Submitted by danps on Sat, 05/18/2013 - 4:21pm
We've had three big stories this week, each showing how the right plays the scandal game better than the left. Of the three, one is a non-scandal (Benghazi), one is a minor scandal with the potential to turn into more (IRS),1 and one is an honest-to-God scandal right now (AP). Republicans don't bother with such fine distinctions though, and that's why they are better at playing it than Democrats: when they get something they can run with, they do. Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Thu, 05/16/2013 - 2:43am
The f-word is fascism.
The first amendment matters. Should matter. Apparently not so much to the Justice Department and Democratic President Barack Obama.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Sat, 05/11/2013 - 10:26pm
The sociopaths rise to the top of power by clawing, bullying, intimidating, lying, charming, betraying their ways.
They rise to the top by being enabled by the bullied, the craven, the stupid, the naive, the opportunistic, the distracted, the brainwashed, and/or by crony bullies.
Colin Todhunter in “Psychopathy, Politics and The New World Order” writes: Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Mon, 04/01/2013 - 6:01am
One of my favorite though admittedly depressing quotes of wisdom:
“Hope was the last temptation of Christ.”
This being Easter it seems relevant. Read below the fold...
Submitted by danps on Sat, 03/16/2013 - 5:32am
Years ago there was a criminal case where a crooked cop planted evidence against the suspect even though prosecutors already had a pretty tight case against him. One observer described the police officer's actions as "framing a guilty man," and I've found that to be a useful phrase from time to time since. Sometimes the case against someone or something is strong enough without embellishment, and piling on can actually have the opposite effect. Read below the fold...
Submitted by MontanaMaven on Sun, 02/17/2013 - 1:06pm
Crossposted over at themontanamaven.com
Might be a good idea to have a Weasology Handbook. To his credit yesterday Chris Hayes on his show "UP" signaled a problem with the words "high quality" as in "high quality charter schools" after one of his guests, Darrell Bradford of something called "Better Education For Kids" praised some charters in Chicago. Yeh, of course high quality charter schools are just great, Chris laughed. Who doesn't love "high quality" anything? So he was right to warn us about this phrase. But he let the phrase "high quality pre-school education" be defined by his guests without real analysis*. As defined by most of his guests this morning, high quality preschool education was about learning...get this..."persistence, "discipline" and my favorite, "finishing things." The professor (and to my chagrin a woman) also emphasized how spongy little brains are at 4 years old. Ugh.
My psychological type in Myers/Briggs Jungian land is an ENTP (extroverted intuitive thinking perceiver). Didn't discover this until I was around 42. Much to my relief, my type just doesn't finish things. Once we mostly master something, we move on. We are notorious for not completing things like degrees and we rarely put the degrees we do achieve up on the wall. We move from project to project. My former husband was quite kind but used to lament the many different piles of dirt and stones around our cabin of projects I had started and then grown bored with. I didn't finish my dissertation for my Ph.D in theater and film. Ran off to New York instead. My friend and I wrote a whole book about what it was like for two Hollywood New York movie agents to fly the coop; her moving to Italy and me moving to Montana. We got through many drafts and then both of us started other projects. What a relief to discover that it is just my nature to not always finish things. I do finish making dinner. I finish most books although I am simultaneously reading 5 books right now (four non-fiction and one fiction). I'm pretty loyal and probably should have finished one marriage sooner than I did. If I do finish, I often make a strong finish. But nobody really knows if I will finish or take a turn and jump over the fence and run away. Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Sat, 12/08/2012 - 8:44am
It seems most of American TV anchors and commentators, local or national, are enthralled by the “Jon Stewart complex.” They and/or their writers and/or their producers can’t resist smirkily delivering puerile and sensationalized disclosures aimed at, or more likely cultivating in their viewers, an insatiable lust for gotcha-schadenfreude. Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Wed, 10/10/2012 - 9:49pm
I am proposing several actions for citizens troubled by the NewsHour’s blackout of third party candidates. A blackout of the issues of the constituencies of third party candidates.
I propose similarly concerned fellow citizens:
Boycott the PBS NewsHour between October 15th and 19th, 5 broadcast days.
Email a complaint to the NewsHour about the lack of coverage of third party candidates (come on, it will only cost you a few minutes):
onlineda@newshour.org
Send a U.S. snail mail complaint (again a matter of minutes and a stamp):
MacNeil/Lehrer Productions
2700 South Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22206
Contact PBS Ombudsman, Michael Getler: Read below the fold...
Submitted by ubetchaiam on Tue, 09/04/2012 - 2:53pm
The next dog and pony is the Dem convention where the platitudes and non-specific proposals will fly fast and furiously across the tv, radio,net, and printed media.
And will change very few peoples perceptions.
And then, just to keep the commoners amused, that will be followed by what is called 'The Presidential Debates'. As someone who took a few course in argumentation, it truly pains me to have these scripted shows be called 'debates'.
AND, neither Dems nor Repubs will speak out about this:
OPEN DEBATES CALLS ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE COMMISSION TO MAKE SECRET CONTRACT PUBLIC Read below the fold...
Submitted by ubetchaiam on Sat, 07/21/2012 - 8:55pm
As the saying goes ""It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes.". And considering all the hoopla over Olympic apparel being made in China, it's incredible to me that there is simply no media coverage or outrage about the fact that the means by which elections are held in the U.S. is on systems made in countries other than the U.S. And that doesn't even take into account all the issues associated with electronic voting.
So to that end, publishing with permission: Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Sat, 07/21/2012 - 8:51pm
Bill Van Auken in wsws in May wrote:
Washington’s closest allies in the Arab world, the dictatorial feudal monarchies of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, set up a $100 million fund to place FSA members directly on their payroll, while the US announced it was sending “non-lethal” aid to these same forces, including sophisticated communications equipment, night vision goggles and US intelligence.
None of this has had the desired effect. The FSA has barely put up token resistance to the Syrian military in most areas, and there is no sign of mass popular support for the Syrian National Council.
Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 4:13pm
While trying to research the REAL truth of what is going on with Syria, since clearly the big US media propaganda machine is stenographically on board for yet another massive destruction of a country on the US and NATO’s bloody faux-humanitarian-regime-changing clipboard, I came across a remarkable article by William Hathaway entitled “America Is under Attack!”
Capitalism is inherently predatory. It demands aggressive growth. It’s either dominate or go under.
snip Read below the fold...
Submitted by libbyliberal on Sat, 01/28/2012 - 4:50pm
Robert Parry in “Herding Americans to War with Iran” puts it this way:
For many Americans the progression toward war with Iran has the feel of cattle being herded from the stockyard into the slaughterhouse, pressed steadily forward with no turning back, until some guy shoots a bolt into your head.
Any suggestion of give-and-take negotiations with Iran is mocked, while alarmist propaganda, a ratcheting up of sanctions, and provocative actions – like Wednesday’s assassination of yet another Iranian scientist – push Americans closer to what seems like an inevitable bloodletting.
Read below the fold...
Submitted by danps on Sat, 01/28/2012 - 6:00am
Submitted by libbyliberal on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 5:05pm
(554 Obama-dumping days until 2012 election-Hugh's Obama's Scandals List)
Mike Whitney has one of the best takes I have read about Osama Bin Laden’s alleged demise. (For what it is worth, I didn’t think Osama was still alive. I still entertain this as a possibility, given the phenomenal degree of lying the Obama administration and military have committed.)
Whitney writes: Read below the fold...
