Spill, Baby, Spill!

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Following the Democratic rebuff of attempts to drill for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Republicans began chanting “Drill, Baby, Drill.”  Indeed, it became a mantra of the climate change deniers, the Fox News Channel dimwits and the McCain/Palin campaign. 

Now we have clear evidence of how wrong they were.  (Imagine that!?)

A few months ago, an Alaskan pipeline burst, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil onto the Arctic tundra.   This follows another spill in 2006 that dumped an estimated 200,000 gallons of oil onto the tundra.  Indeed, it’s estimated that 500 oil spills occur in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields and along the Alaskan pipeline system each year.  But, if you were to listen to big oil and their Republican supporters, you’d think that oil spills are rare and insignificant. 

Just this past week, a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico resulting in the potential for one of our nation’s largest oil spills and catastrophic damage to our environment.  The deep water well is currently leaking at the rate of 210,000 gallons a day and, if BP can’t close underwater valves, the leak could continue for up to 5 months!  Of course, big oil will likely be forced to pay for the damage.  But a few million dollars won’t act as much of a deterrent.  It certainly won’t restore the environment.  And don’t count on seeing the money anytime soon.  After all, it only took Exxon 16 years to fork over the money awarded to those whose livelihood was disrupted after the Exxon Valdez dumped an estimated 10.8 million gallons of crude oil on their shores.

Is it any wonder that many along the East Coast are concerned about President Obama’s recent decision to yield to pressure from Republicans and big oil to open more areas for off-shore drilling?

Truth is, we’re certain to see more damage to our environment from the decision.  Combined with the plastic “continents” now floating in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it may well contribute to the death of the most important natural assets on our planet – our oceans. 

Of course, we could minimize the damage and end our dependence on foreign oil by prioritizing renewable energy.  And we’d likely create thousands of high-paying jobs in the process.  Unfortunately, the renewable fuel industry doesn’t have the lobbyists big oil does.

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

The Black & White Case Against President Obama

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The Tea Party members say their anger has nothing to do with racism.  Well, if their issues are big government, big deficits and corporate bailouts as they suggest, why all the anger now?  Why not aim the fury at the people who created our recession and debt?  Why not direct their fury at Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and the Republicans who created trillions of dollars of national debt?  Why no anger against George W. Bush for drastically increasing the size of government with his Department of Homeland Security?  Why no fury against George W. Bush for bailing out Wall Street?  Why the belief that President Obama was not born in the U.S.?  Why did no one demand to see Ronald Reagan’s, George H.W. Bush’s and George W. Bush’s birth certificates?  And why were they so willing to look the other way when Richard “The Dick” Cheney was allowed to skirt the Constitutional prohibition on the President and Vice-President being residents of the same state by claiming Wyoming as his residence instead of Texas where he actually lived? 

What has this President done to generate such anger? 

Since taking office, he has brought the nation out of the worst economic times since the Great Depression.  Since taking office, he has actually lowered taxes.  Indeed, taxes have rarely been lower.  Since taking office, President Obama has rebuilt our relationships and stature with all of our allies.  He has rid the world of more nuclear weapons to protect us from terrorism.  He has certainly not tried to ban guns as the Tea Party suggests.  As a matter of fact, he signed a bill permitting guns in National Parks, an act that prompted the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence to give Obama an “F” with regard to gun control issues. 

Then why the Tea Party claims that President Obama is un-American, a Socialist, a Communist and a Nazi? 

What is so unique about this President to generate so much anger and hate?  Hmmm, let me think … maybe it has to do with the fact that he is part Irish.  No?  Well, it certainly couldn’t be that he is half African-American.  That would be racist, wouldn’t it?

Is Fox News Channel Owned By Terrorists?

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Let us know what you think.  Does Sean Hannity side with Nazis?  Take our poll.  Is Bill O’Reilly a fascist?  You decide.  Did Glenn Beck have a sex change operation?  What do readers think?  Many say that Sarah Palin is a biggoted sociopath?  What is the real truth?  Did Michelle Bachmann meet her husband while a patient at his mental health clinic?  Vote now.

