Mississippi Primary: Obama is the Projected Winner

The polls have closed in Mississippi, and Barack Obama is is the projected winner according to CNN and MSNBC.

Next Up, Ferraro, Designated Baiter

Former Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro emerges from relative obscurity as Hillary Clinton's latest surrogate race baiter. The irony of her statement, that if Barack Obama was a white male, or a woman of any color, he would not be in the position he is now in the race for the Democratic nomination, is not lost on her. She readily admits that when she was tapped for the Vice Presidential nomination in 1984 as Walter Mondale's running mate, she would not have been picked if she was not a woman.

But the differences between you Ms. Ferraro and Mr. Obama go far beyond race. Obama is an eloquent and intelligent figure who inspires the electorate like no figure in recent history has. Because he speaks to the people's overwhelming desire for change. He is swept up in a moment of history and you are a nearly forgotten footnote to history as the first woman to be picked by a major party to run for Vice President because as you readily admit, you happened to be a woman. You said it. I only repeated it.

Hillary seems to have no shortage of surrogates who will step up and sling mud for her. What's telling about these attacks is that these if these people had a candidate with more positives to tout, they wouldn't have to stoop to this level for her. It's really sad to see these formerly respected figures like her and Gloria Steinem, who I respect greatly, sticking their feet in their respective mouths and tarnishing their considerable reputations (at least in Steinem's case) with low brow campaign tactics at a historic time that should be uplifting to all who call themselves Democrats, if not all who call themselves Americans.

Update:

If I had a dollar for every time a racist statement is either proceeded or defended with, "I'm not a racist", I'd be a rich...African American. As if this somehow gives that person an exemption to go ahead and say something that is patently racist. There's obvious reasons she's a Faux News contributor. She's helping to fragment the party. Just admit you said the wrong thing, Ms. Ferraro, and apologize.

And in this quote from the Daily Breeze in Torrance California she defended her first offensive comments with more offensive comments. The second most used tact in defending racist comments, charging reverse racism.

Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,' Ferraro said. 'Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?

This is the kind of thing the party does not need. The party leaders need to intervene now and raise the level of this campaign on both side before this kind of divisive rhetoric torches the party's chances in November.

Big Brother is Listening

I am becoming more convinced every day that we live in Orwell's 1984 and don't know it, or wouldn't believe it even when presented with evidence we are. What's frightening about this is that not only could it be used by government agencies, the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc., but by any pimply faced hacker who can download the software to do it. The following is from an article on news.com:

Nextel and Samsung handsets and the Motorola Razr are especially vulnerable to software downloads that activate their microphones, said James Atkinson, a counter-surveillance consultant who has worked closely with government agencies. "They can be remotely accessed and made to transmit room audio all the time," he said. "You can do that without having physical access to the phone."

Because modern handsets are miniature computers, downloaded software could modify the usual interface that always displays when a call is in progress. The spyware could then place a call to the FBI and activate the microphone--all without the owner knowing it happened. (The FBI declined to comment on Friday.)

"If a phone has in fact been modified to act as a bug, the only way to counteract that is to either have a bugsweeper follow you around 24-7, which is not practical, or to peel the battery off the phone," Atkinson said. Security-conscious corporate executives routinely remove the batteries from their cell phones, he added.

The article also talks about spying through the OnStar system in cars and through PC cams. Welcome to 1984. Hey Big Brother, can you hear me now?

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer: Love Client #9

From Huffington Post:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation," the New York Times reports in a blockbuster revelation.

There's blood in the water for the MSM. Sex and politics, a major politician going down. This will be in the headlines for weeks no doubt. If only they covered Darfur, the US Attorneys Office scandal and other unsexy stories like they cover this stuff. Not a chance.

Surf Watch: Drunkorexia and the Diseases of Excess

From the Stuff I Found Randomly Surfing the Internets File:

Drunkorexia is, as the video states, a new non-medical buzzword for the combination of alcoholism and anorexia. Specifically the practice of skipping meals, or reducing calorie intake to compensate for the calories in alcoholic drinks. Or it can mean a diet that completely substitutes liquid calories for the solid non-alcoholic variety. I like the term because it uses the word drunk, which I prefer to alcoholic ("alcoholics go to meetings"). It's described in this NY Times article along with several other medical and non-medical terms for various, no doubt, uniquely American diseases, or at the very least diseases of industrialized nations. They are:

Manorexia is the male version of anorexia. Orthorexia is an obsession with what is perceived as healthy food — eliminating fats and preservatives, for example. But people with this condition can dangerously deprive themselves of needed nutrients.

Diabulimia refers to diabetics who avoid taking insulin, which can cause weight gain, in order to control their weight. Despite the name, the disorder does not typically involve purging.

Binge Eating Disorder refers to obsessive overeating, especially of foods high in salt and sugar, that does not involve excessive exercise or purging to compensate for the high caloric intake.

The thing that I find curious about each of these diseases is that they are conditions that are only possible in a climate of excess. You don't find people in third world populations suffering from anorexia, bulimia or the like. They suffer from actual starvation in many cases. Maybe it could be characterized as the involuntary form of the disease. You certainly don't find many of them, I gotta guess, there are probably no stats on it, barfing up a good meal.

Maybe it demonstrates a need in people for strife. In a land of plenty, in those places in the country where no one has to want for a meal, or for shelter, or for clothing, people find something to have a food crisis over. I wonder just how you would explain the phenomenon in a place where people are starving because they live in an area affected by drought, or are refugees from war, just plain poor? It would surely sound baffling, if not completely insane.

Now I don't at all mean to minimize the suffering of those affected by these modern afflictions. Though I think at times we do go overboard in the characterizing of modern problems as diseases. Something that feeds in to the disease industry in this country. Of creating something that needs to be treated and cured and that makes a healthy profit for someone else. Ancient Romans binged and purged and they called it a party.

