On Sale Now!

Just $2 each!

For a donation of only $2.00, you can receive one of these lovely "Bush's Last Day" Bands, custom made for me by my good friends at...well, whatever the hell that company was...

Come celebrate America's NEW Independence Day!

Stumble It!

I Am A Real American

Just $2 each!

I was born in this great nation. I was born to two people, one of whom was born here, and moved abroad as a young girl, the other born abroad and moved here after the war to find his opportunity, to two people who loved this nation.

My father was awarded one of the most prestigious civilian awards for his service to both this nation and his homeland, a value he made certain to instill in all of us from a young age.

I won't get into the myriad of accolades I've received as a citizen of the United States, but they started as a young child, and have continued into adulthood. I shouldn't have to wear my various medals and post my various certificates on the wall of my house.

But according to some in this nation, I am not a real American. Indeed, according to some, I am anti-American.

Sarah Palin:

Speaking at a fund-raiser in North Carolina, the Alaska governor said: "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

Michelle Bachmann:

“Absolutely. I’m very concerned that he [Obama] may have anti-American views,” she said.

It seems to me that some small-time hoodlum Congresscritter from a flyover state once ran this scam on America. Lemme think...Joe...McDonald? McCasey? McCain?

I can't recall.

In Palin's defense, she offers up an apology:

Democrats and others immediately criticized Palin, alleging she was saying that some part of the country are more patriotic than others.

Palin denied that was her intention in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

"I don't want that misunderstood," Palin said. "If that's the way it came across, I apologize."

To put this weak-kneed response in perspective, say Sarah Palin ran over your dog:

If indeed it was my car, it was not my intent to run over your dog and if I did happen to squash Fluffy under the wheels of my Hummer, and there's no proof of that despite the word "Hummer" tattooed on his ass, if that's the case, I apologize for your misperception

What is it with Republicans and responsibility that they simply can't take any?

If this meme was limited to these two rather desperately moronic Republicans, then I'd be tempted to say "justice will be served on November 4," and ignore it.

But it's pretty clear that the Republicans have decided to declare class warfare on America:

On MSNBC this morning, McCain adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer asserted that “real Virginia” does not include Northern Virginia:

I certainly agree that Northern Virginia has gone more Democratic. … But the rest of the state — real Virginia if you will — I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain’s message.

MSNBC host Kevin Corke gave Pfotenhauer a chance to revise her answer, telling her: “Nancy, I’m going to give you a chance to climb back off that ledge — Did you say ‘real Virginia’?”

But Pfotenhauer didn’t budge, and instead dug a deeper hole.

Real Virginia, I take to be, this part of the state that’s more Southern in nature, if you will.

Corke ended the segment noting that Pfotenhauer was appearing via satellite from Northern Virginia. “Nancy Pfotenhauer, senior policy adviser for the McCain campaign, joining us from Arlington, not really Virginia.” “Alright, I’m just gonna let ya– you’ll wear that one,” Corke responded. Watch it:

So this was not a slip of the tongue. This was not a tossed off insult in the heat of the moment, when one might get worked up and exaggerate one's point.

No, all three of these have been a coordinated attack on anyone who is Democratic or lives in a blue state, which means this is a campaign tactic. I'd say "strategy" but it's clear McCain has none.

You know what? After six years of "real Americans" running the Congress, the Presidency and the courts, and after eight years of "real Americans" running two thirds of this government, maybe "real America" just ought to take a hint from Jon Stewart's reaction and shut the fuck up already.

Real Americans, you know, the ones who built and shaped this nation into the greatest economic power that the world has ever known, into the most innovative and progressive knowledge base in the history of the frikkin' universe, who created and destroyed and rebuilt this nation over and over again, are getting a little tired of listening to people decide who is American and who is not.

Real Americans, who own your gas stations, and teach your kids, yes, right through college, who fight your wars, who do your plumbing, who hope for that one shot at the brass ring that is the American Dream, are tired of being pitted one against the other to determine who is a patriot and who is not, as if America was some horribly tragic reality show, "Survivor America".

