The Torture MixTape

I’m sure parents everywhere are nodding their heads and saying “I told you so”
In a report by Mother Jones they are reporting that

Music has been used in American military prisons and on bases to induce sleep deprivation, "prolong capture shock," disorient detainees during interrogations—and also drown out screams. Based on a leaked interrogation log, news reports, and the accounts of soldiers and detainees, here are some of the songs that guards and interrogators chose.

Here is the playlist and be prepared to give up any information that they want from you, be it true or not

Fuck Your God- Deicide

Die MF Die- Dope

Take Your Best Shit-Dope

White America-Eminem [download]

Kim-Eminem [download]

The Barney Song-Barney the Dinosaur

Bodies-Drowning Pool [download]

Enter Sandman-Metallica [download]

Meow Mix

Sesame Street Theme

Babylon-David Gray [download]

Born in the U.S.A.- Bruce Springsteen

Shoot to Thrill-AC/DC

Hell’s Bells- AC/DC [download]

Stayin’ Alive- Bee Gees

All Eyez on Me-2Pac [download]

Dirrty- Christina Aguilera with Redman [download]

America-Neil Diamond

Bulls on Parade- Rage Against the Machine [download]

American Pie- Don Mclean [download]

Click Click Boom-Saliva

Cold-Matchbox Twenty

Swan Dive- (hed) P.E.

Raspberry Beret-Prince


So a lot of loud angry yelling music. Plus a sprinkling of way too cutesy with a dash of patriotism and a pinch of David Gray.
Interesting. I think I've found my music for my Black Site party...And oddly enough I think this would be a perfect mix for at least one of my friends- he doesn’t need to know it’s used to torture…

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Even I've Been Proud of America

So I’m sure by now you’ve seen or heard about this

when I first heard about it I didn't think it was that big a deal but then I thought about it more and it actually really pissed me off
Good job Michelle it takes your husband getting close to becoming President to get you to be proud of America. Nothing has made you proud of your country, like when you went to Harvard and Princeton and you looked back a few generations to where your ancestors where and where you had come to and though even for a fleeting instance that only in America could this happen?
As for me even though I hate America sometimes to the point of sedition even I as a black transgender socialist I’ve been proud of America ; Like after September 11th when the whole country came together, during AmeriCorps going all over and seeing the amazing things that people can and will do for no real reward, every Olympics hearing the National Anthem, reading stories about soliders who believe in America enough to go and fight and die for it, seeing images of new citizens, people in their 90s whose life long goal was to become United States citizens. I'm proud that for a lot of people even if the reality of America doesn't reach the ideasl there is that ideal of America. And that bloodless exchange of power that happens every 4 or eight years, sure we may take that for granted but look at Kenya for instance.

I believe in America. Being proud of your country doesn't necessarily mean being proud of your government or leaders it also means being proud of those "everyday" people.

or as John Podhoretz points out

Really proud of her country for the first time? Michelle Obama is 44 years old. She has been an adult since 1982. Can it really be there has not been a moment during that time when she felt proud of her country? Forget matters like the victory in the Cold War; how about only things that have made liberals proud — all the accomplishments of inclusion? How about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991? Or Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s elevation to the Supreme Court? Or Carol Moseley Braun’s election to the Senate in 1998? How about the merely humanitarian, like this country’s startling generosity to the victims of the tsunami? I’m sure commenters can think of hundreds more landmarks of this sort. Didn’t she even get a twinge from, say, the Olympics

Sure especially in the past 8 years America has sucked…but it hasn’t sucked like other countries’ worst 8 years
In fact as much as I hate to admit it and like to think I’m so bored of the U.S.A. and will renounce my citizenship for some socialist paradise I could never do that just because I do have some strange pride in being American. It’s my country right or wrong but I have no problem calling out what I think my country is doing wrong. Love the right and fight to make the wrong become right as well.

My country tis of thee, sweet land of Liberty, of thee we sing
land where my fathers died,land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside let freedom ring.

And with statements like that from Michelle does she really think this barack worship and love in will continue for conservatives and independents many of whom did and still do despise Hillary for her manner. Good luck with that


Are there no patriots left?

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America: Land of The Dumb and Home of The Unconcerned

Carl: Let's make litter out of these literati!
Lenny: That's too clever, you're one of THEM!
-They Saved Lisa's Brain

there's been a recent spate of op/ed in our nation's major newspapers recently about how just dumb Americans are (and of course by spate I mean there was a piece in the New York Times) and I must say it's about time people understand that we're all American idiots. The most recent example of this intellectual counterattack comes from the Washington Post and an opinion piece called The Dumbing of America and though it is somewhat ironic that the people who would read op/eds in like the Times of the Post aren't really the dumb ones that the articles speak about and need to be informed of their own ignorance, and in fact it could be considered to be a bit of intellectual class sneering down upon the great teeming reality show watching masses, BUT they deserve it; I mean 1 in 5 American adults think that the Sun revolves around the Earth! Galileo almost died for your sins people!

And on to the piece

"The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself." Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today's very different United States. Americans are in serious intellectual trouble -- in danger of losing our hard-won cultural capital to a virulent mixture of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and low expectations.

This is the last subject that any candidate would dare raise on the long and winding road to the White House. It is almost impossible to talk about the manner in which public ignorance contributes to grave national problems without being labeled an "elitist," one of the most powerful pejoratives that can be applied to anyone aspiring to high office. Instead, our politicians repeatedly assure Americans that they are just "folks," a patronizing term that you will search for in vain in important presidential speeches before 1980. (Just imagine: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain . . . and that government of the folks, by the folks, for the folks, shall not perish from the earth.") Such exaltations of ordinariness are among the distinguishing traits of anti-intellectualism in any era.

