Category: Politics
My view and opinion on US Politics.
Right-versus-wrong and the ongoing gaffe of the Presidency of Donald Trump
I was not a fan of the last Republican president, George Walker Bush. There are plenty of posts in the history of this web site that show it. Partisanship and ideology were the key areas that divided me from the president known as Dubya. Partisanship seems to be the basis for defense of the current Commander in Chief of these United States, Donald J. Trump.
Partisanship, the political divide between Republicans and Democrats, has nothing to do with much of what is setting off alarm bells and upsetting citizens. Read More
A scandal for sure, but I’m tired of the “-gate”
There’s another scandal – a long living one at that – taking placing Washington D.C. at the moment. While ties between Russia and the Donald J. Trump campaign/presidency are bubbling to the surface (with the what, why and how never to be clear if the mess continues as-is), the albatross that has this writer tapping out a blog entry isn’t focusing squarely on the scandal itself as so much the nickname that’s been commonly used so far.
Russiagate.
On a creativity level, this gets an F-minus, but it’s a long-running lack of originality and lack of creativity/intellect that’s tied –gate to a multitude of scandals through various administrations since the Watergate. The name Watergate itself is a hotel in the Washington D.C. area. A unique name tied to a unique scandal that ultimately cost President Richard Nixon his job.
Russiagate, though? It comes down to a bare-bones scandal name cop-out. There’s too much the public and press are only just learning (and probably a boatload more to come) so that may be a cause for a challenge in the nickname department. At the same time, the language difference and the participants in this affair are reason enough a –gate co-op is just blindly labeling the scandal.
Speaking of which, “скандал” is the Russian spelling for skandal. Not exactly a word for an absolutely unique nickname, now is it? Relatively the same pronunciation of “scandal” too. The thing is, it’s mixing in something Russian with American elements in a name that creates a more original and fitting nickname for the situation.
Now, if the Trump campaign was signing off on Russia’s hacking during the 2016 presidential campaign (an action that would favor Trump in the end), that’s cheating, no? “Cheat” in Russian (“обманывать”) is pronounced obmanyvat’. That one word alone seems more fitting than the -.gate co-opt. It’s also a lot less difficult to pronounce than the translation of treason (“государственная измен”
, pronounced gosudarstvennaya izmena).
In the end, I just wish the media could find something more unique to tie to a political scandal than doing the –gate co-opt. That co-opt, though, sure as shit doesn’t make it “fake news”, they’re just busier doing journalism and trying to uncover the truth (which isn’t an “alternate fact”). The general populous knows –gate is attached to a scandal.
A profound message in the age of grand divide
“You know, if every person watching this show — I don’t want to get too serious, but there are millions and millions of people watching right now — and if every one of you took a minute to reach out to one person you disagree with, someone you like, and have a positive, considerate conversation — not as liberals or conservatives, as Americans — if we could all do that, we can make America great again. We really could. It starts with us.”
— Jimmy Kimmel in his monologue to start the 2017 Academy Awards
If Jimmy wrote this or someone else, he hit it out of the park in my humble opinion. The American populous has been greater than political rhetoric and intollerance before. It can do it again… But that’s up to us – the general American population – to do it.
To be socially parted by partisanship, by race, creed, color, gender, sexual preference, religious beliefs… That’s not America. We may all want the country to go down another route but the most important path for all is down the middle.
Regarding “Fake News”
When you’re president of the United States of America, you’re exposed to loads of data. Most presidents are exposed to private data that the public never knows (intelligence briefings, security stuff). And the world roasts and laughs at stuff known as “fake news” – satire, humor – that comes out that traditionally mocks the administration, other political or public figures, or simply plays with stories of the world.
Now, if you’re reading that and thinking you’re missing out because you’re not compelled to laugh at CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, CBS News, ABC News, the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc, etc, etc… I hate to break it to you but these are longtime, distinguished news organizations that report facts (though partisan accusations are also tied to them). Their tenures are all multitudes longer than Donald J. Trump’s involvement in politics.
And when an administration builds up the concept of “alternate facts” which are outright lies, which is the epitome of “fake news”. It becomes laughable that someone of political stature pulls this act. It’s not that political people telling lies and pushing them on the public is foreign, it’s just when they are such broad lies and it’s a repeated folly that it starts to draw the ire of those who share information with the public (aka news organizations).
Right now as many sit on the side of Trump because he is a Republican and shares ideologies with them, it seems like partisanship is what carries the “fake news” label: “Because Donald Trump is on my side of the fray and the media keeps speaking down about him, they’re the enemy as that’s how Donald Trump has marked them.” Never mind the fact they’re showing and repeating his own actions which leads to the ire from Trump himself.
Real “fake news” can be outright dismissed because it holds no sway or bearings; they’re dismissive, unimportant lies that get brushed over or ignored. That happens every day of the week in this world at the public level and in the media (via comedy).
This brings me to intelligence leaks and Trump both going nuts and downplaying the data (or attempting to) as “fake news”. If it truly was fake, irrelevant news, why did it lead to the resignation of a high profile member of the administration? Why is the leak now sought by Trump and put down by him?
This isn’t attempting to be a partisan attack, people. If you are on the political right and see truth in “fake news” labeling from Trump, what you’re seeing is Donald Trump upset that he isn’t getting played up while his actions as president have been divisive (the immigration executive order) and non-secure (Mar-A-Lago last week), let alone in conflict with allies around the globe along with more security issues nationally (U.S. / Russia ties on the sly). That’s not something to side with, not with how he’s done it. It’s also not a reason to consider news “fake”.
