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In Defense of the Filibuster 20100213 by: Translator Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 21:21:30 PST (10 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck) Recently we have seen quite a bit of controversy about the filibuster.  Most folks do not even know what that term means, and with good reason.  The rules for it changed, as I recall, in 1975, after damned old Nixon got booted, and, in my opinion, for ill. However, the politicians, the pundits, and the public do not understand (or, if they do, are misleading folks) about its nature.  The Republicans mostly say that it was the will of the Framers, and that is just not only incorrect, but a lie.  In fairness, the Democrats said the same thing when they were in the minority.  Most of the pundits have it wrong as well.  Please follow and I shall explain what it was, and now is. There's More... :: (6 Comments, 660 words in story)

I love me some North Carolina loonie politicians by: CrustyPolemicist Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 06:00:30 PST This is what I enjoy about living in NC: when the politicians are loonies, they are real loonies. The genuine article, madder than General Jack D. Ripper, madder than "Mad Jack" McMad, winner of last year's Mister Madman competition. http://www.georgehutchins.com/ First offering for your delectation: George Hutchins, who's running against David Price for his congressional seat (which covers Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, etc). Note well the flamboyant and unrestrained use of color and, well, just "stuff" that gives his web site that certain je ne sais quoi that just screams "he's mad as a balloon!" Looks like the web page designer got his mitts on the Big Boy box of Crayolas when mommy's back was turned. The guy's politics don't matter; all sane people are morally obligated to vote against him on purely esthetic grounds. http://mediamattersaction.org/... And in this corner, we have long-time Uber-loonie Rep Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who states -- with nary a hint of  irony (or goldy or bronzey, for that matter) -- "I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing  than we do from any terrorist right now in any country."  If she doesn't get mad loonie props for that, then she should definitely get some for using the word "tarbaby" in an earlier public speech on the floor of Congress. This is the kind of stuff that makes it worth dragging my butt out of bed in the morning. Discuss :: (3 Comments)

Daring to Dance to No One's Funeral by: cabaretic Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 07:08:22 PDT ( - promoted by buhdydharma ) Taking the time to contemplate the vast amount of right-wing smears that have been either facilitated, advanced, or concocted by conservatives over the past several months is an overwhelming task.  Within each of these petty, partisan, often nonsensical parries and thrusts I am reminded again of the excesses of the Pharisees.  Wishing to have everything on their own terms and in accordance with every selfish demand, modern day Pharisees are found not merely in the opposition party, but regrettably sometimes among our own ranks, particularly in the form of people who fail to neither understand nor respect the vast amount of indignation felt when crucial reform legislation is watered down or vaguely outlined due to nothing more than political expediency and self-preservation.  If this sort of thing was limited to politicians, it might be more easily challenged, but one sees it everywhere.  Most recently, those well-connected business types who long ago lost their souls in selling the whole world are also guilty as charged.         There's More... :: (1 Comments, 1099 words in story)

"No bailout can stop the sinking" by: Inky99 Sat Aug 01, 2009 at 20:32:11 PDT ( - promoted by buhdydharma ) Chris Hedges is a war correspondent and a Pulitzer Prize winner.   He is also one of the "truthiest" people out there, and is one of the few who actually has a handle on things.    Sad thing is, the truth is damn scary.   http://www.theglobeandmail.com... There's More... :: (10 Comments, 2151 words in story)

Politicians Stuck on Stupid by: publicv Sat Jun 27, 2009 at 13:28:12 PDT (4:00 PM EST - promoted by On The Bus) And I'm losing my ability to care about them. Politics is stuck on stupid.  Stupid representatives like Michelle Bachmann continually make headlines like some sort of comic relief.  She is not a serious politician to me.  Sanford wants to take on biblical proportions as a character.  Baucus wants to fight the good fight for corporate lobbyists and healthcare and before that he was the friend of corporate globalists.  Same thing to me.  He's not for the everyday people.  Specter wants to keep his cushy senate job so he changes parties (both are essentially the same) , as does Cantor and Boehner and Graham. The Alaskan governor wants to stay in the spotlight.  People are really talking like she has a chance.  At the presidency in the future.  Just plain stupid.   There's More... :: (3 Comments, 353 words in story)

