The Common Good

Come to NH!

2008-09-08T06:43:00.000-07:00

Hi, Common--Gooders,

It's getting close to election time and I'm getting nervous. I live in NH, a swing state that went Dem last election, and I want to invite you to come help swing it Obama/Biden. I'm doing some work for the campaign and if you want to join me -- for a weekend or even longer -- I'm happy to house you, feed you, etc. Spread the word, too -- I'll take strangers in and will find other places for folks to stay.

-- Melissa

2008-02-22T16:31:00.001-08:00

The Common Good is for Obama and Obama is for the common good.

2007-06-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Let's change the name Evangelical Christians to Radical Christians--just to keep terms comparatively accurate.

Idiot

2007-04-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

Mr. Bush made it clear in remarks on Tuesday that he thought his proposal to increase automobile fuel efficiency was sufficient for the moment; he gave no indication he would ask the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions of heat-trapping gases.

“Whatever we do,” he said, “must be in concert with what happens internationally.” He added, “Unless there is an accord with China, China will produce greenhouse gases that will offset anything we do in a brief period of time."

What kind of policy is that?

Honestly President Bush is an amazing actor & Karl Rove is a brilliant fuck face

2005-06-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

but that shouldn't matter.
Lately, I've been having this fantasy about having a debate with President Bush where he'll keep saying absurd things & I'll keep answering with things like,
"Do ya'll think the American people are dumb? Do ya'll think we're going to believe this rich fake? I'm 'Merican not some idiot!"
& applause will sound as across America people in front of television sets put down their Cokes & Buds and lean forward in their lazyboys.
Lately, my fantasies of change are growing too large to ignore.
& yet if New York City has taught me anything, it's that it doesn't matter how much you believe or how hard you work, or even whether you have talent & brains, it's who you know & where you live that determines your destiny & the rest is bull-shit. If you weren't in the right pre-school it's a lost cause. I mean fuck, we can't even fight back against this administration because even to do that you need some money.
I'm so sick of capitalism.
& I'm so exhausted by pseudo-anti-this&thats who are really just somewhat privileged kids who think there's something sexy about the whole revolution idea & wear Che shirts & sure maybe they care a little bit, but in the end they just want a family & vacations in exotic places & fame (but to be fair, fame for something sort of worthwhile). & to be honest, maybe if it were possible for me to get those things, maybe I'd want them too, who knows? But reality is that I can't get those things & I also can't fightthepower, so I'll take whatever shit job I can find that pays me enough to pay my bills & that's that. That's America.
I felt the need to rant.
Something about the speech last night & how the administration is saying the people of Iraq are the same as the people who bombed the World Trade Center. It's so 1984. This is what everyone will believe. This is the truth because this is what's being said. It doesn't matter what was said 2 years ago, or what will be said in the future, all that matters is right now & the fucking idiots believe this shit.
I'm done.

Canadian Right Wing Welcomes Bush

2004-11-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

There is a little group of right-wing Conservatives here in Canada who are holding a welcoming rally for Bush when he visits Ottawa next week. This is from the Globe and Mail:

Connie Wilkins of Free Dominion is baffled by the extent of American-bashing among Canadians and even some politicians. She co-founded the on-line forum that offers about 5,000 members a place for right-wing views but is not officially linked to any political party, she said.

“We stand behind the United States and we stand behind their President,” Ms. Wilkins said in an interview. “We consider them as our allies and their country as our friend.

“If it had been the CN Tower that had been bombed instead of the World Trade Center, the U.S. would have been right there.”

I have a lot of problems with how she frames things. First disagreeing with Bush and the policies of his administration is not America bashing despite what Bush would have us all believe. Second when the WTC and the Pentagon were attacked Canadians in droves sent all kinds or material goods and money to NYC to help out. We also were first in line to go to Afghanistan where we still are today. So how are we not helping. Oh, that war in Iraq. Actually despite what our government says we do (did) have warships helping out in the Persian Gulf, but in anycase our government chose not to participate because it was felt that there was not a strong case justifying an invasion and that in fact the invasion was very likely a criminal act. Should we be torturing and disappearing people too just because Bush and his ilk think it's fine? Of course not. This is a tactic that the Canadian right-wing loves to employ. Make those who do not back Bush feel guilty for letting our neighbours down, as if everyone in the US just loved their government. So it would be interesting if some of you go to www.freedominion.com and let Connie Wilkins know how you feel about matters concerning the Bush Presidency. No doubt she will question your patriotism and label you a liberal as she falls in ~~love~~ line with Bush.

