wing Conspiracy to assassinate, for example, Rush Limbaugh and other high-profile RW Icons and Personalities.  (No, that's not really what this ides of mine is all about, I'm just using that as a non-spoiler containing example.)  Purely as a point of style, would it be better (IOW: less cheesy) simply to refer to these characters as their real world counterparts...

(Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Rielly, Sean Hannity & Glenn Beck)

or to use a substitute that's a pretty obvious allusion to their real world counterparts...

(Skip Harbaugh, Will O'Malley, Sam Haggerty & Ben Glick)

or are both options equally crappy, and names should be used with no real-world affiliation...

(Tom Williams, Joe Smithson, Ed Hanson & Mike Evers)

...even thought the story is supposed to take place in the present day 'real' world, and the identity of some of the background characters involved IS significant, from both a story standpoint and a political one. (And would save me a lot of otherwise unnecessary exposition.)

I'm just curious what you think.  I may post some of the early development work here, though I don't think I'll put the final comic here. (I'll link to it though, of course! LOL) And I'm still a bit way from being able to really get started anyway.  But this is kind of a critical point so I figured I'd see what you all thought about it.  (The names thing, not the overall idea, which is not quite as I described above anyway.)  That's not to say that I'll necessarily TAKE your advice, LOL, but I would like some food for thought on the matter, if you don't mind!

Thanks!

And uh... don't hold you're breath for the first page or anything.  I'm having serious software issues at the moment, and that's before factoring in that my current web-comic is drawn in a very cartoony style and I'd LIKE to do this one in a more realistic style. Which... I've never done before. Also, I'm entirely self-taught. So I've got a bit of a way to go yet before I can eve start any serious character designs, let alone start in with the story.  BUT, just so you know I'm not completely hopeless (but at the same time, so you also have some idea how far I need to go) here's a couple of faces I skecthed out just now.

Male, in profile, female, straight on:

So... I can do it, but... this isn't quite what I'm envisioning.  So we'll see how it goes.  I am serious about it though.  My other project can't go on forever, and there are two others that I REALLY want to do.  One that I've kicking around since college (seriously - it will have been in the back of my head for over 20 years before I even start it!) and this one.

Open Fascism

Many of us have made case that the new American Right Wing are a bunch of fascists. I have. Classic Liberal has. Down With Tyranny has. And so have many others. And the situation on the Right has now devolved to the point where they apparently think Godwin’s Law will continue to shield them from any and all criticism, indefinitely. But they are WAAAY beyond the point of merely abusing that otherwise reasonable principle: they’ve beaten it to a bloody death with their bare hands and ass-raped its still-warm corpse.

And now you can MMFA to the mix: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201011120017

Granted, that piece was exclusively about Glenn Beck (well… and his handlers/enablers at Fox) but we are all grown up enough by now to know full well that this is just the latest, and arguably most blatant, example in what is becoming a disturbing and disgusting trend in American Right-Wing Politics.

I particularly want commenter Duta to read that piece. Because while I won’t ever try to over-simplify the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the online company of someone who LIVES there – there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s nothing I can tell her about it, and plenty she could tell me – I think she (and many others) grossly oversimplify our Right Wing’s policy of unwavering support of Israel.

My advice is just this:

You should be very wary of the support you get from a group of people who LOVE ISREAL, but HATE JEWS.

What the hell is wrong with people?

I saw a story today that, I have to admit, at least at first, caught my eye just do to the strange title:

Google Blogger Accuses Twitter Engineer of Sex Attack

Just for a moment take all of the actual human beings out of that story, and you've got to admit: That's a pretty funny headline.  Now... put all the human beings back INTO it, and read it.  If you want a fuller account of the incident, you can read her blog.

Now... Right up front, I want to say that I have no idea about, nor do I care to  speculate on, the veracity of the accusation.  I have not heard his side, I wasn't there and in any case it's not really relevant to what I want to talk about.  I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I'm also willing to give the other his day in court before crucifying him.  All that being said, I was appalled, for several reasons, at some of the comments being left under the article.

MrMikeBeezy left the following:

I DO NOT agree with her statement that it's not her responsibility to protect herself from such things. I guess if she likes waiting for the rest of the world to give a shit about her safety then, by all means, allow it to happen.

This was, presumably, in response to her statement, "It is not my job to avoid getting assaulted. It is everyone else’s job to avoid assaulting me."

And to Mr. Beezy, all I can say is, "Blame the victim much?"

I guess you shouldn't have bought such a nice car, if you didn't want it stolen.  I guess you shouldn't have put glass in the walls of your house, if you didn't want your windows broken.  I guess you shouldn't have gotten married, if you didn't want to be cheated on.  I guess you shouldn't have had children if you didn't want them kidnapped.

WTF?!

