Radio is cleaning up the nation

Our friend Brad Friedman may be the hardest working blogger in show biz:


Brad, and syndicated radio host Peter Collins, are staging a radio marathon on Election day:

LIVE Team Broadcast to be Carried over Multiple Radio Networks, Stations, Internet Outlets -- All Invited to Carry Program Free All Night Long!

Coverage will focus both on continuing, growing election problems around the country, as well as the "horse race."Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 7nd at 3pm PT (6pm ET) and continuing
until 1am PT or as long as events on the ground warrant

Peter B. Collins (host of the daily syndicated Peter B. Collins radio show) and Brad Friedman (radio personality, investigative journalist at BradBlog.com, election integrity advocate and co-founder of VelvetRevolution.us) are announcing plans for a coast-to-coast Election Night Marathon Broadcast to be carried LIVE over multiple air affiliates via the Jones satellite feed and multiple streaming internet outlets. The landmark broadcast is as a joint effort of Collins, Friedman and VelvetRevolution.us' Election Protection Strike Force effort in coordination with a number of national organizations and sponsors to be announced soon.

All interested networks, air affiliates, and Internet networks are invited to carry this special one-of-a-kind programming free of charge all evening!

This special broadcast is available to any radio station in the country, and stations are welcome to carry as much of the broadcast as they wish. The satellite feed will be on the Jones Starguide system, channel Jones 1 left. For the program clock and traffic information, contact Collins Media Services at 415-258-9467 or email pbcsf@pacbell.net.

Go Brad!

And there's a legal limit to the snow here in Camelot

Like spoiled, petulant children, the Neo-con elites who pressed for war in Iraq are now complaining that GWBushCo didn't clap loud enough.

Idiots.

Here's "Prince of Darkness" Richard Perle in Vanity Fair:

"The levels of brutality that we've seen are truly horrifying, and I have to say, I underestimated the depravity," Perle says now, adding that total defeat—an American withdrawal that leaves Iraq as an anarchic "failed state"—is not yet inevitable but is becoming more likely. "And then," says Perle, "you'll get all the mayhem that the world is capable of creating."

According to Perle, who left the Defense Policy Board in 2004, this unfolding catastrophe has a central cause: devastating dysfunction within the administration of President George W. Bush. Perle says, "The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly.… At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible.… I don't think he realized the extent of the opposition within his own administration, and the disloyalty."

Disloyalty? WTF? Every single thing suggested by Perle/Rumsfeld/Cheney et al was done, yet now the complaint is that it wasn't enough?

And don't think that Perle's whining today means he's suddenly grasped reality:

'No, let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.' … I don't say that because I no longer believe that Saddam had the capability to produce weapons of mass destruction, or that he was not in contact with terrorists. I believe those two premises were both correct. Could we have managed that threat by means other than a direct military intervention? Well, maybe we could have."

What? Saddam had WMDs, but maybe we should have tried diplomatic solutions? Ya think? Oh, and those WMDs, where might they now be? I mean, besides in paper form on the internets, thanks to Peter Hoekstra (R-Never never land).

And here's David (Axis of Weasel) Frum:

"the insurgency has proven it can kill anyone who cooperates, and the United States and its friends have failed to prove that it can protect them." This situation, he says, must ultimately be blamed on "failure at the center"—starting with President Bush.

Um, sure. Because he did everyting your sad little mind prayed for, and yet, somehow, it just wasn't enough:

"Daddy, buy me a pony!"
. . .

"Daddy, this pony smells bad, and tried to bite me. And it pooped on the floor! Make it stop, Daddy!"

Here's Ken Adelman, life-long Neo-con:

"I believe demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk." Now he says, "I just presumed that what I considered to be the most competent national-security team since Truman was indeed going to be competent. They turned out to be among the most incompetent teams in the post-war era. Not only did each of them, individually, have enormous flaws, but together they were deadly, dysfunctional."

Woah, bub. Slow down. That's 3 guys on the cheerleading squad talking about "dysfunctional". But it's your team, guys. Merely spinning in a circle and pointing randomly outward at other members of the same club carries little weight. It's your club!

If any good news comes from this failed experiment in world changing, it might be this, also from Adelman:

Fearing that worse is still to come, Adelman believes that neoconservatism itself—what he defines as "the idea of a tough foreign policy on behalf of morality, the idea of using our power for moral good in the world"—is dead, at least for a generation. After Iraq, he says, "it's not going to sell."

We'll see. Zealots detached from reality have no incentive to change their thinking. They'll always want Daddy to buy them a pony.

From Perle again:

"Huge mistakes were made, and I want to be very clear on this: They were not made by neoconservatives, who had almost no voice in what happened, and certainly almost no voice in what happened after the downfall of the regime in Baghdad. I'm getting damn tired of being described as an architect of the war. I was in favor of bringing down Saddam. Nobody said, 'Go design the campaign to do that.' I had no responsibility for that."

