Finally, Change We Can Believe In

Meet New York state's new interim (very interim) Governor Barry Crimmins.

Wow!

I hadn't planned on posting for another few days but I couldn't resist sharing this gem from Dennis Perrin wherein he wipes the floor with Marc Cooper's ass over the Samantha Power Affair. As most who have been watching the Clinton-Obama spat over Power's recent comments about the Hillerator know by now, Power stepped down from her advisory position with Obama's campaign over comments that, quite frankly, were rather tame and a no brainer when one briefly reviews Hillary's record--the bitch is a monster. So what? Anyway, I'm not sure if many people caught Perrin's piece which, for this reader, was the best response so far to all the liberal hand-wringing over Power's "banishment" to her comfortable post at Harvard.

Bullshit

Yes, you've long suspected it to be so and now it has finaly been confirmed.

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

The Final Insult

One more brick-bat is in order for the recently departed clown prince of conservatism, William F. Buckley Jr. and it's a treasure from the Way-Back Machine. The following is Robert Sherrill's review of John Judis's William F. Buckley Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives as it appeared in the Nation magazine back in 1988. This comes courtesy of Barry Crimmins who received it himself via e-mail from Dennis Perrin. Did you get all that? Enjoy.

Willam F. Buckley Jr. 1925-2008

Conservatives lost their most gifted showman today when William F. Buckley Jr. was found dead in his residence by an assistant. Buckley would be the man credited with wresting conservatism from the John Birch Society fringes and bringing it to respectability on the American political scene. He did this primarily through two vehicles, the first of which were his influential essays in his magazine National Review and his television interview program "Firing Line". Let's sit back and enjoy the spectacle of Buckley getting his ass kicked on his own show back in 1969 by Noam Chomsky.

Pssst! Can you spare a dime?

Isn't it refreshing to know that the eagle eyes over at the Wall Street Journal, in fact, the US financial media in general is looking out for those of us who rely on our banking system? The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market and its attendant ill effects have negatively impacted US banks to such an extent that they were recently forced to secretly borrow money from the Fed, as much as 50 billion dollars to date. That's Fed as in taxpayer. This disturbing fact was a "secret" because it wasn't published in the US. Unless you were a subscriber to the London Financial Times you missed it.

With Choices Like These...

Howard Zinn manages, as usual, to put his finger on what ails America in this (and every) political season. An exerpt:

"Today, we can be sure that the Democratic Party, unless it faces a popular upsurge, will not move off center. The two leading Presidential candidates have made it clear that if elected, they will not bring an immediate end to the Iraq War, or institute a system of free health care for all.

They offer no radical change from the status quo."

The rest.

Reflections on Terror

I'm remiss to have not formally introduced to those few who visit this space the source that first inspired my efforts and nom de plume. I speak of Coldtype.net which offers, free of charge, the writing of progressive thinkers the world over. What follows is but a sample of their outstanding offerings to those of the left persuasion, in this instance the latest from Edward S. Herman & David Peterson on America's so-called "war on terror". You'll find the link to this incredible site on my blogroll to your right ["My Inspiration"]. This Herman & Peterson essay is lengthy but I think you'll find it well worth your time. Read on.

Yes We Can!

You guessed it, the Obama faithful are at it again and they've recently released this slick video tribute to their hero. After you catch your breath, check out the proper response to this crapola over at A Tiny Revolution.

Dean Baker and Loans Made for Walking

Economist Dean Baker made some rather interesting points the other day regarding the sub-prime crisis as well as the related mess in the upscale prime market in an essay which appeared on Truth Out. No matter how hard I try, however, I can't seem to work up any tears over the looming prospect of banks left holding the bag.

John McCain and Our Likely Future

This courtesy of Barry Crimmins:

Happy Anniversary!

It's been five years since Colin Powell's bruva performance before the UN Security Council in his role as Team Bush's most credible official. Sitting before the Security Council, his props carefully organized beside him, Powell passionately spun the Iraqi/WMD lies that bamboozled the nation into supporting a war of aggression. Jon Schwarz lays it all out in devastating detail.