The classic work on this subject by Columbia University historian Richard Hofstadter, "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life," was published in early 1963, between the anti-communist crusades of the McCarthy era and the social convulsions of the late 1960s. Hofstadter saw American anti-intellectualism as a basically cyclical phenomenon that often manifested itself as the dark side of the country's democratic impulses in religion and education. But today's brand of anti-intellectualism is less a cycle than a flood. If Hofstadter (who died of leukemia in 1970 at age 54) had lived long enough to write a modern-day sequel, he would have found that our era of 24/7 infotainment has outstripped his most apocalyptic predictions about the future of American culture.

Dumbness, to paraphrase the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, has been steadily defined downward for several decades, by a combination of heretofore irresistible forces. These include the triumph of video culture over print culture (and by video, I mean every form of digital media, as well as older electronic ones); a disjunction between Americans' rising level of formal education and their shaky grasp of basic geography, science and history; and the fusion of anti-rationalism with anti-intellectualism.

First and foremost among the vectors of the new anti-intellectualism is video. The decline of book, newspaper and magazine reading is by now an old story. The drop-off is most pronounced among the young, but it continues to accelerate and afflict Americans of all ages and education levels.

Reading has declined not only among the poorly educated, according to a report last year by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1982, 82 percent of college graduates read novels or poems for pleasure; two decades later, only 67 percent did. And more than 40 percent of Americans under 44 did not read a single book -- fiction or nonfiction -- over the course of a year. The proportion of 17-year-olds who read nothing (unless required to do so for school) more than doubled between 1984 and 2004. This time period, of course, encompasses the rise of personal computers, Web surfing and video games.

Does all this matter? Technophiles pooh-pooh jeremiads about the end of print culture as the navel-gazing of (what else?) elitists. In his book "Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter," the science writer Steven Johnson assures us that we have nothing to worry about. Sure, parents may see their "vibrant and active children gazing silently, mouths agape, at the screen." But these zombie-like characteristics "are not signs of mental atrophy. They're signs of focus." Balderdash. The real question is what toddlers are screening out, not what they are focusing on, while they sit mesmerized by videos they have seen dozens of times.

Despite an aggressive marketing campaign aimed at encouraging babies as young as 6 months to watch videos, there is no evidence that focusing on a screen is anything but bad for infants and toddlers. In a study released last August, University of Washington researchers found that babies between 8 and 16 months recognized an average of six to eight fewer words for every hour spent watching videos.

I cannot prove that reading for hours in a treehouse (which is what I was doing when I was 13) creates more informed citizens than hammering away at a Microsoft Xbox or obsessing about Facebook profiles. But the inability to concentrate for long periods of time -- as distinct from brief reading hits for information on the Web -- seems to me intimately related to the inability of the public to remember even recent news events. It is not surprising, for example, that less has been heard from the presidential candidates about the Iraq war in the later stages of the primary campaign than in the earlier ones, simply because there have been fewer video reports of violence in Iraq. Candidates, like voters, emphasize the latest news, not necessarily the most important news.

No wonder negative political ads work. "With text, it is even easy to keep track of differing levels of authority behind different pieces of information," the cultural critic Caleb Crain noted recently in the New Yorker. "A comparison of two video reports, on the other hand, is cumbersome. Forced to choose between conflicting stories on television, the viewer falls back on hunches, or on what he believed before he started watching."

As video consumers become progressively more impatient with the process of acquiring information through written language, all politicians find themselves under great pressure to deliver their messages as quickly as possible -- and quickness today is much quicker than it used to be. Harvard University's Kiku Adatto found that between 1968 and 1988, the average sound bite on the news for a presidential candidate -- featuring the candidate's own voice -- dropped from 42.3 seconds to 9.8 seconds. By 2000, according to another Harvard study, the daily candidate bite was down to just 7.8 seconds.

The shrinking public attention span fostered by video is closely tied to the second important anti-intellectual force in American culture: the erosion of general knowledge.

People accustomed to hearing their president explain complicated policy choices by snapping "I'm the decider" may find it almost impossible to imagine the pains that Franklin D. Roosevelt took, in the grim months after Pearl Harbor, to explain why U.S. armed forces were suffering one defeat after another in the Pacific. In February 1942, Roosevelt urged Americans to spread out a map during his radio "fireside chat" so that they might better understand the geography of battle. In stores throughout the country, maps sold out; about 80 percent of American adults tuned in to hear the president. FDR had told his speechwriters that he was certain that if Americans understood the immensity of the distances over which supplies had to travel to the armed forces, "they can take any kind of bad news right on the chin."

This is a portrait not only of a different presidency and president but also of a different country and citizenry, one that lacked access to satellite-enhanced Google maps but was far more receptive to learning and complexity than today's public. According to a 2006 survey by National Geographic-Roper, nearly half of Americans between ages 18 and 24 do not think it necessary to know the location of other countries in which important news is being made. More than a third consider it "not at all important" to know a foreign language, and only 14 percent consider it "very important."

That leads us to the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness: not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge. The problem is not just the things we do not know (consider the one in five American adults who, according to the National Science Foundation, thinks the sun revolves around the Earth); it's the alarming number of Americans who have smugly concluded that they do not need to know such things in the first place. Call this anti-rationalism -- a syndrome that is particularly dangerous to our public institutions and discourse. Not knowing a foreign language or the location of an important country is a manifestation of ignorance; denying that such knowledge matters is pure anti-rationalism. The toxic brew of anti-rationalism and ignorance hurts discussions of U.S. public policy on topics from health care to taxation.

There is no quick cure for this epidemic of arrogant anti-rationalism and anti-intellectualism; rote efforts to raise standardized test scores by stuffing students with specific answers to specific questions on specific tests will not do the job. Moreover, the people who exemplify the problem are usually oblivious to it. ("Hardly anyone believes himself to be against thought and culture," Hofstadter noted.) It is past time for a serious national discussion about whether, as a nation, we truly value intellect and rationality. If this indeed turns out to be a "change election," the low level of discourse in a country with a mind taught to aim at low objects ought to be the first item on the change agenda.

