Putting Insult on Injury

That is what the GOP has done. A little follow-up on the scorecard hall of shame from The Unruly Mob, read it and weep. Then watch Who Cares What You Think? A telling short courtesy of Jesus General.

When Insults Had Class

Merely a tiny sample of prose so clever and biting it was difficult to feel truly insulted by the speaker; rather one might be a bit flattered that such commentary was inspired by one. Check and see if anyone in particular comes to mind as you read these pithy quotes. Thank you to Op99 for the compilation.

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”
— Winston Churchill

“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.”
— Moses Hadas

“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.”
— Abraham Lincoln

“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.”
— Groucho Marx

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.”
— Oscar Wilde

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring
a friend . . . if you have one.”
— George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
RESPONSE:
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second . . .
if there is one.”
— Winston Churchill to GBS

“I feel so miserable without you, it’s almost like having you here.”
— Stephen Bishop

“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.”
— Irvin S. Cobb

“He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.”
— Paul Keating

“He had delusions of adequacy.”
— Walter Kerr

“There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won’t cure.”
— Jack E. Leonard

“He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.”
— Robert Redford

“They never open their mouths without subtracting from the
sum of human knowledge.”
— Thomas Bra ckett Reed

(about Richard Nixon) “He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker
forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them.”
— James Reston

“In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded
easily.”
— Charles, Count Talleyrand

“Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any
address on it?”
— Mark Twain

“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.”
— Mae West

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”
— Oscar Wilde

Bombshell!

If this doesn't top the cake someone better tell me what does. Just reported on by Greg Mitchell of Editor&Publisher "American Servicewoman Commits Suicide After Objecting to 'Interrogation Techniques' Used in Iraq" Read the story here. And then watch this new ad with General Wesley Clark and VoteVets

Because of Iraq

Vote Vets

This is a commercial for Charlie Brown running in CA-04 to replace the disgusting, disgraceful John Dolittle. It's moving and sadly, the truth. A must-see.

From Where I'm Sitting


If you're intereted in seeing the Doolitle and Charlie Brown debate here's the link.(Link courtesy of Nate)

Scorecard

A tidbit for those of you keeping score on FBI investigations into the 109th Congress-critters. Justin Rood tells us all about it. TPM also has the latest poll numbers on the mid-term elections here.

Tidbit number 2: Emptywheel over at The Next Hurrah has a great pic and piece about Dick Cheney's shred-o-matic parked in front of his house. Classic.

Last but not least a little something for my California homies about the proposed change to the California Constitution, "No on Prop. 85":

The Worst Congress Ever!

I often wonder as I read around the internet at various conservative sites how the denial and delusion that runs so deep, survives. As if anymore proof were needed, Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone Magazine has written the definitive article on the 109th do-nothing-but-fuck-up-the-country-congress. Ths 109th has managed to work less than any congress in American history, topping the old Truman congress of the 40's by more than a month. Then of course is the corrution that runs deeper than the Mariana Trench abyss. Read the terrific story, The Worst Congress Ever by Matt Taibbi


Take a listen to interview of Matt by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!

We The People

I have been away from the keyboard for a number of days because of commitments here at home. Some political work, some social obligations and family matters. Today in order to break the monotony I am featuring a short but potent post from a guest and my friend, Anne. I give you,

We The People

Seems to me the response to all the fear-mongering by Republicans is:

We are Democrats

We are the people who have been trying to raise the minimum wage, so people have more money to spend.

We are the people who are trying to protect your Social Security benefits from the false promises of private accounts.

We are the people who are trying to ease the tax burden on working families by asking the wealthiest to shoulder a more proportionate share.

We are the people who have been working for veterans’ funding, and health care.

We are the people who tried to give Medicare the authority to negotiate with the drug companies to make prescription drugs more affordable to our seniors.

We are the people who tried to structure prescription drug coverage for the elderly as part of Medicare, to keep it out of the hands of private insurers who were more concerned with the bottom line than looking out for seniors.

We are the people who have tried to bring new thinking and new ideas to the table for months and months and months, as Iraq descended further and further into chaos.

We are the people who have consistently sided with consumers against the interests of big business and the energy companies and banks.

The Republicans trying to scare you are the same people who have abandoned your interests time and time again, who have failed to listen to your concerns and address your needs. They are the people who think changing the rhetoric will fool you into thinking they are changing their policies.

