by Mary Pitt

In this life there is one immutable truth. It is that there will be change, whether or not we may approve or desire that change. At this time, there is no place where this is more true than in the battle for the presidency of the United States. The people whom we thought we knew now appear to us as something different than we ever expected from their past performances.

We hear of concerns about the possibility of a “split” in the Democratic party as the result of the no-holds-barred contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. If this is true, it is not necessarily the fault of the people involved but may be due to the failure of the American public to recognize how severely bifurcated the party has become as the result of the tension created between the desire to consider the welfare of the working class and the desire to win dominance in the halls of government.

As the Democrats continue to jockey for power and privilege they find the voters to be less than compliant with their carefully-laid plans. Most apparent of this syndrome is the campaign of Senator Clinton. Being distrustful of her party’s ability to prevail over the opposition, she determined to attempt to appeal to their base in order to beef up her own support. This has been simple for her, inasmuch as her internship in the political field was in the camp of former Republican conservative, Barry Goldwater. Actually, she boasts of her days as a Goldwater Girl.

However, her political leanings were challenged by her relationship with a certain up-and-coming young man named Bill Clinton, who later served two terms as an acceptable Democratic governor and President. Once the White House days were over, she determined to pursue her own political career and availed herself of her husband’s support within his party. But some of us wonder, as she makes her appeal to the Reagan Democrats if her indoctrination under the master conservative might still be directing her thinking as to policy as well as to talking points. One might also speculate as to whether her husband’s firm friendship with the senior President Bush has any bearing on her political changes.

As Senator Obama trudged along in the path of a traditional Democrat in pursuit of the impossible dream, the improbable candidate found himself being damned by association with one of the heroes of the civil rights movement, one who is known to have associated with and to still be fond of those social warriors from that struggle. These connections are to really scarey people, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King, jr, Al Sharpton, Louis Farakhan, the Black Panthers, and the Weather Underground, et al. All of these people and the events in which they participated, by the way, are largely responsible for the fact that we not only got out of Vietnam but have reached the point where a man of color can actually have a chance of becoming our President.

However, even with the “radical preacher” tied about his neck like an albatross, Obama labors on, reaching out to the working class and the poor who are struggling greatly in this time of Bush-o-nomics. We will soon know whether he can reach enough of them with his understanding and care to get them to swallow the last of their inbred racism and support him in his contest or whether the old instincts will compel them to swing to the right and vote Republican-lite due to the racial animus aroused by the words of somebody else.

In any event, the winner of this contest will face another race against another “changeling” whose ambition has wreaked horrendous changes in him. A man who cherished his reputation as a maverick, who had steadfastly refused to march in lockstep with the Neo-Cons and the religious right has courted both factions and adopted the attitude of the Bush administration as well as the no-taxes-no-welfare program of the super-right and the continuation of the war in the Middle East into the future without foreseeable end. To listen to Senator John McCain parrot the words of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney is to wonder whther he has lost his mind or whether we have. Or perhaps this change is prompted by the fact that his previous positions have been co-opted by Senator Clinton in her effort to capture “the middle of the road”.

In any event, to paraphrase Rev. Jeremiah Wright, “It’s not God bless America, it’s God SAVE America!”

The author is a very “with-it” old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for “societal perfection”.

Posted by macguiguru as Discuss!, Guest Bloggers, Politics at 10:20 PM MDT No Comments 

by Mary Pitt

I am constantly amazed at the obscure details that politicians will dig up to cast aspersions upon the personal lives of their opponents in order to keep the people from looking at the issues. Lately we are being exposed to the “Preacher Scandal” where each candidate is expected to tell their pastor to just shut up!

The good Rev. Wright is drawing fire, much of which is singeing Senator Barack Obama, because he is a prime example of what a black pastor is expected to be, an oratorial firebrand who inspires his people to hope for freedom and equality. In return, people are looking askance at Senator John McCain for accepting the endorsement of the radical fundamentalist ministers who are cheering on our wasteful Middle East war in the hope for Armageddon

The mainstream media is having a field day with this minutia while parading “experts” on both politics and religion across our screen. Hours of air time are spent on this trivia while the soldiers keep dying in Iraq, the criminality of the Pentagon policies, the brutal treatment, not only of our prisoners, but of our “all-volunteer” servicewomen, is conveniently swept under the rug and onto the back pages of the newspapers.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, homes are being foreclosed by predatory lenders, gasoline prices are in the stratosphere, and the cost of even food has become prohibitive. Meanwhile, the small amount of money that is left in the pockets of the working class is being rooted out to pay for health care, medications, and the very basics of life in order to enrich still further the corporate thieves in the board rooms. Those scoundrels are aware that their time is short and they must gouge all they can from the working class before the current administration leaves office and their gravy train ends.