For those of us who want attention and to be in the spotlight, it hurts to have a negative be what the attention happens to be. That’s Donald Trump’s reaction to news coverage. His chaotic path (immigration, the Yemen attack, the anti-environmental scree, his dislike of due process, etc and how he handles them) draws the negative reaction. That’s not a partisan reaction; it’s a reaction to a president forcing his hand (with little involvement in the process) during his first 30 days in power.
“Fake news”? Y’know, for all the anti-Saturday Night Live messages that Trump has tweeted, he’s co-opting a label from two decades ago when Norm Macdonald hosted “Weekend Update” on the show. Macdonald would spew the line before he started his dignified-yet-comedic act. It was done for humor sake.
Trump’s bellowing of “fake news”? He doesn’t like how he’s framed and it paints him in a negative light – because the story and facts (not “alternate facts”) frame the picture as just that: negative.
Remarking on the 2016 Presidential Primaries
(Originally posted to Facebook alone for friends, I republish it here 4 years later — JF 02.28.2020)
I do have an interest in the 2016 Presidential race, but there’s a problem or two. I can tick off problems with candidates easily but there’s one thing that really bugs me: “I want my country back!” said by one person or another.
We’re pretty crappy with that, aren’t we? Wanting things more polarized than they are and taking a hard track to the right or left as “my” country.
I don’t want capitalism and business to trump people, I don’t want the Bible to top the Constitution. I don’t want warfare and torture to be presented as A-OK, while gender, race, and/or age shouldn’t mean crap with whoever holds the office of the presidency. I don’t want hate to be the key to securing support.
[ To cover a base: My Bible vs. Constitution remark is not an intended shot on religion. Faith and believing in God is not a crime, forcing one denomination on the masses and saying the Bible trumps the Constitution does create the issue. It’s loaded to… ]
I’m not posting this to alienate, I am posting it in an attempt to MODERATE. It applies to congress and local governments too. Putting people first (and I don’t mean corporate shareholders) isn’t such a bad thing either…
“Too big to fail” is the failure
For a- long, long while I’ve been trying to get off my chest a little issue I have with the business world… well, something that was showing up to anyone who was paying attention that is.
And then again, who pays attention? The fact people don’t pay attention is why the proverbial wool keeps being pulled over society’s eyes. But I digress, different rant, different time…
My issue isn’t about money being paid out in the rescue plans… no, it’s how we’d gotten to the point where “too big to fail” actually existed, and how that issue is still causing grief on the US economy even after all the trillions handed out to financial institutions and other companies in the USA.
The issue is size. Read More
Stimulating idiocy
The St. Petersburg Times took local area governments to task on their requests for economic stimulus project funds. Most of them were low key, beautification projects that would neither create jobs nor serve a purpose.
I want to know if the TECO Line Streetcar is on this list of projects. I don’t mean the quarter-of-a-mile extension. I mean funding to complete this sucker so it runs through downtown to the north.
Seriously, Tampa doesn’t seriously link it’s new residential units in the Channelside district to central downtown. it hasn’t linked it’s new downtown condos with the entertainment district to the east. How do you do that, stimulate foot traffic in all markets AND potentially stimulate the retail sector? Extend that street car.
That or you can try to get a windfall of cash to do ornate bullshit that shows no vision, no ingenuity, and no long term planning. That’s the usual in Florida…
if he could do it, why couldn't GM?
All this talk of a Detroit bailout has had me angry. Not angry at the idea taxpayers would have to keep Detroit afloat (this is, after all, an opportunity to force Detroit to be more ambitious with CAFE standards and other such things) but it reflects so much on how poorly General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have operated over the years.
They’ve craved the status-quo and have shunned, if not feared, the idea of innovation in the production and design of their vehicles. Oh, the fabled “Big Three” have evolved over time but they haven’t broken any new ground. They haven’t taken an ambitious chance. What they have done is simply offer more of the same in different wrappers. Big cars turned into station wagons, station wagons turned into vans and mini vans, vans turned into Sport Utility Vehicles.
When it looked like automakers would be forced to adhere to tough air regulation rules in California? They fought it with lawyers. Oh, General Motors went ahead and actually made an electric car in case they lost their case but after they won? Not only did they shelve the things, they had all existing models destroyed. Perish the thought they would try something different when they didn’t have to.
But big cars don’t need to be fuel inefficient. Ask Jonathan Goodwin.
Over the last few weeks, that article on the “Motorhead Messiah” kept coming back to my mind. I originally saw it in 2007 before gas prices topped 4 dollars a gallon in some places. Goodwin has taken Hummer’s and made them flex-fuel (biodiesel, diesel, etc), more fuel efficient and with more power than they originally had. All with standard parts from General Motors. And he’s been doing that for years. He’s been working with Neil Young to convert Young’s 1959 Lincoln Continental into an electric-natural gas hybrid.
Oh, General Motors finally caught on… But they did it real late at that.
In reality, Goodwin’s work has begun to influence some of Detroit’s top auto designers, but through curious and circuitous routes. In 2005, Tom Holm, the founder of EcoTrek, a nonprofit that promotes the use of alternative fuels, heard about Goodwin through the Hummer-junkie grapevine and hired him. When Holm showed GM the vehicles Goodwin converted, the company was duly impressed. Internally, Hummer executives had long been looking for a way to blunt criticism of the H2’s gas-guzzling tendencies and saw Goodwin’s vehicles as an object lesson in what was possible. So GM decided to flip the switch: It announced the same year that, beginning in 2008, it would convert its gasoline Hummers to run on ethanol; by 2010, it said, Hummers would be biodiesel-compatible.
I went into absolute hysterics when I read that paragraph. Hysterics because GM was not only introduced to this years ago, but also because they were going to wait years to implement things… That 2008 target? Gone, because the Hummer brand is for sale and the production all but ceased.
You look at Apple Computers and the ambition they have shown the last decade with the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone — three items that have revolutionized computing and consumer electronics… And then you look at the Big Three US automakers and note that there is no innovation and ambition in their development and design of vehicles.
