BartBlog

from breadwithcircus.com

Just a few thoughts as the Americans prepare to shed their status as rogue nation.

First, Barack Obama’s victory is encouraging, but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. There are still two and a half months left until Obama’s administration takes power, and the last days of the Bush administration may be particularly ugly. Bush, and others of similar ideology may realize that the next few weeks offer them their last opportunity to do what they’ve always meant to, whether it means launching an attack on Iran, repealing environmental laws, or simply continuing the looting of their country. I expect that they will take all of the lightbulbs and strip the copper wire out of the walls on their way out. With all the attention on the incoming President, we must pay close attention to the last actions of the Bush administration. They have seventy five days or so. I have no doubt that they are capable of at least one more massive betrayal of the rest of us.

Second, having elected Obama, the Americans have taken a huge step towards regaining their credibility as a democracy. If they want to show the world that they are truly back, it is important that they close the concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay, re-instate Habeas Corpus, begin closing out the war in Iraq, and begin taking action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, if they really want to get back in everyone’s good graces, they’ll
prosecute the war criminals who have spent the last eight years pillaging the planet. Let’s have a second Nuremburg Trials! They can try Rove, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Libby, Wolfowitz, Gonzales, etc. for crimes against humanity. They can put the proceedings on pay per view and raise millions. The world wants to see the neo-cons where they belong, in prison. If the Americans do this, they could ask the world for anything, maybe even a little bit of debt forgiveness. First though, Obama must convince transportation authorities to ban all flights to Paraguay.

Third, something that really bothered me throughout the campaign was the rhetoric of Sarah Palin. In particular, while touring small towns and racist backwaters, she’d talk about how it was good to be in the “Real America.” I would like to remind everyone that it is the people you saw at the Obama rallies, that mix of young and old, black and white, religious and not, that is the real America. The xenophobes that the McCain campaign pandered to are relics. I am encouraged to see that there are no longer enough of them to give the Republicans victory.

Finally, Obama, for all his charisma and oratory skills, is about to take over the helm of a sinking ship. The mess that he has to clean up is immense, and his hands may be so tied that he may not be able to keep his promises. We must remember to be realistic about just how far the US has fallen. I wouldn’t expect any miracles. At the end of the day, Obama is not a messiah, but a politician. He can’t help but let us down. I hope that everyone cuts him a little slack. I wish him luck, he’s going to need it.

It is good to know that there will soon be new management in Washington. The violent alcoholic, (the guy who ran over your dog with his Hummer) is moving out of the neighbourhood and a nice new family is moving in. Welcome back America. It will be good to once again have a reasonable neighbour.

I’ve waited 8 long years for this moment in history.  Congratulations to President-elect Obama and to everyone who worked hard to make that happen.  Bart, I sincerely believe that you and your site have made a positive difference over the past 8 years.  My red state flip pledge donation to you will be one check that I am more enthusiastic about writing than any that I have in a long time.

To everyone that reads this blog, it’s easy to breathe a sigh of relief and say it’s over, our team won!  But the truth is that our work has just begun.  A lot of us have worked very hard to get here and a rest is well-deserved.  But there is one real danger now: Complacency.

Even as I write this there are 4 hotly contested Senate seats that are still undecided, one of which I feel is extemely important, the Franken-Coleman contest in Minnesota.  It is important that is decided fairly, with every vote counted.  We have not won enough yet.  Republicans are like cockroaches.  We can set off the bomb, kill the big one and most others, but the next day there are always a few left.  If we don’t finish the job and mop up the stragglers, they will breed again.

There is a lot that needs to be done to fix the mess that this country is in, and we as citizens cannot just sit back and expect our new leaders to do everything without our help or our input.  Now that we got our team in there and that there are people in office that may actually listen to us, we must continue to make our voices heard.  We must continue to be active in politics, let our representatives know what issues are important to us, and not be afraid to speak up if we disagree with anything.  We can never sit back and let what happened in the past 8 years happen again.  If we do, we may not get another chance for change like the one we have now.

That’s to be expected but it’s still great news.

Let’s hope the news is good all night. 

I just want to make a quick post regarding my voting experience in West Bend, WI.  West Bend is Republican territory.  McCain-Palin lawn signs and bumper stickers outnumber Obama-Biden ones by about 10:1 in West Bend.  The weather here is gorgeous today, 72 degrees and sunny, which is remarkable for this time of the year in cheeseland.  A huge turnout was expected, so I strategically timed my appearance at the polls to beat the morning and evening rushes.  Wisconsin has same day registration and I needed to register before I could vote.

