
There's been a great deal of shocked, shocked murmuring yet again by The Usual Suspects over the terrible incivility in the world of political bloggers — especially, it is implied, that part of the world inhabited by the non-righty bloggers.
Since we're all supposed to learn from our right-wing brethren and cistern about the wonders of morality, I am pleased as punch that Media Matters has put out this handy list of America's great public conservative moralists, along with representative samples of their pithy insights.
Fellow progressives, I urge you to study these sterling upholders of the Right-Wing Media Talker's Code:
First and foremost, we have the man who was the direct beneficiary of the overturning in 1987 of the wicked and secular-humanistic Fairness Doctrine, the father of right-wing gab radio and the spiritual ancestor of FOX News, Rush Limbaugh! The man who once told an African-American caller to "take the bone out of your nose" is still sharing his heartwarming observations on the races with us all; on a recent show in February, Mister Talent On Loan From God took issue with a Reuters report on a University of Chicago study that found that "a majority of young blacks feel alienated from today's government" when he commented: "Why would that be? The government's been taking care of them their whole lives." And in August of last year, he famously explained to viewers of the CBS reality show Survivor that blacks were bad swimmers and that Hispanics would do anything to win.
But of course Rush, pioneer in right-wing ethical standards-setting that he is, is not quite cutting-edge any more. For the past few years, FOX News' Bill O'Reilly has been leading the way in bringing conservative morality to America, particularly through our TV screens. Watch O'Reilly show us the wise, well-informed compassion he brings to everything he does, as he informs the female mayor of Virginia Beach, Virginia that her true career lies in baking pies. Career counseling was never so much fun — or so well grounded in bedrock Republican morality! O'Reilly also shows his expertise as a travel agent and defender of Christmas from the Jews Hollywood liberals, exhorting a Jewish caller to his show to "go to Israel" rather than remain in the US. And who could forget his expert snap diagnosis of the mental state of kidnapping victim Shawn Hornbeck?
While Bill O'Reilly may be today's leading exponent of the right-wing way of knowledge, Neal Boortz is a promising up-and-comer who has toiled in the fields of the conservative fringe until getting his big media break relatively recently. Once a speechwriter for the segregationist bigoted jackass great patriotic American Lester Maddox, Boortz shows that the intervening years have not tempered his passionate stances on racial, religious and gender matters. Marvel at his tasteful and conservatively-correct observations on Cynthia McKinney's hairstyle! Thrill as he sets straight that impudent hussy of a Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan — and gets in a few licks at Muslims, too! Gasp at his charming audacity as he muscles in on O'Reilly's career-counselor turf, urging a female victim of Hurricane Katrina to become a prostitute! Stand up and cheer as he gets in even more licks on Muslims! Truly a great conservative man.
Compared to these three giants of the right-wing, Glenn Beck is a comparative tyro, being still in his early forties. But he's already shown that he's not willing to concede anything to the Old Masters when it comes to the espousal of conservative doctrine. Watch his courteous and always-civil interview with Keith Ellison, in which not a single cuss word (so beloved of those uncivil liberal bloggers!) passes his lips. Beck shows his excellent range with a tour-de-force synopsis of Hillary Clinton, yet another takedown of those goldarn immoral Muslims, and a Boortzian chastising of Katrina victims and 9/11 families.
I know what you're saying: "But where's Ann Coulter?" Fear not, my little chickadees, America's most famous fibber about her age is on this list. Recently, she took that dangerously-well-groomed John Edwards to task, alerting him to the dangers of having a good haircut. Not to be outdone by Glenn Beck in the chastising of 9/11 widows, Coulter cuts loose with a moral authority that could have only come from such time-honored conservative stalwarts as John Derbyshire and Westbrook Pegler.
Next, we have George Will's spiritual child, the Heir to the Bow Tie himself, Tucker Carlson. When he isn't upbraiding Canadians over their moral and mental inferiority to Americans, he's informing us all about the secret cabal of mustachioed feminists that run the Democratic Party. He also can sometimes manage to seem sane if you don't listen too hard has broad mainstream appeal, which — combined no doubt with constant pressure from all the right groups, has got him a nice little gig with CBS. (At least until the show dies for lack of ratings.)
Finally, what list of great conservative American moralists would be complete without the addition of Michael Savage? The former Michael Weiner has managed to overcome his Jewishness East Coast upbringing and be a true force for anti-Semitic screechings principled conservatism. He shows his moral forcefulness when he casts bizarre and unwarranted aspersions on various media personalities.
There you have it, my friends: Our moral superiors, showing us and the world what makes them so much better than us. Doesn't it just make you want to embrace the conservative code? Like, really, really hard, anaconda style?



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PW!
…but…IOKIYAR!
where’s Melanie Morgan?
Um, April Fool’s Day was two weeks ago.
Oh wait, you mean this wasn’t a joke?
Nice reference list. Will come in handy.
Jane Hamsher @ 5
Thanks, though the fine folk at Media Matters did most of the heavy lifting.
‘Morning, everyone! Kinda a topsy-turvy day so far, eh?
Jane Hamsher @
5
But not this morning. I still have to eat breakfast, and I’d like to keep it down. The links will have to wait.
Thanks, PW! It’s dirty work, but someone’s got to do it.
OT Phoenix Woman,
Anything new up on the Palouse scandal in Minnesota?
Great list BTW Thanks
I need to wash out my eyes and ears. I may go back to Christie’s post for more wholesome thoughts.
Hi Pups,
Just listening to Wait Wait, and the question, “what should Don Imus do now?”
hmm.. maybe per Fitz’s mention, he should publish the “Imus Rules of Evidence” for Gonzo’s defense?
Jim Clausen @ 8
The biggest news is that it’s not just us DFH bloggers connecting the dots — the mainstream media’s on the case now.
PW, I thought you were going to write about how to recover deleted data with the title “Know the code.” You tricked me into reading about sewers and rats and things like that!
If I may be so bold, what we need to do is do the same thing to the goddam wingnuts. Beat them at their own game. When they’re marginalized to the deep south, we can raise the level of discourse.
Take the “non-fairness” doctrine and use it in exactly the same way. We can be “better than that” once we are back in the left seat. until then, we must use their tactics. It’s just that simple.
I still find myself wishing Lincoln had simply allowed the south to secede.
posaune @ 10
teeheehee
Guitar_Playing_Bastard @ 13
Amazed to find someone who agrees with me about Lincoln.
Gnome de Plume @
9
Speaking of last topic, saw your post about Gruene Hall. Wouldn’t it be a fun thing for a bunch of fire pups to get together at say a Gospel Brunch some month? Just thinkin’.
Don’t know if this has been posted already or not–I was going to post before going to the gym this morning, but the blog was down. Anyway, I think this post is worth checking out, and passing along to others as you see fit…
Take Back the Blog! March
Thanks, Phoenix Woman, and Media Mattaers, for continuing to expose the hypocrisy of individuals like Terry Jeffrey. I almost lost my lunch when he said, earlier in the week on The Situation Room, “Don Imus represents the decline in standards in American broadcasting.” Remembering this is causing me to lose my breakfast.
Michael Savage’s self-hating Jew life story has a weird similarity with that of “24″ producer Joel Surnow,
profiled in The New Yorker. You know, the family man who was with Rush when he was busted coming back from the Dominican Republic with a suitcase filled with little blue pills.
I’d like to see a “recipe” to follow for the next take down of one of the bigoted jerks listed above. What was it that allowed it to happen to Imus and how can we use that success to take down the ones who deserve even more?
I did notice that KO is wondering if Imus will come back bigger and better on another network. Will FAUX hire him as a balancing “liberal”?
eCAHNomics @ 15
Unfortunately, Lincoln had to deal with some problems within the family which prevented all that. Start with he and Jeff Davis both being born in Kentucky. Lincoln’s family went North, Davis’s went South. Lincoln’s BIL was a general in the Rebel army (Breckenridge). And so on. Just made it a mite uncomfortable I’m sure to actually do anything differently than he did.