The choice is yours: you can either fall victim to the scare tactics, or you can stand up for what you know is the truth, and vote Democratic on November 7th.

Graphic courtesy of Matt Wuerker

A last minute addendum to Anne's brilliant observations. A one minute video to remind you of the lies of George W. Bush. Read the accompanying LA Times story.

In case you need more proof that the chimp-master is lying check here.

KO'ed : A Mainstream Media Manifesto

I complain constantly about the mainstream media's indolent stenography of rovian talking points they call 'the news'.The only true exception that I'm aware of is Keith Olbermann.
Keith Olbermann of MSNBC has once again proven he is the Edward R. Murrow of our time. In the brilliant new feature, "Special Comment" on his show "Countdown with Keith Olbermann", he displays courage of conviction as well as concise, literate critiques of BushCo's criminal behavior. I'm featuring today Keith Olbermann's commentary on "The Death of Habeas Corpus". For an in-depth article on this latest attack on the Constitution, please read Glen Greenwalds piece at Unclaimed Territory. Olbermann knocks out the chimp-in-charge, hammering away at the president-criminal with head-blow after bodyshot. I think the former sports reporter would appreciate the 'sports analogy'. Two videos, an 'uppercut' explainer of habeas corpus followed by the 'killshot'. You've been KO'ed Mr. President.
,




Technorati Profile

Bill Moyers Tonight on PBS

An update on the Bill Moyers program on Net Neutrality which is tonight at 9PM. Please watch and email others to bring attention to this critically important special report. "The Net at Risk" Tune in to PBS tonight to see the SavetheInternet.com Coalition featured in "The Net at Risk," a documentary produced by award-winning journalist Bill Moyers. Then join Save The Internet members in an online Web discussion at PBS.org. Watch the preview of "The Net At Risk" here.

Bill Moyers' show airs at 9 p.m. in most cities (check local listings). Immediately following the East Coast broadcast, PBS.org will host a live Internet debate between Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott and phone industry flack and former clinton spokesman, Mike McCurry.

You can be a part of this online debate. Here's how to join in:

When: Oct. 18, 10:30 pm Eastern / 7:30 pm Pacific
Where: http://www.pbs.org/moyers

You'll be asked to log in to participate in the online discussion. With your help, we hope to light up the PBS Web site with our campaign to save Net Neutrality. It's important to have you there. In the six months since the SavetheInternet.com Coalition was launched, millions of Americans have joined the campaign, spoken out for Internet freedom, and put Congress and the phone companies on notice.

Tonight's program could make millions more aware of this issue.

They need to hear the real voices of people like us instead of industry mouthpieces. Help us use the Internet to save it from corporate efforts to stifle online innovation, free speech and competition. Please join us tonight!

For the latest information on the campaign visit Save The Internet Don't miss Bill Moyers' new essay on Net Neutrality: "Against an Imperial Internet" available for reading at the Bill Moyer's website
Remember the 1996 Telecommunications Bill? Remember how they told us, "This bill will make cable tv more accessible, cheaper, and more reliable..." What's your cable like now? Cheaper? No. Cable tv rates have tripled in the past 10 years. The service is tiered and options are limited unless you pay much higher rates. This is what is instore for the internet if the corporate interests win. Please tune in, turn on and join the Net Neutrality fight.

Update: I recieved an interesting comment after this post went up, check my comments section to see the coalition that wants you to know "the other side" of the net neutrality debate. When I checked their website, I found a few of the 'members' of the coalition: AT&T, Bell South and Cingular. I could be wrong but it appears to me from the content of the comment and the 'sponsors' of the website that they are pushing an pro-government intervention agenda written purposely to decieve.

Ever seen a state intiative written in "positive" language but read further into the 'fine print' and the true intention of the proposed legislation is negative? A forest intiative in California several years ago comes to mind. Its sponsors were several large timber companies. The intiative was for "Tree Planting in California". Sounds good right? Read further and after they tell you how many trees they'll plant, find out their actual goal was to clear-cut large swaths of forestland, and then plant 1/10th of the trees they had cleared. I think the coalition Hands Off is trying to pull the same trick.

Below is text from the Save The Internet website, the pioneers that truly are fighting government intervention. Take a look here and tell me what you think about my analysis of "the other side". Leave me a comment with your thoughts.