Real Americans live in cities and suburbs and small towns, and on farms and in mansions.

Real Americans drive jalopies and bicycles and ride in limos.

Real Americans don't criticize their fellow Americans because real Americans understand that as great as this nation is, we each of us still have to survive day to day, all the time watching our money get stolen and off-shored by the cronies of the Palins and Pfotenhauers and Bachmanns, who let it go without protest, because their money is safely invested with those folks who take our money and deposit it on Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.

Real Americans are us. Not you, Sarah Palin, not you, Michelle Bachmann, and not you, Nancy Pfotenhauer.

And me. I am a real American.

UPDATE: Seriously, Republicans, shut the fuck up!

Stumble It!

Can I Get An "AMEN", Brothers and Sisters????

Just $2 each!

One could only hope for this:

SHOULD Barack Obama win the presidency and Democrats take full control of Congress, next year will see a real legislative attempt to bring back the Fairness Doctrine - and to diminish conservatives' influence on broadcast radio, the one medium they dominate.

Yes, the Obama campaign said some months back that the candidate doesn't seek to re-impose this regulation, which, until Ronald Reagan's FCC phased it out in the 1980s, required TV and radio broadcasters to give balanced airtime to opposing viewpoints or face steep fines or even loss of license. But most Democrats - including party elders Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and Al Gore - strongly support the idea of mandating "fairness."

It's funny. I never really noticed how much I missed the disclaimer that my local television stations had to broadcast.

See, when some moron, say, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, would wrangle a moment of air time from the local television outlet, a) he was forced to keep his comments factual and polite, and b) the station was forced to "provide free air time for responsible spokespeople of opposing views."

In 1980, sensing an opening, the broadcast media, owned and operated in many instances by stridently right wing corporatists with an agenda (think Richard Mellon Scaife) prevailed upon Ronald Reagan's FCC to do away with the Fairness Doctrine, thus eliminating reasoned discourse presented for the public enlightenment.

The Fairness Doctrine was introduced in 1949 by the FCC, but until 1969 was usually applied on a case-by-case basis.

In 1969, journalist Fred Cook was torn to shreds on the radio program of the Rev. Billy James Hargis. Attacked personally for writing a book about Barry Goldwater, Cook argued before the Supreme Court that the FCC doctrine implied the right to free and equal time to respond to the scandalous (and nearly slanderous) charges levelled.

At first blush, it may seem that this was not a matter for the Courts to decide, free enterprise, First Amendment and all, but the SCOTUS took note of the fact that the airwaves were a public trust overseen by the Congress and therefore were actually public domain. As a public trust, there was no reason the government couldn't require such a doctrine and upheld Cook's complaint.

(The other thing the Fairness Doctrine required was programming "in the public interest" which is why your rock or hip-hop station broadcasts those bizarre programs really early on Sunday morning, like herbal medicine shows or community affairs programming.)

When the Reagan administration effectively eviscerated the Fairness Doctrine, it created Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Monica Crowley, Michael Savage and any number of right wing knuckleheads whose only claim to fame is being potty-mouthed and willing to be paid for it.

It also created Stephanie Miller, Air America Radio, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann.

I apply the Fairness Doctrine to my columns, you see... ;-)

This deregulation of the broadcast market, along with the consolidation of power amongst five mammoth content distributors, created the hugely right wing media goliath that we have today.

It is no secret the agenda that General Electric, Disney, and the others have established: entertain at the expense of informing. Don't tell the truth, tell a masking of truth. Put lipstick on a pig and trot it out as a beauty queen. Tout "American Idol" rather than America's failures in Iraq.

In short, cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war on the people of the United States. Beat us into submission until we no longer care, and never EVER let a responsible spokesperson with an opposing point of view have any air time whatsoever, except in a context where he can be edited and mocked into submission.

Mr. Anderson's article, as panicked as it is (after all, he works for Rupert Murdoch, who made his life's fortune on being a strident partisan and suppressing rational discussion), points out the enormous success lying on the radio has had.