Gnome de Plume @ 9
Sorry about that! I can offer you some cat pictures if you like.
dakine01, where are you? Close enough to Gruene to get together? The Austin Lounge Lizards are going to be playing at the Brauntex in NB sometime soon. That would be better than Gospel for me!
Gnome de Plume @
12
This IS the health code we’re talking about here, no?
dakine01 @ 16
Well, y’all better be havin’ some kind of get-togethers in five years. The Mrs. and I hope to be your Yankee neighbors.
Phoenix Woman @ 22
Thanks! I forgot that you do cat blogging. Atrios doesn’t anymore.
How come a bunch of clown faces extorting the virtue of ignorance get so much air-play and still be able to survive with their careers intact?
I always looked forward to the Bill Mahr show each week for a little sanity. Although I really liked his New Rules bit, he thinks that the Imus affair was uncalled for and that he did no wrong but was crucified by the press. I,m no longer going to look forward to the Bill Mahr Show.
Anyone hear that an attorney jumped out of the Empire State Buiding last night??
great post pheonix and it makes the point crystal clear
Imus was a hit job…he’s the only among the bunch that critisizes the administration
hit jobaroo imus was
and I believe he took my advice, he went directly to the girls he hurt, asked them to tell him about their pain, how he coiuld make it better
they gorgave him
retirin’ in five – some of us are
YankeesRed Sox here. We just keep quiet about it.That’s a Rogue’s Gallery of the Right’s “(Submissive-But-Over-Compensating) Voices of Dominance”.
To think Limbaugh draws 10 million trout-mouthed, gullible – but angry – listeners – and then proceeds to whip-up their thoughtless hate with ‘code-words’ to emphasize the need to ‘control’ the ‘enemy’ – their fellow citizens ‘on the left’ – is just a sad commentary on how the Politics of Hate keeps us divided amongst ourselves.
They’re all hypocrites, gloating out loud over their positions in the Food Chain of Slavish Worshipper’s of wealth, power and position – smugly secure in the crotch of the tyrant’s “loyalty model”.
They work for ‘the Man’ and they know it. They are living examples of ‘How to Get Ahead by Wearing Knee-Pads.’
But, they’re powerful because they ‘know the code’ and they keep it secret from the ’sheep’.
Mae @ 18
And of course Media Matters has a little file on Terry P. Jeffrey, too.
These guys are mostly glorified “morning zoo” shock jocks who hooked up with some wingnut-welfare group. And the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine made it possible for them to go national (as well as to further pollute morning AM and FM radio).
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said Saturday that a Democratic plan to set an end date for the war gives “our enemies the victory they desperately want.”
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s…..TE=DEFAULT
One wonders what these goats would have become if they’d had to actually work for a living at some point in their vacuous, pathetic existences. Then again, maybe one knows the answer: nothing.
Gnome de Plume @
20
my guess would be on XM or Serius, quite possibly on premium cable,
I thought this was gonna be another gaydar post!
Gnome de Plume @ 30
I didn’t mean those Yankees. I meant, you know, the Bluecoats, the Northerners. Or, are you sayin’ you’re a transplant from Beantown. (Sorry. I’m slow today from FDL lurk deficiency.)
Mutant Poodle @
2
Bless you, my child
;>)
Kudos, PW.
Imus is baby potatoes in maple gravy compared to this gallery of dogwhistling rogues.
By Zeus, every time one of these slippery eels slithers across the airwaves it’s all I can do to hold back a thunderhead of f*cking incivility.
perris @ 29
It’s so ironic that the tighty-righties are spinning themselves into new heights of self-contradictory bullshit over this one. It’s a rare moment when they’re not all on the same page.
Thinking about reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, I wonder if Pelosi and Reid have staff people assigned to keep the list of legislation that needs to be passed in the ‘09 session, once we a Democratic President back in office. There is soooo much to do to start righting this ship.
TeddySanFran @ 36
I’ve got what they call “Goydar.” I can spot a Gentile a mile away.
Gnome de Plume @
20
I dunno. “Hannity and Imus” really doesn’t scan all that well.
allan_in_upstate @
19
Isn’t Joel Surnow the ‘24′ producer who couldn’t be bothered to meet with the Commandant of West Point when he flew out to California to tell the teevee show’s executives they were warping his cadet’s young minds about torture’s effectiveness?
Phoenix Woman – your label “right-wing brethren and cistern” is outstanding. You have come up with a long list of great lines but this has to rank in the top 10%. Terrific!
Whew that was kinda scary having the site down for so long. Glad to see everybody.
ccmask @ 28
WH or DOJ?
………….sorry, that may come out as frightfully crass but it *was* the first thing that crossed my mind after hearing about those two who died under less than clear circumstances.
darkblack @ 38
Uh-huh. And the single best way to rein in those creeps?
Bring back the Fairness Doctrine.
That will immediately either shut them up or force them to give at least token “equal time” to a sane viewpoint, and thereby improve the quality of drive-time radio.
Eli @ 42
But what if Talk Radio Network pairs him with Michael Weiner? “Imus/Savage” is a perfect title for a right-wing radio show.
Rocket Scientist @ 44
Aw, geez, thanks.
How’s the rocket science going today?
EvilDrPuma @ 48
Pairing him with Coulter would work even better: “Ann/Imus”.
retirin’ in five @ 37
Both, RiF. I knew what you were saying. It is just that the Y word means nasty pinstripe uniforms and not carpetbags to me. I am such an “old” fan that Y stands for Yaz, not that evil team in the big city. ;-)
Eli @ 50
How about a triple bill? “Ann/Imus/Savage.”
The way to stop shock shlock is via the advertisers. The almighty $ drives advertisers. As one pundit said on NPR, advertisers don’t have red and blue values. They only value green.
Reward advertisers with viewership and business when they place civil discourse in play. Boycott (and let them know) when they don’t.
Eli @ 50
how about ImanAnus?
Re: Anacondas…
The Photoshop potential of this remark is intriguing.
I’ll never see Ann Coulter’s name without getting an immediate mental picture of TRex’s Photoshopped image of Coulter with her mouth replaced by that of a lamprey. If it weren’t so damn scary I’d post a link to it.
EvilDrPuma @ 52
I think you mean “Savage/Ann/Imus”.
Waccamaw @ 46
Me too, at first. Can’t find the story anymore–it was on the Daily News homepage this am
ccmask @ 33
But he’d *never* call our patriotism into question though – right?
ccmask @ 57
http://nydailynews.com/news/20…..orror.html
Eli @ 56
It can work either way. Imus’ name offers immense marketing flexibility.
To BushCo, we are his enemies.
ccmask @ 57
Here ya go.
Man jumps to death from 69th floor
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c…..cation=rss
ccmask @ 61
They’re not wrong.
Eli @ 56
Ding! Ding! Ding! I think we have a winner.
Well. Mr. Rove may finally be doing something of which I approve. He’s blaming his foibles on his own political party. I just love how these GOP’ers take individual responsibility for their own misdeeds. As in Libby, etc.
WASHINGTON, April 13 — Karl Rove, the chief political strategist for President Bush, did not intentionally delete e-mail messages to avoid creating a paper trail detailing his work, his lawyer said on Friday. Rather, he mistakenly thought that the messages were being preserved by the Republican National Committee.
Phoenix Woman @ 47
That, and targeting the advertisers. “Is this really the viewpoint that your corporation holds?”
One item that hasn’t been addressed (at least in the circles I travel) is the existing corporate culture that propagates attitudes such as this, and throws their weight behind political candidates who use such support in their quest for power.
It really is more pervasive than some think.