There is basically no other crime that we, as a partially brain-damaged society, are so quick to apply that logic to.  Why is it that every time we hear about an example of  MEN BEHAVING BADLY, there is always an element of the audience that will say, "Well, she should have been more careful!"

WTF?!

That's fucking insane!  It is not up to the woman to protect herself, with no expectation that her professional colleagues will not conduct themselves within the boundaries of the FUCKING LAW!  She wasn't hooking downtown for Christ's sake, she was at a fucking TECH CONVENTION!

And the dude in question can talk about "mixed signals" all he wants.  I've known a lot of women.  And every  single one of them has totally confused the shit out of me at some point.  But I've never received ANY signal that could have been mistaken for "stick your hand in my pants." And that includes from every single one who's pants I've ever had my hand in!

Newsflash: BLAMING THE VICTIM = TOLERATING THE CRIME.  And I defy ANYONE to find me any other crime where we find it so easy to do this.  It's barbaric.

Now...  Let the guy have his day in court, as applicable, of course. If he's falsely accused, than that's almost as bad as the attempted/actual rape since (1) being falsely accused of sexual assault is about the worst thing that can happen to you, legally speaking and (2) false accusations, once exposed, enable the very attitude I'm describing.  They cast suspicion on every other woman's legitimate accusation.  So, yeah, let him have his say.

But for FUCK'S SAKE don't blame the VICTIM! The expectation that one will not be sexually assaulted at random is no less reasonable that the assumption that one will not be shot or mugged at random in such a place.  IOW: It's PERFECTLY REASONABLE! And we should show no more sympathy to the perp, or less sympathy to the victim, in that case than we would for a robbery or a homicide. PERIOD!

Christ, what the hell is wrong with people?!

Then "God's gift to women everywhere," Daniel, posted this steaming pile of horseshit "gem:"

You'd figure he could have assaulted someone better looking. Come on, man. Have some standards.

Nice. 

This is just disgusting on so many levels.  I'd love for his mother to know he said that.  Or his wife/girlfriend.  Actually, I'd like to just  see him hit in the head with a brick, only to have someone ask, "Why were you walking under that falling brick, dumbass?!"

And before anyone tells me that, "Oh. it's just the Internet, people say all kinds of crazy shit." No.  Fuck that. Fuck it right now, because I've heard the exact same thing, said over a few beers at the bar, face to fucking face with people.  And I've heard it MANY TIMES.  So this is hardly the sentiment of a lone provocateur on some Internet blog.  This kind of misogyny is every bit as alive and well as the "blaming the victim kind."  (Though I've met some of the most interesting and coolest women in it, Automotive is still, very much, one of the "good old boy:" industries. So i hear this sort of thing a LOT.)

Now... As if blaming the victim for the rape wasn't enough, now the victim's physical appearance is somehow relevant?  I suppose if she conformed more to the "Barbie Doll" asthetic, she'd somehow make a more sympathetic victim? (Actually, in that case, the opposite might even be true!)  And whether or not that's even true, does that make it RIGHT?!

Putting that aside, for the moment, because it's so despicable as not not even need a comment, I have a newsflash for Daniel:

ALL WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL.

And I, pretty much, truly mean that.  All women are beautiful and the world is a more beautiful place for having all those women IN IT.  Take out the women (and the Homosexual men) and what would the world look like?  It would look like a pissed-on shit-pile, that's what! 

What the fuck is with people who (1) Use a Barbie Doll like a checklist:

Long Blond Hair? Check
Blue Eyes? Check
5'10"? Check
C-Cup? Check
36-24-26? Check
etc...

(Which I think would leave with pretty much just Pamela Anderson - who's a skank) And then (2) feel the need to ridicule anyone who doesn't fit the bill? 

What the fuck is wrong with these people?  Are they dating Pamela Anderson?  (And if they are? They can fucking have her!) And if they aren't?  Then who the fuck are they to talk?!

And that list?  The "barbie doll" asthetic? Fuck that.  Where does that leave a beautiful black woman? Or an beautiful Indian woman? Or a beautiful Japanese woman?  (You ever see blond hair on a Japanese woman? It looks RIDICULOUS!)  And why are we even TALKING ABOUT THAT?!

The sexiest part of a woman's body is BETWEEN HER EARS.  Yes, I'm actually physically attracted by a woman's intelligence.  That's make me a bit unusual, statistically speaking, but what can I say? Men of real quality are not easy to find.  And I'm also far more concerned with what's BEHIND a woman's ribcage that what IN FRONT of it.

Now... I don't know Noirin personally. I've never met her. I don't know if she's nice, and I don't know if she's smart.  I've read a bit of her blog... Not really my thing, but she certainly seems failry intelligent.  (Check.)  And given her quirky sense of humor (check) and the fact that she seems nice enough (check) I'm certainly already finding her far more interesting than your average "Pamela Anderson" type. And there's really not much more that you really need to know!