No longer willing to share toys...

2004-11-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

At the federal level, it's pretty hard to dispute that the Republicans have a mandate. They control the Presidency, the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court. Since the election, I've had the feeling that Kerry would have ended up being a lame duck president anyhow, with so much opposition in Congress and that the best thing to do is to let the Republicans do their worst with the mandate they've been given. Maybe that is what it'll take to get people in poor states to realize that they are not exactly voting in their interests.

As this article points out (drawing on some of the excellent point first mentioned in Fuckthesouth.com) the Republican platform of small federal government and (except in the event of disputed elections) strong states' rights, could actually be used to make things a little easier for those of us who would rather pay taxes than tithes.

Of course the Bush administration has governed over the largest expansion of the federal government in recent memory, but that's perhaps an issue the Democrats could have worked a little more.

Voting Fraud?

2004-11-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting piece on voting fraud from the Orlando Weekly News

And this from the Oakland Tribune

Mandatory Mental Health Testing

2004-11-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

This morning this bill which happens to include Mandatory Mental Health Testing followed by mandatory medication for all school children was supposed to have been finalized in the Senate.

The really scary part is that it was barely a blip on my media radar. It was a fluke that I found out about it at all. Why didn't I know about this? Did any of you know about this?

Even Dr. Laura Schlessinger and G. Gordon Liddy are weighing in and saying we should at least have parental consent. If they're saying this - it's got to be bad.

This is truly the stuff '1984' is made of...

I have a feeling the pharmaceutical companies are creaming their jeans.

The Bill itself (check out goal #4 of the first link):

http://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov/reports/FinalReport/FullReport.htm

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/toc-2004.html

Articles about:

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41511

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40365

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39078

http://www.forhealthfreedom.org/Publications/Privacy/MentalScreening.html

http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_10536.shtml

Fight the Power . Bush vs CIA

2004-11-13T19:23:00.000-08:00

Mr.War President has disturbed America's intelligence machinery so deeply that there is almost an outright revolt against the administration. Details

and finally from two years ago. What was obvious to every man woman and child outside of the USA
"the director of the CIA admitted that the only reason Saddam would use WMDs against the United States was if he was backed into a corner -- due to a strike by the American military"

The Colonialisation at Work

2004-11-13T07:12:00.000-08:00

Under new legislation Iraqi farmers can no longer save their own seeds. They will have to purchase new seeds from US companies.

When the new law - on plant variety protection (PVP) - is put into effect, seed saving will be illegal and the market will only offer proprietary "PVP-protected" planting material "invented" by transnational agribusiness corporations.

Urban Indulgence

2004-11-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

So, I just read through this edition of The Stranger, and I feel a little better. I think that many of us are thinking just the same things. So, you should check it out for yourselves, but here are some choice quotes:

"To red-state voters, to the rural voters, residents of small, dying towns, and soulless sprawling exburbs, we say this: Fuck off. Your issues are no longer our issues. We're going to battle our bleeding-heart instincts and ignore pangs of misplaced empathy. We will no longer concern ourselves with a health care crisis that disproportionately impacts rural areas. Instead we will work toward winning health care one blue state at a time."
"Liberals in big cities who have never seen the inside of a Wal-Mart spend a lot of time worrying about the impact Wal-Mart is having on the heartland. No more."
"If red-state dads aren't concerned enough about their own children to put trigger locks on their own guns, it's not our problem. If a kid in a red state finds his daddy's handgun and blows his head off, we'll feel terrible (we're like that), but we'll try to look on the bright side: At least he won't grow up to vote like his dad."
"We officially no longer give a shit when family farms fail. Fewer family farms equal fewer rural voters. We will, however, continue to support small faggy organic farms, as we are willing to pay more for free-range chicken and beef from non-cannibal cows."
"'Cause we fucking founded this country, assholes. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bullshit about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment? Who do you think those wig-wearing, lacy-shirt-sporting revolutionaries were? They were fucking blue-staters, dickhead. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the fucking monuments are up here in our backyard?"
"Arrogant? You wanna talk to us Northeasterners about fucking arrogance? Maybe I wouldn't be so fucking arrogant if I wasn't paying for your fucking bridges, bitch."
"The next dickwad who says, "It's your money, not the government's money" is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the 10 states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least... can you guess? That's right, motherfucker, they're red states. And 8 of the 10 states that receive the least and pay the most? It's too easy. They're blue states. It's not your money, assholes, it's fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago? Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: Buy your own fucking stop signs, asshole."

