Friday Random Blogging (Part One: Baseball Morphs to Politics)

October 26, 2007 By M. Colby 1 Comment

crybabydems.jpgOkay, okay I was a bit bored last night and went fishing around the Internet waters looking for some inspiration. I tried to be a modern American man and watch the World Series but found the pace, the commentary and the commercials over the top on the obnoxious scale. It was the live interview with the CEO of Taco Bell that put me over the edge. Yep, right in the middle of the game they went to one of those dopey “roving reporters” in the stands who was with the taco magnate to announce that – get this – since one of the players stole a base, their corporation would be giving away free tacos from 2 to 5 pm next Tuesday. What the fuck? If anyone can explain the connection between theft and free tacos, please let me know. Adios tacos and game, and off I went to the other glowing box in the house – the one with the stylish little apple on it.

First stop: The Hill, where I learned what I always learn when I poke around the political haunts of the Internet. Yep, the Dems are lame. Been there, done that. But this commentary was coming from the Dems themselves. Ah, the navel gazing of it all! The piece, “Internal Dem Memo Faults Party Message,” begins with these obvious words:

Democrats are losing the battle for voters’ hearts because the party’s message lacks emotional appeal, according to a widely circulated critique of House Democratic communications strategy.

Here they go again, focusing on the message and forgetting all about their actions. Sure, the message matters but what really gets the voters all hot and ready to actually pull your lever is a little follow through, you ninnies.

These poor Dem strategists just keep imitating only half of the Republican Party’s playbook: the message part. But then I can only imagine the looks on their faces when they turn to chapter two of the playbook and see that the Republicans’ idea of “supporting the troops” means that we arm them to the teeth and flirt with World War Three in the naked pursuit of world domination. And have you noticed, class, that they’re following through?

“Oh shit,” I can hear them say, “we can’t do that.” And so it goes, the Dems co-opt the “support the troops” message and have absolutely no clue about where to go with it other than bumble and fumble amongst themselves. Which, of course, leads them directly to where they are now: holding political majorities but doing absolutely nothing of substance with the power. The Dems’ pursuit of power is kind of like that poor dog that chases cars. Sooner or later, the dog catches the car and…splat. All that work for nothing. Bummer.

The piece in The Hill also uses the word that is almost always used when describing today’s Dems: nervous. And, of course, it involves them being “nervous” about another fight with President Bush over more war funding. But, I’m sorry, if they’re nervous over going to battle with a president as lame as this one on an issue that nearly everyone agrees with them on, there really is no hope for them.

Taste this excerpt from the piece in The Hill:

He cited Democrats’ frustration over the likely showdown with President Bush over supplemental spending for the Iraq war. Democrats are discussing not sending a supplemental spending bill to the floor until Bush changes course on the war. But that makes many Democrats nervous that Bush will use the tactic to say Democrats aren’t supporting the troops.

When’s the last time you heard a Republican described as nervous before a political fight? That comes from knowing that you’ve got a message and a course of action that gives you confidence. Sure, it’s usually bat-shit crazy but they sure as hell aren’t nervous about it. Reckless? Sure. But not nervous.

But my favorite part of The Hill’s piece on the memo comes when they quote an anonymous Dem aide who declares that the memo probably won’t be widely read anyway. Why?

But he also noted that the number of the memo’s readers might have been limited by the fact that the memo was a long attachment, which makes it less likely to be read by BlackBerry-wielding aides.

Oh great. They’re nervous AND stupid.

[Stay tuned for more Friday random blogging.]

Filed Under: blog, media & politics, us politics

On Life & Civil Disobedience

October 19, 2007 By M. Colby 3 Comments

Oops. Sorry about that. The screen getting all static with the same information and all. But don’t worry, I’ve got excuses. Lots and lots of excuses.

The public schools in Vermont have decided to kick the kids out over the last several days. Why? I’m not sure. But, in our case, it’s meant that I get to play the stay-at-home-dad role. No complaints here. On Wednesday, my daughter and her friend dressed up as devils and ran around the pasture and hillside (see photo). It provided some entertainment for me as I did what Gary Snyder called the “real work”: harvesting carrots, potatoes and the cherry tomatoes that just keep coming. The horses, however, were a bit confused.