But then...

Red Hair? (check!)
Tech savy? (omg! check!)
Glasses? (...drool...)

(Yeah, seriously, I have such a thing for chicks in glasses. It borders on sickness. Seriously.)

I'm sorry, where was I?

Oh yeah...

Daniel? MrMikeBeezy?  You guys are fucking douchebags.

And, in the future, if you don't have anything nice - or relevant - to say, then just SHUT THE FUCK UP!

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

Oh, and BTW... Should anyone find an inconsistancy in my proceeding to trash Pamela Anderson, right after saying that "all women are beautiful," let me clarify: Women are beautiful the way GOD made them.  Pamela's appearance is what what MAN'S EFFORT looks like.  It's the cheap, plastic result of trying to appease the prejudices of lesser men.  And it's really rather tragic.

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

Oh and I uh... kind of apologize for that "really creepy guy" bit at the end there.  It was kind of tongue in cheek (and almost disgustingly over the top) though personally she does strike me, at least initially, as exactly the kind of person I'd usually be attracted to.  Kind of like...

Oh, I am so fucking there!

(The one with the beard is a guy though, right?)

Controversy

Yep, that's about it, isn't it? So look forward to President Palin in 2012.

This comes from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner, an absolutely brilliant collection of political and philosophical brain droppings.  I'll pay this particular one the highest compliment I can't think of: I'd wish I'd written it! LOL

Proof that MSNBC is not the Left-Wing verison of Fox.

Just a quickie, showing the biggest difference between Fox and MSNBC...

Countdown Anchor Keith Olbermann has been suspended from MSNBC over political donation that appear to be in violation of  that stations standard of ethics.

This is in contrast to Fox News, whose anchors have shamelessly shilled for the Republicans time and time again; who's PAC and Parent company have donated millions to Republicans and Republican backed organizations; who has given a platform to future candidates; and who will not even suspend you if you wish for President Obama's assassination!

They may be mirrors of each other in that one leans Liberal and one leans Conservative, but that is where the symmetry ends.  Because only one has any hosts representing anything that would qualify as opposing viewpoints (such a Joe Scarborough) and only one has an ethics policy that actually MEANS anything, and they they are willing to enforce.

The difference is PRINCIPLES. MSNBC has them.  Fox, time and time again, has shown that they don't.

Lighter Fare...

It's election day so I'd like to share with you an episode from a classic British Comedy called "The Black Adder."  This particular episode is rather apt since it deals with politics, elections and particularly political corruption.  BTW... That's Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame, playing opposite Hugh Laurie, of House. Brilliant stuff, IMHO.

Part One:


Part Two:


Part Three:


Ah, the good old days...


"You could appoint him a high court judge."
     "Is he qualified?"
"He's a violent, biggoted, mindless old fool"
     "Sounds a bit overly qualified!"

(The Roberts court?)

"It's is a triumph of stupidity over common sense."

(I've been predicting that for months now!)

Forget Fascists... we're actually Nazi's now

Provocative title, I know.

I had to take a break for a few days.  I heard a story on NPR Frito be day morning that was profoundly disturbing.  And my anger It came through in my posts to MMFA on Friday, it came through in my work / in the office, and even my wife noticed it when I got home.  So I had to take a breather.  And you know what? A few days later, and I don't feel any less repulsed by it.

As if the Citizens United decision wasn't bad enough, NPR did a story about ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.  To put it gently, it's a non-profit that hooks up corporate shills and legislators for the purpose of getting really awful legislation passed, and obfuscating where it comes from, and just who's buying the legislator in question.  And because it's a non-profit, and they provide all the "scholarships," (an utterly Orwellian term that almost makes me throw-up in my mouth to use,) any disclosure the Legislator does make just say "ALEC."  NOT the corporation who's really buying them.  And what's more? Unlike with lobby groups (HOW the HELL is this not a lobby group?! WTF?!) Corporations actually get a TAX WRITE-OFF for their donations to ALEC!

So how does this make u s"Nazi's?"  Am I just being melodramatic?  I don't think so. Not anymore.

Do you know where the new, controversial Arizona immigration law came from?  Well, it came out of an ALEC conference.  And who else was in attendance at that conference? Why, the largest private prison company in the country: the Corrections Corporation of America. So follow me for a second here...

In case you were wondering, YES, they are a for-profit company.  They're traded on the NYSE.  You can look it up.  We actually have for-profit incarceration in this country! Maye I'm just a little slow, but I didn't know that. Of course, it's sold as a cost-cutting measure for states - just like everything else we should never even CONSIDER privatizing.  And sure enough: it's cheaper.  Problem is?  If the prisons aren't filled to at least 90-95% capacity, they don't make a profit.