We're still in Iraq? How bizarre

(and no I don't buy Jimmy Wales' counterpoint in the same paper, which seems to be based on the whole premise that "we're smarter than you think- look at Wikipedia!" what he feels to mention is that Truthiness has a longer entry than Lutherans, PTI running gags has a longer entry than Meet the Press and on and on. Has he never wikigroaned? Sure there are always going to be some smart people but measuring "intelligence" by how pop culturally aware/obsessive certain people are is not the way to make an argument. I mean my governor, the governor of like the 6th biggest economy of the world is Arnold Schwarzenegger!

(and once again I would highly recommend Idiocracy-

that's where we're headed)

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Jezebel Interviews Mike Gravel

The Candidate You Didn't Know You Wanted (And Probably Didn't Vote For)

Did you vote yet? Are you a Democrat bemoaning the departure of Edwards, Kucinich, Richardson, et. al. or are you conflicted about Obama vs. Hillary? Take heart: Mike Gravel is still in the race! (In states where it isn't hugely expensive to get on the primary ballot, that is). Gravel is experienced: he has been a state legislator and a Senator, run a business and spent a few years working, without a salary, for a non-profit dedicated to getting Americans the right to ballot initiatives on the federal level. He's angry about the war too! (He thinks WWII was the only armed conflict that was absolutely necessary). And he's supportive of women's rights. In fact, speaking of women, when many of you took a candidate-matching survey a few months back, he ranked at the top of many lists, but I'll bet most of you didn't take a closer look. Why is that? Well, Mike's got some answers...

Megan: So, the reason I wanted to interview you is that a couple months back, Jezebel invited its readers to take a candidate match survey and an absurd proportion of readers found you at the top of their lists when going on issues alone. Mike: Actually, I get that a lot. It's really interesting to me because it just shows that when people know where I stand they end up finding out we have a lot in common. The problem is that the corporate owned media has gone out of its way to stop me from being visible.

Megan: So, it's not just Jezebel readers? Interesting. I did notice that you were kept out of the (many) recent debates, and then they did it to Kucinich too.
Mike: Kucinich didn't lift a finger when they did it to me, actually.

Megan: Sort of like, when they came for the labor unionists, I didn't say anything, huh? But, why do you think that is that they decided to keep people out? It's not like you got an equal amount of time to talk, or that the most recent debates were more interesting because they were smaller.
Mike: In my case, I'm well know to the Powers That Be, and they know that I'm not politics and usual and that I'm not afraid to go out and do stuff even if people disagree with it. Those that are informed, particular those companies [like GE, parent company of NBC] that are part of the military industrial complex, they know me very well and they know that I'm the last person in the world they want to see in power. Unless they're looking for good government, they know there's no way to influence me.

As for the body politic, the elected officials in Washington, they don't understand that the most important change we can make is to empower the American people with the same power they have: to make laws. They're opposed to that. They don't even understand it. What I want to do is give the power of lawmaking back to the people, by allowing ballot initiatives and referenda at the federal level.

Megan: Well, by those metrics, how do you think your campaign is going so far? It's obviously been difficult attracting attention despite a relatively simple series of policy messages.
Mike: Well, I've spent $300,000 so far, half of which came from me and the other half from small, individual donations. It makes it hard to compete with candidates that can and will spend $300 million and more. But, we're getting along. I'm getting some earned media, like this interview, based on my positions which is really helpful.

Megan: Well, that's kind of cool. But, if you wouldn't mind a terrible segue, can we talk about some of your positions? One of the issues of utmost importance to Democratic voters is the War in Iraq. You've been a strong anti-war advocate for your entire political career. Has there been a war you were keen on?
Mike: I am strongly against war- all of them. Vietnam, Panama, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and soon Iran. While I think that World War II was necessary, it only became necessary because Woodrow Wilson got us involved in World War I and the aftermath of that.

For me, that's the crux of the matter. Wars do not solve problems, they merely beget other wars. That's the tragedy of history... Iraq is not a problem. The problem is that we will go into another war, in part because the military-industrial complex needs conflict to justify production. The underlying structure that permits this to go forward is this attitude of American imperialism. We have a military presence in 130 countries and 700 military bases around the world. If Americans understood this, they wouldn't be for it. They don't want to to be the world's policemen- not when we have an educational system that is shameful, a health system that is shameful and a crumbling infrastructure. What we're doing is following the pattern of prior empires, particularly the Spanish empire who became the sword-makers to the world and were lost in the fog of history.

The people that are running for President, that are left on the scene today, are all supporting this imperialist trend, particularly McCain and Hillary Clinton and even Obama, who doesn't even know that he's supporting it.

Megan: But, let's draw a distinction between you and another candidate who's against American imperialism -- Ron Paul. He's for isolationism. That's not your position, I'm given to understand.
Mike: Oh, goodness, no, I'm not an isolationist. Ron would retreat to Fortress America. What I want us to do is to take our place as an equal in the world and commit to the United Nations and work for world governance and world peace. We now have globalization of the economy; of science; of the ability to destroy the planet; and of the environment. You can't just turn back time. He's steeped in that redneck philosophy that we can't give up sovereignty. I'm suggesting that we move some of that sovereignty away from the nation-state structure and into a world governance structure. We will never have peace on earth until we have global governance. The United Nations is a good charter but it's not functioning on its charter, it's become paralyzed and non-functional as states seek to use it to protect sovereignty at all costs. That's not how to get to world peace.

Megan: That's an interesting perspective. Not too many candidates are advocating world government, so to speak. How does this tie into your position on immigration? Do you feel that your experience as a first generation American informed your position on immigration?
Mike:: Although my parents were both French-Canadians who immigrated here in the twenties, I wouldn't say that their experience motivated my position on immigration, except to realize that you come to love your country through choice. They were really proud to become Americans. My attitude toward immigration comes from living various parts of the country, knowing a lot of various minorities in the community I grew up in and where I studied ... I was never exposed to Latinos until I lived in California when I developed a great deal of respect for their willingness to work hard in this country, which is a value that I got from my father.