I also realize that these problems in many cases are deep-seated and emotional, a result of childhood trauma and abuse. I'm not saying they are not real. Just somewhat ironic and really hard to explain to people in the world who have problems that are more basic by just a skosh. I'm sure those people are suffering emotional trauma as well. But it wouldn't stop them from enjoying a good meal if they had one.

Revolutionay Quote of the Day: Albert Einstein

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.

-Albert Einstein.

A Case for Torture

Precisely the point. We don't do it to our enemies because we don't want it done to our captured soldiers. Unfortunately it's them, and not chickenhawks like Bush & Co., who will suffer the consequences of ignoring the Geneva Conventions. Not to mention, and it's been said a thousand times, torture does not work. Tortured people will do anything to stop the torture, including lie.

Revolutionay Quote of the Day: Gloria Steinem

From pacifist to terrorist, each person condemns violence - and then adds one cherished case in which it may be justified.

-Gloria Steinem.

Today's RQOTD is from an icon of the feminist movement, author, journalist, founder and publisher of Ms. Magazine, Gloria Steinem. Ms. Steinem was in the news recently for, though I am a fan of hers, I have to admit, an unfair and unwarranted criticism of John McCain's service to our country as a POW. McCain's service to our country should be honored. Not many people could have gone through what he went through and survived to tell the story. I think Ms. Steinem was wrong to minimize it. Now if she had called John McCain bat crap crazy, I'd have no problem with that.

Update:
When I woke up this morning and looked at this quote it seemed vaguely familiar. That's because it's a repeat. I had posted it before.

will.i.am: Obama Tour 2009!

At this rate, if Obama's elected president, by the time of the inauguration, will.i.am will have a double CD set of Obama campaign songs. Then I guess he'll tour.

3am Wake Up Call for Hillary: Out of the Mouths of Babes

Ooops! Apparently nobody asked the kids who they'd rather have answering that 3am call at the White House before they all got tucked in snug in their beds. Yes, the little girl in the stock footage of the Clinton 3am red phone campaign ad is a big Obama supporter. You can't pay for that kind of advertising.

Monster: Samantha Power is my New Hero

I have to admit that I didn't know anything about Samantha Power before she called Hillary Clinton a monster. Although she and the Obama campaign are slightly embarrassed by it, I'm glad she did. Before I say why, I just want to say that the video clip above is not about her remarks. It's from a fund raiser in Boston for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. I prefer to use it, at least first, to show people that there's more to her than a slip of the tongue about someone who deserved it. It demonstrates why she should be considered a hero, what she said about Hillary notwithstanding.

Also, before I talk about Hillary and the remark, I will say something further about who Samantha Power is. She's a Pulitzer Prize winning author for her book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. She's a professor who works with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. She's an activist and a strong voice for ending the genocide in Darfur. She's an intelligent woman with a fortunate name, because she is powerful. And from what I can see, at least for me, she's a lot more likable person than Hillary Clinton.

Now I can talk about why she's my hero. She may not have meant to say it. It slipped out. She tried to take it back. Tried to make it off the record, but it was too late. And later she resigned and she apologized. Still, in view of all those things, she said what needed to be said. She was a real human being in a real moment who felt something and said it. She's not the polished, practiced and careful politician who weighs every word that comes out of her mouth. She is someone who is obviously passionate about the things she believes in. She's the anti-Clinton.

Why did it need to be said? Because Hillary Clinton recently crossed the line. Before she crossed the line she had been fighting dirty. Fighting dirty since Barack Obama first surprised her and won the Iowa Caucuses. Both her and her surrogates, including her husband, have race baited, mocked, outright lied and damned Obama with faint praise ("as far as I know").

But when she as much as endorsed the Republican nominee over the leading Democratic candidate in this race, she crossed a political line that should never be crossed. Not only did she give John McCain ammunition against Obama should he become the nominee, words that McCain can attribute to her, a Democrat, but she did so while advancing an argument that she could not win if she by some miracle turns out to be the nominee. She simply does not measure up to John McCain on the argument of experience. But Obama beats them both on the argument of judgment.

What she said is disloyal to the Democratic Party and it shows her to be someone who would rather win than do what's best for the party as a whole. And I am wondering since she said it where have the so-called leaders of the Democratic Party been? Why hasn't anyone, with the possible exceptions of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow in the press, and those of us who are Obama supporters, cried foul? Even the Obama campaign itself has not reacted as strongly as they should have. That's why what Samantha Power said, needed to be said. Thank god for that slip that made it into the press. While the press and the Obama campaign are coming down on her, I want to be at least one voice out here, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, standing up for her. Amen and right on. Hillary Clinton is a indeed monster and she's hurting the Democrats chance of winning in November.

A lot more of us should stand up for her and we should let the party leadership know that we will not stand for the kind of disloyalty to the party that Hillary Clinton has demonstrated. I said before and will say again, if a miracle occurs and she's the nominee, I would find it very hard to vote for her. Even if she included Barack Obama on the ticket. I would have been happy to see her go on to fight until the convention and would have voted for her if she won. But not after running this kind of race.

Ok, the clip below is about the remark (I won't call it a gaffe). And I picked it because no matter how wrong he usually is, every once in a while Tucker Carlson gets something right.

CNN: Congolese Woman's Silent Scream is Heard

This story on CNN highlights the plight of women in the Congo on International Women's Day. Honorata Kizende's story is hard to hear, but it is one that must be heard. It's the story of hundreds of thousands of women in the Congo who have suffered gang rape and sexual slavery at the hands of soldiers fighting in a brutal civil war. According to the story, "An estimated 5.4 million people have died in Congo since 1998."

Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International, speaks eloquently about not only the pain Kizende suffered at the hands of those soldiers, but the greater pain of not being heard.

Kizende, 55, is a spokeswoman for Women for Women International, a 16-year-old group that helps rebuild the lives of women victimized by violent conflict in countries such as Kosovo, Iraq and Colombia.

The group was founded by Zainab Salbi, a 38-year-old Iraqi-American who knows something about brutality. She grew up under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, where people who spoke out were often murdered.