If you haven’t spent much time watching Fox News Channel, you might think that all of this is a joke.  But it’s what passes for journalism on Fox.  The only difference is that all of the innuendo and snide questions are about Democrats and liberals.  Even when the few journalists on Fox are trying to present their version of news, the type crawling across the bottom of the screen continues to raise absurd questions about the political opposition.  In fact, the bias of the “fair and balanced” network became so obvious, that Fox News finally admitted that the majority (two-thirds) of its programming is “political commentary.” 

Right-wing theater would be a more accurate description.

More recently, the owner of Fox, Rupert Murdoch, was asked to name one Democrat on his “fair and balanced” noise network.  He was unable to.  But he was sure “they had one.” 

If ever there was a rational argument for a return of the Fairness Doctrine, this is it.  If you aren’t familiar with it, the Fairness Doctrine was introduced in 1949 as a policy of the Federal Communications Commission” (FCC).  It required broadcasters to present issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was honest, fair and balanced.  Unfortunately, the Fairness Doctrine was abolished in 1987, likely the result of Republicans unhappy with the media’s treatment of their policies to redistribute wealth upward.  

Since the end of the Fairness Doctrine, we’ve seen a constant rise in right-wing radio and television with no limits on the lies that can be told.  No prohibitions against inciting hatred.  And no restrictions against using the public airwaves to promote political ideology and candidates.  This puts the power in the hands of a few, very wealthy (and largely conservative) media owners, especially since the ratings for liberal media tend to be lower than for conservatives.  After all, for many, it’s more entertaining to listen to some angry, white blowhards rail against government, social programs, minorities, immigrants and taxes than it is to listen to someone promoting equality and social responsibility. 

It’s time for Congress to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.  Without it, the only alternative is to spend hours each week researching political issues to determine the truth – assuming, of course, that you actually care about the future of the nation.

Just Plain McNasty!

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For years, John McCain was known as the maverick because he occasionally crossed party lines to vote with Democrats. But now he says that he has never considered himself a maverick. Really? After months of campaigning with the half-governor, Sarah Palin, as “a team of mavericks?”

Well, I guess we’ll have to go back to referring to McCain by the nickname given him by his classmates: McNasty. It fits him better anyway.

For several years now, McCain has been campaigning against the truth. During his latest run for President, virtually every commercial or ad was based on outright lies. (I know this, because I vowed to send McCain an email for every lie he told. As a result, I sent him an email almost every day. And some days, I sent him 3 or more.)

One of McCain’s biggest lies is his famed stance against “earmarks” or what he calls “pork.” McCain is proud of the fact that he’s never been responsible for a single earmark. But if you study the issue, you’ll discover that his claim is nothing to be proud of, especially given McCain’s definition of pork. He has long turned down legitimate requests from the State of Arizona for schools, roads, bridges, health care, etc., etc., etc. Indeed, it’s difficult to determine what McCain has ever done for the state he allegedly represents.

Now McNasty is living up to his nickname in his campaign to retain his Senate seat in a primary battle against conservative radio talk show host and former Congressman, J.D. Hayworth. The campaign has turned into a contest to determine who can be the most far right wingnut – Dumb versus Dumber.  McCain’s commercials call him “the last man standing against Obama’s radical agenda.” They then go on to attack Hayworth by taking his statements and votes out of context. The commercials end by stating “It’s a matter of character.”

That’s correct. McCain has none.

New Poll: Tea Party Members Not Stupid! Just Greedy, Racist and Poorly Informed.

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Okay, I have to admit that my recent description of the Tea Party was somewhat flawed.  They are rednecks, but much to my surprise, it turns out that most are highly educated. (Now there’s an indictment of our education system, if I’ve ever seen one.)  A new poll by The New York Times and CBS found that a high precentage of these people are college-educated.  They’re also highly paid and highly confused. 

They say they hate government, yet they love Social Security.  They say they hate the new health care reform bill, yet they love government-run Medicare.  They say they hate the increase in national debt, yet they love the man who created most of it – George W. Bush.  They’re furious about tax “increases,” yet their taxes are lower than at any time during the Bush administration, and the second-lowest in last 50 years.  And they say they’re nostalgic for the fifties and sixties, yet those were the days when taxes were at an all-time high and the nation was in extreme turmoil.