OT certainly, but in case you haven’t seen this (via Cannonfire): http://dedicationtopinkpenn.lustfulutterances.com
A dominatrix will reveal in her book to be published July 6th (Deciderer’s birthday) her mid-80s BDSM affair with Bush and Victor Ashe. Hope she has corroborating evidence (though I would prefer it not be photographic).
Gnome — yeah, damn those ‘Yankees’, not the rest of us. (Sorry, NYC.) Wife’s bootin’ me off the tubes so she can grade papers. I’ll be lurkin’ in the mornin’. Be advised Marion, Twolfster.
Eli @ 63
Gosh…I never looked at it that way–you’re right! lol
Thanks for the linky, gang……….I think. You really have to wonder what set of circumstances would drive someone to such a sad end.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 65
cornered rat syndrome. Or cornered piggie in his case…..though really I would not insult any animal by applying it as an adjective to Rove.
ccmask @ 69
However, the distinction that they seem unable (unwilling) to make is that “enemies” do not necessarily equal “terrorists”.
Another brilliant Republican.
Here was Rudy Giuliani this week in a speech in California. No one much noted it — he was lucky it was subsumed by the Imus wave. But this is how Mr. Giuliani opened a speech to citizens considering his candidacy for the American presidency. “Thank youse all very much for invitin’ me here tuh-day, to this meeting of the families from different parts’a California.”
From Time: Gates Angry, Bush Ambushed by Leak
The Pentagon’s never been able to keep a secret, but top officials were really steamed this week when some unknown defense official tipped off the press to the impending announcement that Army troops would be spending more time in combat zones. In an ideal world, commanders want to be able to tell their combat units, in their own way, that they won’t be going home as early as they hoped. Instead, Army grunts got the bad news via the Internet after it leaked prematurely to reporters Tuesday night.
snip
Just hours before the news leaked out, President Bush complained about Democratic congressional foot-dragging that has held up approval of a $120-billion-plus supplemental war bill. “The bottom line is this: Congress’s failure to fund our troops will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines,” Bush told an American Legion audience in suburban Virginia. The next day, his Pentagon did it all by itself, without any help from anyone of either party on Capitol Hill.
more at the link…
http://www.time.com/time/natio…..87,00.html
A stand up comic named Barry Crimmins once told me, if being “politically correct” means that I am no longer talking like a racist, sexist, homophobe, then I guess I’m politically correct.
There needs to be some sort of term that applies to the right wing when they apply their own speech doctrine.
What is it when you can’t criticize the president, American policy, religious extremists, the rich and powerful elite? When you need to use the word “homicide bomber”, when you must say “God bless America”, when you must say “personal accounts” instead of “privatizing social security”?
-GSD
It’s all about the advertisers.
I haven’t the slightest doubt that advertiser-bailing (in a mad dash to the exits the likes of which has rarely been seen) is what did Imus in.
I would hazard a guess that a lot of them are now ACUALLY LISTENING to the shows they sponser.
GSD @ 75
The terrorists, winning.
believe that is the enigma encryption machine up top –
1 of last engima codes ‘broken’ by folks using distributed computing :)
lets see, bunches of far flung, unrelated folks get together on line and solve mysteries . . .hmmm where have we seen this before ?
:)
ccmask @ 28
Ms. Redshift is a big fan, but listening to the wingers he has on pisses me off too much, and she doesn’t like it when I can’t resist talking back at the TV. But I had to work on something in the living room when she was watching last night, so I caught some of it, and I agree, Maher, was way off last night. (Free speech, my ass! Like Harry Shearer said, if the First Amendment gives you the right to a TV show, I want mine!)
I thought it was kind of sad, however, listening to little Scottie McClellan continue to spout the talking points. I think if I’d been there, I would have said “you don’t have a podium, we don’t have to listen to you lie to us any more.”
darkblack @ 77
The Republicans, whining. (I know, same difference.)
Thank you, Phoenix Woman. I am properly chastened and have seen the error of my ways. I’m so glad we have these shining lights of civility and morality to show us the way!
I notice things are going quite well in Iraq today. Right on course to victory.
AP – A car bomb blasted through a busy bus station near one of Iraq’s holiest shrines Saturday, killing at least 37 people, police and hospital officials said.
George Bush: The world’s greatest living terrorist.
Redshift: Mahr told Scottie he didn’t have spew the talking points anymore–in fact, he said it twice to him. And dear Scottie must have hated the ending too–you could tell by his face. But the free speech bill pisses me off. He musta owed Imus something.
Redshift @ 79
Maher can be *so* good sometimes, especially when he’s bashing the preznit. His open letter to Dubya, observing that he really didn’t look like he was enjoying the job and that it was time for him to do what he always does and walk away and find a new fantasy job like cowboy or spaceman, was brilliant.
He also had a great piece in yesterday’s Salon about the unqualified religious fanatics taking over the government.
EvilDrPuma @ 80
Al Quaeda = blue collar terrorists
Government of Pakistsan = narco-terrorists
The Federalist Society = white collar terrorists
Oklahoma kiddo @ 83
Actually, he’s pretty lousy as a terrorist, too. If the objective of terrorism is to produce desired political change by creating an atmosphere of fear, Bush has hardly succeeded on an international scale.
Rocket Scientist @ 64
Weiner/Coulter/Revolter?
Savage has got to be the worst on radio, Beck the worst on TV. And every town of a quarter million or more has at least one of their own local AM radio state fascist drivetime hate jocks. In Anchorage, all four – that’s right, a town of 300,000 with four homebrew Rightwing radio blowhards – were shocked about Imus. Their common thread was that all this was to distract the people from the real crime of the week, the victimization of the Duke lacrosse team and the perfidy of the woman who accused them.
The airwaves belong to the public-no one should be able to use a public utility as a weapon against other citizens. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine!
finally thought Maher was catching up to Left Blogistan learning curve, esp this season to date . . .and then I heard him bash Media Matters
Gnome de Plume @
23
San Antonio about a mile from the airport. Thought about the brunch mainly cuz it’s only about 10-12 bucks.
EvilDrPuma @ 87
No, not on an international scale…
Ed*ard Teller @ 88
Wow, when all those people were complaining about my Imus post being a distraction from the *real* news, I thought they were talking about something completely different…
The impression here is that the people of Iraq, Iran and perhaps Palestine are fairly terrified of what our president might do next.
Eli @ 92
Domestically, I agree. I just hope the next wave of political leadership is wise enough to dismantle everything this administration has instituted, post haste. Waiting is just letting it get more entrenched.
dakine01 @
91
Gnome–LTNS
Darkine, didn’t know you were here in SA, too. I’m out near UTSA. Drive through your area all the time, going to work.
Gnome de Plume @
30
Reds fan first THEN Red Sox (lived in Waltham, and so NH). I was probably the only Reds fan within 150 miles of Boston during ‘75 world series. Watched the sixth game from a little private club in Everet – I thnk the HR was about only reason I was allowed out alive. That plus they knew I must be nuts to cheer for reds that deep in RS nation.
ccmask @
84
Bill is on the waiting list to become a full-fledged member of the club.
-GSD
Oklahoma kiddo @ 94
They’re also actively resisting it. That’s not what terrorism tries to achieve.
On Imus be going now
Former Rev Gov Huckabee (R-AR) says it’s a free speech issue…and Tom Delay blames Rosie…
Is it free speech when you get paid millions to say it over public air space? And how did Rosie invade Don Imus body, Tom?
Ed*ard Teller @
88
Those upsatanding young lads who were yelling racist epithets at an exotic dancer while drunk?
-GSD
If we nuke Iran, that will probably start WWIII. Now that’s frightening.
GSD @ 75
I’m convinced that the ones who have kept “political correctness” alive are the conservatives. I was in college when it was first created (and I thought it was really stupid then) but not long after, it became a right-wing thing — “if it wasn’t for this political correctness, nobody would have a problem with my racist/ethnic/sexist slur.” I even had a conservative boyfriend of a friend of mine tell me that it was just “political correctness” that made me object to his friends saying things that (while not racist/sexist) were insulting to the majority of people in the room that they were speaking to.
