Bits and Bytes

Amazing overview of Ayn Rand’s life, work and philosophy.  If you wonder how the right got to where they are today, you’ve got to know the roots of their maniacal perspective on the world and our economy.  This article provides a good snapshot.

George W. Bush, War Criminal?

Great blog supporting the book, “George W. Bush, War Criminal?” that catalogs and explains all of the evidence for charging our illustrious president with specific war crimes in four categories-illegality of the decision to go to war, misconduct during war, mistreatment of prisoners of war, and misgovernment in the American occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. We need to support the people who are bringing this information into the light of day. The more people who demand action, the more likely the spineless Democrats will take this seriously, and may actually do something about it.

http://www.uswarcrimes.com/

Fantastic opinion piece in the NYTthis past weekend.  Don’t be fooled by Bush’s attempts to re-write history.  Whatever he may say or even believe, he and his administration are nothing but crooks and murderers.  They profited off of every tragedy that occurred during their tenure, and are responsible for the unnecessary deaths of thousands of innocent people, including our own brave soldiers.

Progressives throughout the country have fond, longing memories of one of the most admired presidential administrations in our country’s history: the Bartlett Administration of the West Wing tv show.  We watched that show, which began shortly after Clinton’s administration did, and longed for an administration that had as much intelligence, compassion and honor as did the fictitious Bartlett Administration did each week on NBC.  As real as the show felt, and as hard as those writers worked to try to get everything just right, no one actually believed we would ever see an administration that even came close in real life.  Us progressives are dreamers, but we’re not stupid.  

However, I’m feeling better and better about those prospects with the Obama Administration.  It’s not going to be everything to everyone, and I’m sure there will be lots of issues that he comes down too far to the right on for many liberals (give him a chance please), but given everything I know about Obama, I AM HOPEFUL!  It’s a feeling similar to how I felt each week when I knew the West Wing was about to start.  

I think Robert Gibbs fits right in as CJ Cregg.  Rahm Emmanuel probably fits more in the Josh Lyman mold than the Leo McGary role.  Not sure about Valerie Jarrett as Leo either though…  I can totally see Michelle Obama as a younger Abbie Bartlett.  And of course, Barack Obama seems to embody the intelligence, thoughtfulness and compassion of Josiah Bartlett.  Only time will tell if he acquires the same wisdom.

I know, I know, I’m being incredibly childish and naïve.  I probably am.  But it’s fun, and you can’t deny that the enthusiasm for the potential of this administration has you feeling a little like, after 8 long years in the wilderness, the promised land is finally in sight!?  Could the Obama Administration be our Bartlett Administration?  Or maybe it’s more like the Santos Administration…

A Myth of Voter Fraud
This article does an amazing job of tieing all of the pieces together in the Republicans complex scheme to supress votes and disenfranchise American citizens.  Put the DOJ Attorney firings scandal together with bogus ACORN accusations and all the other crap and you get a far-reaching and very effective campaign to eliminate hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of votes around the country.  Real disturbing stuff, but crucial for all intelligent citizens of this country to be aware of.

There have been many times over the past 8 years that I have been shocked and disgusted by the comments and actions of right-wing fanatics, but this really takes the cake.  They’re perfectly fine branding someone who never was actually charged or convicted of a crime of being a terrorist, but people who purposefully target and kill law-abiding citizens, and are convicted of those crimes, may not be characterized as terrorists?  Get this woman out of my face, she makes me sick to my stomach.

Excellent post explaining why the of firing of US attorneys by the Justice Department had everything to do with furthering the Republican’s myth of “voter fraud”, which doesn’t really exist, but serves only to divert attention from their own efforts to repress Democratic votes around the country.  If you’re not aware of this, you should be.

Remember the US Attorneys

More on the Scam

I’m not feeling secure about our relationship.  I need more reassurance that you’re going to be there for me down the road, like for the next 4 years…  

I’m so wrapped up in the hope that Obama will be our next president that when any poll starts to show him slipping I get very anxious about it.  I think the experience of the last 4 years has something to do with this common liberal ailment…

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the terrible, sunken feeling I had the day after the 2004 election. I was SO SURE that American would never re-elect this idiot that I was in a state of shock for weeks after that.  Imagining what the next 4 years would bring this country brought tears to my eyes every time I thought about it.  Turns out, it was even worse than I imagined. My point is, that feeling stays with you for a long time.

What am I doing about this insecurity with the election?  Well, I have donated what I can to the Obama campaign.  But that’s really not enough.  I’m considering going to Nevada for a weekend and helping the campaign out there.  I do need to do something to feel like I’m helping, in some tangible way, Obama win the election. 

I don’t think the national canvas is really the same as it was in 2004. I do think that Obama’s campaign is MUCH smarter, MUCH better managed, and that Obama is a MUCH better candidate than Kerry was. But he needs to be holding and maintaining at least 4-5 point leads in the states he needs to win, and right now he’s not doing that.  I have every reason to believe that votes will once again be stolen, and voters will be disenfranchised in the most important swing states by the Republicans. The only way to combat that is to win by a bigger margin than their tactics can discount from the total.

We should EXPECT more than 2-3 point leads for Obama in battleground states.  As many pundits and analysts have pointed out: he should be winning this thing by much more than he is right now.  I think it’s easy to blame racism, ignorance, misinformation (like that 12% of people still think he’s Muslim), or just Bill Clinton’s efforts to thwart his election, on the closeness of the race – but I’m not interested in excuses now.  The country needs a win out of Obama, and it will take bigger margins to do that.  I want more than 2-3 point leads to feel comfortable that he’s going to win this thing. 

Obama also needs to be at the top of the news cycle every day.  McCain has been very good about injecting himself into the news cycle when his numbers start to wane, and he IS THE NEWS right now, – that’s NOT good for Obama.  However, this recent gimmick seems to be backfiring on him.  I’m not going to call it in Obama’s favor yet, since I think the entire strategy of ’suspending’ his campaign has yet to play out.  I’m sure he will use it to great effect in the debates tonight.  But the consensus right now seems to be that he made a big mistake and nobody’s buying this crap.  Also, Palin is taking a beating this week for yet another idiotic interview performance where she proves once again that John McCain has terrible judgement in choosing a running mate.

I’ve been a liberal Democrat all of my life (43 years old). I have a strong belief that our society will be better off with Democrats at the helm. I’ve got a 4 year old son and I fear for his future. If Obama can’t win this thing, I question if we can ever win another Presidential election again. He’s the best candidate I’ve seen since Bill Clinton. If we end up electing McCain and this evangelical princess, I would have to question if this is the right place for me and my family (and before you go questioning my patriotism, I served in the Army, and I currently work for a Sheriff’s department). I’m praying that I won’t have to face that question. Maybe I’m being a little fatalistic, but like I said, I can’t shake the fear that I’ll be right back where I was 4 years ago, wondering what happened…

OBAMA/BIDEN 2008!!  (ok, I feel a little better now)