How could these otherwise intelligent people be so confused?  I think I can provide the answer in three words – Fox News Channel.  They rely on the Republican propaganda channel for most of their information.

Indeed, Politico recently revealed a memo from a Political Action Committee leader to the Republican Party that shows the Tea Party Express was actually conceived by the Republican Party with the aid of Fox News.  Why?  The memo states that the purpose was to raise money for the Political Action Committee and Republicans to aid Republican candidates.

I believe there was another, unstated issue.  By focusing anger on President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress over the bailout of automakers and the stimulus package, the Tea Party Express would deflect attention from those really responsible for our nation’s financial meltdown – former President George W. Bush and the Republican Party.

So Tea Party activists, how does it feel to find out that you’ve been used to help the very people who got us into the mess you so deplore?  Or are you so blinded by your racism against an African-American President and non-white immigrants that you simply don’t care? 

Palin/Bachmann in 2012!

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Several of the Faux News Channel pundits are openly promoting this pair as the Republican ticket for 2012.  Yes, for President and Vice-President of the United States.  Yes, our United States!  I’m not sure whether to laugh or run to the border out of fear.  Is it possible that the ancient Mayans had a vision of this ticket in 2012 and decided to end their calendar following the election?

The potential for an apocolyptic disaster couldn’t be more real.

Imagine the female equivalent of Laurel and Hardy in charge of the world’s only superpower.  Add Glenn Beck as Secretary of Defense for a Three Stooges-like triumveret.  Throw in a Congress dominated by the Tea Party for even more entertainment value.  At least we would no longer have an immigration problem.  It would more likely become an emigration problem.  Canada and Mexico would have to put up fences and station troops at their borders to keep U.S. citizens out.  It’s even possible that the governments in Iran and North Korea governments would look sane by comparison. 

 Think I’m exaggerating?  Consider the following: 

As a Vice-Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin famously cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as her credentials for foreign affairs.  In her notorious interview with Katie Couric, Palin was stumped by such hard-hitting questions as “What magazines and newspapers do you read?”  As Half-Governor of Alaska, she was cited in numerous ethics complaints.  Of course, there was also Wardrobe-Gate and the many believable accusations of outrageous behavior by the McCain campaign staff.

Her proposed running mate, Michelle Bachmann is even more of a nut case.  This is the Congresswoman who claimed that the U.S. Census was an Obama plot to place people in internment camps.  The same Congresswoman who famously called for an investigation of Congress because she believed many members are un-American.

Don’t get me wrong.  My feelings toward these two have nothing to do with the fact that they’re women.  My fears are based on their stupidity.  I doubt either of them could match wits with the average 5th grader when it comes to civics, geography, economics, history and finance.  What Palin and Bachmann are good at is stoking anger and hate.  They’ve mastered the snarky comments that resonate with racists and biggots.  They’re expert at fueling hatred for liberals and those who disagree with their political agenda.  And they’re especially good at generating money.

Of course, it may be tempting to vote for them for sheer entertainment value.  After all, lots of people are fascinated by train wrecks.  But do you really want the U.S. to be one of them? 

Putting the party back in the Grand Old Party.

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Who’s running the Republican National Committee?  A bunch of aging fraternity brothers and sorority sisters?

For more than a year, the Republican Party has hammered President Obama and the Democratic Congress for spending money in order to resucitate the moribund economy left by George W. Bush.  (Nevermind that, as a result of the administration’s efforts, the economy seems to be rebounding.)   

Now it has been revealed that the Republican National Committee spent $1,946 at West Hollywood’s Voyeur Club featuring topless dancers in bondage outfits.  The expenditure was listed as “meals.”  Rrrrrright!   

Documents filed with the Federal Election Commission also show that the RNC spent more than $80,000 on private jets and $13,000 for limousines in February alone, plus $9,000 for the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,600 for the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons, and $15,000 at the W Hotel in Washington.    

