Dec 28 2008
I am currently writing a piece on the horrific killing spree of the heinously pre-meditated and viciously merciless Christmas Eve rampage of one angry white male loser named Bruce Pardo. This man is a domestic terrorist with a number of traits that would strongly suggest that he is one of the aggrieved types who is attracted to the dittohead neo-Nazi brigades.
Dec 21 2008
The music is easy music but the underlying motivation for having posted it is one of great unease.
JeffLieber opined on DD that it is our own fault we have no influence on government.
THEY are avoiding us because they simply do not think that we — the FAR LEFT — can be reasoned with.
THEY believe, and somewhat rightly so, that we are much more interested in clinging to our self-righteous fury then in being able to manage our disappointments and seeking compromise so they show up when its time for the cash or the grass-roots jolt of energy and then disappear when it comes time to legislate.
THEY believe we are the extremists, no more “reality based” than those at Little Green Footfungus because every slight seems to wipe away YEARS of good governance on issues we care about.
I will counter below, as OPOL did brilliantly in his own counter-essay. I’ll let his delineation of the crimes stand. He said it perfectly, and spoke for me on that account.
We have to deal with these guys…and not by making nice with them. These people are dangerous. Our laws are meant to protect us from people like this, and we need to see that they do. This is no time to look the other way.
Do I want truth and reconciliation? No sir! I want trials and convictions. We can talk about reconciliation after we’ve settled a few accountability issues. How about someone taking responsibility for a change?
The video will tell you I’m not ready to make nice either.
Dec 14 2008
So, tell me… you’re standing at a podium and someone throws something at you.
You’re not supposed to know this is coming and you aren’t supposed to have any idea of what it is.
Yet, here’s a picture of you one second after the first object is thrown at your head.
So what’s so funny? Is there some little joke about all this that the rest of us aren’t quite in on, Mr. “Pet Goat”?
And by the way, if the objective was to drive this article off the front page of the NY Times… it didn’t quite work.
For those who haven’t learned to recognize this situation as the Rovian propagandist tactic it is, I refer you to my previous diary on the subject here, another here, and another here.
Thanks for the FP, EKH.
Dec 04 2008
I know, you are wondering why I continually chose to write on Brad Warthan, VP and Editorial Page Editor at The State newspaper (the paper in my area). Simply, to illustrate the thought process of those in charge of print in a GOP state — South Carolina — and, to provide comic relief, in a way.
So, here is more of what you get when you put an idiot in charge…
Nov 26 2008
There are times when you read something and you wonder, “just how stupid can this person be?”
That the same person repeatedly makes stupid statements in an article doesn’t lessen the fact that they do so, but, only justifies the conclusion. So, once again, I am here to highlight an article written by Brad Warthan of The State newspaper in South Carolina.
Feel free to it before reading on since my response to it is forthcoming…
Nov 23 2008
Here's a sign of the times that I am sure will become far more common than we can ever get comfortable with (but nonetheless surely will, no doubt to either of us):
Father appalled by virtual audience to son's death
I may come back and expand on this later tonight.
Then again, I may not.
I remember how I felt the night of the Columbine massacre, and how everyone but the rocks and stones was sure they knew exactly all there was to know about the inside of the two kids that drove so far off into the evil.
Nov 14 2008
As some of you know, every now and again, I take my local newspaper in South Carolina, The State, to task because it is run by idiots and ideologues. Here is another of these times.
The State published a letter by Mr. Springs as a “guest columnist” entitled, “President Bush kept America safe”.
I have sent this letter in response to every person I could think of…
Nov 05 2008
Ah, a bloggers work is never done!
Right this very moment the same blow-dried blowhards who bear as much responsibility for the last eight years as anyone besides Dick Cheney are attempting to spread their bullshit over the Change that our nation chose last night.
We were all worried about the Republicans stealing another election and We The People made damn sure that didn’t happen by turning out in record numbers. By giving Change a mandate. But now the pundits are attempting another kind of theft, they are trying to steal the election results. By defining what the election meant. And by trying to define what it meant, they are attempting to define what it will mean. The pundits are trying to steal the election from Change, and give it back to the status quo. They must be stopped!
Just as the blogs defined Sarah Palin in the days immediately following her selection and changed the media narrative from America’s Darling to dangerous extremist, we must now define this victory. Define it as the mandate for Change that it was. Define it as an American uprising. Define it as a new era, not as ‘just politics’ as they would like to. ONLY by establishing the narrative of Change do we win the results of the election. Only then can we achieve the full potential open to us, open to Change.
Things are NOT the same as they were before last night. The world Changed. The pundits will resist that Change because they are “in power,” and change threatens that power. They probably don’t even have the self-reflection to realize that, but it is real and they will react to it.
Their is a one word answer to the pundits right now and in the days to come and that word needs to be pounded into the ground.
Mandate.
Their is a short catchy phrase that must be repeated until we are all sick of it and then repeated some more.
Mandate for Change.
