http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Tue, 13 Jun 2006 02:31:11 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/06/13/023111.php PoliticalTruthsBy December of 2005 it was evident that the Republican Right Wing was getting ready to create a new “crisis” afflicting our country. In that light, I wrote the following article “Right Wing Republican bait & switch? Not this time".Given• that during the majority of the Bush administration, the Republicans controlled the Executive & Legislature (both Senate & House),• that 9-11 occurred 5 years back with no substantive improvement in border security in said period (neither the Canadian or Mexican border),•that the largest border of all, our coastline and ports, remained porousIt is laughable that the Right Wing would have the mitigated gall to use this issue as a wedge in an attempt to corner liberals into the trap of being against the population. Their idea is to plant stories throughout the mass media about the strain illegal aliens are putting on society at large as well as the security implications. After this false impression has metastasized, they then challenge Liberals as being soft on illegal immigration and security.In watching the discourse in the mass media and in the blogosphere, I fail to see an emphatic response specifically hammering every Right Winger that brings up the immigration issue with their specific failure, being the party in power, to submit or effect legislation to protect the border. This one issue packaged appropriately can show their incompetence and hypocrisy.The reality is that the immigration issue is a complex issue that is not easily explained in sound bytes (the preferred language of communication perfected by the Right Wing). As such, it is best not to be forced to address issues of citizenship but hammer on border security as well as homeland security. We do not need to get wordy or nuanced on this issue. We should make the immigration issue our issue. Politics49175@blogcritics.org Tue, 13 Jun 2006 02:31:11 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/12/01/144148.php PoliticalTruthsThe Right-wing Republican media machine is one of the best ever. The synchronicity of this machine, which covers the blogosphere, radio and television, warrants many graduate theses. Now that the truth of Vice President Dick Cheney's deceit via President Bush's aloof entry into Iraq is being uncovered, the machine is gearing up for a major change in subject. The media are tossing around the illegal-immigration balloon in an attempt to tie it to potential terrorism. Every crime committed by an illegal is accentuated. It is important that we do not allow this to happen lest we fail our country yet again.The insanity of the War in Iraq has cost us more than $400 billion thus far. It is rather immoral that we can spend limitless amounts for a war whose major beneficiaries are the VP's crony corporate associates while:Making every American more vulnerable to terrorist attack in every corner of the world Sacrificing major necessary infrastructure projects Underfunding K-12 and college assistance in a time when our major competitors are gaining on us Not providing the resources necessary to protect the homelandWe must be aggressive in showing this change in topic is a farce. The right wing knows that when illegal immigration is framed in terms of terrorism, American job loss, health-care and welfare abuse and depressed American wages, most marginally skilled Americans will generally accept their misinformation at face value.To counter the misinformation we must be ready to answer each point and offer actual solutions. While we can not condone illegal immigration officially, our economy depends on it. The reality is that illegal aliens as a whole contribute much more to our society that they take in the aggregate. Many pay Social-Security taxes from which they will never benefit. Their disposable income turns over many times to support many local economies. They perform services that most Americans would rather not do at a fair price.The reality is if we had spent elsewhere the 25 percent of the monies we spent in Iraq, we could have done much more to protect our borders. Moreover, we would have been able to spend more time on legitimizing the guest-worker program we tacitly have.Visit us at http://www.PoliticalTruths.info Politics40331@blogcritics.org Thu, 1 Dec 2005 14:41:48 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/11/15/090419.php PoliticalTruthsWhen I watch many right-wing conservative Republicans in action, I can't help but think of my old Sunday-school lessons. Remember the Pharisees, the self-proclaimed pious ones of biblical times who were famous for opposing the love-and-peace ministry of Jesus Christ? Pharisees have raised their ugly heads in this country many times -- remember the witchhunting Puritans? Former Sen. Joseph McCarthy? If you pay attention to history, you do, because fortunately, in our society, these people ultimately are exposed. But in case we have forgotten, let's recall the misdeeds of a few who became so devoted to very limited parts of the law -- God's and man's -- that they violated the very moral code they used to condemn others: the adulterous and larcenous Rev. Jim Bakker; the weeping, prostitute-ogling Rev. Jimmy Swaggert, who once gave a sermon about killing gay men; the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who talks of love while verbally bashing gays, Jews and Muslims; the Rev. and arbiter of God's vengeance Pat Robertson. There are many, many more.So we need not look too far to see the hypocrisy of these modern-day Pharisees. Neither do we need to confine ourselves to looking at persons of the cloth. George W Bush, our morally superior president, was arrested for drunk driving. The red states have a much higher divorce rate than the blue states. Moreover, Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country. Bill Bennett, the self-proclaimed conservative watchdog of everyone else's morality, was exposed in 2003 as being a high-rolling gambler. Dr. Laura Schlessinger, talk radio's moral crusader, posed for porn-style pictures. Rush Limbaugh, the ultra-conservative radio talk jockey who called for all drug addicts to be locked up with the keys thrown away, is himself a recovering druggy. Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) persecuted Bill Clinton for his infidelities without divulging his more serious transgression, an illegitimate child he did not claim publicly. Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) persecuted Bill Clinton for his infidelities without divulging her own extramarital affairs. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was ruthless in bringing down many of his political foes. Meanwhile, he spent his off-hours having extramarital affairs, divorcing his first of three wives when she contracted cancer, and being reprimanded by the House for campaign-finance violations. Many more prominent conservatives could be named, but the point is made. While it would be just as easy to compile a list of progressives with feet of clay, the fact is that on the whole, liberals don't push legislating "thou shalt"s beyond extendeing tolerance to all and helping out the less fortunate among us. And progressive leaders, be they Democrat, Green, Socialist or Independent, don't work to take rights away from people.Conservative leaders constantly cast themselves as the guardians of American morality and virtue. One only need look at the deeds of our five surviving former presidents, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter and Ford. Democratic Presidents Clinton and Carter have committed themselves to humanitarian efforts on a constant basis; the Republicans, with the possible exception of G eorge H.W. Bush, have done far less. Perhaps conservatives should refrain from using their Bibles to bash others and instead reread the book of James:2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.Progressive liberals have not done nearly enough to expose the hypocrisy of the so-called Religious Right. Until this changes, the country will continue to migrate toward fundamentalist-driven Dark Ages.Visit Political Truths at http://www.politicaltruths.info.Edited:nd Politics39486@blogcritics.org Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:04:19 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/10/29/135011.php PoliticalTruthsThe Republican right wing are great corruptors of the truth. Their talking points have already been published. They are all over the airwaves, the blogosphere, the websites, and newspapers with a consistent message. It is imperative that bloggers, liberal or otherwise, do not allow their false talking points to metastasize into the public's psyche. Each mis-statement, lie, or truth twisting must be addressed immediately with documented facts.Irv Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was indicted yesterday on five counts in the investigation concerning the illegal outing of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent. The counts include obstruction of justice, lying to the FBI, and perjury.The reason for the outing of the CIA agent was twofold. The first was a misleading attempt to discredit Joe Wilson, Ms. Plame's husband for his statements against the Iraq war and his subsequent New York Times Article stating that his trip to Niger found no evidence of Iraq's purchase of uranium. This would remove a major justification for any preemptive war with Iraq. The second reason for the outing seemed to be punitive. It would ensure that critics understand that any measures would be used against dissention. Judging from the behavior of the press, and most mainstream organizations, this "communist/Stalinist" behavior was successful as everyone feared confronting the Bush administration significantly on any issue whether it be the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, irresponsible tax cuts and more.Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Newt Gingrich, Bill Bennett, and many other Right Wing hacks have been using the following talking points. It is imperative that they be refuted continuously. Unfortunately if falsehoods are repeated without being countered by truths, most Americans tend to accept it as true fact.RNC Talking Point: Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is creating the "criminalization of politics". Truth: This investigation and indictment has nothing to do with politics. It is about the illegal outing of CIA agents, and subsequently the lying to FBI agents, perjury, and obstruction of justice. RNC Talking Point: There was no indictment on outing of CIA agent so there was no original crime. Truth: The reason perjury and obstruction of justice is such a major crime is that one cannot find the underlying crime if the investigation is stymied by said crimes. RNC Talking Point: Senate commission confirmed that Joe Wilson's article was a lie or never accepted. Truth: This is an utterly false statement. Read here for more background. RNC Talking Point: Valerie Plame sent her husband Joe Wilson to Niger to research the uranium claim which opened her to scrutiny. Truth: The statement is patently misleading and is simply used to change the conversation. Read here for more background. RNC Talking Point: Valerie Wilson was not really a covert agent/spy and many already new what she did. Truth: The FBI up until yesterday could not find anyone who knew what she did prior to Novak's column. Read here for more background. --- Truth in PoliticsEd/Pub:LisaM Politics38721@blogcritics.org Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:50:11 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/10/18/081554.php PoliticalTruthsRush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and most right wing Republicans continue to insist that the mainstream media is liberal. President Clinton may beg to differ, as every "liberal" network systematically allowed itself to be used as the right wing's mouthpiece to pass blatantly false and/or misleading information. The fact is that the "liberal media" has allowed the right wing to castrate it. Had that not been the case, President Bush