What Mandate?

2004-11-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

I think that it is important to remember that Bush assumes a lot in his smugness. He won the popular vote by as tight a margin as it gets and he only won Ohio by less than a tenth of a percentage of all votes cast. I realize this doesn't change the fact that the Republican agenda is on the tableand that they hold the balance of power but there is a large population out there whose resistance can be mobilized.

On the steps of the White House...

2004-11-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

So, I've actually been reading a few things lately that have made me feel better about the election. And they all, basically, say that even though we lost this election, the next four years will most likely strengthen the Democratic base - if they can come up with a strong, coherent vision and take a very different path than the one they've chosen during the last two elections. In a way, it's good that Kerry lost - if he'd won, then all the crazy shit that will happen in Iraq ('cause it's inevitable!), would have been blamed on the Democrats being 'weak on terror'. As it stands, the Republicans are setting themselves up for a major fall - and I hope I hear them hit the ground from sea to shining sea. This is something that I received in my email today, sent by the guy who is one of the main people behine MoveOn.org (I believe). Enjoy...

If you're like me, the results of this election opened your eyes to the extent to which the leadership of the Democratic Party is mismanaging our political future. At some point, people like you and me have to get together and communicate these profound misgivings. We worked hard. We got out the vote. And we still lost by four million votes.Yes it was close. Yes, we didn't have the best candidate. Yes, the campaign made serious tactical errors.But the bottom line is this: the Democratic Party is today in the hands of people who have failed to articulate a moral-intellectual vision for America and the world, and you can't win the confidence of the electorate without a vision. I feel complicit in these failures. I have spent the last 15 years of my life trying to organize the public towards social and environmental change. It's not working. It's time for a bit of healthy debate. To that end, I will be going to the Democratic National Committee Headquarters on Monday, November 15 to paste the November 3rd theses (below) on the front door. I'm hoping to find a few other people who will stand with me on that cold morning.I'll be there at 7:30 AM. The DNC is located at 430 S Capitol St, SE in Washington, DC.
Spread the word.
Love,Adam

