The way we were, but somewhere else

Notes from the Randall County Democratic Convention:

• Sign in seemed to go fairly smoothly.
• Convention called to order by county chair Jim Otto. Jim, and many of the other usual suspects, have that same deer-in-the-headlights look about them mentioned by spacedark in his post below. How many people typically turn up to these things? A couple dozen? There were around 200 Saturday night.
• A few precincts challenged the allocation of their delegates and asked to redo their math. There was some confusion about how to handle this, but the situation was eventually resolved and resulted in mostly a lot of groaning and eye-rolling.
• Someone gave a nice speech. I forgot his name. I think he was a poli-sci professor from WTAMU.
• Alternates are elevated to delegate status. Two alternates from our precinct were no-shows, but two alternates were available to take their place. Again, more confusion as to the best way to handle this.
• We elect delegates to the state convention. blogarillo (Obama camp) runs against the precinct chair (Clinton camp). Vote is strictly down candidate lines, 8 Hillary to 4 Obama, so blogarillo is an alternate. This was expected.
• Delegate selection is over and the Nominations Committee goes to work on divining the at-large candidates.
• The convention is told there are three more speakers and then we vote on resolutions that will be taken to the state convention and the at-large candidates. The crowd gasps, "Three more speakers?" It's about 9:00 pm. There is a mass exodus of people.
• Another speaker takes the stage. Again, I have forgotten the name. He was running for office.
• Dr. Russell Long takes the stage. Another good speech.
• Roger Waun, congressional candidate for TX 13, talks to the crowd. Roger ran for office a couple of years ago, but this is the first time I've heard him speak. I really like his style.
• Paul Matney took over to guide voting on the resolutions to be taken to the state convention.
• At 11:00pm, somewhere in the middle of the resolutions, blogarillo throws in the towel and heads for home. Yes, democracy is messy. Yes, I should have stayed, but I needed dinner and bed and could take no more. I hear the convention lasted until about 1:00am.
  

I should have something profound to say about all this, but I don't, so there you have it.

Fake Public Opinion: Corrections

It has been brought to my attention that Mr. Rusty Hawkins, KVII’s resident “local resident” commentator, is not a professional “local resident” but an instructor at West Texas A & M University. I therefore stand corrected as to his occupational status. Whatever his occupational status (part-time) I will refrain from making any comment on how this may reflect upon the employment policies or academic standing of West Texas A & M University.

This is further evidence, however, of the lack of transparency on the part of KVII. While Adolph W. Hawkins (Adolph is Rusty’s given name, though why he avoids the use of Adolph, a name held in high esteem by many on the Right -- I speak of course of Adolph Coors – is not known) may not have been speaking on behalf of WT, the failure to disclose that he is an instructor in history and geography, and therefore not your average Adolph, leaves KVII and Mr. Hawkins open to questions about motives and credibility.

If KVII wishes to gain the informed opinion of a university instructor on political issues, why maintain the pretense of “local resident”? If Mr. Hawkins has no real insight into the issues he is commenting on, why maintain the pretense of university instructor?

As for little Adolph’s earlier history, I have been contacted by the director of the institute, Dr. Ignis Fatuus, and been informed that it is not the Institute for the Ideologically Insane but the Institute for the Ideologically Inert. I regret the error and stand corrected.

Dr. Fatuus also relates that his friend, a Beaumont media executive, recognized Dr. Berliner’s list and hoped John Kanelis was toeing the line since he moved up here. Dr. Fatuus also drew my attention to Dr. Berliner’s new article: “Die Elfenbein Kuppel Schwein Hund: Wenn übersetzt würden sie lernen, sie sind dumm in Deutsch” recently published in “Neugierig und keltische ein Affe Gesäß.” Be sure to pick up a copy soon.

the way we were

(Amarillo) It was about the point at which I was on the verge of abandoning and ignoring parliamentary procedure in favor of a violent screaming hissy fit directed directly at the face of another good Democrat whom I last faced Sunday morning at church—and before that over a beer…it was about that point, at which my wife tugged at my shirt sleeve, telling me that this particular battle was lost, and I’d just have to write about it later (“your weapon is your pen,” she said; I was so enraged that I didn’t tell her that she meant “pixels” or “keyboard” or something more tech)…this screaming and this tugging, that was the point that I realized that the Potter County convention had degenerated into exactly what intelligent disinterested observers would have predicted all along: complete chaos.
____________________________________________________________

In a speech about fundraising by Tim Hoffman (the previous Potter County Chair), the fact that the last county convention involved far fewer people, and that everyone who wanted to go to state as a delegate got to go, was cast in a soft-focus, look-at-how-far-we’ve-come, light. And there is much that is wonderful about these increased Democratic numbers. But these numbers tonight weren’t prepared for.
____________________________________________________________

Case in point: Abel Bosquez, current Potter County Chair—the cliché is “a deer caught in headlights”—called for the election of a permanent convention chair. This should have been the simplest item on the agenda. The position is ceremonial and requires nothing but an ability to follow parliamentary procedure.

It should go something like this…

(dream sequence)

VOICE FROM FLOOR: I nominate Abel Bosquez.

ANOTHER VOICE FROM FLOOR: I second the motion.

(pause)

ANOTHER VOICE FROM FLOOR: I motion that nominations be closed.

YET ANOTHER VOICE FROM FLOOR: I second the motion.

BOSQUEZ: All in favor say “aye.”

ALL: AYE!

BOSQUEZ: All in favor of electing Abel Bosquez permanent convention chair, say “aye”

ALL: AYE!

But back in the world we got stuck with, it went down more like this:

ABEL BOSQUEZ: We, um, need to, um, elect a permanent convention ch—

VOICE FROM FLOOR: I nominate Tim Hoffman!

ANOTHER VOICE FROM FLOOR: I nominate Fransetta Crow!

ANOTHER VOICE FROM FLOOR: I nominate Kerry Knorpp!

ABEL BOSQUEZ: Um, does anyone have a pen?

___________________________________________________________

I'm yelling at a friend: Two of our delegates have not shown up and we’ve already used the one alternate that we were able to elect. The Clinton delegation from our precinct is also missing a delegate. Two alternates who originally voted for Clinton have shown up; both were called on the phone and told to come to the convention by “someone”. One of these delegates has changed her preference prior to the convention—as is allowed—and has signed in as an Obama delegate. Both delegates have stated that they were called as alternates to replace a no-show, and were given yellow cards indicating that they were alternates, but were told they would be able to vote. It should have worked out fine. We’d take the newly-converted Obama delegate to replace our no-show; the Clinton supporters would take the other alternate. It wouldn’t affect much, but it would be fair and would follow the rules.

Our Delegation Chair—a Clinton partisan—is also on the Credentials Committee and is busy signing delegates in. She doesn’t show up on the floor until the proceedings start.

