Blog Block: A Lesson & An Alternative…

Going on a couple of months since I posted here, on the SouthernViews. Partly a busy time at work and home. But mostly learning a blogging lesson …bit off more than I could chew. My original concept and goal for the blog was to post political commentary pieces a few times a week. Worked out for a while but not very realistic and soon became no fun. Professional writers do that for a living.

So… after a couple of months of consideration, a different approach and adjusted goals.

The micro-blog Twitter is always an easy & fun place to post thoughts. See, hear something, react. But 14o characters is a one-liner limit. So I've created another blog, The*Blue*Retort to develop those thoughts and reactions that come at random times everyday. I will still post more in-depth comments here occasionally. Hopefully, a couple a month or if real ambitious, weekly. So please check back :-)

World View: Playing for Change. Stand by Me.

Playing for Change. Stand by Me.

Our first Song Around The World that bridges the physical distance between the many musicians and cultures of this planet.

President Obama's Adult Leadership

After watching Pat Buchanan rail, on MSNBC's Hardball, against President Obama for not "defending" himself and the country from the remarks, Pat's perceived insults, of Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega at the Summit of the Americas, I am left with one thought. Finally we have a President who is an adult.

Mr. Buchanan wanted the President to walk out in protest or probably more likely to call out Ortega afterward in the adolescent cowboy style of George W. Bush, "Hey, Ortega man, I challenge you to a duet at fifty paces, eh-eh!"

Guess Zell Miller possesses the leadership style Pat can believe in…

Reminds me of the old joke. "What's the difference between the GOP & the Boy Scouts? …Boy Scouts have adult leadership." Grow up, Pat! As a matter of fact, grow up Newt Gingrich!

Most Americans have a different view of President Obama's conduct at the Summit.

Obama criticized his [Chavez] economic and foreign policies and "inflammatory" anti-U.S. rhetoric. ~Washington Post

And from the Christian Science Montior:

With frank exchanges and the appearance of a new maturity [italics mine], regional leaders including a travel-weary but enthusiastic President Obama breathed new life into the Summit of the Americas – a meeting that at least one member thought had outlived its usefulness before this weekend.

With his mature, measured leadership, President Obama is setting a new tone in the Western Hemisphere, making anti-Americanism less popular and demonstrating real leadership for the Americas. Reasonable adults from Canada to Chile are encouraged.

Torture Memos, Torturing the Right

The Right is criticising the release of Bush Administration Terror Memos, claiming once again, that those who don't share their views or actions counter to their views are aiding & abetting Al Qaeda terrorists.

Just the same old, tiresome argument that has been completely discredited by Cheney and other neocon fabricators of the same ilk. This 'helping terrorists' argument has been employed in attempts to discredit criticism of the War in Iraq and to disparage the closing of Guantanamo Bay. They are, in reality, claiming any opposition to their ideas, their policy, to them, is aiding and abetting the enemy. Apparently, anyone who opposes them is their enemy.

George Will, on This Week, suggested that other, unnamed nations, will be harmed as well as us, by the release of these memos. Guess George has a Top Secret clearance and can't tell which nations. Otherwise he'd have to… torture us.

Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel responded to this nonsense on ABC's This Week by asserting the purpose of the memo release – to expose abhorrent practices, to affirm America's commitment to refrain from torture. His position on 'aiding & abetting' was that such an argument was moot - these "enhance interrogation techniques" are now prohibited by executive order and thus reading about them will be of no use to Al Qaeda.

David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to President Obama, relayed on Face the Nation that the particular enhanced interrogation techniques discussed in the memos has been in the public record for months, years.

Show me the data! Where's the evidence that Al Qaeda has or will use any such data to train their operatives? Think these Qaeda thugs don't know a lot already about torture? Think they train the same way the Navy Seals do? C'mon boys, who's naive now?

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003 and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in August 2002. ~emptywheel Blog

Hmm… I thought the Neocon argument for torture was that it was an effective intelligence tool. I think even the fictional character, Jack Bauer, might get a clue from that number –183 waterboardings in a month isn't an "enhanced interrogation technique".

It's revenge. It's sadism. It's torture.

Rearview Mirror: The Day After - Roanoke Sarah Palin Ral… er, Tea Party

Hundreds of disgruntled folks of non-color attended Roanoke's very own "Tea Party" yesterday from 5pm to 7pm at the Roanoke River foot bridge on Wiley Drive. To be "fair & balanced" there were, by my estimate, about 450-500, a majority of middle-aged and seniors, in attendance. (I blended well!) This number over twice the number I thought might attend. More than the DC Party.