But, the immigration issue is nothing more than scapegoating. We have an immigration problem in the minds of our leaders, not in the economy. Because our economy is failing, though, they're looking for someone to blame. There's an interesting parallel: the EU, which is surging ahead of us in many facets of development, they just had 6 countries which lowered all their barriers to the movement of people and capital. But we're erecting a fence on the Southern border. If I were President, I would lower barriers, and I would like to see some of further unity in North American, some sort of central economic entity, to try to match the EU and China on the global stage

Megan: Ok, I apologize, I'm really awful at interview segues, but I do want to take a minute to talk about women's issues for our readers. You are a really progressive candidate on the issues of importance to Jezebel readers, and I just wanted you to talk about them for a minute.
Mike: It's not just women's issues. It's gay rights. It's the drug war, too. It's about individual rights. Let's start with the drug war. Everyone knows marijuana isn't addictive or a gateway drug or anything. But, we arrested 800,000 people last year for marijuana crimes. This is appalling, especially when you consider that we could have spent this money on things like health care. Women are in more danger at childbirth than in any other major industrialized country in the world. It's appalling, and yet we're spending the money that could change that on jailing people who smoke marijuana.

When it comes to abortion, we have a government that, whether it's run by Republicans or even Democrats, has failed to make education about sex, sensuality or love the preeminent education of our children. What is more important in life than that? We make out that something's dirty about sex, and let religion get a hold of what we can do in the bedroom. It's appalling, and there's no reason for this. We're free people, and the definition of freedom is the participation in power. When you as a woman lose power over your body by virtue of people determining when you can procreate, then you're not free. Whether you want to talk about LGBT rights or sex education or anything to do with procreation, the dispensing of condoms, needles... health should be the preeminent concern and the government should get out of the equation after that.

We need more women getting elected to public office, definitely. But I have not seen in my career that women who get into power act that much differently than men. For instance, since I'm in California, Barbara Boxer is very liberal and very good, but Diane Feinstein is more politics as usual. Nancy Pelosi is a liberal politician by virtue of her district, but as Speaker she has governed the same way as any man did before her, and it's disappointing. I would love nothing more than to see a minority or a woman as President. But I want the right woman, or the right minority person: one who believes in civil rights, and who believes in peace and not in defense spending. Otherwise, what's the use? It's just voting for the same policies in different clothing.

Megan: That's a really harsh indictment of some pretty seniors Democratic politicians, and I'm not brave enough to delve any deeper than that. So, let's talk a little about you. On a more personal note, what would you say is your biggest regret?
Mike: My biggest regret was when I was in the Senate, I was very controversial. I was a maverick. I used to get a lot of pressure from my staff, and peer pressure, to be more like everyone else. And I regret not being hard enough, not being more partisan, because that's when I got things accomplished. Today there is this whole attitude that we have to reach across the barriers of parties to accomplish anything. But, by reaching across barriers, they don't actually end up accomplishing anything. Whether it was ending the draft or building the Alaskan pipeline, reading the Pentagon papers or stopping nuclear testing in the North Pacific, all of that was done in my first four years, and none of it was done by reaching across the aisle. By reaching across, what it means is that you put the lobbyists in charge, by giving them more control.

Megan: One thing I hear a lot from some readers is that it's supposedly really important to band together and vote for the candidate most likely to win against the "other" guy rather than voting one's conscience. It's something that really frosts my ass [Yes, I really said this] because it seems to me that it flies completely in the face of the whole point of voting. I thought you might have something to say about that.
Mike: You have it absolutely right. If you vote for power over substance, then you won't ever get either. You've got to vote for substance regardless of who you think will win, because you'll see that substance will win out in the end.

Megan: Any last thoughts?
Mike: The key to everything I stand for is: the definition of freedom is participation in power. The American people at the federal level do not participate in power. They give it away on election day, because they vote for people to make laws rather than the laws themselves. So, we don't have the freedom we think we have, and it shows.

I really think there's something incredibly noble and inherently American about all these "long shot" presidential candidates who travel around the country scrapping by talking to only a few people at a time with no realistic chance of winning. I think it would be an amazingly fascinating documentary to follow around a "Mike Gravel" candidate.
It's all just tilting at windmills but it's just like Sam said about the Republican running in his district in New York on Process Stories

God Bless American Dreamers

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People Going To Hell

Bill O’Reilly and Fox News for everything they’ve ever done really but specificially in this instance for his continued lies and hostile reception to the homeless vets that he said didn’t exist and whose plight john Edwards was mocked for bringing into the national consciousness

An impromptu news conference was held in front of the FOX News Channel Studios today because veterans were denied entrance as they attempted to deliver a petition to Bill O'Reilly asking him to apologize for his comments denying the existence and importance of homeless veterans. The ensuing drama resulted in FOX News executives, flanked by security and police officials, attempting to mollify the group of veterans and Executive Director Carol Gardener of Fitzgerald House - a group that assists veterans in need - by speaking briefly to the group. In addition, one of the producers of the O'Reilly Factor, Jesse Watters, challenged the vets by deflecting the comments away from O'Reilly's statements

Here’s Keith’s coverage of the shame


This isn’t really newsworthy, except that it’s existence and threatened showing has made a lot of news, it’s more exploitative but if you’re interested about all the fuss or morbidly curious and so I’m going to hell for sharing it


Funny, He didn’t sound Australian in that video

And whoever strapped bombs to women with down syndrome sent them into a crowd and detonated the bomb, and the women by remote control.


There is a place reserved in hell indeed.

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Oh. Yeah. He is Actually My Governor

I forget that sometimes

From the LA Times

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday will endorse Sen. John McCain's bid for the presidency, according to sources close to both men.