At several points, I am assured that alternates will be allowed to replace missing delegates.

____________________________________________________________

When the time came to vote for state delegates, our grouped precincts (we couldn’t elect a delegate on our own, so were grouped with another) split into a Clinton caucus and an Obama caucus to make our nominations. As we split, one of the Clinton delegates approached me to say that he was going to vote with us and that he was going to try to get his wife to vote with him. He indicated that he agreed that the delegate on whose behalf I’d had the screaming fit had been unfairly excluded. He said he thought our nominee was a really nice person.

I still don’t fully understand his reasons, but he was within his rights, and within the rules, to vote for whomever he chose. Some from the Clinton delegation accused him of being “unethical.” (UPDATE: ...and also our delegation. See comments.)(UPDATE 3: The delegate who switched and his wife both voted for Obama in the primary and then went to the precinct convention. They were the only Obama delegates in their precinct and were unable to seat a delegate to the county convention. The Clinton voters at the precinct convention did not have enough delegates who were able to go and so asked him and his wife to help them fill out their delegation. None of these Clinton delegates showed up to the County convention. He felt that he had no obligation to vote for the candidate's delegate whom he did not support as a favor to people who didn't themselves care enough to show up. His wife believed that she did have such an obligation and voted for the Clinton delegate.)
____________________________________________________________

The Clinton delegation won our precinct by one vote and their nominee will go to the state convention. As we walked the results to the front of the auditorium our Delegation Chair told me pointedly, “I don’t cheat.”

“I don’t either,” I said, and she harrumphed...(UPDATE 2: ...Our Delegation Chair clarifies in comments below that she wasn't accusing me or the Obama delegates as a whole of cheating)

...Later, she told me what her plan had been. She had calculated that she had enough Clinton delegates against our four measly Obama delegates to elect both a state delegate and an alternate. But she was going to be oh-so-nice and suggest that the Clinton supporters allow our nominee to go as an alternate. But her plan had been blown out of the water by the fact that some Clinton delegates no-showed and one—in her words—was a “turncoat”.

I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t want charity. I’d come to fight hard and win or lose within the rules.
____________________________________________________________
I'm yelling at a friend: when the time for the roll call of presidential preference comes, we are told that only those holding blue cards—delegates—will be allowed to state candidate preference. Several people object. I speak to various committee members, am assured that the situation is being taken care of. I tell our Delegation Chair that both Clinton and Obama delegations are missing one delegate and that we have an alternate for each. The Delegation Chair says it doesn’t matter. I say it does. She disappears.

When she returns, she tells me that a motion is going to be made to accept everyone who has been duly signed in and is needed as a delegate to vote. That seems fair, since both of our alternates have been signed in as delegates and are needed to replace no-shows.

However, when the motion is made, it is not indicated which group will be allowed to vote—blues, yellows, or both. I ask for clarification and am told that only blue cards will vote. That’s when I stand up and start yelling.
____________________________________________________________

I’ve learned something though this process, though. Around the time of the Nevada and South Carolina caucuses, I wrote that the Clinton campaign seemed to be actively swiftboating Obama in a manner more suited to Karl Rove. I stated that “if this was what it looked like” I wouldn’t be able to support Clinton in any election.

I made that statement rashly; it wasn’t what it looked like.

Since that time, I’ve seen firsthand how poorly many people serve their candidates. There are Obama supporters in this county for whom I wouldn’t vote for dogcatcher. But I’m not supporting them, I’m supporting Obama.

So I’m going to assume for now that independent Clinton supporters—and not Clinton herself—promoted fearmongering about Obama’s alleged religious views. I’m going to assume that independent, and overzealous, Clinton supporters—and not Clinton herself— bought robocalls that stressed the HUSSEIN in “Barack Hussein Obama”.

And if you’re a Democrat supporting Clinton, I hope you won’t judge us by the Obama supporter in a Potter County district who acted like she was in charge at her precinct convention, announced that she was a delegate to the county convention, and bullied people into dropping out of contention by misleading them into believing that, if they attending the county convention, they might have to go to state, and that the state convention would cost them $5000 to attend.

I hope—whoever you are and whomever you support—you’ll smudge your fingerprint across the Democratic side of the touchscreen in November, no matter who the eventual nominee may be. Because, as ugly as Potter County looks tonight, a McCain presidency would look far uglier.

spacedark

Keepin' us Safe from teh Terrists

What might be the latest weapon in the terrist arsenal? Nipple rings! LOL

The headline says it all: TSA Makes Woman Remove Nipple Rings With Pliers

The TSA agents were even kind enough to give her a pair of pliers, Who says Texans aren't the most generous, nicest folks on the planet?

Good thing they nipped this one!

Pic of the confiscated hardware HERE

-Prodigal Son

Republicans recently convene Council of Flint

In response to recent allegations of bad policy decisions and the Demotestant Reformation Republican Ecumenicals have called for a gathering of the minds to address problems within their party.

The council, henceforth to be known as the Council of Flint, will be led by none other than John “Flint” McCain. Here is a photo of a younger Flint McCain performing a bit of pre-waterboarding interrogation on an unwilling terrorist.


One on the council suggested that policies within the Holy Republican Church were responsible for the downfall of that Sacred institution. His suggestion was met with loud laughter by the council. The decision to actually reform their ideas was quickly tabled and replaced with a strategy of "guilt by association" This strategy, carried out with great aplomb by Archbishop Hannity (amongst others), and spread far and wide by throngs of Acolytes such as Celtic and Curious Texans would, the council decided, deflect for a time, charges that the Republican Church might still be lacking a clear view as to how they might extricate themselves from their current state of disarray.

At one point Flint McCain admitted he even had doubts until recently about some of Pope Bush's policies. But after the Pope gave McCain what some are calling a political "reach around" all policy concerns were quickly tabled by the council.

While it is as yet uncertain how the Council of Flint's policies will affect the grand scheme of things, it is certain that some unease has arisen within the Republican Church. Further reports from the Council's ongoing deliberations is forthcoming.

The Organization Formerly Known As Drinking Liberally Amarillo - March Meetup

Calling all progressives! The Organization Formerly Known As Drinking Liberally Amarillo will be meeting on Friday the 28th of March at:

The 806
2812 S.W. Sixth Ave
7:00 pm
Friday the 28th of March

Look for our mascot, Howard the Star-Spangled Donkey:



Come prepared to relax and talk politics with friends of a similar mindset in a
Low Stress Environment.

spacedark

McCain is a Serial Liar

UPDATE per Boston Globe:

"John McCain has officially broken the limits imposed by the presidential public financing system, according to spending reports filed last week by the campaign.

The senator from Arizona has spent $58.4 million on his Republican primary effort. Those who have committed to public financing can spend no more than $54 million on their primary bid."