Time’s Up (again) for Welch: Okay folks, if you’ve had enough of Congressman Peter Welch doing little more than talk, talk and talk about how much he opposes the war but yet keep voting, voting and voting to give Bush more time and money to continue it, let’s talk. There’s a call out by several folks to make a visit to Welch’s Burlington office on Monday to let him know that we’re not falling for the rhetoric.

In the last month, Welch has voted in favor of the “emergency” federal budget bill that included billions more for the war and voted in favor congressional resolution condemning the now infamous MoveOn advertisement. So let me simply that for you: Welch voted to give more money for war and to condemn the anti-war movement. But – almost laughably – he continues to declare that “no one is more opposed to the war” than he is. Sorry, Peter, but talk is cheap. And, as you should know by now, the votes are what matter.

So, if you’re interested in finding out more about the proposed show of democracy in Congressman Welch’s office on Monday, drop me an email at: mcolby@broadsides.org. Or, if you don’t want to chat with me, contact Boots Wardinski at: greenreaper@fairpoint.net.

Speaking of Civil Disobedience: Last Summer, on the advice of my lawyer, the fabulous David Sleigh, I entered a plea of “no contest” to the charges of “attempted disorderly conduct” and “trespassing” for my protest of the speech of then-National Intelligence Czar, John Negroponte at the St. Johnsbury Academy’s graduation in 2006.

Sleigh advised me to enter the no-contest plea and then appeal the case to the Vermont Supreme Court – a course of action I agreed to and which continues to this day as the appeal currently awaits court action. It is our hope that the appeal will succeed and we will prove that my brief protest of Negroponte’s speech – thanks to the federal agents who swarmed me – was nothing more than an exercise of my right to free speech.

My fellow defendant in the matter, Boots Wardinski, decided to seek a jury trial instead of pursuing the Supreme Court-appeal route. Ironically, as his trial was about to begin last month, the judge ruled that a motion submitted by his attorney – also David Sleigh – needed to be addressed by the Supreme Court before the trial could take place. Thus, it now could be more than a year before either of us will know how (or if) the Supreme Court will proceed.

One thing is clear: It is time to stand up and be heard. Join us.

Filed Under: blog, us politics, vt media, vt politics, war & peace

Hold Everything! The Dems are Nervous!

October 11, 2007 By Michael Colby 1 Comment

I don’t know about you but I’m fed up with hearing about how “nervous” the Democrats are of late. They’re nervous about ending the war. They’re nervous about opposing Bush’s eavesdropping proposal. They’re nervous about taxing the rich. They’re nervous about losing their majority status in Congress. And, here in Vermont, they’re nervous about supporting same-sex marriage. Enough already. Please, could someone pass them some valium?

Frankly, all this Dem nervousness is just insulting. It’s as if they can’t even fathom the things that are really causing people’s nerves to flare up. You know, little things like dodging bullets in an illegal war, being strapped to Bush’s favorite water board for a little “questioning,” facing institutional discrimination on a daily basis, sweating over how to make the minimum payments on a credit card and/or wondering if you’ve got enough cash to see a doctor. Now that stuff is nerve racking.  But voting to de-fund Bush’s programs? Piece of cake.

It’s just weird, but somehow it seems like when Dems gain public office they immediately start with their nervousness. Vermont’s Peter Welch became a nervous wreck from the get go, for example. The tough-talking Welch-as-campaigner let his nervousness get the best of him after he took his oath of office, leading him to nervously vote for several war-funding bills, seek the Bush’s autograph at the State of the Union address like some kind of star-crossed groupie, and, most recently, to vote in favor of the absurd condemnation of MoveOn’s anti-war ad.

The irony in all this nervousness is that it all turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. They get nervous because they don’t want to take a stand that might offend voters. But by not taking a stand they offend voters. Worse, the voters they are offending by their nerve-inspired backtracking and blandness are the voters they most need for their own political careers. Sorry, but there is absolutely no political – or moral – logic behind Welch’s votes to hand Bush all the money he wants to fight the war that Welch opposes – rhetorically, at least. And the great schism between Welch’s rhetoric and Welch’s action with regards to the war is made to look even more bizarre when seen through the lens of Vermonters – a populace that overwhelming opposes all things Bush, especially the war. There’s a reason, you know, that Vermont is the only state the Prez hasn’t visited while in office.

