The Liberal Muckraker

The Shock Doctrine

2008-11-22T10:45:00.000-08:00

I have just started reading the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. So far it is fascinating, I had read some of Friedman's theories in the past mainly the Freedom To Choose. But I never realized his complicity in South American Dictatorships of Pinochet, Uruguay, and the Brazil and Argentina Junta's. Fascinating material. As I am reading this book on the heels of Krugman's Conscience of a Liberal, I am starting to ponder the thought that a strong educated middle class is the ultimate enemy of both dictatorships and corporatist described in Naomi's book. Klien points out persuasively that really Friedman is much closer to Marx in that his theories require a clean slate of society upon which to enforce his theories furthermore it must be pure. Such radicalism and fanaticism leads directly to the Gulag and the Torture Chamber.

Actions

2008-11-22T10:36:00.001-08:00

Excellent essay by Sister Helen Prejean of Dead Man Walking fame. Mind numbing quote: "I keep watching what I do to see what I actually believe."

This quote really shook me. Often I can scream my beliefs off the rooftop in righteous indignation, but what really does that change. Sure it is important to convey information and to let people know what my beliefs are, but do I take those seriously if I do not act upon them besides blogging or reading relevant material?

Golden Oldies from 08 Election

2008-11-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it.” -- Voltaire

2008-11-13T05:48:00.001-08:00

Don't Mess With These Librarians

2008-11-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

Article in Mother Jones describing some brave librarians who stood up to the FBI. Imagine getting one of these national security letters (NSL):

The recipient of the letter could not disclose "to any person that the FBI has sought or obtained access to information or records." It was a lifetime gag order; break it, and he could be looking at ﬁve years in jail. "I believe this is unconstitutional," said Christian politely. In response he got a threatening scowl, a business card, and instructions to have his lawyer call the FBI.

Library of Liberty

2008-11-11T19:31:00.000-08:00

This is a great site that I just came across that lets you download PDF files of classic literature with a focus on individual liberty. Want to read Candide by Voltaire or maybe Cato's letters, no problem. It is simply amazing when one thinks about how easy it is to access literally thousands of books. To think the lengths men and women went to acquire a book or learn to read in ages past. And now that all of this information is merely minutes away, most of our society decides it is more important to vote on the next American Idol or to watch 3 hours of Real Housewives of Atlanta, then to relearn and read the actual works that influenced and formed the basis of our country. For my 2 cents I say the more patriotic person is the one who has actually read Rights of Man or Commonsense over someone who constantly brags about how patriotic they are because they have 15 flags on their house & 20 flag magnets on their car.

Special Comment on Prop 8

2008-11-10T20:49:00.001-08:00

I enjoy watching Keith but sometimes he gets a little too much righteous indignation going on with his Special Comment...this is not one of those times.

What really bothers me about this is how the Mormons and The Catholic Church were so implicit in backing Prop 8. I am a Catholic and lapsed member of the Knights of Columbus. I continually struggle with some of the dictates and proclamations of my church such as how I am going to hell if I vote for Obama or that same sex marriage violates the sanctity of marriage. I tend to view my Catholic religion more in line with the great blogger Andrew Sullivan & Garry Wills. The way I see it, its my faith and I am not going to allow bigoted people whether priest, archbishop or laymen to tell me whether or not I am a "good catholic". I imagine I will continue to struggle with these issues but one thing is for sure, after Tuesday the Knights of Columbus will never see me as a member again.

The Dumbing Down of America

2008-11-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

Fascinating editorial in Commondreams...eye popping quote:

The Princeton Review analyzed the transcripts of the Gore-Bush debates, the Clinton-Bush-Perot debates of 1992, the Kennedy-Nixon debates of 1960 and the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. It reviewed these transcripts using a standard vocabulary test that indicates the minimum educational standard needed for a reader to grasp the text. During the 2000 debates George W. Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level (6.7) and Al Gore at a seventh-grade level (7.6). In the 1992 debates Bill Clinton spoke at a seventh-grade level (7.6), while George H.W. Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level (6.8), as did H. Ross Perot (6.3). In the debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon the candidates spoke in language used by 10th-graders. In the debates of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas the scores were respectively 11.2 and 12.0. In short, today’s political rhetoric is designed to be comprehensible to a 10-year-old child or an adult with a sixth-grade reading level. It is fitted to this level of comprehension because most Americans speak, think and are entertained at this level. This is why serious film and theater and other serious artistic expression, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of American society. Voltaire was the most famous man of the 18th century. Today the most famous “person” is Mickey Mouse.