"My image of the Congolese women is that of a scream," Salbi said. "But there is no sound coming from the scream because the world is not hearing it."

That's because the victims are women, she said.

Too often humanitarian crises on the African continent are all but ignored by the US, the UN and the International Community. There's a story or two on the news, there are words and resolutions, but very little action. Very few troops or resources are committed to end the violence. They simply do not get the same kind of attention that this kind of crisis would if it occurred in Europe or the Middle East or some place considered "strategically" important. That this many people can die, that this many women can be raped and victimized without a hue and cry and demand for action from the world is truly tragic.

Wyoming Caucus Results: Obama Wins

Interesting fact I just heard while listening to CNN's coverage of the caucus: Part of Wyoming's caucus rules require equal gender representation for delegates. An equal number of men and women. It was the first state the Women's Suffrage Movement emerged from, and was the first state to elect a woman governor according to Jessica Yellin on CNN. This relates in a to my next post.

Who Loves Liberty More: Colbert v. A Legend

Stephen Colbert and singer/songwriter John Legend throw down over who loves lady liberty the most. More importantly they examine the question, can you get away with telling your lady love what's wrong with her? Does real patriotism mean you love American as she is? Or can you tell her the truth and try to make her better?

Revolutionay Quote of the Day: Jose Ortega y Gasset

“A revolution only lasts fifteen years, a period which coincides with the effectiveness of a generation”

-Jose Ortega y Gasset

Jose Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish Philosopher (May 9, 1883 - October 18, 1955). This quote mirrors the one from yesterday by Jefferson. Again emphasizing that the fight for freedom is constant. There is always a new source of tyranny to oppose. Every generation must liberate itself for itself.

-Fight the powers.

Who's That Terrorist?

Well, well, well, looks to me like we already got us one of them terrorists in the White House. She's wearing shades, but she can't fool us, the sophisticated American electorate. If it looks like a terrorist, it's a terrorist. End of story. This image comes from Pissed on Politics, more incriminating photos there. I found it by way of Crooks and Liars. Please make sure all your friends see this photo and know that terrorists have already infiltrated the highest office in the land.

There's also this suggestion from one of Andrew Sullivan's readers, that all Obama supporters adopt the middle name "Hussein" to take the sting out of it.

-A Revolution of "Hussein" One. (Kinda long huh?)
Fight the powers.

Revolutionay Quote of the Day is Back

“Every generation needs a new revolution."
-Thomas Jefferson.

I've decided to revive something I did for awhile when I first started this blog a couple years or so ago. The Revolutionary Quote of the Day (RQOTD). For the first RQOTD in a while I'm reusing one I've used at least once before not only because it's a great and important quote, but because most people will be surprised by who said it, unless of course they already know the quote. If you said it and asked people who it was from, most people would probably say it was some 60's radical or communist revolutionary, but it was one of our founding fathers.

I also like the quote because it reminds us that liberty and freedom aren't static. It is not something we won over 200 years ago and unless some tyrant or outside force comes along and takes it from us, we will always have it. It is something that we have to fight for, and be vigilant regarding constantly. The challenges to our freedoms are constant and they come from not only from the outside, but from the very people we should expect to protect them. Those challenges come from people with the word freedom on their lips, who wrap themselves in the flag, and shout about patriotism.

Those challenges come from people who lecture others about not putting their hand over their heart during the Pledge of Allegiance, or for not wearing flag lapel pins, but don't seem to be bothered by NSA warrantless spying on every citizen in the country. People who aren't bothered by people being picked up and rendered to other countries or Gitmo to be tortured. People who aren't bothered by political prosecutions by the US Attorneys office right here in the US. But Jefferson said it in the strongest terms. Not that we should simply be ever vigilant. But that every generation needs it's own revolution. That how important he believed it was.

Texas Primary Election: John McCain Projected Winner for Republicans, Clinton Wins Texas

CNN and MSNBC are projecting John McCain the winner of the Texas Republican Primary. The Democratic side is too close to call so far. It is now projected that John McCain will be the Republican nominee. McCain now has enough delegates to push him over the top. He will be endorsed tomorrow at the White House by President Bush. Now that's an endorsement you want. I can see Democratic campaign ads already.

Update:
Hillary Clinton wins a close Texas primary.

Rhode Island Primary Election: John McCain Projected Winner, Hillary Clinton Dems Winner

CNN and MSNBC are both projecting John McCain the winner on the Republican side in Rhode Island. Hillary Clinton is the projected winner on the Democratic side.

Vote stealing in Houston from Daily Kos

This from Daily Kos tonight:

Voters reported being turned away from the polls, prompting a criminal investigation into vote stealing, Local 2 Investigates reported Tuesday.

Ohio Primary Election: Clinton Wins Ohio, McCain Wins on GOP Side

MSNBC and CNN project John McCain the winner in the Republican primary. The Ohio Democratic race is so far too close to call.

Update:
According to MSNBC a judge has ordered the polls to remain open in Sandusky County Ohio until 9pm because of a lack of ballots. The Obama campaign has asked that the polls remain open in two other counties.

Update:
From the Daily Kos. The Obama campaign has convinced a judge in Cuyahoga County to keep 20 precincts that ran out of ballots open until 9 p.m. So those previously closed polls are being re-opened.

Update:
Hillary Clinton is now being projected the winner of the Ohio primary on the Democratic side.

Vermont Primary Election: Barack Obama, John McCain Winners

Both CNN and MSNBC have projected Barack Obama the winner on the Democratic side in Vermont. John McCain is the projected Republican primary winner. More info to come as election night coverage continues.

Yet Another Red Phone Campaign Ad Parody

One of the best "red phone" campaign ad parodies I've seen to date on Youtube. And there are a lot of them. A lot funnier and more original than mine.

Surf Watch: Random Stuff From the Internets

I don't know if this will be a regular feature or not. I came across a couple unrelated interesting things and decided to post them. Not political in nature like most of the stuff here, but interesting nonetheless. The video above I've actually seen before. It was featured on Youtube about a year or so ago. It's a kind of visual/textual and artistic explanation of Web 2.0.

