How I'm feeling today

Fight the power!
Make those who have more pay more!
Don't believe the hype. The real reasons we're in this totally made up 'fiscal crisis' is because we cut taxes and we're fighting two coffer draining wars for oil/empire.

End the war, bring our troops home, raise taxes on the wealthy and business. Stop the war on working people. Get corporate money out of our political system. And fire every incumbent except for Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Saunders.

Go on punk, make her election day...

...NurseCop! is lookin' to bring the heat down on non voters, so get the heck out there and vote!

(And subscribe to my online graphic novel Hip Deep, Mountain High which features NurseCop! Norma Salmonella. A one time $15 donation to my PayPal account gets you the invite to the members only graphic novel blog. Part three is hitting the web in a few days, so it's the perfect time to get on board. And yes, the gal playing NurseCop! is as nice as she is cute.)

Another one bites the dust

Congrats to Mark Begich on beating Ted Stevens or as I now refer to him, convicted felon and the worst Senator ever! Your victory keeps one felon out of the the US Senate and it keeps the village idiot Palin back home for at least 6 years.

Today is our day

And by 'our' I mean the American people. It's our to decide which rich person gets to run our country. So get off your ass and got vote if you haven't done so already.

As you can tell I'm for the less rich black guy because I know he's more like me than that cranky old man and that moose and wolf killing dunderhead from Alaska is. Obama has been down and out like I've been. He's worked his ass off to get where he is today. He didn't slide by on his family connections like the current President did and like the current Republican nominee did. He worked hard as an organizer in Chicago. He worked hard while at Harvard and while he was an Illinois state senator. And for the last two years he's been working his heart out to be our next President. But the thing is, even though he been running for two years, he still took time to vote on the big essential issues in the US Senate while running. The cranky old white man didn't, in fact about the only thing he voted for in the past two years was to bail out Wall street.

I know this sounds crazy but I'll kind of miss all this election business when it's over. I love the whole long drawn out process, I always have, probably always will. But having said that, please, do us all a solid and go vote. Let's end this today. Let's put Democrats in charge of two out of three branches of the government and then let's pray that Obama gets to appoint two or three Supreme Court justices while he's in office over the next eight years.

One more day!

One more day until the big election. So please, if you have not done so already, get out and vote. If the lines are long, wait them out and vote. Vote because lives hang in the balance. Vote so we can throw the bums out and start over. Vote because this asshole has been giving us citizens, us progressives, us liberals, us folks who love freedom, equality, peace and justice the finger for the past eight years:
Vote for some of this:
If enough of you vote on election day then they can't possibly turn all of you away. They can't possibly supress all your votes. If we all act as one then we can put a family we can be proud of in the White House:
This is the most important election of our lives. Vote Obama/Biden tomorrow.

Passing the torch

Obama's infomercial was nothing short of brilliant.

If you saw it and were not moved by it then your heart is made of stone. Or you're that Asian Ann Coulter wanna be Michael Malkin.

How many of you undecideds got off the fence after seeing that bit of political ad brilliance?

Here's everything you need to know about Bush McCain

He's against unions and he's against raising the minimum wage.

Bush McCain/Palin wrong for workers, wrong on the economy, wrong for America.

Vote Obama/Biden!

Hubris will get you every time

Outside of their intellectually bankrupt ideas, the reason why Republicans are losing so much ground is two fold:

The first part of why they are on the down swing is because years ago they got in bed with the religious right and since then people have seen that people like Pat Robertson, John Hagee, and the Farting Preacher are full of shit.

The second reason is they are on the way out is because people like Michelle Bachman and Marsha Blackburn actually believe the bile they hear spewed on right wing hate radio. When you believe your press clippings and the crap they say about you on the Rush Hannity Hate Hour then you're done for.

I'm happy they are on the way out but I'm also afraid the right wing, both religious and radio talking heads, are going to get meaner and nastier in the coming months and years that they are out of power. One can only hope that the Republican party breaks into to two factions with the Jeebus lovin' reactionaries on one side and the corporate lap dogs on the other.