Schwarzenegger has decided to insert himself into the Republican primary less than two weeks after announcing he would sit the race out. His plans changed after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- who shares some of the governor's moderate social views -- dropped out of the race, clearing the way for Schwarzenegger to line up behind McCain.

"He's good friends with both and thought they were both strong candidates," said one high-ranking Schwarzenegger adminstration official, who did not want to be named because the announcement had not yet been made. "With Giuliani dropping out, that cleared the way for the governor's decision."

Political operatives said privately that an endorsement event has been planned for Thursday. They declined to provide further details.

So for November it’s going to be McCain (who I like well enough to actually vote for) versus___________ probably Barack

Where’s that third party candidate again?

[P.S. I actually enjoy watching the republican debates- they’re oddly soothing]

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Still "Coping"

Dreams die hard.



But I was thinking about it, trying to be positive and not look back in anger and,...Well at least because of John important issues are actually being discussed in this campaign, even if they are often times obscured by the bickering, the “idea of history” and identity politics.

I just wish I knew who to vote for on Tuesday. I would say I’m supporting Hillary but everything I touch seems to turn to mud.

And have you ever thought that somehow you’re powerful and that you can effect and influence things that you know you can’t? because somehow I feel really guilty for a moment of disbelief last night, maybe while I was sleeping but I was actually thinking about when I should on facebook become a supporter of Hillary and I was thinking about doing it after California but remembered that California was on the same date as so many other primaries and at the last moment, in my thoughts I unknowingly betrayed John.

Sigh, sigh


"John Edwards' bold ideas have shaped the debate in this election. Whether it’s creating universal health care or halting global warming, ending poverty or ending the war in Iraq and restoring America’s moral leadership around the world, John has led with the boldest and most comprehensive plans for overcoming the challenges we face today.

John is the one candidate willing to speak the truth about what’s going on in Washington: big corporations and special interests have taken over our government and taken the power away from the American people. And he knows there’s only one way to get it back: to stand up, take them on, and beat them.

John is ready for this fight – because fighting special interests on behalf of regular, hard-working Americans is what he’s been doing his entire life.
-----
In America, everyone should have a fair opportunity to realize their dreams, no matter where they came from. John Edwards is running for president to build One America where every American can work hard and build a better life, the same opportunity that Edwards had."

someday I hope there will be an America like that

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The End; A Work in Progress

January 30th- The Day America Died
(pardon my melodrama, I'm just actually really upset about the news right now)







I’ll be adding more songs to this as I remember they exist

Don McLean- American Pie

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin’,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lenin read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

They were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die."

Bob Dylan- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue


You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun,
Crying like a fire in the sun.
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense.
Take what you have gathered from coincidence.
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home.
All your reindeer armies, are all going home.
The lover who just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor.
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you.
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you.
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

for JRE
[addition #1]

Paul Simon-American Tune

Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I've often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I'm all right, I'm all right
I'm just weary to my bones
Still, you don't expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
but it's all right, it's all right
for we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hours
and sing an American tune
Oh, and it's alright, it's all right, it's all right
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest

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The Dream is Over

What a way to wake up this morning:
John Edwards to Drop Out of Presidential Race Today
I knew he had almost no chance but still....it's a bad day for the future.
The night of I think South Carolina I remember something that Donna Brazile said how John was running a "rich campaign" on like a poor man's budget because his issues that he's fighting for are so real and urgent and important, it's a idea rich campaign but he just couldn't compete in the face of intense media apathy and the notion of voting for history.
From an e-mail he sent out on the 27th of this month


Dear Jacqueline,

From the very beginning, our campaign has been about one central thing: giving voice to millions of Americans who have absolutely no voice in our democracy.

If you are worried about your health care or, like 47 million other Americans you have no health care, your voice will be heard in this campaign.

If you're one of 37 million Americans who wake up every single day, worried about how to feed and clothe your children and living in poverty, your voice will be heard in America -- and it will be heard in this campaign and we will speak and fight for you.

If you're worried about being able to pay for your child to be able to go to college and being able to pay for tuition and books, your voice will be heard in this campaign -- and it will be heard in America.

If you're one of the forgotten middle class, working and struggling just to pay your bills, worrying every single day about what may be around the corner, we will give you a voice in this campaign.

And if you're one of the extraordinary men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States with pride and honor and served this country patriotically, and you're not getting the health care you need or deserve, your voice will be heard in this campaign. If you're one of the 200,000 veterans living in America who every night go to sleep under bridges, in shelters or on heating grates, your voice will be heard in America.

That's why this campaign moves on to February 5 and "Super Tuesday" when millions of Americans will cast their vote and help shape the future of the Democratic Party and, most importantly, help shape the future of America.

Thank you for standing with me as, together, we take this campaign to the Democratic Convention, to the nomination -- and then to the White House.

Your support as we move forward means that the voices of millions of voiceless Americans will be heard.

Sincerely,

John Edwards


sigh, I'll love you forever John and follow wherever you lead

The dream is over
What can I say?
The dream is over
Yesterday
I was the Dreamweaver
But now I'm reborn
I was the Walrus
But now I'm John
And so dear friends
You'll just have to carry on
The dream is over

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A Moment of Zen

From 2002.
It was True then, it's still True today

And that will be written on the Tombstone of the Bush Era

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The Jokes Write Themselves

And the State of the Union is Ripe for Parody
Here are Youtube offerings of people who obviously aren't that fond of the current administration and GweeB





National Lampoon’s (weren’t they, at one time funny?)






(oh sorry. With all the applause lines and what not it often seems very similar to a rally)


(rats. Did it again)

2007 State of the Union by the Upright Citizens Brigade


CNN story by Jeanne Moos featuring the 2007 State of the Union


Nancy vs. Dick: The Blink Off


and this one is probably my favorite- George Bush’s Bloody Sunday


Listen, Bottom of the 9th, Grand Slam, we all win.