There is the status-quo, the tried-and-true… and that’s why all three are suffering billion dollar loses fiscal quarter after fiscal quarter.
GM, Chrysler and Ford need ambition and innovation again. They need someone like Goodwin (outside the box, outside the bubble) in charge of engineering, and someone of the same quality in charge of the companies themselves, to get back into the swing of things.
You can’t bank on things staying the same, and for the Big Three? Their downfall was expecting just the opposite – for things to stay the same, perpetually.
What’s the deal with Sprawlparks?
For a couple of years, there has been an ongoing story in northern Pinellas County about the need for additional playing fields for local youth sports. Every plan takes a huge tract of land and creates multiple fields at one location. Thus the term “sprawlpark.”
Heck, look at the city of Oldsmar’s description of it’s Canal Park complex — “Sprawling” over 46 acres. 46 ACRES!
What ever happened to neighborhood parks? Or neighborhood playing fields? Why put multiple fields in one location and treat it like a friggin’ mall (one stop shopping!) instead of a more localized situation?
First of all, I guess developers are in part to blame, as well as the county. The county, while trying to address needs, puts for the most cost effective plan — as multiple fields in one location can be maintained easier. Of course, the concept of civic and neighborhood pride doesn’t play into this… But from an administrative level, it makes as much sense as putting bus stops in easily reached logistical locations without thinking about traffic (the old busing plan for the county that resulted in anarchy and deaths of students who had to cross multiple lanes of traffic to get back home).
The developers get the blame for, and this is common in Florida, not helping the county by providing infrastructure and space. Where neighborhoods like Lake St. George, Lansbrook, Ridgemore and so many others were built to the brim with housing styles… Public space wasn’t offered outside of clubhouses paid for in part by home owners association fees.
Logistically, it might be easier to have several ballfields in one location instead of them dotting the landscape — one here, one there, several miles apart — but at the same time, you will not have the same volatile reaction by putting a baseball field in an already estabilished neighborhood compared to building large scale park complex and bringing development, noise and light pollution into a sparsely developed corner of the county.
FL-09: Roll over, play dead
Dear Rep. Gus Bilirakis:
Congratulations! From the looks of things, Democrats have once again conceded your home base of Palm Harbor and Pinellas County. During this primary season, I have gotten more mailers (2) from you than from the three Democratic primary challengers (none). No signage was put up, no canvasing took place, no interest in GOTV efforts, no intention to help down ballot candidates in turning out voters. Are you listening John Dicks?
It happens annually – my district race turns into a farce where no one presents themselves (tactically or politically) as worthy congressmen. Oh, this includes you Gus, but you’re the incumbent. It says volumes if others don’t present themselves as a better choice than yourself – let alone their primary opponents.
Signed,
Disgruntled
The history of Tropicana Field and Tampa Bay’s quest for MLB is one hell of a book
One of the hot topics around the Tampa Bay metro region right now is the Tampa Bay Rays proposed stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida. I’m not going to bother getting into the arguments but after reading a few knee-jerk reactions and misinformation about the plans… Well, I felt it was important that people actually familiarize themselves with why the Dome was built in St. Petersburg in the first place.
I read Stadium for Rent by local author Bob Andelman during high school and it showed the battle — political and logistical – to get Major League Baseball in town.
It’s out of print but there are copies for sale out there, also the entire thing is available at the above link. It’s very much worth a read for both pro and anti-stadium people. I oppose the stadium for economic issues (the timing sucks, Stu) as well as logistical reasons, but it’s important to be armed with the facts instead of making up hearsay or misconstruing what is really going on.
I plan on buying a used copy of Stadium For Rent for quick reference in the future. I’ve held it in high regard long enough….
Why is that stadium in St. Pete anyway? "Stadium fot Tent" shows why
One of the hot topics around the Tampa Bay metro region right now is the Tampa Bay Rays proposed stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida. I'm not going to bother getting into the arguments but after reading a few knee-jerk reactions and misinformation about the plans... Well, I felt it was important that people actually familiarize themselves with why the Dome was built in St. Petersburg in the first place.
URL: https://www.johnnyfonts.com/2008/05/20/stadium-for-rent-bob-andelman/
In light of the lack of attention on the subject
Here is a headline that is missing from the media around the state of Florida:
Low Pants Controversey Grips Florida — Locals plead Tallahassee for Action
(maybe now the legislature realizes how ridiculous their attention waste of time on the matter looks.
Irony is a "bitter" thing
Hillary should know “elitism” and aristocracy when she sees it…
(from the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts)
A limp yellow dog
I get sorta pissed when I keep hearing die-hard fans or supporters – be it in politics or pro sports – confess their undying devotion towards one thing or another… and then cynically stomp on what they love or some item they are true-blue about.
I mean, I just wrote an article last week at Boltsmag (yeah, Boltsmag isn’t gone yet) about sports fans not being willing to leave their comfort zone to devote themselves to something bigger than their pro sports team… So what do you say about a political junkie who cynically tears down an issue, or a candidate, or a part position… All for the sake of the opportunist stance of “wait and see”?
If you really believe in something, aren’t you supposed to be willing to stand up for that something or at least do what you can to put its best foot forward? Be it an idea, a team, a principle, etc? Or are we all supposed to be just blind soldiers who will accept whatever we are handed by the powers-that-be?
Hail, Gunslinger!
OK, I don’t go for the Tex impersonation thing often but I got a kick out of this one… There’s a new sherrif in town.
Florida, go forth and vote
And make a habit out of it – we got at least two more this year.
While we’re at it — lemme tip my cap to Casey over at St. Petersblog:
REFORM, not RELIEF.