"Right now Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the First Amendment of the Internet -- a principle called "network neutrality" that preserves the free and open Internet. Congress needs to hear from you today or they will hand over control of what you do online to companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

Politicians are trading favors for campaign donations from these companies. They're being wooed by people like AT&T's CEO, who says "the Internet can't be free." Sign this petition to tell your elected representatives to protect Internet freedom now."

-from SaveTheInternet.com

Stick Your Ribbon Up Your SUV

A video by the Asylum Street Spankers

Campaign to Whom?

Now I give you a quickie from Slate.com's Jon Dickerson. He has taken 3 campaign ads and 'disected' then for us. I think he's done a good job. Critical thinking is so absent from the public sphere these days and if nothing else you may be encouraged to do some critical thinking of your own in regards to politicals ads for your local candidates. Give it a shot. Check the link.

Slate's Political Commentary

Net Neutrality and Bill Moyers UPDATED

Update: The Net Neutrality live chat with Bill Moyeys was quite good and informative. The conference had much information to desseminate so I will save a comprehensive update for a later post. The main thing is that this threat to the internet-as-we-know-it is real. We know that BushCo gives away the store to corporate interests virtually always with fredom and access to the regular Joe absent from any deals. Please call and write your Senators or go to Save the Internet's site and sign their petition. Unless you have unlimited money to spend on what is currently free and available access to the information you seek, that is.

Links to Senate offices and phone numbers just below. Scroll down.

Now is the time. We have momentum. And the GOP is dying to kill it. If you've noticed the banner over there----->
Its about Net Neurality and how we can help save the internet as we've known it. Here's a primer and a little info about it. If you prefer your information video style check out the videos below. If free, unencumbered internet access as it is today, without government or corporate interference and much higher fees, is what you want, please look into the Net Neutrality debate and contact your Senator 202-224-3121, or click on the the net neutrality banner.





Video courtesty of "Unclassified Producer":



Now that you know what net neutrality is, I would also like to invite all readers to the event "A Conversation with Bill Moyers"
SavetheInternet.com has invited me and I extend an open invitation to all those who care about future access to the internet to an exclusive online discussion with award-winning journalist Bill Moyers about his upcoming PBS special, "The Net at Risk," on the fight over Net Neutrality and the future of the Internet.

Bloggers and online activists have transformed the issue of Net Neutrality from a closed-door discussion with lobbyists into a public debate involving millions of Americans. This online forum will give bloggers and writers covering the issue a chance to offer feedback before this new documentary airs nationwide.

I hope you'll join me for this special event. Here are the details:

What: Live Web Discussion with Bill Moyers of "Moyers on America"
Who: Bill Moyers & Rick Karr (PBS), Josh Silver (SavetheInternet.com)
When: Tuesday, Oct. 10, 3:00 p.m. EDT
Where: Login online at http://67.19.231.218/v4/login.asp?r=1b261dc2&p=0

The forum will include sneak peek at "The Net at Risk," followed by a question-and-answer session. To learn more about "Moyers on America," visit http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/index.html
To learn more about Net Neutrality, visit www.SavetheInternet.com
The forum will include sneak peek at "The Net at Risk," followed by a question-and-answer session. In order to attend this online chat with Bill Moyers please register and see the details below.

Please RSVP to press@freepress.net

I hope you'll join us on Tuesday.

How to attend: To attend this event, go to the OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) Web site (http://www.opal-online.org/) and enter the Texas Forums Meeting Room, or log on directly at http://67.19.231.218/v4/login.asp?r=1b261dc2&p=0. You will need a computer with speakers and will need to download some software so plan ahead. If you have a microphone attached to your computer, you will be able to pose questions to the panelist verbally. Otherwise, you can interact via text messaging in the virtual auditorium.

If you have never attended an OPAL event, check out the video introduction at: <http://www.opal-online.org/OPALpromo200603b.wmv>

A Post Protest Post

Or anxious allitertion from an apprentice anchor with an affinity for afflatus affectation albeit absolute amenability to adventurous adversaries. On a lighter note after today's so-so turnout (60-70) in San Antonio for the World Can't Wait nationwide protest, I diverge from the usual for a musical interlude, a triptych of sorts. I was tipped off to the first video from a participant at today's festivities titled, "Asshole" and the second is just good, ole, righteous Eminem, and finally yet another Keith Olbermann manifesto.

