politics
Wisconsin Recall: Time For A 'Norma Rae' Moment
06/04/2012 09:04 PM
by Will Pollock (@wildcatatl)
Hey Wisconsin, I’ve got a little secret: this recall vote ain’t just about you.
You represent us, the nation, in a fight that affects all of us. And we are standing with you, Wisconsin, as you reclaim your smaller type of “nation.” You are a proud and historic emblem of ideas, principles, tradition - the birthplace of unionization - and Scott Walker wants to redact, retract and obliterate it from existence.
Most of all, though, it’s about making the loudest, boldest, bravest statement you can: companies and those with deep pockets do not own us.
The Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United ruling, coupled with the spittle-spewing, irrational fervency of the Tea Party, changed the landscape of today’s politics. Scott Walker owes his corrupt rise to power to both of those political animals - the latter being the saddest and most ironic labeled as such - and cannot be allowed to remain in office. If you do, you are complicit in whatever happens after that moment.
If you re-elect him, you are also complicit in crimes that are reportedly going to come out later this summer as Walker appears about to be the target of a federal investigation. So, that adds another layer to the equation: you’re working to save the right to collectively bargain AND preventing potential crimes to sully the reputation of your great state. Again, you’d be complicit in those crimes.
Does that sound harsh? Yes, it does. It’s tough love. But it’s love for yourself that matters, a critical, self-respecting action you can take to stand up for yourself, for all of us, to defeat this political ideologue and set the balance of power back to an even field.
As I was driving home today I thought of the classic Sally Field film “Norma Rae,” and how that character (and the woman she’s based on) fought harsh working conditions to get textile workers to rise up. Well, Wisconsin, you need your own “Norma Rae Moment.” We are all holding up the “Union” sign and telling people like Rick Scott, Paul LePaige, John Kasik and so many others what they can go do with themselves.
If we don’t, they’ll continue to run roughshod over our rights to control the destiny of the people - and we’ll be dictated to by idiots with money, and hollow suits drunk with power.
Will the fight continue even if Walker stays on his throne? Absolutely. Will justice be served if that happens? Absolutely not. Which is why we - you, me, all of us - must act decisively to defeat it now before the problem metastasizes around the country like the aggressive form of blood cancer it’s become.
That cancer may be skulking around our national bloodstream, but we can rid ourselves of it, starting with you.
“Mr. Mason,” Norma Rae says in the clip, “I started this, and I’m gonna finish it.”
That should be your motto over the next 24 hours, Wisconsin. Make us proud.
(photo credit: Charlotte in 2012)
# # #
Hey Wisconsin, I’ve got a little secret: this recall vote ain’t just about you.
You represent us, the nation, in a fight that affects all of us. And we are standing with you, Wisconsin, as you reclaim your smaller type of “nation.” You are a proud and historic emblem of ideas, principles, tradition - the birthplace of unionization - and Scott Walker wants to redact, retract and obliterate it from existence.
Most of all, though, it’s about making the loudest, boldest, bravest statement you can: companies and those with deep pockets do not own us.
The Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United ruling, coupled with the spittle-spewing, irrational fervency of the Tea Party, changed the landscape of today’s politics. Scott Walker owes his corrupt rise to power to both of those political animals - the latter being the saddest and most ironic labeled as such - and cannot be allowed to remain in office. If you do, you are complicit in whatever happens after that moment.
If you re-elect him, you are also complicit in crimes that are reportedly going to come out later this summer as Walker appears about to be the target of a federal investigation. So, that adds another layer to the equation: you’re working to save the right to collectively bargain AND preventing potential crimes to sully the reputation of your great state. Again, you’d be complicit in those crimes.
Does that sound harsh? Yes, it does. It’s tough love. But it’s love for yourself that matters, a critical, self-respecting action you can take to stand up for yourself, for all of us, to defeat this political ideologue and set the balance of power back to an even field.
As I was driving home today I thought of the classic Sally Field film “Norma Rae,” and how that character (and the woman she’s based on) fought harsh working conditions to get textile workers to rise up. Well, Wisconsin, you need your own “Norma Rae Moment.” We are all holding up the “Union” sign and telling people like Rick Scott, Paul LePaige, John Kasik and so many others what they can go do with themselves.
If we don’t, they’ll continue to run roughshod over our rights to control the destiny of the people - and we’ll be dictated to by idiots with money, and hollow suits drunk with power.
Will the fight continue even if Walker stays on his throne? Absolutely. Will justice be served if that happens? Absolutely not. Which is why we - you, me, all of us - must act decisively to defeat it now before the problem metastasizes around the country like the aggressive form of blood cancer it’s become.
That cancer may be skulking around our national bloodstream, but we can rid ourselves of it, starting with you.
“Mr. Mason,” Norma Rae says in the clip, “I started this, and I’m gonna finish it.”
That should be your motto over the next 24 hours, Wisconsin. Make us proud.
(photo credit: Charlotte in 2012)
# # #
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Chris Matthews has the Exchange of the Year
03/21/2012 06:27 PM
The GOP “war on women” just got a notch more interesting today on “Hardball.” Chris Matthews hosted Rep. Rodgers from Washington. It was a stunning - and telling - exchange from a woman who is clearly in denial:
No, it’s not. When you f*ck with the fundamental right to make decisions about your body - it’s not the same thing. Go back to school and get a better argument.
Rodgers: I’m a member of Congress. The House released its budget yesterday - and the criticism that came immediately from the Democrat women in the House is that they said it was anti-woman. This is a distraction from the real issues. The reality is that the Republicans won the women’s vote in 2010, and the Democrats know they have to win the women’s vote and they are scared. These are scare tactics to scare women.
Matthews: Who’s tactics are they? How do Democrats get Republican legislators to make these proposals? How tricky are they, these Democrats? They get the Virginia legislators to bring up all this stuff on Abortion? They get Santorum to talk up contraception? These Democrats are ventriloquists? How do they get the Republicans to say all this stuff? They’re really masterful I’d say. I know I’m being sarcastic; you know the evidence is here that a lot of right-wing social activists in your party are giving the Democrats catnip here.
Rodgers: And there’s a lot of left-wing social activists pushing their agenda in various legislatures and in Congress. It’s the same thing.
No, it’s not. When you f*ck with the fundamental right to make decisions about your body - it’s not the same thing. Go back to school and get a better argument.
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is your privacy important to you? just ask the new york times
08/09/2008 09:46 AM
WASHINGTON
F.B.I. Says It Obtained Reporters’ Phone Records
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: August 9, 2008
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that it had improperly obtained the phone records of reporters for The New York Times and The Washington Post in the newspapers’ Indonesia bureaus in 2004.
F.B.I. Says It Obtained Reporters’ Phone Records
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: August 9, 2008
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that it had improperly obtained the phone records of reporters for The New York Times and The Washington Post in the newspapers’ Indonesia bureaus in 2004.
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coming soon:
media/journalism ethics
political commentary
language analysis & humor
consumer advocacy
spiritual perspectives
generalist "watchdog" issues
reviews & editorials
note to Democrats: if you are entrusted to steer part of our country's destiny,
use that responsibility wisely and with care.
don't trust e-voting machines without a paper trail?