Late Night: Don’t go to bed angry

Just wake up ready to take down and eat a gazelle.

PUMA – A Brief History (Part I)

Didja know that PUMA will be five months old this Saturday?  Hard to believe isn’t it?  It seems like a lot longer than that, but this deathmarch campaign seems to have been going on forever and it’s only been about 18 months since the first debates were held in Iowa.

Yesterday I suggested that we all think about the future of PUMA.  I majored in history in college because it was my favorite subject.  I think understanding where we came from is very helpful in figuring out where we are going, as well as who we are.  So let’s do a quick review.

Despite what our opponents claim, the original PUMAs were mostly long-time Democratic bloggers and blog denizens.  Some, like Riverdaughter (aka Goldberry) and Alegre were prominent kossacks back when dkos was a progressive site, while others like myself frequented other sites in Left Blogistan.

Some PUMAs were supporters of Hillary Clinton from the beginning, while others supported John Edwards or other candidates.  I kept hoping in vain that Al Gore would declare his candidacy, and I had Edwards tentatively as my second choice.  I had Barack Obama near the bottom of my list, but it was my intention to support whatever Democrat won the nomination.

Around the time the actual voting began in primaries and caucuses, something very ugly happened in Left Blogistan.  Obama cultists took over dkos, TPM and other sites and began trying to silence or drive out anyone who didn’t support Obama.  I was a regular at Balloon Juice at that time, and the change took place virtually overnight.

I was not yet supporting Hillary but I noticed that many of the attacks on her were simply recycled right-wing memes from the nineties, long ago debunked.  Having defended and supported the Big Dawg since 1992 I objected to these attacks and defended Hillary.  Now I have been expressing my opinions about politics since before I could vote, but I never saw what happened next.

When I defended Hillary, the response I got was personal attacks and insults.  I’m not talking about someone calling me stupid, I’m talking about really putrid stuff like “you’re a goat-fucking piece of shit” coming from total strangers.  And it wasn’t just one or two people doing it, nor was I the only target.  Eventually I was the only target, as everyone at that site either converted to Kool-aidism or left.  Then I left too.

The leaving for me was a gradual process, as I spent less and less time at Balloon Juice and more time at sites that didn’t worship The Lightbringer.  Eventually I wound up here, where Riverdaughter had created a Kool-aid free zone for Hillary supporters.  Alegre and other refugees from Cheetoville formed their own new blogs as the best and brightest writers went on strike.

By Spring of this year Left Blogistan was divided into two camps, with a few sites trying to maintain a pretense of neutrality in between.  The MSM was completely in the tank for Teleprompter Jesus, so those of us supporting Hillary were lonely voices crying in the wilderness.  We watched as misogyny and false accusations of racism went unchecked while Obama went unexamined.

Hillary was inspiring to watch.  Having been declared dead on several occasions, she kept coming back and winning primaries anyway.  They told us over and over that she couldn’t catch Teh Precious, that she was mathmatically eliminated, but she relentlessly closed the gap.  The biggest obstacle in her way was the DNC/RBC decision to strip Michigan and Florida of their delegates.  We knew that if that undemocratic ruling was reversed, Hillary would take the lead because she handily won both primaries.

The Rules and Bylaws Committee met on May 31st, and our own garychapelhill and Mawm were in attendance.  The outcome was summed up best by Mawm when he yelled “LIPSTICK ON A PIG!” The RBC violated their own rules to contrive a decision that guaranteed Hillary could not catch Obama.

On June 1, 2008 outraged Hillary supporters met at The Confluence to express their feelings about what had taken place.  No one told us how we should think or feel about it, we already knew.  The media and the sippy-kup kidz were proclaiming that we would now have to support Obama in the name of “party unity.”  The general consensus was “I don’t care what they say, I ain’t voting for him cuz he cheated.”

Then SM (aka sm77) posted this comment:

SM, on June 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pm Said:

[…]

I am making an announcement. I am now a member of the PUMA party.

P arty
U nity
M y
A ss

And with that, PUMA was born!

(End Part I)

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RD here.  Just a quick reminder that if you don’t want to watch the Unity Pony tonight, you do have options.

