Sun Spotting: I saw the sun as I was coming out of the grocery store yesterday. There was this intense, glaring light in my face. Seriously, I almost couldn’t figure out what was going on. I had to shade my eyes with my hand, having ditched my sunglasses *weeks* ago. “Bright light! Bright light!”, I squealed. It was the sun, that brilliant star from our illustrious past. We have been in the Dark Ages in NJ for so long that we no longer recognize it and our pale, sweater swathed bodies have to reacquaint ourselves with the notion of light and warmth.
Alas, it did not last. By the time we were ready to eat on the deck last night, it had started to rain again. The clouds are presenting a united front this morning as well. Solid, gray, endless.
I’m going to Puerta Vallarta:
John Dickerson at Slate covers the president’s press conference yesterday. Is it just me or is there something Orwellian and creepy about the fact that you can’t eat your lunch anymore without seeing his mug on every TV in the cafeteria blathering on about something. Even though I tried to concentrate on my food, I managed to catch some of his remarks on Iran. His words were a teensy bit stronger and I can understand why he doesn’t want the US to get involved, since that whole 1979 hostage crisis went over so well for Jimmy Carter. But if you look carefully at his words, injustice and human rights apply only to protest and dissent. He doesn’t say anything about the election being rigged and voters disenfranchised as being egregious and unsupportable.
Well, why would he? He doesn’t believe in self-determination any more than Ayatollah Khamenei. Sorry to tell you this, dear Iranian readers, but it’s true. You may have missed our infamous 2008 Democratic presidential primary but it was no less a stolen election than yours. The difference is we weren’t allowed to protest the way Iranians did last week. No massive protest would have been possible in Denver. I should know because I was there. The city was on lockdown. There were police in riot gear everywhere. Step over the line even once and they’d simply force you to the ground, cuff you and haul you off to some gitmo-esque, wire holding pen an hour away from Denver until they got around to letting you make a phone call.
Juan Cole has a bit more to say about it in his comment this morning:
I applaud the Iranian public’s protests against a clearly fraudulent election, and deplore the jackboot tactics that the regime is using to quell them. But it is important to remember that the US itself was moved by Bush and McCain toward a ‘Homeland Security’ national security state that is intolerant of public protest and throws the word ‘terrorist’ around about dissidents. Obama and the Democrats have not addressed this creeping desecration of the Bill of Rights, and until they do, the pronouncements of self-righteous US senators and congressmen on the travesty in Tehran will be nothing more that imperialist hypocrisy of the most abject sort.
Juan seems intent on presenting only the Republican Convention police abuses. He conveniently forgets about what the Democrats did last year. Believe me, I saw it with my own eyes as a confrontation was brewing between a line of anti-war activists and the riot police in Denver. The protesters didn’t have a chance and they were barely raising their voices. I was on my way to a march for Hillary Clinton on the anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States. Talk about irony and symbolism.
Tehran? Nope. Denver 2008
It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Obama hasn’t made any moves to get rid of the draconian tactics and surveillance of those who will not fall in line for him. He needs to preserve these options for the next time he and his crew decide elections for us.
Speaking of elections and people who covered themselves with shame, I got an email from Donna Brazile AND Claire McCaskill yesterday. Lucky me! What prompted all this attention all of the sudden? Donna wrote to tell me:
In a decision announced this morning, the Supreme Court upheld the 1965 Voting Rights Act — a law that has done more to expand and strengthen our democracy than any other.
It’s good news — but the fight to protect voting rights doesn’t end there. Attacks on this critical law will not stop. And voter suppression tactics will continue to plague our elections.
Well, she ought to know. She saw all the thuggery at the caucuses and, as a DNC official, did nothing to stop it. She was a ring leader in the notorious RBC hearing where she accused Hillary Clinton of being a cheater. Takes one to know one, Donna. What was the point of this email? It was so that we could make a contribution to the DNC based on our identification with voting rights issues.
Ahuh.
Think of all the bandwidth the DNC could save if they just stopped sending these unbelievable messages to those of us who can’t stand the sight of Donna Brazile’s face. I won’t buy Ms. either until she’s off of their editorial staff. But once July 20 comes around, I might join and donate to NOW. That’s the day that Terry O’Neill takes office and kicks Kim Gandy and her Obama groupies to the curb. Maybe we can do it en masse. More updates as the day gets closer.
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Filed under: General | Tagged: Denver 2008, dissent, Donna Brazile, Iran, Juan Cole, riot police |
The Confluence 
Quote from Neda Agha Soltan’s boyfriend:
It just takes your breath away. And if she were a Democratic voter in the U.S., Donna Brazile would tell her to STFU and “stop the hate.”