Eminem "Mosh"



Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment"

Protest! Demonstration! Free Speech! Velour!

Thursday, October 5th is the day to protest, to use your constitutionally protected (at least for now) to peacably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances. The World Can't Wait has created and is hosting protests all over the country. 117 cities all over the country. Find your location and show up!

Here is the text from their site about the protest:

On October 5, people everywhere will walk out of school, take off work, and come to the downtowns & townsquares and set out from there, going through the streets and calling on many more to join us - making a powerful statement: "NO! THIS REGIME DOES NOT REPRESENT US! AND WE WILL DRIVE IT OUT!"

Please don't wait for the criminal bush regime to suspend our right to protest before you participate in what may be your only public protest, it is the protest of a lifetime. I will be there, will you?
Don't forget to bring your velour.

In Case I Disappear

Again today, I find myself overwhelmed by the news. I almost don't know where to begin. The past few days have been absorbed by a visit from my in-laws, which most people know can take the life out of one. It did. My in-laws are not progressive thinkers. They represent to a tee what I fight against on my blog. Suffice to say, this was not my best weekend ever.

I spent much of this past Thursday preparing for the arrival of my conservative in-laws, and crying over the loss of my country to our version of Hitler , George W. Bush. His 'torture bill' sailed through with 'nary a bit of opposition. There is debate over the current use in the blogesphere of the terms "Nazi", and "Fascist". The debate being whether it is 'useful' to use such strong terms with loaded histories in regard to the current administration regardless of the similarities in style and content. I have no such debate raging in my head. I call 'em as I see 'em. BushCo is no better than the Nazi regime and more dangerous (if you can fathom that) and I will do a post on it soon to prove what I see as the obvious, dangerous similarities.

What I found today as I opened my mailbox was this email from my friend Bob over at JABob. He included in his email a link to an essay by William Rivers Pitt from TruthOut.org about the 'torture bill'. The first bit is the email from Bob and the link is to the essay. read his essay and Bob's response to it. I give you these valuable documents and attachments to further fill your arsenal and fuel your rage. I believe that unless people are angry they will not feel empowered enough to act, and Action is our last, best hope to restore our Democracy.

In Case I Disappear…By William Rivers Pitt

Bob writes:

Because we lost our freedom this week…

Because the senate & house voted to passed bills that promotes Bush to king...

These bills allow the president of the U.S. to now declare anyone (outside or inside our country) an “enemy combatant” and to have them arrested and held without habeas corpus. Disappeared! In other words you’re imprisoned without the ability to ask why, without the ability to say you’re innocent (because you don’t know why you’ve been arrested) or to even contact anyone. They can now torture you because the president can now (in this bill) define what torture is, otherwise called “aggressive interrogation methods.”

“Well,” you say, “that will never happen to me ‘cuz I follow the law. And, besides, someone will miss me and call the police!”

I’m sorry to say they didn’t tell you what law you broke and the police will know nothing because you’ve been arrested by the C.I.A. The C.I.A. won’t tell anyone and you can be damned well sure the President won’t either. You, or your daughter, or son, or nephew, or even your Mom or Dad will have vanished off the face of the earth with no recourse. No recourse from you, or anyone you know.

Scared yet?

WAKE UP! We have lost our freedom! Corporationism (Nazism) is here! If you don’t believe me go to the Library of Congress website and read senate bill S3039 passed by the house and the senate and see what our politicians have done to us. This bill has been changed so that it does not exclude U.S. citizens and does include anyone who “supports” an enemy combatant. I know, I know, the president hasn’t signed it yet. Who do you think asked for this in the first place? They (he and his cronies) WANT to be the unitary power. That means a sovereign entity. King.

So, if I disappear, just know it wasn’t me taking off. It means I got too “political” and verbal about it. Or, I have the wrong sexual orientation or the wrong religion or even worse, no religion at all. At least I’m not a Muslim. This would apply to me especially if I organized an anti-war anything or even wore an anti-war T-shirt. If I disappear, or someone you know mysteriously disappears, just know that if that happens it’s probably too late to do anything about it.

I’m not scared for myself, just for the future of this world as I now know it.