It's about time it stopped. He cites the First Amendment, but as anyone with a speck of understanding can see, the First Amendment is under more savage attacks without the Fairness Doctrine than with.

What Anderson is more concerned with (and his article amply demonstrates) is comfort. The comfort of not having one's views challenged substantively. The comfort of being truly elitist because one is truly ignorant. The comfort of being, in short, an idiot.

So "amen" to the Fairness Doctrine, and long may she oversee the dialogue of this great nation.

Stumble It!

What Part Of "Comedy" Do You NOT Understand?

Just $2 each!

Here is the Jon Stewart piece from Boston.

Here is the reaction of Mary Katharine Ham at The Weekly Standard (click at your own risk)

The media has devoted hundreds of stories of late to the tenor of audience comments at McCain-Palin rallies, fretting about "rage" and "incitement" by the campaign, but the only account of Stewart's appearance is a one-sentence mention in the Boston Globe, and his abusive Palin comments are not included.

Now, admittedly, this is not Stewart's funniest bit. I think the network censors force his comedic stylings to focus on delivery, more than content.

But to equate a stand-up comedian to these folks:

Or these folks:

Hammie, that kinda smacks of desperation, dontcha think? I would like to believe that the "wing" that has both Rush Limbaugh AND Glenn Beck, two avowed "comedians", would understand that sometimes humour gets angry, humour gets ugly, and humour makes a point.

Sorry your skirts are ruffled, Hammie, but Stewart's points are spot on: the cities and suburbs ARE where most of the people in America live and you know what? Maybe those folks in small town America have some wisdom that we SOphisticated city folk don't, but I'd like to see one walk from Wall Street to Harlem, just once, without a frikkin' map and GPS system.

And understand that running a country is a LOT HARDER than negotiating a simple grid formation (north is higher street numbers, east is lower avenue numbers, etc.)

Perhaps your fainting couch is in dire need of a visit, Hammie?

(show Memeorandum the love, gang!)

Stumble It!

A Bit Of Comic Relief

Just $2 each!

Offered without further comment:

I can't prove it, but I suspect that the DOJ is as "tainted" as the FEC. Various FEC auditors have reported that they received orders that they are NOT to investigate anything to do with Obama's campaign financing, or campaign irregularities - only McCain's. Rumors have it DOJ has gone the same way. Paulson and Soros now own Bush - it's an inside takeover that's already done.

It's also fairly common knowledge that that agencies like the NSA and CIA are also full of democratic sympathizers, and it's quite likely that this is the also the case at the DOJ. There IS a reason such a big deal was made out of Bush removing a Federal Attorney, while nothing at all was mentioned about Clinton removing 240. It was to prevent Bush from taking action against any other Clinton appointees anywhere else. Better take a look at how many of these guys are either Clinton appointees or Democratic "sympathizers". There won't be any action from the DOJ on this, and anything that makes it to court will be delayed until after the election and swearing in ceremony.

Also, there is a reason Obama has already planned his victory party, and the headlines announcing his victory have already been written, just awaiting November 5th publication. Telcoms are under control like the media, just hasn't come out yet. Whole freaking infrastructure has been conquered without a single shot fired - all 5th column stuff.

Consider this - what happens when the networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN - ignore actual voting numbers and simply make up their own, provided by Obama central command? They put on a show that has Obama winning by a landslide in all 50 states as they sweep across the country during election night. Next morning the NY Times and LA Times headlines announce the "Obama Landslide".

What % of the population would know better? What would the consequences be, and what % would just fall for it? Better give this some thought - because something like this appears to be in the works. I don't dare say any more than this, but let me assure you that there are PLENTY of dirty tricks yet to come - nearly EVERYTHING that has taken place up until this point has just been a disctraction, a red herring, including the obvious media bias. Better wake up and look around - the NY and LA Times certainly isn't going to report on anything, and start looking PAST the obvious things that are going on...