What will stop this debacle of democracy when the new administration leaves office? It is almost impossible to find out, since nobody is talking about the issues. We know that Senator Hillary Clinton can put on a phony rural accent on command and that Senator Barack Obama is an accomplished wordsmith, but what will they DO to correct the course of our nation? Both have tiptoed around the health issues, speaking of “tax credits” “help with paying insurance premiums”, but it is indefinite and brings to mind comments about “treating the symptoms while ignoring the disease”.

None of them have even mentioned the Presidential signing statements and executive exceptions which have slammed the door to “open government” and effectively neutered the Congress and the courts. Would any of the candidates continue that policy? Who knows?

Plans to leave Iraq are “off the table” for McCain and amorphous in the proposals from the Democratic candidates. McCain wants to ameliorate the pain of gas prices by suspending the taxes paid at the pump at the risk of further deteriorating highways. Hillary Clinton suggests a “windfall profits” tax on corporations but Barack Obama is too busy defending himself from the charges against Pastor Wright to develop any plan at all that we have heard.

It would seem that the American voter would have the discernment to realize which way the smoke is blowing and to shout, “Enough!” This whole tragicomedy of a political campaign has descended into farce as the the “pundits” mis-speak and mis-quote. The speeches in question were not “sermons” delivered in his Chicago church as depicted by Chris Mattews and others, but speeches delivered at conferences and meetings of black leaders. If Obama had been sitting in that pew for every Sunday of his twenty-year membership, he would have heard none of them!

But we have all heard Jerry Falwell and John Hagee and their pronouncements about the wrath of God as the reasons for each of the disasters that have befallen our country as well as the other calls from the Fundamentalist pastors of divine retaliation for our failure to embrace their faith. They do not ask for God to damn America but tell us that He already has! We should pay no more attention to the professional rantings of Pastor Wright than we do to those of the Fundamentlists and get on with the process of choosing the next leader of out nation. If we must pray for something, let it be that we still have a nation to govern in January, 2009.

The author is a very “with-it” old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for “societal perfection”.

Posted by macguiguru as Discuss!, Guest Bloggers, Life, etc., Politics, Religion at 6:10 PM MDT No Comments 

by Mary Pitt

Liberals, can you read the writing on the wall? The American people are being set up again. Hillary Clinton, with the assistance of the same old political tactics and the same old political mainstream media pundits has become the Come-Back Kid! Watch her march to the White House in triumph as she and her husband retaliate for the humiliation of having left it in shame. She will persuade the super-delegates of her party to end the Obama challenge and then walk all over poor old John McCain to once again take control of the government. And, once again, we will see the famous Clinton “compromise and coalition”.

But Hillary is not Bill. We must bear in mind the Republican roots of Senator Clinton. She still carries the thought processes of the Goldwater Girl of the 1960’s and she easily slides into compliance with the Republican mindset. Early in the campaign, when the true Liberals were discussing the health crisis and pushing for universal single-payer health care, Ms. Clinton offered her proposal for mandatory insurance, (a Romney program), which is nothing more nor less than the same kind of insurance company rip-off as is Medicare Part D. When others were demanding withdrawal from Iraq, she was saying that we will have to stay indefinitely “in order to protect our Embassy”.

Since the Reagan years Americans have been pummeled by wars, threats, and mental abuse by successive administrations until we want only to make it stop. Many voters look back on the ‘nineties with nostalgia as a time of relative peace and prosperity. In that light, another Clinton presidency looks like Valhalla. However. one has to wonder whether they or Ms. Clinton even understand the extent of the damage that has been wrought by the “executive orders” and the “signing exceptions” of our current President. Nobody has asked her or Obama how they would countermand those actions and restore daylight to the machinations of the White House. Could this be corrected only by order of the president, as they were established, would they require action by Congress or would review by the Supreme Court be necessary to open the records which would expose the cronyism and payoffs by this administration?

On this, the morning after, one might suffer vertigo from watching the pundits spin! The Republicans appear elated that Clinton won Pennsylvania and are engaged in an orgy of devouring Senator Obama and his wife. They adopt the Clinton charge of “elitism” and accuse them of “being out of touch with the American people”. Listening to MSNBC’s Joe, Mika, and Tucker as they claim that the Obamas do not have the “common touch” is another instance of walking through the looking glass. For these privileged people to complain that a black American couple who have, through education, become sufficiently successful and articulate to become potential occupants of the White House appears beyond their comprehension. Strange that this mindset did not afflict them when Condaleezza Rice, who is truly from a wealthy family, assumed her position in the Bush administration.

