Stepping Down for Alaska

Happy Birthday America!

Sarah Palin is to resign effective 25 July 2009. Oh my, I wonder what she will do now? I bet the article in Vanity Fair had a lot to do with her decision. Desperate Housewives & Northern Exposure. – couldn’t have said it better myself.

Oh and then there is that little bit about all the alleged ethics violations . . . .

You got that right, you betcha! That was the most rambling resignation speech I’ve ever heard. “First things first . . .” she said. She’s doing what’s best for Alaska, she said. “America is looking north to the future,” she said. “A positive agenda for Alaska,” she said. “Advancing in another direction,” she quoted MacArthur. She doesn’t want to waste Alaskan tax payer dollars, she claimed. WTF? John McCain looks like an even bigger dumbass for picking her out of the pickle barrel now than ever before.

I expect she will hit the dittohead radio circuit, say a few “you betchas” on FAUX News Network, get paid to talk shit at Republiklan rallies in the lower 48, and then retire to her backyard where she can keep an eye on those pesky Russian Communists.

She isn’t going away anytime soon. She’s got a chip on her shoulder and she seems to be a vindictive human being. She can now focus on getting even with anyone and everyone who she thinks fucked with her. She kept saying she loves her family and loves Alaska. If she loves anyone or anything, she will do what is best for all of us and go camping – for about 15 or 20 years.

PHOTO CREDIT
Uploaded to Wikimedia by Samekh, original author is Roger H. Goun Wikimedia Image
Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

They're coming to get you . . .

The Census takers are coming to count you!

I sure hope the wingnuts do not respond to the Census. Besides facing fines they risk losing congressional seats. The Census numbers are used for redistricting and determining how many congressional representatives each State has in the House of Representatives.

Wouldn't it be awesome if all those Red States ended up with just one representative in the House because the wingnuts and dittoheads refused to answer the Census and did not get counted? For once, they have a great idea. So please, all you dittoheads, listen to your leaders and refuse to answer the questionaire, do not open your doors when the census taker knocks, and by all means, do not tell them how many people live in your house.

How many dittoheads live in the United States? Well if they do as their supreme leader suggests, after the 2010 Census the answer will be zero.

The King Is Dead

Michael Joseph Jackson
August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

The New Old Normal

Today (16 June 2009) Ed Schultz made an appearance on Morning Joe where he was asked his opinions about President Obama’s performance and Dick Cheney (among other things). During his discussion with the group, he said something that struck a chord with me. Mr. Schultz was referring to the redefining of what will be considered normal sales firgures for companies like General Motors. Before this economic crisis gripped us GM could count on 15 million new cars sold each year. Mr. Schultz postulates that the new normal sales figures will be more like 10 million.

Is there really a new normal in American society? Or, are we are just singing the same old tune with different lyrics?

During the Great Depression there were dire warnings that Franklin D. Roosevelt would transform America into a Socialist state. Roosevelt’s stimulus package received harsh criticism from the Conservative Coalition. Today, as America languishes in the midst of another global economic crisis, President Obama has followed the old normal by creating a new new deal for America designed to stimulate economic growth by the creation of jobs and stabilization of the economy. The Conservative Coalition in opposition to the transformation of America into a Socialist state is alive and well, and as normal as it ever was.

Ronald Reagan spread the conservative propaganda about socialized medicine as early as 1961. President Carter talked about national health insurance in 1980 when he debated Reagan.

President Obama declared health care a right for Americans. The progressive people in country already know this. The conservatives demand it only when they experience devastating illness or they think their Medicaid or Medicare (created by FDR’s New Deal) is threatened. In many parts of the world, health care is a fundamental right. In America health care belongs to those who can afford it. The health care debate? Here we go again.

When it comes to inflation and the cost of living, the old normal is to blame big government. Eisenhower talked about the honest dollar and an honest dollar’s worth. Richard Nixon’s solution was to freeze wages and prices. The normal has been to ask or to require workers to give up wages Nothing new about that old normal.