All I said was count the votes and was attacked and even my motherhood was questioned. No party should have the right to nullify a person’s vote, Donna Brazile, doesn’t understand the concept of Democracy after what she and the DNC did to the VOTERS.
I don’t ever want my vote RBC’d (nullified).
I decided months ago that I will vote for the woman in any election. If there is a woman I do not care what party she is, she gets my vote. I am predicting that the republican women I vote for will be superior to the democratic men they are running against and that my votes will do nothing to pull the country to the right anymore than the bluedog men running my party.
The ONLY exception to that rule will be any woman who employes Donna B. in any capacity on her campaign. I want that lying back stabbing friend of Rove out of democratic politics.
I’m not an obama supporter, so don’t label me an obot: . I just think you are a bunch of lunatics for comparing yourselves to the Iranians. You really think you’re persecuted? . OMG. Did you forget to fill your medication this month? One flew over the cuckoo’s nest here! .
How appropriate that you refer to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in your comment, David. Perhaps you haven’t actually seen the film and thus don’t understand the irony there. The movie is about people who are labeled mentally ill because they want a little freedom and self-determination.
Thank you for showing your true colors, David. Now begone.
Good point.
and I think that *Jerkbot* would be a more apt title for David.
Um, yeah. I think we were wronged in the worst way you can wrong an American. They eliminated our votes. We do identify with Iranians in that regard.
Do I know that the Denver police and National Guard troops would have killed anyone? I don’t know. They never got that far. It was an overwhelming display of force.
If I were you, I wouldn’t be so cavalier. It all looks so perfectly normal in this country these days. But just try to dissent and see what happens.
According to David, the U.S. has a bad reputation in the world because people want their votes counted. He thinks we should back down because of the size of Obama’s rallies! Methinks little David is a closet fascist.
Methinks he came out of the closet as a fascist in that comment.
The more I think about it, BB, the more I am convinced that there was a coup here in this country last year. It happened so subtlely that most people missed it as a dispute between a black guy and a white woman. But the results speak for themselves. We are in the grips of some very anti-democratic people and Obama is their spokesmodel.
Yes, there was a coup. But remember, we didn’t have a legitimate President from 2000 on anyway. The bankers just put a “Democrat” in to represent them this time.
BB & RD: I have been thinking that too. I wonder if we will ever be able to choose our president again.
folks that think the kind’ve thing happening in Iran couldn’t happen here didn’t live through Hurricane Katrina where they basically either shot you or loaded your ass into a bus and shipped you out of your own city where you were not allowed to return for 6 weeks.
and they certainly weren’t around for the ‘terrorist’ exercise with black riot helicopters a few months ago.
there were plenty of bodies in the morgue that were shot point blank down here during katrina that were categorized as drowning victims, all you have to do is know journalists or doctors that were here to hear those tales.
like i said, my neighborhood was guarded by uparmored humvees and national guard with very big guns for some time after I got back
don’t think this stuff can’t happen in america because it already happened in New Orleans
The death of a free press alone is frightening. Baby David hasn’t a clue. He only understands big bold images, but does not know that disenfranchisement and message control are the beginning of fascism. Joke all you want Baby David, but who’s listening in on your phone with the new FISA program that Obama vowed to fillibuster, and now supports? The internet is next. Now get back to those video games!
Oh the internet has long been monitored. Mostly because it’s easy, but also because the telco’s and cable companies have been all too happy to let their main trunks be tapped. And funny enough, FISA gives them all the cover they need for that too, even though it was all done earlier.
Not only think about the lack of privacy for individuals, but think about the opportunity for a few big corporations that are friendly with the government being able and free to do industrial espionage with their competitors or smaller companies (with the next big ideas).
I totally agree with you, Riverdaughter. Fraudulent elections were held in both Iran and the US out of the fear of powerful women:
Who was really cheated in Iran’s vote? Women. The West shouldn’t cozy up to a regime that rigs elections against feminist candidates.
During the primaries, plenty of Hillary supporters got death-threats, black-mail threats, & termination of career threats from the Obama thugs. Who knows what would have happened if people were allowed to protest in Denver?– I would not be surprised if violence would have ensued.
Voter Rights=Civil Rights
This video says it in the most simple of terms and maybe you might get it!
It’s interesting that you brought up meds like you did David.
Are you on some? If so for how long? Which ones?