Dasheke--Some kind of special mustache

2008-11-10T05:11:00.000-08:00

Hilarious video from 23/6! I am currently emailing this to every person who has ever emailed me the Obama is a socialist/radical black christian/muslim/gun taker/baby killer emails. Enjoy!

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Daily Jefferson

2008-11-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

To Dr. Benjamin Rush Washington April 21, 1803

Regarding public proclamations of one's faith & religion:

I am moreover averse to the communication of my religious tenets to the public; because it would contenance the presumption of those who have endeavored to draw them before that tribunal, and to seduce public opinion to errect itself into that inquisition over the rights of conscience, which the laws so justly proscribed. It behoves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others; or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own. It behoves him, too, in his own case, to give no example of concession, betraying the common right of independant opinion, by answering questions of faith, which laws have left between God & himself.

My personal thought is how did this guy ever get elected? Can you imagine Obama or another candidate when asked about his religion by the press to say simply "It's none of your business". Could it be that this country is more religiously radical and thereby requiring more of a religious test for its President than it had 200 years ago.....thanks to the Religious Right driven GOP for our regression!

Waterboarding, Enhanced Interrogation & World War II War Crimes

2008-11-09T05:25:00.000-08:00

New story from the Common Dreams Newswire regarding the Bush Administration's continued attempt to block the citizens of this country from knowing exactly what is being done in their name. I know many believe that the ACLU sometimes is involved in matters that are not relevant to its mission and are frustrated by some of its actions, but in these last years of an monarchical administration, they have been one of the few to continuously push the government in court. They have already been successful in having reams of memorandums released under the Freedom Of Information Act. Some that specifically demonstrate that the Administration continues to encourage waterboarding as an "enhanced interrogation". Now I often have arguments with my conservative friends about waterboarding, they of course state that it is not torture due to the fact that no physical injury results. But lets actually look at a description of someone who has undergone the procedure:

A towel was fixed under the chin and down over the face. Then many buckets of water were poured into the towel so that the water gradually reached the mouth and rising further eventually also the nostrils, which resulted in his becoming unconscious and collapsing like a person drowned. This procedure was sometimes repeated 5-6 times in succession. They would lash me to a stretcher then prop me up against a table with my head down. They would then pour about two gallons of water from a pitcher into my nose and mouth until I lost consciousness.

An account of an Al Queda suspect? possibly an Iraqi insurgent? Wrong again, this is a recounting of an American soldier who was captured by the Japanese in WWII. The quote was part of testimony in you guessed it a trial for war crimes. So the question is if it was torture then, why is it not torture now? I have yet to hear a reasonable response from my conservative friends. A great quick read on this is an article that ran in the Washington Post in 2007 by Evan Wallach.

The Raving Radical Movie Review

2008-11-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

So tonight I sat down and watched Chicago 10 out on DVD. This is a documentary film that splits between actual footage of the 1968 Democratic Convention and animation of the actual court proceedings of the Chicago 10 trial. For a little background the Chicago 10 were a group of, you guessed it, 10 people mainly anti-war & civil rights protestors who organized a protest of the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Overall I thought the movie was great. I have read much of Abbie Hoffman's writings as well as William Kunstler, who represented Abbie, so I did have a basic knowledge going in what the movie was about. I was afraid that the constant switching from animation to actual footage would be distracting to the overall story which is powerful enough as is, but it really was very smooth. In fact, seeing animation Abbie as opposed to real Abbie was hmm let me use the generation venacular "quite a trip". After watching the Convention footage and Obama give his speech on election night, both of which happend at Grant's Park in Chicago, it just seems fitting bookends to see where the Democratic Party really lost its soul and where it hopefully will be reborn. Anyways I would give this movie an All Power To The People 4 out of 5. Here is the trailer:

Also if you enjoyed this I would also recommend Steal This Movie, which deals specifically with the life of Abbie Hoffman.

