Too true

"Rage is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers."
- Jimmy Breslin

Patriots Day/United Nations International Day Of Peace

8:46:26 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 impacts the north side of the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) of the WTC between the 94th and 98th floors. American Airlines Flight 11 was flying at a speed of 490 miles per hour (MPH).

When American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower, "it set up vibrations which were transmitted through the building, through its foundation, and into the ground," says Lerner-Lam. Those vibrations, as indicated by seismographs at Lamont-Doherty and other locations, were the equivalent of a magnitude 0.9 earthquake, one too small to be felt.

Where were you by Alan Jackson

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry

Did you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below

Did you burst out in pride
For the red white and blue
The heroes who died just doing what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself to what really matters

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her
Did you dust off that bible at home
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Speak with some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some stranger
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

The greatest is love
The greatest is love (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

The speech he SHOULD'VE made

My friends, my speech writers prepared a script for me which my advisors and party big wigs vetted and convention officials have posted on these handy teleprompters. But my friends, this is not a time for safe, party-approved rhetoric, this is a time for straight talk.

“You all know, I’ve been called a maverick, someone who marches to the beat of his own drum,” but let’s face it, I’ve agreed with President Bush far more than I’ve disagreed.

If I truly put country before party, I’d have asked someone like my fellow Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel, Republican Senator from Nebraska. Chuck and I disagree on Iraq and on torture, and he’d genuinely be willing to tell me the what he thinks and stand up to our party and special interests. But I’m more interested in my own personal legacy than in actually advancing real reforms.

I really wanted to pick my friend Joe Lieberman, the Independent Senator from Connecticut. I like him, we agree on things and get along well, so I know he’d be a good working partner. But after all, he used to be a member of the Democrat party, among other things.

I thought for sure that Governor Frist of Florida or Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania. Both could garner a few more electoral votes than Nebraska, Alaska or Connecticut. But lets face it, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, GOPAC and Republican strategists decided to stick me with this former local TV Anchorwoman and beauty pageant runner up.

You gotta admit, it was a stroke of genius. Should Liberals attack her, we'll get to cry "sexist" and make them look like a bunch of hypocrites. Even though we’ve opposed equal rights for women and equal pay for equal work, if we win, we’ll get to lay claim to breaking that glass ceiling for women, not those pesky Democrats.

Sure, for years, Republicans have argued that women should stay home with their kids instead of pursuing a high profile career, but it’s the Democrats who’ll look sexist or even “elitist” if they question her for putting her five kids through a national campaign.

It’s a win-win. She advocated abstinence-only sex education and cut funding for programs offering shelter to homeless unwed mothers, but she and her pregnant 17 year old daughter are heroes for not having abortions.

Sure, she may have improperly pressured then-Public Safety Commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law, an Alaskan state trooper, who had been in the middle of a custody dispute with her sister- but that just shows that she can stand up to men and she gets things done. It doesn’t mean she won’t help me fight corruption and reform government. Maybe I’ll put her in charge of hiring and firing U.S. Attorneys, so that the Attorney General won’t have to be bothered.

Let me be straight with you my friends, if elected I probably wouldn’t be so bad. I’d probably be much less of an extremist than George Bush. My advisors are just trying to activate our party’s base of extreme right wingers so that they’ll get out the vote. Once I’m elected, I’ll probably be more like an H.W. Bush or maybe even a lovable dottering grandpa type like Reagan- everyone loves Reagan.

So you won’t even have to worry about “Caribou Barbie” unless I die or am incapacitated somehow while in office.

My friends, what we really need to worry about is insuring the old Reagan ideals of trickle-down economics, less regulation of corporations and massive tax cuts for the extremely rich. We can’t let these dreams die.

Sure, more Americans are out of work than have been at any time in the last five years, but remember, a rising tide lifts all boats. If the levy breaks, then it raised cars and houses too. I want to protect middle-class Americans like my wife Cindy and myself. If the Democrats win, people like us may have to cut back to only four or five houses instead of seven or eight!

And let’s not be confused: These are perilous times, not just for America, but for freedom itself. Freedom to own and carry your own 39mm Kalashnikov automatic assault rifle. Freedom for importers, and food and drug producers from burdensome government oversight. Freedom for hedge fund managers, banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies and financial speculators from oppressive government regulations.

Most of all it’s going to take someone of unusual strength and character, to continue to wage the world wide war on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

My friends, only I have the experience it will take to keep on torturing people, to racially profile and to harass elderly women at airport security checks.

The only way you can be safe is if you continue to let this government have the freedom to spy on it’s own citizens, and investigate and compile private data on them. If you don’t vote for Sarah Palin and me this November, the enemies of these freedoms will win.

