There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear, cont'd

So here we are, another week gone by. This weekend I have done nothing but sit on the couch. I have done laundry (clothes still in the dryer so it may not count as being completed.) and played on facebook and read a little bit on these wonderful tubes we have. I am enjoying today with the Panthers having a bye. It's a good Sunday. So let's recap the last few days, shall we?

So I'm on facebook and see this post.  And I realize, 2012 is either going to suck or it will be vindicating. If the GOP power grab for theocracy and plutocracy, these United States will be done. Only 230 some years....poof! in 30 short ones.
Then I see this quote

The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations. -Thomas Jefferson, 1816

and it is really creepy to think that and then see that quote. Freaky I say.

Then there's Tom Brokaw. I know I'm in the minority but I have always been annoyed with him. And that voice? fuck, I cannot take that. I just realized that he was the first David Gregory, except better looking. (which really isn't a compliment) So it's always nice for me when someone smacks him down. It's a rare and beautiful sight. So please, enjoy these two wonderful posts. Here  and here. 
I need to add Charles Pierce to the side over there. Also too, if you're liberal, and let's face it, if you're here, you are. You should also check out politicsusa.com
I need to add them too.

Let's see what else have I been reading? I love Chez's Tebow take.
And the CBS article is pretty good too, though I don't agree with the way when everyone talks about him they have to say, "now he's a good kid and I like him" or some variation. Just because some idiot religious fanatic equates what you think of Tebow with what you think of their Jesus. Fuck that. I don't like any of them, Tebow or his fans.

To read the post this quote comes from, click here.

In a recent interview, a top Ohio Republican defended this in a curiously belligerent way, one that may reverberate in the race’s final days: He claimed lawmakers don’t need to take a pay cut in the spirit of shared sacrifice, because “I earn my pay,” adding: “Republicans earn their money.”

And if you're not reading Steve Benen daily, you are missing one of the best.

I found out that Stephen and Tabitha King never let me down.
I also learned, again, that international media is usually better than American corporate media. here we have The Guardian talking about ALEC. Have you heard about ALEC? Another one of those shadowy, right-wing organizations destroying our democracy. Only Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell have even mentioned them. Keith Olbermann might have, but since he went on his firebagger rant, I don't watch him anymore. That's not to say that when the Murdoch empire is burned to the ground by the arrogance and incompetence that is Murdoch, I will watch him again. No one enjoys taking down Murdoch than Keith. And me. :)
Also, if you don't read al-Jazeera English, you should. Nothing but actual journalism about world events. It's refreshing actually. For instance, did you know Pakistan arrested people for assassinating Bhutto? You didn't? Huh....that corporate media. Read it here.

If the state of the current crop of nutjobs who want to be president are bumming you out, you could do what Rachel Maddow and Eugene Robinson are doing, enjoying the performance art that is Herman Cain. Me? I've been freaking about it until I watched Rachel and Gene, then I saw this and it made it better.

So that's what's going on around here. I will leave you this week with one of my favorite things. I love the Hubble Telescope. It's some of the best money we've ever spent. Check out what's it's showing us.

So what's going on around you? Did you move your money yesterday? I didn't, I'm waiting until the beginning of the year. Lots of changes, hopefully, coming financially for me and I want to start the year off clean. Have you been to an Occupy event? I'd love to hear about your stories.

Must Read

I haven't finished this post, yet. But it should be shared far and wide as well.

As Michael Lind has compelling argued, the Tea Party movement is the latest echo of the Southern Confederacy. In all, they are neo-Secessionists whose language of “States Rights’,” “nullification” and “Second Amendment remedies” hearkens back to that of the old Confederacy. Because the Tea Party are in fact neo-Confederates, the federal government is viewed with deep hostility, and they are heirs to a political tradition that views the preservation of Jim Crow segregation in the name of “States’ Rights” as more important than civil rights for black Americans.

Tea Party representatives such as Rand Paul have echoed this suspicion of the civil rights laws which brought down Jim Crow; the Tea Party faithful have made repeated efforts to (quite literally) white wash the U.S. history curricula of the Arizona and Texas school systems; and in their creative reimagining of the U.S. Constitution, the Tea Party GOP has conveniently removed all of the “bad parts” (i.e. references to slavery) as a function of a feigned and convenient “colorblindness” that actively avoids the full complexity of the country’s past and present.

In keeping with their oversimplification and flattening of history, even the Tea Party’s Revolutionary War era costumes and histrionic railings against a “tyrannical government” speak to an embrace of Lost Cause ideology. Not coincidentally, the Confederacy also embraced the same symbolism, and imagined themselves as the true heirs to the founding fathers, the real champions of the U.S. Constitution.

I gotta find a way to get this to Dennis G over at Balloon-Juice.......

Another Must Read.....and bonus! a rant

One of the pages I follow on Facebook posted this earlier and I must say, it blew me away. Remember a while back, when I said that I don't think the Civil War ended? What I didn't do was say it nearly as well as Charles P. Pierce does in this article. 