Religion was an issue when John F. Kennedy was running for president. But that concern was not a new normal. In the early part of the 20th Century, Protestant Americans were alarmed at the possibility of election of a Catholic President. Americans feared the submission of the United States to Papal influences. Those fears seemed quite normal as the possibility of Kennedy’s election began to sink in. Religion reared it’s ugly head in the 2008 campaign with the Right spreading unfounded rumors that President Obama is a Muslim and would cater to Muslim interests. Everything old is new again.

The American people voted for President Obama on a platform of change. But has anything really changed? Or is it business as usual following the ineffective policies and worn out debates of years past? President Obama is so damed centrist he manages to thoroughly frustrate both the Left and the Right.

The question was put forth by John F. Kennedy in 1960 and we are still asking it today – “Which point of view and which party do we want to lead the United States?”

The new normal is the old normal. The only things new about normal are the faces and the names. Liberals are still calling for equality and justice. Conservatives are still telling people who criticize conservative views to shut up.

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_{There have been only 16 Democratic Presidents since 1837. It is generally accepted that the Democratic party evolved from the Democratic-Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.}

This essay also published:

Flickering Light of Freedom

RedBubble

My Choice

Don't succumb to the terrorism.
Support the right of women to choose.

I'm Not Buying It

Fox News went ballistic about the Department of Homeland Security report warning about extremists on both the Left and the Right. As is typical they focused on only that portion of the report that addressed concerns about Right Wing extremists. They defended the Right Wing as people who love the country. Now, following the murder of Dr. Tiller and the attack on the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D. C. by a White Supremacist, they are now talking about how we were warned by the government, and "here we are."

Yes, here we are. Fox News and its talking heads have been working the wingnuts into a fervor, but now sound almost apologetic. It's as if they are thinking, "maybe we should have taken heed of that DHS report, huh?" I think Fox News is just trying to cover its ass and deny any responsibility for feeding the beast.

Words have power.

Campaign of Terror Against Women & Doctors

Sometimes words just aren't enough to express my concern for American society. There seems to be so much hate and prejudice out there and it comes from every angle, all the time, day in and day out. The recent murder of Dr. George Tiller hit me like a ton of bricks. At first I was angry at the individual. Then I became angry at the anti-choice groups that antagonize, agitate, and advocate violence against abortion clinics and health care providers. Finally, I became angry at my government for not doing more to protect reproductive freedom of choice for women and to protect the doctors and health care workers.

What can more can our government do to protect the rights of women and the lives of doctors? First and foremost, I think that our government should recognize that anti-choice groups that advocate violence and murder should be considered as engaging in acts of terrorism. Anti-choice groups that engage in "violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands" should be called exactly what they are - terrorists.

It is the goal of these groups to intimidate women seeking legal abortion and to coerce the reversal of Roe v. Wade by violence and threats of violence. They seek to force their views, generally founded on religious principals, upon the whole population. Once these groups are recognized as domestic terrorist organizations, the government can and should act accordingly to protect the American people from their violence and lessen the effects of intimidation.

Our government has been so preoccupied with threats from outside that it has failed to address an actual threat to the population on the inside.

America needs an enema

Eyes on America 2

Eyes on America

© 2009 Helen Bascom
All Rights Reserved

Also posted on:

Visionaries

How the Right Tries to Conceal Its Racism

What’s the best way for a not so clever racist to deflect accusations or racism? Claim that the critics and accusers are the real racists!

Suppose someone makes a racist comment or writes something that has racist overtones? You, being the socially responsible person, say:

“C’mon, this is racist and not appropriate.”

The not so clever racist then says:

“You’re the racist! You always play the race card! Every time someone brings up [insert subject here] you start going on about racism! YOU are the racist! I have a right to express my opinion and you just don’t like hearing the truth!”

America suffered a relentless torrent of shouts of reverse racism during the 2008 presidential election. The vast majority of the electorate turned a deaf ear to the ear splitting screeching cacophony from the Right. After 232 long years (many of those years dark and shameful) Americans finally elected a Black president.