One typical Obot response to any criticism of The One during the primary was: “You must have forgotten to take your medication today.” Sorry, but I do not need medication to soften reality. Like the 2000 general election, the 2008 Democratic primary did not count our votes. That was a bitch slap to democracy. I wish we all would have protested the same as what’s happening in Iran today. I think we need to scare the crap out of our ruling-class politicians by marching against the status quo. I hope health care is that boiling point.
Single Payer has been blocked from the process and the doctors advocating for a seat at the table of discussions were arrested. 😦
To David:
Hark! I hear the voices from the “age of hysteria” — that highly effective medical metaphor for everything that hysterical men find threatening about the opposite sex.
WE GET IT that you simply cannot comprehend the reality that without REAL Women’s Rights, Voter’s Rights, Constitutional Rights, the ideals of Human Rights are about as appealing and useful as a broken toilet !
Unfortunately, we know of no medication, my friend, for Stuck on Stupid – other than a big dose of Obama.
Ha! I love this: “that highly effective medical metaphor for everything that hysterical men find threatening about the opposite sex.”
great line!
and the father of “hysteria”??:
Freud ….the famous coke-snorting, woman-bashing, narcisistic, neurotic who couldn’t deal with his own sexual issues or his relationship with women and therefore created his fame through a psychological empire built on the backs of misogy & sexual repression
.
go back to dkos or mydd or whatever blogger boyz who worship Obamamessiah site you came from.
I am so proud that PUMA is acknowledging our true sisterhood/brotherhood with the Iranian people. Who else in this country can, legitimately?
And I am so proud of the president of France calling the burka what it is – a shameful attempt to hide over half the population of the world – and further, saying it is not welcome in the Republic of France – that is a leader.
I agree. I believe people should be able to hold on to their traditions up to a point. But we should be supporting discriminary practices.
But hey, Obama is still protecting the Saudis from facing the music for their support of the 9/11 attacks.
A Tale of Two Bows, starring Barack Obama
But we should not be supporting discriminatory practices.
BB, you forgot the ‘not’ typing too fast, happens to me all the time.
Yes David, we were persecuted and still are being persecuted by Obama suporters and even some who claim they’re not but still think we’re “lunatics” despite reading a very sane, cogent piece about last year’s primaries.
I got the same e-mail from Donkeybrazile and I thought that was crazy. Donna Brazile supporting voting rights. That’s just nuts!
We clearly have the right to vote as she wishes for us to so do.
Spot on, that is why I am still going to advocate for a NEW VOTING RIGHTS ACT, so that NO PARTY is EVER ABLE TO NULLIFY A PERSON’S VOTE AGAIN!
BB, sorry for yelling, but I never knew this could happen in the US until May 31st, 2008. I think the troll critics are upset because we still won’t be QUITE!
Considering the deserved interest in the NOW election lately, and the hopeful comeback of feminism, I’ve got to throw this link in here.
The Texas Testosterone Festival Presented by SugarBaby Swimwear Brings All Things Manly to Austin in August 2009 Austin Festival to Include MMA, Fantasy Football, Video Games and Fitness Events
http://texastestosterosteronefestival.org/
Just think a man can learn about beards and ultimate fightiing. As if any place needed this festival less.
Sorry to be crass, but O.M.F.G.!!!!!!!!!
BTW, Ralph, this might be our chance to finally meet in person! LOL!!!
I’m not going to that thing, but I’d love to meet you after 🙂
We do need to get together one of these days.
Cross Puerta Vallerta off your list if you are looking for sun. The first tropical tropical system (Andres) of the year formed off the coast. The system seems to be dissipation, but there’s gotta be rain.
Totally OT, but could Gov. Sanford have had a serious breakdown? It’s starting to sound like he may have gone into a fugue state or something. First he was supposed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail. Now we find out he was driving along the coast in Argentina. I think he needs to be checked out by a psychiatrist ASAP.
It’s a fascinating story, BB — a real life mystery.
Yes, like ‘Where in the world did our VOTES GO…at the CONVENTION’!
Doesn’t seem overly mysterious. I think he had just had it after the legislative session and took a break to charge his batteries.
Apparently he is making himself available to the media at around 2pm today, ought to be interesting.
Much ado about nothing.
I don’t know, myiq. Seems to me the South Carolina lege could make a serious case for dereliction of duty.
That his wife didn’t know where he was is a personal matter but that the Lt. Governor didn’t, either , speaks to Sanford’s fitness for office.
I think so too. At first, I thought it was reckless, because he hadn’t notified his staff–but that is unclear. Apparently, he had said he was going hiking, and whoever the media spoke to repeated that. He was tired and wanted a break, so he went someplace exotic, which he has done on numerous other vacations apparently. I know how that feels. We’ll see if he explains at 2 p.m. who was leftin charge while he was gone. That’s the only issue: did he take a break in a responsible fashion, given his position.