Serious hypocrisy from the “straight-talking” Senator responsible for passing campaign finance reform.

Well, the media will snap out of it and point out this obvious contradiction . . . oh, who the f*ck am I kidding. . .
-PS


UNSTABLE, SERIAL LIAR.

That's what we need to hammer home. The AGR, CNN, and Fox "News" will be pushing McCain as the "M" word.

That should end right now, and we need to start hitting back against it.

Kevin Drum nails it:

"Let's recap. Foreign policy cred lets him get away with wild howlers on foreign policy. Fiscal integrity cred lets him get away with outlandishly irresponsible economic plans. Anti-lobbyist cred lets him get away with pandering to lobbyists. Campaign finance reform cred lets him get away with gaming the campaign finance system. Straight talking cred lets him get away with brutally slandering Mitt Romney in the closing days of the Republican primary. Maverick uprightness cred allows him to get away with begging for endorsements from extremist religious leaders like John Hagee. "Man of conviction" cred allows him to get away with transparent flip-flopping so egregious it would make any other politician a laughingstock. Anti-torture cred allows him to get away with supporting torture as long as only the CIA does it.

Remind me again: where does all this cred come from? And what window do Democrats go to to get the same treatment the press gives McCain?"

How long has it been since you wrote a LTE?

-Prodigal Son

Racist Bastards

Beware of the new chain email/talking point/barely covered racism about Obama. What is it?

If Obama does not win, blacks will riot. SERIOUSLY! (Scroll down)

Unf*ckin believable! Watch for this meme to surface in the AGR

-Prodigal Son

Fake Public Opinion

Rusty Hawkins, of Amarillo Globe-News and 3I Newsletter¹ fame, was once again on KVII, appearing as a “local resident” and pontificating on the Democrat’s apparent “unwillingness” to work their own primary election. That the last minute shortage of precinct judges and clerks was due to illness and family problems seemed to have escaped the attention span of the sharp-eyed Hawkins, and little effort was made by KVII to actually clarify or follow up on this earth-shaking story.

This makes at least the second time bon savant Hawkins has shown up on the local ABC affiliate, a great change of fortune since his taking leave of the Limbaugh loony ranch. No longer just your average man on the street or random patron in your friendly neighborhood sandwich shop, he has been promoted to professional “local resident”, the station’s go-to man for modern, 21st century chaw drooling down your chin political commentary.

Curious as to how Hawkins was picked out of the tens of thousands of eligible right-wingers to choose from, KVII was contacted but did not respond to inquiries. This writer therefore referred to Dr. Berliner, who has written extensively on political affairs and the media, and whose monograph “Geschlechtsverkehr Dummkopf Schweinhund Konservativen” was recently published in “Philosophie in Wirklich Schlechtem Deutsch”.

Dr. Berliner was kind enough to drive to Hokumberg near Gelb Stadt to a nondescript sandwich shop for an interview. Surrounded by old men drinking ersatz coffee, Dr. Berliner contended that many American media "man on the street" interviews, while seemingly chosen at random to reflect the views of the everyday citizen, were actually selected to reflect the political agenda of the (conservative) media.

Dr. Berliner speculated that Amarillo's biased media culture has led its few outlets to share resources that reflect their limited views. He could therefore imagine KVII needing someone to appear for a bit about the economic stimulus package, to praise free markets and condemn taxes, and that their media ally the Amarillo Globe-News happily obliged with an American Enterprise Institute macaw straight from their files.

For Dr. Berliner, though this process amounts to a complete sham, it does solve several problems faced by the media. It puts an end to shooting tedious hours of tape just to get the few seconds of opinion they may actually need. It makes it easier for the media to do its job, which is to manufacture opinion, not ascertain it. And the highly problematic difficulties of interviewing right-wing conservatives are extremely reduced.

As an example of the last issue Dr. Berliner faxed one Texas news director's advisory to his reporters:

Interview subject
· Does not bang head with fist to form understandable sentences and paragraphs
· Does not wear Nazi or Klan uniform or paraphernalia
· Does not use racial epithets or inflammatory language every fourth word on camera
· Does not speak highly of Hitler or Grand Dragon
· Does not play with or randomly shoot gun(s) on camera (exceptions: Charlton Heston; John Wayne LaPierre)
· Does not drool or foam at the mouth or other orifices
· Does not roll eyes up into forehead to “retrieve” a thought and begin repeating themselves after fifteen seconds
· Does not mutter to themselves or to imaginary friends or enemies
· Does not pick nose, suck on remaining teeth, or probe ears with fingers or other objects while on camera
· Does not gesticulate with hands and arms wildly
· Does not have hands and arms wandering about aimlessly by themselves and is suddenly surprised by them
· Does not attack and eat camera crew (think insurance costs people!)
· Does not explode mentally or physically on camera
· Does not denigrate people of other religious faiths (exception: open season on Muslims as CEO thinks they are all terrorists)

According to Dr. Berliner this is necessarily a short list, and naturally its provisions would tend to narrow the field of conservative right-wingers available for comment. This could very well explain why our own media would resort to a local resident that can be relied upon, most days, to be more or less stable on camera.

¹Institute for the Ideologically Insane. The newsletter, in multi-colored crayon, is published every other month, and is available to the public and former guests of the institute by prescription.

blast from the past: li'l dwight huber wins the spelling bee

Today, 23 March 2008, the Amarillo Globe-Republican published this story about Anjali Raghuram of Potter County, who won the regional spelling bee Saturday at WTAMU.

On 4 April 1955, the Amarillo Daily Dixiecrat (as it was then called) published this story about li'l Dwight Huber, who won the Potter County Junior Spelling Bee:


Of the Huber story, the Panhandle Truth Squad (then a "beatnik rag" with a circulation of five, the fifth carbon barely readable) said, "Daddy-O, the greatest minds of our generation are being destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, and the Dixiecrat's publishing small-town gossip about spelling bees? If they keep this up those cats are gonna end up being bought out by some Georgia corporation, though they'd probably LIKE that, let them cozy up even closer to Strom Thurmond. As for Huber, he'll probably wind destroying the minds of our generation teaching English at some junior college."

spacedark

haircut 2008

So, yesterday, I'm getting my hair cut, and the stylist my wife, son and I go to is making small talk, asking about our spring break excursion to the Midwest, how Nebraska was, if we enjoyed visiting with my relatives, that sort of thing.

And then she asks if I have voted.

It's kind of a strange question, and I don't really want to answer it. The old Amarillo tradition of speaking very softly when criticizing George Bush is fading, I've noticed of late; nevertheless, I don't want to get into politics with someone holding shears near my head. She could put some serious hurt on my look.

I noncommittally say I did vote in the primary.

Isn't it scary who could get in?, she asks.