And that’s not just empty rhetoric, that’s change you CAN believe in.

Lies to Nowhere

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.
--Adolf Hitler

Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.
--Josph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister

The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.
--Josph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
--Josph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister

Lies to Nowhere
By David Plouffe, Obama Campaign

The McCain campaign has finally admitted that this election is about change.

Their new ad uses what news organizations are calling "naked lies" to reinvent two politicians whose records embody the same culture of corruption and far-right policies we've seen from the Bush administration.

The biggest whopper in the ad (that's still being repeated day after day by McCain and Palin on the campaign trail) is that Governor Palin stopped the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" -- in fact, she supported it, and even hired a lobbyist in Washington to get more pork-barrel projects like it.

Sarah Palin was a vocal supporter of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" -- the symbol of the Republican culture of corruption -- turning her back on it only after the project's bloated pork-barrel waste was exposed.

Their ad also claims John McCain has "reformed" Washington -- which would undoubtedly come as a surprise to the Washington lobbyists who are running his campaign and the special interests who have been funding it.

The most "maverick" thing about these two politicians right now is that they continue to support George Bush's disastrous policies long after we have all seen the damage they are doing to our country.

Letter from an Alaskan

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008
22:11:19 -0700

Hi Friends,

My brother sent this note regarding his impressions about Sarah Palin (McCain's baffling VP choice). I thought it was interesting coming from his inside-Alaska perspective, and worth passing along. For those who don't know my brother, he is a principal of a school up in Alaska, where he and his wife also teach. THey've been Alaskan transplants for about 10 years.

Alice

Begin forwarded message: From: Peter & Bonnie Hauschka
Date: August 29, 2008
11:58:15 PM PDT
To:

Good evening,

lots o f friends and relatives have been asking me (as an Alaskan) what I think of Sarah Palin, our Governor, and new choice for McCain as a VP candidate.

Here it goes: This pick floored me. Sarah Palin is a nice person. I've met her, I've even talked to her for a few minutes at a principal's conference a couple of years ago. She has lots going for her superficially. She speaks from the heart, like a spitfire mother; she can even be sort of funny sometimes. She is quite beautiful; athletic, and has that radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing things outside. Unlike many politicians, she has lived a 'real life' and done things that few living and working in DC could ever do....like dip-nettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra, and havin' 5 kids.

Personally, I'd never vote for her. She has an extremely simple view of the world. I don't even think she has ever been abroad. As governor she has repeatedly shown us that she is unable to grasp the demands of leadership. She is very prone to cronyism of the worst kind. Every cabinet level political appointment she has made she has over-ridden suggestions of our state advisory boards, and instead promoted those who had granted her direct political favors. Not that other politicians don't do this, they do, but most of them are able to balance their appointments to ensure that at least a few people with real skill and experience are running big state agencies.

She also has been unable to pay attention to her Alaskan constituency. Personally, I've written several of our previous gov's and been asked to comment publicly on education policy. All the previous gov's have always acknowledged that contribution, criticism or comment; sometimes by direct reply, o r at least by that of a staff member. Palin's office has been a zone of silence. Not I, nor one person I know commenting has ever gotten any sort of reply.

Her claim of running an open or transparent government is totally false; the public simply has no role in her administration.

Her previous claim to fame was being mayor of Wasilla, a growing town about 40 minutes from Anchorage of about 15,000 people. Wasilla is a hellhole, even by Alaskan standards, where there are plenty of hellhole towns and villages. Wasilla is an ugly place that shows a complete absence of planning, design, or sense of public vision. Gov't agencies and services are completely overrun in this town; things are so bad that they can't even track their population or build schools in the right place, because most parts of the town don't require building permits, so the only clue about where people are settling are utility receipts. Imagine trying to be an emergency responder in this kind of place: Houses don't just catch on fire in Wasilla, they burn to the ground, because by the time the fire department has figured out which road to take (no signs) or whose house it is (no directory), the place is done for. Palin was mayor this town for at least 2 terms before being elected gov. a year and a half ago.

Her moral sense is simplistic and not inclusive. She is the sort of person who is used to using their 'faith' to divide and isolate minority groups of human beings instead of uniting them. To her credit as Gov. she has kept out of this arena pretty well, but when in comfortable company (i.e the Matanuska Valley Republican Women's Club), she lets her moral cat out of the bag.

I will do what I can to ensure her defeat and that of her running mate as well. Please share this information with those who can u se it well.

Cheers, Pete Hauschka

Palin's past pastor: Bush-foes Hell-bound: The Swamp

Palin's past pastor: Bush-foes Hell-bound: The Swamp

"in a Palin videotape that the HuffPost is showcasing, Palin, who had been mayor of Wasilla when the pastor first met her and returned as governor of Alaska to address the church in June, calls the war in Iraq "a task that is from God'' and asks congregants to pray for a new oil pipeline - "I think God's will has to be done."

