"The Murican people have decided" the South shall rise again! Yee Haw!

Credit: AP/Dave Martin

Before I type another world let me say republicans could not have gained control of the Senate without the help of democrats who would rather lose than support a black man, or black people.  As a matter of fact, that's kinda how we got into this mess in the first place.  Remember when the Congressional Black Caucus tried in vain to contest the 2000 election results and not one white Senator would support them?  I'm just saying...

Black folks were made to believe if they got out and voted in massive numbers like they did in 2008 and 2010, they could save the Senate.  But it was a set up.  Between gerrymandering, court sanctioned voter suppression, and Citizens United, black voters didn't stand a chance of saving the Senate.  Black voters were being set up to take the blame.  But that dog won't hunt.

It's not black voters fault white voters can't stand the idea of an African American male being President of the United States of America.  The only African Americans republicans like are republican African Americans.

The person who could have saved the Senate is soon to be Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D.NV) who could have pulled the nuclear trigger on the filibuster, putting an end to the organized GOP obstruction, but that would have been too much like right.  Pun intended.

We have to give the white, male dominated media their props too.  Thanks to the dark (pun intended) money, republicans were able to fund an effective, methodical, truth-be-damned 24/7 media blitz.  The public airways were filled with republicans, unfair and unbalanced, distorting what we decide, with all spin all the time.

So now that the Suckers have spoken, what are they going to do?

Are they going to start impeachment proceedings, or are they going to dismantle the Affordable Health Care Act?

Are they going to send our troops and treasure to war to spread freedom and democracy to the Middle East?

Are they going to shut down the IRS, the Department of Education, and the Energy Department?

Are they going to send all them there illegals back to Mexico?

Are they going to bring back Slavery?

Are they going to take away a woman's right to have a safe legal abortion?

Are they going to privatize social security?

Are they going to ship jobs overseas?

Are they going to let the banks fail and the stock market crash?

Or, are they going to work with the man and the party they ran against and govern?

Time will tell the truth.

Redeye's Week in Review

November 2,2010 the day our democracy teetered and fell into the abyss of hopelessness and despair. OK, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but I really don't believe the American people fully realize the implications of what happened Tuesday. In their haste to put President Obama and Nancy Pelosi in their places America was sold to highest bidder under the guise of "Taking our country back". They are taking our country back all right. Back to deficits. Back to all war all the time. Back to tax cuts for the rich. Back to Scooter Libby Justice, Karl Rove politics and Heck of job incompetence. Back to the days of deregulation. Back to the days of states rights. Back to the days of separate but equal. Yep...back to the future here we come! Yee Haw!

They've taken back their country so now do they want all of those of us they hate so much to leave their country?

You get what you voted for.

For all you teabaggers running around talking about ’socialized medicine’ and ‘ Obamacare’, when the GOP brings up giving you a voucher for your Medicare services, STFU.

For all you in Kentucky, when the next mining disaster happens and a group of folks winds up dead, when Senator Paul tells you that it’s ok for a few peasants to die in order to maximize the profits of the Mining companies, STFU.


For all you ‘recently unemployed’ folks who don’t seem to be able to find a job, and are receiving unemployment, when that runs out on the ‘good American’ that you are, and you realize that the GOP says, ‘ too bad’ and won’t extend unemployment benefits, STFU.

For all of you in Michigan who had your asses saved because the Government wouldn’t let the American auto industry die in this country – whatever the GOP does to you, too bad.

For all you parents who have a child with a pre-existing condition, and thought your worries were over because health care had passed and still voted for the GOP, STFU.

When you don’t have a pot to piss in, and you voted for mofos who basically want you to live as 3rd World Serfs, whatever happens to you – STFU.

Let us not forget to thank the media enablers for providing the getaway car for the hijacking of Hope for CHANGE we can believe in. None of this would have happened if they hadn't enabled the gop to portray President Obama as a Kenyan born Muslim miserable failure, and Nancy Pelosi as the Wicked Witch of the West. The media enablers continue to spin the results of Tuesday's election as proof the majority of the American people believe President Obama should move to the right. That's straight up Bull poo. The right was rejected, renounced and repudiated two years ago by the majority of the American people. White, so called moderate voters aren't the majority of the American people, they are the majority of the people who were motivated, for whatever reason, to vote in the midterms. The majority of the American people were not motivated to vote in the midterms and for that I blame the Obama administration for letting the media set the agenda and not effectively communicating his accomplishment/agenda with the American people.

Psst! President Obama I tried to tell you back in January this day was coming. Sometimes a loss is a victory.

Do you think loosing a filibuster proof majority in the Senate will be a wake up call to the democratic party? (We the people did our part and they squandered it).

Do you think they are going to continue doing the same old stuff hoping for a different result? (Losing in Virginia and New Jersey didn't tell them anything?)

Do you think they are going to grow a spine? (Never underestimate the power of fear and racism)

Do you think they are going to keep silencing progressive voices and criticism? (Put voices from the democratic wing of the democratic party on TeeVee and radio, bring out the big guns and stop taking a kitchen knife to the gunfight)

Do you think they are going to keep rewarding failure and continue to appoint and promote the Brownie's who managed and directed this heck of a job disaster? (We WON with Howard Dean, remember?)

Do you think they are going to continue to misunderestimate the power of the new and improved teabagger infused gop and their media enablers? (Enuff said)

Do you think they are going to continue to let the media and the pollsters spin the message and turn the winners into losers and the losers into winners? (Democrats WON in November, remember?)

Do you think they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, or do they have an escape plan? (Is it time to get rid of the filibuster?)

If tonight's loss strikes fear in the belly of the democratic party then tonight's loss is a victory. If it's doesn't then we're all in trouble.

It's official Sweet Home Alabama seceded from the Union this week. Just kidding. Seriously, the republicans now control the Legislature, The Governors office, the Supreme Court and the Attorney Generals office. Which means we'll probably see more democrats investigated and convicted of corruption. Grown a$$ people still can't gamble with their own damn money in Alabama. Residents in the Black Belt won't have them there evil gambling jobs and they won't get no daggumn welfare either! Residents in Perry County will continue to have toxic ash waste dumped on them. Alabama school children will continue to have separate but unequal schools. Government contracts and government jobs will dry up in Huntsville. The Alabama Education Association will be demolished. Joe Reed, Hank Sanders will probably be indicted for being black, I mean corruption. If Alabamians get sick they probably won't have access to health care. Students can't go to college, but heck they don't need no stinking education to get a job at.... But hey, that what we get for not electing Artur Davis as the republican, I mean democratic nominee, we could have at least put a black face on the situation. Yes that was a snark.

Well at least we have a Governor who is ready, willing and able to work for free, a Congressman from the 5th district who might or might not support earmarks, and a state Senator who has vowed to take out the trash in Montgomery.

Keep hope alive y'all, keep hope alive. There are some rough weeks ahead.

Redeye's Midterm Election Blogstroll

I don't know why we bother to have elections. The media has already determined the outcome. Yes that was a snark.

A friend just called to ask me for advice/information on the ballot amendments. Specifically they wanted to know if there was an amendment about gambling on the ballot. I told them if they were against gambling don't gamble but don't try and legislate what grown a$$ men/women do with their own darn money. I told them if gambling is legal it doesn't mean the government is going to force you to gamble if you don't want to.