It really needs to be spread far and wide to every one who really wants to hold us together long enough to repair the damage and the wounds of the last 150 years....hell, from the pilgrims forward truth be told.

With our corporate media rushing to blame Islamic terrorists for the recent horrible events in Norway  when it turns out he is a blond, blue-eyed Nazi-type nationalist, makes me remember all the right wing nationalist attacks on American soil that no one talks about with any semblance of rationality. It's all about who wins and who loses the media day and the ratings and the whining from the very people who encourage and support these same ideas for political gain and power and wealth. Greed basically. All these christo-facists who will reap the rewards by the people too dumb or lazy or apathetic  to really pay attention that the 'religion' they all espouse is nothing but a facade to keep or gain power and money. And here they are ready to plunge the entire fucking world back into the worst depression any of us have ever seen, worse than the Great Depression of my grandparents era, by using peoples faith.
That worldwide depression led to the rise of Hitler, a world war and a cold war. World War II may have brought the United States out of depression, but what did we get for it? A literally divided world between free people and not free people. For 50 years we lived like this. Many innocents suffered in the undeclared wars of the 50's and 60's into the 70's. Korea, Vietnam, Hungary, Germany, Romania, Czechoslavakia, Iran, Iraq (funny, that) and another fun trip back in time in Afghanistan and on and on and on.....
Then the Cold War ended. (I have to say that as a military brat, the youngest of 4 girls, during the 60's and 70's that my sisters had no idea what the Cold War was....I was and still am, astounded by that. For those of you who share my sisters ignorance, go here.)  
So what happened after that? We turned on each other. Funny thing about us humans, we have to have an enemy. I don't know why, but I wish evolution would hurry up, we'll never get to the 24th Century that Gene Roddenberry envisioned and I want. Anywho, the entire era of the Cold War, it was politically advantageous for republicans to win elections by painting the democrats as weak on foreign policy. The reason they could safely have that ground was because they would actually cross the line and do things that democrats wouldn't. But on the other hand, the dems with the Gulf of Tonkin, some dems would and could. Which may be the genesis of the 'both sides do it' meme that is so familiar today. Then Nixon came along and did what he did and got away with it which enabled people like Donald Rumsfeld, Roger Ailes and Dick Cheney to do what brings us to the United States electing a black man for President. Can you imagine? It wasn't supposed to be like that at all....they have to have been so disappointed when that happened. But then, they got together at a Koch Brothers event in Palm Springs or somewhere equally posh and thought up the wonderful world we live in now. Just writing that feels like a conspiracy theory and maybe that's by design? Because there wouldn't be people out there who would deliberately want to destroy the entire nation and economy on purpose....right?
Well, I don't really think so.....I think their motives were, and are, greed and power and money. I don't think they realized the economic situation in the country....and really, how could they? They live in a world that knows no limits, none. They don't live in the world that the rest of us do. Where people like me have to budget the $20.00 co-pay to see the doctor. They don't worry about people out there who have to wonder, should I pay the electric bill or put gas in the car? They didn't know that was there when they started I don't think. Maybe they thought it was like 1992 and all we needed was a little political wrangling to get them more. I don't know. What I think is that they didn't realize the economic situation or, and this is the important part, the level of fear that they had been fomenting for years with faux news and rush and all the others....they had control before, why would this be any different?
So here we are, on the brink of default. Yay for us.

My question then is this, what do they do now? They have made compromise of any sort impossible with their behavior during President Obama's tenure. So what happens? They give? The President gives? I honestly cannot believe they have put him in this position. And it won't matter who will 'win' this battle. The politicians win. The corporate media wins. The losers? Me, you, the entire world that isn't in the top 2%. And the people who have brought us here? Only 27-33% of the Grand Old Party of the United States of America. The people who have been shunned, rightly, by civil society. The people on the fringe. This time though, the corporations had media holdings to bring the people too dumb, lazy or apathetic a story they could accept and make themselves feel better.
That doesn't seem like a fair deal. At all.

That's it. Rant over. But go read Charles P. Pierce's article which brought us all here. :) You can read it here.

We're living in a demented Chocolate Factory without any chocolate....

A couple of weeks ago, I assured myself and others that even though the current republican party was insane they were not going to let the full faith and credit of the United States of America explode into default for the sheer and shameful politics of ideology. I thought they would listen to Wall Street. I am amazed they think the United States government would lie to the entire world about whether or not we would lose this only good spot in our current economic crises. We can now, at least, borrow money at insanely cheap interest to finance everything the previous administration and previous Congress' passed. Because that's all this is...we have the ability to raise our credit card limit. I understand the danger of that, lord knows, I would do it if I could get away with it. And here is what I don't think they understand about government. You can't run a government like a household no matter how many republicans tell you you can. You can't run a government like a business no matter how many republicans tell you you can.

That the current batch of nutjobs would be so totally convinced the Secretary of the Treasury would lie is not completely surprising. I understand why they would think that. They project everything they do, would do or have done onto the democrats....it's who they are. But to be so cynical and petty and partisan and ruin the credit of the US to "win" against a democrat in the White House, black, white or purple for that matter...is just beyond my comprehension.