He told his staff he was going hiking, so he let them know he’d be gone for awhile…most likely left the Lt Gov in charge even though he didn’t tell him specifically where he was going.
I used to be married to an a$$hat like that.
So much for myiq2xu’s crystal ball. Or is it crystal balls?
Who gives a fuck who Sanford is screwing?
It’s not news, it’s Jerry Springer.
Uhmm. A Governor of state lies to his family, staff, press, legislature, and people of his state about his whereabouts. A man who has railed against gay marriage as an abomination and threat to traditional marriage has an affair over the months. If he wasn’t a governor or public official, it isn’t a story. He is and it is.
No, it’s not news.
This had nothing to do with Sanford’s official duties. It concerns his private life. He didn’t break any laws.
It was nobody’s business when the GOP and the media was obsessed about Bill Clinton’s sex life and it’s nobody’s business now.
Just curious. Is this the same “David” that is over at Dr. Violet’s blog telling us how boring her stories are? And how we have to move on “in unity?”
I smell a rat. Of the worst Obotian type.
SYD
LOL! David is having a real fascist freakout! He just can’t stand any questioning of Dear Leader.
It’s always a tip off when they say, “I am NOT an Obama supporter.”
uh-huh.
If “unity” means hanging out with David, I’ll pass, thank you.
Be careful what you wish for, RD. We finally made it through 4 1/2″ of rain last week only to have a week of 90 degree weather. Last year we had one of the most perfect summers I can remember. This year I expect hot and humid.
Re convention madness: Remember how Amy Goodman was arrested for trying to do a report from outside the Republican convention? Amy was wearing her press pass, but I suspect the police didn’t believe her credentials because she was an assertive female, heaven forbid.
Anything is preferable to spending the entire month of June under dark skies, constant rain or drizzle, and being so cold that you have to turn on the heat to keep from getting hypothermia indoors–in June!!!
This is getting ridiculous. Day after day of darkness and rain. I’m over it.
Holy baby jesus, we are having the complete opposite. 104 was the high temp here today!
I find it repulsive that a person who cheated to win his parties nomination and did it by smearing a woman now speaks out against voting problems and boo-hoos about the death of a young Iranian woman.
Cheaters don’t get to comment about cheating by others in my little corner of the world.
And misogynists don’t get to cry crocodile tears over the fate of women. Any women. Any where. Ever. Too little and too damn late to pretend to care about the fate of women.
And while Neda’s fate is truly terrible and sad, where’s the outrage over the women in this country who are murdered on a daily basis by, usually, their nearest and dearest?
Every day four women die in this country as a result of domestic violence, the euphemism for murders and assaults by husbands and boyfriends. That’s approximately 1,400 women a year, according to the FBI. The number of women who have been murdered by their intimate partners is greater than the number of soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.
http://engforum.pravda.ru/archive/index.php/t-159655.html
You said it better than I ever could. Thanks.
The netroots and Third Wave don’t get to comment on anything after condoning and participating in the misogyny last year.
“David” is still talking to himself in the spam filter. Get over it, David! Boy the trolls are out in force today.
Women, supporting women…trolls out in force to shut them up. They didn’t get the memo that ‘Real Men Aren’t Afraid of Women’s Rights or Women Speaking Up’.
It’s the Blogstalkers – they’re bragging about it.
I toldja they were full of shit when they said they were bored with stalking us and wanted a truce. Stalkers don’t get bored with stalking.
And they think we should “get over it?” What a bunch of OCD losers!
While we’re discussing stuff like the crisis in Iran and health care reform, they’re discussing us.
Is that pathetic or what?
Isn’t that wagging the DOG! I remember during the main elections, the media/press plays up celebrities and all their dramas. I think they are trying to discredit us, because others are picking up the discussions and they fear the truth may get out.
They are also concerned about us discussing that Single Payer Advocates have been locked out of the discussions and arrested for protesting the that fact. What is Obama afraid of? Why aren’t they in on the discussions? Is he saying that Medicare needs to go? Is he saying that Medicare is a failed model? It is a Single Payer Health Insurance Program. Oh, that is right, those seniors vote!
They are what they criticize.
Ever since the Obama campaign got underway, the pattern has been for him to speak out against, or to acuse opposition of being or doing exactly what he is/was/or will be doing.
When they call us Republicans, it’s to neutralize the effects of Obama being a continuation of Bush. We aren’t making things up….he is keeping, and enhancing the Bush policies and behaving like an R no matter how they try to twist it.
