Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Fear Still Works

Hillary won three out of four states yesterday, albeit by a narrow margin. Many political analyzers attribute her edge to a campaign commercial where we hear a phone ringing at the White House at 3am while we see recession-proof children nestled in their beds. "Who do you want to answer the phone?" the ad asks. The phone keeps ringing, naturally creating an anxious feeling inside the viewer. Hillary's trying to tell us that we want her on that wall. Who is else is going to do it? You, Obama?

Rather than demonstrating a new way to lead in Washington, Hillary is telling us that whether we're Republican or Democrat, we can count on the same old crap from her. Which is good, because like too many an abused housewife, we get out of one bad relationship only to go back into another one. Electing Hillary keeps our abuse cycle going strong.

One state tired of the abuse is Vermont. Not only did they vote for Barack yesterday, two Vermont towns officially declared George W. Bush and Dick Cheney war criminals and have claimed the right to arrest them if either ever come to their towns. How about that? A sitting president and vice-president being told they are not welcome and will be treated like the crooks that they are if the come around. From an MSNBC article...
Voters interviewed after casting ballots said they saw the article as an opportunity to express their frustration over the war in Iraq and Bush's tenure in general.


Which brings me to yesterday.

Thank you everyone who participated in the "Impeach Bush Now!" cyber shout.

A Google search for "Impeach Bush Now" has it up to 51, 200 - up 800 from the last time I checked. Just "Impeach Bush" still gets well over a million hits.

What's interesting, is that most of the hits are from grassroots websites and blogs. When it does show up in a news media source, it's either Keith Olbermann, The Huffington Post or a quote from a celebrity in an interview. What's sadly missing is a strong presence for impeachment in the major news organizations across the country or from any politician other than Dennis Kuccinich.

Yet, there are reports of people taking action at the city and town level, as in Vermont, which is inspiring. The will of the people is being greatly and grievously ignored by Washington and the media conglomerates. But that doesn't mean it has to stop. They're trying to tell us "Hey, it's almost over. Just try to relax and enjoy it." Well, guess what? A bigger crime than anything Bush has done, is to let him ride out his term and then walk off into retirement to write his pop-up memoirs.

While working on the "One Message. Loud and Clear." project, I discovered a multitude of websites devoted to reinstating justice in our country. One of the best is Democrats.com, where you can sign petitions and have your message sent to your own state's representatives. I strongly encourage you to do this. It barely takes a minute. Congressmen and women do track the issues that come in to their office and how people feel about them. One of the best websites for comprehensive and easy-to-digest information on impeachment and related current events is After Downing Street.

Don't give up hope. Unless its 3am and the phone is ringing in the White House and Hillary answers. But then, again, it's probably just Bill saying he needs a ride home from the bar. "Please come get me, darlin'. And bring me some pants. Lost mine."




THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY

Yesterday, I asked...

"An Iranian court has ordered Shahin to give his wife Hengameh the dowry he promised her comprised of what?"

37% said ""Antique" furniture from the '70's"
- That's called Ikea.

25% said "Six dozen goats and one cow"
- Sorry. Too old school.

Another 25% said "A Buick"
- It's been in the family for generations and must be pulled by camel.

12% got it right with "124, 000 roses"

According to the BBC, an Iranian court has ordered a man to give his wife the 124,000 roses that he promised in her dowry, after she filed a complaint to claim it, reports say. The woman said she was claiming the dowry because her "very stingy husband" would not even pay for a cup of coffee, according to the E'temad newspaper. The court has seized the man's flat until he produces all of the roses. Under Iranian law, a woman can claim her dowry, or mahr, at any time during a marriage or when getting divorced. The cost of a single rose in Iran is $2. So, this is going to cost this chump $248, 000 bucks. Dude, should have bought her that cup of coffee.