Bullshit. I was old enough to pay attention to the news 70s when government officials and media figures got fired for making an ethnic slur or telling a racist joke. “Politically Correct” started in the 80s. It never controlled anyone’s behavior outside of college campuses, but it quickly became fashionable for conservatives and bigots to pretend that it did, and that they were just “rebels” against these oppressive forces.
“Political correctness” has nothing to do with it. Bigotry is bigotry.
N=1 @ 53
The problem is that the right wing has well-funded big-ass “think tanks” that serve as pundit hatcheries. They’re willing to lose billions of dollars to get what they want: Total control of how we see reality.
Look how much money Moon’s lost on the Washington Times. Look at how FOX News didn’t even start to be profitable until around 2003 — seven years after it was launched. Look at how many millions were spent on grooming Limbaugh before he started making a profit for them. No normal business enterprise is allowed to bleed that much cash before it’s axed.
They’ve been doing this for decades, as part of William Simon’s plan to take over not just the media, but our schools and universities — any entity that is an arbiter of objective reality. The goal, of course, is to make it so that right-wing bias is taught as “reality”.
That’s why they wanted the Fairness Doctrine gone. With it in place, they might have tons of money to push their little far-right hatchlings onto the radio, but they would have had to do equal time for sane viewpoints.
White men using racist and sexist slurs against college women=free speech.
Independant female bloggers connected to the Edwards campaign using dirty language and criticizing the Catholic church…..fire them!
-GSD
Eureka Springs @ 100
Bingo. The First Amendment guarantees nobody an audience…and while some court decisions back in the pre-WWII era may have said that the airwaves are public, they are in effect corporate property. That makes this essentially a marketplace issue, but the GOP hates it when the “free” market doesn’t do what they want it to do.
dakine01 @ 91
Where is this brunch? I have a vague recollection of it.
Last week, one of the local AM radio wingnuts was claiming that the USAtty scandal was an attempt by Dems to keep the attys from stopping rampant voter fraud. I called, countering that the DOJ has spent ten times more effort suppressing African-American and Latino voting than they have spent investigating the anthrax mailings. Got cut off.
The cognitive dissonance you are experiencing is being created by the conflict between a principled progressive patriotism versus a bunch of gangsters who will say or do anything to win.
Ed*ard Teller @ 108
Gee, and here I thought part of the problem was that some USAs had told the truth about not being able to find any “rampant voter fraud.” (At least we know they weren’t checking up on Ann Coulter.) Verily, the wingnuts live in a topsy-turvy world.
Redshift @ 103
“Political correctness” may have meant something once. But now it’s pretty much the wingnut term for what everyone else calls “common decency”.
Hi LJ! Haven’t talked to you in awhile!
Oklahoma kiddo @
94
So that’s something we have in common.
It’s difficult to fight people who aren’t limited by reality.
From Merriam-Webster for “terrorism”… the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. If we’re not trying to coerce the peoples of Iran, then what are we (our government) trying to do?
“Terror” from Merriam Webster… a state of intense fear.
Ed*ard Teller @ 108
Yes, the perpetual victimhood of the privileged classes.
Remember, it’s OK to carp about “welfare queens” but if you talk about disproportional executive salaries you are engaging in “class warfare”.
It’s OK to complain about “affirmative action promoting unqualified people based on their race” but don’t ever call Condi Rice incompetent because that is racist.
It’s OK to talk about minority voter fraud but if you talk about disenfranchised voters you are a race-baiter.
And so it goes.
-GSD
ccmask @ 84
Actually, it occurs to me that he’s probably hypersensitive on that point — his previous show was canceled because of a furor over a remark he made on the show. I’m disappointed that he can’t see the difference between attacking innocent people and just saying something that gets people upset, but his entire career is predicated on saying outrageous things and getting away with it, so I don’t think there’s any need to look for a hidden explanation.
Renee up @17
Thanks for mentioning Take Back the Blogs. It’s really interesting to see how much it’s been ignored.
What Kos said about Sierra was…not good, especially given his history.
Alicia @ 81
‘Now be a good little progressive and go bake some hash brownies‘
;>)
Gnome de Plume @ 107 asks:
Gruene Hall has a “Gospel Brunch with a Texas Twist” second Sunday each month (except January). It’s a full buffet catered by the Grist Mill. I went once last summer and it was excellent.
Gnome de Plume @ 112
Ha, had major router issues for a while there, and been catching up ever since. How’s it been?
Rocket Scientist @
64
Imussavageann?
PW@103
You are absolutely correct. And that underlies another reason to teach critical thinking, public speaking and debate in public schools. The more the public is taught what the detection tools are of objective disinterested reporting vs. editorializing, sensationalizing and biasing, the easier it will become to expose those “think tanks” which need to be scrubbed to rid them of their GOP-fish bowl green, smelly slime of hatred and divisiveness. Thanks-
Speaking of wingnuts
Huckabee Defends Imus
Oklahoma kiddo @ 115
Coercion requires both stimulus and response. What the US and Britain are doing is attempted coercion, not successful coercion. Iran is not doing what they want it to do.
dakine01 @ 120
Gruene Hall has a “Gospel Brunch with a Texas Twist” second Sunday each month (except January). It’s a full buffet catered by the Grist Mill. I went once last summer and it was excellent.
Oooh, I love the Grist Mill. Such a beautiful setting, and their lemonade is excellent.
Millineryman @ 124
Huckabee has no clue what is and is not covered under the umbrella of “free speech.” Good reason not to vote for him, as if we needed any more.
Great post!
darkblack @ 119
Aaaarrrgggghh! I ate the brownies, and I saw Glenn Beck looking like creepy Uncle Pervy!
Dan Schorr on NPR on Imus this morning – “reached the point where people had to ask ‘what are we doing here’” Followed by Scott Simon bringing up the Duke LaCrosse team – WTF? Schorr just nodding on, letting Simon make this some kind of comparison. Listening to Schorr then talking about the war, making little sense for most of a minute, then almost getting eloquent on “how long, how many more?”
Radio – a mere shadow of what it once was.
Whatever.
Once you’ve made Nixon’s Enemies List, I think you can call yourself a success. Schorr is right on most of the time.
Scott Simon, inspired by Huckabee, calling for Obama to “return 1.3 million dollars to David Geffen.” WTF? How much is Hillary paying Scott Simon?
Sex, money and neocons
The World Bank must get rid of Wolfowitz if it wants to prioritise the fight against poverty
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm…..58,00.html
N=1 @ 123
Pay attention to who’s on your local school boards. In addition to setting up wingnut indoctrination camps like Regent University (the alma mater of so many young Bushies like Monica Goodling), Pat Robertson’s got a longstanding drive to get Fundies on the school boards. Since few people know/care about school board elections, it’s easy for Fundies to win places on these boards.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 131
No, not “whatever.” The dictionary gives conventional meanings, sometimes for words that have more specialized usages. “Terrorism” has more specific meanings in the political realm–or did have before the wingnuts started using it to mean whatever the hell they wanted it to mean in public discourse.
We benefit from using words to mean things. Your usage is too emotionally charged, and therefore inaccurate.
Sorry, I wandered away for a moment. (Bad Gnome!) Gospel Brunch in my own backyard and I’ve never been. We ought to try to get a Pup brunch together. Next month, the brunch falls on Mother’s Day. In June I will be in Dallas for a wedding. July Anybody?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 134
A-yep.
The primary problem with public schools today is the parents.
EvilDrPuma @ 136
So write a better dictionary.