For the Dems it seems as though you have to wait to get out of office before your nervousness subsides. Don’t believe me? Look at Howard Dean. Once relieved of his gubernatorial duties, Dean morphed from a nervous right-leaning Dem to a screaming (sorry about that) progressive Dem.

And on the national scene, look at the change in Al Gore once he left office. While the second most powerful person in the nation for eight years, Gore was too nervous to fundamentally address global warming. Eight years of power! Poof! Funny, huh, that once his power was gone his passion kicked in and his nervousness was gone. Too late, Al.

You know things are bad with the Dems when people start getting all nostalgic about the Carter administration. Carter, of course, was a ball of nerves as the president but, lucky for him, things have gotten so much worse since he left office that he’s beginning to look like a roaring lion of justice rather than the Georgia mouse he was at the time. Carter is in the news today talking tough like most ex-office-holding Dems do. Carter, in case you haven’t heard, told the BBC that Dick Cheney was “a disaster” and that the Bush regime was doing a lot to undermine the credibility of the nation, especially when it comes to their insistence on using illegal torture – yes, Carter said “illegal” torture.

Unfortunately, the tougher the ex-office-holders talk, the more nervous elected Dems like Peter Welch get. It should, however, create just the opposite reaction. I mean, how much more do the Welch’s of the Dem-world need to have behind them before they get bold?

So please, Dems, get over your nervousness already. Either pop a valium or take a trip to Iraq and pose as an Iraqi and face down a Blackwater thug – that should put things in perspective for you. Because it’s time for some leadership.

Filed Under: blog, essays & columns, us politics, vt politics, war & peace

Presidential Campaigns: The Modern Opiates

October 9, 2007 By M. Colby 2 Comments

Karl Marx wasn’t completely correct in declaring that religion was the opiate of the people. But, then again, he didn’t live in our times so there’s no way he could have possibly imagined the even more powerful opiates in our midst. Imagine, for example, what old Karl would have thought of the mainstream media and the Internet?

But nothing dumbs down the American people more than two-party politics – especially when it comes to their little game of presidential elections. And its only getting worse as the once-every-four-year event seems to be oozing into a nearly continuous affair. Ugh.

Currently, for example, the political landscape is full of landmines – a plethora of issues and outrageous happenings that should have a fully alert populace salivating for action. Just look at today’s headlines: war, torture, health care cuts for kids, mercenary madness, global warming denial by our government, economic malaise for most of us, and on and on it goes. Enough – one would think – to wake the sleepers. Not quite.

Instead of taking it to the streets, the increasingly shrinking percentage of the public who seem to care about any of this are themselves yawning. And when they’re not yawning, they’re telling you which candidate in the 2008 presidential campaign they’re thinking about supporting. You know, kind of like fretting about what to wear to your execution.

If you don’t believe me, just ask yourself when’s the last time you were inspired by political activism or – better yet – the successful actions of a politician. Even the mainstream media has been wondering of late where the anti-war activism has gone . Think about it, we’re a nation at war, polls show more than 70% of the public disapprove of the war, and the mainstream media is wondering why no one is protesting. This clearly ain’t the 1960’s, my friends.

And the answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind. The wind, that is, blowing from the lips of the presidential candidates and their many minions and true believers who have thrown a collective wet blanket on the world of political activism with these words of pure inertia: Wait until after the election and Bush is gone.

Stop the war? Wait. Stop the torture? Wait. Health care for kids? Wait. Stop the illegal wire-tapping? Wait. Yep, just wait until the election that’s still thirteen months away and the changing of the administration that’s nearly sixteen months away to deal with it all. And whatever you do: Do not wake the sleepers. Ah, the luxury of time…well, as long as you don’t mind all that blood on your hands.

Of course, the ultimate irony in this little game of “wait until after the election” and everything will be fine is that it rather perversely requires us all to not only stop thinking and acting in the name of democracy but also to stop remembering. For your political slumber to be really restful, for example, you have to forget that this little waiting game has never worked. Remember John Kerry? Al Gore? Michael Dukakis? Or, better yet, remember Bill Clinton? Yeah, he and his wife were going to give us all health care in – oh – 1992. But you don’t want to think about that, it might give you nightmares while you sleep.