And this morning one of the random web clip links when I was in gmail was to Dikipedia. Self described as "a wiki for dicks." On the main page it features, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Barry Bonds, Bill O'Reilly and Ralph Nader among others. I like Ralph, and agree with him to a certain extent, but have to admit that on this running for president thing, he's being a bit of a dick.

Clinton's Other Face: the Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Here's the other side of Hillary Clinton as she vacillated between dirty campaign tactics, praising the Republican candidate, and showing her warm and human side on comedy shows just prior to today's primary elections in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island. Honestly here I don't think she comes across very well. With that smile frozen on her face, she looks like she doesn't know what to expect from Stewart. I think the does slip a couple concealed jabs in there. Using her words when the talks about how candidates come into Ohio and call them "salt of the earth" and forget about them once elected. There was a barely detectable wince when he said that.

Clinton Crosses the (Party) Line

I can understand a hard fought campaign during the primaries. I can understand that Hillary Clinton wants to be and believes she is the best qualified person to be president. What I don't get is her not only giving ammunition to, not only supplying a tactic for, but actually praising the likely Republican nominee for president. She just said that the potential Republican nominee may be a better choice than the leading democratic party candidate. To me this is beyond the pale. It is fractious to the party. And it gives aid and comfort to the enemy. I fail to see why I should have loyalty to a Democratic Party candidate who has no loyalty to the leading candidate for nomination of the party.

I believe and sincerely hope Clinton's campaign will be over tonight. But for me, at this point, she's made it nearly impossible for me to support her should a miracle occur and she ends up being the nominee of the party. I would find it impossible to have any enthusiasm and to get behind her candidacy. After the race bating and "fairy tale" remarks of her husband. After the mocking performances at her rallies. After the picture of Obama in Somali garb surfaced that was said to have come from her campaign, and wasn't immediately denied, I have pretty much lost all respect and good will I had for both Clintons. I would guess, the only thing I could possibly surmise, is that if a miracle does occur and she is the nominee, that she's counting on offering Barack Obama the second spot on the democratic ticket in order to mend fences. I have to say that I would almost still be disinclined to vote for her. I couldn't vote for McCain, of course. I think I may just vote for Ralph Nader or just stay home. I might take the attitude about voting that I disagreed with George Carlin over in a recent post.

In the video below Keith Olbermann, without a great deal of effort, takes apart Hillary Clinton's main selling point, her experience. And Rachel Maddow makes the point that it behooves all the candidates left in the race to be rather nebulous about their experience in military and foreign policy matters. None of them have real experience to point to. If it was what mattered, she points out, we'd be choosing someone like Chris Dodd or General Wesley Clark. What she says at the end of the clip shows just how utterly disloyal and frankly stupid

Hillary Clinton's statement comparing Obama's experience with McCain's was. She says, it's what you say when you want to be John McCain's running mate, not what you say when you want to be the democratic nominee. Hillary Clinton talks about going into the general election campaign as a unified party, but how she's conducted her campaign shows she'd rather destroy the party than loose.

Democracy is a Scary Thing

First I have to apologize for some of the editorial commentary in the titles of this video. It was the best Youtube video I could find of this clip and I didn't record the show myself so I couldn't put my own clip up. Last week I put up the second of a couple clips of an informed voter. The first one I titled, An Informed Voter is a Beautiful Thing. The scary, but absolutely necessary thing about Democracy is that everyone gets a vote, informed or not. It shouldn't be any other way, of course, but it's one of the tricky things about democracy.

Last week on the death of William F. Buckley, Keith Olbermann reminded us that Buckley once said that the uneducated shouldn't be allowed to vote. But a democracy that doesn't allow all to participate is not a real democracy. The challenge of our system of government is to find ways to engage voters in the process and to encourage people to be informed. Some may look at a voter like the one in the CBS clip and blame him for what's wrong with our system. Obviously he bears some responsibility for being informed as a voter, but the responsibility as a whole lies with all of us and with the system as a whole. I think if anything can be blamed it's an attitude. And I lay at least some of that blame on CNN.

Ok, I'm not blaming them alone, but something I call the CNN mentality. The kind of fast food, consumerist, couch potato attitude we have, as Americans, about being informed. That we can sit on our ample arses, and I include my own ample arse along with the rest of them, and believe that we can be informed. That is that someone can inform us, and all we have to do is consume it. Being informed is an active proposition. Like getting in shape, or eating healthy. You have to do something yourself in order to get your body in shape, no one can do it for you and it is the same with the mind. And you have to do it constantly, it's not something you accomplish and are finished.

The essential element of being informed is critical thinking. That we examine everything that is presented to us with a critical eye. That we question it. That we check sources and compare them with other sources. That we make sure the things we are being fed through the media make sense. I call it the CNN mentality because of their tagline which epitomizes the mindset. You don't hear it so much these days during this election season. It has largely been replaced with "the best political team on television" which I paraphrase as the best political team in show business. But their regular tag line is, or at least was, "the most trusted name in news."

What does that tell us? To sit back on our couch and relax as this trusted name tell us what's going on in the world. It's easy to be informed. Let CNN do it for us. Just pick up the remote. It is the equivalent of those scam diets that tell you that you can loose weight but you can eat what you want and you don't have to change your habits. BS. I know because I am spending way too much time sitting here doing this. The tendency then is not to think and not to question.

They have the avuncular Wolf Blitzer in the mold of the icon Walter Kronkite. Someone who is easy to listen to and easy to trust. But this my friends is the fast food of being informed. And we are all so busy and have to make a living and there are so many sources out there, many of them full of misinformation, that it's easy to grab that quick and easy McNews. We all do it. I am guilty as any.