I refuse to believe a majority of the American people are going to punish President Obama and the democratic party for giving them access to quality, affordable health care, saving the country from a depression with the bank bailouts, giving the middle class a tax cut and stimulating the economy. If the majority of the American people are stuck on stoopid and to give the keys to the car back to the gop we deserve to stay in the ditch they drove us into in the first place. It's like the battered wife who stays with her abusive spouse because he bought her some new teeth after knocking the old ones out.

Uh, remember the last gop majority?

Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is charged with illegally funneling corporate money to help elect GOP candidates to the Texas Legislature.

The Republican was indicted in 2005 on charges he illegally sent $190,000 in corporate money through the Republican National Committee to help elect GOP Texas legislative candidates in 2002.

Those who forget the past.....

A new isolationism is metastasizing in the American body politic. At its heart lies not an urge to avoid war, but an urge to avoid contemplating the costs and realities of war. It sees war as having analgesic qualities - as lessening a collective feeling of impotence, a collective sense of fear and terror. Making war in the name of reducing terror serves this state of mind and helps to preserve it. Marked by a calculated estrangement from war's horrific realities and mercenary purposes, the new isolationism magically turns an historic term on its head, for it keeps us in wars, rather than out of them.

Speaking of ballot iniatives, take a look at 7 right wing ballot inititives that could ruin our democracy for decades to come

Anti-tax initiatives are dangerous -- it’s easy to get people who are hurting economically to vote for lower taxes, but hard to get them to think about long-term effects.

There are 11 races where black voters can make a difference , now do you understand the demise of ACORN and the rise of the Tea Party?

People who believe their vote does not make a difference may be encouraged to know that in many close contests across the U.S., they have the power to sway the direction of the race.

There is a general consensus emerging that many voters of color are lacking enthusiasm this election season, with minority voters not expected to go to the polls with nearly the same level of participation as they did in 2008 -- when President Obama was on the ballot. Nevertheless, African-Americans are well positioned to affect the outcome of as many as 20 House races, and 14 contests for Senate and Governor, according to David Bositis of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Watch Civil Right Icon and Representative John Lewis tell us Why We Vote then got off your Donkey's and VOTE.

If someone in your life ain’t ready to vote after this vid, well, then you may just have to hogtie em and drag em down bodily to cast that ballot! (just kidding, don’t hurt nobody, y’all)

The only thing standing between the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party taking control of our government is Y-O-U!

Pigskin and Politics at Legion Field 2nd Edition

Per tradition I spent last weekend tailgating at historic Legion Field in Birmingham, AL attending the Magic City Classic Football game, aka The Coal Bowl. The Magic City Classic is one of those vestiges of segregation that continues today, continues tomorrow, and hopefully will continue forever.

The Magic City Classic is an annual football game between Alabama's two largest, historically black universities: Alabama A&M University (Normal) and Alabama State University (Montgomery). The first game between the two schools was played in 1924. It has been an uninterrupted, annual tradition since 1945 and played at Legion Field in Birmingham since 1946. After winning the 2009 match up, Alabama A&M enjoys a 35-30-3 all-time advantage.

In addition to the actual game, the event is known for a glamorous parade and a raucous "Battle of the Bands" between the respective schools' marching bands. Other events include a kickoff luncheon, pre-game entertainment, and abundant weekend tailgating outside the stadium.

This is the second edition of Pigskin and Politics which I believe was the beginning of the end of my front page privileges at right leaning Left in Alabama but I digress.:) You can't have a football game/tailgate in Birmingham, Alabama without the talk turning to politics. It's what we do in Sweet Home Alabama. Last year we were hopefully optimistic Barack Obama would be elected President. This year we are fired up and ready to VOTE like our lives depend on it so the Tea Baggers won't put that uppity Barack Obama in his place. I don't know who the polling pollsters are polling but to para quote Rev. Jesse Jackson,Sr. there is more coffee in the pot that tea in the kettle. Meaning there are more black voters in Louisiana, Florida, California and South Carolina alone than there are tea baggers. For some reason the polling pollsters don't believe black folks will get out and vote in the mid terms because President Obama is not on the ballot.

Has anyone but me noticed the TeeVee Talking Pundit Heads are calling the election before a single vote has been cast not to mention counted? What's up with that? What do they know that we don't know? We might as well stop having elections and let the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads select the winners, you know like the Supreme Court did in 2000. As a matter of fact, what have the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads been right (no pun) about lately if ever? These are the same people who let Bush and Dick send our troops to war based on DEAD WRONG Intelligence.

Few cannot rule the many, which is exactly what's happening in America because the majority of the American people won't get off their Donkeys and VOTE. One thing I'll say about the minority they play to win and they always bring their A game. The majority of the American people need to WTFU and smell the coffee before it's too late. For example Karl Rove's American Crossroads groups is running ads against Sanford Bishop of Georgia saying he voted to give millions of stimulus dollars to prisoners blah blah blab blab. The democrats come back with an ad that says Bishop is for the second amendment and against gay marriage, instead of saying Karl Rove is a big fat liar. Trust democrats to carry a butter knife to a gunfight. Sigh.

If I hear another republiklan say they want to "cut government spending" after borrowing and spending us into a multi trillion dollar deficit I'm going to scream. If I hear another republican ask where are the jobs after sending jobs over seas and voting against the jobs bill I'm going to scream. If I hear another republican say they want to keep the Bush tax cuts for the rich which is really a tax shift from the rich to the middle class I'm going to scream. If the American people give these Jokers the keys to the car again we will deserve the ditch we will be driven into.

The United states claims to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. My daddys says after November 2, the world will see us for who we really are instead of who we claim to be.

The economy affected the Magic City Classic this year. The crowds were down, the Tailgate lot was not as full, the parade was smaller, and there were less vendors. I didn't hear one person blame President Obama for the economy, but I heard plenty of people blaming the republicans for not letting him fix it.

Speaking of the parade, democratic gubernatorial candidate Ron Sparks did it up right (pun intended). He had a Ron Sparks billboard RV and several cars in the parade. Campaign workers passed out Ron Sparks Golden Flake Chips along with Ron Sparks bottled H20. he was also introduced during half time and made an appearance in the AAMU and ASU Sky box.

The economy must not be affecting Alabama Power because they presented each school with checks for $10,000 for their scholarship funds. I wonder how much they give The University of Alabama and Auburn University?

Even republican candidates see the Coal Bowl as the opportunity to pander, I mean woo African American voters. Dr. Death, I mean Robert Bentley showed up. I heard fans were upset they had to clear the way for his entourage to the sky box elevator. Overheard: Well at least he came at the right time of year.
Huh?
It's Halloween and he looks like a scarecrow.
Also overheard regarding Bentley: He's a really nice guy he just got hooked up with the wrong party.

Big Luther Strange and republican AG nominee was also in the sky box. Luther is big but not strange at all. He will proudly tell you he is 6'9 and appeared to also be a really nice guy but member of the wrong party. I wonder when the really nice guys/gals are going to take their party back from the really mean guys/gals?