I arrived at the city hall/police department at 1:30.  Parking was more than adequate and entrances were clearly labeled.  I went to the registration area armed with my drivers license and a utility bill, expecting to wait in line.  But there was no wait!  When I expressed my amazement to the clerk, she mentioned that it was busy in the morning and that she expected things to pick up again after 4pm.  I was registered within minutes!

I then went to the ballot line where there was also no wait.  I was provided a paper ballot with ovals to darken with a marker for the selections.  There is no way that card can be misread by either a scanner or human eyes.  Markers and chairs were provided in every cubicle.  I made my selections and even took the time to carefully read through the referendums.  I was then instructed to deposit the ballot in what appeared to be an optical scanner ballot box.  I asked if the ballot had to be deposited in any particular way and the poll worker said it doesn’t matter.  I was back in my car at 1:40.  Mission accomplished!  Total time: less than 10 minutes!

I am sure we are going to hear about long lines and glitches in other parts of the state, especially Milwaukee and Madison.  I have voted before in Greendale, WI, Madison, WI, and Brooklyn, NY, but in GOP West Bend voting was quicker and easier that it ever has been for me.  I wish it could be like this everywhere.  Good luck everyone!

Please post your voting experience in the comments section.  Thanks.

from www.breadwithcircus.com#votefraud/

There are only a couple of days until the US Election, and I’ve become convinced of one thing: if the vote is fair, Barack Obama can not lose. Obama is way ahead both in polling and general public sentiment. Poll after poll in state after state shows him carrying enough of the electoral college to easily win Tuesday’s election. There’s just one thing. The election is not going to be fair. Republicans have stolen the last two elections and are actively working to steal this one too.

There have already been reports of voters (mostly in low-income or ethnic neighbourhoods) being “purged” from the voting list for no apparent reason. If you are one of these people, it means that you’ll show up at the polls, and the official will tell you that you’ve been removed from the voting list, and that in order to correct this, you should have sent paperwork away last week. This happened in Florida in 2000. If someone called John Smith committed a crime, and you are a John Smith in a predominantly black neighbourhood, you’ve been purged. Names with a certain ring about them were also taken off the list. If your name is Shaniqua, Jamal, or DeShawn, chances are good that there’s going to be an issue when you finally get to the front of that long line on Tuesday. I recommend going early if you can.

There have been reports of voting machines (why in the hell do you Americans still use those things?) “flipping votes.” It works sort of like this. I encourage people to watch Hacking Democracy to see how easy it is to tamper with the machines. (more…)

If you haven’t made up your mind yet then you are a moron. If you think McCain/Palin is the way to go then cast your vote for a trip back to the Dark Ages. If you have a brain then vote for Obama.

But don’t give me some bullshit that you are still “thinking” about it.

Really? Then you must take an hour to order in a restaurant. You must take forever to pick out clothes. You are a f-ing idiot.

Make up your tiny mind or kill yourself. I really don’t care which.

It’s been a long while since I posted a blog but recent events have inspired me to come forth. I would have voted for the McCain of 2000 had that same sane, relatively moderate McCain chosen an actual VP candidate, instead of a rabid-right whacko. Unfortunately, that McCain has “jumped the shark” and is long gone. He has sold his soul to the far-right, rabid fundies. No longer is he the “maverick” or even the honorable POW. He is a pathetic caricature of his old self.  McCain’s campaign and Sarah Palin’s simplistic, moronic view of the world are the epitome of what is wrong with politics in this country. The McCain campaign has not focused on what they can do to fix the clusterfuck wrought by 8 years of Bush rule. Instead, their entire argument is based on the fictitious bullshit they are spewing in the hopes that the ignorant among us will believe such bile. The pathetic attacks against Obama for his “relationship” with  Bill Ayers (who REPUBLICANS funded via the Annenberg Foundation) and Khaladi (who McCain funded via IRI) are so beneath contempt that any thinking American would dismiss the allegations in a heartbeat if not for the constant drumbeat of the corrupt, corporate media.

Barack Obama has shown that he is more than ready to lead this country. His calm, steady and straight-forward demeanor in the face of the economic crisis and in the face of rabid attacks from the McCain camp have shown he is ready to lead.

