OOOHHHHH! #*(&*$&%
Aug. 5th, 2004 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenAnd more profanity. The inner liberal is now very much the outer liberal and the GLOVES ARE OFF.
From the New York Times:Rock Stars Announce Swing-State Tour
A bunch of artists having a concert for a group called America Coming Together is to receive the proced and, yes, the ubiquitous MoveOn will be on hand and sponsoring the tour. The motive is political, calculated, and God, I hope it works. The Bush administration, just like with Fahrenheit 9/11, have no way to counter this in a reasonable manner. There is just no way for them to address high-profile and popular artists who, quite simply, refuse to be brain-washed by the Bush government any longer and want a change. The tour is called Vote for Change. The artists are performing for free--seeing as the Bruce makes close to $40 million when he tours, that's saying something--and it's something they believe in, that they believe will help make a difference and raise awareness.
The Bush backers have no way to counter this positively, so they skip over the moderate approach--singing for change and to get people to consider, just consider, a change in government--and go right to conspiracy. That's right, MoveOn is eeeeeevil and this whole thing is just a scheme of the radical left. Now, come on, I gave the Republicans credence over the Clinton's when Hillary said there was a right-wing conspiracy, but I have to believe in a vast left-wing conspiracy because Bush says so? Here's an excerpt from the article that got my blood boiling:
Mark McKinnon, the media director for the Bush campaign, said, "We think it's unfortunate these particular fine musicians have decided to affiliate with a hate-filled fringe group like MoveOn.'' Republicans have complained about a video briefly posted on MoveOn's Web site in December likening Mr. Bush to Hitler.
Hate-filled? As opposed to the regime that's terrified us into believing that every side-ways look someone of a different race gives us is an imminent threat to our person and country? Hate-filled? As opposed to the rest of the world's perspective on the USA because of what this regime has done in the name of 'routing out terrorism'? We're not popular folks, we just aren't. And "hate-filled" doesn't come close to describing terrorists' feelings when they think about the US. Read the 9/11 Commission's highlights and you'll see that Bush's rule with an iron hand approach to Iraq and Afghanistan (hey, remember Afghanistan? We fucked up royally there; we blew the concrete chance at nipping leaders of Al Qaeda so we could capture Saddam to soothe the Bush family's bruised ego from the early 90s) has RUINED good opinions of the US where there were some and sent already abyssmal opinions further south of the hate border.
Contrast that with a bunch of musicians who say, "It's not just about the war on terror. It's about the health-care system in the US, it's about years of environment conservation being flushed away to make it easier for big businesses to make bigger profits for CEOs (Ken Lay, anyone?), it's about suspension of civil rights for supposed terrorist suspects, and, yes, it is about war in Iraq. About Iraq taking close to a thousand US men and women for the wrong reasons, the selling out of our troops as the same government pretends that they honor them. You do not send these people to die ill-equipped, mis-informed, nearly friendless, into hostile territory and have the right to say, 'I support our troops.'" YOU JUST DON'T, okay?
From the New York Times:Rock Stars Announce Swing-State Tour
A bunch of artists having a concert for a group called America Coming Together is to receive the proced and, yes, the ubiquitous MoveOn will be on hand and sponsoring the tour. The motive is political, calculated, and God, I hope it works. The Bush administration, just like with Fahrenheit 9/11, have no way to counter this in a reasonable manner. There is just no way for them to address high-profile and popular artists who, quite simply, refuse to be brain-washed by the Bush government any longer and want a change. The tour is called Vote for Change. The artists are performing for free--seeing as the Bruce makes close to $40 million when he tours, that's saying something--and it's something they believe in, that they believe will help make a difference and raise awareness.
The Bush backers have no way to counter this positively, so they skip over the moderate approach--singing for change and to get people to consider, just consider, a change in government--and go right to conspiracy. That's right, MoveOn is eeeeeevil and this whole thing is just a scheme of the radical left. Now, come on, I gave the Republicans credence over the Clinton's when Hillary said there was a right-wing conspiracy, but I have to believe in a vast left-wing conspiracy because Bush says so? Here's an excerpt from the article that got my blood boiling:
Mark McKinnon, the media director for the Bush campaign, said, "We think it's unfortunate these particular fine musicians have decided to affiliate with a hate-filled fringe group like MoveOn.'' Republicans have complained about a video briefly posted on MoveOn's Web site in December likening Mr. Bush to Hitler.
Hate-filled? As opposed to the regime that's terrified us into believing that every side-ways look someone of a different race gives us is an imminent threat to our person and country? Hate-filled? As opposed to the rest of the world's perspective on the USA because of what this regime has done in the name of 'routing out terrorism'? We're not popular folks, we just aren't. And "hate-filled" doesn't come close to describing terrorists' feelings when they think about the US. Read the 9/11 Commission's highlights and you'll see that Bush's rule with an iron hand approach to Iraq and Afghanistan (hey, remember Afghanistan? We fucked up royally there; we blew the concrete chance at nipping leaders of Al Qaeda so we could capture Saddam to soothe the Bush family's bruised ego from the early 90s) has RUINED good opinions of the US where there were some and sent already abyssmal opinions further south of the hate border.
Contrast that with a bunch of musicians who say, "It's not just about the war on terror. It's about the health-care system in the US, it's about years of environment conservation being flushed away to make it easier for big businesses to make bigger profits for CEOs (Ken Lay, anyone?), it's about suspension of civil rights for supposed terrorist suspects, and, yes, it is about war in Iraq. About Iraq taking close to a thousand US men and women for the wrong reasons, the selling out of our troops as the same government pretends that they honor them. You do not send these people to die ill-equipped, mis-informed, nearly friendless, into hostile territory and have the right to say, 'I support our troops.'" YOU JUST DON'T, okay?