Democrats in Birmingham sure know how to fight fire with the fire. The radio ad war in Birmingham is brutal. *Snicker* I heard one that said para quoting Robert Bentley and Bob Riley are liars. Riley pushed for and Bentley voted for one of the largest tax increases in Alabama history, and Robert Bentley lied in your face about taking money from AEA. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Last year I said:

Most of my friends and family are getting impatient with President Obama. They are still waiting for things to change. My daddy says if things don't start picking up, people are going to start picking up things. The banks still aren't loaning money. Credit card companies are still raising interest rates, mortgage foreclosures are still on the rise. Jobs are still being outsourced over seas. The public option is in jeopardy. Our troops are still dying and being maimed and wounded for life in Iraq and Afghanistan. The unemployment rate for African Americans is 15% and getting higher. The justice department is still the Injustice department. Might as well still have Bush and Dick

This year I say;
Most of my friends and family realize the republicans blocked President Obama's agenda because they want him to fail. We realize things won't change until we send the republicans packing so  we are going to vote for CHANGE we can believe in again. We are going going to vote like our lives depend on it.

Redeye

Redeye's Week in Review

O-M-G. The right christian conservative Alabama republican party is standing in the need of much prayer. The Rev. Wesley is doubtless spinning in his grave with sufficient velocity to register on the seismograph at nearby King’s College.

Wesley’s eternal rest has certainly been disturbed by the actions of one of his ministers in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. This comes about because the contest for the seat in House District 12 features not one, but two ordained Methodist ministers. The Democratic incumbent, the Rev. Rep. James Fields, made national news, being noted in The New York Times. This spotlight came because Fields, an African American, won the seat in a 2008 special election in a district that is 98% white. Fields is a retired state employment service staffer who is active as a Methodist minister.

Field Negro notes it's that time again...

As we get closer to November 2nd, his O ness and the dems are making their usual push for votes from the usual suspects. Old reliable. Black folks. Truth is, if black folks actually get out and vote come Tuesday, that well touted republican tsunami will be more like a huge wave.

What's the matter with Florida democrats? Is the possibility of an African American Senator just too much for them to swallow? Instead of pressuring Kendrick Meeks to drop out of the race they should be pressuring Charlie Crist to drop out and throw his support to Meeks. But nooooo, that would be too much like right (pun intended). White Florida democrats would rather lose than support a black man. We shall overcome someday. Sigh* Kendricks Meeks was right (no pun) not to quit. He is the kind of democratic candidate/elected official I wish we had instead of the democratic candidates/elected officials we have.

Meek showed a lot of backbone in declining the suggestion. I have no doubt it was tempting. After all, Clinton could argue that unless Meek got out (and endorsed Crist), the Republican will win. Presumably, Meek could be blamed for electing Rubio. Quitting could make him a "hero," while refusing to bow out could make him seem selfish or stubborn.

But Meek made the right move for his party and for his career.

First, it's important to note that Meek's exit might have also impacted the Florida gubernatorial campaign, which is very tight. Depressing the Democratic base -- especially African-Americans who are likely to turn out for Meek -- could have cost Democrats the governorship (an especially big deal this year as states are about to reapportion and redistrict congressional seats).

What's more, quitting now would be a disservice to all the Democrats who contributed financially to, and volunteered for, Meek. And never mind all the people who may have already "wasted" their votes on him during early voting.

But it's also important to note that this was the right move for Kendrick Meek, too. As Winston Churchill said, "Nations which went down fighting rose again, but those which surrender tamely are finished." I suspect the same could be said for political candidates.

Uh Oh, here comes the race baiting gop to Meeks rescue.

MEEK'S REPUBLICAN CHAMPIONS EMERGE.... It was always the scenario Republicans feared. The only development likely to prevent Marco Rubio (R) from winning Florida's U.S. Senate race fairly easily is if Kendrick Meek (D) stepped aside, and his supporters shifted to Gov. Charlie Crist (I). And as we learned overnight, as of a week ago, that very nearly happened.

But now that the deal appears to have fallen through, Republicans have a new message: the entire effort is evidence of some kind of racism. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement:

"President Clinton's actions to have Kendrick Meek withdraw from the campaign sends a chilling signal to all voters, but especially African Americans. One can only imagine the response if Republican leadership tried to force out of the race -- in the 11th hour -- a qualified black candidate like Kendrick Meek."

I can only shake my head...

party unity isn't something that just happens, it requires communication, a certain amount of give and take and respect for a diversity of opinions says the person who banned me from the front pages of right leaning Left in Alabama. Big D Democrat Representative Randy Hinshaw called for democrats to circle the wagons and pull together in November. With all due respect to Rep. Hinshaw, it's kind of hard to support a party that takes your vote for granted. I am the kind of democrat that always votes a straight ticket, but I'm putting party leadership on notice, this is the last year I will vote for candidates who pander to the right at the expense of the base to get elected then govern like republicans. I will either under vote or write in a name. I'm tired of being thrown under the bus. If I wanted a republican representative I would vote republican. You got that? What CPL said;

What I'm really not liking is that our votes are being used as food stamps - then we get flung under the bus when the elections are over.

We don't get seats at the table; we have virtually no input in policy making; but they want us to get the hell out and vote like we have influence on outcomes. We DO; don't get me wrong, but I'm tired of being called up like some kind of trick - good for a vote and nothing more.

gop state Senator Paul Sandford lost no time in using the recent bribery convictions for his political gain. He is running TeeVee ads dressed in a black apron pushing a wheelbarrow full of black trash bags and dumping them in a dumpster. Uh, who are you calling "trash" Senator Sanford? Democrats? Black democrats? Using convictions for political gain are nothing new for Sanford, he used Sue Schmitz conviction in his previous race. Speaking of Sue Schmitz she will celebrate her 65th birthday on November 3, 2010. In honor of her birthday please Vote for democrats on November 2 and send her a birthday card to let her know we remember her for her contributions and her public service on behalf of ALL the constituents in her district.

SUZANNE L SCHMITZ
#26831-001
FMC LEXINGTON
SATELLITE CAMP
P.O. BOX 14525
LEXINGTON, KY 40512

I will be off line this weekend attending the Coal Bowl at Legion Field. Full report when I return.

VOTE like your lives depend on it.

The Fear Factor

I don't know about you but I'm skeered not to vote on November 2, 2010.


I'm skeered people who think it's OK to wrestle a woman down and stomp on her head because she's a liberal will be in charge of our government.

I'm skeered gun-toting Tea Partiers and curb stompers will be in control of our government.

I'm skeered the Alabama State House will be controlled by legislators who think it's OK to punch their political adversaries in the face.

I'm skeered our government will be controlled by the Adult Bully's who think it's OK to trample on Constitutional Rights for political gain.

I'm skeered the United States Senate will be controlled by Senators who have liberal bloggers arrested because they are liberals.

I'm skeered the United States House of Representatives will be controlled by Representatives who want to repeal the health care reform bill.

I'm skeered our country will be controlled by Tea Party Loyalist who are biased against Blacks, Latinos, immigrants and Gays.

I'm skeered our School Boards will be controlled by members who think like this and consider the AEA and the NEA the enemy.

I'm skeered our country is going to be controlled by Climate Deniers.

I'm skeered our country is going to be controlled by legislators who compare Black People to Dogs on Welfare.

I'm skeered our country will be controlled by a party that is not big on preparation, or, well, work.

I'm skeered our country will be controlled by the reactionary rather than the rational.

"Now, more than ever, we need rationality in the U.S. Senate -- we need people
who are fighting for real solutions, not those fighting to stop progress."~

"This is 2010 -- a year that Democrats passed historic health insurance reform,
put in place the strongest consumer protections ever proposed, and enacted
legislation that provides tax cuts and expanded credit for small businesses.
It's a year that we've spent going to work for the American people while
Republicans have done everything they could to block our progress."