• You can set your DVR for Pushing Daisies on ABC or
• You can join Sheri, Darragh and me on The Lions Share at 8:00PM EST on NO WE WON’T/PUMA United Radio (PURrrrr).
• At 9:00pm EST, Will Bower is scheduled to make an appearance on Larry King Live on CNN to tell the country that we’re not dead yet and there are a lot more of us than the media is reporting (PUMA Power has more than 100,000 hits since June 1,2008.)  Also, Johnny Mac is scheduled to make an appearance on Hannity and Colmes tonight on Fox News.

That is all. I now return you to your regular snark.

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Life vs. Life: Why The Abortion Issue Rules Us All

A Potential Life at Two Days Old

In this charged election year, no matter who claims the White House in 2009, we will be electing at least one person with restrictive views on abortion to the White House.

John McCain proclaims that he is “proudly pro-life” (although in the 2000 election, he stated just the opposite). His running mate, Sarah Palin, is far more credible and consistent in her stance against abortion, and even belongs to a group called “Feminists for Life.” As for Barack Obama, he has veered away from the traditional Democratic framing of “safe, legal and rare,” and has been talking about how women shouldn’t get third-trimester abortions just because we’re feeling blue; indeed, we gals are such frivolous creatures that we, as a matter of course, must consult a committee before making such a momentous decision. At least Joe Biden, Barack Obama’s running mate, is unwavering in his pro-choice stance, and drafted the Violence Against Women Act in 1994; however, many of us will never forget his role in casting doubt upon Anita Hill’s story, which helped confirm the arch-conservative Clarence Thomas – another anti-choice Justice – to the Supreme Court.

35 years after Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in America, why is that decision such a controversial and emotional one in our political and personal lives? I believe it is because the choice to terminate a pregnancy is perceived as a choice of one life over another. And how can one make such a choice without agony and conflict? How can a just and lawful nation allow the murder of a child by its mother?

Except that’s not really what happens, is it? What happens in an abortion is that a mother trades a potential life for an actual life. But that simple idea has become lost in a fog of pseudo-science, emotional manipulation by both parties, religious interference and deep-seated societal misogyny.

If Obama can’t even take care of his own neighborhood, how can he take care of our country?

‘If you can’t run your own house, then you can’t run the White House.’

-Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama, I wondered the same thing too especially when your neighborhood, not too far from your million dollar Rezko mansion, looks like this:

American Girl in Italy at No Quarter posted a compelling argument into Barack Obama’s character by showing his paternal grandmother and Barack’s half brother – it’s heartbreaking – in her post “if you are not caring for your family…” It inspired me to do the same here at the Confluence.  American Girl in Italy reminded us of when Obama was a state senator for Illinois, Obama pushed for privately owned and managed low-income housing that is subsidized with state and federal funds.  In other words, the government gives the property owner money if they promise to provide housing for needy families and to maintain it under US housing code. And this tragic incident is the result of Obama’s corruption:

The great PUMA videomaker, Flineo, had this to say about Obama’s district in Chicago:

And this is how the Obama campaign & 2008 DNC sell him as:

Uhhhh, I don’t see rainbows and unity ponies floating in the sky over Grove Park or Cabrini Housing Projects. I don’t see Curtis Cooper’s family “getting over” his death due to Obama & Chicago Thug Crew’s quest for power & cash.  We’re supposed to let this guy waltz into the Oval Office just because it’s a “historical candidacy” when he treats the very people he represented like animals to benefit his rich friends?   The 2008 Chicago Machine  DNC stole votes to put a corrupt slumlord appeaser into office?   Voter fraud is little compared to what Obama let happen under his watch in the only piece of land Obama represented before his US seante run.

Right now, people are living in dangerous inhabitable buildings because of Obama and his Chicago cronies.   And cold weather is already here and I wonder about the people in Grove Park, whether they are stuffing plastic bags between the door cracks just to keep warm.  I wonder if Curtis Cooper’s family has filed a lawsuit against Obama’s friends who manage Cabrini, who opted to solve the problem by putting a chain around a fence so iron fences won’t kill another child.

The people of Chicago voted for Barack Obama and this is what they got. What will we get if he becomes president?  More than ever, we have to really think about our voting strategy this November 4th.  We’ve got to keep this criminal out of the Oval Office.  Think out your voting strategy wisely.

¡Que viva los PUMAs!