A passable substitute, take two: Bridge to Nowhere
So the Writers Guild remains on strike and what do we have in the mean time but reruns of shows, YouTube clips of the writers showing solidarity (and humor) and heavy sighing as we miss late night mainstays that are not broadcasting right now — like the Daily Show.
I was watching Current TV again and an InfoMania segment came on… In this instance, they were going to actually show you about the famed Bridge to Nowhere that didn’t get built and the effects on the locals…
This is as good as any Rob Corddry (gone from TDS), Sam Bee, John Oliver or other past and present Daily Show contributor’s “investigative reporting”. Mocking, humerous, yet informative in it’s absurdity.
Current: Jesus hates coffee and absurd protests
I saw this last week on Current before it aired on TV:
This brought back memories of sorts — cuz I had come across a ridiculous protest online in the past… I ended up commenting at Current about it:
This reminds me of the faux protests of Star Wars through the The Force is a tool of Satan web site. It landed on the web sometime before the Prequels started and has been a rallying point and a laughing point since.
I know that the over-consumerism in reality is a noose around our necks (suffocating us from truly enjoying the season or any holiday – because some SALE has been inspired by it! Or some greeting card, etc)… but a protest like this with an animate pastor/reverend who seems like a caricature of TV Evangelicals everywhere? Laughing point, not rallying point.
That’s just me though.
So what’s the hubub? Current contacted me yesterday and asked if they could read my comment on air. W00t! That will be (I THINK) 2:26 PM this afternoon.
Edit: Didn’t air at the 2:26 PM airing. Maybe later today?
A passable substitute
Decidedly not the Daily Show, but a pro-writer parody:
Usually when I have to deal with work stoppages, it’s putting up with pro sports: fighting between billionaires and multimillionaires. It’s not people taking care of their families or picketing arenas — it’s guys trying to figure out how to pay for the 3rd house in the Hamptons.
The works of these people entertain millions and make billions… Asking the corporate masters for a bit more cash isn’t a crime… Especially seeing these are the people doing all the work in the end (making shows, movies, etc watchable).
in a pickle, monkey in the middle
You know those movies where a guy gets stuck between two women? Or maybe even just thinking about a divorce and the children who get caught in the middle of it: You’re being pulled two ways, you want to be with evreyone and help everyone but it ends up feeling like it must be either-or. That’s how I’m feeling right now.
Ya see, I help out some people free of charge and there are plenty who have taken notice to what I do. That being said, there is currently a conflict between the guy I work for and a former employee and I’m being used by the former employee to get revenge on my “boss”
Which is petty bullshit.
Seeing I’m an adult fully capable of making my own decisions, I can tell you I do not like being used as a pawn between waring factions. My “boss” doesn’t present me as such but the ex-employee does.
I don’t like my name being invoked as a comeuppance at public functions, especially if it’s done to misconstrue the truth. I don’t like it, I don’t appreciate it, and I certainly won’t stand for it.
Now if I could just figure out what I am going to do…. **sigh**
from the mouth of base
Did you see the results of a poll posted on Daily Kos on Friday? 21000+ votes of the Democratic base and basically 68% of those who voted said that they’re either waiting for Gore’s entry specifically, would change their primary candidate preference to Gore if he was running, or would lean Gore if he entered the race.
68% of Dkos — basically the base of the Democratic party. That floors me. While the Netroots love Barack Obama and are true-believers will not budge from Edwards (Hillary + Netroots = Zero), they’re waiting and hungry for Al Gore to declare and run.
As is said on dKos through the comments on this poll thread: if Gore enters the fray, everything changes The personnel support, financial backers, etc.
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (Kos himself), many others and myself haven’t gotten involved in the Democratic Presidential Primary fray specifically because we were waiting for Gore. I ache for him to declare…
Yet at the same time, I’m fine if he doesn’t. I’ll actively support whoever the Democratic nominee is in 2008… Gore is happy in the life he’s leading now outside the political establishment and he’s serving the world in his global warming/climate change campaign, bringing awareness to the masses and what not. He’s single handedly helped make the environment a top issue across the world (oh, yeah, that and actual climate change occurring). Yet the point that is alwasy brought up is that Gore can do more for the environment by being President of the United States. But it’s his decision if he’s going to try to gain that job – which comes with a lot more requirements than just saving the environment.
Where the money is coming from
While it isn’t an FEC filing, it is rather telling to see how certain Democratic presidential candidates are doing with online fundraising through ActBlue. Actblue, for the uninitiated, is a Democratic clearinghouse that takes donations for all National Democratic candidates (and some state ones as well). While it isn’t anything more than another fundraising source, it also represents the people and the Netroots.
John Edwards leads the charge, having been in campaign mode since the end of the John Kerry campaign… He’s earned over a million dollars through the Act Blue service. Bill Richardson – also a long time suspected candidate — is next on the list with 288 thousand dollars to his name.
Wes Clark, Howard Dean, Al Gore — all undeclared or just flat out not running — have a few thousand to their name… And while Mike Gravel and Chris Dodd are the ones who are oh-fer ActBlue, it’s Hillary Clinton’s numbers that should send a message to people…
Hillary, who keeps getting named the front runner because of her recognizability (or her last name) has earned $81. Eighty One dollars.
There are pundits on the right who think Democrats are clamoring for HRC to be the nominee, and there are media pundits who think Hillary is a shoe in… Yet if the Internet community — the activists who are vocal online — aren’t showing their support financially for Hillary, then why are they going to show their support with their votes for her next year during the primaries?
Just saying. It’s known Hillary is not big with the online community, but she still is the big name in the field unless Al Gore were to enter the fray (which I don’t think will happen, sadly).
Taking a chance
Yesterday I had something happen that hasn’t happened before… Well, it has but I wasn’t confident to the same degree when it happened in the past. I wasn’t compelled to act immediately like I did…
I applied for a job.