I'm skeered Congress will be controlled by the people who sent our sons and daughters to war based on DEAD WRONG Intelligence again.

Skeered yet?

VOTE!

They must think we are stoopid~Voice for the voiceless edition

GrannyStandingforTruth asks; Are Americans Plum Crazy?

Either Americans are plum crazy or the news media is deceiving the people. There is no way in the world that people in their right mind that if a snake bite them once that they would want it to bite them again. That just isn't logical I don't care how you look at it.

Hate is a powerful emotion (warning language)

If you were a United States Congressman or Senator, what would be your priorities?

Would it be the welfare and overall good will of your constituents? Would it be the security of the country you took an oath to protect? Would you want your people to be gainfully employed?

What about education for all the youth in your assigned area?
Or maybe you might want to stop corruption within your ranks so that the perception that the average person has of politicians would change for the better?

Or would the hate and disdain you hold for the man that sits in the seat you want outweigh what it is you took an oath to do?

It couldn't happen to a nicer pack of dogs. Well duh!

This is what progressives have been telling the Blue Dogs for two years. We're not going to lose, you are. If you want to win elections in conservative areas of the country, you have to stand up for what you believe in. You have to sell your ideas to your constituents. You can't just stick up for the pharmaceutical, insurance, and financial services industries. Their money is helpful, but people have Republicans to vote for if they want to serve corporate America. Watering down progressive population made it unpopular even on the left, and now voters don't even care if the candidates voted for it, so long as their party did.

Voter suppression republican style.

If you can't beat 'em, suppress 'em

Here we go again...

During the 2008 presidential election cycle, various voter suppression schemes emerged aimed at locking minority voters out of the political process. Those efforts included a "Lose Your Home, Lose Your Vote" scheme that turned on the use of foreclosure lists to challenge voter eligibility at the polls. "Vote caging," a scheme in which groups use lists compiled from undelivered mass mailings to challenge eligibility inside the polls, was also prevalent. The use of foreclosure lists and caging schemes are all unreliable efforts aimed at locking eligible voters out of the ballot box. Successful litigation brought on the eve of the presidential election helped shut some of these efforts down.

Unsurprisingly, efforts to restrict voter access have taken a turn for the worse this midterm election cycle, creating a racially-charged atmosphere in a number of places.

Groups purporting to combat vote fraud have intensified their efforts and many have unveiled plans to deploy hundreds of poll watchers to polling sites in several states on Election Day. Some groups have already dispatched watchers in states with early voting periods.

One Redeye rant leads to another Redeye rant~a blast from the past.

I wasn't asking goppers and righty's WTF was wrong with the democratic party etc., but I'm glad they responded because their answers were very insightful, and now we know exactly W, T, F, we are dealing with. So now that we know, WTF are we going to do about it?

VOTE!

How are republicans planning to steal the midterm elections?

Seriously, why would voters reward the the party that got us into this mess and obstructed the cleanup?

How can the gop win without the African American vote?


How can the gop to win without the Latino vote?

Those ads by a right-wing front group called "Latinos for Reform" -- urging Latinos no to vote for Democrats in the coming election because they haven't delivered on comprehensive immigration reform -- may not be turning out to be such a hot idea:

But the fever-pitch backlash to this advertisement suggests the message could bring about just the opposite effect, by energizing a Hispanic voting bloc that may have been lethargic with a new and compelling reason to get out and vote — by and large, for Democrats.

The Silent Majority is sick and tired of the Tea Bagger noise machine.

So, just who is this Silent Majority? I'll tell you.

They are the quiet men and women in the grocery line when the right-wing cranky woman starts gassing her lunacy out loud about President Obama being a Muslim, being born in Kenya, or hating white people, or that he is cozy with terrorists.

They are parents, who attend school sports events with their kids, and are forced to endure hearing that same old, cranky man in the bleachers talking loudly -- and always loud enough so everyone can hear him -- about that "god-damned Nancy Pelosi" and the Democrats for socializing our health-care" and "taking away our constitutional rights".

This new Silent Majority of Americans includes not just whites, blacks, asians, latinos, but also families that are blessedly mixed racially, and who have a gay child, brother, sister, aunt or uncle that they love dearly. These Americans may not speak up in that grocery line or at the sports event, for not wanting to embarrass their children or because it's just not how they behave. But, believe me, their silence is deadly.

How can the gop win without the middle class?


How can the gop win without women?

How can the gop win without labor?

Is the gop counting on there being more angry white male voters than progressive voters?

Progressives haven't been hating on anything (excepting Rahm Emanuel); we've been begging the government to help people who are going bankrupt because of medical bills, who are losing their homes because they've lost their jobs, who can't even begin to pay for their kids to go to college. Progressives haven't been bashing the military, we've been begging our country to get back on the right track on civil and human rights, and to hold those accountable who took us down the wrong path. If we hate anything, it's needless human suffering. We haven't been railing against productivity and success, but against theft and a rigged game where the big bettors cannot lose.

We've been warning people that it's wrong to take our your pain and insecurities on the insecure who are in pain.

Is the gop planning to resort to the tried true voter fraud meme?

Playing off right-wing fears of rampant voter fraud, conservative groups are exhorting activists to film and photograph unseemly activity at the polls, question voters' citizenship, and follow suspect vehicles to keep the election from being stolen. Voting rights advocates now worry that such instructions—which are at the heart of the right's expansive poll-watching campaign—could encourage harmful and possibly illegal activity.

If you believe the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads and the Polling Pollster who Poll them, a majority of the American people are going to give the keys to the car back to the party that drove the country into the ditch. Now why would we the people do something stoopid like that? I mean, really?

The more things change, the more they stay the same in Sweet Home Alabama

Five African Alabama workers say they were ordered to vote republican and President Obama was threatend at their workplace here in the land of cotton. Talk about a hostile working enviroment. Thank goodness we don't have to depend on the *ahem* traditional media to keep us informed about what's happening in Dixie besides the so called Bingo/democratic culture of corruption and cronyism *snark*. God forbid the MSM investigate and report on some some real cronyism and corruption.
H/T Deep Harm

Mon Oct 18, 2010 at 08:41:34 AM PDT
In recently filed lawsuits, five black employees of Altec Industries, in Birmingham, Alabama, say they were ordered to attend a rally at the firm for Sen. Jeff Sessions (Republican) in October 2008, were given pre-marked ballots, and ordered to vote Republican.

The workers add, in separate federal complaints, that when Barack Obama was elected president, "an employee drew cross hairs or a target on a picture of President Obama and posted it in the workplace." (Courthouse News, October 18, 2010)
Altec is described as a "holding company for a global manufacturer of aerial lifts, digger derricks, truck-mounted cranes and specialty equipment for the electric utility, telecom and contractor industries."

Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. - James Russell Lowell

Get 10 people you know to commit to vote Democratic on November 2; and ask them to each seek 10. ~blogvirgin

Part of being President is
Recommended by:FreeStateDem
understanding that you represent more than your base, something the Republicans have never mastered, which is how they ended up being so corrupt. The people who advise you on Wall Street, for instance, should be the people who know Wall Street from the dirty side of the tracks. The people who advise on keeping jobs here need to be the people who exported those jobs in the first place. What's the reason they did it? Is it simple greed, or a decision to keep the company alive in a global economy? If it's a business decision to keep a flailing business alive, who knows better than the owner of the flailing business what weakened their position? How are you going to know what's driving people if you never talk to them?