It is, but I'm not sure we're talking about the same person so I just grunt. She looks at me in the mirror. Don't tell me you're for that guy, um, his name starts with an O...

I say, yeah, actually, I voted for Obama in the primary. She starts to tell me that there's something wrong with him. She can't seem to say what it is, exactly. Well, he wasn't born in the U.S., she finally points out.

Actually, he was born in Honolulu. And you have to be a natural-born citizen to run for President.

Well, he keeps moving away.

Yeah, when he was six. As an adult, he's lived in New York, Massachusetts, and mostly Chicago.

I think we need a woman, she says. I shrug and say I'll vote for Hillary if she gets the Democratic nomination. Then I move the focus to McCain; at least she agrees that he is also scary.

But here is the problem: this is not a stupid person. This is just a politically apathetic person who didn't listen to most of high school civics and has forgotten what she did learn. This is just a person who gets most of her political information from the batcrap crazy Wolflin housewives and gay boys whose hair she cuts. But that means that, politically, she's also an average American. The average American didn't even listen to the speech most of us here loved so much. The average American doesn't even know there was a speech.

I truly believe that the speech was a game-changer in many ways. I think it can only be negatively criticized from a racist position and I believe the drooling of our newest trolls helps to validate that belief.

But how does anyone or anything change the game when the average American doesn't understand that the voting in Texas is over until November, and makes decisions based on vague, half-heard, and largely untrue gossip? I know it's the old whattsamatterwithKansas problem. But, still, how?

spacedark

Dishing and Dissing Makes Life Nasty, Not Better

I have read the entire thread from Blogarillo's recent post, but rather than commenting on it, I wanted to introduce some new ideas regarding Senator Obama and Rev. Wright.

My basic concern is that there is a tendency abroad in the land to ask much more of Sen. Obama than most of us ask of ourselves every day. We have all heard deplorable things said by people we meet, some of them by those we are close to and admire. For the most part, most of us don't do anything about those remarks, certainly not in person, for several reasons. First, we want to belong to our community and prefer to ignore such things rather than argue about them. Second, we know our friends first for the things we like in them, and we want to build on those relationships rather than tear them down. Third, choosing a community, especially a church community is no small matter to most people. For every person I've ever met who voluntarily left their church, I know dozens who have sat faithfully in the pews and took in what they liked about the church, all while disagreeing fundamentally with the views coming from the pulpit. It seems easy and more than a little self-righteous to imagine that one would leave over a conflict one has never had to face. If we listen, Obama teaches us that leadership requires listening to criticism more than dishing it out.

I recall quite vividly the very first time I met my wife's family, who live in rural Kentucky. I found them to be very warm, welcoming, open, direct and generous. They were also ignorant, small-minded and bigoted. In the course of a weekend, I probably heard the N-word used more than I had in my whole life up to then. I heard slanders of various ethnic groups. I was expected to sit and eat with the men, while the women served us, and then ate after us. This was all very difficult for me. It was hard to figure out how this family produced a woman like my wife. Of course, I was in love, and I was not going to abandon her because of them. But my faith in her continues to be justified. She has never acted like that; quite the opposite, she is generous even when angry. And over time, as I have spent more time with her family, I have seen them change. There hasn't been a gender-discrminating meal there in at least 20 years. I have not heard racial epithets at all in recent visits. A few months ago, they even asked me about my preference for president, and did not exhibit any concern when I said that I was supporting Barack Obama. They were genuinely interested and open to considering him. They didn't change because of me. Over time, we have had some conversations about such things, but I never made it a big issue. I think they changed because their social environment changed (and frankly, because some of the older family members passed away).

It is certainly fair to ask how Sen. Obama himself behaved and how he behaves today. How does he treat other people? Does he act or vote in a way that suggests intolerance or misunderstanding? I have spent a lot of time researching his record, because I believe in assessing politicians as I might race horses, according to past performance. I don't see any evidence in the public record of insensitivity or intolerance. If I did, I would stand up and say so. Quite the contrary, I see someone who is committed to the ideals he espouses and who lives them daily. One of the central ideas of his campaign is that anyone can slice and dice someone else's words to give the impression that they are not what they seem, but that this is the kind of dishonest politics most people are tired of. The notion that Obama just gives speeches, but doesn't put those into practice is inconsistent with the evidence.

Guilt by association is a dangerous, multi-edged sword. It is we, as individuals, who need to look in the mirror and honestly ask if we have taken, or even if we should always take every opportunity to argue with others, and break from others who occasionally say despicable things. Many national politicians are so driven to promote themselves that they would willingly, and without much reflection, throw virtually anyone under the bus who got in their way, including their minister, their grandmother or their spouse. Many people give Hillary Clinton credit for having stayed with her husband despite his misbehavior that embarrassed and humiliated her. Those same people should now give Barack Obama the same credit for acting with class and humanity, and for not behaving in the same way that his mentor sometimes did. Anything less appears to me supremely hypocritical.

In sum, the old rule applies. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. If tribal instinct is more powerful than generosity of spirit, then clearly a democratic, multiethnic nation of 300 million has no chance. The ravings of a deluded minority not withstanding, I choose to be an optimist.

Me Bizarro Superman

Me like watching Bizarro Fox News:

We Question War...Again and Again and Again...

...on the 5th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Photos of the Question War Amarillo peace vigil and march, March 19, 2008, courtesy of photographer Dale Livingston.

Rest peacefully Arthur C. Clarke

1917-2008

Some thoughts from Sir Arthur on his 90th Birthday.



His book, "City and the Stars", was the first sci-fi book I ever read. Dad had belonged to a science fiction book club in the 50's and I found sacks of them in the attic. Heinlein, Asimov, Zelazny, Simak . . . robots, aliens, far away planets . . . much better than anything I had read before.

Clarke's books always seemed . . . hopeful. In the above youtube, one of his wishes was that he would find evidence of extra terrestrial life.

Tell 'em hey for us Arthur.

-Prodigal Son

"A more perfect union..."

If you're anything like me, you're so accustomed to King Decider and his marble-mouthed bullshit that you've forgotten what a President is supposed to sound like. If you need your memory refreshed, watch this speech from Sen. Barack Obama:

Joe Lieberman go to hell

(What? No Tongue?)


Turncoat Joe has announced that he is supporting McCain and that he will be another Zell Miller for the 2008 Rethug convention in Larry Craig's hometown. Home of the Minneapolis "Wide Stance".

Seriously, how do we brand these guys as nuts? A viral chain email? A giant dart board at OUR convention?

What method can we steal from the right to drive traitor Joe to into obscurity?

-Prodigal Son

Economics 201

Step one: Jim Cramer is full of sh*t. Stop listening.



British foreign currency speculator Joseph Lewis lost $800 million on Bear Stearns.