He also
can sometimes manage to seem sane if you don’t listen too hardhas broad mainstream appeal, which — combined no doubt with constant pressure from all the right groups, has got him a nice little gig with CBS. (At least until the show dies for lack of ratings.)How many shows is bow-tie boy up to now? I think he’s been from CNN to PBS to MSNBC to now CBS in just a few years. Of course he can’t (or maybe won’t) go to Fox, much as he might belong there (honestly, I don’t think he does). Oh, y’all didn’t know that Tuck has “issues” with Fox, since his days on CNN? Maybe because he was defending telemarketers, the other person said, “if they’re so great, give them your number,” and Tucker, in an inspired moment of insanity, gave the number for Fox New’s Washington Bureau. As a joke.
Fox didn’t take it as a joke. They got swamped with calls. So what did they do? (they wouldn’t… Oh yes they would) They released his unlisted phone number, without regard to what that might mean for his wife and kids. This really happened.
You know something is bad when it makes you feel sorry for Tucker.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 131
I am inching towards uncertainty about this?
Ed*ard Teller @ 133
She might not even be needing to pay him. The media elite want Hillary to win the Democratic nomination because she’s the one that the Republicans have the best chances of beating.
Phoenix Woman @ 47
I agree that the Fairness Doctrine was an important part of the media environment in the pre-hate radio days, but I’m not convinced that it’s a magic bullet. I think it requires a certain amount of good faith on the part of broadcasters that is gone now. I mean, Faux News has “fair and balanced” as their slogan, are they ever going to admit they need any other viewpoints to be “fair”?
Was there ever an enforcement mechanism that judged the content in the old days? I don’t think so. As I recall, it was generally satisfied by having short segments where viewers could respond to commentary, and because broadcasters understood what it meant and kept their programming fairly middle-of-the-road. Unless I’m mistaken, it didn’t require that a program with a political viewpoint be balance by another program.
Now we’d have Fox claiming that Alan Colmes is enough, and Rush saying that anyone can call in and present an opposing viewpoint. We’d have people like Ken Tomlinson hiring consultants who classify Henry Rollins as “conservative” because he talked about his USO tour.
Something like the Fairness Doctrine, enforced by an honest administration, might be able to deal with the evil that is hate radio. But the difficulty in today’s environment is the enforcement, not the principle.
The whole Imus matter, dead horse and all, is interesting in how it shows there is much about the poltical discourse of the day that is all over the map.
There are many who lament the loss of “liberal” Don Imus, how it is a conservative accomplishment to have his supposed anti-Bush voice silenced.
But there are also the Tom Delays and the Huckabees who are claiming it was a “liberal hit job”.
It is quite funny.
-GSD
Oklahoma kiddo @ 139
I disagree to some extent. I see the problem as being that the politicians who run the school systems have never accepted the fact that they have to educate everyone. No longer do they get to have only a middles class white student body that comes from the same background as they do. They have to deal with problems that in days long gone they could either ignore or leave to a different district or school system.
conservapedia definition of terrorism:
when they blow up things.
conservapedia definition of the war on terror:
when we blow up things.
Phoenix Woman @ 143
The elite wouldn’t be so upset about a Hillary Clinton presidency either….Her husband worked out quite well for them.
-GSD
GSD @ 144
It’s called projection.
They want to portray liberals as the gang-that-couldn’t-shoot-straight.
This from the circular firing squad of flying monkeys.
what was oreily doing in el salvador,research his past there,could you watch women and childern old people be tortured and murdered,as the dear departed col. hackworth once had an old sargent tell him, the bastard with a machine gun shooting civilians was the one to send to hell.audie.
Gnome de Plume @ 137
July works for me. :) Just don’t take my picture. I’m paranoid. Just so you know.
allan_in_upstate @ 149
I’m sure they’ll use their own confusion as proof that we liberals can’t even make up our minds about whether Imus is one of us or not.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 136
having one of those weeks, are we?
Eureka Springs @ 142
Tee-hee. ;0)
OldCoastie @ 153
;0)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 152
Is there provision of Godwin’s Law that allows a Nazi reference as long as it refers to Germans?
German army up to their old tricks again?
-GSD
Gnome de Plume @ 146
I’m certainly no expert in the matter. ;0)
Phoenix Woman @ 135
Before the state elections a couple of years ago, a friend of mine heard there was a little book that had been written year ago by a wingnut who is now a state rep. (Unfortunately, we weren’t able to locate a copy.) It was a guide for fundamentalists trying to infiltrate the political system, telling them how to hide their true beliefs and start running for things like school board, and basically lie about who they were until the got to a level where they had some serious influence, and then government properly “Kreestian.”
So that’s some of how we got to where we are now. Of course, that was written years ago, now they just run openly.
OKK -
are you teaching middle school?
I’m in elementary and even there, spring has really sprung…
creeper @
55
How would we know the difference? ;-)
Thank goodness the server(s) did not go down last night, we had quite the cross- border party going on TRex’s blog … and his chicken brethren only came up once (or twice).
LJ/Aquaria @ 151
What? You are afraid of being seen with a gnome? Don’t worry, I always forget my camera, even when I am supposed to be the photographer. HOWEVER, I do have a photographic memory. ;-) I will put brunch down on the calendar and as we near the date I will put out a call for all firepups in the area to show up and break bread together.
LJ/Aquaria @
118
I posted a link last night to a response that Chris Clarke did over at Pandagon. VERY enlightening.
Gnome de Plume @ 146
And that brings in the resource issue. We have a lot of districts here in Texas that simply don’t get funded right because people leave the districts because the schools are, er, integrated too much, which makes the tax base plummet, which makes the schools deterioriate, which makes more people leave, which makes the tax base plummet, which… Well, we know where this vicious cycle is headed.
Then there’s where the state funds are allocated. Did you know that, until about 15-20 years ago, South Texas had zero state universities? I’m talking about an area from Houston to San Antonio, across to Laredo. Draw a line. No state universities below that line. Maybe one or two junior colleges, and even those might have been private. Why no funding? Well, gee, who might live down there? Hm. A whole lot of people named Rodriguez and Gonzales and Garcia. Think their local school districts were preparing them for college? Think again. Most of those kids had it hard enough, without having to worry about the costs of going away to school, too. Texas just shuffled them through the public school system and thought that was good enough.
It took a lawsuit for a huge swath of our state to get even a modicum of equal educational opportunity. It was a disgrace.
Gnome de Plume @ 162
Nah. I just have this unnatural fear of cameras. I really do.
LJ/Aquaria @
151
Will be there with bells on (figuratively speaking of course)…
Gnome de Plume @ 146
I’ve long thought that the reason so many politicians are perpetually on about our “declining” public schools (the honest ones, that is, not the wingnuts who secretly want to destroy them) is that almost all of them went to good public schools, and had no exposure to any other kind until they were elected and had to deal with them. So when presented with evidence of schools that are much worse than the one they went to, it’s easier to decide that “the schools” have gone downhill that to accept that you were very privileged, and a lot of your fellow citizens were in bad schools then, too.
LJ/Aquaria @ 165
Me, I don’t have a soul to lose – I just look like crap.
dakine01 @ 163
Yeah, thanks. Wasn’t that beautiful?
Iwiwus (sp?) posted Chris’s essay over at Kos. It’s been…enlightening.
Eli @ 168
Now Eli… You know you’re adorable. I’ve told you that a billion times.
about codes…. ;)
The MSM’s focus on the technical aspects of email retrieval really brings out my inner wonk…
But their focus on the shiny techy object…
Ignores the simple fact that the telecomm megacorps take the feed containing our phone/net traffic, duplicate the signals, and route the “duplicate” off to the NSA/spook world.
The telecomm megacorps copy all the traffic on their high speed cables and give it to the NSA.
By pre-Patriot Act law, the NSA is already authorized to capture, record, and analyze all electronic traffic going crossing the US’ national borders.
So all the Blackberry users (with the ‘berries Canadian root) share every message with the NSA.