But we all have to push ourselves to go a little further. Don't do it all at once. It's just like exercising. You can't run a marathon the first day. You don't want to get a brain cramp. Start small. Question something you hear. Find another source. Get your google and Wikipedia on. One further word of advice. People, if cable news is the SuperSize meal of being informed, email forwards are the twinkies. The are sweet, easy to consume, and addictive. But they will make you a mental lard ass. If you question everything you get on cable news, or anywhere else, doubly question anything that comes in an email forward. What's the source? Does it make sense? Check it against other sources.

Our democracy can only be as strong as the voters who participate in it. Uninformed voters make a weak democracy. Informed voters are mentally strong and therefore of necessity, make our democracy stronger. BTW, the entire video of the 60 Minutes video above is here. You can watch it online.

A Note on CBS Video:
I could have embedded the video it here, but there's one problem. And that's that CBS has such a convoluted scheme of protecting their video from download that it won't show up if you're using Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) as your browser. That's a problem because almost 30 percent of users have IE7 and I don't know if it will show up in IE6 or IE5. Amateurs at video like CBS should let their videos go on Youtube and forget about it. Instead they have geeks come up with a scheme that eliminates a good portion of the browsers on the market. Probably a sign of their commitment to allowing people to embed their videos on blogs and web sites in the first place. Ok I shouldn't blame it all in CBS. It's at least half Microsoft's fault. After all, it works in Firefox.

-Fight the powers.

Bad Elves

It's sad when people whose cause is good, in fact, admirable, resort to tactics that are despicable. Members or the Earth Liberation Front, or ELF, if they are responsible, obviously only hurt their cause by doing things like this. As much so as those who bomb abortion clinics hurt their own cause. Dudes, fire up a dube, take a shot of wheat grass and chill my brothers. Remember Ghandi and Martin Luther King? Give peace a chance.

Alexander Graham Bell - Historic Phoney?

It's Alexander Graham Bell's birthday today. The young woman in video above is not wishing him a happy birthday. It is in American Sign Language (ASL) without sound. It's by eight year old Brianna who also has a vlog. In fact there are a number of Youtube videos like the one above, all by women, none of whom are very fond of Mr. Bell.

While surfing around to see what's going on in the world and on the internets today, I discovered it was Bell's birthday. So I decided to do some googling to find out more about him for a short post. What I found was interesting. First that it is likely that Bell was not the inventor of the telephone as they told us as unsuspecting youth in school. Other inventors not only may have preceded Bell in developing the first phone, but Bell may have stolen a key component from one of his competitors. That fact is documented in this book about Bell by Seth Shulman; The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret.

But that's not the reason that this young girl, and I can only tell from the text because I don't know ASL, is speaking unflatteringly about Alexander Graham Bell. Apparently Bell was also a proponent of Eugenics. Also that policies favoring eugenics in this country advocated and were responsible for the sterilization of deaf women. Bell believed that deafness could be prevented by keeping two deaf parents from having children. Of course I didn't do exhaustive research and this is all stuff I found out in googling and wikipedia-ing around the internets this morning. But it is interesting and worth researching further.

John McCain Red Phone TV Ad

Last week the Clinton campaign released a "red phone" campaign ad. Followed close on it's heels by an ad by Barack Obama. But let's face it, they're Democrats and the politics of fear are not their forte. Not to be outdone, the McCain campaign released it's red phone ad late today, because John McCain is scarier than any Democrat.

Saturday Night Live Does Not Endorse Senator Clinton

Senator Hillary Clinton makes it clear (video below) that the second Saturday Night Live Debate sketch in which the cast portrays the media as heavily biased toward Barack Obama, is not an endorsement of her. In fact they have featured two sketches in two weeks in which media bias against Clinton is the topic. Sketches in which the cable news network personalities are fawning and in some cases orgasmically gaga over Obama. This along with the fact that she appears live on the broadcast two days before a major election battle, as her candidacy hangs in the balance, one can assume, is merely coincidence.

Thanks to SNL, we now know the press is biased. Glad to see that the people we depend on to shine a satirical light on the abuses of our trust in the press, are not. BTW, Fred Armisen's Barack Obama still stinks. Will Forte's Brian Williams is dead on. Darrell Hammond's Tim Russert is pretty good. And Amy Poehler as Hillary is still poehlerizing, hehehehe, Ok, uh, I did that last week. Sorry. I could have said Brian Williams is Will's Forte.... Ok, quit while I'm behind.

George Carlin: "It's Bad For Ya"

Warning, the clip below is George Carlin. If you're sensitive to the f-bomb you may want to mouse away from the play button.

This is clip is Carlin's unique, Ok, every Carlin take on everything is unique; this one's on how he feels about voting. I may not agree with him here, but his perspective is priceless. It's raw and it's real. He peels away the bullshit until all that's left is truth. There is a great interview with George on HuffPo by Rachel Sklar. He may be our wisest living American essayist and social critic. He is so much more than just a comedian. In fact, some of our more serious social critics are better characterized as comedians. Carlin just happens to be funny as he makes us see ourselves for what we are.

I sincerely regret that when I had a couple chances to see him live in a small venue in Hermosa Beach that I didn't. George has a special on HBO called "It's Bad For Ya". It's on HBO tonight at 10 p.m., tomorrow night at midnight and then throughout March on HBO2.

Jack & Hill

First the Daily Show appearance, now this. The Clinton campaign is pulling out all the stops. Is this some kind of March surprise strategy? Actually I think the Daily Show appearance is a coup. But I don't think it will make that much of a real difference on Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton to Appear on Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Hillary Clinton to appear on Monday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart. From the Daily Show web site:

Hillary Clinton -- the first viable presidential candidate with a working uterus -- will be a guest on the Daily Show this upcoming Monday night -- the eve of the March 4th primaries in Texas, Ohio and several other less sexy states -- to presumably talk about politics, patriotism and pant suits.

These clips are from an appearance in October of 2003. Notice how on The Daily Show that is popular, as they tell me, with the young folk, she slips in that during the blackout she happened to be sitting around a conference table with young people. How media savvy she was even then. I wonder Jon will soft ball her or will he ask some tough questions. It's sad when a good deal of our hopes for real journalism rest on a comedian with a fake talk show. Maybe she'll tear up again and win all four primary states in a landslide.

