Arkansas Blog

FOOD for thought Dept: (by Glenn Greenwald, a Salon columnist/blogger - APPARENTLY sent via email, as I can't find it to just publish a link (there are many imbedded links, which obviously don't appear here - still...):

Getting Obama elected is only half the job.

Nonetheless, it's worth underscoring -- in fact, it's vital to keep in mind -- that the option of politically empowering Democrats is the opposite of a panacea. The Democratic Party structure in Washington, and particularly its leadership in Congress, is more corrupted and destructive than anything else there is -- with the exception of the right-wing faction that has been running the country for the last eight years. Contrary to the inane conventional Beltway wisdom that bipartisanship is oh-so-tragically scarce, Democrats as an entity have, over and over, passively acquiesced to, and frequently actively enabled and participated in, many of the worst abuses of the last eight years. Their leadership in Congress is corrupt and craven to the bone in many of the same ways the GOP leadership has been -- and they're about to be far more entrenched and their power far less checked.

Moreover, it's far from clear which version of Barack Obama will end up governing -- the cautious and principle-free centrist who sought out Joe Lieberman's mentorship and then endorsed him over an anti-war Democratic insurgent; the high-minded and establishment-challenging change agent of the Democratic primary; or the bland establishment figure of the general election seeking to minimize, even erase, every difference he has with Republicans. I doubt he even knows, but there are some possibilities that are quite bad (though, if he wins, he's certainly entitled to actually do things before being assessed one way or the other).

Earlier this week, Balloon-Juice's Tim wrote a thought-provoking post arguing that the online forces which have opposed the radicalism of the Bush administration will be weakened severely if Democrats win as resoundingly as it appears they will, because "defending all three branches of government is a much less fun job than attacking it." But I would hope (and actually, in general, believe) that the forces that have spent eight years opposing Bush radicalism aren't going to "defend" -- but rather oppose with equal vigor -- the Democratic establishment when it does many of the same things, as it will.

For the last several years, I've believed and have frequently written that the only worthwhile strategy is a two-pronged one:

I honestly don't know of any "progressive bloggers" who blindly support Democrats. I think the strategy of the blogosphere has always been two-pronged -- (1) remove the hideous right-wing beast from power and (2) change the Democratic Party in order to make step (1) worth doing. Those are EQUALLY IMPORTANT goals.

Step (1) is merely a pre-requisite (an absolute one) to achieving anything worthwhile. But without step (2), step (1) is mostly (though not entirely) worthless, because the Democratic Party as currently constituted at its core is a wretched and status-quo-perpetuating institution. If those who spent the last eight years vigorously opposing the radicalism, militarism, and anti-constitutional abuses of the Bush administration fail to oppose the Democratic leadership with equal fervor when they violate the same principles -- as they inevitably will -- then the humiliation of the Right and its removal from power will be emotionally satisfying, perfectly just, and a very mild improvement, but will ensure the continuation rather than the termination of most of the worst abuses of this government.

It's certainly true that there are more good national Democratic office-holders than Republicans -- it's not even close (anyone doubting that should just review the vote totals on the key votes during the Bush era). But within the Democratic Party, the good members are vastly outnumbered by the bad. The (understandable) euphoria over the anticipated obliteration of the extremist right-wing movement that has dominated our politics for years (which I share) shouldn't obscure the fact that the alternative -- the national Democratic Party -- shares many of the same sicknesses and is burdened by whole new ones as well, and itself will need far more opposing and changing than supporting and affirming.
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Larry,

The "checks and balances" which I learned about in the 4th grade back in 1969 hold true today.

I expect that the Democratic Party will win the White House, keep the House of Reps, and actually get a majority i n the Senate.

But in 2010 I expect, and hope, the Senate will then revert to the Republicans so that we will not have the same problem as in the last 6 of 8 years. That is single party control of Executive and Legislative branches.

A two party system requires 2 parties.

The most emailed photo in the United States today is on my blue name

.

A two party system requires 2 parties.<<

Ah yes. We had that in 1994-99. And what did it get us?
A nation's government was often paralyzed by an Impeachment
process which had its basis in a lie about a blow job.

Additionally the biggest witch hunt since Joseph McCarty was
put into motion. So don't come to L.R. or NWA where dozens of
lives were wrecked and preach that any two party system will
help this nation if it involves the Republicans.