Under the Echelon project:
(A)…” report [35] published by STOA in January 1998 refers to the role played by the ECHELON network in electronic surveillance (see [8] for a list of links to this subject). It is a global network which can intercept all telephone, fax or e-mail communications.”
IANA spook, but even MSM know the WH must use secure Federal phone lines to prevent interception.
All the non-WH traffic went through the NSA/spook/Ecehlon data vacuums.
The blogosphere (on FDL!) picked this weeks ago, and we’ve been writing about it on the Lake ever since.
Commenters from the Lake have shared the info at TPM, so the concepts are diffusing…
But they bear repeating:
Congress’s official subpoena powers allow the Senate and House to demand these records pursuant to their oversight role and their investigation of Contempt of Congress and other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Data, meet subpoena power.
_______________________________________________
[citation above from the massive official STOA report prepared for the European Parliament: “Development of Surveillance Technology and Risk of Abuse of Economic Information (an appraisal of technologies of political control).
STOA also has a nifty section on chemical weapons (aka “tear gas” and other fatal “non-lethal” crowd control technologies.
The communications intercept data above is from only one portion of the STOA report, which is an amazing and neglected resource.
Written in the late 90’s, the full draft report has been most prescient in describing the physical means developed to suppress popular opinion and public will over the last decade.
The table of contents may be tempting:
Abstract
Executive Summary
Acknowledgements
Table of Charts and Figures
1 Introduction 1
2 Role and Function of Political Control Technologies 3
3 Recent Trends and Innovations 6
4 Developments in Surveillance Technology 15
5 Innovations in Crowd Control Weapons 22
6 New Prison Control Systems 40
7 Interrogation, Torture Techniques and Technologies 44
8 Regulation of Horizontal Proliferation 53
9 Conclusions 59
10 Notes and References 60
11 Bibliography [Separate file (85K); Zip-compressed version 32K] 73
Appendix 1. Military, Security & Police Fairs. [Not provided with report]
_______________________________________
Read ‘em and weep pups.
And then let’s return to codes.
Let’s get the Federal Criminal Codes enforced and the Bushies out of power.
And then re-write the Federal Codes the Bushies created to destroy our Republic.
The STOA report described one future.
Together, we’ll write a far better one – and live it.
[Mod Note; in the future, fewer links in a single comment will avoid the spam filters.]
Eli @ 168
Try being someone who looks like his coffee mug. Or like this 8}) (bald, glasses, handlebar ’stache)
Eli @ 168
Just put on a hat. That makes everyone look good. Look at Drudge . . .
Dude! You’re the guy from “Mythbusters”, right?
Gnome de Plume @ 172
Ew… Although I guess there’s a point to be made about how he must look better with the hat than without it. besides, I’m afraid of what will fly out of there if he takes it off.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin…..ref=slogin
WH to compromise with judiciary over picking someone to retrieve emails.
lolo
Imus would still be on air if he hadn’t pretended that his show was a forum for serious political and social discourse. He shoulda remained a shock jock. Like Icarus, he reached up, and fell hard.
LJ/Aquaria @ 169 says:
Iwiwus (sp?) posted Chris’s essay over at Kos. It’s been…enlightening.
I wondered if that were you posting. The name is not all that common. I actually use my real first name over there for some reason.
OldCoastie @ 160
I do two periods a day of 5th grade math and science. The rest of my day consists of high school science, math and English. ;0)!
Wisconsin USA Biskupic is now defending his record as a USA.
He’s going to be doing what a whole lot of USA’s are going to have to do. Defend their integrity in the face of being labeled “loyal Bushies”.
I’m innocent!
-GSD
OK, gotta leave now. Have company coming at 4:00. The house was clean yesterday, but those T-storms reinvigorated the mud and now my own little 100 pound “puppies” have tracked great clumps through my house. Thank goodness for tile floors . . .
LJ/Aquaria @ 170
Would that it were so. But thank you for being a sweetheart, and I’m sure I would be absolutely right if I had the opportunity to say the same of you.
(Wow, that was convoluted even for me…)
darkblack @ 118
I think he might benefit from hash brownies.
dakine01 @ 177
I wondered if that were you posting. The name is not all that common. I actually use my real first name over there for some reason.
Yeah, tis moi. I don’t use my real name in forums, ever. Too many bad experiences.
GSD @ 179
Yeah, too bad we all know he’s full of sh*t. I love how the appeals court didn’t just say new trial but directed acquittal and called BS on the total lack of case for that one woman.
LJ/Aquaria @ 174
I only wear a hat when my hair is less than a quarter-inch long, or there is absolutely no possibility that I will have to take it off until I get home.
Eli @ 181
You sound depressed. Everything okay?
Scott Simon is another pretentious boob. Most of his show consists of inane interviews. He himself doesn’t say much. His questions are elementary, and throughout his show he says again and again: “Thanks for being with us.” He also doesn’t articulate well. I have to turn up the volume to hear him. He sorta muzzles his words.
Gnome de Plume @
146
The primary problem with public education is No Child Left Behind. By 2013 all children must be Proficient (B average)or the schools face “sanctions”. Yup, even special ed students.
The plan, of course, is to then have vouchers parents to take their kids to private schools, which are not required to test the kids. It’s just nuts.
Biodun @ 176
I blame Lieberman.
About to leave for the day, but I love Al Franken & just had to post this.
Video of Al not giving an inch on Glenn Beck, the same way he never backed off on Limbaugh or O’Reilly on his radio show:
Al Franken to CNN: Fire Glenn Beck
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..id=topnews
Administration Seeks to
Expand Surveillance law
LJ/Aquaria @ 186
I do?
*checks real quick*
Yeah, I’m actually pretty damn good, for serious.
Oklahoma kiddo @
158
I will say as a parent that when parents show appreciation to the teachers and their child’s education, everyone benefits. As parents, we have to ensure that our children go to school prepared to learn … not be focused on what they wear, who has an iPod, etc.
Education begins in the home – teaching kids to be respectful, attentive, cooperative … and many parents do not bother to inculcate this in their children.
I meet teachers all the time, who have Masters’ degrees in child development, behavior, etc. and they say that within 1 month, they know what kind of home the child comes from.
LJ/Aquaria @ 183
Yeah, tis moi. I don’t use my real name in forums, ever. Too many bad experiences.
I have a real common name but use only my first name over there. And given that I’m a man, as Chris so eloquently pointed out, I usually don’t have to deal with quite so many idjits as women have to deal with. I’[m sharing a house with three others who are varying degrees of wing-nuts from true ditto heads to a basic libertarian. The last is my best friend fromcollege and we long ago forgave each other for being D/R and Lib/Con and so forth. But we also don’t talk the politics too much other than occasional pointed comments on my part when the inconsistencies and hypocrisy get a bit too much.
Yeah, you do. But it’s been so long since we’ve “talked” that maybe I’m out of practice with reading you. If you’re doing good, I’m happy for you. :)
Loo Hoo @ 189
I dislike ‘no child left behind’. Intensely. ;0)
Loo Hoo @ 188
their plan is to eventually eliminate that too
they want only the wealthy sending their kids to school, no education for the masses
this is the federalist vision
pay for everything, pay for school, water, police, every road to be owned by someone else, every drop you drink
everything
dakine01 @ 194
You really are a Texan then! :)
OT–
From the NYTimes today:
Huh?
Biodun @ 199
McCain has admitted to having no Plan B before, though I don’t have any links handy. From detesting him for whoring, my opinion has now changed to feeling sorry for the poor lost soul. Not sure whether that’s a snark or sincere!
Biodun @ 199
Does he have a plan C?
Ed*ard Teller @
147
Oh – this must explain why the DOE wants to explode 450 lbs of depleted uranium into dust...only miles from the aquaducts and vast ag lands of the San Joaquin Valley.