November 3rd Theses----
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."-- Benjamin Franklin
I. The 2004 presidential election was lost not by John Kerry over the last several months but by the Democratic Party over the last several decades. Democrats have lost control of all three branches of government for the foreseeable future. We are now a minority party.
II.When the Senate Democratic leader is defeated while spending $16 million attempting to get the majority of 500,000 votes, the problem is not a lack of funding or effort.
III.The failure of the Democratic Party to connect with America's desire for fulfillment is political death.
IV.Democrats are now history's spectators, Republicans its actors.
V.The obsession with denouncing the radical conservative project as a "lie" has become a useful substitute for vision.
VI.Renovating Democratic politics is not a question of moving to the right or talking more about G-d. It is about creating a framework that once again communicates to the core needs of the American people.
VII.America is not now, and never was, simply "the economy, stupid." What the American people want is a deeper sense of personal meaning, a national mission, and passion in times of fear.
VIII.Returning the Democratic Party to majority status will require a political realignment no less sweeping than that which was accomplished by conservatives over the last 40 years.
IX.Only the breath of a serious and new moral-intellectual vision will be sufficient to resuscitate the Democratic Party.
X. Democratic candidates will continue to lose as long as they treat Americans as rational actors who vote their "self-interest" after weighing competing offers for health care, jobs, and security.
XI. Conservatives have spent the last 40 years getting clear about the values they represent. They have even developed a "family values" brand to represent a framework that coheres traditional prejudices around prayer in school, gun rights, restricting abortion, and restricting gay rights.
XII.By contrast, liberal or "progressive" groups and Democrats have spent the same period of time defining themselves against conservative values, even "morality" in general.
XIII.If resources continue to flow to the same leaders who have failed to construct a new vision and have thus left the Democratic Party in ruins then we can expect more of the same. And worse.
XIV. Those who resist the process to create a new vision will be left behind.
XV. Candidates who intend to win should no longer hire consultants who repeatedly lose. Those who counsel caution when dealing with the indifferent, the disaffected, and the undecided do not understand American history. Consultants who advise their clients against offering a clear and compelling vision in fear that it will be attacked should find themselves without a home in the Democratic Party. The sooner they retire, the better.
XVI. Unconnected at a values level, the Democratic Party's laundry list of policy proposals is a confusing and alienating hodgepodge of special interests bound together by a vague sense that "we're all on the same side." Such a conflation demands no critical self-examination of the interest groups whose turf, and very identities, are treated as inviolable by Party chieftains.
XVII. The progressive vision must be a direct challenge to fundamentalism in all of its forms: political, religious and economic. It must match fundamentalism's power without replicating its authoritarianism. It must appeal to the values of liberty, equality, community, justice, unconditional love, shared prosperity, and ecological restoration, among many others.
XVIII. Democrats serious about returning to majority status must:· Retire any leader who believes that we are currently on a winning path that simply needs more money and effort. · Define and articulate a coherent set of values of our base, and be willing to lose those allies who do not share these values. · Fight battles, win or lose, that define and advance our values and expand our political base.
XIX.In despair and defeat lie the seeds of triumph and victory. In that loss lies the opportunity to define a new progressive politics for the new century.

Essay from common dreams

2004-11-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

i erected this blog for a number of reasons... i'm moving across the country and i'm afraid i won't have as many people to vent with about politics, for a while at least. i'm very angry about the outcome of this election, and the bush administration's actions over the last four years (but i've been angry for longer than that), but most significantly, i see a momentum right now and i don't want to see it die. melissa talks about this often, but public discourse is a dying art and a sacred and important element of democracy. our lives are fast and busy, it can be hard to remain on top of all things political in the U.S. i'm hoping this blog can be a place for us to quickly post articles we come across, or news items we overhear. it can also be a place for good minds to think about actions we can take to change the direction of this country and prevent bush's crap from going through this time around. we can keep eachother informed, and hopefully get some good dialogues going.
all of you were invited for a single purpose, our minds working together can make greater changes than apart.
that said, the following is an article from common dreams, which dana showed to me yesterday. it really matched my sentiments.

Published on Monday, November 8, 2004 by Common Dreams.org
The (Un)Concession Speech That Could Have Been
by Megan Tady

In typical Kerry fashion, his concession speech on November 3 was disappointing. Although it’s being touted as moving and forthright—perhaps because we don’t have much else to praise—I found it predictable, mind numbing and insulting.

A few minutes before his speech, a friend turned to me and sighed, “I hope he doesn’t tell us to come together.”

He did, and I turned off my radio.

“Just, for once,” my friend said, “I want a leader to get up and tell us this is all bullshit.”

The last thing we needed was someone telling us—before all the votes had even been counted—to unite with people who voted for an entire set of values that is contradictory from our own: corporate greed, racism, pre-emptive war and hatred.

We needed, instead, very desperately, a denouncement of the foul play in this election, of the media and of Bush, as well as an unmistakable call to action from Kerry.

Here’s what Kerry could have said that morning:

“Fellow Americans, the Bush Administration is saying they’ve won Ohio, and that therefore they’ve won the election. Republicans across the country are beginning victory parties. The media is running headlines that say Bush has been elected as your president for a second term.

Don’t believe them.

This is, in fact, all bullshit.