Not just a job, but a high profile job.
Not just a high profile job, but one in a different city, in a different region…
Not just a high profile job in a different city, but one that is being offered by a campaign attached to a former presidential candidate.
I really should be more skeptical — and I am in a lot of fashions — towards the job I applied for with John Kerry. It was advertised on Daily Kos and that means hundreds of thousands will not only see this thing but probably apply for a job too.
The thing is… I know this job. I AM this job. I have been doing most of the roles that are described in the online agenda for years on my own. I’ve done them voluntarily, I’ve done them for next to nothing… I know this role, I have confidence I could do this job and do it well.
But in the end, it ain’t up to me now is it? At least not right now.
I’ve never lived away from home for more than a few days. I have been 2300 miles from home without family oir friends around as a social safety net though. While Boston would be like that, it’s much easier to reach my extended family in New York and Connecticut.
What’s gonna happen now? I don’t know… Could I even get up to Boston for an interview? Let alone find myself taking the position? have no clue, but I know one thing — I am that job. I have confidence in that fact and I only wish I had this opportunity more often, closer to home, to prove it.
Note to self — if you gotta blog, blog here
You know, I get my thoughts out pretty well on here. It might be snipping about personal matters, it might be poetry, it might be just re-listing song lyrics (which seem to be popular with the Search Engines) or quoting movies. Whatever the case, I blog here not-so-much but I do blog here from time to time.
I also blog elsewhere… And tonight I figured I would blog on DFA-link int he Pinellas County DFA group about my fondness for Al Gore and how I am holding out for him to enter the 2008 Presidential primaries.
The only thing I didn’t expect when I blogged this was the fact the post was going to get wider exposure than what I was aiming for. Much wider. Hugely wider.
Blog for America front-paged wider.
More than three years ago, I never would have dreamed in my wildest imagination that I would be featured on the front page of Blog for America — the then-It blog of the Howard Dean for President campaign. Dean failed in his attempts, but he founded Democracy for America in an effort to organize Democratic support better. Blog for America lived on and is still highly thought of on the liberal/progressive blogosphere.
And at 11:45 PM ET, on February 12th 2007 — yours truly has made it to the front page. Whodathunkit?
One article leads to $5 into a non-existent campaign vault
Al Gore is the 800 pound gorilla in the room for all Presidential aspirants in the 2008 election season. No matter who you prefer or which political party you are tied to — Gore is the name if he were to run for President (and remains the marquee name in the shadows). I’m not going to throw around bitter trash about 2000. That’s over, that’s done with and the country’s been screwed up since.
At any rate, there is an article with former Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile who is hinting that we may know if Gore is in or out by Oscar night.
With that knowledge and with that little glimmer of hope, I took a leap and put $5 bucks to good use.
Political ads in three frames
My friend Melissa puts out a graphic-blog every few days on her MySpace profile… Just different stuff with stick figures that generally convey a concept and make you laugh, snort, cringe or whatever…
Melissa hit gold on her last entry:
Make sure you click to view full and read that last frame 🙂
Don't let these lapse
Last year, I purchased a couple domain names – TampaBayRail.com and TampaBayRail.net. I intended to launch a web site on mass-transit and address the Tampa Bay area as one region. Not a separate-but-equal take that local government has had in the past on transit solutions. But those plans were soon forgotten as other issues worked into my life (including hand surgery, political campaigns and walking the dog).
Now, for those of you aware of what the local blogosphere has to offer, you already know David Pinero has Tampa Rail.org up and running. Pinero’s site is a great civic orientated pro-rail web site. The plan in my noggin’ with my own blog/site were just to ride the “rail” names but talk about all transit issues in general. But all of this is really beside the point, so let’s move on.
Basically, time goes by, the seasons change, the Gators were champs and John Grahame sucks. A few weeks ago I got notification from my domain registration company that both domain names were soon going to expire. I could renew the domain names for however-many-years I’d like or I could simply let them disappear into the digital tumbleweeds of the interweb. They’d likely be snatched up by a spammer or domain-name broker with no interest in Tampa, Tampa Bay, transit in Tampa Bay or rail in the region.
The whole thought reminded me of what happened to the previous official website that the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County operated regarding a rail system. A few years back (2002), those governments held the rights to TampaRail.com (check the wayback machine). For some reason, the powers that be (City of Tampa? Hillsborough County?) let that domain name expire around 2003. The name was quickly snatched up and exploited by a Russian domain name broker. The web site and url shifted to BlueHeronMedia.com, then ended up drifting into oblivion before being removed from their servers. Tampa’s official rail website was as dead as the pro-rail movement in the region. But the movement is now stirring again.
This past summer, we were all witness to the grand spectacle of the Hillsborough Expressway Authority trying to launch a new sprawlway through the region. Along with Mayor Pam Iorio (and the Tampa Bay Partnership and Tampa International Airport) renewing a push for a regional rail system through the Tampa Bay area. Emphasis on the Tampa Bay regionalism of their presented interest.
So, what’s a guy to do? I have control of TampaBayRail.com and .net. I could sell them and possibly recoup some of the costs of the domain names — eventually. Instead, I decided to do some good. I offered both domains to the City of Tampa. You entrepreneurs may see this as a waste of money on my part, but just consider it a good deed.
Suffice to say, the city was receptive of the idea, so both names are now controlled by Mayor Pam. I don’t expect you to see a regional rail website any time soon, but there is the possibility for a united Tampa Bay rail effort on the web — with TampaBayRail.com potentially it’s base location on the web.
The most powerful ad of the campaign season
You know, there are ads out there right now that can be looked at as low blows. There are ads out there that can be looked at from either side of the fray as “the truth”.