The Spider and the Ducks by: On The Bus Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 20:24:34 PDT                This is an old Lakota myth as told by John Lame Deer in Lame Deer Seeker of Visions.1 I'm paraphrasing a bit here: Iktome was an evil spiderman, a smart-ass who liked to play tricks on everyone.  One day he was walking by a lake and he saw some ducks swimming around.  He suddenly grew hungry for roast duck.  So he stuffed his bag with a bunch of grass and then walked over to the shore.  The ducks saw him and cried out, "Where are you going, Iktome?" "I'm going to a big powwow." "What's in your bag Iktome?" "It's full of songs which I am taking  to the powwow.  Good songs that you can dance to." The ducks begged him to sing the songs for them.  The tricky spider made a big show of not wanting to do it.  He said he didn't have time for it.  Finally, he pretended to give in because they were such nice ducks.   "OK, I'll sing for you, but you have to help me." "O yay!  We'll do whatever you want. Just tell us the rules." "Well, first you must form three rows.   In the front row I want all the fat ones.  In the middle row go all those who are neither fat nor thin.  The scrawny ones go in the back row.  Now you have to act out the song.  Do whatever the words tell you.  Here goes the first song...   'Close your eyes and dance.'" The ducks in their rows shut their eyes and started flapping their wings.  Iktome took a big club from underneath his coat.  "Sing along as loud as you can and keep your eyes shut.  Whoever peeks will get blind."   He ordered them to sing so that their voices would drown out the "thump thump" of his club as he hit them over the head.  One by one he went down the front row bashing the ducks.   He was in the middle of the next row by the time one of the skinny ducks in the back row opened his eyes and saw what Iktome was up to.   "Holy crap!     Hey wake up!", it yelled.  "Iktome is killing us all!" The ducks that were left opened their eyes and ran away.  Iktome didn't care.  He already had more duck than he could eat.   There's More... :: (10 Comments, 101 words in story)

"They All Disappoint" by: Armando Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 21:44:14 PST The best show on television today is "The Wire." In subsequent entries, I'll explain why I think so. Its new season, Season 5, starts in January and The Wire will be one of the things I write about. Season 4 focused on politics a good deal. At the finale to Season 4, the new mayor of Baltimore, where the show is set, is faced with the dilemma of doing "the right thing" and doing what he perceives is the right thing politically (the plot point involves "eating shit" so the Baltimore schools get money it needs vs. what's right for his shot at being Governor. You know what he does. Afterwards, his close aide, who fought the campaign with him, discusses this with the chief of staff of the former mayor, saying "can't believe he left the money on the table." The former COS responds "they all disappoint." And indeed, they do. They've all disappointed, even Lincoln, FDR and Bobby Kennedy. As citizens and activists, our allegiances have to be to the issues we believe in. I am a partisan Democrat it is true. But the reason I am is because I know who we can pressure to do the right thing some of the times. Republicans aren't them. But that does not mean we accept the failings of our Democrats. There is nothing more important that we can do, as citizens, activists or bloggers than fight to pressure DEMOCRATS to do the right thing on OUR issues. And this is true in every context I think. Be it pressing the Speaker or the Senate majority leader, or the new hope running for President. There is nothing more important we can do. Nothing. It's more important BY FAR than "fighting" for your favorite pol because your favorite pol will ALWAYS, I mean ALWAYS, disappoint you. In the middle of primary fights, citizens, activists and bloggers like to think their guy or woman is different. They are going to change the way politics works. They are going to not disappoint. In short, they are not going to be pols. That is, in a word, idiotic. Yes, they are all pols. And they do what they do. Do not fight for pols. Fight for the issues you care about. That often means fighting for a pol of course. But remember, you are fighting for the issues. Not the pols. More on this theme in a week or so. I'm traveling.   Discuss :: (44 Comments)

A Reality-Based Agenda for the '08 Campaign by: cassiodorus Thu Nov 22, 2007 at 19:53:14 PST Here it is.  It comes in three parts: 1) a "reality-based" political agenda for the future. 2) a discussion of the pragmatics (relation of discourse to hearers/readers) of political agendas 3) a critique of a successful politician's agenda. (crossposted on ecosocialism) There's More... :: (14 Comments, 2169 words in story)