The Colbert Report: Stephen Colbert on William F. Buckley

Colbert makes the comparison between the father of modern intellectual conservatism, William F. Buckley and what we have today, e.g., Billo. His guest is Richard Brookhiser, a direct descendant of Mr. Buckley.

The Daily Show: Jon Stewart

In the middle of this Daily Show clip, there's footage of the Decider giving advice to Turkey about their invasion of Iraq without a single shred of irony. But then, that's what we've got Jon Stewart for.

Trending Away from Microtrends

An interesting and ironic analysis of why Barack Obama is winning by Arianna Huffington at Huffington Post. If you're tired of poll after poll, and coverage of tit-for-tat bickering between the candidates, and the other useless information you get from the best political team on television, or as I've just this moment decided to start calling them, the best political team in show business, and the rest of the MSM (of course except for the man Keith Olbermann), and want to read something that won't reduce your IQ by 5 points, check out her post.

Jay Rockefeller Endorses Obama

CNN has just reported that Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has endorsed Barack Obama.

McCain Calls Himself Liberal: A Limbaughian Slip

What happens when you let comedian Rush Limbaugh get inside your head.

Happy Leap Day!

This video is not only scintillating but educational. It explains why we have leap years, resulting in a day like today, February 29, every four years.

If those facts aren't enough to make your day, it is also Sadie Hawkins Day.

John McCain: the Slime and Sublime Tour 2008

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, in the second part of this video, explains how John McCain and the Republicans can simultaneously wallow in the muck and stay above the fray in the general election campaign against Barack Obama. They are already showing signs of their strategy if Obama is the nominee. Republican attack machine surrogates will do all the dirty work, sliming Obama with innuendo, while McCain and the party committee condemn them and remain squeaky clean.

It's the same strategy Bush used against McCain in 2000 with push pollers in South Carolina and later against John Kerry with the Swift Boaters. This is just the warm up. We can expect a lot more once the general election campaign is on. McCain has traded in the Straight Talk Express for the Slime and Sublime Tour.

An Informed Voter Part Deux: Take Back the Mike

This is a follow up video to one I posted awhile back under the title, An Informed Voter is Beautiful. But there is a lot more to this informed voter than meets the eye, and more than was evident in the first video I shared. This video goes beyond the surface of this gentleman whose name is Derrick Ashong. And he presents an important and impassioned view that all Americans, especially young Americans should hear. He talks about the reasons he's informed and there are some interesting insights in what he shares here, as, if you've seen the video, you already know. The video is originally posted on Youtube and on Think on These Things blog.

Southwest Beauty Nazis: Too Pretty to Fly!

Damn Beauty Nazis at Southwest! It's 2008. When civil rights for beautiful people in this country finally be realized? We shall overcooommmee...!!! The Beauty Nazis respond below.

-Beautiful people, fight the powers!

The Billboard Liberation Front Strikes AT&T and the NSA

This is great. Found it at BoingBoing.net. More from the BBL here. An excerpt from the BBL's statement:

The Billboard Liberation Front today announced a major new advertising improvement campaign executed on behalf of clients AT&T and the National Security Agency. Focusing on billboards in the San Francisco area, this improvement action is designed to promote and celebrate the innovative collaboration of these two global communications giants.

First comment, also hilarious:

Oh, someone's going to Gitmo for this one.

-Fight the powers.

Update:
There's also video:

Rove's Denials Re: Don Siegelman Bound to Unravel

This story is not getting nearly as much traction as it should. I have only twice seen in on the home page of a major TV news organization's web site. Not on CNN, in fact I searched for it there a couple days ago and found zip, nada, zero. But the CNN web site's search sucks. It was on MSNBC's front page once and obviously it was on the CBS site. It's a very important story. It's about basic American freedoms and the justice system. It may generate the kind of publicity that will finally open up the US Attorney's Office scandal and force people like Josh Bolten, Harriet Miers, and Karl Rove to honor subpoenas and appear before congress.

The denials and stories from the Republican Party heads in Alabama are bound to start to unravel when phone and other records are checked and it turns out that Jill Simpson has been telling the truth about Karl Rove. Thanks Dan Abrams for bringing it to us. It may be the most important story in the news today.

What's in a "Middle" Name?

MSNBC's Dan Abrams completely blows this opportunity to point out precisely what is behind the far right's out of bounds attacks on Barack Obama in this lame interview of Republican congressman Jack Kingston of Georgia. First he lets the congressman repeat the charge that Michelle Obama said she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life when he knows what was actually said, taken in full context, was that she was proud of the American political process for the first time. And he wasted half the interview on a minute point about the congressman wearing a flag lapel pin.

Much more egregious is the fact that he lets the congressman get away with calling things like using Obama's middle name repeatedly and pointedly, just a little back and forth "banter". Which is really all Abrams engaged in with this guy when he should have nailed him. This is a classic smoke screen the right uses by bringing up something that they know is incendiary and claiming that it is, or should be innocent. Using arguments like, well, that really is the guy's middle name and, we use other people's middle names. Or we show other politicians on diplomatic trips in the garb of other nations. When we all know that the intent of pointing these things out is to make an association with Obama and symbols that people fear.

This is all about the politics of fear and the problem with it is that it causes fear in people, some of whom are hateful, some of whom are violent, and some who are completely mentally unhinged. It is not the simple innocent fact that his middle name is Hussein or that he dressed in middle eastern clothes on a diplomatic trip. It is the attempt and intent to draw a parallel between him and terrorism in a way that could inspire a nut case to do something that could hurt the Senator or other innocent people. It is the repeated use of his middle name and that photo in an attempt to make people who may be a little on the edge question him in their minds. To make them ask, why does this guy keep pointing out his middle name is Hussein.