BTW, wasn't Bushies economics presser today? Did anyone watch? That smirk, and nod. He actually thinks people take him at his word still. He and his whole crew are serial liars . . . no one's buying in anymore.

-Prodigal Son

at the National World War I Monument,KC

War still sucks.

spacedark

it was one of those weeks

Already far north of Amarillo, John Q Kanelis, an explorer and natural scientist of some renown, felt a cold and icy breeze upon his cheeks, which braced his nerves and filled him with delight. Few understood this feeling. This breeze, which had traveled from the regions towards which Kanelis was advancing, gave him a foretaste of those icy climes as it played thus upon his cheeks, and caused him to realize that he had forgotten to wear his trousers. As the intrepid Kanelis pushed forward toward unexplored regions, his ship was nearly surrounded by mist and ice. He had to force back his cowardly crew, who, hating snow, mutinously desired to return home. Particularly bad were the treasonous Dudley and Henry; the Ghost, on the other hand, remained steadfast. After the mist cleared, however, Kanelis perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by pit bulls. On it was a wretched man. His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering.

As time passed and the man was restored to health, Kanelis became strangely attracted to this divine wanderer. Kanelis was the only one fit to appreciate the extraordinary merits of this wonderful man. Sometimes Kanelis endeavored to discover what quality it is which the man possessed that elevated him so immeasurably above any other person he ever knew. He believe it to be an intuitive discernment, a quick but never-failing power of judgment, a penetration into the causes of things.

At length, the man introduced himself as Thomas Beaver, and began to describe his upbringing and education. “Once,” he told Kanelis, “I chanced to find a volume of the works of one Dr. Ralph R. Erdmann. I opened it with apathy; the theory which he attempts to demonstrate and the wonderful facts which he relates soon changed this feeling into enthusiasm. I communicated my discovery to my father, who looked carelessly at the title page of my book and said, 'Ah! Erdmann! My dear Thomas, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash.'”

But Beaver would not be deterred. One of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted his attention was the structure of the human frame. Whence, he often asked himself, did the principle of life proceed? To examine the causes of life, he believed, he must first have recourse to death. He must observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body. Darkness had no effect upon his fancy, and a churchyard was to him merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which had become food for the worm. Now he was led to examine the cause and progress of this decay and forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel-houses.

Finally, on a dreary night, Beaver beheld the accomplishment of his toils. The candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, he saw the opening of the dull yellow eye of the creature he had assembled; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. “It's alive!” Beaver exulted. And the creature lurched to his feet, took two steps, and introduced itself as the Texas Democratic caucus system. “It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being; all the events of that period appear confused and indistinct,” the creature murmured. “No one can remember that horror,” Kanelis interjected, interrupting Beaver’s story, and leaping to his feet in the arctic wasteland. “The creature must be destroyed!”

Beaver sighed, and closed his eyes, his energy nearly spent. “Oh! If I die, swear to me, Kanelis, that the demon shall not escape, that you will seek him and satisfy my vengeance. Swear that the caucus shall not live -- swear that he shall not survive to add to the list of his dark crimes. He is eloquent and persuasive, but trust him not. The soul of the caucus is as hellish as his form, full of treachery and malice. Hear him not; call on the names of all of those that been been nominated by our fiendlike system and yet lived to be destroyed by even greater evil; think of Dukakis, Mondale, Gore, and of the wretched Kerry, and thrust your sword into his heart.

It was one of those weeks.

spacedark

here we go again

Shades of Dr. Ralph Erdmann.

spacedark

Wake Up America!

Stuff that matters:

401(k)s tapped to save homes

Aging Americans unsure they can afford to retire: survey

Oil hits record of $111 on dollar slump

Fallon's Exit Provokes Concern on Path of Bush's Iran Policy

Carlyle Fund's Assets Seized

Gird your loins!

UPDATED:

Teetering Bear Stearns gets bailout from Federal Reserve, JPMorgan Chase

futurepost: March 12, 2084

I have an old Bible on display in my entertainment compound, and a Methodist Hymnal. Frequently, a guest (or a visting avatar) will ask me what they are. I’ll start to explain that the Bible was the Christian sacred text and that Methodists were…but then the guest will interrupt. No, no, he or she will say, I remember what Methodists and Christians were from my online history class. But what is this device the Bible is contained in? And the similar device that stores the hymnal?

So we at least remember Christianity, although we’ve completely forgotten books.

But, though most of us vaguely know, or think we know, what it was, Christianity has long vanished from the Earth. I’ve read in ancient history texts that, as long as 130 years ago in the 1950s, the monk Thomas Merton and the social historian I.F. Stone believed that Americans were practical atheists, living only nominally as Christians. It must have been hard to believe back then, when—against a threat of “Godless” Communism—the old Congress was adding the words “under God” to their Pledge of Allegiance, and with President Eisenhower creating something called a National Prayer Breakfast. But it was probably true, and it was probably equally true when—against a threat of “Islamist” terrorists— millennial Americans shouted Christ from every political event.

But it wasn’t Communism, nor Islam, nor Michael Newdow who brought down Christianity. Christianity was abolished from within. It finally officially disappeared in 2037 after its most powerful CEO called for the faith to be renamed Osteenism during a sermon in Prosperity Church of Irving, Texas. Most people had no problem with this—a dirty, long-haired man with bare feet, healing the sick for free, hardly seemed relevant to their lives. The kicker came when Prosperity Gospel preachers started reminding their congregations that the Christian Bible preached that “the love of money is the root of all evil”. Congregations called for heads. In America, the few who still insisted on calling themselves Christians had their assets frozen, and it didn’t take them long to convert to Osteenism. The offending verse was replaced by the New Golden Rule: Thou shalt ever and always do all thou wilt to make the rich richer.


Some of us wondered at the time whether there should be some morality not based entirely on money. We wondered it especially when we were complaining about the high cost of oxygen, but we didn’t say it out loud, and we don’t believe it anymore. Because if you’re a good person, God will make you rich enough to afford oxygen, and the really rich say that money is the root of all morality.

For awhile, there were a few holdouts in Europe—the Vatican, for example. But the international pressure was intense. The whole world was becoming Prosperous. Few had noticed it at the time, for example, but large numbers of people in former Soviet-bloc countries had joined Prosperity Gospel-believing churches like Hillsong out of Australia during the 1990s.

The Vatican first attempted to respond to the international pressure by naming Osteen a saint, but that wasn’t sufficient and after the Catholic Church was taken over by Exxon in a hostile bid, it became a moot point. Osteenism it was, and Osteenism it would be now be, forever and ever, amen.

spacedark 2084

This Week At the RNC

Republicans love to caste Democrats as Socialists. To their fevered minds Democrats are lazy worthless bunglings who would gladly grow fat at the teat of government entitlements draining away at the great provider Republicans.