A Monkey Muck exclusive

I have managed to scoop the entire world, I obtained the notes Bush McCain made at last night's debate. His hand writing is a little messy but most of you will be able to read what was going through the old fart's mind during the debate. I now present the notes without any editing whatsoever:

Now we know why the old coot is so angry, he hasn't had a good dump in long time.

Hang in there America, the end is finally in sight and election day is coming in a few weeks. If any of you can vote early, then I'd advise you to do so because I think lines on election day are going to be long. I'll be voting this Thursday or Friday because early voting opened here in Washington County today.

Who's ya Daddy?

When our Idiot in Chief speaks about the economy the market drops. When his pal Bush McCain offers his two cents on the whole mess the market tanks. When Obama offers up a sane sensible plan to help both main street and Wall Street the Dow Jones gains almost 1000 points. Boo ya. Who's ya Daddy now America?

"That one."

My impressions of last night's debate:

• Bush McCain's outrage over the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was funny. He still thinks their failure is what has led to the current economic meltdown. He and his lobbyist advisers don't have a clue, or more likely won't let themselves admit, that all this has been caused by deregulation and lack of vigorous governmental oversight. His running mate is still shrieking in her shrill faux populist accent, "Government, get out of the way!"
• I, like most Americans, cringed when he called Obama, "That one."
• Obama looked cool and calm through out the whole debate. Bush McCain by contrast looked flighty and extremely rude. While Obama gave his answers Bush McCain kept moving around behind him as if to distract viewers and the times when he interrupted Sen. Obama were not only intolerable they showed what an impatient petulant old fart he is.
• I laughed out loud when Bush McCain said he knew how to "fix" Social Security. He said several times that it is going to be easy to "fix" it and that he knew how. The problem is he didn't go into specifics, he just claimed that he knew how to fix it. I'm not sure what he's got in mind but I damn sure know how to fix it and I'll tell you my plan for making it solvent until the end of time: under the current system you only pay SSI tax on the first $96,000 (or something close to that figure anyway) and after that you pay nothing on the rest of your income. I would remove that cap so that all incomes no matter how high they got would all pay the same SSI tax rate. Bingo, problem solved.
• Tom Brokaw hated not being part of the debate more than he was. His little remarks about how little time they had were annoying as hell. If you had so little time Tom, then why did you waste more of it by carping about it?
• They just had to stick a question in there about supporting Israel. Holy shit, is there anyone in this country who doesn't think that we won't attack Iran or someone else if they fuck with Israel? Give it a rest already, it's foregone conclusion. How about next time instead of asking about protecting Israel you ask about protecting us from greedy rapacious corporations who want to devour all the wealth and natural resources they possibly can? How about a question or two about the growing gap between the haves and have nots? How about a question on poverty?

This picture from last night's debate really sums up for me the essence of this race, Obama is the clear strong favorite, the candidate of the future who happened to win today. And Bush McCain is the fuzzy old man who has been left behind, just like his failed discredited conservative policies have been, as the country as moved on into the future.

Fail out

Until they address the real causes of this "economic meltdown," which are the bad loans the banks insisted on making (funny what happens when you make loans to people who really can't afford them isn't it?), the endemic culture of greed on Wall Street and in corporations in general, and the lack of regulation and oversight in the financial sector, then no progressive or liberal lawmaker should embrace this bail out.

When the FDIC took over Indy Mac bank they aggressively looked through that banks mortgages and sought out those who could pay for their homes if the sky high interest rates were brought down, the same thing should be done now. Making thousands of people homeless isn't a smart solution. If some of these people who got these bad mortgages can keep their homes by having their interest rates brought down then ever effort should be made to save them. Home ownership is still the best option for many of these people, we all benefit when people don't default on their home loans.

Or maybe they should just do nothing until Bush gets out of office because if he and his people handle this bail out like they've handled the war of terror on Iraq, Katrina, and everything else then we'd probably be in a world of hurt. And the other upside to all of this is that the longer this drags out, the more it hurts McCain.