Screw that and screw Demos like
MARK PRYOR who accommodate them.
In addition to his being ashamed of him self he should be voted out of office.

Ask Paula Jones who was used by Republicans to bring phony charges
and then dumped. Ask her about the Republicans, in private.
.

eLwood, you may be correct but his photo should be the most emailed photo of them all. Clicky

The Washington Post has endorsed... Obama for President! Clicky!

"The Week That Was . . . IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR .
ATTORNEY GENERAL DUSTIN MCDANIEL. He looked hypocritical and dopey for taking out-of-state officials to Yellville to show off the "turkey drop," the yuck-fest in which panicked turkeys are dropped from airplanes over the annual turkey festival. Turkeys aren't covered in the animal cruelty legislation McDaniel hopes to push through the 2009 legislature. Obviously."

Dusty McD "hypocritical and dopey"? Just another day at the office for Dusty. Is this guy REALLY a democrat?

As for the turkeys, where is Les Nessman when we need him?!!!!

eLwood - I believe that Paula Jones would agree with you that she was exploited and abused by the right-wing, but she would strongly disagree with your insinuation that the allegations in her lawsuit were "phony".

Ah, cato...that's my favorite photo. Between his voting record and his love shots with Monkeyboy, McSame's true nature, true history comes to light. (I like yours too, eLwood, but I'm still scratching my head for its meaning...looks gay...and we all know--us ladies--that Obama is hot.)

So, Joe the plumber ain't no plumber; why I'm shocked...not. Republicans have been lying with straight faces ever since Nixon (that's the length of my memory). Democrats lie too, but mostly it's to get out of trouble...they tend to be weasels of the first order. Republicans lie because they believe all their childhood stories about them being the chosen ones...about their lies being better than our Truths. In other words, McSame doesn't care about Sarah or Joe's lies because he's on a Divine mission to...be better than daddy/grandpa.

On a lighter side: The cool weather is divine. I'm hoping it'll slow the mosquitoes from sucking every bit of my blood (the worst year ever). And, I'm gonna bitch about the cost of groceries: OMG! I feel great empathy for those families with lots of children. Week to week grocery items are rising...a lot. Hubby did, however, get a WHOLE tank of gas for $60...a treat.

Are you exhausted, norma? Those Republican rich folk have got to be draining...even if it's just a room you're sharing. Even if I tried really hard...a 'Fuck you for saddling us with Monkeyboy' would inevitably escape my otherwise saintly lips (ha). So happy others have more restraint.

HA HA LOL...Paula Jones exploited...that's a good one, Arkansas blogger.

Yep, zelda, old joe the plumber. Besides the tax liens, and that he lied.....

He's not licensed.
He's had no formal education as a plumber, nor an apprenticeship.
The local plumber's union thinks he's a jerk.
The local plumber's union endorses Obama.

There's more:

Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher (Joe the Plumber) from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who's Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating's son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan.

Now....didn't some of you WONDER where they found Joe? Connect the dots. He was a *plant*?

What 2-party system!?! We have 2 factions of the same corporate group pretending they care about what we think on a November day every four years. Then they go merrily along to do what they wish, maximizing their profits.

This economic crisis is of passing interest to them. Oy, profits are down, but the playing field is smaller, concentrating the finances, therefore power, in fewer hands. Like some perverted "Heroes" tv series we have the chant "Save the Bankers, save the world economy!"

They (the two corporate political organizations) don't care about the millions losing their homes, their retirement, their jobs, health care, their futures. They only care about their own lavish salaries, government sponsored health care, unreal retirement benefits, and lucrative corporative post-Congressional jobs. The only difference that will be allowed in November is which "party's" actions are going to make our lives LESS dismal, not better. Where is our choice?

They prevent serious alternatives from getting on the ballot. They buy the media, preventing the alternative messages from reaching the voters. Then they exclude qualified candidates from publicly funded debates.

How is this perversion of democracy going to be be changed? When you go to vote, don't vote for who is going to win. Vote for someone you wish would win.

Cato: K. Oblermann pointed out on his show this evening the name connection of the Wurzelbachers, but did not go so far as to identify Joe the Phony Plumber as actually being related to Keating's S-in-L. What is your source?

I don't know who wrote this--it came to me in an email so I thought I'd share with the blog.