Do NOT, my friends, (!) let the pundits steal this election for the status quo. It belongs to US, to We The People. It belongs to Change.
Nov 04 2008
America’s Barack
It may be a little early, but I’m already getting ready to celebrate. But first, a short story about media cronyism.
Tomorrow is election day, children. It is one of the most cherished privileges of being an American citizen, and one of the most solemn responsibilities as well.
Many people take great pleasure from having the ability to help to choose who will lead our great nation, and they believe that by voting they are playing an important role in that choice. However, most are unaware that sometimes this process is not as straight forward as one might think.
After millions of well intentioned consumers citizens have gone to the polls to cast their votes, our friends in the media spend many minutes, and millions of dollars, figuring out who really won the election. They add up numbers given to them from computers and pollsters and other pundits, and when they are certain that they can make a reasonably close guess – BAM! – they announce it on television and America has a new president.
So where does this abundant and unregulated power reside?
Oct 22 2008
The harbingers of hope are Pollyannas. The oracles of doom are Haters. Those who define two Americas are jacking off with their Locksteppers.
Get your hip-waders on folks, America is talking Politics in an Election Year, with only 13 days to go!
Optimism? Pessimism? BAHHHHHHHH humbug.
Realism.
Oct 22 2008
The State newspaper printed a letter to the editor on October 20, 2008, entitled “Financial chaos a result of white guilt”. The letter, written by Mr. Hambrecht of South Carolina, is full of GOP talking points with one goal; to promote division. Not content to merely print the letter, The State newspaper saw fit to give Mr. Hambrecht’s letter its own page.
You can read his letter here.
Oct 10 2008
(crossposted from big orange)
A lot of us bemoan the state of the mainstream media. I don’t know much about TV, but I do read a lot. The typical newspaper and news magazine do not merit our consideration. Most local dailies, and magazines such as Time and Newsweek are badly written, badly edited, biased, and focus on things of truly monumental global importance like which rock star got busted for which drug charge.
What can we do?
Support the good stuff!
I read a lot. I’m liberal. I like literate writing, solid reporting, and in-depth analysis. The sort of stuff that a lot of people here on daily Kos write, and that most of the MSM doesn’t. But it’s not all darkness. If you want to read better writing, you have to support better writing. If the journals that publish what we want to read get more subscribers, then there will be more writing that we want to read.
Also, if you buy a product because you saw it in a progressive media spot, tell the company. That will help sell more ads. And, if, perchance, you like to read or look at right wing stuff….. well, you could write to advertisers in those media and say you won’t buy their stuff because they advertise there.
On to the list:
Magazines:
My vote for best magazine in America goes to Mother Jones. Month after month, they have hard-hitting, well-written and well-researched articles covering things you might not find other places, or giving depth to stories that get a paragraph, elsewhere.
Foreign Affairs– All about diplomacy, international relations, and so on. More conservative than me, but then, most things are. Mostly lengthy, scholarly articles about topics by renowned experts.
Economist – A newsmagazine from England. Also more conservative than I am, but superb writing, in depth coverage, very good stuff. Time and Newsweek – phooey. This is a newsmagazine for knowledgeable, intelligent people. But remember that they’re slanted
Hightower Lowdown Jim Hightower. Nuff said.
Wilson Quarterly in depth, scholarly writing on a wide variety of topics
Atlantic Monthly I’ve not read this.
Harper’s I sometimes read this.
der Spiegel I’ve not read this — a brief look seems to show a good but not necessarily leftist, magazine focusing on Europe
the Nation I used to subscribe…. but, while it’s good, it’s a little too irritating. Last month, Geenius at work said that “it puts you into a state of outrage overload very fast” which I think is my problem with it, too
The American Prospect Another one I’ve not read
UTNE reader describes itself thus: “Utne Reader and Utne.com are digests of independent ideas and alternative culture. Not right, not left, but forward thinking”. I do read this one, the problem I have with it is just that it is a digest. It summarizes things well, but then you have to do more research.
The Progressive looks really good. I’ve recently subscribed.
New Republic describes itself as “A journal of politics and the arts”
New Left Review is a British journal that offers (in its words): “Sharp, scholarly, analysis, interviews, and book reviews”
Le Monde Diplomatique is French (you guessed, didn’t you?) and mostly about world affairs
Yes!”supporting you in building a just and sustainable world is yet another I haven’t read. It seems more action-oriented than some of the others, and that’s good.
The New Yorker I read this very occasionally, when I see it in a waiting room or something. It looks really good … and, of course, there are the cartoons
National Geographic is another that I never got into reading. But it has good, in-depth articles with extensive reporting.
Newspapers:
I read the NY Times. It’s not as good as it could be, but it’s among the best we’ve got.
Many like the Wall Street Journal (but not the editorial page!)
And some mentioned the Washington Post
Funny Times is political comedy with a liberal slant. Not news, but funny.
Television:
I don’t watch TV…. but there’s obviously Olberman