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 09:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 11:22 am (UTC)By the way, you are welcome to cross-post to
Oh, and in case it would be of any interest: Paul Krugman and Al Franken are both going to be at the 17th Street B&N at 7 tonight. Hasn't gotten much play AFAIK so the crowd may not be too bad. (I probably won't be there, myself.)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 12:26 pm (UTC)I grew up in SF so I can hardly claim to have had the same experience as
Anyway, on that note -- have you heard that OutFoxed is being released in theatres? Documentary film about the ridiculous right-wing bias of Rupert Murdoch's Evil Empire? Thought you might be interested...
no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 08:23 pm (UTC)And thanks for the encouragement. Because I'm ranting and I damn well know it. I'm turning into one of those people I was always intimidated by and afraid of: a rabid political person. Not necessarily liberal/conservative, just rabidly political in my expression of my views. I take 'em seriously, my pov's, but I've never been so outraged. Not so long ago, I was amazed at how politicized our country has become, how polarized. It's more amazing still when you consider that four years ago the country couldn't pick between two guys hugging the center of the politcal spectrum. Now, if you found a guy in the middle, no one would vote for him because he would be either too liberal for the right or too conservative for the left. It's getting ugly.
And I'm getting ugly with it. I'm evolving, too. Four years ago, I said "Hell no, I don't want a Republican from Texas" based on the fact that my knowledge of core GOP values was slim but included policies that stood against things I supported (environmental not corporate protection, gay rights, abortion rights, tax cuts for the lower and middle class not the rich). I supported Gore because he wasn't in the GOP, but I missed most of his speeches and debates because neither one was that interesting (I know more about the debates from SNL than I do from having watched it).
Four years later, I know a lot more. I'm still ignorant as hell compared to a lot of people I know, but I'm a lot more informed than I was. I watched Kerry's acceptance speech voluntarily (though I missed Barack Obama and now that I've read more about him and the speech itself, I'm pissed that I did). I skim the Times for articles like this one, I pay attention more than I ever did. And I'm beginning to understand how the scary politically rabid mind thinks. To be honest, I may be once again voting for Kerry as I did for Gore, voting because he 'isn't the guy I hate,' but now I have a heck of a better idea *why* I don't like the other guy, and many, many more reasons to find fault with him.
In a way, I should thank Bush. He makes a point not to be vague. It's the blunt honesty of the cowboy, even when that bluntness is honest-faced lying half the time. He tells it straight, and he gets it wrong, and we've got the proof, the record on paper and more. He's set himself up, trapped himself between his misstatements and lies and now he has to suffer the consequences. Now I know why I cannot survive another four years of this man. I know that he hates people because of their sexual preference but couches that hatred in the name of righteousness (ever hear of the Crusades, Dubya, or were you blitzed out of your mind on coke during history at Yale?). He does a diservice to this nation and to the great faith of Christianity by exacerbating the intolerant aspects of that religion and making himself unassailable because he's following 'God's' plan. God made us all, right? Then God made the people who are hetero-, homo-, trans-, and bi-sexual, and he loves them all. That's my God. If I were to run and say the word of God told me to love my neighbor as myself, he'd find a way to turn that commandment--yes, that is a commandment from Jesus, and the one he says you should obey above all others, including fealty to God, if I remember my Bible correctly--into a way to hate people. To hate gays. To hate liberals. To hate Arabs.
....
no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 08:24 pm (UTC)I know that he hates this planet. He lets his cronies poison it, rip up forests and parks, and suffer none of this 'ozone' nonsense about it. I know that four more years of the oil baron president could mean Alaska, possibly the most beautiful place in America and definitely one of the most beautiful in the world, would have a big ugly oil-pipeline scar down its middle where its caraboo and rainforest used to be. No, Bush hasn't said he'd do this recently, but it's a possibility. The man went to war for Iraq's oil and his pride--do you really think a bunch of trees and some funny-looking, over-large deer stand a chance? Hannity, of Fox News fame, says mercury poisoning, so bad that 1 in 6 women are so badly poisoned their children could have severe developmental problems as a result, is a hoax.
I know Bush sold out my country's soldiers. I've already said why, I've already said why he cannot claim without violating the commandment against bearing false witness (of his own religion) that he supports these troops. Ask how Halliburton treats them. Ask if they're equipped as they ought to be. If the Bush daughters were there, the war would have been over before it started. But they're not. They have the privelege not to be because they're not from a poor town or a small one (most of the soldiers serving are from towns with less than 20,000 people). Bush is as good as a deserter. Kerry at least went to war. If he found out after that it wasn't the right war, that he went and risked his life for the wrong reasons, he has that right. It's not selling out to change one's mind. It's selling out to send soliders to die for the wrong reason and then slashing their benefits and pretending to be their champion.
I know that Kerry isn't these things. I know that I can't just vote for the not-Bush. And now, thanks to some heavy reading, I'm not. I'm voting for a man who has the courage to change his mind while being a politician. If he can do that, see the nuance, make retractions where he errs, that's the man for me. America can do better. What a perfect slogan. It wraps it all up for me: we're not doing the best, but we can try for more; if something goes wrong, we'll do our best to put it right; even if it's great, there is always room for improvement. A man with integrity, a man who knows the horrors he asks his soldiers to face, a man who lets other people put their names on bills he drafter because they were retiring without bills to their names. Pride without hubris. That's worth voting for as much as Bush is worth voting against.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-06 06:18 pm (UTC)I love reading your political rants ^_^
all I can add is:
DAMN STRAIGHT! *waves fist*