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America Will Get The Idol It Deserves....(Un)fortunately It Won't Be Either of These Two

I mean we have the bitchy deluded one who when he fails because of his lack of inherent talent blame a conspiracy
And then we have the uber religious kid who’s never been kissed and is saving himself for marriage and so... has the key to his dad’s heart (creepy much?) who sets my gaydar off like whoa and is in the closet even if he doesn't know it yet

Don't those two character studies sum up too much of America?

Firstly it must be said that I am opposed to American Idol(and about what they mean and shape with so much of culture, especially regarding "norms") and I've only watched the second season, but somehow I've learned of these two contestants and they're too...unique to not share

Anyway here is performing what I thought would be, from that sustained “And” at the beginning, Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love you but then morphed into “And I Am Telling You” just liked Jennifer (Hudson or Holliday) would sing it- if they had been deaf since birth and were now being tortured in the recording booth, ladies and gentlemen this is what American Idol has wrought- Joshua Bosen from South Carolina (a southern ghetto queen if I've ever seen one)

Josh they didn't say South Carolina sucks, they said you do

And here is Bruce Dickson from Dallas, the kid who holds the key to his father's heart.Does anyone know if his mo is still around, because it would make more sense to me for her to hold the heart. Moving on notice how he says he's never kissed "a girl" leaving about half of the population to have fun with.

I really like how Seacrest reaffirms "his heterosexuality;" fathers lock your daughters up if those two hit the town. Anyway Bruce wasn't horrible and he seems like a nice enough kid, he just needs to take that heart away from his dad and give it to that one special boy who you can't live without...oh and move out of Texas.

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In Honor of Lakotan Independence

and since it's Thursday here are some speeches by great Native American leaders. Viva Lakota

How can we buy the sky?"
"How can you own the wind?
Every part of this earth is sacred. Every pine needle. Every sandy shore.
Every mist in the dark woods.
We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us.
The air is precious. It shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
The wind that gave me my first breath also received my last sigh.
This we know: the earth does not belong to us. We belong to the earth.
The earth is our mother. What befalls the earth befalls all the son daughters of the earth.
All things are connected like the blood that unites us.
We did not weave the web of life. We are merely a strand in it.
Wherever we do to the web, we do to ourselves"
-Chief Seattle

"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Every seed is awakened, and all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land.

"Yet hear me, friends! we have now to deal with another people, small and feeble when our forefathers first met with them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough, they have a mind to till the soil, and the love of possessions is a disease in them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break, but the poor may not! They have a religion in which the poor worship, but the rich will not! They even take tithes of the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule. They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse. They compel her to produce out of season, and when sterile she is made to take medicine in order to produce again. All this is sacrilege.

"This nation is like a spring freshet; it overruns its banks and destroys all who are in its path. We cannot dwell side by side. Only seven years ago we made a treaty by which we were assured that the buffalo country should be left to us forever. Now they threaten to take that from us also. My brothers, shall we submit? or shall we say to them: 'First kill me, before you can take possession of my fatherland!'"
-Sitting Bull

A Speech by Chief Red Jacket

Friend and Brother: It was the will of the Great Spirit that we should meet together this day. He orders all things and has given us a fine day for our council. He has taken his garment from before the sun, and caused it to shine with brightness upon us. Our eyes are opened, that we see clearly; our ears are unstopped, that we have been able to hear distinctly the words you have spoken. For all these favors we thank the Great Spirit; and him only.

Brother: This council fire was kindled by you. It was at your request that we came together at this time. We have listened with attention to what you have said. You requested us to speak our minds freely. This gives us great joy; for we now consider that we stand upright before you, and can speak what we think. All have heard your voice, and all speak to you now as one man. Our minds are agreed.

Brother: You say you want an answer to your talk before you leave this place. It is right you should have one, as you are a great distance from home, and we do not wish to detain you. But we will first look back a little, and tell you what our fathers have told us, and what we have heard from the white people.*

Brother: Listen to what we say. There was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. Their seats extended from the rising to the setting of the sun. The Great Spirit had made for the use of the Indians. He had created the buffalo, the deer, and other animals for food. He'd made the bear and the deer, and their skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them over the country, and had taught us how to take them. He had caused the earth to produce corn for bread. All this He had done for his red children, because He loved them. If we had any disputes about hunting grounds, they were generally settled without the shedding of much blood.

But an evil day came upon us. Your forefathers crossed the great waters and landed on this island. Their numbers were small. They found friends and not enemies. They told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and had come here to enjoy their religion. *They asked for a small seat.* We took pity on them, granted their request, and they sat down amongst us. We gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return.

The white people had now found our country. Tidings were carried back, and more came amongst us. Yet we did not fear them. We took them to be friends. They called us brothers. We believed them, and gave them a large seat. At length their numbers had greatly increased. They wanted more land; they wanted our country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place. Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought strong liquors among us. It was strong and powerful and has slain thousands.

Brother: Our seats were once large, and yours very small. You have now become a great people, and we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets. You have got our country, but you are not satisfied; you want to force your religion upon us.

Brother: Continue to listen. You say that you are sent to instruct us how to worship the Great Spirit agreeable to His mind. And if we do not take hold of the religion which you white people teach, we shall be unhappy hereafter. You say that you are right, and we are lost. How do you know this to be true? We understand that your religion is written in a book. If it was intended for us as well as for you, why has not the Great Spirit given it to us, and not only to us, but why did He not give to our forefathers knowledge of that book, with the means of understanding it rightly? We only know what you tell us about it. How shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white man?

Brother: You say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agree, as you can all read the book?

Brother: We do not understand these things. We are told that your religion was given to your forefathers and has been handed down -- father to son. We also have a religion, which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us, their children. We worship that way. It teaches us to be thankful for all the favors we receive; to love each other, and to be united. We never quarrel about religion.