A question of perspective:
Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around? Think about it.
Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?
Ponder the following:
* What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three-month-old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?
* What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
* What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
* What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?
* What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?
* What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?
* What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
* What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
* What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?
(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)
* What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
* What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?
* What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?
* What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?
* What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?
* What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?
You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:
Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
vs.
John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - Basic Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

Thanks for sharing that with us, NVR. I'll be sending it around.

"He looked hypocritical and dopey for taking out-of-state officials to Yellville to show off the "turkey drop," the yuck-fest in which panicked turkeys are dropped from airplanes over the annual turkey festival. Turkeys aren't covered in the animal cruelty legislation McDaniel hopes to push through the 2009 legislature. Obviously."

Would the person that wrote that please explain how dropping birds that can fly out of plane is animal cruelty, but hunting and killing them is not? If you can't, then why should any hunter support laws against animal cruelty?

These people who want different parties in control of the different branches remind me of what my dad always says.

Shit or get off the pot.

Make up your mind which direction you want to go and go. Unless you just like paralysis.

PS. The principle of "checks and balances" has NOTHING to do with political parties. They weren't even around when our government was created. "Checks and balances" refers to the different branches of government not being controlled by the same person.

The San Francisco Chronicle endorses Obama. Clicky

Zelda,
After a completely lousy garden season, somehow I'm all of a sudden having a bumper crop of eggplant, onions, garlic, green peppers, and a late-emerging bunch of paste tomatoes. I was about to fork (under) my struggling plants when they showed new life. Depending on the weather, I might have some sweet potatoes and butternut squash (I just ate some butternut squash I harvested in September last year) to tide me through the winter.

I've bottled several quarts of delicious (for me, but unpalatable for most human beings) spaghetti sauce and plan to have many meals out of this unexpected bounty. As most real farmers know, nothing is certain. I can't be certain that my garden will tide me through the bad times ahead. Even the prices at the "produce stores" (discount food stores where the expiration date of the product may be the same as yours) are getting atmospheric.

I use every "old people's" (about 55 in many places) discount I can, but I figure most stores will phase out those old discounts soon as the boomer generation starts using them in earnest. I may be lucky enough to surf just ahead of any age hikes, if you call that lucky.

As careful as I've been to plan for my "future," I can only see as it competing with youngsters for dumpster contents. What have we left them? Really? What kind of life will we leave them? Everything may be electronic but where does the electricity come from? What do they breathe? How do they cope with the climate change? We got ours. For them, tough shit.

I am looking at some energy-efficient appliance boxes, but none of them have the internet access that would allow me to continue posting my pseudo-intellectual comments to the AT blog.

Maybe that is what it is all about, what is important, what is essential? Food, health, family, knowledge. How can we take the control back to us? Vote for the losers, us!

"Open-Minded" Liberals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQalRPQ8stI

Sidney,

Open-minded doesn't mean you agree with everyone. It means you listen to all sided then you made a decision. Liberals have watched you conservatives almost destroy this country so why shouldn't we boo? At least none of them were saying "kill him" or calling them "terrorists."

Do you really think being booed is the equivalent to being called a terrorist or the N word?

"I think the strategy of the blogosphere has always been two-pronged -- (1) remove the hideous right-wing beast from power and (2) change the Democratic Party in order to make step (1) worth doing. Those are EQUALLY IMPORTANT goals."

Hear Hear! It will do no good to elect Obama at the same time we return the likes of Mark LIEberPryor. It is a pure myth that Democrats have controlled Congress since the 2006 election. A LIE! In the Senate there are 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 Independents, 1 of whom is Joe LIEberman and we know how he votes. On top of that you have fake Democrats like Mark W. Pryor, Blanche W. Lincoln, Mary W. Landrieu and 2 or 3 other weakling Bush leaning Democrats. The Republicans control the Senate and will until January 20th of next year. They'll control it forever if fake Democrats like Pryor keep getting reelected.

We've forgotten what a strong President can do. It's been since Clinton's 1st term that we've had an intelligent, strong President who actually showed up for work. Clinton's 2nd term was all about blowjobs....not much got done. I firmly believe that Barack Obama will work his ass off to be the best President he can be. He's not really doing it for old lumpy white men like me. He'll be doing it for black Americans who've waited over 300 years for someone like themselves in the White House. Good enough for me!