Ted's Take: Scary stuff. How come the media harped on Jeremiah Wright for so long, but these Alaskan Fundamentalists seem to be getting a bye?

For the record...

And by the way, Alaska is only the biggest state in terms of land mass- it's 47th by population!
Don't be afraid of people from cities or people of other races- they're Americans too.

About Sarah Palin: A Letter From Anne Kilkenny

Read this entire letter from one of Palin's colleagues and neighbors in Alaska
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•"Green”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

It's a 'Dog-Eat-Dog' World

Not long before she succumbed to cancer, political humorist Molly Ivins wrote a book called “Who let the Dogs In?” Her preface was that our country is pretty much overrun by a pack of political animals.

Watching the political conventions this week and last, I had a hard time not imagining what breed some of the major players would be if they were of the canine species. As a disclaimer, I should point out that I in no way mean to offend any particular breed of dog, or their owners.

The “old guard” definitely runs in a pack. I think about old Warner Brother’s cartoons where bugs bunny is avoiding Mafia hood. The gangsters are always dogs in Brooklyn.

Dick Cheney is the big round English Bulldog, brooding and serious. He doesn’t say much but what he says goes. At his side is, Republican strategist, Karl Rove. He’s a French Bulldog, a little smaller than the English Bulldog, with pointy bat-like ears that stand up. I imagine him with a pen and clipboard.

Bouncing around the two bulldogs is George W Bush, a Rat Terrier- a happy-go-lucky little dog who’s a little hyper active, constantly asking the bulldogs what they want him to do, repeating what they say to others, but easily distracted.

Not as tight with the pack, but following alongside is former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. I see him as a Pomeranian. Cocky, commanding, and self-important, but his bark is much worse than his bite.

Waiting to take over the neighborhood is another bulldog, only John McCain is a Miniature Bull Terrier. The American Kennel Association (AKA) calls this breed “full of fire.” They say that Mini-Bulls” have a sense of humor and natural ebullience and is known for his clownish antics.” Sure, he’s survived plenty of fights, and his temper is as volatile as a Pit Bull Terrier, but he just doesn’t quite have the power that the old English Bulldog has or the cunning that the French Bulldog has.

Mitt Romney is like a Pharaoh Hound. The AKA describes Pharaohs as having a “noble bearing with hard clean-cut lines-graceful, very fast with free easy movement…” All show and no real substance, changing positions on a dime.

I know that I’m biased, but I see Obama as a pointer, what the Kennel Association considers to have “agile grace; the head noble, proudly carried; the expression intelligent and alert…even temperament and alert good sense make him a congenial companion both in the field and in the home. He should be dignified and should never show timidity.”

McCain may accuse him of having nothing but rhetoric, but great speeches have changed the tides of history. Examples; Gettysburg Address, FDR and JFK’s inaugural addresses, George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell addresses, and of course Martin Luther King’s dream speech.

I sort of think of Hillary Clinton as kind of a sheltie. She’s more of a ''watch'' dog, than a guard dog. Shelties bark at intruders, but after giving warning (usually at 3 o’clock in the morning) they pretty much look out for themselves first and leave the homeowners to fend for themselves.

Bill Clinton of course is a loveable, lumpy Saint Bernard. He the sheltie is his pack, but she’s the alpha-dog. He sticks by her wherever she goes, but has been known to stray, giving other females a sniff now and then. He can save you in the Alps with a barrel of brandy, but he doesn’t always understand his own potential. Of course, Steven King’s “Cujo” was a Saint Bernard too.

In some ways Joe Biden is a bit of a mutt, but mostly, I see him as a boxer. The AKA tells us that the Boxer was “developed to serve as guard, working and companion dog… The Boxer is an alert, self-assured, and fearless dog. The Boxer is a playful and fun-loving dog who is often called the ‘Peter Pan’ of the dog world as they seem to maintain that youthful exuberance..”

Working class Joe, positive and upbeat, but good in a fight… why do you think Obama chose him?

Of course regardless of their party affiliation, when it comes to politicians it’s important to remember this Portuguese proverb; “The dog wags his tail, not for you, but for your bread.”

Photoshop Phlower

This is a byproduct of working on a company logo design for a psychology practice in Colorado. I love how it turned out so well, I had to share it with a broader audience.

mal•toons: First rejection notice

mal•toons: First rejection notice

You can follow my feeble attempts to take cartooning from pretty much a hobby, to a full blown career- PLUS see all of my cartoons in living color by checking out tedstoons.blogspot.com!