Re-Posted From 2006: For Halloween-Eve...

One of my favorite, most favorite, most favoritest-favorite artists in the whole world is the wonderful Edward Gorey. He was not only an illustrator, but a prolific author as well. So, for Halloween Eve, please enjoy one of my favorite Edward Gorey stories:

30 Minutes of Hope

I watched it. Did you watch it? I liked it. Did you like it?

It's amazing, the difference between a thoughtful, intelligent, articulate scholar & statesman like Obama, versus the inarticulate, dishonest, halfwitted dullard George W Bush.

Hope appears on the horizon.

By the way, here is a nostalgic Constantly Amazed History Moment: From 2004, one of my very first blog posts ever. Back before "change" became a political motto, I wrote "It's Never Too Late To Speak for Change," a post that sort of explains why I have been doing this for four years. I am saddened to say that it still rings true after all this time. Let's hope it's different this time around.

More About Socialism: It's the American Way

Tip 'o the hat to Windspike

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

I LOVE IT! Sarah Palin is a Socialist!!! And, she said so herself!!! Here is what Sarah Palin said:

And Alaska—we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs. … It’s to maximize benefits for Alaskans, not an individual company, not some multinational somewhere, but for Alaskans.

Now, here is the definition of Socialism:

A theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA *COUGH* HA HA HA HA A-HA A-HA *SPUTTER* *COUGH* HA HA HA *WHEEZE* HA HA A-HA A-HA HA HA...

IMPORTANT!

IMPORTANT!

The repukes have already enacted laws to steal your vote! I am not just spouting off here. I am serious. Electronic voting machines are already demonstrating malfunctions that are switching democrat votes to republican. The "Help America Vote Act" (so named in the opposite-speak parlance of the right wing) has and is purging millions of qualified voters from the rolls, voters who are most likely to vote democratic. And do you think your safe with a mail-in vote? Think again! Unless you are very, very careful, your vote will be stolen from you. Don't let it happen! Please click on the link above for more. I'll try to add updates.

I have said it a hundred times before: The republicans are planning to steal the election through vote tampering. AGAIN. Please don't let them succeed!

The Emperor's New Clothes

I find it amusing (or weird) that the mainstream media either hasn't noticed, or is ignoring the fact, that the republican nominee for president is running on a platform that is 180 degrees opposite of conservative. Weirder still, republicans (they used to call themselves conservative) don't seem to care, and democrats aren't taking the opportunity to point it out, either.

The definition of conservatism is to conserve the status quo. To maintain what is established and resist change. To employ tried-and-true methods and embrace traditional values. To surround ones self with the familiar. To stay the course. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it is broke, fix it but for god’s sake don’t include any design improvements. If it stays fixed, don’t fix it. If it breaks again, fix it but for god’s sake don’t include any design improvements. If it…” you get the picture. Often, it involves a desire to return to an idealized version of the past.

Now, let’s look at the Republican party catchphrases for this election (in other words, their sales pitch):

"Change."
"Reform."
"Standing up against their own party."

Huh?! None of that has anything to do with conservatism. Not one bit. Yet those are the pillars of their campaign.

Change. They had to jump on this one after Obama used it and everyone liked it, a lot. Now the republican candidate says they’re the real party of change, the kind "you can believe in." The only change they're good for is changing their message to steal another candidate's thunder. Any way you slice it, "change" and "conservative" are incompatible. Together, they're an oxymoron. On the republican ticket, they say, "desperate enough to acknowledge the failure of conservative values and their rejection by most people."

Reform: Reform is the exact opposite of what conservatism is all about. Honestly – is there one member of the red team that has ever spent a moment in a political science class? Or did they learn all they needed to know about politics, and society from talk radio? It's so laughably ironic that the party that once elevated their pronoun-challenged mantra “stay the course” to the level of Gregorian chant now pins its hopes on candidates who sing the praises of “reform”. And the fact that McCain's first defense of Palin's credentials is always her supposed record as a "reformer" is so funny in it's idological perversity that it must have real conservatives sobbing with laughter. Or just sobbing.

“Standing up against your own party.” OMG! Can you believe that nonconformism is now a preferred value of the establishment party!? The republican party!? The ones who spent the dawn of the 21st century striving to create a permanent republican majority, the ones who threatened to punish anyone who dared deal with a democrat, the ones who made it clear in no uncertain terms that party loyalty was more important than human life; you were with ‘em or against ‘em, and if you were against the republicans you were against god and country. Now the republicans' candidate for president is boasts about how he "stood up against his own party." He also chastises Obama for not "stand up" against the democratic party (as if that even matters: maybe, during his time in congress, Obama didn't need to oppose his party. Ever think of that, John McStupid?).

Anyway, is this the most backward logic or what: the republican party wants you to think that they are running the candidate who opposed the party who is running the candidate. In the words of Mickey Goldmill, "Shrewd."

Have you ever seen the movie Little Nicky? Remember Jon Lovitz’ character, who would do something evil, then be punished while screaming, “I deserve this! I deserve this!” There’s the new republican party mascot.

At least they're consistent

For quite a while, my blog posts, when I do produce one, are usually negative. That’s because I am one of those people who is more inspired to blog about the injustices of the world than about the niceties. My passions for social and political commentary are driven by my fury at those terrible things, those wrongs that must be righted before I can ever find peace.