Lemme submit another one to you — Michael J. Fox:
If you’re like me — you grew up with Michael J. Fox as a hero. Marty McFly, Alex P. Keaton, Brantley Foster and all his roles from there on in. This one ad showing how bad his Parkinsons condition is getting puts every attack, slander and general mudslinging ad to shame.
You can’t look past something like this… You just can’t.
Who was that masked man?
I got a memory sticking out in my mind in the Tampa Bay area. One that doesn’t have an answer every time I look around Google or something…
I can remember in the early 1990’s here in North Pinellas, there was a candidate running for office that was of some noteriety… He would end up losing but the fact he was running in the first place made him noteworthy.
Yes, that Bob Barker…
IMDB says nothing of him once running for any elected office. I don’t know why I have this memory that he ran but I am certain he was on local public access along with other such stuff in the early 1990’s — maybe 1990, 91 or 92 to be exact.
Where do these memories come from with no proof at all of them existing? Oh well…
The Good Old Days
As everyone knows, there are conservatives out there at current who are adamant Bill Clinton was soft on terrorism and has been trying to paint that picture since earlier this month through every disinformation channel available to them.
Yet, to those who actually believe Clinton was soft on terrorism or just plain didn’t do enough to fight terror — look at what Orrin Hatch, Trent Lott and others of the GOP were up to stopping President Clinton from having some of the very same issues that Congress now rubber-stamps for President Bush today. That link and the following quote from CNN in July of 1996:
“We need to keep this country together right now. We need to focus on this terrorism issue,” Clinton said during a White House news conference.
But while the president pushed for quick legislation, Republican lawmakers hardened their stance against some of the proposed anti-terrorism measures.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, doubted that the Senate would rush to action before they recess this weekend. The Senate needs to study all the options, he said, and trying to get it done in the next three days would be tough.
One key GOP senator was more critical, calling a proposed study of chemical markers in explosives “a phony issue.”
I wonder if old Orrin stood up and argued how the entire gels-and-liquids scare that has helped slow down the queue in airports for the last few weeks was phony… Or did he “wise up on the issue” where politicians who change stances today are known as flip-floppers?
But wait, it gets better.
Back in April of 1996 — the US House approved an anti-terror legislation that was severely watered down from what President Clinton had been proposing and the Senate had passed. This was near the one-year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and several months prior to TWA Flight 800’s crash (along with the Centennial Park bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta):
Republicans were divided on whether the legislation would be effective.
“We have a measure that will give us a strong upper hand in the battle to prevent and punish domestic and international terrorism,” Senate Majority Leader and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole said Wednesday.
But Sen. Don Nickles, R-Oklahoma, while praising the bill, said the country remains “very open” to terrorism. “Will it stop any acts of terrorism, domestic and international? No,” he said, adding, “We don’t want a police state.”
Some lawmakers took a more prudent view of the bill. “The balance between public safety and order and individual rights is always a difficult dilemma in a free society,” said Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-New York.
(emphasis added by me)
Now what’s my point in this and what constructive items can we take from it?
Ten years ago, there was a sensible conservatism out there that said individuals had rights, and it’s a thin line between individual rights and safety. The Republicans once knew that and they put the country’s civil liberties before the terrorism fight.
Now? Well, you should know…
The world didn’t change on 9-11 as the neoconservatives in control of the Republican party have worked very hard to make the country believe. It was our national courage that did. If you’re giving into your fear for the sake of safety and blaming all of this on the other guy in order to feel more secure at this very moment, you’re a coward and a fool who has become blinded from right-and-wrong with thanks to your party-of-choice in power.
Pinellas Disconnectocrats
(NOTE — my post below has nothing to do with the Pinellas Democratic Party, it’s members or it’s direction. Apologies beforehand for any confusion or any suggestions this was targeting the local party.)
I’m getting pissed off.
I’m a user on a non-official Pinellas Democrta mailing list/user group and I’m just shocked and dismayed. Somewhat because of what is said on this, but mostly because these are (supposedly) Democrats saying it. I’m not sure if I should accept this as the normal discontent of Democratic voters or if I should feel this is wingnuttery going on?
Assets, liabilities and idiocy
Just why does the St. Petersburg Times persist with ranking candidates assets and liabilities as financial clout or debts? A political candidate’s financial porfolio should play absolutely no part in how a voter decides his or her vote.
True assets and liabilities are determined to voters by candidates philosophies, their standces on issues and their endorsements and the identity of campaign contributors. The fact a candidate has 2 mortgage’s on his/her house isn’t going to effect their votes unless they are shady individuals to begin with.
"Be afraid, the threat is real, fear fear fear"
I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theory wacko but something is really starting to bug the shit out of me with everything at current…
I wasn’t going to write a blog post about this concern up until I put on Bay News 9 here in the Tampa Bay area and their nightly news anchor, Al Rueschel, presented the latest piece that broke the camels back for me.
9-1-1 calls from the World Trade Center on 9-11.
You have the terrorist bust in the UK and airline rule changes in the aftermath, you have suspected bombs showing up on airplanes, in airport terminals and in ports…
Is it a heightened sense of awareness by the public or is someone screwing with us?
Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) said in the first Lethal Weapon film that the evidence was “too thin” regarding the death of a hooker. Though I’d like to believe we’re just being more vigilant right now, with everyone trying to scare the shit out of each other every time you turn on the news – I just don’t see this as a case of vigilance. I see this as timing things appropriately for political gain. The 9-11 tapes sealed my suspicion… Playing a taped recording of a woman crying that she is going to die is just the last raw emphasis that tells the public “you should be afraid – this can happen to you unless you do what we say.”
"Homeland" sucks
Note to everyone in the United States:
Can you please… pretty pretty please with cream and sugar on top (and oil if you’re driving an SUV) stop calling the United States the “Homeland”?