So line up, America. Stick your tongues out and take the little pill from Hillary or Barack or Edwards or Rudy or Mitt. It’ll clear your mind. It’ll relieve that anxiety of having to think about ugly little things like genocide, torture, injustice, ecocide and the like. It’ll make you sleep. And the next thing you know, you’ll wake up in January 2009 and you’ll have that warm feeling of change around you. But it will probably be even better this time because you’ll be awaking to that familiar feeling of a Bush family member handing over the reins to a Clinton family member.

Sorry, but there’s no way around it my friends: Presidential campaigns are the opiates of the people. 

Filed Under: blog, national media, us politics, war & peace

Columbus & Blackwater

October 8, 2007 By Michael Colby Leave a Comment

Sorry, but it’s Columbus Day and I can’t stop thinking about Blackwater. And I finally figured out why: They’re one in the same. Columbus was the original rogue mercenary and Blackwater is simply the modern perfection of what he started: bullies running roughshod on foreign soil in the pursuit of obscene profits and the complete subjugation of the native people. So, Happy Blackwater Day!

But, don’t worry, the Bush administration has got the whole Blackwater thing under control. With a straight face and all the confidence in the world that the American public remains in a deep slumber, the Bush team announced on Saturday that they would be sending members of the State Department to monitor the activities of the Blackwater thugs. And the mainstream media ran with the story – sans laugh track – as if it really was a solution.

What the Bush team – and the media — forgot to tell you was that the State Department and Blackwater are about as synchronized and connected as your right hand is to your left hand. And boy do they love to clap together: Go team, go!

Blackwater receives, for example, most of its nearly billion dollar governmental income from…drum roll please…the State Department. So, when Bush announces that the State Deparment will be monitoring Blackwater, he’s basically announcing that the fox will be guarding the chicken coop.

It’s also not surprising that the Democrats don’t have much of a solution for the Blackwater mess, either. The best they’ve got so far is to propose that the total legal amnesty these Rambo-wannabes are acting under while in Iraq should be lifted. Well,  duh. But the Democratic proposals for lifting the amnesty remain mired in a Columbus-like mercenary haze, whereby the Blackwater thugs would be subject to U.S. law while serving in Iraq. Sorry, but that’s nothing but yet another slap to the face of the Iraqi people and the so-called sovereignty the U.S. government is pretending to give them.

Sure, lifting the legal amnesty for all mercenaries in Iraq is a must. It should be done today – if not yesterday. But if the Democratic-controlled Congress isn’t going to completely do away with the mercenaries all together, they need to make sure that these hired loose cannons are subject to IRAQI laws. That way, if they want to do the Iraqi crime, they can do the Iraqi crime. And I’ll bet the thought of sitting before an Iraqi judge and jury and the threat of a Baghdad prison will do a lot more to rein these folks in than the current so-called solutions to the Blackwater mess.

If, as the Bush administration and the Democratic enablers claim, things in Iraq are getting better, why not prove it by either letting the U.S. visitors being guarded by Blackwater security agents go unguarded or let the law-breaking mercenaries be among the first to test Iraq’s new judicial system?

Imagine if one of those Democratic presidential candidates would come out with something like that on Columbus Day? It would almost be like they were opponents to this war and the Bush administration’s nonsense. Imagine that.

Filed Under: blog, national media, us politics, war & peace

Thursday Morning Grab Bag

October 4, 2007 By Michael Colby 2 Comments

Here, my friends, are some quick hits before getting behind the horse. I thought I had timed the advent of this little adventure with the kind of wet and miserable weather that normally accompanies this season – thus keeping me out of the woods. Instead, we seem to be living in Northern California-like summer weather. Nice. But weird. I feel like I’ve got an extra two hours in my day now that I can’t complain about the weather.

It must suck to be a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party. It’s the gang that can’t shoot straight, for sure. If you could sneak a look at their internal playbook I swear it would read something like this: Find out what the Republicans are doing and then imitate it without the passion. Or the principles, I might add.

Take, for example, this new nonsense revolving around Rush Limbaugh. In what is clearly a “me too” move by the Democrats, 42 of the Senate ninnies signed onto a letter that condemned the big, fat blowhard for – what? – exercising his right to free speech. Take that!