When I described being overwhelmed in my last post, I neglected to describe one of the symptoms, which has a direct effect on blogging. That is, I find it difficult to focus and concentrate on a topic when my head is filled with the cacophony of badness that we are left with at the last days of the Bush administration. So as I return to blogging proper, I want to start throwing out random topics and try to weed the mental garden so that I may ultimately try to shine a positive light in here sometimes.

There are two things that are biggies with me, as far as blogging goes, and they are both interconnected as current reports come to light. They are:

1. Hypocrisy, my biggest pet peeve, which is something I truly believe is the glue that holds the republican party together. I can’t think of a single issue about which republicans and so-called “conservatives” are not hypocrites. I am open to being proven wrong about that, but so far it hasn’t happened.

2. Election fraud / voter fraud. I am passionate about this subject. It is the thing that really drove me to really get into political blogging. I maintain (as you probably know) that the republican party cannot win a fair election, and they are well aware of that. So, they must engage in completely unethical practices involving voter suppression, election fraud, and all manner of un-American acts which are such an insult to democracy and to our Constitution, that they are easily defined as treason.

Where does this leave us today? Well, there is a mountain of evidence of election and voter fraud that has been and is being perpetrated by the Republican party. They realized many years ago that they can't win if people vote, because more people vote for democrats.

Paul Weyrich — a principal architect of today's Republican Party — scolded evangelicals who believed in democracy. "They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote... As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." thanks nunya for that link

Voters say they were duped into registering as Republicans

Study Finds States Purging Millions of Voters in Secret

And check out Nunya's posts here and here.

At the same time, the repukes try to draw attention away from their insidious activities by pointing the finger of blame where no blame exists:

Despite the screaming wall-to-wall coverage of "Democratic voter fraud in 11 swing states" as seen on Fox News and even the once-respectable CNN, none of it's true. None of it.

And of course, there is my old post that is still important:

Restored: 20 Amazing Facts about Voting in the USA.

Again, the Republicans know full well that they cannot win an election unless they cheat. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Joe the plumber is a fake?!.

Here is what I believe, and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong: WHATEVER A REPUBLICAN SAYS IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE TRUTH.

UPDATE:
Other important resources concerning republican election tampering are here, and here.


Also, see the video below.



Now, I'd like to close with something a little more upbeat, thanks to a link via betmo:

No More Apologies

I have been so bad about posting in my blog that, quite frankly, my apologies are beginning to annoy even me. My few remaining loyal readers and blog buddies deserve better.

Do any of you remember when I was at my blogging peak (i.e., the good old days)? I used to get comments like, “Man, where do you find those amazing links?”, and, “Right on, well said!”, and, “You’re pathetic, you liberal socialist un-American unpatriotic unreligious worm… you’ll become one of us someday, you’ll see!”

Yeah, there was a time when I would stay up all night composing eloquent and complex rebuttals to right-wing bloggers and their insipid, asinine commentary. And man, there were some fire-on-the-fingertips moments, believe me.

I began this blog in September 2004, hoping to add my voice to the many who knew how bad the BushCheney regime was, long before it became hip to be aware of it. It was a real uphill battle back then, remember? We were regarded as the fringe. Weirdos, hollering out in the green park of conservative consumerist complacency. The curtains were drawn in the McMansions where the worshippers at the alter of St. Ronnie could practice chants to “support the troops” and protect against the war on Christmas.

Still, we were riding high, us “Bush-haters” (that term was once used to dismiss us as shallow and reactionary; now it is simply a description of about 90% of the world’s population). Even in the face of adversity, we were the elite practitioners of reason in a sea of madness. I, for one, am extremely proud to say that I opposed the war against Iraq from day one, and said so at the time, before I ever even started blogging.

Like many, I was posting every day. I felt driven to do so, first to proclaim the importance of voting out Bush in 2004; then in response to the stolen election and the Kerry betrayal (concede my ass, Mr. Skull-N-Bones). At my peak I was contributing to three different blogs, one of which is based in France and is still successful, while the other fell apart after I left due to a troll (remind me to tell you that story).

But something happened… not just to me, but other blog-buddies of mine. Posts became less frequent, and some blogs folded up altogether (others continue with a vengeance and to them I offer my heartfelt thanks and compliments to their strength and perseverance). I think what happened is this: we expected the badness of the BushCheney administration to plateau and maintain at some point, at which time, it stands to reason, they would either have to be brought to justice, or at least be made to not commit any further treasonous and vile acts against this country or the rest of the world. But instead, it just got worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, until it seemingly could not get any worse at all. Then, just to make matters, well, worse… it did.

So here we are. And here I am: burned out somewhat and simply exhausted by the sheer enormity, the vastness, of the evil of the “right” and the harm the Bush administration has inflicted on our world. Every day I collect links to items about what they have done, and it is too much. I don’t mean that as a catchphrase, either. I mean there is so much horribleness to what they do, constantly and relentlessly, that it is too much to catalog and consume.

So, I guess I just need to simplify, rather than try to keep up with everything, and post more simply and more positively (WWTDLD*?) Early in the life of this blog, I promised I would carry it through at least until GWBush is removed from office. I can surely do that, and I hope to keep going and add my other artistic interests to the blog (I have said that before, but I always get overwhelmed by political issues and blog about those instead).

Please don’t sign me off just yet, blog buddies! (I wanted to say "my friends" but thanks to John McCain, I can never utter that phrase in good conscience again). I may be slow, but like Charley Brown’s Christmas tree, I have sincerity. Keep checking back!

*What Would the Dalai Lama Do?