It’s the fear of women’s power again with the NOW election. The stolen US and Iranian elections were also due to the fear of powerful women.
who are the blogstalkers and do you have a link?
Who: Pathetic whinger Failbots
Link: biohazard
Once Terry O’Neill is in I’ll rejoin NOW and donate. Hopefully she’ll get NOW back to where it used to be and not the laughingstock it is under Gandy.
David seems to be a little lost. I guess when all his freedoms are gone and he can’t buy any more expensive toys then he’ll wake up to what’s happening in this country.
I agree that the coup took place in 2000. But Dubya’s folksy act wore thin, especially after Katrina. The powerbrokers wanted to eliminate those pesky lefties who hadn’t quit yapping about peace and justice and equality.
What better than a face out of their wettest PC dreams? A biracial, Ivy League community organizer who had overcome a bad start being raised by a single mother and written two books along thw way. Hope, change, echoes of JFK – no athelete or rock star had such a perfect background to be marketed. That it was exaggerations or outright lies, that there was no substance beneath, was strictly immaterial compared to the symbolism of The First Black President!
If you dig below the “flood of small donors” farce, you see it was the same people funding Obama as Bush Jr.
But those inconvenient PUMAs who never fell for the Bush image didn’t buy this incarnation either. Hence the continutation of “I’m not an Obot, but you’re all nuts” comments.
Well, as the song said, “you may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for” to straighten the country out.
During Katrina, our legislators, should have gotten on a plane and gone down there and taken charge.
astra14- I am going to do the same thing. I am 51, old but not broken. The idea that NOW should focus only or , mostly, on young women and their issues is crazy. Women live long lives. Lives that are vital, challenging and meaningful throughout. Older women have incredible problems with poverty and healthcare. It is part of NOW’s job to uphold the dignity of all women.
all females from the cradle to the grave……
Yes…ALL Women!
It was incredibly stupid to pit the old/young, black/white factions against eachother during this NOW election. Women come in all ages and colors.
Probably the best outcome in the NOW election is that the image of NOW as a cool thing to chat about over a Starbucks while getting ready to visit powerful people is replaced with tough women willing to misbehave to get things done.
Yea!
Tribute To NEDA and All Other Brave IRANIAN Women “Tough women willing to misbehave to get things done”-jjmtacoma
Perhaps the third wave of feminism will rise from the Straits of Hormuz. God bless them and keep them safe.
From http://shannondrury.blogspot.com/2009/06/feminism-infighting-is-sexy-financial.html
Back in December 2008, the State Presidents Listserv was discussing the cold hard fact that NOW, Inc. is flat fucking broke. This discussion occurred long before Terry O’Neill (old, white) declared her candidacy. This happened before Olga Vives (not white, but old!) was planning to throw her hat in the ring, but didn’t because she wanted to avoid the young/old meme that is currently playing out.
National NOW is broke. Small state chapters like mine are withering and dying. Under Gandy, the organization changed from bottom-up to top-down. This very boring to anyone outside of the group.
Excellent post, RD!
“Is it just me or is there something Orwellian and creepy about the fact that you can’t eat your lunch anymore without seeing [BO’s] his mug on every TV in the cafeteria blathering on about something. ”
I feel exactly the same way. Reminds me of how dictators’ mugs are plastered everywhere and shown yapping 24/7 on state-controlled TV in “Third World” countries.
Well get ready for O Wednesday! He’s being plastered all over ABC today with his interviews, special report from the White House, Town Hall, and Nightline. I will blissfully miss it all.
Riverdaughter,
Great article! Just a reminder, we met at the PUMA house in Denver. I talked to you about the importance of election reform and how corrupt our system was, based on the investigative work I did while I was Associate Director at Black Box Voting.org
Anyway, what I wanted to add to this conversation is that what has happened in Iran with their election is precisely what happened during the democratic primary and the gaming of the caucuses by the obama camp. The same kind of tactics of intimidation and “stuffing” of the proverbial ballot box during the caucuses was blatant and criminal. When the Hillary camp tried to protest publicly, they were immediately threatened into silence. We all know the media would have destroyed Hillary, had she protested as Mausavi is doing! The DNC party leaders (just like the clerics of Iran) had chosen who would win the nomination. Move on and shut up!
What is becoming painfully clear to me regarding elections in the U.S. is that if we are to ever hope to achieve real election reform, with the people overseeing and counting their votes by hand at the precinct on election night, in order to prevent the kind of corruption that goes on all the time in our own elections, that just like the Iranians, we will have to take to the streets and risk our own lives to take back our elections and our country!