Don't do it

If the idiots in Congress let the people who brought us the ineffectual response to Katrina, the endless waste of money and lives that is the war of terror on Iraq, and the squandering of the biggest budget surplus we've seen in our lifetimes handle this current crisis in the financial markets without any oversight then it's sheer madness. When Bush and his conservative cronies finally cause our economy to collapse, it's not going to be pretty. We'll all look like this guy in this Jack Kirby comic book panel:
This bail out MUST include help for the millions of hard working Americans who lost their homes after being given a bad loan by the banks who now cry for our tax dollars to save them. We've also got to address the root causes of the problems that led us here in the first place, deregulation of the banking industry and the insatiable greed of Wall Street and corporations. I'm a student of history and this current financial crisis stuff sounds a lot like what was said right before the Great Depression hit and it sounds like the talk that preceeded most every financial crisis that hit the USA in the 19th century. I hope we're not stupid enough to let history repeat itself again.

I urge you all to calm down

Sparky darling, I've got to get back to Monkey Central to do a post about this "bounce" Bush McCain is enjoying.

But I want to look at more houses!

We will, I promise! But you've got to let me get back so I can write a post telling all those jittery progressives and shaky Democrats to calm down. Okay but you better make it quick mister.

Don't I always?

Do you really want me to answer that?

Uhhhhh, no. Listen every body, calm down and don't lose heart, every candidate gets an upward bounce in the polls after their convention, hell even Jimmy Carter got one in 1980 and so did Bush Sr. in 1992. The thing you all need to remember is that McCain's upward bounce brings him into a statistical tie with Obama. So really, that's a pretty small sorry ass bounce. Obama is no John Kerry or Michael Dukakis, he's smart enough and savvy enough to stay on message and to keep pounding home the message on the issues that matter to you and me, health care, ending the war, and energy independence. Don't forget that 85 percent of the people in this country hate Bush and as long as they keep tying Bush McCain to Bush Cheney then they'll keep inching back up in the polls. And just you wait for the debates between Obama and Bush McCain, Obama will make him look foolish and I'll bet you a dollar to a doughnut that Bush McCain will get so mad and flustered that he'll make a huge gaffe and he'll call Obama the "N" word or something.

I've been following politics since 1972 and I've seen all this post convention hype come and go. We all need to stay focused, keep plugging Obama on and off our blogs, and keep on the attack against Bush McCain Palin. We can do this, we can take our country back.

What time is it?

It's time to end welfare as we know it.

We can't have health insurance for all Americans, we can't get our roads, bridges, and schools fixed, we can't get funding for solar, wind and other forms of sustainable power, but we sure as hell can waste billions of taxpayer dollars on a immoral war for corporate America in Iraq and on the home front we sure as hell can bail out big business yet again.

Once again our government and the Bush McCain administration show just where their priorities lie. There's plenty of money for big business and for the war and none for you and me.

It's time to clean house and vote out every incumbent who has voted for this type of shit and who has voted to keep funding the war.

The One makes his Choice

Sure the craziest of the Clintonista's will be foaming at the mouth mad that he picked a man to run with him and the corporate media hacks who said Biden will be a good pick will now turn on him for making Biden his choice but what the hell, it's a solid pick and it shores up his perceived weakness on foreign policy, even though 99% of all national elections are decided on the domestic issues.

Let's move forward fellow liberals, fellow progressives, and fellow Americans and let's put these two in the White House so that we can stop Bush's third term.

The pleasure principle

As partisan as I am you may be shocked to learn that I take little pleasure in seeing elected officials of the conservative Republican variety indicted for on corruption charges. See, I, probably naively so, think that if you are elected to the one of the highest legislative bodies in this country then you should be above using your office for criminal personal gain for yourself and for your buddies. I want to believe that even though I disagree with all Republicans, and these days most Democrats, in Congress, especially in the Senate, that they have some of our country's best interests at heart and that they can control themselves from plundering and helping other plunder at our national money teats.