could never have been elected. Anyone listening to the President babbling next to foreign leaders, whether from the "third world" or other countries, must cringe in embarrassment that the United States, the sole standing superpower, is led with such ineptitude.The genesis of this country's malaise was the election of President George Bush. President Bush had been knowingly lying on most issues of consequence he campaigned on. The "liberal media" never took him to task in any substantial manner. Why did the "liberal media" not expose the president's military record while he implied his prowess as a military supporter? Why did the "liberal media" not expose his dealings in the many failed companies in Texas that were simply fronts using his name for influence-peddling? Why did the "liberal media" not contrast his and his family's "moral shortcomings" to his opponents', given his moralizing on their values? Why did the "liberal media" not constantly report the irresponsibility of the large tax cuts while fighting a war? Why did the "liberal media" not hammer the administration on all the information available to discount the rationale for going to war? Why did the "liberal media" not explain to the public at large the fascist inklings of the Patriot Act? Why did the "liberal media" not expose the no-bid contracts going to the President's and Vice-President's cronies?The fact is the mainstream media is not liberal at all. It has been made impotent by its corporate masters, who would rather not engage an administration that is willing to use a corrupt religious movement to intimidate them with unenforceable threats. A free media is imperative to prevent the government and/or the ruling party from exercising complete dominion over the population at large. It should be the free voice protecting the population against government propaganda that allows uninformed support for bad and corrupt policies.Ultimately the media is very much responsible for our malaise, given its willful inaction. One can only hope that the teeth it has shown in the last few weeks will continue and grow to atone for the past five years. Visit Political Truths, a place for views to move our country forward. Ed/pub:NB Politics38084@blogcritics.org Tue, 18 Oct 2005 08:15:54 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/10/15/064935.php PoliticalTruthsIs William Bennett a racist? Only William (Bill) Bennett knows. That said; Bill Bennett can only be judged by what he says and how he responds to criticisms of what he says.On September 28, 2005, the following interaction occurred on Bill Bennett's Morning in America radio show:CALLER: I noticed the national media, you know, they talk a lot about the loss of revenue, or the inability of the government to fund Social Security, and I was curious, and I've read articles in recent months here, that the abortions that have happened since Roe v. Wade, the lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn't -- never touches this at all. BENNETT: Assuming they're all productive citizens? CALLER: Assuming that they are. Even if only a portion of them were, it would be an enormous amount of revenue. BENNETT: Maybe, maybe, but we don't know what the costs would be, too. I think as -- abortion disproportionately occur among single women? No. CALLER: I don't know the exact statistics, but quite a bit are, yeah. BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both -- you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well -- CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate. BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.The caller was concerned about abortion in the context of population loss.Nowhere in his comments were racial overtones discernable. Bill then took it upon himself to inject the stereotype of blacks being pre-disposed to criminal activity.While it is true that black males have a much higher rate of incarceration and commit more violent crimes than their white counterparts, it is extremely important to find the reasons for said behavior as opposed to assuming a racial component. The vast majority of violent crimes are committed by the socio-economically disadvantaged, irrespective of race. For historic reasons (slavery, overt and covert racism) this applies to blacks at a much higher percentage. Additionally, laws are written or implemented in manners that disproportionately punish blacks more harshly. (Crack cocaine convicts get harsher sentences than cocaine convicts; blacks get harsher sentences for comparable crimes.) Entry into the justice system is generally through the first responders, the police. Many studies in many states have shown that police are predisposed to stereotype black males. Moreover, black males do not get the breaks that white males get for minor indiscretions. In my predominantly white, upper middle-class neighborhood, it is customary for police to escort teenage boys home for drunk driving, bad behavior, illegal drinking, or fights. In most black neighborhoods, the resolution is the immediate teenager's entry into the justice system. That one event changes the entire outcome of that black teenager's life and his outlook on the rest of life. He now has nothing to lose. Bill Bennett-type conservatives believe in simplistic solutions without analyzing the real causes for our country's problem in general and crime in particular. They believe that law and order on black boys is a major part of the solution. That simplistic approach only fills prisons with a large quantity of angry black males who upon release will effect their wrath from the criminal knowledge acquired in prison.Crime must be punished. Excuses must not be made for any criminal, black or white. It is important, however, to solve underlying problems that predisposes people to commit crimes. Laws must be written equitably. First responders must be educated on the negative effects of stereotyping and must be punished when such stereotyping can be proved.Visit Political Truths for objective opinions at http://www.PoliticalTruths.info. ed/Pub:NB Politics37921@blogcritics.org Sat, 15 Oct 2005 06:49:35 EDT