Write this off as the ranting of a delusional man if you will, but this is what I feel and I had to say it. Please, let me know that I’m wrong about all this. I just hope I can one day look back and say, “Boy was I wrong!” But right now I think THAT’s being delusional!

Now I will sleep on this and either delete it or send it tomorrow. Bob

I slept on it. I re-read it. I still feel strongly about this. I have reached my "tipping point". I'm sending it. If you agree with this in any degree, please forward this on to everyone you know. Thanks, Bob

Please take Bob's advice to heart, I have and Am doing this post. What will you do? And if I disappear, it wasn't because I was going on a trip...

UPDATED:The Match Game

Fear and smear is what the republicans know how to do.


The long line of lies from this assministration is shocking and undeniable. Last month I posted a link to the Mother Jones article by Tim Dickenson and Jonathon Stein called, "Lie By Lie: Chronicles of a War Foretold" Truth was a casualty long before we invaded Iraq. This article matches up statements made by the bush administration with the lies they turned out to be, and shows how BushCo knew they were lies. This one is worth revisiting, especially if you didn't read it the first time. This piece is full of sinister revelations of the BushCo crimeline.

UPDATE: This is an article that reports The Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid, 3 weeks from retiring at the Pentagon, tells that Donald Rumsfeld REFUSED to let any post-invasion planning for Iraq take place. Un-fucking-believable. And we just thought he was incompetent...

ABC vs.MSNBC

Being a native San Franciscan I could'nt help but post this quickie I found in the wake of all the furor over ABC's "Path to 9/11" docu-lie. If you missed all the kerfuffle about Disney's rewrite of history, this is an inside joke but it's still funny.

The Path to San Francisco Earthquake


Additionally if you haven't seen the Keith Olbermann's afterword to the wingnut ambush that Fox News tried to pull on Bill Clinton, please watch it here:

Keith Olbermann: Are YOURS the Actions of a True American?

More Torture!

Torture, is this what we want? Sydney Blumenthal writes a great article succintly describing the curent state we find ourselves via the thugs in the White House and Congress.

Is this how you want your country to act? Is this how you want our soldiers treated? Has anyone heard of the Golden Rule? When will this stop? When you demand it from your elected officials in Washington. They work for us, remember? If they refuse to do what we say is the right thing, time to pack their bags, kick them to the curb. Now they are trying to dump habeas corpus, the very foundation of legal rights in this country. Not only dump it but make it retroactive as to cover the butts of the people who gave already committed and continue to participate in TORTURE. Which part of this don't the American people understand? This compromises everything about who we are as a nation, irrevocably changing our position as a 'free country'. This must end NOW. Today, call your representatives and senators in office and tell them to STOP NOW! Here's a link that explains WHY.
Contact info for senate
Contact info for the House
Capitol Switchboard: 888-355-3588 or 866-808-0065 Call Now!!

When is enough enough for you?



Watertiger has a great post up on this over at fdl. Please read it. Read what he links to, it is worth the effort. Please let your concern and outrage boil up into action. If you are not sick to your stomach about this, your are definitely not paying attention.
I want my country back!! Do you?

For Holly

This is a post for a friend of mine stationed in harm's way. She struggles between Iraq and the hard place of trying to do her job while feeling the futility of the war bearing down on her spirit. She is coming home in December and will begin the tasks of taking her life back from the life-altering experiences of dealing with war casulties.

There has occured an odd confluence of events and emotions for me over the last few weeks. A friend of a friend died tragically young from cancer a few weeks ago and another friend of a friend died in a car accident very recently. I did not know either of the women that passed but I know the people that lost them and it brings up for me feelings of my own losses, and of loss in general.

My friend wrote a lovely post about his friend that was taken by cancer and also has links to her music. Please read this post about Elissa Hadley and check out the links to cancer resources; it is well worth your time. The other friend-of-a-friend told me that the woman friend she lost was, in her words, "The woman I wanted to be..."

I would rather feel sorrow than feel nothing at all. The numbness that comes with feeling overwhelmed either by grief or some other set of circumstances is also a feeling but it is a feeling of separation from that which seems too much to bear. Like when you get novacaine at the dentist and you can bite the inside of your cheek without pain, but eventually the anestetic wears off and you are left with feeling, and a chewed-up cheek.