Saying Our Final Goodbyes to John Edwards

Of all the mainstream candidates for the Democratic Party nomination, John Edwards at least gave serious lip-service to progressive issues. His insistent focus on the rampant poverty afflicting America's majority under-class was the bane of elite opinion in the corporate media universe, and made it clear almost from the start that his campaign was doomed. You see Edwards failed to grasp that public opinion and public policy in this country do not align. So while his positions were (at least superficially) in accord with public opinion on issues such as the need for single-payer universal health-care, ending the criminal occupation of Iraq, reigning in the so-called "free-trade" agreements, and reforming tax policies which further enriched the wealthy, these positions were anathema to the elite class who actually implement and influence US foreign and domestic policy. Thus he never had a prayer, despite the fact that he polled better than every Democratic challenger against the Republicans currently in the race.

For more on Edward's demise, I found this gem from Weldon Berger over at BTC News, though I must add that his advice to "vote Obama" is clearly absurd.

Our Kind of Guy

For those of you who missed news about the passing of Indonesian mass-murderer General Suharto a few days back, I leave you this from Dennis Perrin and this from John Pilger.

A Message From Bill Clinton

I don't know how I could have missed this.

The View Sure Is Good Up Here!

Found a great post on Jon Schwarz's blog today that kind of puts into perspective how people throughout history have rationalized their comparative advantages no matter the means employed. I think you'll find some of the responses in the comments section rather interesting, particularly the apologetics of one "Ashley". Read on.

Hey, Have You Ever Heard of The BCCI?

I didn't think so. Fortunately for us Chris Floyd has.

Benazir Bhutto: Her Life and Death in Context

Tariq Ali's analysis of Benazir Bhutto, her clan, and Pakistan's the cut-throat political arena is indispensable for anyone hoping to make any sense out of what occurred yesterday and what the future may hold for the Pakistani people. Ali's essay was published in the London Review of Books back in November and it unburdens you of the need to wade through much of the nonsense you're likely to encounter on this subject elsewhere in the western mainstream media. So as not to delay you any further I'll let Tariq Ali take over from here with, Daughter of the West.

Al Gore and an "Inconvenient Truth"

Generally whenever you see footage of Al Gore lately, his brow is furrowed and lip a'trembl'in in righteous indignation over the issue of global warming and the negative role played in this unfolding tragedy by the US and other industrial societies. As an exercise, I propose that the next time you come across Righteous Al on the tube you think of this.

Fascism A' Creepin'

It's not easy to listen to the conversation of those around me these days. I find myself oddly out of sync with the general themes of these discussions and before long I just drift away. I'm not anti-social and never have been. No, this is something else. My problem is that I have so far been unable to come to grips with the sheer indifference most people have to the profound transformation our republic has undergone under the criminal Bush II regime. Therefore, I cannot bring myself to care about the relative merits of the iPhone, or whether or not the New England Patriots will go undefeated this year. I read that an unfortunate tiger slipped its enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo and made a lunch out of three unfortunate guests but find myself strangely unmoved.

Can it be that others cope with the reality of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Patriot Acts I & II, retroactive immunity for the telecoms and government actors complicit in the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens by a process of cognitive dissonance? If I shop enough, exercise enough, and play enough all the threats to my liberty will vanish. I read somewhere that most Americans loosely fall into one of two categories: cowards or conformists. It stung but I could offer no rational defense. When citizens of a republic fail or refuse their duty to hold their elected officials to account the consequences are never good, as the merest glance at history reveals.

Ray McGovern, a 27 year veteran of the CIA (retired), has noticed an ominous thread in our recent history that can be traced to the dissolution of the German republic in the early 1930's. The dangerous combination of a largely indifferent population and a highly aggressive, reactionary political leadership imbued with a corporatist agenda is a trademark our nation now shares with the doomed German republic.