My heart goes out to the Iranian people and I would welcome a revolution here, which parallels their courage and love of country and to march in solidarity with them in standing up for the kind of freedom that can only be possible with fair and honest elections!
Perhaps, that day will come.
Kathleen Wynne,
This would be a good opportunity to discuss Voting, here and in other countries and how voting impacts DEMOCRACY and Voting Rights. This would also, bring attention to the need for a paper trail, as this too is a problem in Iran as they are refusing a FULL recount and have even admitted there were problems, and won’t allow for another election.
Democracy is in a state of peril when voters are counted as half, when a party can nullify votes, make some up and give others to a candidate for whom those votes weren’t cast. Oh, shucks, that happened here in the US the Beacon of Hope…the sign of Democracy across the world. 😦
Woman Voter,
Good to “see” you again, since our discussion about elections over at NQ!
I agree. However, despite all of the evidence, most Americans still do not see the correlation between what is going on in countries, such as Iran, which arose as a result of a corrupt election, and American elections.
Americans still believe that democracy is our’s, without having to do anything to protect and keep it from being taken away from us. Far too many Americans still view voting as an inconvenience, rather than a privilege. We assume that our elections are fair and honest because they are, after all, “American elections”.
The painful truth is our elections have evolved into being very much like the elections in Iran. The Iranian people have experienced what it’s like to lose their freedoms and the horrible existence one must endure as a consequence.
I hope America will wake up and realize that what’s going on in Iran is exactly what’s going to have to happen here, if we don’t step up and get behind election reform that put’s elections back into the hands of the people, where they belong, and require our elections to be both transparent and “public” when it comes to COUNTING THE VOTES.
Kathleen Wynne,
Please join Twitter, as I have found the big boyz in voting orgs are on there and they are posting things that are vital to what you are doing. In Twitter I am WomanVote as woman voter was taken already.
That is one benefit, of twitter, you get the updates of what is happening in the selected area of ones concern. I looked for BlackBox etc, but didn’t find you guys. Please place your twitter names so I can track your updates.
Thanks and look forward to future discussion on voting issues and the ‘paper trail’. 🙂
oops…big boyz and girls (spotted two) and still looking for you all.
I don’t honestly think the DNC leaders were the ones who picked Obama. I think there was someone above them, and that it was the same group that picked W.
Bankers.
😯
I would welcome a revolution here as well.
Last year I almost lost all hope (from all the Obama army repression, hate, & thuggery) for our democracy. I could see the machine churning out another HR representative for the oligarchy. It *was* Orwellian.
Seeing a news clip of Will Bower was my first introduction to PUMA …& it blew me away to realize that I wasn’t alone and isolated — that there were other people noticing a dangerous fascist trend in the Democrat party. That PUMA’s were giving the finger to the powers of corruption.
I wish I had known of PUMA’s much earlier. And I too would welcome a revolution here. The Iranian people are indeed inspiring.
I’ll consider NOW again only if there is no tie to Ms. Mag. (even if only as a gift). If that tie in is still there, no thanks, I’ll contribute to organizations that are actually for women’s rights.
On July 20th, I will send in my money and see what steps they take. I am willing to give them some support then, with the new leadership in place.
We can donate and refuse the subscription, explaining why.
That’s a good idea.
Or ask for a subscription to Voting Rights Magazine, then tell them to start it NOW!
Why not start a fresh new women’s rights organization that hasn’t been tainted by the smell of NOW? Every minute NOW has to spend repairing the damaged image and attitudes of the members who voted for the other candidate is time away from doing the important business a new organization could focus on.
Ahhhh Vallarta!
(my fave)!
Well RD, if you didn’t wrap up all the loose ends here I’m not sure who has. I haven’t looked at a Ms. in years. I no longer notice magazines in a way because the content just blurs together month to month like that grey sky. The just seem like vehicles for target-marketing now?
Even the fashion ones I used to love.
RD? I cannot believe you saw those cages in Denver. I read about them and was just astounded. Plus the dogs?
It is time the country got over all this induced fear? How to do that?
What irony in this piece.
Is there any politician Americans can believe in anymore? I wonder. It used to be so different.
Hopefully the backlash to all of this will be a real grass-roots Dem.
of the people…
vbonnaire,
There will never be a politician we can believe in until the American people take back their elections.
Remember this one thing, “you can’t vote them out, if you didn’t vote them in.” Obama is a prime example of how party leaders choose our leaders, not the people. Therein lies the big elephant in the room and the cause of the demise of our republic, if we don’t stop talking about the problem and start doing something about it!
Election reform through a return to hand counted paper ballots, at the precinct, on election night, with citizen oversight and participation. No more machines and no more counting the votes behind closed doors with paid operatives, would be a good start.