Difficult situations bring on hard-to-deal-with emotions. It is always seemingly easier to tuck the feelings away until a time we think we can 'handle' them. Many studies have shown that these repressed feelings get expressed in unconscious and often destructive ways, both psychologically and physically. As it turns out these emotions end up handling us.

I have been attempting to express my anger and outrage about the current state of the nation in the productive if not cathartic manner of blogging with political activism as the main topic. It has helped. But the cost of awareness has been high dealing with so many feelings. I often get overwhelmed. So I withdraw a bit and try to fill my inner environment with things that bring me joy. One of those things for me is music.

Where the roads of awareness and healing converge for me of late has been 2 of the songs by Elissa Hadley, the woman who succumbed to cancer on August 27th. She was with the band 'Breathlanes' and the songs are "Day" and "Twirling". Give them a listen and see what you get out of it. Listen to the lyrics, very powerful.

This is the song "Day" featuring Elissa Hadley

powered by ODEO

And "Twirling"

powered by ODEO

Then the web of interconnectedness continues. My friend that's coming home in December will be finished with her service and a Veteran, like me. This video comes courtesy of Nate over at "Get In Their Face"



Listening to this music is bittersweet. The messages, powerful. The vehicle of music easier to absorb oftentimes than a great lecture or the best written article. What I take away from my listening is hope. Hope in myself, hope in the future and hope in you.

Don't let me down.

Citizenship and Community

Citizenship was a part of classroom instruction I remember from the 4th grade. We learned about being neighborly, polite and the ever-popular "Golden Rule". We learned about why it was important to throw trash in a recepticle instead of on the ground. We were educated on the importance of showing up and telling the truth. We began our relationship with common sense and duty. It was the beginning of instilling the import of public service and fairplay. Today Citizenship means scarcely more than voting (maybe, if I have time...) and jury duty (God I hope I can out of it...).

What Citizenship really means is a sense of belonging, participating and caring about the community you live in. A socialization of values and personal responsibility. Citizenship implies working towards the betterment of one's community through participation, volunteer work and efforts directed at improvement of life for all citizens. This to be sure, includes voting, jury duty and picking up trash. But it also means noticing and speaking up when you see basic rights and freedoms of the community you live in slipping away. The responsibilities and tasks it takes to run our homes and do our jobs we tend to take for granted that these same responsibilities and tasks are necessary in the larger public sphere. It hasn't been made easy to show up and do your civic duty. Oh yeah, no free rides, you don't something for nothing, Freedom isn't free.

Over the centuries since our birth as a nation, these rights and responsibilities have been thwarted by the powers that be. A brand of control and domination that has taken the form of no voting rights for African Americans and Women, poll taxes, 'voter tests' and now, the current criminal vote-stealing machines and dirty tricks played by the GOP corruption machine. Certainly this is not a complete list but you get the idea that government thinking has been "What can we get away with?"

Citizenship as defined by the Bush administration demonstrates next-to-nothing of these values we all learned. This White House's policy for Americans is to shut up and do what you're told regardless of what The Constitution says. People that speak up are silenced in any number of ways from false imprisonment and torture to ruining your reputation and infringing upon your ability to pursue your livelihood. If you read the recently posted partial list of BushCo atrocities or you read here or elsewhere in the liberal blogosphere, you have some sense of the depth and breadth this violent right-wing massacre of civil rights has taken.

They treat us like children who haven't the good sense to make a proper decision about our own futures. When we refuse to go to the trouble of voting or speaking out or writing a letter about the injustices or demanding that we have a fair and investigative media not owned by only six mega-conglomerates that use, without charge, the PUBLIC airwaves and depend upon that very government they are lapdogs to, to change laws and let their corporate interests super-flourish like never before, what do we expect? When we can't be bothered because of the time and effort it takes to show up, the inconvenience of it all, the difficulty of access to polling places ("You're polling place is on Jupiter, under a Moose Lodge, behind a donut shop in the basement of a school, good luck" -Kathleen Madigan)and given all we need to do to have a decent life, who can blame anyone for saying, "I just can't do it now, I'm too busy, someone else will do it"? You are someone else. To borrow the slogan from Nike, "Just Do It" No one of us can do this alone without help, that's what citizenship is; a community of people coming together to better the lives of all its members.

Zephyr Teachout, founder of The Sunlight Foundation,says if very succintly, "If we don't have a culture of citizenship, we don't have a Democracy, it's that fundamental"