It's something old people, especially from the south, used to say when I was a kid; throwing a rock and hiding your hand. Pretending you did nothing when you have the worst intentions. It's getting as close as you possibly can to hate speech and still being able to deny it. It should never be tolerated or soft-balled in the way that Abrams did. Dan, you have to hammer these people because this is the same thing as using code words. We see it in the heated undocumented worker debate where supposed innocent speech by people like Lou Dobbs results in an increase in hate crimes against Latinos. And I don't mean in any way to compare Abrams to Dobbs. There's no comparison, but he let this guy off the hook. In fact in my next post I give Dan well deserved credit for what he's doing to expose the corruption involved in the Don Siegelman case. One of the most important stories not being covered enough at this time.

-Fight the Powers.

Help Speak Out for Don Siegelman

A post at the blog at-Largely.com is targeting attacks by the Birmingham News on Don Siegelman, the unfairly indicted former Alabama Governor. I should make a practice of calling him what he his, because he is in effect a political prisoner of the Bush Administration. If you agree with the post, they are asking that you email or call the Birmingham News and let them know how many people know and care about this case of injustice. I plan to write them now.

-Fight the powers.

William F. Buckley Dies at 82

Conservative or liberal, whether you agreed with his ideas or not, you had to agree that William F. Buckley was a class act in the conservative movement. Far more so than what we have today. He was no Rush Limbaugh or any of the other ridiculous, chickenhawk, shock pundits and comedians we find in conservative talk radio and on Faux News. He was erudite and reasoned. I watched Firing Line often many years ago. Sometimes I agreed with him, and when I didn't he made me think. We will miss the dignity he brought to liberal v. conservative discourse.

Don't Let Comcast Shut You Up

I'm going to be lazy here and cut and paste the text from email I just got from Save the Internet. It's an important cause and here's what they said.

SavetheInternet.com just caught Comcast Corp. stacking a FCC hearing with paid (and apparently sleepy) seat-fillers.

The hearing was set up to investigate Comcast's recent blocking of the Internet. But Comcast packed the room so that the public couldn't get in to voice their support for Net Neutrality.

Comcast is blocking the public debate just like it is blocking the Internet: it wields its substantial political and market power to shut out debate and shut up people.

If you're not familiar with Net Neutrality or why it's important, visit SavetheInternet.com and learn about it. It is crucial to your ability to use the internet on an equal playing field with everyone else, including large corporations. It is a key freedom of speech issue.

Obama v Clinton: Democratic Debate in Cleveland Ohio

The Democratic Debate in Cleveland Ohio between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in it's entirety. Enjoy.

-Fight the powers.

Rove Holds Up "Free Don Siegelman" Banner

A pretty gutsy gotcha by Bradblog contributor Alan Breslauer. Rove denies the allegations made by Dana Jill Simpson Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes. Hit the Bradblog link to hear what he says. In denying the allegations Rove says "I'm a myth." And, "Anything you can't explain, blame on Rove." I'd like to see him use the myth defense before congress.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

All I have to say about this, actually it's a question; where do they find the brothers they have standing behind this guy? Where on earth do you dig up people like this, who will stand behind an obviously, let's call him, a not very open minded person? I wouldn't feel very comfortable in an environment with people like this. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm stereotyping. With people who could listen to this guy's rhetoric without flinching, I would feel like I was surrounded by the kind of people who wouldn't want me to move into their neighborhood or marry their daughter. Am I wrong?

Ok, actually I have one more thing to say. It's this, if this is really the kind of silliness we can expect in the general election campaign from the Republican nut cases, it's going to be a fun election. It's really shameful. It should embarrass most people and it won't present the kind of picture of our country that we want the world to see. But if that's the way they want to play, I say bring it on, because it's a sure way for the Republicans to loose. Maybe it shows that they are already just that worried about the prospect of running against Obama.

The Naked Violin: The Music Wants to be Free

Classical violinist Tasmin Little is offering a CD of her music free online here. The CD is entitled The Naked Violin. I've been listening to it all morning. I recognize and really enjoy the Gavotte en Rondeau from Partita No.3 in E major for Solo violin BWV1006 by J.S. Bach. It rocks! Figuratively speaking of course. Check it out.

I ran across it by way of this article in the Telegraph, wistful for the days of album art and liner notes, which I empathize with. Yet somehow the author uses it as an argument against giving music away free. As if we are some how deprived of something by only being able to pay inflated sums for music that's only available for purchase in a certain physical location. Instead of a few paragraphs of liner notes on a physical sleeve and front and back art cover, we have as much digital media, text, graphic and video, as we want over the web. Plus the ability to access our music almost wherever we want.

Even less valid is the argument that he old way of selling music was better for the artists. That having large corporations market them and take most of the profit for marketing departments and executives, leaving the artists pennies per album was better than what new media offers. They lament the decline of the music industry as if that is the same as the decline of the music business for artists. Corporations who got rich off many artists who died penniless. Which is why anti-piracy ads would make me laugh if they weren't sad. But I'm going on a bummer rant in a post about a good thing, free music. I'll finish on a positive note by saying that new media gives more artists the ability to deliver their music directly to their audience for more money in their pockets than the industry ever gave most of them.

Please enjoy this new CD from Tasmin Little, even if you think you're not into classical. Give it a listen, something on it may draw you in.

Just Words: A Couple Different Takes on Hillary's Anti-Words Message

I may date myself with this reference, but after Clinton's Many Faces of Hillary performances this weekend, at tonight's debate (on MSNBC) I'm expecting her head to spin in a complete circle Exorcist style. First at the end of the last debate she was Ms. Congeniality. Then she was a scolding parental figure, shouting, "Shame on you Barack Obama!" Next she was Night at the Improv featuring Hillary Clinton, with a mocking comedy routine. Except I wasn't sure whether to laugh with her or at her. Ok, I laughed at her.

The video above sardonically exposes Clinton's recent attacks on Barack Obama for just what they are, BS. And at Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington has a post (actually it was there yesterday, but I just got around to reading it this morning) that has a interesting and insightful deconstruction of the Clinton argument that Obama is all empty rhetoric and speeches. Definitely worth a read.