Election reform through a return to hand counted paper ballots, at the precinct, on election night, with citizen oversight and participation. No more machines and no more counting the votes behind closed doors with paid operatives, would be a good start.
Definitely the only way to go. I’ve counted many a vote in my time, and one thing I could never get over was :
Votes being given to someone who wasn’t even on the Ballot.
I agree, Kathleen Wynne.
As a solid Dem since the 80’s — this year marked the end of my loyalty to any political party, even my own.
And, I voted in many Dem women who did not help Hillary Clinton one bit.
I will never get over that, ever.
As a feminist.
it could have been “our year” as women.
I’m watching the news — Fox — and it appears the whole Senate has broken into two camps because they can’t agree.
We voted for them.
They are public servants.
After this year, total election reform!
CA has a great system. States should follow?
Paper ballots are best, now, after last year.
Counted twice? For accuracy?
yes, vbonnaire… there *are* politicians you can believe in:
Hillary
McKinney
Nader
Gonzolez
(just some big ones that come to mind)
And I’m actually hoping for Independents to have much more of a voice from now on (I’m sick of being forced into the D/R choice when they are both bought and paid for)
There ARE leaders that have always had principles & fortitude. You just have to sift past a lot of fakers…to find the genuine article.
For the denialist blogstalkers:
And that was why the world didn’t see how opposed people are to the continuation of the wars. The government needs to show accountability (where did those lost billions go?) and needs to focus on turning over the security to Iraq and start to bring our troops home.
This is how you end up with AfPak http://ampedstatus.com/afghanistan-20-afpak-overseas-contingency-operation
and the censoring of the press/media as they can’t say WARS anymore, it is now,”overseas contingency operation” (OCO).. 😯 Our service men and women still are arriving in coffins, but that isn’t reported either. 😥
Silence Is Our Greatest Enemy
No name plates?
Police faces covered so there is no identification?
Mass arrest for no reason?
Violence enacted on non-violent protesters?
Mainstream media White-wash?
Anonymous thuggery?
This is not democracy, it is fascism!
F**king unbelievable.
Cheers to Amy Goodman & Democracy Now, to the Denver Cop Watch group, and to all the brave protesters!
….and I hope TC basher, David (Mr. I’m-in-favor-of-US-elections-repression) is watching. Thanks for the links Myiq!
Think of all the bandwidth the DNC could save if they just stopped sending these unbelievable messages to those of us who can’t stand the sight of Donna Brazile’s face.
LOL. Absa-friggin-lutely.
I like the mass joining of NOW on the 7/20. Let’s do it.
I agree fif, I don’t post here very often but , I was planning to re-join NOW after July 20th too, & I’d like that gesture to have an impact, so count me in if you guys come up with a plan to do it “en mass.”
It might not be a bad idea to let them know how we feel about Donna Brazile & Ms. Mag either, but whatever you come up with, I’ll sign on.
yes let us do that, I am in. But please someone remind me because I am so absent minded I can barely remember what foot to step with when I am walking.
Stay Tuned for More of ‘The Obama Show’
But yesterday’s daytime drama belonged primarily to Pitney, of the Huffington Post Web site. During the eight years of the Bush administration, liberal outlets such as the Huffington Post often accused the White House of planting questioners in news conferences to ask preplanned questions. But here was Obama fielding a preplanned question asked by a planted questioner — from the Huffington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/23/AR2009062303262.html
oh, too too delicious! I was thinking just yesterday about how my Obama loving friends and relatives mocked bush for doing the same thing. I wonder if they see the irony?
Priceless. So, anyone who is still watching Olbermann… is Dana Milbank a regular guest these days?
I am Hungarian originally, and just old enough to remember the tanks rolling in and the suppression of the public will. Let me suggest first that the U.S. SHOULD be careful about what it says. Will the U.S. commit military force to protect protesters if the current Iranian regime decides to significantly ratchet up violence? Given existing troop deployments and the history of this region and this country, I would estimate that there is very little to no chance of that happening. In that case, what is the moral obligation here of responsible policy? The protesters of Iran face the repurcussions. Should U.S. leaders hold out FALSE hopes that they or even the international community will protect them? I do not like what is happening in Iran one bit. However, I remember people who died in the streets of my country on the encouragement of Eisenhower and the VOA. Some argue that Denver was not a Tehran. I wasn’t there and don’t know. I would point out that Tehran is NOT Denver at least right now and for these people in the streets.
Can the UN do anything to stop the violence? Or has it been defunded and delegitimized by the US? I think it was an Iranian protester who asked for help from the UN.