They really are those 4 other kids in the Roald Dahl book and my favorite movie from childhood, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The United States is Charlie and the nutjobs are Veruca, Mike, Augustus and Violet. They are spoiled children riding a sugar high.

I am now very afraid that if the adults in the GOP don't just run a clean debt ceiling increase in both houses, we will invite catastrophe and god/fsm/thor knows what else.

I cannot believe that the media is still spinning this as a horse race. This is one of the fruits of Rupert Murdoch's gifts that keep on giving. If the media will not make them see what they are doing and keeping the 'both sides blame each other, oh the sameness of it' meme, we are doomed.

I don't want to be doomed. I want to shake people and ask them what they hell do they think they're doing? for fucking politics?!
This is what happens when kids are allowed at the adults table....

though, a silver lining,perhaps, may shine through this angry and destructive cloud....if the United States' defaults, every one's credit score is going to suck
and mine won't seem that bad:)

New Voter ID laws and me....

As a poll worker and listening to Keith talk about the new Voter ID laws in WI, I can say that most of the people who vote in my precinct hand over their licenses when they walk in. They have to sign a Voter form verifying their information, they take this paper (usually I'm the one they give it to) to get a ballot. (Ha! I am the Ballot Keeper - I like that!) Then they vote. I had to tell the other precinct workers that they can't ask for ID in NC. They were asking for it sometimes. They didn't know. I had to show them in our book. But that's just my precinct. It's a moderate, older neighborhood with new developments in the last years before the shit storm came, but still. Not rich, but steady. I just don't see it where I vote.
Having said that, I find these laws, all over, to be repugnant.
It is our 1 Constitutional duty. One.  It's the only thing the Constitution says we have to do. More people should do it, but they don't. And since I have worked at the polls, 2005 I think, I have seen the turnout go from very low levels (one municipal election we had 2 votes in addition to our 3 votes for a total of 5) to sky high in a matter of 2 years and the mood from 2006 to 2008 in my 60-40 republican precinct was incredible. Then 2010 happened and all I saw were repubs voting and very few dems. 2010 the repubs were more than happy to tell every one they were voting repub to 'get' Obama. or some such other version of 'hell yeah, I'm voting repub and I'm proud'. Anyway, I think next year, the people who voted in 2008 will be back. It will be too hard with another year of GOP controlling the House. They will have too. And I bet even some of those repubs who did show up but were quiet? They'll be there too, voting for the dems.

At least, a girl can hope that they cannot allow them to get away with this shit much longer than that. At some point, yourself and your family have to over come the ideology. Right?

Get Out The Vote

If you give a damn about who we are as a country, Get Out The Vote!! Get involved, walk your neighborhoods and talk to people. Let them know what's going on. Make them realize they have the power to keep us in a democracy and not turn us into a plutocracy or worse, a theocracy. seriously people...our entire way of life is being torn down and stepped on....look anywhere where republicans are in power and you will see they don't give a damn about you or your family....not one bit. It's early in the season, I know...but this is the culture we live in. And tell your media outlets and sources that they need to do their job.  I will leave you with John Cole's words.....

And btw, we’ve talked about the Ryan plan to gut medicare and medicaid and give the proceeds to the rich while feeding the warpig, and it is important to recognize this is not some one-off. This is what they want. They are also coming for your pension, they are after your social security, they want to destroy your union so you can not organize against them, they will go after your minimum wage next, they want to get rid of the EPA so their donors can pollute your water, air, land, and food and not have to worry about being punished, they want to deregulate Wall Street more so they can screw you again and not face any consequences, they want to tell you what you can do with your body, and they are spending lots of time and money making it harder and harder for you to vote. The Ryan plan isn’t an isolated incident, it was just shots fired on another front. If you are disheartened by the budget deal the other night, which is one small skirmish in a big war, you probably should just give up and go buy yourself a ton of lube.

read the whole post here.

Class War, been a long time coming....

there is a class war in this country....don't let anyone tell you otherwise. it used to be it was kept in check, but apparently no more....thank you people who don't think your vote counts.....
and in honor of this, I give you the timeless words and music that expresses it on the level of the everyday person....you know, the ones who don't vote.
assholes

Hell Yeah!

If Democrats can flip the State Senate, it will be big. Even gaining a seat or two will be big. The nation is watching. I think you’re gonna find, when all this shit is over and done, I think you’re gonna find yourself one smilin’ motherfucker.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has enough signatures to recall one of the repubs.....and I hope he's correct.

read about it here

....the world is spinning round and round, out of control again.....

NPR is reporting  Representative Giffords has died along with 6 other people.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and six others died after a gunman opened fire at a public event on Saturday, the Pima County, Ariz., sheriff's office confirms.
The 40-year-old Democrat, who was re-elected to her third term in November, was hosting a "Congress on Your Corner" event at a Safeway in northwest Tucson when a gunman ran up and started shooting, according to Peter Michaels, news director of Arizona Public Media.

However, I am listening to MSNBC and there is a Sheriff that says he is told she is alive in critical condition.