They've now found a way to tie their propaganda in with their globalization efforts. In this article, Democrats are somehow supporting Hugo Chavez because they are refusing to allow a Republican rider to the already existant Columbian Free Trade Agreement to glide through.

Read carefully this clever piece of propaganda. No where in the article will you find mention of the Columbian Free Trade Bill that passed through Congress last year. Never mind that the new Republican bill actually provides incentives to American businesses that build in Columbia. That's right, their bill actually encourages American companies to move jobs out of our country and into Columbia. No this slick document is clearly meant to deflect any criticism of Republican globalization efforts by labeling any possible opponents as supporters of Socialism and Hugo Chavez. In fact, to read this clever tome you might think that Democrats are holding secret meetings with Hugo Chavez plotting the overthrow of the Columbian government.

The reality is, of course, that the Columbian Free Trade Agreement, and Venezualan leader Hugo Chavez have no relationship with one another at all. Don't be surprised to see upcoming articles in your local paper about how Democrats are not only against free trade, but also love Hugo Chavez.

Is it really that difficult to not screw someone who isn't your wife?

Oh, wait, I'm married, let me weigh in on this one: It's really easy to not screw someone who isn't your wife. In fact, it takes no effort whatsoever to not screw someone who isn't your wife.

Thanks, Guv. I hope that vagina was worth all the damage. Maybe some day all you politicians will figure out you don't get to make the same mistakes as the rest of us.

for the record...

Here is a negative Panhandle Truth Squad post about Barack Obama.

Here is a negative Panhandle Truth Squad post about Hillary Clinton.

Although most of us currently support Obama, I think all of the regulars here have indicated that they intend at this time to vote for the eventual Democratic nominee.

But we're not, for the most part, party-line type folks, and some of us are better at snark and satire than we are at being serious.

All I have to say is, McCain better piss off the fundies, but bad, or we're all doomed.

spacedark

some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness spilled upon them

Grits for Breakfast has an excellent review of a new documentary about Tulia screened at South by Southwest.

In his review, Scott Henson says

Attorney Jeff Blackburn similarly came off in the show as both a legal hero and quite a character, which if you know him is a pretty accurate portrayal. Jeff's a real piece of work, and it shows.

Jeff Blackburn once spilled beer on me.

We were eating at Los Insurgentes (then by Sunset Center, now Celia's on Sixth) with a mutual friend several years ago. The conversation became animated and Jeff spilled his beer on me.

I saw him at Market Street yesterday. I don't think he remembered me or spilling his beer.

But Scott's right; he's a good guy and quite a character.

spacedark

A goddamn waste of my powder

In the comments section of “Warthogs Attack Barack Obama” notorious warthog celtictexan posted the following:

If Malcolm X's discovery toward the end of his life, that some whites might live beside him as brothers in Islam, seemed to offer some hope of eventual reconciliation, that hope appeared in a distant future, in a far-off land. In the meantime, I looked to see where the people would come from who were willing to work toward this future (Islam) and populate this new world.(A muslim world in the US)

Source: Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama, p. 80 Aug 1, 1996

His own words.
celtictexan 03.03.08 - 6:59 pm

If posted verbatim as celtictexan claims in “His own words”, this makes celtictexan a liar, as what Barack Obama wrote is as follows:

“If Malcolm X's discovery toward the end of his life, that some whites might live beside him as brothers in Islam, seemed to offer some hope of eventual reconciliation, that hope appeared in a distant future, in a far-off land. In the meantime, I looked to see where the people would come from who were willing to work toward this future and populate this new world.”

There are no parenthetical remarks in the original. If someone intended to "clarify" or as is obvious, add their own commentary, brackets should have been used (not to mention “Muslim” would have been capitalized), making it clear whoever altered the quotation is an uneducated buttocks in addition to being a liar.

A plain reading of Obama’s quote indicates only that Malcolm X (having seen the example of whites and blacks together in Mecca and overcoming his own racism) could imagine the reconciliation of whites and blacks in America at some future time. It is not evident that this reconciliation must be under Islam.

While CT may be an uneducated buttocks and liar, I will allow that he is skilled at taking quotations out of context, misreading quotations, and interpreting them through the lens of his narrow-minded, racist, bigoted prejudices. I must also allow from past experience that he is completely impervious to rational argument; that is, there is no evidence, fact or logic capable of persuading him to alter his asinine views.

It is possible for people to be wrong. But to persist in being wrong, to remain obstinately, resolutely, pigheadedly wrong in the face of overwhelmingly contrary evidence, to ignore such evidence or perversely warp it to fit your grotesque beliefs, to constantly bring back ever more convoluted variants of disproved views as “new” arguments, simply demonstrates that celtictexan is little more than a remarkably stupid, astoundingly muttonheaded, extraordinarily dimwitted, unfathomably numbnutted, spectacularly nincompoopered, detestably revolting bag of churning pig manure.

The only thing that may ever get through his incredibly thick skull to his fly speck brain is an ACME anvil dropped off a ten story building, and then it may only sound as a distant, muffled “ka-boink” as it bounces off.

I therefore have no politically correct reservations about calling a racist bigoted dipshit a racist bigoted dipshit. Celtictexan is a festering pustule on an inflamed abscess on a malignant polyp on the prolapsed rectum of right-wing ignorance, and will always be a festering pustule on an inflamed abscess on a malignant polyp on the prolapsed rectum of right-wing ignorance.

Now, if you know what’s good for you celtictexan, you’ll go back to fellatiling your poodle or I shall begin to taunt you with insults.

it was one of those weeks1

MEANWHILE, the noted cryptozoologist J.M. Beilue, having just returned from an expedition to the farthest, darkest reaches of Lowest Georgia Street in search of two-headed cats and Abominable Snowmen, found on Tuesday an even more exotic species in La Ciudad Yellow: people voting in the Democratic primary. He couldn’t yet bring himself to think of them as actual Democrats. Maybe they were mischief-making dittoheads, or maybe they were just doing it for “the guilty pleasure of going to the other side”—the electoral equivalent of Baptist wives who role-play dominatrixes in the privacy of their bedrooms. Most of all, he thought of these voters as Obamanable Snowman², a “harmonic convergence,” the frogs who fell from the sky in Nostradamus. Like Democrats in the Panhandle, those frogs just didn’t belong in the sky. And yet there they were. If you read it in Nostradamus, you could believe it. Nostradamus was the Amarillo Globe-Republican Newsroom Ghost of his day.

On Wednesday, students across La Ciudad Yellow took the English-Language Arts TAKS under a new threat: the Texas Education Association had realized that many students had them new-fangled camera phones. This was a grave threat to the integrity of the TAKS as students could takes pictures of their test and send them to…um…someone. Never mind that all students in Texas take the test on the same day; somehow the Texas Education Association knew that it would be a disaster if pictures of the test got out. Students were warned that the entire test—everywhere in Texas—would be shut down if even one ringtone rang, and they would all have to come back in the summer to take it. At the editorial desk of the Amarillo Globe-Republican, John Q. Kanelis looked smug. I told you those phones were a menace, he said to the Ghost, who declined to give his opinion.