The world isn't that simple: evil greedy conservatives vs caring, responsible Progressives. There's a lot of evil out there on both sides, and a lot of caring. It's too easy to make this us vs them on every front. We're in a process of enormous change on a huge number of levels, and change engenders fear in human beings - we go back to lizard brain if the fear is strong enough. President Obama is smart enough and has a long enough vision to understand that this is way beyond partisan politics, capitalism, socialism, even campaign funding issues. Societies that can't adapt when the world around them is in flux don't survive. We're at survival point now, and that makes us as scared as the conservatives are.

Simple answers and quick fixes won't move us into the 21st Century. A good solid Democratic win in November would make a huge difference, and that's what I hope all of us are focused on right now.

by I love OCD

This is why we must VOTE on November 2, 2010.~Redeye

If democrats lose blame it on black voters

The script is already written; Democrats lost the majority in congress. Blame it on them there trifling black voters. I can already hear the post election, armchair quarterbacks and Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads blaming black folks because the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party is in control of the government again. They are counting on black folks not showing up at the polls because "Obama is not on the ticket" and everyone knows they only showed up to vote for the black guy. *Snark*

Democrats know black voters hold the fate of the democratic majority in their hands and turnout is the key. Republicans also know their fate is in the hands of black folks, that's why they are already planning stuff like THIS. But I digress.

Democrats' hope could depend on black voter turnout

ATLANTA --- How Georgia Democrats fare in next month's election could depend on whether black voters show up at the polls.

Observers say turnout will be especially key among African-Americans, who turned out in record numbers two years ago across the country to elect President Obama. Obama's absence on the ballot, combined with an overall lack of interest in the midterm vote, will likely mean waning black support this year for Democratic candidates.

Democrats courting black voters in midterm elections

While President Obama's approval rating among African-Americans remains high, Democrats have voiced concerns that his popularity may not translate into votes come November's midterm elections.

The party has an added worry in that, historically, midterm elections generate smaller voter turnout than in presidential election years. The level of African-American votes Obama won in 2008, which was abnormally high, may be all but impossible to recreate during this less popular election season.

Bright's fate may depend on black voter turnout (Ain't this a dip?)

WASHINGTON -- The fate of Democrats in 20 competitive House races, including Rep. Bobby Bright, could rest on how many black voters show up at the polls on Election Day, a new report says.

Bobby not so Bright republican is the perfect example of candidates who run on the democratic ticket to take advantage of black voters and after they win govern like republicans. Bright voted with the republicans on 13 out of 15 major issues. Black democratic voters didn't vote for that. Democratic women didn't vote for that. Democratic labor voters didn't vote for that. If they had wanted that they would have voted for the republican candidate. Oh wait. They did. He's already saying he won't vote support Nancy Pelosi as SOH . Black democratic voters are damned if they do, damned if they don't vote for Bobby not so Bright republican. @#$%! And they wonder why black folks aren't excited about voting?

I blame the democratic leadership, specifically the DCCC, for the Bright fiasco. Their first mistake was letting Bobby Bright decide if he was going to run as a republican or a democrat. Psst! If a candidate has to decide which party he's a member of that should be your first clue. This is your second clue they are NOT a democrat;

A Southern Baptist deacon, Bright opposes abortion. He favors gun rights and once, angered by a crime wave, urged Montgomery citizens to buy firearms, learn how to use them, and do so when necessary. He champions the military in a region that is home to big installations. He frowns on taxes.

Their second mistake was not supporting the real, progressive democrat Cheryl Sable for US Congress.

I believe that Alabama is ready for positive change. I am the only candidate in this race who is promising something different. I have spent the better part of my life standing for equality and social justice. I fought for human rights in Alabama , and I will fight for justice in Washington. I have the background and qualifications to do a good job.

Hate to say it, but the democratic party takes black voters for granted. They need the black vote to get elected and to stay elected, but if they could figure out a way to accomplish either task without the black vote they would. What are black voters to do and where are black voters to go?

Can Democrats get the votes they need simply because they're not Republicans? You might think so in this presidential campaign. African-American and urban votes are critical to any Democratic victory. Bill Clinton won two terms without winning the most white votes. His margin was the overwhelming support of black voters. George Bush learned that lesson; that's why his campaigns spent so much effort suppressing the black vote in key states like Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. His victory margin was the tally of votes suppressed or uncounted.
Republicans are looking at another bloodbath in House and Senate elections next year -- the Presidential race is their great hope to hang onto some power and they will throw everything but the kitchen sink at it. Look at their committee fundraising if you don't believe me on that. Democrats can't afford to turn off African American voters -- or any other big chunk of our coalition -- if we want to win next November.

African American voters are the most loyal democratic voting block. The right to vote for African Americans is steeped in blood, sweat, tears, and pain. African Americans don't vote for candidates based on race, gender or sexual orientation. African American voters for candidates who share their INTERESTS.

Time and time again white democratic voters prove they will vote based on race/sex and against their INTEREST. For example,more Alabama white democrats voted for McCain/Palin than Obama/Biden in the 2008 Presidential election. More white democrats voted for Artur Davis than Ron Sparks in the Alabama democratic gubernatorial primary. Some would say it's because Davis didn't evoke a negative fear among whites. Based on the theory "the politicians that evoke negative fear among whites are those who have done the most for black representation in this state...especially Joe Reed. Hank Sanders and Richard Arrington have worked to increase political opportunity for blacks, but not at the expense of whites. Are you only liked by white voters if you water down the truth and ignore political reality?"

If democrats want to get African Americans out to vote they should start by working on their friends, neighbors, and co-workers now! Tell them to quit voting against their own interests. Black democrats will do our part, as we always do, so don't expect us to "take one for the team". In other words, give us something to vote for or we'll stay our Ebony Donkey's at home. The right NOT to vote for candidates who don't share our INTEREST is sacred to us too.

What I learned on the Sunday Talk Shows

Once upon a time I subscribed to Pundit Pap, a weekly, online analysis of the Sunday Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads. This is my version.

This is gop plan if they regain control of Congress in the midterm elections;

1. Repeal the health care reform bill.

2. Repeal the stimulus bill.

3. Maintain Bush's tax cut for the rich so they can/will hire people.

Translation;
The rich have access to health care, get richer, and the rest get the shaft.

Been there done that. It's all class warfare all the time.

It's not class warfare. Don't you dare call it class warfare. The Republicans may relentlessly pursue policies that favor the wealthy and hurt everyone else, but it most emphatically is not class warfare. The arbiters of appropriate political discourse will be most put out if you call it class warfare. You will not be welcome in the Village. You will not be invited to appear on the Sunday talk shows.

The gop solution for America is to Privatize It

The teabaggers and right wing party want to privatize the whole government! That is exactly what all this hollering about less government is really about. It is not just about cutting taxes for the rich, it's about making the pot sweeter for the future CEO's of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CORPORATION nicknamed Uncle Sam. This is what their future plans for America are if they get back in power.

Call it a conspiracy theory and go back to sleep.