The Valley and the huge open channels carrying water to farms and LA taps are ten to twenty miles east of the DU
dispersal“test” sites.The test site (Livermore) is at the south end of a range of hills supporting crops of wind turbine farms.
You can see them driving over the Altamont Pass into the Bay Area.
Spinning in the prevailing wind…
The westerlies that steadily blow…
Carrying the DU onto the water system and farms that feed America’s tables.
Bon Appetit!
OKK @ 197 says
I dislike ‘no child left behind’. Intensely. ;0)
If they spent as much time on the planning as they do on ‘naming’ their initiatives, …
Hi lolo. I love your links because I can come back to the same spot here. Many links put be way back in the line-up…
From: Petrocelli @194…
I will say as a parent that when parents show appreciation to the teachers and their child’s education, everyone benefits. As parents, we have to ensure that our children go to school prepared to learn … not be focused on what they wear, who has an iPod, etc. Education begins in the home – teaching kids to be respectful, attentive, cooperative … and many parents do not bother to inculcate this in their children. I meet teachers all the time, who have Masters’ degrees in child development, behavior, etc. and they say that within 1 month, they know what kind of home the child comes from.
;0)!
FYI, Blue America thread upstairs
LJ/Aquaria @ 198
Actually born and raised in the Bluegrass. Moved here last summer from outside Tampa where I’d been sharing a house with the same friend. I’ve been out of work for 3 years now (wonderful economy? I don’t eff’ing THINK so). Thought jobs might be a little more plentiful here but still nothing yet. I’ve lived all over the country (always moved to new job/project – especially when employer paid for it. REALLY hate living in airport and hotel hell).
Oklahoma kiddo @ 179
oh! all the kids are whackdoos now with that infernal testing come up… we may not like it, but there it is… extra hard when you are scrapin’ ‘em off the ceiling.
Biodun @
200
This is as sad as it is funny … how McCain is aping Bush’s talking points to win the nomination he deserved in 2000 … and no one is telling him that these talking points will make him lose, this time around.
GSD @
180
While I imagine Biskupic saved himself barely, this episode’s long-term damage to ALL USAttys is incalculable. The defense bar will claim any and all federal indictments are politically motivated — who’s gonna argue with them?
Petrocelli @ 193
Well… I have a real problem with a lot of teachers trying to shift all the blame on us parents.
I’ve met some great teachers. God knows we don’t have enough of them and they are the real heroes of this country. But the ones who aren’t… They can ruin a kid for life, if you’re not careful. I know. They tried to do it to mine. Imagine having a school accusing your child of terrorism. Imagine teachers maliciously and without cause spreading untrue rumors about your child to students, his own classmates. It happens. It’s horrible.
Petrocelli @
204
As an educator and a parent I agree.
dakine01 @ 207
Dang. Well, as you’re learning, jobs are…strange in SA. You can get your fill of burger flipping jobs, but anything else? If you can find it! Let’s put it this way: I work with a bunch of local college grads who are postal workers…because it pays more than they’ll make with a Bachelor’s degree here. Sad, but true. Of course, this is why our cost of living is so low, too. Cheap labor, even for college grads.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 207
I hear your silent agreement. It’s tragic that we have great teachers on one hand and kids with great potential on the other hand, but the bullsh** policies and self- interests fail both of them.
My friend who teaches Grade 1 has lots of kids who cannot understand English. She wrote a letter asking the parents to read for 15 minutes a day, at bedtime. What did she get as a response at the parent/teacher meeting? …”Will you do my grocery shopping for me?” … “It’s not our job to teach them to read, that’s what we’re paying your salary for” … “I need a life too, you know” … and on it goes.
Are there any ‘fav’ responses that you recall, OKK?
Eureka Springs @
100
Huckabee’s playing to the “poor, victimized, under-represented put-upon white male” audience. They really don’t like having their little world rocked like this, and he’ll get some support.
Petrocelli @ 215
I used to be involved in a program called FAMILIES READING TOGETHER where we taught parents why it was important to read WITH (not TO) children, then modeled it, then invited all to snuggle up with books on comfy chairs in the school library. Had pre-K through 1st families there. Great program.
Hello! Howie Klein welcomes Joshua Grossman, founder and president of Progressive Punch and Progressive Kick upstairs for Saturday’s installment of BLUE AMERICA!
I don’t get people who don’t read with their children. It seemed normal to me to do so. I knew he was ready for more when he could take his storybooks and “read” them to himself because he had memorized them, as if they were scripts. He’d even do the inflections the way I did. So cute (of course I videotaped it!) So maybe it was time to ratchet it up a bit. Teach him the letters and all that. Then how they made words. This wasn’t something I had to “work at.” Or do religiously. I just did it whenever, as if it were normal and every day. He got it.
And then people wonder why my son could read when he was 3.
LJ/Aquaria @ 213
And I say again, if you are an attentive parent, you will be able to nip this in the bud. If the school is accusing your child of terrorism, there has been a long gap of broken communication. Volunteering even once a month at your child’s school will make you see firsthand what’s going on, and if you have to change schools, you will have enough information to do so.
IANAL but I am a very good meditation teacher and I know that you have as much power to change as you believe you do.
If Americans, in general, would look at the cost of a failing/failed Education System, then they would roll-up their sleeves and make their local schools, and especially the teachers, part of their life’s plan for helping their children get ahead in the next generation.
Conservative estimates of the ‘drop-out’ rate (= number of students starting 9th minus number of students graduating 12th) run at 30%!
What happens to those 30%?
1/3 become the chronically underemployed – they don’t help the tax-base.
1/3 become dependent on public assistance – a drain on the tax-base.
1/3 go to prison – which costs a fortune in tax dollars.
We need all the good teachers, parents and business folks to come together and MAKE “No Child Left Behind” more than an empty political slogan.
And bless those who are fighting the good fight every day!
TexasBetsy @ 218
It’s not even about making them into ‘Einsteins”, my kids are tweens and they still enjoy snuggling up and reading. I still remember the first time my youngest realized that she could read all the words on a page … the look of amazement on her face … those are the priceless moments of being a parent, not being Santa Claus with a bottomless sleigh of presents.
radiofreewill @
221
AMEN!
Bless you, LJ/Aquarius -
my mom did the same for me. I can’t understand why any parent who could would not.
Biodun @ 199
kirk murphy @
224
Because their parents didn’t. Things get passed from generation to generation. Sometimes there is an opportunity to change – like marrying into a different kind of family.
kirk murphy @ 224
They are parents who don’t understand WHY it is important, or who don’t see themselves as their children’s first and best teachers.
Gnome de Plume @ 226
Don’t discount the benefits of parental (family) education programs.
Gnome de Plume @
226
Not sure I agree with that, lots of my friends came from abusive homes and they’re wonderful parents. It’s not a question of history, it is a question of choice. Repeating the past or refuting the past is a choice, at our most intrinsic level.
BTW, I LOVE FDL, we get to chat about all these off topics, thank you one and all.
TexasBetsy @ 227
I am a meditation teacher who does not believe in ‘Gurus”. If I had to choose a guru, it would be Glenn Doman of http://www.iahp.org. He constantly says that parents are the first and best teachers. And whether you agree or disagree, kids learn most from their parents, even unintentionally.
Do I get a prize for 3 comments in a row? ;-)
… And the EPU award goes to … Petrocelli !!!
Agreed. The family I have built is far healthier in almost all respects than the family I grew up in.
TexasBetsy @
233
Are you Aunt Betsy from last night?
I think that is what we all want and those of us who make conscious efforts strive for that. I was referring to parents who do what was done to them, either not bothering to change or understanding that it is possible.
I have an idea….
kirk murphy @
224
My mother did it, my father, my grandmother, my great aunt…
Petrocelli @ 234
Yep!
WE must not forget what SPocko found from Ingraham et al over at that hate radio station in San Fran.