Brother: the Great Spirit has made us all, but He has made a great difference between his white and red children. He has given us a different complexion and different customs. To you He has given the arts. To these He has not opened our eyes. We know these things to be true. *Since He has made so great a difference between us in other things,* why may we not conclude that He has given us a different religion *according to our understanding?* The Great Spirit does right. He knows what is best for his children; we are satisfied.

Brother: We do not wish to destroy your religion, or to take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own.

Brother: You say you have not come to get our land or our money, but to enlighten our minds. I will now tell you that I have been at your meetings, and saw you collecting money from the meeting. I cannot tell what this money was intended for, but suppose it was for your minister, and if we should conform to your way of thinking, perhaps you may want some from us.

Brother: We are told that you have been preaching to the white people in this place. These people are our neighbors. We are acquainted with them. We will wait a little while, and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it does them good, and makes them honest, and less disposed to cheat Indians, we will then consider again what you have said.

Brother: You have now heard our answer to your talk, and this is all we have to say at present. As we are going to part, we will come and take you by the hand, and hope the Great Spirit will protect you on your journey, and return you safe to your friends.

Chief Powhatan's Address to John Smith

I am now grown old and must soon die, and the succession must descend in order, to my brothers, Opitchapam, Opechancanough, and Kekataugh, and then to my two sisters, and their two daughters.

I wish their experience was equal to mine, and that your love to us might not be not be less than ours to you. Why should you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should you destroy us who have provided you with food? What can you get by war? We can hide our provisions and fly into the woods. And then you must consequently famish by wrongdoing your friends.

What is the cause of your jealousy? You see us unarmed and willing to supply your wants if you come in a friendly manner; not with swords and guns as to invade an enemy. I am not so simple as not to know that it is better to eat good meat, lie well, and sleep quietly with my women and children; to laugh and be merry with the English, and, being their friend, to have copper, hatchets, and whatever else I want then to fly from all, to lie cold in the woods, feed upon acorns, roots and such trash, and to be so hunted that I cannot rest, eat, or sleep. In such circumstances, my men must watch, and if a twig should but break, all would cry out, "Here comes Captain Smith." And so, in this miserable manner to end my miserable life. And, Captain Smith, this might soon be your fate too through your rashness and unadvisedness.

I, therefore, exhort you to peaceable councils, and above all I insist that the guns and swords, the cause of all our jealousy and uneasiness, be removed and sent away.

Chief Tecumseh

So live your life so the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their views, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a stranger if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise ones turn to fools and robs them of their visions. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

Chief Tecumseh 's Address to General William Henry Harrison

Houses are built for you to hold councils in. The Indians hold theirs in the open air. I am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them I take my only existence. From my tribe I take nothing. I have made myself what I am. And I would that I could make the red people as great as the conceptions of my own mind, when I think of the Great Spirit that rules over us all. I would not then come to Governor Harrison to ask him to tear up the treaty [the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, which gave the United States parts of the Northwest Territory].

But I would say to him, "Brother, you have the liberty to return to your own country." You wish to prevent the Indians from doing as we wish them, to unite and let them consider their lands as a common property of the whole. You take the tribes aside and advise them not to come into this measure. You want by your distinctions of Indian tribes, in allotting to each a particular, to make them war with each other. You never see an Indian endeavor to make the white people do this. You are continually driving the red people, when at last you will drive them into the great lake [Lake Michigan], where they can neither stand nor work.

Since my residence at Tippecanoe, we have endeavored to level all distinctions, to destroy village chiefs, by whom all mischiefs are done. It is they who sell the land to the Americans. Brother, this land that was sold, and the goods that was [sic] given for it, was only done by a few. In the future we are prepared to punish those who propose to sell land to the Americans. If you continue to purchase them, it will make war among the different tribes, and, at last I do not know what will be the consequences among the white people.

Brother, I wish you would take pity on the red people and do as I have requested. If you will not give up the land and do cross the boundary of our present settlement, it will be vary hard and produce great trouble between us.

The way, the only way to stop this evil, is for the red people to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was at first, and should be now -- for it was never divided, but belongs to all.

No tribe has the right to sell, even to each other, much less to strangers.

Sell a country?! Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?

How can we have confidence in the white people? We have good and just reasons to believe we have ample grounds to accuse the Americans of injustice, especially when such great acts of injustice have been committed by them upon our race, of which they seem to have no manner of regard, or even to reflect. *When Jesus Christ came upon the earth you killed him and nailed him to the cross. You thought he was dead, and you were mistaken. You have the Shakers among you, and you laugh and make light of their worship.* Everything I have told you is the truth. The Great Spirit has inspired me.

Chief Logan’s lament

I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace.

Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as I passed, and said, "Logan is a friend of the white man." I have even thought to live with you but for the injuries of one man, Colonel Cresap, who last spring in cold blood and unprovoked murdered the relatives of Logan, not even sparing his wife and children.

There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This has called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice in the beams of peace.

But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.

I have shaken hands with a good many friends, but there are some things I want to know which no one seems able to explain. I cannot understand how the Government sends a man out to fight us, as it did General Miles, and then breaks his word. Such a government has something wrong about it. I cannot understand why so many chiefs are allowed to talk so many different ways, and promise so many different things. I have seen the Great Father Chief [President Hayes]; the Next Great Chief [Secretary of the Interior]; the Commissioner Chief; the Law Chief; and many other law chiefs [Congressmen] and they all say they are my friends, and that I shall have justice, but while all their mouths talk right I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father's grave. They do not pay for my horses and cattle. Good words do not give me back my children. Good words will not make good the promise of your war chief, General Miles. Good words will not give my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. Too many misinterpretations have been made; too many misunderstandings have come up between the white men and the Indians. If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them the same laws. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect all rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases. If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the Great White Chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They cannot tell me.

I only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are treated. If I cannot go to my own home, let me have a home in a country where my people will not die so fast. I would like to go to Bitter Root Valley. There my people would be happy; where they are now they are dying. Three have died since I left my camp to come to Washington.