Since 2001 — before or after 9-11, I forget which — every time I’ve heard the word “Homeland” associated with America, I’ve cringed. The name invokes memories of Stalinist Russia, or perhaps Nazi Germany. I don’t want to get into how I feel about the “Office of Homeland Security” in general (that’s another post I made years ago) but the term “homeland” — that’s a basic lack of using a thesaurus.
“Homeland” is the nation, it’s internal part of the country (or interior), It’s domestic. It’s considered the state as well. So why the hell are we using “Homeland”? Cripes, the DEFENSE DEPARTMENT is supposed to defend the United States, why do we need another agency to begin with? Why not fix the focus of the first one…?
OK, I’m going off topic. The fact is the “Homeland” is the country. It’s the US. It’s the nation… Referring to the country as “our homeland” makes things feel even more like we’re living in a fascist state. Dissenting activists should be able to recognize this… Everyone else in the population (especially patriots) should be wary of this.
Another day, another rant: Defending “The Daily Show”
There was an editorial story about the Daily Show with Jon Stewart that was published in the St. Petersburg Times on Monday. In this little article they suggested the Daily Show was actually hurting the country because of it’s cynism was discouraging America’s youth and convincing us that we shouldn’t vote.
HA!
Everyone I know — young and old — make the Daily Show with Jon Stewart part of their daily regimen (or at least catch it as often as they can). Are they turned off to voting? Hell no. Are they turned off to politics? Hell no.
The Daily Show isn’t enlightening, but in it’s cynical and ironic takes on the news, it does something that the major media outlets fail to do — it asks questions and shows the obvious flaws of those in control of the country (and sometimes the colorful nature of the country itself). It also shows the gullibility of our leadership and the failings of those in power to reach out to America’s youth as well as inspire us.
Johnny got pissed off so Johnny wrote a letter to the Editor. It was published today.
Daily Show’ is not a detriment’
Re: Is “The Daily Show” bad for democracy?
What’s this now? Jon Stewart and his crew of reporters are turning off youth with their irony, cynicism and sarcasm concerning the antics of our elected officials?
I find it hilarious that the article in question thinks so little of the youth of America. We’re a generation of people whom elected officials tend to ignore and brush off. We’re a generation of Americans who have grown up through scandal after scandal (Iran-Contra, the S&L fallout, Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky, 9/11 failings, Valerie Plame, etc.) and the article in question thinks that a TV show with a humorous take on the sorry state of affairs in this country is detrimental to democracy?
No, sir. What’s detrimental to democracy is how little the older generations – especially the one in control – inspire the rest of us. It’s detrimental that the Daily Show, which bills itself as “fake news,” has been more biting and investigative than the mainstream media for the past six years.
John Fontana, Palm Harbor
Jon Stewart, Rob Corddry, Samantha Bee, Ed Helms and Jason Jones would have a field day with this letter — not one zinger, not one barb and not one instance of inserting the out-of-place-question-for-the-sake-of-humor that the Daily Show does so well.
Another nail in Amtrak's coffin?
I’m not trying to knock Amtrak as so much declare there is a major need of a revamped national railway system…
This latest incident is proof positive of it.
Amtrak, the federal rail authority, operates passanger service throughout the continental United States. Where the federal government has been more than happy to subsidize the auto industry and the airline industry, Amtrak has been another story…
Operating on antiquated tracks, sharing tracks (and playing second fiddle) with freight trains and having a sub-par/failure of a High Speed Rail option are proof positive Amtrak needs a makeover. Congress and the current administration are fast to say that it’s weight should be shed entirely but that’s really lacking forsight.
The network needs to be upgraded — via a private entity or the federal government — and would provide thousands of jobs by doing so. Ultimately it can shrink dependance on foreign oil…
…but of course, you can’t do it any time soon. The financial black hole fo the Bush administration prevents us from doing that.
Six years later, President Gore addresses the nation
Crooks and Liars has the President’s addres.
Three cheers for Baseball commissioner George W. Bush…!
Restriction-less
The St. Petersburg Times ran a story today about how watering restrictions are needed — Now — in Hillsborough County. It also went on to point out restrictions in place:
Commissioners put off until May 17 a hearing on whether to reduce watering to once weekly from two days. Some other area governments, such as Pinellas County and Brooksville, already impose that sound restriction. With the last heavy rain in February, and nothing significant expected for weeks, the region’s demand for water has soared. Last month’s demand was 22 percent higher than what utility officials expected. And for the first time, demand in Hillsborough outstripped Pinellas. Hillsborough commissioners should have seen the impact they could have made to help the region scrimp along until the wet summer months.
Excuse me, did you say Pinellas?
Living at the top’o’the’bay here in Pinellas county, I’ve seen neighbors watering twice a day every day for the past few weeks. I’ve seen absolutely nothing in the paper (be it the Times or the free Suncoast News ) suggesting Pinellas is restricting water usage, let alone enforcing watering restrictions.
I don’t know if this is bad journalism (I doubt it) or more like bad – if not terrible – enforcement and advertisement of watering rules in county.
Megalomaniac in Chief
George W. Bush is now referring to the War on ‘Terror’ (which is a “war” against a tactic to begin with — not against a defined group, though the base of supporters labels Arabs as the terrorist boogeyman) as World War 3.
Yeah, that’s right folks. World War 3… Where the “Coalition of the Willing” are a bunch of weak willed countries that need to be paid off in order to support our efforts. Where our traditional allies have turned their backs because we’ve started military action in a country that did not call for action against it…
In all honesty, this is another Crusade. Maybe the last Crusade. George W. Bush — who is trying to project himself as an elite ruler — is King Richard, who marches into the Holy Lands in order to try to free them (or make it safe for US oil companies in this case). It’s all glory, it’s all bravado and all for his legacy and ego. Meanwhile, back at home, the nation is suffering in the King’s “abscence”. While Boy George focuses on winning his war everyone at home is being robbed … Not by Robin Hood either but the numerous Sheriff’s of Nottingham.