Once upon a time, if The Birmingham News got out of line, the Birmingham Post-Herald was there to offer a contrary perspective. Likewise with The Huntsville News, and the historically Democratic Decatur Daily used to circulate more widely in Huntsville. (Things were less helpful in Mobile, where the Mobile Press and Mobile Register were co-owned by Newhouse even before their 1997 consolidation.) Even in the absence of alternate news sources from the Internet, these correctives kept a significant number of voters aware of alternate perspectives and narratives. But we now live in the age of the one-newspaper town.

The gop is pro life as long as it's in the womb. After that all bets are off and baby you are on your own.

On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) called for a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures, saying “it’s absolutely imperative that we keep people in their homes.” House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) disagreed strongly, however, saying he was “just perplexed” at Wasserman Schultz’s answer, and that “people have to take responsibility for themselves.”

Thought for the day courtesy of chris_i_am

"There is nothing that we cannot face together! There is nothing we cannot overcome together! There is nothing we cannot accomplish together! For together we are strongest! For together we are whole! For together we ARE VICTORIOUS...!"

Yes we can have HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in!

VOTE!

Tea for Two, Two for Tea

The ten commandments bagger version. h/t chris_i_am

I. Thou shalt talk about Christian principles, but not live by them.

II. Thou shalt attack opponents personally when you can't win on policies.

III. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, but be in favor of the death penalty.

IV. Thou shalt do nothing on principle and expect payment in kind.

V. Thou shalt give lip service to democracy while taking away civil
liberties.

VI. Profit is the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not put the people's interest
above those of your corporate contributors and personal greed.

VII. Thou shalt make sure fetuses have health coverage, but leave children
and babies behind.

VIII. Thou shalt bear false witness against your opponents and liberals, and
demonize them.

IX. Thou shalt run on a crazy town platform,and enact right-wing policies as
soon as possible.

X. Thou shalt call the media liberal, so that people forget that the media
is owned by corporations with a conservative fiscal agenda.

Saith I the TeaBagging Lord!
(Edited by author 1 day ago)

This is what we are up against.

This is what they believe.

President Obama (ObamaCare) wants to take money from people who work for it and give it to people who won't work.

Nancy Pelosi is the devil incarnate because she's Nancy Pelosi.

Democrats are the party of cronyism and corruption.

And they VOTE.....

Redeye's Week in Review

Get the rope! Light the torches! The Obama/Holder InJustice Department is cleaning up that there democratic culture of corruption and cronyism down here in Sweet Home Alabama with a couple of token republicans, independents and lobbyist thrown in for good measure. Yep, republicans are breathlessly salivating over the Bingo indictments and having multiple orgasms over the prospect of Milton McGregor and company spending lots of time at Club Fed. The spin is in.

Meanwhile under the radar...a Watchdog Groups Calls on Criminal Investigations and an IRS Audit of U.S. Chamber of Commerce over allegations of Foreign Money.
Hundreds Of Thousands Collected By Chamber To Influence Elections

Washington, DC--StopTheChamber.com, a group of watchdog organizations dedicated to corporate accountability, today renewed its calls for a criminal investigation and complete audit of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in light of yesterday’s stunning revelation that the Chamber has been actively soliciting money from foreign companies to influence American elections. In a report released yesterday, the non partisan Center for American Progress Action Fund found that the Chamber has been blatantly violating campaign finance laws not only by accepting money from foreign companies but also soliciting that money and then using it to try to influence U.S. Elections.

Race Baiting Radio Boy aka Dale Jackson (r. voter suppression with the state seal of approval) must really be desperate for ratings if he's going on location to Democratic Party Headquarters. I would rather run through hell with a pair of gasoline drawers than show up at Democratic Party Headquarters, or listen to his hate radio show myself, but y'all have fun. I hope radio boy shows up at the correct address. Oh wait, this might be another one of his *ahem* parody's.

Hallelujah! About 100 people from Alabama are traveling to Washington D.C. on October 30, 2010 to have their sanity restored! Please let them come back ready to fight the right wing noise machine, support the democratic nominee(s) and stop pandering to the right at the expense of the left. Amen.

This week, Elon James White provides what I believe to be the most persuasive and urgent articulation of the extreme importance of getting your Donkey out there and voting in this year’s election. H/T Jill Tubman Warning video contains the F word and it's not just for black people.

It’s not just the President who is under attack y’all…and yeah, it hasn’t all been perfect. Some things have happened that shouldn’t have happened. But overall it’s been pretty good and the Prez is working hard to pull America from the brink and get us back on track. The vision the Republicans and their Tea Party appears to involve some weird fetish for the America of the Founders….many of whom were active slave owners. If y’all can’t grasp the underlying significance of that fetish and have our President’s back, then you know what to do. Despite the fact that Barack Obama has not turned out to be a bacon-flavored magical unicorn avatar who can solve all America’s problems by appointing Professor Dumbledore to his cabinet — you betta vote (to crib a little RuPaul). Enthusiasm gap? Get over it. And vote.

Vote like your life depends on it.

Political Actions Committees are not the root of all evil

With all the talk about PAC's, lobbyist, vote buying and corruption I felt the need to be more informed about this issue. What I found out is that PAC's aren't the root of all evil, as a matter of fact to paraphrase Christine O'Donnell, they are you and me.

What/Who is a PAC?

A Political Action Committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation.[1] Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a matter of state and federal law. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, an organization becomes a "political committee" by receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election

Some call it legal money laundering;

Currently, special interests that want to finance a candidate's campaign without the public knowing about it use PACs to launder the money. Instead of giving directly to the candidate, the donor -- gambling interests, for instance -- gives it to a PAC, which then commingles the donation with other funds, which then gives it to another PAC, which then gives it to the candidate.

The candidate knows to whom he or she is beholden, but the process makes it virtually impossible for the public to follow the money trail.

That's not true, there is nothing that prevents the public from following the money.

When an interest group, union, or corporation wants to contribute to federal candidates or parties, it must do so through a PAC. These PACs receive and raise money from a "restricted class," generally consisting of managers and shareholders in the case of a corporation, and members in the case of a union or other interest group. The PAC may then make donations to political campaigns. PACs and individuals are the only entities allowed to contribute funds to candidates for federal office. Contributions from corporate or labor union treasuries are illegal, though they may sponsor a PAC and provide financial support for its administration and fundraising. Overall, PACs account for less than thirty percent of total contributions in U.S. Congressional races, and considerably less in presidential races.

Are PACs the problem or are Alabama's campaign fiance laws the problem?

Alabama's campaign finance laws are set up to hide the money trail. There are few limitations on contributions and those contributions are often laundered by unlimited money transfers from one PAC to another so you can't tell who is giving what to whom. I knew all that and was properly outraged, but I didn't realize SoS Beth Chapman's office is just a glorified stenography service for campaigns and PACs with no ability or responsibility to check the accuracy of reports.

Prior to the Citizens United Ruling, this was federal law;

Contributions by individuals to federal PACs are limited to $5,000 per year. It is important to note, however, that as a result of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision in SpeechNow.org v. FEC, PACs which make only "independent expenditures" (that is, advertisements or other spending that calls for the election or defeat of a federal candidate but which is not coordinated with a federal candidate or political party) are not bound by this contribution limit.