It was, of course, a silly little payback for what both houses of Congress did to MoveOn last week when they actually PASSED resolutions to condemn that group for – yep – exercising its rights to free speech. Fine times we live in, my friends.

And I should remind my fellow Vermonters that Senator Leahy and Rep. Welch voted in favor of the MoveOn scolding. Shame on them. But, lucky for them, the Vermont media sits in their laps like well-manicured poodles, drooling over their every move and completely unwilling and/or unable to challenge them (and that goes for the so-called alternative publication, too). Ain’t incumbency grand!

But let’s get back to the he said/she said free speech condemnations. Pretend for a moment that you’re one of those party hack ninnies who likes this kind of stuff. If so, it must really suck to be on the Dem side of the aisle. I mean, come on, the Republicans managed to actually PASS a resolution in both houses of (Dem-controlled) Congress while the Dem response was a measly little letter. It’s embarrassing.

Worse, look at how the “victims” of this nonsense responded. MoveOn basically cowered while playing the victim – well, that and powering up their fundraising machine. But Limbaugh reveled in the attention, throwing haymakers to the chins of the Dems that made a hell of a lot of sense: “The Democrats are only attacking me to take the attention off of their complete failure to stop the war in Iraq.” By golly, the fat bastard’s got a point.

Notice, too, that when the Republicans got their panties in a knot about MoveOn, many Dems joined them in both the official votes and the smarmy rhetoric against the group. But when the Dems attacked Limbaugh, the Republicans DEFENDED Limbaugh. Imagine that.

Like I said at the beginning, it must suck to be a card-carrying member of the Dems.

Now let’s dispense with the sporting news. Here’s the correction of the week from the New York Times online edition:

“An earlier version of this article misstated the location of a 2005 sexual encounter between Stephon Marbury of the Knicks and a team intern. Marbury testified that it took place in his truck, not in the trunk of his car.”

Whew. Thanks for clearing that up. Because sex with an intern in a trunk is clearly unacceptable. But the truck? Go for it.

And since we’re on the topic of sports, let’s get my baseball playoff predictions out of the way: Anybody but the Yankees. Red Sox? Sure, they fit the criteria.

Headline of the week: “Bush Vetoes Children’s Health Bill” (N.Y. Times). Interesting, isn’t it, that when the Cro-Magnons in the White House finally decided to rein in federal spending, they targeted children’s health. There is apparently no end to their evil ways. Now if the Dems just had control of Congress they might be able to counter some of this nonsense. Oh wait, they do. Never mind.

Have you been to the Blackwater “Pro Shop” yet? Check it out here. Unbelievable. Well, make that: Creepy. But I’m going to order up my Blackwater t-shirts and caps soon for Halloween. You’ve been warned Montpelier…

VPR vs. WDEV: I wonder if the new changes at VPR – dumping the afternoon classical music in favor of news and talk programs has the folks at WDEV a bit nervous. I know my dial has been wandering away from the 550 AM slot this week as I peruse the new options. Mark Johnson should be safe in the morning. He is – well – Mark Johnson. And if you like pure comedy masquerading as politics, Beaudry should be okay, too. Let’s face it, the guy is hysterical. Sure, he doesn’t mean to be but he just is. The left in Vermont should thank their lucky stars that Beaudry is all the right has to offer up in the form of an hour-long commentary show. But, then again, the right wing is thanking their lucky stars that the left keeps dragging Pollina to the microphone. Of course, Beaudry and Pollina are both paying for their airtime so, as we all know by now, the only one really benefiting from these two meandering mouthpieces is WDEV owner Ken Squier. He’s no dummy. But given the fact that both shows now have some actual competition at VPR (from people who can actually complete sentences, too!), I’ll bet old Ken will be looking for some program upgrades of his own. Just a hunch.

Oops, I’m out of time. I’ll be back.

[Housecleaning news: I’ll be working on some of the links, tabs and pages that remain unworkable over the weekend. I’m all ears when it comes to feedback and suggestions. As you’ll notice, I’m allowing comments. So go for it. But if you can also write me directly by using the “contact” button at the top. All private correspondence (and tips!) will remain private and confidential unless I’m told otherwise.]

Filed Under: blog, us politics, vt media, vt politics
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