So.... What to do... What to do?

Well... what they DID do was to craft a bill/ law specifically designed to get MORE PEOPLE thrown in prison!  That's the Arizona Immigration law, requiring police to arrest ANYONE who can't PROVE they're not in this country legally, ON THE SPOT.  And, putting aside the whole "innocent auntil proven guilty" implications, of course anyone with two brain cells to bounce together (which excluded most Conservatives apparently) realizes that this is a law aimed primarily at arresting Mexicans.

Now... normally a law like this might meet with some public backlash, so what to do... what to do...  Well... The politicians could take to the airwaves, making up all kinds of nonsense and slander to turn public sentiment against Illegalls, yes, but also against Mexicans as well as Immigrants in general.  (Hey: That fits right in with thier anti-Muslim agenda anyway, right?) 

So... You've got politicans using the media to vilify an already small and unpopular minority group, with few rights, and no means to recourse, spreading all kinds of false information about them and the affect they have on our society - much of it 180 derees divorced from reality - all to drum up support for a bill designed to do nothing else but to get as many members of this very minority group carted off to prison as possible.

Um... How is that NOT Nazi, exactly?  The only separating this from the gas chambers? Is the GAS!

And you know what?  Putting aside that we're not actually KILLING them - fair enough - from a certain POV, we're actually WORSE than the Nazi's.  Yeah, seriously.  Stay with me now... You see... Hitler, in his own perverse way, actually believed that what he was doing was right.  As despicable, and unimaginably inhuman as it was? His "final solution" was being done for purely idealistic reasons: to "save" Germany.  Of course... his ideals were utterly monstrous. But why are WE doing the same thing? Sure, the politicians would have you believe that it's all to "save" America.  (Sound familiar?) And in that way it's every bit as misguided as Hitler's persecution of the Jews was.  But the fact is? That's all bullshit. I almost wish they were being that twistedly idealistic about it.  The REAL reason we're vilifying and incarcerating Mexicans?

Is so that a for-profit corporation can make more money.

That's it.

And that's beyond fascist... that NAZI territory, plain and simple.  I've taken some time to try and view this from any other perspective and I just can't see one.  We're fucking Nazi's.  Congratulations America, you now incarcerate minorities for no greater, misguided "ideal" than INCREASED CORPORATE PROFITS.

And you know what? Goebbels would be utterly HUMBLED by what the Right has managed to do to OUR media.  HE had to at least make an EFFORT! OUR Right-Wing scumbags?  Have Fox News cheerleading for them, propagandizing for them, as a matter course, no longer even bothering to keep up the PRETENSE of doing otherwise... and MAKING A PROFIT DOING IT!!! And the rest of the media follows suit for fear of being branded as "Liberal biased!"  They've turned the media against their opposition, either vehemently or passively (which is far more effective anyway) and they didn't have to spend a single Penny of government money to do it!  Goebbels's could certainly have learn a thing or two from Murdoch, Ailes and company. He had to make an effort.  The Right in this country? Has made it the natural default perspective!

Anyway, I'm done.

For awhile, actually.

Seriously.

I'm going to take a little break.  I have to.  You can't wake up to the realization that your country incarcerates people for profit, and that politicians use the media to market the policty, FALSELY vilifying the people in question, and yet only one, single arm of this so-called "liberal media" (NPR) is even talking about it...and think that anything you can do or say is going to accomplish ANYTHING.  This story just... crushed me.  It swept away my last hope that this country even has a soul left to save.

George Carlin once said that fascism would not come to America in Brown-Shirts and Jack-Boots, but rather wearing Nike's.  Well... it's not about Nike, but the point was positively and prfoundly prophetic.  And it will simply not serve my mental health to keep railing against such utter hopelessness.  I need a little time to recharge my batteries.  Find a different direction to take this in.  So... we'll see how it and where it goes.

Oh, ad uh... BTW...

There's an election tomorrow.  So, vote. I guess.  It's supposed to be important... or something.

And just like Glenn Beck, I'm not going to tell you who to vote for.  Honestly, I don't really think it matters anymore anyway.  But UNLIKE Glenn Beck, I'm going to give you this advice:  WHATEVER you do, don't vote for

As three wise men once said...

"All we have to fear, is fear itself!" ~Franklin Roosevelt

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." ~Yoda

and, perhaps the most important lesson for these spineless, useless Democrats to learn:

"Given a choice between a Republican and a Democrat who acts like a Republican, they'll choose the Republican every time" ~Harry Truman

...

WHY, with 20th Century icons like Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson to draw inspiration from, do they decide instead to take their lead from the likes of BILL CLINTON? 

WHY?!