Corporations and unions may not contribute directly to federal PACs, though they may pay for the administrative costs of a PAC affiliated with the specific corporation or union. Corporate-affiliated PACs may only solicit contributions from executives, shareholders, and their families, while union-affiliated PACs may only solicit contributions from members. "Independent" PACs not affiliated with a corporation, union, or trade or membership association may solicit contributions from the general public but must pay their operating costs from these regulated contributions.

Federal multi-candidate PACs are limited in the amount of money they can contribute to candidate campaigns or other organizations:

at most $5,000 per candidate per election. Elections such as primaries, general elections and special elections are counted separately.
at most $15,000 per political party per year.
at most $5,000 per PAC per year.
Under federal law, PACs are not limited in their ability to spend money independently of a candidate campaign. This may include expenditures on activities in support of (or against) a candidate, as long as they are not coordinated with the candidate.

If two or more PACs share the same sponsoring organization, they are considered to be "affiliated" and their total donations are counted under aggregate limits, i.e. the total donations from all may not exceed $5,000 for a specific candidate in a given election.

Alabama has a long list of registered Political Action Committees from the Confederate Heritage PAC to the Alabama Federation of Democratic Women to The AL Marijuana Party.

I learned our elected officials have PACs via a 2008 CREW report.

Today, CREW released the most complete list of House members’ Political Action Committees (PAC) available to date. CREW research found that out of 432 House members: 232 have PACs, 133 House members do not have PACs, 67 House members’ offices refused to disclose an affiliation with a PAC, 113 Democrats have PACs, and 119 Republicans have PACs.

Legislation passed last year requires lobbyists to disclose their contributions to any entity "established, financed, maintained or controlled" by a member of Congress, but members of Congress do not have to identify their affiliation with PACs.

Is this about banning PAC to PAC transfers or is it about putting the screws to the Teachers Union (AEA) and so called gambling interest (Milton McGregor)? Based on my research I say it's the later.

District 5 Democratic Congressional nominee Steve Raby said it best;

Political Action Committees are a reality of politics.

In relation to the ongoing, pre election, BINGO, so called, vote buying in not so Sweet Home Alabama, what Ol' Fart said all the damn way;

This is, to put it succinctly, a political hatchet job. Also, next legislative session when your taxes are increased because Alabama has no money to meet it’s obligations, don’t cry to me about the burden. I’m not saying that a lottery or gaming is the panacea to resolve everything, it’s simply another revenue stream. Plus the 6,000 or so highly paid persons are back to work paying taxes.

You claim to be republicans, but you have forgotten the golden rule. For the free enterprise system to work, money has to change hands amongst a great number of people. Not just the high and mighty few.

PAC's help the little guy's and gals compete with the high and mighty few.

Whining whiners, Poverty, Health, Back Stabbers, Cowards and Doggy Doo, Oh My!

The Artur Davis, sore loser, farewell, whine tour goes on and on like the Energizer Bunny;

Having had four months to process the collapse of a 30-point lead in the polls into a 24-point loss in his race for governor, he's reached some conclusions. For all the early talk about whether whites would vote for a black to be governor, Davis now says he ran into racism in a primary that is dominated by black voters. He said he lost black votes because black political leaders -- who disliked Davis' centrist record and go-it-alone style -- successfully convinced black voters that a black couldn't win, and this black in particular shouldn't win.

Psst Artur! Don't try and blame black leadership for your miserable failure. Black leaders didn't tell you to pander to the right at the expense of the traditional base and to take black voters for granted. You can thank your white campaign advisers for that. And just maybe your loss had more to do with the state of your district and the fact you didn't have plan than it did your race and black leaders.

Alabama is one of 31 states that saw one-year increases in both the number and the percentage of the population living in poverty.

"It's not good news," said Jim Carnes, spokesman for the anti-poverty advocacy group Alabama Arise in Montgomery. "We're seeing record numbers on food stamps and insurance programs, and there really is a direct correlation -- as the poverty rate increases, government services have a greater demand."

The data shows 26 percent more households received food stamps in 2009 than in 2008. The median household income in the state also dropped 4.5 percent, from $42,408 to $40,489. Nationally, the drop was 2.9 percent, from $51,726 to $50,221. Only one state saw an increase: North Dakota.

For those who believe our Government can do no wrong check out the U.S. Government sponsored human medical experimentation from Tuskegee to Guatemala.

“The poorly educated black farmers in Alabama and the prisoners and mental patients in Guatemala had one important thing in common. They were not white.”

Deja Voodoo all over again in Sweet Home Alabama. Fool me once....can't fool me again.

If the people who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 were sending one central message, it probably went something like this: "Whatever you do, don't act like George W. Bush."

Those voters must feel like they've been stabbed in the back after recent events in Alabama. The Obama Department of Justice arrested 11 individuals on Monday in a gambling-related investigation that has been heavy handed, misguided, politically motivated, and strategically timed to affect an election--all of the attributes we came to expect from the Bush DOJ.

This is why the right fears Nancy Pelosi."We'll Tie The GOP with Corporate Cash Like Doggy Doo Stuck on your shoe" . This is what I'm talking about! Girl Power!

"Whenever you get hit with an overwhelming weight, you have to jujitsu it. So we want to turn it against them... I want to tattoo them right on to the Republican candidate," she said, smacking her hand for emphasis. "Big oil, big banks, big health insurance: We're going to tattoo you with that, so it's like doggy-doo stuck on your shoe. Wherever you go, people will know."

The democratic party doesn't stand for cowardice. One thing I will give the gop credit for is their unity and their courage. They stand behind their party right or wrong. You don't hear about them reaching across the aisle and voting with democrats. You don't hear of them bashing their leader. You don't hear of them helping democrats put their people in prison. Heck George W. Bush got them to send our troops to Iraq and Afghanistan without an exit plan. Hate to say it but maybe democrats need to borrow a spine from the gop.

What if Democrats hold on to their majorities? What if the same thing happens in 2010 that happened in 2006 and 2008? What would happen is that it would be game over for the Republican party. Anger is their only plan and if it fails then there is nothing else. Republicans are more vulnerable than they have ever been. If Democrats merely show up to vote this year then the Republicans are gone.

Get off your Donkey's and VOTE!

This is what One Nation looks like!

You won't see wall to wall, breathless coverage of the One Nation Working Together rally held in Washington D.C. today because it's not a bunch of Obama hating white folks waving their flags while they waive their rights. Nope, it's red, yellow, black and white Americans from red states and blue states coming together to reclaim The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and demanding the CHANGE we voted for.

One Nation Working Together
For Jobs, Justice and Education for All
WHO WE ARE
We are One Nation, born from many, determined to build a more united America – with jobs, justice and education for all.

We are young people, frustrated that society seems willing to spend more locking up our bodies than educating our minds, yet still we find ways to succeed and shine.

We are students and newly-returned veterans – persevering in the face of mounting debt – determined not to be the first generation to end up worse off than our parents.

We are baby boomers and seniors – who saw hope killed in 1968 and will not let the dream of a united America be taken from us again.

We are conservatives and moderates, progressives and liberals, non-believers and people of deep faith, united by escalating assaults on our reason, our environment, and our rights.

We are workers of every age, faith, race, sex, nationality, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability – who have suffered discrimination but never stopped loving our neighbors, or our nation.

We are American Indians and Alaska Natives – citizens of Native nations – who maintain our cultures, protect our sovereignty, and strength America’s economy.