Despite apocalyptic warnings from the Right of the dire consequences associated with electing President Obama, the world did not blow up and the dead did not rise from the grave. So what will the Right do for an encore? Following the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, they are replaying the same sad song that was rejected by reasonable people during the 2008 campaign – reverse racism!

The Right Wing has blasted the air waves with claims that Sotomayor is a reverse racist. What the hell is reverse racism you ask? Reverse racism is how the racist disguises his/her racism. They accuse the Hispanic female of racism against the White male.

Their defense of the White male in American society causes me to I think they are more upset that President Obama’s pick is an Hispanic woman. Women are frequent targets of the Right. Gordon Liddy seems more concerned with her gender than her race. His comments about her menstruating are disgusting, but not at all surprising.

Bill O’Reilly of Real Clear Politics is a real clear racist trying to disguise his ignorant rants as news and political commentary. Newt Gingrich is yesterday’s news. Rush Limbaugh? There are no words strong enough to describe this sack o’ shit. He strives to keep himself relevant in an increasingly irrelevant section of our society. Newsmax has maxed out the American public with its racist gibberish disguised as news.

Some of my readers may think that we should just ignore the racist rants of the Right Wing. Afterall, they are not going to shut up anytime soon, and any rational discourse with the Right is simply not possible. So why do I, and thousands of other bloggers, persist in the battle against the Right? I can’t speak for the others, but for me it is a matter of survival. By this I mean if we are to ever achieve real equality and liberty in this Country, we – the progressive, the liberal, the egalitarians, those who truly believe in democracy and all freedoms that America should stand for – must speak out against the Right.

We can not be silent now when we as a society are finally starting to break the barriers of racism and sexism. We can not sneak over or under the barriers that have existed for the past 232 years. We must charge forth and tear them down once and for all, relegating them to yet another sad chapter in American history.

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_NOTES

_{President Obama won with 365 electoral votes compared to John McCain’s 173 votes. SOURCE}

_{Newt Gingrich attacks Sotomayor}

_{Newt Gingrich on Twitter}

_{Real Clear Politics}

_{Newsmax on Limbaugh}

_{Gordon Liddy on Sotomayor}

Hands Off: A Domestic Violence Awareness Project

Congratulations to the Students of DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois USA for creating a moving and important short documentary. Show your support for their work by viewing and commenting on their video on YouTube then, pass the video link to someone you know.

Blame it on the Black Man

Barack Hussein Obama was born August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

When Roe v. Wade , 410 U.S. 113 was decided on 22 January 1973 he was not yet age 12 years.

My guess is he probably had no influence on the Court’s decision.

Presidents since Roe v. Wade was decided:

Gerald Ford ( R ) August 9, 1974

Jimmy Carter ( D ) January 20, 1977

Ronald Reagan ( R ) January 20, 1981

George H. W. Bush ( R ) January 20, 1989

Bill Clinton ( D ) January 20, 1993

George W. Bush ( R ) January 20, 2001

Barack Obama ( D ) January 20, 2009

If the pro-life- anti-choice groups are going to hold a President personally responsible for abortions performed in this country during his tenure, my guess is that quite a few more abortions were performed during George W. Bush’s 8 year reign of terror than during these past few months of President Obama’s presidency.

The truth is that President Obama, or any president for that matter, can do nothing to stop legal abortions. There must be a judicial reversal of Roe v. Wade, or an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Did you know that women do not have equal rights under the Constitution? We can’t even get the damned ERA passed! Women have equality on paper via legislation, and we are lucky to have that.

So, why aren’t they holding Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, or Ford responsible for the abortions performed while they were President? The right wing just want to blame President Obama for something, anything, everything. Someone told me recently that next thing you know, President Obama will be held responsible for the Crucifixion of Jesus. I would not be surprised to read that on a blog somewhere soon.

Also published on RedBubble

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_{President Ford was sworn in on August 9, 1974 following the resignation of Richard M. Nixon ( R )}