McCain has shown he is erratic, has POOR judgement (Palin? Really? What about Kay Bailey Hutchison, for instance? At least she is not a corrupt idiot) and is only interested in winning the election at all costs and doesn’t give a DAMN about the American people.

The republican party has crashed and burned. Why? Because they chose to pander to the far-right, fundie whackos. Palin may be governor of Alaska (700,00 people and god knows how many secessionists) but she has NO CLUE about the issues that affect the other 299,300,000 Americans. Do we really want this incurious, brain-dead barbie doll a heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the WORLD?

The “undecideds” piss me off. Really? Are you STILL trying to figure it out? How f-ing stupid are you? It’s simple: If you think Bush is great then vote for McCain (and then do the rest of us a favor and blow your tiny brains out). If you actually care about AMERICA then do your damn due diligence.

The fate of the entire world is in our hands. We cannot afford to turn it over to a senile old asshole and a brainless barbie-doll.

Barack Obama is INTELLIGENT, COMPASSIONATE and cares about AMERICA.

The last intelligent president created 22 million jobs and a budget SURPLUS. The current shit-for-brains president, which McCain LOVES, emulates and votes with 90% of the time, created massive deficits, killed over 3000 people because of his stupidity and sent, so far, over 4200 soldiers to their deaths for no good reason.

McCain has proven he only cares about McCain and power.

Who do YOU want to lead the country?

Click Here to watch Hacking Democracy, an excellent documentary film about how Republicans steal elections.

“It is enough that the people know there was an election.
The people who cast the votes decide nothing.
The people who count the votes decide everything.”
Joseph Stalin

I would like to file a class action suit against the Federal Govt. for the millions of Americans (mostly African Americans) who have had their unalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” denied them since the beginning of our nation. The settlement would be the guarantee of these rights by the Federal Govt. in the form of work programs that would pay a living wage with full health and retirement benefits. The jobs would be dedicated to the rebuilding of the nations infrastructure to accommodate mass transit, renewable sources of energy and recyclable waste. Americans who have been victims of the generational cycle of poverty and are incapable of working will be paid the same for attending life management courses that are “not” conditional to a faith or religious allegiance. This in order to help them transition from self destructive tendencies that poverty encourages to a place of community contributing self sufficiency. I believe that the effort to reduce the size of Govt. by certain political parties is less an effort to reduce federal spending as is the usual ruse than to eradicate the representation of the majority of American Citizens soon to join the ranks of the below middle class as a result of the latest financial crisis. I believe that the only way to repair the current and future damage this financial black hole has created by unregulated capitalism is to reinvigorate purchasing power not just to the middle class but also to the millions of Americans below the line of poverty. I’m convinced that focusing on the millions of Americans having been and are continuing to be denied rights that are spelled out in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution and easily understood by all is the way to raise awareness and thereby grassroots support for such an action. If ever there was a time to make things right by the great ideals of our country’s founding it is now when so much of capitalism’s illegal influence has proven destructive to the lives of so many Americans.   

Ha! This is funny…

Wanna know why? Because of this:

http://kdka.com/local/attack.McCain.Bloomfield.2.847628.html

But this may make you think differently:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-pariskilling,0,977683.story

And it gets dead serious when this shit starts happening:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/27/assasination-attempt-obama/

This is my first post on the bartblog, so bear with me.  I would like to comment on the dangers of playing the race card in a national political campaign.  It’s not part of a hand that belongs in the political game.  People die because of this shit.  I would also like to make a point about how complicit the US media is in this crazy sort of propaganda that would make Joseph Goebbels proud.

Considering the three stories linked above, how many of you have heard of Brandon McClelland’s brutal murder in TX?  His killer only did three years in prison for shooting someone in the head three times…partly because he also made up a story about black men trying to mug him.  The whore media made sure we heard about the McCain campaign worker from TX…until it was confirmed by the Pittsburgh cops that she is a lying sack of shit like most Republicans – then we hear nothing.  We heard about the skinheads in TN for a fleeting moment too, but where’s that now?  What if they were two 6’4” Negros plotting to assassinate McCain?  Does this trigger anyone’s bullshit meter?

I’d appreciate any and all comments on the blog.  All I ask is that you read the articles before you comment.

Greg in WI

POLIN’ FOR HER FUTURE AS LEADER OF GOP or

TV ‘CELEBRITY’ AFTER OBAMA IS ELECTED!

After all, being a celeb on TV pays a lot more that a gal can steal as a redneck guv.