We are the new immigrants, raising our children in the torchlight of the Statue of Liberty, while confronting the shadows that are bigotry and mass deportations.

We are the native born. We inherited the divided legacies of settlers and American Indians, black slaves and white and Asian indentured servants. And yet, in this moment of shared suffering, we rejoice in new found friendships and new alliances.

We are people who got thrown out – thrown out of our jobs, schools, houses, farms and small businesses – while Wall Street's wrongdoers got bailed out. We are families who pray every day – for peace and prosperity; for deliverance from foreclosures; for good jobs to come back to urban and rural America.

We are unemployed workers – forced to watch hopes for bold action dashed – because some Senators threaten filibusters, and other would-be champions fold in fear.

And yet, we are the majority – fueled by hope, not hate. We have the pride, power and determination to keep ourselves – and our country – moving up and out of the valley greed created.

And most importantly – from ensuring women are treated fairly at work, to expanding health care coverage for millions– we have been victorious whenever we worked together. We have proven the only thing we need to succeed is each other.

Enthusiasm gap my Donkey!

Enthusiasm gap, schmenthusiasm gap. Without the benefit of months and months of advertising and promotion on Fox News Channel (in fact, I'm only aware of Ed Schultz on MSNBC doing any kind of TV promotion), the One Nation Working Together rally in Washington DC has gathered more supporters than Glenn Beck's much ballyhooed rally, which I will lovingly refer to as "Whitestock".

Preliminary satellite estimates put the crowd size at 175,000 to 200,000 at about noon EST. By the calculations of Bachman/Beck, et al., that would mean at least 1,000,000, non?

The question is whether the corporate media will keep pimping the "importance" and influence of the tea baggers and ignore the bigger numbers on the Democratic side of the aisle. Of the cable outlets, only C-Span is airing the event, so clearly this doesn't fit the narrative that MSNBC/CNN/Fox want to push.

The gop infused, media enabled Tea Party will NOT get their greedy paws on our government again.

The National Mall looked like a patchwork quilt, with thousands of union workers grouped in clusters wearing t-shirts in their respective colors. Unions such as the AFL-CIO and SEIU bused in workers from all over the country, and many attendees at the event said that they learned about it from their local chapters and were hoping it would mobilize people to get out the vote for November. The Rev. Al Sharpton called the upcoming elections the country's "midterm exams" and said the left needed to get ready. "We've got to go home and got to hit the pavement," he urged attendees. "We've got to knock on doors... We've got to get ready for the midterm."

Let's Roll for ONE NATION with liberty and justice for ALL not for some!

There are more of us than there are of them

However, the majority of "them" vote and the majority of "us" don't. That is the problem with the body politics in a nutshell. It's the reason the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party candidates win and progressive/liberal/democratic candidates lose. Armed with righteous indignation, misinformation and fear "they" are motivated to go to the polls to vote against "us" but in reality they are voting against themselves.

According to them

Progressive is another word for communism.

“The Democrats with their failed socialist policies have given us 10 percent unemployment.”

The government needs to be shut down until the budget is balanced.

The Barney Frank /Chris Dodd fiasco in banking and mortgages that led to nothing but devastation.

Bush's tax cut increased revenues.

The Community Reinvestment Progressives (with their friends in the SEIU) have been pushing banks and mortgage companies to make housing loans to people who couldn't afford them.

The government comes into your house and takes the things you've earned and give it to people who "earn a living off of Welfare".

The government taxes the working class to pay for people who don’t work: some warped idea of “fairness” that dictates that those who worked to “have” must give those who “have not”.

“The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America.”

Eventually, the well-meaning citizens who thought they were part of a spontaneous citizen movement will discover that a group of billionaires put their views like a saddle on citizens’ backs and rode them to the polling place.

They will be furious and I won’t blame them. I’m already mad as hell that good citizens are being manipulated by men of vast wealth — for their own benefit — hiding behind such innocent names as Americans for Prosperity.

The majority of Americans are against health care reform according to them.

A new AP poll finds that Americans who think the law should have done more outnumber those who think the government should stay out of health care by 2-to-1.
.
[...] The poll found that about four in 10 adults think the new law did not go far enough to change the health care system, regardless of whether they support the law, oppose it or remain neutral. On the other side, about one in five say they oppose the law because they think the federal government should not be involved in health care at all.

The fact that none of what they believe to be the truth is not the truth doesn't matter to "them". They can't handle the truth. They would RATHER believe the lies. Democrats don't have the time or the means to deprogram them by the midterm elections, so our only HOPE is to strike fear in the hearts and minds of democrats and get out the vote. There are more of us than there are of them. The only thing standing between "them" and "us" is Y-O-U not getting off your Donkey and voting like it's 2008 all over again.

Reading some blogs, listening to the radio, watching TV, especially cable, including msnbc, just gets me down. "Dems going to get smashed" is the constant refrain. There is a lot to be worried about, and there is a lot to be pissed at some Dems (e.g., Blue Dog Enabler Steny Hoyer) about. But despair is a tool used by Republicans to suppress the vote, to perpetuate an enthusiasm gap.

October 4 is the last day to register to vote in time for this fall's elections.
It's up to us to save them from themselves.

Don't Think. Vote republican!

How's that for a gop bumper sticker? I mean, really? Who wants to go back to before?

I don't want to a turn to the right, I don't want to go back. And I really think I'm not alone. My generation suffered through a Republican shut down of government, not in 1994 but from 98 and on. When Bill Clinton's private life became all of our most important business. I don't want that again. Bombing Baghdad for no good reason... I don't want that again.

Or, how about Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me--you can't fool me again.

What is it about those who make less than, say $200K, that makes them even think about voting for them?

How about I'm exhausted too?

I’m exhausted when I see people working against their own best interests out of spite.

Tempest in a Tea Pot

Judge the Tea Party purely on the grounds of effectiveness and you have to admire how a very small group has shaken American political life and seized the microphone offered by the media, including the so-called liberal media.

Annoy the middle class, Vote republican!

''People will choose a government that helps them over no government at all,''

If you are against the lottery don't play the lottery.

If you are against having access to quality, affordable health care, vote republican!

Starting now, insurance companies will no longer be permitted to exclude children because of pre-existing health conditions, which the White House said could enable 72,000 uninsured to gain coverage. Insurers also will be prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on benefits.

The law will now forbid insurers to drop sick and costly customers after discovering technical mistakes on applications. It requires that they offer coverage to children under 26 on their parents’ policies.

It establishes a menu of preventive procedures, like colonoscopies, mammograms and immunizations, that must be covered without co-payments. And it allows consumers who join a new plan to keep their own doctors and to appeal insurance company reimbursement decisions to a third party.

If can read this, thank a teacher!

We would suggest that national Democrats take a page from the Hubbert playbook, before it is too late and Republicans have taken back one or both houses of Congress

Vote like it's 2008 all over again!

Interestingly, Boehner's Ohio media allies can only make one rationale for re-electing him again-- he might wind up as Speaker (as though that might be beneficial for Ohio voters, instead of the disaster his term in office has already proven!). But will the lazy, hard-drinking golfer wind up as Speaker if the Republican manage to win in November? Republican House members prefer to not discuss it openly but there's a lot of chatter about kicking the corrupt Boehner out of the leadership (again) and inserting a more ideologically extreme candidate more in line with the teabaggers. Mike Pence is the obvious choice.

Peace!