Mr. de Plume did not read a book until he was in high school! But now he and all of his kids (only one of which is mine) are voracious readers. Their children are too. My grandkittens, not so much.
Gnome de Plume @ 235
I see that way too often.
Gnome de Plume @
235
Thanks for clarifying that, the onus is always on the individual to choose. For example, I know lots of people whose parents did spend a lot of time reading, playing, etc. with them and now they don’t spend any time with their kids, except to splurge at Toysrus and The Gap.
I try to avoid these networks that give the hatemongers their voice. What if we all made this sacrifice(and recommended it to all our like-minded friends, relatives and aquaintances):watch those networks for awhile, listing all ads they’re showing over a period of time and systematically avoid purchasing any of these products, whenever possible and practiceble–of course, emailing each network first to let ‘em all know our intent? I don’t want to crash the economy further but maybe letting the networks know of our intent could get these blowholes off the air and we wouldn’t have to hurt the economy and people’s jobs.
Gnome de Plume @
240
My father only went through 9th grade but he supported my mother when she went back and finished her degree (english and Librarian). His older sister taught math and her younger sister taught 1st/2nd grade. Cousins on both sides are teachers. I was raised at the public library and have bookcases overflowing with all sorts of books as well as the books that aren’t quite good enough to beon display. Whether mysteries/detective stories (JD MacDonald/Lawrence Block/Agatha Christie/Leslie Charteris) historical novels (Frank Yerby/Thomas B Costain/Kenneth Roberts) sports writing, histories and biographies, or the “great books of western civilization” such as Kipling and many others, reading is such a joy. To be curled up in a chair with the cat climbing all over while transporting myself to another time/world/dimension/city has always been one of the finer and cheapest pleasures going.
TexasBetsy @ 238
It was great chatting with all of you south of the border, I hadn’t experienced that before. Great comments, respectful disagreements … I wish more “furreners” could chat with the many fantastic Americans that exist, instead of gauging your country by the image Bush & co. projects … there would be more peace on Earth.
meanwhile — fielding has agreed,
on behalf of the white house,
to meet as early as monday with
senate judiciary committee lawyers
to work out the joint-framework for
retaining the forensic expert to go
recover those five million missing
e-mails. . .
when returned to the living,
they’ll a mine-field, be — for the
would-be prevaricators in the adminis-
tration. . .
that is so, because if gonzales is
busily tailoring his tuesday-testimony
to the now-disclosed documents, it is
highly likely that the returned-from-the
dead e-mails will not fit with his
presently-crafted “story“.
great stuff — popcorn now stowed in
large industrial size bins, here,
for tuesday deployment. . .
Petro – do you realize that the four that you were chatting with all live in Texas? Not that we are “real” Texans . . .
I live in Toronto, grew up reading Louis L’Amour, Oliver Strange, watching spaghetti westerns … always dreamed of going to Texas or Oklahoma or Wyoming, spending a few days on a ranch …
Gnome de Plume @ 247
I’ve been a Texan for almost 9 yrs now.
Petrocelli @ 248
Oooh, I have the place for you to visit when you are ready for a real western experience. Seriously, when you are ready, I can introduce you to a family in the Big Bend region that will knock your socks off. When they aren’t tending the ranch they are working with movie people being the real cowboys.
TexasBetsy @
249
Less than a year here in Texas myself. But born and raised Kentuckian and will be from Kentucky and consider self a Kentuckian until I die. Just living “away” as we say.
Gnome de Plume @
247
Are you all ladies as well?
I ask because at every party, I always end up chatting with groups of women, and my “guy” friends always wonder why. I like chatting with guys, but women are more insightful, more spiritual and since my forte is yoga, I have deeper conversations with members of the fairer (and intellectually superior) sex.
Petrocelli @ 252
I am a lady. Most of the time.
Gnome de Plume @
250
I got a sense of the true character of the American people from reading those books, one that has borne out with meeting so many of you.
Thanks for the offer Mrs Plume, I have a “couple of irons in the fire”, then I’ll take you up on that. The hallowed “Big Bend region”. I might change my name to Orrin Sackett for that trip.
Petrocelli @
252
Mid-fifties Straight WM here.
My buddies might catch you on that, especially you if you don’t look like Tom Selleck. They have satellite out there now. ;-) I might be related to the Sacketts – back in the 19th C. when people could remake themselves part of one of my grandmothers’ families changed their name from a German – Jewish sounding name to Sackett.
dakine01 @
255
How ’bout those Mavs?” ;-)
Gnome de Plume @ 256
I look more like Nathan Lane than Tom Selleck, a brown Nathan Lane.
You mean Spurs, don’t you Petro?
707! With that I need to get back to cleaning. Ugh.
Gnome de Plume @
259
(gulps) yah, yah, that’s wut I meant … Spurs …
Petrocelli @
261
Loved The Admiral, Love Tim Duncan … the class and character of these gentlemen are models for us all.
uncle toby @ 67
I’ve always thought that the Chinese had something from young Dubya’s foray to look for Asian Girlfriend’s when he visited his Daddy in Peking in the late 1970’s. Bush said he could never find cooperative Chinese girls, but it’s well known that the Chinese would use both male and female (as well as cross-gender)agents to seduce staffers and family of foreign Embassies for extortion purposes. It was a technique that was used for centuries by the intelligence services of the Mandarins, and was also a standard by the Eastern European intell. agencies. It’s hard to think that Dubya wouldn’t have had the opportunities.
I suspect that a bit of filmed footage from behind a hotel mirror explains why Dubya has really been so compliant with the Chinese on just about every issue that he could have used to set a fire under his “Anti-Red China” constituents…I mean look at how he handled the forced downing of that spy plane when you compare it to the provacations he made after the British marines were captured. Or how he has completely ignored the oppression of Christians in China…which the NRC used as a hot-botton issue against Clinton (aling with China’s one-child policies, Falun Gong, Democracy Movement oppression, military buildups vs. Taiwan…and at one time the oppression of the Muslim minorities in the western provinces). Basically all of that has been ignored since Bush was elected.
Manchurian candidate becomes Manchurian President?
Don’t worry, I was a Mavs fan before I moved to the San Antonio area. BBall games in Reunion Arena are lots of fun, thanks to Mark Cuban.
oddmommy @ 71
Where the name Turd Blossom comes from…
http://www.orange-papers.org/o…..lowers.jpg
Gnome de Plume @
259
Celtics fan myself, much to my own dismay these days. At least since the Royals haven’t existed for thirty-five years and the KY Colonels have been gone for thirty years.
Guitar_Playing_Bastard @ 13
I still find myself wishing Lincoln had simply allowed the south to secede.
Are any of the people on this list from the south and since when was bigotry restricted to any particular area of the country?
1. Ann Coulter has not read the Constitution of the United States. Well, she can be forgiven for that, she thinks laws only apply when they let her do what she wants to do.
2. Anne Coulter has not read the 10 commandments….at least I don’t think she did, because if she did she certainly didn’t understand them!
3. The above applies to almost everyone in the Wingnut alliance.
A fun read, from one HS Thompson, as President Nixon was circling the drain.
HST would have been one serious popular blogger.
http://jonorato42.wordpress.co…..-thompson/
I am very concerened that the further entrenchment of the Corporate Media has made Nixon’s fate a lot less possible when it comes to Our Fearless and Clueless Leader.
It is depressing.
Hope springs eternal, but in this case it is just a faint glimmer.
This criminal enterprise has got to be stopped, and God bless Firedoglake and the rest of the blogosphere for making it at least borderline possible.
This is one gem of a website.
Thank you all for caring about your country, Jane, and the rest.
I know. OT.
But only a degree or two.
I’m worried. I think most of these crooks are going to skate.
And I love my country, or at least what it used to be.
Sorry for bringing everyone down. :-)