Right.

And Adelman on Rumsfeld:

I'm very, very fond of him, but I'm crushed by his performance. Did he change, or were we wrong in the past? Or is it that he was never really challenged before? I don't know. He certainly fooled me."

Sorry, guys. Blame GWBush, blame Rumsfeld all you want. All they did was execute your fantasy. I'm sorry that didn't work out well for you. In the meantime, go away, shut up, slink off to the Heritage Foundation or the Projec For The New American Century and write some new position papers on binging democracy to, oh, I don't know, Iran? Or Syria? Hey, I know, Saudi Arabia.

Doctor, my eyes tell me what is wrong

Steve Young, the ever so clever editorial writer for the Right Wing L.A. rag Daily News, writes something that, were it not almost true, might seem clever fiction:

Hasta la vista: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Sen. Sheila Kuehl's universal health care bill, saying he opposes government-run health medicine. "Unaffordable health insurance is not the fault of the health insurance companies, it's the fault of the people who can't afford health insurance," said the governor, who can afford to buy his own hospital. "If people want to make health coverage affordable, tell them to get less costly sicknesses."

Thing is, Schwarzenfartzen has had this to say about SB 840, written by long-time State Senator Sheila Kuehl:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced he will veto SB 840 (Kuehl), which would create a single-payer, government-run health care system. The following op-ed ran today in the San Diego Union Tribune:

I commend Sen. Sheila Kuehl’s commitment and dedication to providing health care coverage for all Californians, but I must veto SB 840 because I cannot support a government-run health care system.

Socialized medicine is not the solution to our state’s health care problems. This bill would require an extraordinary redirection of public and private funding by creating a vast new bureaucracy to take over health insurance and medical care for Californians – a serious and expensive mistake. Such a program would cost the state billions and lead to significant new taxes on individuals and businesses, without solving the critical issue of affordability. I won’t jeopardize the economy of our state for such a purpose.

Bastard! Sen. Kuehl's bill is not the dreaded "socialized medicine". As Sen. Kuehl points out:

“The reasoning behind the Governor’s opposition to universal health care is truly inaccurate, which is no surprise considering he has refused to meet to discuss the issue. If the Governor took a thoughtful look at SB 840 he would see that delivery of health care would remain exactly as it now is, public or private. The main difference is that under SB 840 every Californian would have been able to choose his/her own doctors and hospitals and there would have been no unreimbursed care.”

And remember, this is the Governator that proclaimed he wouldn't take contributions from "special interests":

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has received $775,200 from health insurers and HMOs and $1.08 million dollars from drug companies since 2003. For contribution lists compiled from campaign reports filed with the Secretary of State go to: http://www.ConsumerWatchdog.org/resources/Schwarzenegger_HMO_Pharma.pdf

I repeat: Bastard!

And he hates kids, doesn't want them to have health care:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Friday vetoed two bills that would have expanded public health insurance programs for children, according to an Office of the Governor release (Office of the Governor release [1], 10/7).

One of the bills (AB 772) would have raised income eligibility for state health insurance programs to allow more children to enroll. The legislation also would have allowed the use of a single form to determine eligibility for subsidized school lunches and state health insurance programs. In addition, the bill would have made state health coverage available to undocumented immigrant children (California Healthline, 10/3).

Read more at the Health Care For All blog.

We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels cross the floor

Stuart Rothenberg isn't always right, but he's not often too wrong, either. Here he is 10.6.2006, almost a month ago:

After looking at the news for the past 10 days or so, I have to wonder how Democrats can possibly fail in their efforts to take both the House and the Senate.

The national atmospherics don't merely favor Democrats; they set the stage for a blowout of cosmic proportions next month.

No, that's not a prediction, since Republicans still have a month to "localize" enough races to hold onto one or both chambers of Congress. But you don't have to be Teddy White or V.O. Key to know that the GOP is now flirting with disaster.

Let's forget all of the niceties and diplomatic language and cut to the obvious truth: From the White House to Capitol Hill, Republicans look inept. And that assertion is based on what Republicans are saying. Democratic rhetoric is much harsher and, therefore, easier to dismiss as partisan claptrap.

So? Well, here he is today at The Rothenberg Political Report:

The Senate:

"While Senate control is in doubt, with Democrats most likely to win from 5 to 7 seats, we do not think the two sides have an equal chance of winning a majority in the Senate. Instead, we believe that state and national dynamics favor Democrats netting six seats and winning control of the United States Senate."