Daily Jefferson

2008-11-08T13:52:00.001-08:00

I am currently reading Jefferson's Letters, which are a treasure trove of wisdom. In that vein I hope to enter a daily entry from Jefferson, so without further ado:

Freedom Of The Press-- To Judge John Tyler Washinghton June 28, 1804

I may err in my measures, but never shall deflect from the intention to fortify the public liberty by every possible means, and to put it out of the power of the few to riot on the labors of the many. No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.

If you are a Jefferson geek like me then I strongly suggest listening to The Thomas Jefferson Hour, a radio program by Clay Jenkinson. In the first half hour Jenkinson plays Mr. Jefferson and the second half hour both the commentator and Mr. Jenkinson discuss the topic in today's terms. All the episodes are divided into topics which really lets you pick and choose what interests you and what Jefferson thought about it.

Help Me Obi Anderson Kenobi Your My Only Hope

2008-11-08T12:35:00.001-08:00

Hilarious Dave Barry editorial concerning the election, makes me want a martini. I don't know if anybody watched CNN election night coverage when they brought the hologram of Will I Am in, but it was pure comedy, it looked just like Star Wars. I was half expecting Will. I. Am to repeatedly say "Help me Anderson Cooper your my only hope!"

Death In The Congo

2008-11-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

Photographs taken by Major Stevn Stec, (UNAMIR) Gikondo Parish, Kigali. April 1994 in Rwanda

Eye opening story in The Guardian about more genocide perpetuated in Africa. It is disheartening to see how one horrible event (i.e. the slaughter in Rwanda) can send a chilling chain of events throughout the region. The massacre in Rwanda was mainly by Huutu militia against the Tutsi's, at least 500,000 were slaughtered in the bloodshed. Now Tutsi's are returning the terrible favor upon Huutu's in the Congo led by General Nkunda of the National Congress for People's Defence.

Lil O'Reilly

2008-11-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Not far off from the real BillO, although this one may be a little bit more mature.

Thoughts On Election 08

2008-11-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

What really spurred this blog is the Election this week. For the last 3 months I have been constantly responding to and defending my support for President Elect Barack Obama from the various viral & vile emails regarding everything from "He is a Muslim" to "He is a baby killer"! I reside in a rural area of Illinois that is as conservative as they come, which is not necessarily a bad thing so long as it is intelligent and spirited discussion. Which it never is. Since I reside in Illinois the election for our state was well in hand so I decided to try and help out in Indiana by assisting in GOTV efforts. Looks like hard work paid off with Obama taking Indiana, the first time Indiana has gone for a Democrat since LBJ. This really surprised me as Indiana is a very conservative red state, more in line with the South than the Midwest on many issues. Before the election I would have certainly bet that if any Red Midwest state was going to go for Obama it would have been Missouri. Due to its large metropolitan centers of St. Louis & Kansas City not to mention certain suburbs of St. Louis which are very progressive in nature. But I will take it!

Now the goal in my estimation moving forward is to push and support President Obama in enacting the change required to return some sense of order to our Republic. In that vein there is a great full length movie out for free viewing with limited commerical interruption titled "End Of America". It is really a eye popping indictment of some of the transgressions by the present administration regarding the destruction of our Constitution. My hope is that President Obama and Congress will have the fortitude and political willpower to revoke such ridiculous tactics as the use of Blackwater, "Enhanced Interrogation", black sites and torture. The film lasts about 75 minutes but is well worth your time in my estimation: http://snagfilms.com/films/title/the_end_of_america/

VI VERI VENIVERSUM VIVUS VICI

Getting Started

2008-11-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

So this is my first post on the blog. The goal of this blog is to vent ideas and issues revolving around politics & society. I am thoroughly annoying my friends by long diatribes in email format and decided that maybe this would be a better format. As you can see from the title the idealogical slant is towards the left although I certainly enjoying discussing and listening to opposing views. My hope is that this becomes a venue to discuss ideas and thoughts while at the same time being an informative source for much of the great work that is already available on other blogs.

VI VERI VENIVERSUM VIVUS VICI