There is a message connected to this event and that is that no radical improvement in our state of governance is likely. Even if Obama should win the nomination, the scurrilous charges by Senator Clinton will be adopted by the Republicans as their own spin machine propels John McCain into the leadership and the Neo-Cons continue to operate under his cover. If Senator Clinton should continue her recovery and reach the White House, it will be little better as she can be expected to deal “across the aisle” and gain a half a loaf.

Truly, these are depressing times for the Liberal Populist as the goal of a truly democratic society fade into memory with no sign of restoration. The Way We Have Always Done It wins again.

The author is a very “with-it” old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for “societal perfection”.

Posted by macguiguru as Discuss!, Guest Bloggers, Politics at 8:59 PM MDT No Comments 

By Sheila Samples

My friend Bernie says he can’t believe the American people haven’t figured out what it’s all about. “The whole damn political scene is nothing but a corporate media freak show,” he said. “There’s no breathing room between elections — no time nor interest in investigating, or even addressing, issues that are critical to our survival as a nation. The minute every last dollar is sucked out of the competition, the candidate who bought the most attack ads — the most face time — wins, and the election is over. Then,” Bernie said with disgust, “it’s time to start raising money for the next election, because the media is already out there campaigning.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” I said. “But, surely electing a president is more important than the media, or who can raise the most money –”

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Bernie said flatly. The mainstream media, both print and electronic, are as important as the American people allow them to be. And we’ve allowed them total control over our thoughts, our beliefs. They’re freaks — actors whose role is to divert national attention, manipulate public opinion, and keep the public in a state of suspended paralysis. They’re bullhorns for corporate Boss Hogs and administration creeps who are determined to seize power and keep the military industrial complex rolling in dough.”

Bernie’s right. With each presidential campaign, the list of candidates — serious candidates — grows shorter, and the media grow more brazen in either trashing or ostracizing those who pose a threat to the corporate status quo. The media is determined to choose the president no matter what voters want. Little by little, the media has inserted itself into the process until elections are no longer about candidates or issues. They’re about the media and what the media thinks about candidates and issues.

If you doubt that, check out CNN’s 24/7 “Ballot Bowl 08″ with Wolf Blitzer and “the best political team in television,” stumble into America’s Election Headquarters over at the Foxhole’s “Strategy Room,” spend a rollicking evening in MSNBC, “The Place for Politics,” where you can watch Chris Matthews throw his hard balls at Hillary, listen to Keith Olbermann scold all those who disagree with him, or just relax and let M.C. Rove’s dancing partner, David Gregory, decide the winner in his new “Race for the White House” show…

The One World Order criminals who seized power in the 2000 election coup will not exit peacefully if defeated in November. They have ruled through brutality and fear and, with the eager help of the media, stoked that fear into seven long years of shameful “patriotic” panic. Their eyes are on the prize — total US dominion and control of the world and its resources. They’re in too deep to back off now, and will not willingly accept defeat. The person taking over the reins of leadership from Bush must be one of their own, regardless of party. That is why the media relentlessly ambushed, weeded out, and tossed six of the eight Democratic presidential wannabes unceremoniously aside.

From the outset, the only two Democratic candidates in the media race were Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The media and their corporate masters knew the hokey soap opera between a white woman and a black man would keep the masses panting for more “American Idol” drama and their attention diverted from more pressing matters, such as a landscape strewn with body parts, a desert stained red with innocent blood, dead and suffering children, grieving, horror-shocked parents on the one side — and a smirking idiot madman on the other who chants mindlessly about “completing the mission…spreading freedom throughout the world…”

In their critical “George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography,” Webster Tarpley and Anton Chaitkin warned that we are immersed in times of moral and cultural degradation wherein “rulers of great evil have inflicted incalculable suffering on humanity.”

The book is less about Bush 41 or the Bush family than it is “an unveiling of the abuse and misuse of power, the shenanigans of egotism running rampant in high places.” The authors strip aside the “curtain of secrecy, myopic journalism, and the illusion of a ‘free’ press,” and stress that we must be “fully aware of the propaganda of the ’spin doctors’ and the manipulations that benefit a few at the expense of the many.” Tarpley and Chaitkin say we “are not to condone or advance this egoistic behavior, but to stand tall and say no to those who claim power.”