The House:

"Going into the final days before the 2006 midterm elections, we believe the most likely outcome in the House of Representatives is a Democratic gain of 34 to 40 seats, with slightly larger gains not impossible. This would put Democrats at between 237 and 243 seats, if not a handful more, giving them a majority in the next House that is slightly larger than the one the Republicans currently hold. If these numbers are generally correct, we would expect a period of GOP finger-pointing and self-flagellation after the elections, followed by a considerable number of Republican House retirements over the next two years."

Sounds pretty good to me. Yippee!

Meanwhile, just to try and help more, I'm doing 6 hours of calling for MoveOn.org between now and Election day. Hopefully some of you can do the same. Cause it still isn't a sure thing.

Out on a hill, they took a new note...

Hank Hill has some thoughts about GWBushCo:


(Thanks to emailer Joe)

Tell me what'd I say

Some audio and recording professionals here in L.A. are doing a podcast every two weeks, about technology and recording, called Audio Nowcast.

Last Friday I was the special guest, as we talked about all kinds of fun stuff.

You can listen to it here: http://www.nowcastnetwork.com/

Nothing really matters, Pt 13

Read more at Veterans for Peace.

Johnny get angry, Johnny get mad Pt. 2

John, John, John...where was this John Kerry 2 years ago? Mad as hell, and not gonna take it anymore? Sure, the statement was dumb, not up to Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle level, but still, it was hardly as toxic or vile as GWBushCo et al want to make it.



John, when we met with you in May, I asked why you hadn't pushed back harder against the SwiftBoatWankers? I was impressed when you looked me in the eye and said "But I did." You detailed when and how you had responded to them, and that was good.

But dude! This was what I wanted, this was the outrage I had been hoping for back then. That it comes now is great! Don't worry about '08, worry about next Tuesday. Don't listen to consultants, listen to your gut. Say a lot more stuff like this, and who knows, maybe Democrats will take another look at you as the guy who can beat the Republicans.

Thanks, John.

Here we come again, catch us if you can

The usual suspects appear again, trying to end affirmative action. Of course, it's a group of the so-called "culturally elite". You know, Rupert Murdoch, the Scaife's, Ward Connerly and others in a tightly knit cabal. According to Diversity.com (free registration required, so here's the whole text):

Who Is Paying to End Affirmative Action? High-Ranking Bush Officials, Rupert Murdoch

In just eight days, Michigan will vote on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI)—an anti-opportunity proposal that would end affirmative action in public education, employment and contracting. The MCRI has raised $2 million thus far, $450,000 of which was donated by long-time affirmative-action foe Ward Connerly.

Both Connerly and Linda Chavez of the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) have been less than forthcoming about who finances their operations. Where does the money trail lead? It ends up with Gerald Reynolds, Abigail Thernstrom and Rupert Murdoch.

Reynolds and Thernstrom are, respectively, chair and vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (UCCR). President Bush appointed Reynolds and Congress appointed Thernstrom. How are they connected with the campaign to end affirmative action?

The big question: Where do they get their money?

Leading conservative groups give money to CEO through its parent organization, Equal Opportunity Foundation (EOF). Manhattan Institute senior fellow Thernstrom, who has been among the most outspoken critics of affirmative action and the feminist movement, sits on EOF's board, according to historian Lee Cokorinos’ The Assault on Diversity. She is the vice chair of UCCR and a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education.

Thernstrom and UCCR Chair Reynolds joined Connerly and Chavez in developing the Citizens' Initiative on Race and Ethnicity—a platform for opponents to former President Clinton's Initiative on Race. Reynolds also worked directly for CEO as a legal analyst prior to becoming president of the Center for Black Leadership, a conservative think-tank.

The Lambe Foundation, with libertarian Charles G. Koch on the board, also has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to CEO. Funding for the Lambe Foundation comes from Koch Industries, the nation's largest privately held energy company with more than $25 billion in annual sales.

Koch's brother David funded publication of Affirmative Action Fraud—a book Cokorinos describes as one of the most cutting diatribes against affirmative action in history. The Koch brothers have a combined fortune of more than $3 billion.

Chavez is against the Equal Rights Amendment, works closely with Pat Buchanan and former Secretary of Education William Bennett and advocates English-only laws and tight border security. Formerly President Reagan's appointed U.S. Commission on Civil Rights staff director, Chavez has remained well networked with the conservative Federalist Society, which makes up President Bush's White House legal team.

(See also: Affirmative-Action Foes Twist the Facts)

Where does Connerly get his cash?

Connerly founded the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) and the American Civil Rights Coalition (ACRC) on the heels of his campaign to end affirmative action in California with the passage of Proposition 209, reports Cokorinos. ACRI is the tax-exempt entity and ACRC is the "political arm" of "Ward Connerly's shop." They both are headquartered in Sacramento and have the same address.

The $5.2-million Proposition 209 campaign contributions included more than $3 million from state and national Republican parties and $750,000 from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns FOX.