Sadly some can't.

Sadly, once elected to the House or to the Senate they feel that they are above the law and unaccountable to the people who elected them. Sadly, they feel only accountable to the monied interests who fund their perpetual campaigns.

To see Congressmen and Senators get indicted or to leave office under a cloud of suspicion, no matter what party they are in makes me profoundly said. I'm not saying I'm sad to see them go, oh hell no, on the contrary, I'm glad to see them go. What makes me sad is that they used their office, their power, their influence to enrich themselves and their pals at our expense. Democrats as well as Republicans are guilty of it. Jim Wright of Texas was a crook who broke the rules for his benefit, Dan Rostenkowski was too. On the other side of the aisle Newt Gingrich had to resign in disgrace because of his financial dealings. It affects members of both parties.

Now, the kind of political scandal that I take great pleasure in is the kind where conservative Republican "pro family," European Jesus lovin', gay and adultery hatin' (in public anyway) politicians get caught trying to pick up dudes in bathrooms

or using hookers for sexual stuff their wives won't do or hittin' on 16 year old boys. I hate Congressional hypocrisy as much as I hate Congressional white collar crime, one makes me laugh and shake my head, the other makes me sad and mad. And unfortunately for me and the rest of the country, Washington DC is permeated with both kinds of bad behavior. On both sides of the aisle.

Can his past predict our future?

• Bush McCain has missed more Senate votes in the past year than anybody else so there's no reason to believe he won't change his lazy ways if he's elected President.
• He's consistently made "jokes" about killing others who he dislikes, the Vietnamese and the Iranians for example, so there's no reason to believe he'll stop all the carnage his BFF Bush Jr. started.
• He's consistently made anti female remarks, "jokes," and he has a zero rating from all women's advocacy groups so there's no reason to believe he won't do anything but perpetuate the sexism and misogyny of the current right wing religious Republican administration.
• He's surrounded himself with advisers who failed in their chosen fields, Carly Fiorino (big business), and who have insulted decent hard working Americans who play by the crooked rules they set up, Phil Gramm ("Americans are whiners!"), so you know we can expect the same levels of incompetence that we've gotten from the current administration.

This country can't afford another four years of a lazy chief executive who is a blood thirsty, sexist, incompetent, idiot. Don't let Bush McCain's past become our future, vote Obama in '08.

How to speak Republican

The following video was made by a freedom of speech abusing liberal.

Let's hear it for these five great American jurists!

Yay Supreme Court! Yay another smack down for of the illegal and immoral way the Bush junta has treated prisoners! Let's hope the US Congress does not cave in and try to pass a law that takes away prisoners rights again.

Those men in Gitmo and other US backed prisons worldwide are not my or your enemy. They are the enemy of the far religious right and their corporate pay masters and the reason they should have the same rights as you or I do in the US courts is that all people no matter who they are deserve equal protection in our courts. That's one of the many reasons why people want to come to this country. If the Bush junta, or whichever corporate approved cabal is in power, can take away your rights by labeling you as an enemy combatant then what's to stop them from calling any one of us who disagrees with them an enemy combatant? Now a little thing called thousands of years of legal precedent is stopping them and so is this Supreme Court decision as well.

As I said, those men who Bush/Cheney/Blackwater/Amway/WalMart want to keep in prison forever are not my enemy. My enemy is anyone who makes war on innocent people just so multi national corporations can take over their countries. My enemy is any multi national corporation that works hand in glove with the thugs who run the governments that help them take over countries. My enemy is any religious extremist, be they Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, etc. My enemy is anyone who denies any man or woman their basic human rights and who oppresses any other human.

So let's hear it for five out of nine Supreme Court Justices. And for those former Hillary supporters out there who are dead set on voting for McCain, I'd like to remind you that Bush McCain will nominate justices just like the four who voted to take away those prisoners rights, and by extension your rights as well. So you embittered people remember that come election day.