President Obama will have the beleaguered population behind him as long as he tries his best to do the right thing. I believe he can reach across the isle....and choke the fake bi-partisans like Pryor & Lincoln until they do the right thing with their votes. As fantastic as it sounds....it could happen. We might see statesmanship again, we might see a real leader instead of a bully....a dumbass bully at that.

PS if you got a minute, click on my blue name to check out tonight's Rachel Maddow show. She broke away to the Al Smith dinner where both McCain and Obama gave humorous speeches....really really humorous speeches....well worth your time. And why can't they be more like this when they campaign? I swear it's all one big play and all of them in DC get a new script each morning.

click Obama's Stand up and McCain gets laughs

Sidney is out working late, doing her rwing post n' runs. Notice how people come around this place during election time, like clockwork? Post n' run.

They can only be getting paid by stupid people who think they are swaying someone's pov.
Likely not getting paid very much if it's rightwingers doing the paying.

But, if I'm wrong and sidney sincerely feels s/he is contributing to his/her own political survival then we should have sympathy.

Sidney, you and I live in a former slave state. We both know masses of people in this state will never mark their ballot for a half-black man. So you have won here and in other slave states where ignorance, poverty, high unemployment, divorce and out-of-wedlock births far exceed the national average.

See ya tomorrow sidney.
Y'betcha.
.

CAN ANY ONE OF YOU BRILLIANTS TELL ME WHY OBAMA WONT RELEASE HIS OFFICIAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE. AND HIS THESIS, AND ANY RECORDS. SCHOOL, MEDICAL FROM GRADE SCHOOL TILL TIME IN THE CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION. WHY DOESNT HE JUST PUT ALL THIS TO REST AND SHOW IT TO EVERYONE.. WHAT IS HE HIDING.. AND HE IS HIDING SOMETHING. EVEN HARDCORE DEMOCRATS ARE SENDING ME THINGS AND ARE BEGINNING TO WONDER AND EVEN CHANGE THEIR VOTES TO MCCAIN..

WHAZZZUP BARACK. WHAT IS THE DEAL WHAT ARE YOU HIIDING. . THE LAWSUIT CONTINUES. A DEMOCRAT/FORMER AND FORMER DEPUTY AG OF PENNSYLVANIA HAS FILED SUIT AGAINST HIM FOR RELEASE OF SAME. SOMETHING IS ROTTEN AT OBAMAS ... WHAT COULD FINISH THIS OFF OTHER THAN RELEASING THESE DOCUMENTS. MCCAIN ALREADY HAS. WHY NOT BARRY.

Yea, I loved the Al Smith Dinner. It was great but I must say McCain's humor was much better
than BHO's, esp his bit about Joe the Plumber having a new high paying job taking care of a bunch with 8 homes.

Bill Maher was great co-hosting Larry King's coverage of the dinner. King tried to nail Bill for using deceptive tactics to get interviews for his anti-religious film, Religulous.

Maher's response: For over a 1000 years religions have been getting followers to believe in invisible people and they say I'm being deceptive!

"Oh how profitable hath been that fable of Christ."

No sorry LARGEASS. Can't help you.. You seem to have information no one else in the Universe has, not even far-out FOX News or Rense, or World News Daily.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

I mean that in a George Carlin way because, sometimes, those glorious old Anglo-Saxonisms are one's only means to navigate the Sea of Spin.

At clicky I present an open letter to Sarah Palin from a former Assemblies of God fundamentalist woman.

A Ph.D. So she's triply-doomed to, you know, burn in hell for all eternity. She's reality-based, educated and has proof.

LargeAss, click on my blue name and look at Barack's official birth certificate and then STFU! You really must turn Fox News off now and then and let your pea brain air out.

When LARD gets off his shift at the Lil Debbie job, tasting the products. I'm sure he has to rush home to get to the bathroom in order to give birth to young Republicans.
What gives me hope, however, is that my next door neighbors in Jonesboro have an Obama sign in their front yard. They're both white and in their 80s.
That rocks!

You know, there's no way I'd put my birth certificate on the internet and I don't blame anyone else who doesn't want to. That document has pretty well every piece of information you'd need to steal someone's identity. And an online transaction won't notice that the information presented is coming from someone who doesn't look like Obama.