It's really getting harder and harder for even the most die hard Clinton supporters to defend her. Not to mention those of us who at least had some good will toward her, and would have voted for her if she was the nominee. Probably still would, but she's really pushing it with these performances. She's in desperation mode, which is sad to watch. But she put herself there from the beginning by triangulation and leaning whichever way the wind blows politically. Even so she had the chance to go out with a little class and style. That chance has just past her by.

-Fight the powers.

Obligatory Oscars Clip: Jon Stewart Monologue

Jon Stewart was once again excellent at the Oscars last night. Here's a piece of his monologue, very funny. And a post with a little levity to break up my sarcastic, but strident calls for impeachment of the current president, sandwiched between effectively calling Bush a fascist and comparing him with Fidel Castro. Because man cannot live by revolution alone.

-Fight the powers.

Bill Moyers: Mr Heath Goes to Washington

The video above is a preview of a Bill Moyer's exposé on earmarks. It is eye opening. When you see what the money really goes to and why, it makes you wonder who is really getting welfare in this country. Republican's like to carp about social program and entitlements. When you see people getting millions, even billions of government dollars for basically nothing, for things that are worthless, it makes entitlements look like...there isn't a word for what it makes it look like. It's like nano-chicken feed. The entire program can be seen here on the PBS site.

In Case You Missed It: 60 Minutes on Don Siegelman

Here's the 60 Minutes piece on Don Siegelman in two parts, above and below. It aired during the Oscars so you might have missed it. Not only that but with the McCain lobbyist/not really a sex scandal, Obamania, and the many faces of Hillary Clinton this weekend, a story like this could get overlooked.

It is understandable, after all, it's only about the president's chief political adviser politicizing the legal arm of the US government and making a former state governor a political prisoner. I mean, it's not like Bush got a blow job from an intern in the White House or anything. If that happened we'd have to go through another one of those pain in the a** impeachment trials. That'd really suck (no pun intended). But back to the Oscars, Jon Stewart was great wasn't he?

SNL: The Press Has A Crush on Obama

Obama Girl is not the only one who's got it bad for Obama, at least, that is, through the lens of Saturday Night Live's satirical skit comedy. In this skit they slightly exaggerate the press' fawning over Barack Obama. A funny skit, but the guy playing Obama looks, or sounds nothing like him. Which is a bit of a let down, because SNL spent at least a news cycle hyping it. Making a big deal out of who their Fauxbama would be.

The guy they picked, just happens to be a white guy, which I have no problem with. Darrell Hammond did a great Jesse Jackson. Of course Jesse Jackson gives you a lot to work with in terms of speech patterns, facial expressions and body language. And that was part of the hype, that Obama's character and mannerisms were too generic to easily mimic. I don't know if that's true or a cop out for not having someone who could do him. Obama isn't as distinctive a character as Jesse, but there's definitely something to work with there. The skit worked anyway, bad Fauxbama notwithstanding, soooo.... Not live, over the internets, it's Saturday Night!

Oh BTW, Amy made a great Hillary Clinton, because she's Poehlerizing. Hahahahahahaha, get it, Poehlerizing! Whooooo, Ok, I'll stop.

SNL's Tina Fey: B*tch is the New Black!

Saturday Night Live returns to the tube, and actually the internets as well obviously, after a long hiatus due to the writer's strike. In this skit, Tina Fey, from the SNL anchor desk, delivers the women's news.

Harassing Smiley's Momma for Dis of Obama

Talk show host Tavis Smiley is getting some heat for criticizing Barack Obama for not attending the State of the Black Union Forum in New Orleans this year. From an article posted on CNN's site Smiley says:

"I have family in Indianapolis. They are harassing my momma, harassing my brother. It's getting to be crazy."

The story is here on CNN. Briefly it states:

In a letter to Smiley earlier this month, Obama commended the forum for addressing important issues, but explained he needed to focus on his presidential run ahead of the critical March 4 primaries....

.... Smiley has been vocal about his disapproval of Obama's decision.

"I think it's a missed opportunity on Mr. Obama's part," Smiley told CNN. "Now, I am not interested in demonizing him for his choice, but I do disagree with it."

But Smiley's criticism has also prompted many people to come to Obama's defense. The talk show host told The Washington Post he has been inundated with angry e-mails and even death threats.

It's kind of crazy for people to threaten the man with death for criticizing Barack Obama. That's a little bit scary. People who would do something like that are probably a bit unhinged in the first place. It might be time for Barack Obama to ask people to give Tavis a break before things get out of hand.

As an aside I have to say that although conferences like this are absolutely valuable, no doubt necessary, I think the name is a bit unfortunate. It can be construed as meaning black people have a separate union as opposed to being part of the union we are all a part of, the United States of America. I know it doesn't mean that, but it's a matter of perception and it sounds separatist in a way that a name like, the State of Black People in the Union, though definitely not as catchy and not a name I'm recommending, but I put forth as a contrast to illustrate my point, does not. It seems to me that we fought long and hard not to be separate and symbols like these and the Black National Anthem, put forth a perception that belie those struggles.

Hot Naked Babes!

Mr. Spock challenges American beauty standards in his new book featuring nudie pics of women who don't necessarily meet those standards, but are beautiful regardless. Leonard Nimoy's book is the Full Body Project. Featured on the Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central last Valentine's Day, 2/14/2008.

Disclaimer:

BTW, I'm not trying to boost my blog's readership or hits by posting a title like "Hot Naked Babes!" It would be beneath the high standards this blog upholds. I only mean to affirm along with Mr. Nimoy that the women featured in his book are indeed beautiful.

Stop With All the Plagiarism Charges Already!

Ok, enough. We get it. Everybody borrows from everyone. It's like I've always said, and I coined this phrase myself, "I only steal from the best." Please, don't steal that from me. You know what, Ok, Barack, you can use it. I give you my permission. If anyone accuses you of plagiarizing it, just have them see this post.

-Fight the powers.
(That's mine too.)