When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.

I know that my race must change. We cannot hold our own with the white men as we are. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. If an Indian breaks the law, punish him by the law. If a white man breaks the law, punish him also.

Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself -- and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.

Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no more wars. We shall be all alike -- brothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country around us and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief
who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers' hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race is waiting and praying. I hope no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.
- Chief Joseph

Surrender Speech by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead.
It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead.
Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.

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It Had to Happen

About the only thing Bush had going for him was during his reign that nothing had decided "to peace out" or secede from America.
Well, not anymore. The Lakotas have seceded from the Union.
Seriously.
It's the 1860s all over again.
From the AP article (originally found on Wonkette)

The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

They also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and will continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months, they told the news conference.

Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free -- provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Means said.

The treaties signed with the United States are merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists say on their website.

The treaties have been "repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life," the reborn freedom movement says.

Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.

"This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution," which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.

"It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent," said Means.

The Lakota relaunched their journey to freedom in 1974, when they drafted a declaration of continuing independence -- an overt play on the title of the United States' Declaration of Independence from England.

Thirty-three years have elapsed since then because "it takes critical mass to combat colonialism and we wanted to make sure that all our ducks were in a row," Means said.

One duck moved into place in September, when the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples -- despite opposition from the United States, which said it clashed with its own laws.

"We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children," Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference.

The US "annexation" of native American land has resulted in once proud tribes such as the Lakota becoming mere "facsimiles of white people," said Means.

Oppression at the hands of the US government has taken its toll on the Lakota, whose men have one of the shortest life expectancies -- less than 44 years -- in the world.

Lakota teen suicides are 150 percent above the norm for the United States; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

"Our people want to live, not just survive or crawl and be mascots," said Young.

"We are not trying to embarrass the United States. We are here to continue the struggle for our children and grandchildren," she said, predicting that the battle would not be won in her lifetime.

Lakota Nation-like Kid Nation but with real booze. And a better National Anthem. Plus cooler flags (see above and below)
I'm glad the Lakota are taking this step (if I do have to renounce my citizenship I'm glad I have somewhere closer to move than Canada) but one has to wonder what took them so long- I mean I would have called for revolution and secession after like the first 10 broken treaties.

But on top of everything else, it has to be pointed out that the country is actually breaking apart under Bush.(GWeeB: taking the US out of USA since 2007) I know it could've happened but I thought California would be first.
Can everyone just admit that he's our worst president ever. (William Henry Harrison may have only lasted 30 days, but at least he didn't fuck up anything) Well, at least now all those "Bush/Lincoln" comparisons have some basis in fact

viva lakota.

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Barack Obama Doesn't Care About People

at least Georgie cared about rich white people.

In another revealing nugget Barack shows he cares only about himself and his pretty pretty words; from Politico in an article titled "Obama struggles to feel voters' pain"

– Barack Obama lost his common-man touch Wednesday at The Common Man restaurant.

His campaign assembled six voters with hard luck stories for a roundtable at the aptly-named New Hampshire chain.

There was the 25-year-old single mother with no health insurance and mounting school loans. She got choked up when another woman, cradling a 10-week-old, talked about her family’s strained finances and her wish just to stay home and raise her children.

Then there was Sandra Burt, who lost her job on her 65th birthday. She cannot afford her $2,900 monthly prescription drug costs (she tried skipping doses, but ended up in the hospital). Her husband cashed in his life insurance and sold his treasured truck. They live in a 30-year-old double-wide trailer where the thermostat is set at 64 degrees.

Obama listened intently at the center of a U-shaped table, but amid the heart-wrenching stories that moved even members of the media, he betrayed little emotion.

“We put on extra blankets. We put on an extra pair of socks, whatever it takes,” said Burt, weeping at the end of the table. “What would you do?”

Before Obama could respond, Burt apologized – “I’m sorry,” she said – for breaking down in front of klieg lights, more than a dozen cameras and many more reporters.

“No, listen, it is outrageous,” said Obama, his voice monotone. “We are going to change this.”

For all the charisma that Obama can show day-to-day, bringing crowds to their feet with optimistic rhetoric or lingering on the rope line to hear voters’ stories, he can also appear equally detached.

The dual personality of Barack Obama – the aloof, professorial side – emerged Wednesday at a time when he might have benefited from more of the I-feel-your-pain approach he exhibits regularly on the campaign trail.

His response to Burt was a snapshot of his stump speech.

“There is a direct correlation between the special interests agendas in Washington and your situation,” Obama said, looking down at the table as often as he did at her. “Nobody expects government to do everything for them. What people do expect is if you are working hard and doing the right thing, then you should be able to retire with dignity and respect and have some basic health care.”

“Can you fix it?” Burt asked.

“I know I can fix it if I got the American people understanding that it needs to be fixed,” he said.

When somebody handed napkins to Obama for Burt, he dropped the pile in her hands from across the table, passing up what could have been an opportunity to make contact. (Another way to look at it is he resisted pandering.)

He later mentioned the success of his book allowed him to buy a big house. He was highlighting the unfairness of a tax system that gave him a mortgage deduction not available to those who own less expensive properties, but the story seemed somehow misplaced.

Barack, show you care- it's one of the biggest messages in The Queen
Part of the job of president is to be consoler in chief to make us sure and to feel safe in moments of great national doubt, even GweeB did this after September 11th serving as a reassuring figure and in those kind of moments we don’t need someone to explain in professorial detached tones the causes of the tragedy and how we can solve the problem we need someone to feel, someone to say "there there it’ll be all right". To be a reflection of our grief but also of our resolve.That’s why people love and were drawn to Bill Clinton, because he cared about people and not just the problems in an abstract analytical manner.

Oh and it’s not pandering if you really care; it’s called being human and wanting to do what you can to comfort someone in pain.

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