I can't impress upon you how true this is…
The title of Northwest Leftists post is “The Most important book for Progressives”… He’s talking about Crashing the Gate and I must stress how true those words are.
If you read political books to be outraged instead of informed — trash like Michael Moore or Al Franken and their self-obsorbed writings — this book can and should replace that type of reading in your bookcase. While Crashing shows you reasons to be outraged at both the left and the right, it keys you in how things must change and how you must be part of the political process too.
It’s the Red versus the Blue.
The Old versus the New.
It shows you what’s wrong with the Democrats and how we can go about fixing it.
Please, if you’re a Democrat — this is required reading material.
the three I's of current
I grew up a fan of the WWF and I re-acquired my fondness for wrestling late int eh 1990’s during the WCW/WWF wars. One of the performers for the WWF (now WWE) was former Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle who played a pompous and crass patriot who embodied everything that you could dispise about an athlete. Selfishness, arrogance, etc, etc.
Kurt had a good “angle” though and played the part well. Still does in fact. One part of his repetoir was talking about his three I’s — three words begining with I that were his guiding principles — of Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence.
You realize that the country currently has it’s own three I’s? These aren’t principles that are guiding us but they are factors in our daily lives:
Inflation – you will not hear the Federal Reserve chairman talking about inflation, nor will you hear the Bush administration talk about how costs have skyrocketed over a short period of time. Everyone knows about gas prices, but real estate prices, durable goods, groceries, insurance premiums, medical care — everything is spiking for the common person. The federal governent is just concerned with the mega-ultra-large corporations in how they deal with this. Corporatiosn are going strong right now while workers wages are stagnent. It’s been almost a decade since minimum wage was increased in the United States and instead of promoting better treatment for employees, the Bush administration has worked vigilently to repeal work laws so corporations can profit and not be stradled by the costs of labor.
Intolerance – you reep what you sow and that is the case with the Dubai Port World deal and George Walker Bush signing off on the deal. Bush made Arab’s into the boogeyman of the 21st century with his rhetoric after 9-11. The propoganda coming out of the White House tied Iraq to 9-11 in order to justify the invasion of Iraq. People were scared and reacted to just that, signing off on the war because those damn Arabs attacked us first! (wwhich is a flat out lie and ignorant assumption by the citizens of the US)
So the Dubai Ports deal comes through and Bush has no problem with it — it’s a furtherment of his pro-big business agenda. Bill Clinton signs off on it and does what he can to help out behind the scenes (as Slick Willie has always been a proponent of Globalization — as is New York Times writer Paul Krugman). Everyone expects a free pass over this as that is how the country has operated since 9-11 (allowing Bush to get whatever he wanted)…
…Until the public learns about the deal.
Everyone cries foul — Republicans and Democrats alike. The Xenophobia of the Arab Boogeyman that Bush’s administration has so well played rears it’s ugly head. An Arab country in charge of US Ports?! An Arab country with ties to 9-11?!?
And yet, Krugman had a good point in a recent article which denounced this intolerance. The United States should be an active player in the global economy and we cannot run scared from a country in the middle east because of the ignorant and arrogant propoganda show that was put out by the Administration to further it’s agenda.
Of course I could go on about intolerance — everyone beign afraid of homosexuals, blacks and whites in the continued racial war of poverty, faux-Christians sullying Christian ideals and justifying hatred, violence and greed in His name, etc…
Isolationism – Go it alone, “with us or against us,” and the country trumping the world in matters of global politics (be it war, peace, treaties, signing off on elected officials in other countries or dispatchign elected officials in others)Â The US has become largely islolated with thanks to it’s policies while being depedant and indebted to cheap foreign labor and despot oil suppliers.
Just another reason why this Democrat doesn't trust Hillary Clinton
If Hillary Clinton were elected to the highest office in the land, as desperate Democrats have been talking the last few months, it would just be more of the same corruption that we’re faced with on a daily basis right now.
This exhibit is proof enough. I didn’t trust Hillary before it was announced that she was back-dealing with regards to the Dubai Port sale… And I don’t like her now. She’s a carpet bagger and a schemer. This is not trying to piss on the concept of a female president or a female candidate for president. This is pissing on a bad candidate for president and someone who is looked at as a hope because she won’t take a stand on anything for the sake of not ruining her Presidential run.
Explain this one, right wing fanatics…
From CNN.com’s Transcripts in the past
“I will never hand over America’s security decisions to foreign leaders and international bodies that do not have America’s interests at heart.â€
-GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 6/10/04
Someone want to justify this flip-flop for me?
Just how far would you go to defend your beliefs?
Just out of curiosity, just out of wanting to know how strongly people stand behind their ideals —
would you stand up militarily for your beliefs? I don’t mean support the troops being sent to a foreign land… I’m saying that if you stand on different political sides here int he country — would you take up arms agaisnt the other side if the cross the line with their acts?
Case in point right nwo is the power grab by the president — at what point, with lack of checks and balances in play, do the people of the United States start reacting physically to the injustic3s going on?
Conversely, when does the RIght start physically reacting to judicial decisions they on’t approve of that doe snot let them push their moral beliefs on the rest of the masses?
Just when and where is the boiling point? Unfortunately, it’s getitng close right now. With goverment corruption at an all time high, with the country divided like never before and with the Executive Branch grabbing all the powers that are possible to grab – damning the United States Constitution along the way…. Soemthing’s got to give. And I don’t know if it will simply be difused with an election.