Damnation! thundered Lester Simpson on Thursday. The newsguy, George, had scooped him again. George had once again broken new journalistic ground by printing a story about what to do if you were infected with a computer virus. Lester had wanted to print a story about computer problems ever since the Amarillo Globe-Republican computers were brought down by the Y2K Bug, late in 2005. We need something equally innovative!, he shouted at the Ghost. Maybe an advice column written by a woman with big hair.

It was one of those weeks.

spacedark

¹For some of our slower readers, this piece is satire and is largely made up. Except for the quotated material. That, unfortunately, is real. Also, the T.E.A. conspiracy theory about cell phones. That’s real, too.

²Though we wish we could take credit for it, the term “Obamanable Snowman” was coined by Reyne Telles’s niece. Reyne is an Austin friend of PTS.

Ten Ways Obama Screwed Up

I think that the progressive nailed it. It will be interesting how Obama learns from and reacts to this week.

From the "Progressive"

1. NAFTA Flap
When Obama’s leading economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, met with a Canadian official and allegedly told him that Obama’s stated views on NAFTA during the campaign amounted to “political posturing,” this was a huge blunder. It undercut Obama’s attack on Clinton for NAFTA, where she was vulnerable, especially in Ohio. It raised serious issues about Obama’s credibility with the American public, which is just getting to know him. (Especially since Obama first denied that the comment was ever made.) And the NAFTA flap called into question his leadership abilities. As I’ve been saying for days, and as Paul Begala said Tuesday night on CNN, as soon as this story surfaced, Obama should have said that Goolsbee was not speaking for the campaign and should have given Goolsbee the heave-ho. Instead, the Goolsbee comment keeps stinging him.

2. Rezko
It certainly didn’t help the Obama campaign that Tony Rezko’s trial began on Monday. The Rezko story has been lying around like a pulled hand grenade next to Obama’s headquarters for months now. Rezko is the Chicago wheeler-dealer who stands accused of money laundering and extorting bribes. He’s a longtime friend, funder, and supporter of Obama’s. And he helped Obama buy his house in Chicago. The Rezko ties, which the media finally began digging into, cast a shadow not only on Obama’s judgment but on his claim to want to clean up government.

3. A Blunder in the Last Debate
The Clinton camp wisely picked up on an Obama error in the Cleveland debate. Clinton had criticized him for never holding an oversight hearing on NATO’s role in Pakistan, even though he chairs a subcommittee on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that deals with NATO. All Obama could say to that was, “I became chairman of this committee at the beginning of this campaign, at the beginning of 2007. So it is true that we haven’t had oversight hearings on Afghanistan.” He all but admitted he shirked his duties to run for President! Clinton used this footage of Obama’s answer in an effective ad against him in the final week.

4. The Red Phone Ad
Negative advertising often works. That’s why we see it so much. And the “red phone” ad, I’m betting, did a lot to sow doubts in voters’ minds. Clinton almost split the male vote in Ohio and Texas, which is a huge switch for her. This ad helped position her as the “tough” candidate.

5. No Effective Counterpunch to Clinton’s “Fighter” Image
In the last debate, and in her speeches in the final week, Clinton stressed that she was a fighter not only for herself but for people in need. This resonated with the public, who admire her if for no other reason than she’s taken a lot of hits but keeps coming out of her corner with her head high. And this image contrasts well with Obama in two ways: First, it suggests that he’s all talk and no action. And second, it hints that his cool, low-key demeanor may not be steely enough either to take on McCain or to represent the country.

6. A Weak Economic Message
With the economy sliding deeper and deeper downward, Obama needs to strengthen his economic message. Throughout the campaign, Clinton has been beating him on the urgent issue of home foreclosures (calling for a moratorium, and a freeze on interest rates). He’s been slow to respond.

7. Too much time in Ohio
In the two weeks after the Wisconsin primary, Obama spent an inordinate amount of time in Ohio when all he needed to do, as Bill Clinton himself recognized, was to win either Texas or Ohio. As it became clearer that Ohio was going to be the tougher nut, Obama should have concentrated more of his time in Texas.

8. An Improvident Trip to Rhode Island
For some ridiculous reason, Obama went to Rhode Island on Saturday to campaign. By all accounts, he was always going to lose Rhode Island. And he needed that day—just three days before the primaries—to round up more Texas voters.

9. Failure to Bring Bill Richardson and John Edwards on Board
On Sunday on “Face the Nation,” Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico was one breath away from endorsing Barack Obama. Had Obama grabbed his endorsement (even in exchange for serious V.P. consideration, which Richardson was salivating about), Richardson could have done Obama a world of good with Latino voters in Texas. Similarly, Obama has been unable to seal the deal with John Edwards, who seemed such a natural fit with Obama during the debates. Obama needed to get Edwards’s endorsement for help among working class white voters. And it would have been of enormous help in Ohio.

10. SNL, Jon Stewart, Letterman
“Saturday Night Live” helped Clinton out two weeks in a row by showing the media as biased in favor of a hapless Obama. And Clinton made a conscious effort to inject some warmth into her personality by appearing on the show last Saturday, and by appearing on Jon Stewart Monday night. She also has done herself well by being cozy with David Letterman.

Wake Up America!

Stuff that matters:

Home foreclosures soar, jobless remain unemployed

Homeowner equity is lowest since 1945

Dollar hits historic lows, again

Peloton sorry for fiasco

Gird Your Loins!

our dumb town

Although Rick Noriega won the nomination and avoided a runoff in his bid to challenge John Cornyn for his Senate seat, Potter County Democrats voted for the dead dancer, Gene Kelly, 36.48% to Noriega's 29.32%. Randall voters were even worse, voting for the phantom toe-tapper 41.02% to 24.89%.

People! Please pay attention!

spacedark

you won't have to drop and give anyone twenty-five, and no farm animals will be involved

Panhandle Truth Squad has learned that a number of first-time caucarousers¹ in Amarillo were intimidated and dissuaded from serving as delegates to the county convention through misinformation. Specifically, it was suggested that-- if they attended the county convention-- they would be required to serve as a delegate to the state convention; furthermore, they were led to believe that the state convention would cost them $5000 to attend. As a service to Texans unfamiliar with our bat-crap crazy system, PTS now provides a partial list of other things you will not be required to do at the county, state, or national Democratic conventions.

An example of the sort of hazing ritual you will not be required to participate in at Democratic conventions, no matter what you may have heard.