Many more of us than the media will admit are doing just that — from the courageous “Winter Soldiers” who stood up against the war machine last week, to the masses whose protests and arrests are blacked out by the media, to the growing numbers who speak truth to power on the Internet and on progressive radio. Fortunately, there are far too many to list, but if you’re just waking up, and it’s sheer, raw truth you’re after, check out Chris Floyd anytime, or listen to Nova M Radio’s Mike Malloy week nights from 9-midnight (EST).

Nebraska’s Republican Senator Chuck Hagel says in his new book, “America: Our Next Chapter,” that it’s time for independent leadership and, perhaps, even for another political party. I agree. Those like Dick Cheney who have a death grip on power, and who will only tighten that grip if they remain in power, do not care what the American people think. White House press secretary Dana Perino echoed Cheney’s sentiments last week when she told a reporter the American people have a right to speak only once every four years. After that, they can just shut up and follow the leader…

The current election is possibly the most important in US history. Yet, ironically, thanks to the media, few of us in either party have a horse in this race. We have one last chance to change that. We must stand together and support a candidate whose love for country overshadows party loyalty and media sound bites — a candidate who will fight for the freedoms and rights bestowed upon us by the founding fathers — who will work to restore our infrastructure and our environment. That candidate is former Vice President Al Gore, the man legally elected President of the United States in 2000. It’s time to heal the wound and move on to the Inauguration.

Together, we must ask Al Gore to answer the call one last time. If it takes a new party, so be it. Because saving our republic, repairing our Constitution, and returning the power to the people is what it’s all about.

Sheila Samples http://sheilastuff.blogspot.com/ is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US Army Public Information Officer. She is a regular contributor for a variety of Internet sites. Contact her at rsamples@wichitaonline.net

Posted by macguiguru as Discuss!, Guest Bloggers, Politics at 9:38 PM MDT Comments Off

(reposted by request - MDW)

On Sep 18, 2007, at Sep 18, 10:19 , John Erhardt wrote:

Dear friends,

I’m about to announce the SquareState Small Donor Committee and am asking for your early support to launch this important effort to link the netroots with smart, targetting action to support progressive candidates at the state and local level.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by macguiguru as Discuss!, Guest Bloggers, Politics at 9:24 PM MDT No Comments 

By Sheila Samples

The gutters are clogged with the dead
The ones who couldn’t join in
The others refusing to sing
The ones who are losing their voice
The ones who’ve forgotten the tune.
Excerpt “God Bless America,” Harold Pinter, January 2003

Preceeding generations had every reason to believe those following them would step into the breach and continue the vigil over this nation’s Constitutional freedoms and, if necessary, fight to preserve them. They believed, like George Washington warned — “Government is a “force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” And they remembered, from generation to generation. Unfortunately, those following our generation will have no such luxury.

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Posted by macguiguru as Discuss!, Guest Bloggers, Politics at 8:58 PM MDT No Comments 

By Sheila Samples
“…the high office of the President has been used to forment a plot to destroy the American’s freedom, and before I leave office, I must inform the citizens of this plight.” John F. Kennedy (November 12, 1963, Columbia U, 10 days before his assassination)
I cannot recall a single day since Vulcans’ Godfather James Baker sent his thuggish henchman John Bolton to Florida’s Palm Beach County to screw up the vote count that has not been filled with horror, anger, shame — despair. On Dec. 9, 2000 — three days before the Florida deadline — the US Republic shuddered on its axis when Bolton crashed through the doors of a Tallahassee library where Miami-Dade ballots were being recounted and shouted triumphantly — “I’m with the Bush-Cheney team, and I’m here to stop the count!”

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Posted by macguiguru as Discuss!, Guest Bloggers, Politics at 8:15 PM MDT No Comments 

by Mary Pitt

After November’s election, the people were feeling optimistic, having elected a Democratic majority in the House and more than an even balance in the Senate. Speaker Pelosi announced her “first 100 hours” strategy and we were ready to watch the reform take place. However, the euphoria was short-lived as the House passed first one “non-binding resolution” only to have it squelched by the Republican bloc in the Senate. The Democrats, unlike the Dixie Chicks, are still convinced that they need to make nice. Perhaps they were in the minority for too long and it was simply easier to fall back into the same old habits of huddling helplessness. In addition, the next election campaign is on everybody’s minds and key figures are playing to the power structure rather than to the electorate.

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Posted by macguiguru as Guest Bloggers, Politics at 10:16 PM MST No Comments