Wednesday: Compare and Contrast

Here is the McCain-Palin sign I see on my way to work each day:

And HERE is what a typical Obama-Biden sign looks like:

Forget for a moment that after 30 years in the senate, Biden is the one with the wherewithal to be on top, why the heck would Biden put up with his name printed in a smaller font and fading into the background?  It’s humiliating.  At least with my McCain/Palin sign (er, my mom bought it for me.  It’s in the garage.) the candidates names show no difference in size or color.  The sign lists the candidates by seniority and position.  It looks like Palin is a partner and McCain doesn’t have problems sharing the spotlight as long as he’s on top.  It’s respectful, a collaboration, a mentoring thing.

OBAMA–Biden? It really is all about him, isn’t it?  And don’t forget the “O”.  Obama is a brand.  He represents every spritely twinkle in the glazed eyes of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models with PhDs in Architecture.  One can almost see them skipping off into the distance on the scarlet bricked road into Obamaland, Jack Russell terrier in arms, ruby slippers on their feet, picnic basket packed with organic apples and tofurkey sandwiches on sprouted whole wheat bread.  Obama’s not just wholesome, he’ll grow strong bodies in eight ways.  He is the Wonder Bread candidate, if they made it with unbleached flour grown on the gentle spring fed soils of the prairie.  What???  You say the prairie has no gentle spring fed soil and it’s all irrigated?  I suppose you’re going to tell me he’s not organic either.

Shocked, SHOCKED.

Meanwhile, Mr. Inspiration P.F. Flyer is going to spend a hefty chunk of that $150 million he collected last month so he can explain it all to you stupid, low information voters.  He’s probably going to be decked out in a blue tie and will sit in a vaguely Oval Office-esque setting – with flags and pictures of the fam on the desk.  It’s hard to fake sincerity but he’s going to try.  He’ll talk to you earnestly, in a measured, conversational cadence.  He doesn’t want to go too fast for you.  At sometime during the half hour, he’ll say, “Look, blah-de-blah-de-blah”, like you would totally Get. It. if you would just pay attention to him for a minute.  {{Sigh}}  Obama, the DNC and the Obots rigged the primary for your own good, you clueless people.  Once he’s installed in the Oval Office you’ll see what a benevolent dictator he really is.  Just believe, Ok?  Click those Ruby slippers three times and say, “There’s no one like O.  There’s no one like O.”

Of course, as Glinda said, you have the power to change things anytime you want.  You can click those slippers whenever and for whomever you damn well please.  And I damn well please to spend that half hour talking to Sheri and Darragh on The Lions Share on NO WE WON’T PUMA United Radio (PURrrr) at 8PM EST.  Why not join us?  Bring your house and maybe we’ll find someone to drop it on.

Got your riot gear ready?

Get your pitchforks and torches ready, and a list of the stores you plan to loot, cuz according to Obamanation all hell breaks loose on November 4th and 5th.  That is, of course, assuming that the racists in the country steal the election that Teh Precious has already won.

Seriously, that is the message we are hearing.  It’s an amped up version of what Donna Brazile and other Obama supporters said would happen in Denver if Hillary “stole” the nomination from Teleprompter Jesus.  Obamanation’s rebels without a clue don’t really plan to riot, it’s just part of the pre-election haka, designed to convince us that Obama is the inevitable winner.

But over at Corrente, Chicago Dyke poses this question:

For the sake of argument, let’s say Obama wins, very clearly and obviously in your own mind. And let’s say that somehow, insert your own 2000 redux here, “they” (try to) take it away from him, via Brooks Brothers riots and SCOTUS foolishness and other sundry undemocratic methods. What is your response, if any? And why? How would it be different than if HRC had had it stolen from her? Or the candidate of Your Choice?

I don’t think McSpain has the ground game to steal it this time; I also don’t think Wall St/Telco Ave money wants Obama to lose. So honestly I’m not so worried about it. I think we’ll get a “democratic” prezint next Jan. But let’s say the paranoid, insane racist members of the Franchise refuse to give up power, and pull out all the tricks, and declare at 3am Nov 5 that “McCain Wins!” What do you do?

Although she slides in the mention of Hillary and “candidate of Your Choice” along with some other qualifiers and disclaimers, the framing of the question is premised on the idea that if the election is stolen, it will be stolen by McCain and the GOP.  Now I’m not trying to pick on CD or anyone at Corrente, but I think a very important question needs to be asked:

Assuming for the sake of argument that you are convinced the election was stolen from the rightful winner, does your reaction depend on which side did the stealing?