"...An Honorable Man."

Regardless of your political beliefs, I need you to recognize the sheer rhetorical brilliance of this right here.

This is why the Republicans are going to have such a tough time this year. They're all longing with the American people in prose and "Mark Antony" here is attempting to uplift them in verse. There aren't many people who can pull off this kind of thing. You gotta admit, he's a bad man.

peace.

Big O Still Has It

Current TV may have been the best move for Keith. These are as good as they've always been.

I think my main man Special K has said about everything I would have wanted to say tonight. Excuse me while I try to get seven hours of sleep. I have to beat on a rusted Xterra wheel with a hammer tomorrow morning.

peace.

Good Ol' George

George Carlin was so good, it was almost scary.

This blog wasn't up and running when George died back in 2008, so I never really had the chance to join the many conversations surrounding he brilliant career. He had an outlook on politics, culture, and society that was exceedingly advanced and candid in its relevance. I don't doubt he was one of the most important social commentators of the 20th century; so much more than just a comedian.

I've been listening to my collection of George Carlin quite heavily recently in preparation for an upcoming event. Even though I've gone through quite a bit of Carlin material, I can't help but laugh, shout, and clap every single time.

I sure do miss him.

peace.

As my mom would say...

This right here is the stone cold truth. If any of you are perplexed as to why the American political landscape is so toxic and congested, Dylan Ratigan has laid it on the line.

Be sure to stick with it until the end. Most in the 24-hour media are only running the beginning of the clip, but there's important stuff going down all the way through.



This is the type of anger and attention needed by the entire American electorate. Sure, there's a problem with the Republicans. Sure, there's a problem with the Democrats. But more than anything else, the problem is with the corporate control of United States policymaking. And it's about time someone told this to the people, loudly.

If we can only get the President to say it...



peace.

Confessions of a Turk

Can someone please tell me what's going on at MSNBC?

Cenk? Any thoughts?

For the uninitiated, Cenk Uygur is the co-founder and main host for the internet political talk show The Young Turks. TYT began in 2002, and has since become a significant outlet for liberal/progressive political commentary. TYT's Youtube channel receives about 19 million views per month, making it one of the most popular destinations on the internet.

This video doesn't surprise me. For as long as I've been alive, the media and the government have shared an unwritten agreement not to prod too deeply into each other's affairs. Unfortunately, this press/political group massage ensures the public will never really know the truth about what our government is doing, and why. More power to Cenk for holding fast to his ideals. I think he made the right move.

I think I hear Current TV calling. Keith, can you get this guy a job?

peace.

The New American Civil War (Quick Thought)

More power to these folks.

Wisconsin Protests Are Setting Stage For A National Battle

The protests of public sector employees in Wisconsin Thursday are really a "national battle," according to Professor Raphael Sonenshein of California State University, Fullerton.

The battle over union rights for public sector employees in Wisconsin is relevant to people nationwide, and is being watched nationally as well. Moves like this are taking place beyond just Wisconsin.

The GOP gained a lot of ground nationally in the 2010 elections and many Republicans around the country have been pushing to limit the powers of labor unions.

"You have a number of new Republican governors coming in and they have a very strong agenda to weaken public sector union bargaining rights," said Professor Sonenshein.

More here.

It's the rich people vs. the working people. That's the new civil war in this country; more sharply than any of us have seen in our lifetime. The most recent battle of this war occurred on January 21, 2010 with the Supreme Court decision of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The rich won that one.

Before that, it was the former C.E.O. of Diebold, Inc. Walden O'Dell sending out fundraising letters to Ohio Republicans stating his commitment to "helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes..." to President Bush in the 2004 election.

If you recall, Ohio was the battleground state of that year; even more so than Florida. Many of the political bean counters during that election were especially concerned about the significant discrepancy between the exit polling in Ohio and the actual vote count.

All of Ohio's voting machines were manufactured by Diebold, Inc. The rich won that one.

But in Wisconsin, the workin' folks just might pull a "Tahrir Square" on these fools. As a fellow workin' folk, I'm certainly on their side.

peace.

Mo' tee, suh?

So the State of the Union address was last night. (yawn...)

The President's remarks were remarkable. His speech and proposals reestablished his message and allowed him to rise above the rhetorical shenanigans and political posturing of punditry and partisan bickering. (boring...)

The official Republican response was inflexible and unsuccessful in offering clear alternatives to the President's proposals, mostly regurgitating Republican talking points to no real purpose. (next...)

But then there was the "Official Tea Party Response to the President's State of the Union" by Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann. (It aired on CNN, giving it EQUAL BILLING with the SOTU and the official Republican response.) You remember her, don't you? She's the Kato Kaelin grand prize winner that found her way onto "Hardball with Chris Matthews" (I still don't like that name.) and called for media penetration of liberal members of Congress for having "anti-American" views.

I'm loving this Tea Party stuff. Its exposure of the destructiveness and hatred that exists in the extreme right of this country's electorate is exactly what our political process needs. I have many friends, some conservative and some liberal. But more than anything, they are ALL hard-working, decent, generous people who simply want their children to have a better experience of life than they. They are much more alike than different. And none of them carry these types of radical and extremist ideologies. I know. I've talked to them.

There are only two outcomes to this Tea Party movement.

1. The Tea Party movement succeeds in yanking the Republican party further and further to the right in order to maintain its base, rendering most Republican candidates for state and federal office unelectable. The Democrats will respond by moving the center of the country towards the left and offer sensible programs and policy that appeal to the majority of American citizens.

2. The Republican party distances itself from the principles of the Tea Party and moves ITSELF further towards the left, more in the direction of a Dwight Eisenhower sense of conservatism. (Look up his domestic policy. You'll be surprised.) This would also allow the Democrats to move left as well. These two moves would allow for a more healthy bipartisan effort in governing the country, confining the extremists on both the left and the right to the fringes of the political landscape.

Although both outcomes are fine with me, I hope for the second. Republicans have ideas, too. And even though I consider myself fairly liberal/progressive, I recognize my beliefs aren't for everyone and governing should be shared in order for us all to progress together.

So thank you, Tea Partiers, for being so out of your mind. You are serving your country more than you know.

peace.