It's no coincidence that MCRI Executive Director Jennifer Gratz appeared on FOX's "O'Reilly Factor" two weeks ago, with the campaign to end affirmative action in Michigan down to the wire.

Connerly and Chavez, a FOX news analyst and syndicated columnist, share many of the same political backers. For example, both have received extensive support from the Bradley, Donner and Sarah Scaife Foundations. The Scaife Foundation is funded by industrial tycoon Richard Mellon Scaife, who donated more than $17.6 million to 170 conservative think-tanks in 1993, the most recent data available.

Federalist Society Counsel T. Kenneth Crib sits on the board of the Scaife Foundation, which gave ACRI $525,000 between 1998 and 2000 and CEO $395,000 between 1995 and 2000.

ACRI Co-Chair Thomas Rhodes also is on the board of directors for the Bradley Foundation, the principal sponsor of the ACRI. He is president of the conservative National Review Board, which opposed the Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision, and a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs. Rhodes also has been a trustee of the conservative Heritage Foundation and of the Manhattan Institute, which links him to Thernstrom and Cribb, whom Cokorinos calls the "unofficial liaison between the Reagan administration and the Heritage Foundation."

Campaign to end affirmative action

The anti-affirmative-action movement gains momentum through support from deep-pocketed conservatives and campaigns duplicitously framed in the name of civil rights. Ward Connerly's current campaign in Michigan may be the most deceitful yet.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Associate Director-Counsel Ted Shaw addresses this point in his introduction to Cokorinos' book. Shaw writes: "The extensive proportions of the anti-diversity movement serve as a wake-up call to the naïve, the uninformed and the willfully blind. If the civil-rights movement was a revolution that transformed the United States into a more inclusive society, the counterrevolution is here."

"I think whether you're in Arizona or Texas or South Carolina or New York, we should all be worried about allowing Proposal 2 to succeed in Michigan," says Frank Fountain, senior vice president of external affairs and public policy for DaimlerChrysler, No. 43 in The 2006 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity®. "After all, the money to finance the anti-affirmative-action campaign is coming from outside the state of Michigan. It's coming from sources that are not transparent. We have no idea who the individuals are who are contributing money to write this off the books."

Pretty sick.

Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me...?

From my friend MJS over at CorrenteWire:

Possibly Over-Medicated Messiah Seen Leaving Rave Concert

+++

(Jivester News, Lmtd.) After suggesting that dying for mankind’s sins was too limiting, Christ Jesus has been speaking (off the record) lately to His friends and some—not all—of His neighbors, about His plans to return to Earth and “…dying this time not for sins per se, but for a litany of various maladies, diseases, nagging back aches and of course male pattern baldness.”

Yeshua (his Hebraic name means “Canadian Drugs” in Pig Latin) has been studying medical reference websites lately, poring over materials related to genetics—specifically how heredity and bio-chemical variations affect millions upon millions of human beings on a daily basis. Moved by the plight of humanity, He has decided to de-emphasize the “sin thing” and focus more clearly on His healing talents. Recognizing that He’s just “not into” walking around the planet and healing everyone He meets (“…it’s like being a comedian and having to be funny all the time. What a drag. Bob Hope is the most miserable person in Heaven…”) Jesus has decided to franchise His operation while retaining all ancillary rights.

Speaking on GOD News during a break from Eternity, Jesus said, “I thought about this issue during the whole Michael J. Fox/Rush Limbaugh story. I mean, here’s a case where someone is practically on his knees begging for help just so some pre-emryonic blastocysts destined for the dustbin can be utilized by scientists in America to try and discover cures for Parkinson’s and other crippling and fatal diseases, and Rush is jumping on him like he was a tackling dummy. It’s not right—it’s as wrong as anything I have ever witnessed—so I’ve decided that instead of waiting around for the electorate to pick through the blather and do the right thing, I will simply be born again and this time make it clear that my death at the hands of Big Pharma will be my guarantee to wipe out diseases, some lower lumbar ailments, and male pattern baldness for all humanity, for all time.”

Asked by a gentleman who identified himself as a prosecuter for God to enumerate what people would be dying from in the future, Jesus replied, “I don’t know. Probably drowning or radiation poisoning. Oh, and murder and car accidents. Ooh—plane crashes and earthquakes and…” continued Jesus, until trailing off as if lost in a really mysterious thought. When asked why He included “male pattern baldness” among the list of ailments He would choose to die for, Jesus took off His wig and pointed to His abundant lack of hair thereon, while shaking his head slowly—very slowly, very solemnly. He put His wig back on and said, “Verily, let us not speak of this again. Not kidding. I wouldn’t press this point if I were you. Ix-nay on the ald-bay atter-chay.”

+++

Image of possibly over-medicated messianic figure from here.