Listen everyone - this rabbit hole runs MUCH, MUCH deeper here than anyone has even BEGUN to realize yet. This whole thing has been in "the works" for 10+ years now - funded by tens of billions of dollars worth of George Soros' and his associates money - so much so that the Dems are completely blatant about things now - they don't even care about holding an election at this point - things are rigged so they CAN'T LOSE. They don't care about being called on fraud, or anything else - they won't be called on it, and even if some do-good State AJ happened to bring something up, well, they have enough judges in the right places to take care of things if anything does happen to "come up".

Bottom line - They already know they have this completely sewn up and have no need to worry about anything as inconvenient as an "actual vote". This is a coup d’état in progress, not an election - if you think any different, then try to get someone in the FEC to examine how much money BHO has and where it came from. Won't happen. Try to get someone in DOJ to find out why the FEC isn't investigating. Won't happen. GET THIS THROUGH YOUR THICK HEADS - THERE WILL BE UN "PEACEKEEPERS" on AMERICAN SOIL after this election to "DEAL WITH THE VIOLENCE" - no small number of them KENYAN. THIS IS A FREAKING COUP D'ETAT IN PROGRESS, NOT AN ELECTION, and IT'S damn near a FAIT ACCOMPLI at this point. I DON'T THINK IT CAN BE STOPPED. UNDERSTAND???

Somebody had better start digging into Obama's mysterious and hidden background - birth, school transcripts, etc. - because there's more hidden there than anyone realizes, and there is still something that they are deathly afraid of coming to light until after the election. Berg Versus Obama and the DNC might be a good place to start. There are less than 3 weeks left to do something about this. November 5th will be too late. Forget the DOJ and FEC - they aren't going to be helpful. I'm getting the hell out while travel still hasn't been restricted by martial law...

OK, one comment: Life During Wartime.
Talking Heads

Stumble It!

I Love This Election!

Just $2 each!

I love this election so much I think I want to have sex with it...

If the current polls hold, Barack Obama will win the White House on November 4 and Democrats will consolidate their Congressional majorities, probably with a filibuster-proof Senate or very close to it. Without the ability to filibuster, the Senate would become like the House, able to pass whatever the majority wants.

Though we doubt most Americans realize it, this would be one of the most profound political and ideological shifts in U.S. history. Liberals would dominate the entire government in a way they haven't since 1965, or 1933. In other words, the election would mark the restoration of the activist government that fell out of public favor in the 1970s. If the U.S. really is entering a period of unchecked left-wing ascendancy, Americans at least ought to understand what they will be getting, especially with the media

I've railed ever since the Reagan administration about the pendulum, and how it swings in both directions and liberals would get their turn again at behind the wheel.

The nation is not a unitary monolith of ignorance or intellectualism. Instead, it is a living, breathing being, as capable of changing its mind and its heart as anyone of us, and now we're seeing the realization that progress happens, that liberalism, for whatever perceived flaws were magnified and exaggerated by the right, has its benefits to everyone.

And once we've persuaded the majority that we will not hurt them, that we are not the scary monsters we've been made out to be, oh what a glorious day awaits America and the world!

Get ready for it, folks. Please leave in comments the one thing you'd like to see a liberal super-majority accomplish.

(feeling da love from Memeorandum)

Stumble It!

Nobody Asked Me, But....

Just $2 each!

1) Who knew? I would have thought it smelled just like chicken!

2) Well, clearly, here's a functional family.*polite cough*

3) W.W.O.D.?

4) If John McCain had been as funny on the hustings as he was at the Al Smith Dinner last night, this might actually be a race.

5) And Obama, who has shown flashes of witty sarcasm on the trail, could use a little of this loosening up himself.

6) (If you are video-impaired, here's a pretty good recap)

7) First, Russia bailed out Iceland. Now, China is bailing out Pakistan. You young-uns may not recall, but there was a time when the United States could bail out other nations...

8) I'd lay good money Sarah Palin has something to do with this story.

9) Reviews indicate that this movie will actually paint a sympathetic portrait of Dumbya, a man who is overwhelmed by events, genetics, and his own bad decisions. And here I was expecting a comedy!

10) Speaking of comedy and politics (seems to be today's theme), I wonder how An American Carol will fare at the box office this weekend?

Stumble It!