The protest was orderly, yet a little disorganized. It was difficult to hear speakers because of the road running through the middle of the gathering, with cars beeping horns in approval. Some protesters seemed to think the event was a parade and drove back & forth through the gathering, beeping their horns, encouraged by the crowd! One group of 5 teenage girls in coordinated face paint & red slogan covered t-shirts kept squealing loudly at seemingly random (to me) points, and drowning out the speakers.

Protest sign topics varied greatly [here's are some pics on Flickr]. Most focused on taxes or spending. Many accused President Obama of being a Socialist, Communist or even Fascist. The single most common theme was an organized promotion of the "Fair Tax" by one particular group attending.

Once the 'speeches' started, the main theme of the protest was clear - we don't like that Obama won the election. We don't like the government now that Obama is President.

The first words from the bullhorn were "How many people here voted for President Obama?" …Chorus of boos.

"I don't have the luxury of a teleprompter." were the first words from an event organizer. And then, "For the first time in my life, I'm proud of Roanoke", in not so veiled disdain of Michelle Obama.

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Lee Carter, another organizer was the first to give a speech (still no teleprompter, but he had notes and stumbled through his speech!). His topic wasn't taxes, but rather initially that President Obama was the opposite of Lincoln. Then he quoted Lincoln:

"When the Know-Nothings get control, it [Declaration of Independence] will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics.'”

Ironically, at this mention of Lincoln, one man in the crowd booed and hollered,

"Why didn't Lincoln Free the South?!"

Carter grinned and hesitated, the man continued,

"Lincoln enslaved us all!"

Huh?!

Carter protested Obama by accusing him of denying Constitutional Rights to fetuses, though the foundation of his assertion was not the Constitution, but rather Lincoln's quote based on the Declaration of Independence.

"When the liberals get control, it will read 'all men are created equal except fetuses and elderly and those with birth defects. …It is impossible for Barack Obama to love America when he spends your money to kill babies."

Pete Larkin, a Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) staffer, was there for Mr. Goodlatte. He read a letter from the Congressman, who was teabagging in Lynchburg himself, about simplifying the tax code, to the cheers of the crowd. Irony is that President Obama made similar tax day remarks yesterday. The crowd would have cheered Obama's remarks had they heard them, but just not if they'd known who had given them.

State Senator Ralph Smith made an appearance and talked about the GOP Party Chair that is up for grabs. Maybe he wants the job?

One older gentleman got the microphone and channeled John Ashcroft with a stirring rendition of Proud to be an American.

A middle-aged woman admired Texas Governor Rick Perry for suggesting the Secession of Texas from the Union. She suggested Virginia should stand up for "States Rights" and consider secession too. She also claimed the Department of Homeland Security, in their recent report, was labeling Iraq War Veterans, her son-in-law included, as Terrorists.

Discontent - The Emotion You Feel When You Don't Have Get You Want.
Tea - The Drink You Order When They Don't Have What You Want.
Fox - The News You Watch When News Isn't What You Want.

~The Daily Show – April 15, 2009

Here's the show:


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AKA "ACORN"

Hometown Vista: Roanoke SlideShow

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This SlideShow on Flickr.

Patriotscape Followup: A Roanoke "Tea Tantrum"

A continuation of thoughts from this previous Roanoke "Tea Party" post .


Andrew Sullivan, in The Daily Dish blog post "The Tea Tantrum Movement" looks for reason in the tea party "movement."

I spent the better part of an hour earlier today scanning the various sites and blogs to try and understand what specifically the Fox-Pajamas tea parties are about. Having absorbed about as much of the literature as I can, I have to say I'm still befuddled.

And concludes:

These are not tea-parties. They are tea-tantrums. …It's a function of a movement's intellectual collapse and a party's fast-accelerating nervous breakdown.

Here's a list of Stimulus Package spending in Virginia, so any Roanoke tea baggers can know specifically what to protest. Just trying to help guys! You see, I still just think you're sore losers. Your movement is just a tantrum, you don't like who is in the White House, who is in control of the Congress. Seems like you don't really like democracy when it doesn't work for you.

Here are a few pertinent questions:

• Have you refused the Obama Stimulus tax break that began in March for those making less than $250k?
• Are you going to send back the $500/$1000 Obama Stimulus tax rebate check when it comes?
  
• Are you going to protest at any of the many Virginia military bases? They are receiving $330 million of the total $4.8 billion in Fed Stimulus Virginia receives.
• Going to refuse to drive on roads & bridges that are repaired & improved with the $811 million in Fed Stimulus for Virginia transportation needs. (Oh, wait, I guess you couldn't get to the Tea Party if this were the case!)
  
• Going to protest at your local school board meeting about the teachers jobs that were saved with the $730 million of direct Stimulus aid to Virginia schools?
  

Well, see you at the party! I'll have my sign: "Don't throw tea! Throw back your tax rebate!"

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Is the Christian Right… Evangelical?

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OBX VIstas: Cape Hatteras SlideShow

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