If he truly weren't a citizen, the Dem National Committee wouldn't have let him consider running, no way, no how. Just like, despite the star power than Ahhhnold brings to the Republicans, they'll never endorse him for the top spot either.

Starguy, here's the source on Joe the Plumber in regards to my post above.

http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/10/15/joe-the-plumber-wurzelbacher-related-to-charles-keating-oops/

Martin Eisenstadt's Blog, he's a McCain advisor and writes a RIGHT blog with link to mcCains pages.

but how can it be a coincidence? Mr. Wurzelbacher also said he lived in Arizona from 1997 until 2000. which is where that other guy lived.f

Joe the plumber was a plant put there by the McCain campaign. How did mcCain know about joe the plumber?

According to Thom Hartmann on Air America Radio, he was arrested 3 times for domestic violence ...Repub family values: wife-beaters and Unwed Teenage Moms.

Can you beleive Joe Bigot said, when asked about his conversation with Obama: "Almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr." (referring to politicians tap dancing....)

"The principle of "checks and balances" has NOTHING to do with political parties. They weren't even around when our government was created. "Checks and balances" refers to the different branches of government not being controlled by the same person"

You are correct, eark, about the parties. I've often said if parties had been around in 1787 I think there would have been major changes in this document we know as our Constitution. But I don't know about your conclusion that checks and balances refers to the different branches of government being controlled by the same person. The executive branch is certainly going to be controlled by one person but seeming impossible with the other two. I think those checks and balances are aimed at one branch from dominating the other two.

But it hasn't really worked completely. After the Civil War, the legislative branch dominated and since the 1930s the executive branch has certainly dominated the other two, even though Congress has passed the War Powers Act and others bits in trying to get it back on even keel.

Today, the principal threat to our system is the growth of power in the executive branch. Power is often exercised in secrecy, without accountability to anyone. Our national sense of legitimacy rests on law. Some Americans become impatient with the constitutional system. They want to do away with obstacles of limited government in today's frightening world.

Our country is remarkably and extraordinarily free.....because of our commitment to the ideas proposed in 1787. Ideas that man is free, government is limited, and officials must answer to the people in all cases.

Sounds like Joe the Plumber is just your typical Republican and there's even less to him than meets the eye. I would normally feel sorry for most individuals who got caught up in this whirlwind of publicity, but he didn't exactly get 'caught' in it, he sorta chased it, actually...

As for checks and balances - Cato, you hit it on the mark. I don't see any benefit at all from having divided government - just brings stalemate. The truth is that there really is right and wrong and Republicans are generally wrong - though not 100% of the time. If I didn't believe that Democratic principles were best for America, I wouldn't vote for them. We do, however, need a strong legislative, strong judiciary, and a strong executive branch so that they must talk, cooperate, and work together.

Miss Norma, thanks for posting Marlene Windell's open letter to Palin. It's truly a gem. And THIS paragraph, I couldn't have said better: "And you, John McCain, how dare you endanger all of us for the sake of your politics? How dare you choose a partner who is all symbol and no substance, preying on the fears of millions of Americans. Shame on both of you. Leave this beautiful, fragile earth to us, the unbelievers in your fantasy. It's the only heaven we have and you have no right to make it a hell."

Sarah Palin, President of the United States of America, 2009 - 2016.

Wow, I love to type that. You will grow to love her like your own mother. Because that's what she'll be -- our loving Mom.

Jeez! Just when you think you've seen it all...a new troll proves you wrong.

Sorry, LARGE, but McCain didn't "release" his medical records. He allowed a few reporters several hours access to an unknown quantity of them, with no copying allowed. In case you haven't gotten your hands on medical records lately, let me assure you the it takes more than a few hours to sort though a thousand plus pages of medical records.
(A little perspective here . . . five hundred sheets of paper is about two inches thick, give or take. See how long it takes you to through four inches or more of records, most of them containing goobledy-gook unless you're medically trained. It took me nearly two hours to glance through my husband's medical records BEFORE his last two surgeries and I generally knew what to expect to see -- not that there wasn't a nasty little overlooked surprise on one page that was potentially life-threatening.)
Throw in a little note-taking and I'd bet the reporters didn't scratch the surface. Oh, and anything that might indicate problems on the horizon? Nip those little suckers out of the stack before show and tell -- that's the ticket.