In addition, this Grand Old Party of the people reported that it spent $982 of donors’ money on “office supplies” from the Boyden Valley Winery last December and more than $700 worth of “office supplies” from Congressional Liquors on Capitol Hill.  And, in December, the RNC reimbursed its Deputy Finance Director, Debbie LeHardy, for $453 worth of “meals” from Henri Bendel, a Fifth Avenue New York boutique that bills itself as a “Girls’ Playground for trendsetting young women from around the world.”  

By now, you’re probably wondering how you can get a job with the RNC.  But wait!  It gets better!   

In the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression, the RNC spent more than $43,000 to hold its 2010 winter meeting at a posh resort on Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach, not including airfare.  Of course, Republicans used the occasion to give lip-service to their message of fiscal responsibility and to chastise Democrats for being “out of touch with average Americans” – all the while spending donor money on cocktails, spas and beach cabanas.  

Amazingly, these are the people who call themselves “conservatives.”   And they’re trying to convince voters to put them back in charge of the federal budget.  Let’s see.  How did that work out last time?  Oh, that’s right.  They’re the ones who brought us unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy, two unfunded wars, deregulation of commodities leading to inflated oil prices, and deregulation of financial institutions leading to the economic collapse of 2008. 

Yeah, let’s do that again.

The Clampetts meet Hee Haw.

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For the past year, the political movement known as the Tea Party has garnered lots of attention.  I’ve watched in wonder as the followers shouted down Senators and Congressional Representatives, and marched with signs calling Obama a Socialist, a Communist and even a Nazi.  I found it difficult to understand what these people were so angry about.  After all, past Republican administrations had done more to run up the national debt.  And it’s Republicans who have orchestrated a 30-year attack on the middle class while transferring wealth to the richest one percent of the population.

But after watching Sarah Palin ratchet up the anger at a Tea Party event with her hillbilly twang, it suddenly came to me.  The Tea Party isn’t a new movement at all.  It’s the audiences of “Hee Haw”,” Beverly Hillbillies” and Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Know You’re a Redneck When…“ all put together.   These people are rednecks and damn proud of it.

Led by Palin portraying a brunette version of Elly May Clampett, Joe the Plumber cast as Larry the Cable Guy and Glenn Beck as an erstwhile traveling preacher, the followers of the Tea Party seem to revile education and worship the past.  To them, all of America’s problems are the fault of eggheads and immigrants.  They see themselves as modern-day Paul Reveres out to save America from the new invaders.  And when they were credited with affecting the outcome of the Massachussett’s Senate race they became as happy as hillbillies who struck “black gold.” 

The only question is what’s next?  What if some of these people are actually elected to office?  It’s hard to imagine any redneck with a G.E.D. trying to regulate slick Wall Street bankers, let alone understand a Credit Default Swap.  I cringe at the idea of these people trying to re-interpret the Constitution.  And can you imagine any one of them having control of our nuclear weapons? 

Within weeks we’d likely be at war with Mexico and Canada and all of those nations with funny-sounding names they can’t find on a map. 

Let’s hope that, before the next elections roll around, the Tea Partiers return to their usual outlets for venting anger.  Like pro wrestling, demolition derbies and family bar fights.

The bullies of broadcasting.

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Most of us have been victimized by bullies at some point in our lives; usually on the school playground.  Even as adults, we also may be victimized by corporations that use their money, resources and power to force us to pay a fee or back down from a situation in which we feel wronged by the company.  There may be no better example of corporate bullying than the constant attacks on ACORN which were aired by Fox News Channel and its right-wing pundits. 

ACORN stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now; and for many years the organization stood up for homeless and the working poor to help them find jobs and housing.  As a minor part of its charter, the organization also helped register voters.  And since many of these new voters voted for Democrats, that incensed the Republican Party and its conservative zealots.

You may remember that, for several years, conservatives angrily accused ACORN of election fraud, and they were frustrated when no state, county or local investigation uncovered any wrongdoing.  Then, last year, the wingnuts found their opportunity.  A young freelance “journalist” approached Fox News Channel with a series of videos that purported to show ACORN employees advising a young woman posing as a “prostitute” and O’Keefe posing as her ”pimp” to lie about her profession and launder her earnings.  Fox News Channel pounced on the gift it had been presented.  For months Fox reveled in showing the James O’Keefe-produced videos.  Indeed, the network practically had it on a continuous loop that played every day for months. 