There isn’t much anyone can do.
I don’t recall either the UN or the US doing anything to stop the Tibetian uprisings not long ago.
I also don’t mean to say this isn’t a horrifying event, but how can the Iranian people win their freedom if outsiders come in and break up the fight? They believe strongly in what they are doing and are willing to meet these thugs face to face in order to prove to them they will not back down. I pray they win and can enjoy their victory with a new gov’t and openly free lives for decades to come.
They have a goal and they are in pursuit of it with great commitment and passion.
I agree with Petra.
I was shocked in Iraq when Bush I retreated without taking Baghdad, and encouraged Southern Iraqis with false hopes to rebel against Saddam Hussein, they expected US help but were totally decimated.
The US should have never gotten involved in the Middle East and explored alternative energy sources.
I don’t think this thread is about Tehran & Denver being identical. In fact, Riverdaughter points out “differences” along with the similarities. But no one is saying they are the *exact* same thing. I think that would be an absurd statement to make. I DO think it is legitimate to point out similarities in voter disenfranchisement & thuggery between the election of this last year & the election in Iran. It is also inspiring for PUMA’s to see some similarities in the brave dissenting voice of the Iranian people, demanding real democracy.
I understand people being beaten & receiving death threats & loosing their jobs & blackmail (which Obama’s campaign instigated) are not the same as a bullet. But I still feel that all forms of sanctioned violence, intimidation, & thuggery is legitimate to discuss. “Tehran is NOT Denver.” True, but Riverdaughter never said it was. Analogy does not mean equivalency.
By the way, the above post is in response to Petra. Apologies for the nested double post-
I appreciate the points you make. My point was never about Denver. As I specifically point out, I was not there and do not consider myself as a result in a position to comment on the comparison. My real point is that the stakes are high in Iran right now for the people who are there. Is it moral for the U.S. or each of us as individuals to encourage their risk-taking when we have no risk. Finally, the point was that this should be viewed as analogous to Hungary in 1956. The U.S. encouraged — overtly — revolt and when the tanks and repression rolled through and killed many thousands, the U.S. did nothing. I content this is likely to be the response of the U.S. again with Iran in 2009.
New clashes reported in Tehran today,
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/24/new-clashes-reported-in-iran/
Sounds bad.
Haven’t read the comments yet, but RD, thank-you for this post.
Speaking the truth about Denver, Democratic repression, and the plan to contain protest at the convention is crucial.
You are spot on, and we should never let it be forgotten.
I like the NOW idea–just might get me to rejoin.
Here goes a quote from Puck Daddly Blog on Yahoo…
• The St. Louis Blues make a push to host the NHL All-Star Game in 2012, just in time for President Palin to drop the first puck. [Biz Journal]
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Headlines-Florida-gives-up-on-J-Bouw-Sutt?urn=nhl,172494
My god, Gov. Sanford is admitting to an affair.
That presser could only have been weirder if Sanford had spread open his arms and sung “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina.”
lol!
When the 2000 election was obviously decided in an illegitimate way my right wing friends conceded that the process was crooked, but they downplayed the whole thing saying that on balance the result was for the best because Al Gore was so blah blah blah, “get over it.”
Exactly the same way that my Obamatron friends tried to say, “I know you wanted Hillary but you have to be glad to see a ( …brother, …Democrat, …somebody from our generation, …take your pick) blah blah blah, “get over it.”
Just like in 2000, I have to say, “Hell naw! I ain’t gettin’ over nothin’!” I am not over the BS in Ohio in 2004 and I am not over Iowa, Michigan, Florida and Denver in 2008.
People who want you to “get over” something that was rigged unfairly in their favor think you are stupid. If you go along and “get over it” you are stupid.
I understand the rationale for Obama being restrained about Iran because bluster and hyperbole could be used by the regime to foment anti-Americanism as a smoke screen.
HOWEVER the bigger issue with this administration is that they need to be able to tell the Iranian people “GET OVER IT” when Ahmedinejad continues as President.
They know the game is rigged but they need the people to play along and not rock the boat. In other words, free and fair elections are basically like Professional Wrestling. We know it’s fake but usually our guy will wins enough of the time to keep us entertained.
We’ve believed that about so-called “Banana Republics” and “Tin Pot Dictatorships” for years but now we have to come to grips with the fact that we have become exactly what we have always ridiculed.
The last three Presidential elections in a row were crooked. And how many did we “take to the streets and overturn!”
We have nothing to tell or teach the damned Iranians. Wouldn’t they be justified to laugh in our faces?
Thanks, RD. This post was overdue.