• You will not be required to hold your breath until you turn blue. (You may, however, be required to wear blue.)
• You will not be forced to drink as many shots of Rumpelmintz as you are years old (but you can if you want to).
• If someone asks you to do the "elephant walk" you are probably younger than us and have been confused for a University of Texas fraternity pledge. As a Democratic delegate, you do not have to take part in this activity.
• You are not required to swear eternal fealty to the horned god Baphomet. In fact, in the current environment, it might be better if you did not. Unless, of course, you don't mind your Republican secretary getting forwarded e-mails about you.
• You do not have to wash Superdelegate's cars, or make them sandwiches, or take Superdelegate's pets for walks. At the moment, it looks like Senators Obama and Clinton will be taking care of all such errands.

spacedark

¹ What do you call them, "caucus attendees"? "Caucus-goers"? You must not have attended the same caucus I did.

Hillary + GOP = Win?

Ohio had a huge number of GOP crossovers voting for Hillary. Any one know about Texas?

To be fair to Hillary in Ohio, at least according to the above linked article, the crossovers were not all for bad reasons: "In Strongsville, middle-aged couple Lucy and Pete See -- longtime Republicans -- both voted for Hillary Clinton. "I like that she has more experience in foreign affairs," Pete See said. "The Republican candidate was older than me. "

And: "I'm happy with Republicans, in general," Baggett, 50, said. "I don't believe they've done a good job the last eight years."

Interesting. Will Obama go negative?

-Prodigal Son

...all the way to the convention...

Dewey beats Truman.



See you in Denver.

spacedark

God bless America

(Amarillo) Just returned from the caucuses for Precincts 125 and 126 at Bivins Elementary, and what an experience. Four years ago, I attended the same caucus. I was the only one there, and halfheartedly elected myself a Kerry delegate to the county convention. Over 150 caucused tonight. Tonight was an exercise in participatory democracy, in political bullying, in pranksterish mischief, in can’t-say-no volunteerism, in organizational chaos, in recently uncloseted Out-and-Proudism, in Being Sober Liberally, in bureaucratic confusion, in beancounting between the lines, in coinflipping, in predetermined conclusions, in surprise endings, but-- most of all-- in kicking Republican ass.

And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

spacedark

Up Against the Wall, Democrats...



...Waiting For the Man (to finish voting, so we can get this show on the road)...



A blurred local publisher and his wife caucus for Obama...



We always knew Annette Carlisle was a closet case...



Film at 11: Shockingly, the Amarillo media covers Democrats...

obamarillo

Obama supporter and sympathetic Republican.

spacedark

the line

Probably shouldn't have taken this picture, but it's blurred anyway.
One of the poll workers said 400 people had voted at our precinct by
5:00 and that usually 80 voted in the Democratic primary in a good
year.

Spacedark

equal time for Hillary

Claudia and Roberta.

lineblogging the democratic primary

Here it is: I am standing in a lengthy line (really) to vote in a Democratic primary in Ama-freaking-rillo. Many people sound like new voters, with that odd, determined, yay-democracy look on their faces. Many seem angry. One man said he was a Democrat ''at least until November".

Good-bye, red tide. We got yer legacy right here, George W. Bush.

Spacedark

overheard in the texas panhandle: "Ev-er-y-thing's gonna be all right / Rockabye..." edition

Overheard in a high-school classroom somewhere in Dumas:

"Stop calling me a dumb blonde; Hillary Clinton's blonde, and she's smart!"

"Who are you voting for?"

"I'm voting for Barack Obama!"

(Ed. note: Seriously. This is the nearly the first time I've ever heard any eighteen-year-old high school senior say they were going to vote, and nearly the first time any of the Dumasians have said anything positive about a Democrat. I'm going to close my eyes for a minute and pretend that things really are changing.)

spacedark

Breaking!

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results of 2008 Election Early.


Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

LOL, The Onion just keeps getting better.

-Prodigal Son

We're #1 !

Just watch this heartbreaking 60 minutes story from typically Bush a**kissing Scott Pelley.



If America's health system is so damn good, why does a medical clinic designed for third world countries provide 60% of it's help here?

Just asking. . .

-Prodigal Son

Warthogs Attack Barack Obama

As we gain on primary day we are left wondering, is the letter from Sandy Lofgren just another reactionary hairball, vomited up whole and complete for our delectation, needing no rationale among the irrational in the Ciudad de Blanco? Or is what we see just a remnant wriggling tail, what was fit to print, of a slithering skink now glaring from some leafy bolt hole?

Our erstwhile gatekeeper, with the power to trim and edit to AP Style at will, does not spill the grim secret of how well he protects our delicate sensibilities from the raging racist mob. He can maintain the pleasant charade that we are a tolerant little burg, and against the suppressed grotesque slurs the ignorant prejudices of Virgil and H*nry can appear but the gentlest of whimsies and the AGN can claim it does not publish bigotry.

But JQK can't hide the truth forever. Surely this unsigned and unattributed letter, now circulating here amongst the true faithful, has battered against his gate. This ugly rant against Islam has been around for years and though debunked repeatedly is still fodder for the brain-dead jingoist nutcases of every Free Republic booby hatch and Ivory Dome cracker bin across the land. What is new is this:

Call it what you wish..it's still the truth. You had better believe it. The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future. The religious war is bigger than we know or understand. .

And Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our President? You have GOT to be kidding!
Wake up America !

Obama even says if he wins the election, he will be sworn in on the Quran---not a Bible!

Footnote: He was sworn in on the Quran for his current office and he refuses to pledge allegiance to the United States or put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played!!! The Muslims have said they will destroy us from within.....Hello!!!! Having a Muslim president would seem to fit the bill! Would you trust this man with our national secrets?????

It can only validate the rank prejudices cultivated by Fox, Republicans, and yes, the Amarillo Globe News. H*nry must be drooling to get it into print. Thank God these patriots can do their duty and go after Obama because he's a raghead and not a nigger.

Remain silent and this tripe is confirmed; repeat it and this tripe is confirmed; challenge and debunk it and this tripe is confirmed because nothing gets through to these paranoid schizophrenic¹ lunkheads who think the fall of the Soviet Union was a communist plot, Taco Bells are staging points for a single midnight flood of illegal immigrants, and Muslims will, on some Ramadan Thursday, come bursting out of their bloody Ron Pauline chests, hiss, and grab the keys to their F-150’s.

Damn you all you racist pigs.<sup>2

1</sup>Zyprexa is recommended for approximately 40% of Amarillo’s population, a profitable market for Ely Lilly. If you believe Barack Obama is a Muslim please see your local psychiatrist. Side effects of Zyprexa may include dry mouth, trouble swallowing, runny nose, thinking for yourself, discontinued viewing of Fox News, and dropping your subscription to the Amarillo Globe-News.

²Traditional damnation is to Hell, but the Atlanta International Aiport will do nicely.