As a result of the publicity, several of the ACORN employees shown in the videos were fired.  In addition, Congress voted to suspend funding for the organization and ACORN collapsed.  Meanwhile O’Keefe was hailed as a hero for revealing the real “truth” about the organization.  Even when O’Keefe was later arrested for entering a Congresswoman’s office under false pretenses, allegedly to install an illegal wiretap, O’Keefe was still revered by Fox and its conservative audience.

I believe that Fox News Channel not only owes ACORN an apology and equal time for the retraction.  It probably should face charges for libel.  You see, investigators in New York and California, where the alleged incidents took place, have debunked the O’Keefe videos as a hatchet job done with some slick editing. 

Upon investigating the incident in Brooklyn, the District Attorney found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by ACORN.  And, as first reported on The Rachel Maddow Show, California Attorney General, Jerry Brown, concluded that O’Keefe edited his footage to make it appear that an ACORN employee was agreeing to assist the smuggling of prostitutes into the U.S. from Mexico.  The raw footage showed that the ACORN employee was actually trying to elicit more information from the pimp played by O’Keefe in order to help the police intercept the smuggling operation.  Indeed, the employee called the police shortly after O’Keefe left his office.

It seems that the only real scandal is that O’Keefe’s version of the story was so readily accepted and aired by Fox News Channel without corroboration or a thorough investigation.  But that’s what bullies do.

The selective memories of the “Leave It To Beaver” crowd.

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Attribute it to a loss of brain cells from using too many drugs in the 60s.  Or maybe it’s the result of the two martini lunches of the 70s.  Or perhaps the champagne parties celebrating the investment returns from the 80s and 90s.  But the people who look back so fondly at the America of the “Leave It To Beaver” and “Ozzie and Harriet” days in the 50s have it all wrong.

They remember an America of a thriving middle class with white picket fences, big cars with fins and lots of chrome, and hula hoops.  And they’re furious because they think that a “socialist” President is taking it all away from them.  They whine that they’re overtaxed, underemployed and our budget is overspent.  So they’re joining the Tea Party to take their America back … with guns if necessary.

One wonders how they missed the fact that the top tax rate in the 1950s was more than 90 percent as compared to a highest rate of 35 percent now.  How could they forget the oppression of African Americans who were segregated and denied the right to vote?  How could they forget the days prior to adequate birth control when young women who became pregnant weren’t allowed to finish their high school education?  How could they forget the talk of coat hangers and back-alley abortions prior to women gaining the right to a legal abortion?  How could they forget the Cold War which threatened to annihilate us at any moment?  And how could they possibly ignore the fact that it was so-called conservatives who de-regulated Wall Street and the oil markets? 

It was conservatives who led the U.S. into “globalization” and the race to merge thriving companies into mega-corporations who would export our jobs.  It was Reagan who led the fight against labor unions that negotiated decent wages and benefits.  It was Reagan who cut taxes for the wealthy while raising taxes on the middle class by eliminating tax write-offs for interest payments on cars, credit cards and other purchases.  And it was Reagan and George W. Bush who presided over the greatest deficit spending in U.S. history.

All of that is conveniently forgotten by the Palin-led and Fox-fueled Tea Party types who now blame all of our problems on a black President and Democratic Congress.  How ironic that the Tea Party labels as Socialists, Communists and Nazis the very people who are fighting for the middle class … who are trying to end 30 years of upward wealth distribution by creating new green jobs, cleaning up our environment and rebuilding our failing infrastructure. 

If the Tea Partiers succeed in throwing out the current government, they want to rewind the way-back clock to days when there were only white people on their block.  When there were no Americans of non-Christian faith (except the Jews, who were tolerated because, after all, Christ was a Jew).  When the only Latino they had to confront was Ricky Ricardo on “I Love Lucy”.  When they were free to discriminate against anyone; women, people of disabilities, the elderly, gays, the homeless … the list was almost endless. 

I lived through those days.  And as far as I’m concerned, the only people who could possibly long for a return to those days likely fit into three groups:  Bigots, racists and the memory impaired.