At this time, it is still unclear who won the election. What is clear, however, is the evidence of voter fraud and disenfranchisement all across the country. Exit polls do not match election results. Thousands of provisional ballots haven’t been counted. Punch cards ballots, with hanging chads, are once again being pushed into a closet and swept under the rug. Absentee ballots from our soldiers overseas are still coming in. Polls were closed with people still waiting in line. Computers spat out results that did not correlate with voters’ intentions. Registered voters were turned away from the polls on, and before, Election Day. The list goes on.

I repeat, do not believe the hype.

Do not accept Bush or anyone as your president until every vote has been counted. This was my pledge to you, and I will stand by it.

I will not lie to you. This is a catastrophe. The future of our country lies in the balance. For this reason, I need your continued support, and I need your help. This is my call to action:

Get in the streets. Leave your houses and get in the streets. Stand up. Start marching and don’t stop.

Don’t go to work. Strike. Bring business as usual to a halt. Shut down the airports, the seaports, the subways, the toll booths, the banks, the factories, the super centers and the drive-thrus. Don’t give in.

Stop buying. Spend money only on necessities: food, water, shelter. Do not go to the mall. Do not use your credit cards. Do not buy gas. Boycott.

Don’t watch the news. Turn your TVs off. Instead, go to the television and radio stations. Bang on the doors. Gather there and demand their accountability as journalists and gatekeepers.

Gather again at polling places. Demand a recount. Do not leave until every vote is counted.

Keep marching.

Write poetry. Write songs. Write letters. Don't stop.

Sing. Scream. Chant. Dance. Make Noise. The Whole World is Watching.

Keep marching.

Converge in Washington, DC. Gather at the White House. Spill onto the sidewalks, fill every city block. Do not let the inauguration happen. Do not let Bush come home. Disrupt the administration’s plans for a smooth transition to a second term. Make nothing easy.

Do not be a mandate. Do not be “political capital.” Do not roll over and wait for four more years to pass.

Do not stop until we have the answers, until we know the truth. You are the superpower, and you can demand a just and fair election. But you are also a citizen of the United States of America, and you deserve a just and fair election.

Some may say I’m calling for anarchy, for chaos. I disagree. I am calling for something much more potent and dangerous: unbridled democracy.

They've taken the country without firing a shot. Take it back the same way.”

Megan Tady (megtady@yahoo.com) is a freelance journalist in Western Massachusetts whose work has been published by AlterNet, WireTap, The NewStandard, Yes! Magazine, Reuters, and Maisonneuve. Her article "Youth Have Swung it Before" is included in the book "Storming the Polls: How to Vote Your Views and Change the Rules" published by WireTap.

###

One Iraqi Voice

2004-11-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

This comes from Baghdad Burning a blog by a women living in Iraq.

To the red states (and those who voted for Bush): You deserve no better- I couldn't wish worse on you if I tried. He represents you perfectly... and red really is your color. It's the color of the blood of thousands of Iraqis and by the time this four-year catastrophe in the White House is over, tousands of Americans, likely.

To the blue states (and those who were thinking when they voted): Condolences. Good luck- you'll need it.

2004-11-11T01:45:00.000-08:00

George Orwell - "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

2004-11-10T17:17:00.000-08:00

Yay! I like saying America fucked up almost as much as the -2's this post will produce.

I can't believe that the popular vote came out to be in Bush's favour this time. What are you all thinking? Have you all been confused into believing that because Bush is your leader you must support him? Hell, I'm an Aussie and I don't give a flying fuck what you say about my Prime Minister John Howard. He's a daggy cunt with bushy eyebrows that have caused a rash on the inside of Bush's colin cause Jonny has his head rammed up Bush's arse.

I'm not going to bring up the war in Iraq which was a load of shit because by now everyone's made up their mind and won't listen to me, but I just wonder why you would re-elect a leader who sacrifices your liberties (for any reason). Ben Franklin once said that "They that can give up essential liberty to obtaina little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." This is America today. You have sacrificed what you hold to be America.

Australia has a shitty constitution, which I admit is nothing to the standards of America when it comes to the rights of citizens, but here we do not give in our liberties even if they aren't in writing. We have adopted "implied" liberties from our laws and shit. But USA PATRIOT act takes that away from Americans. Without the liberties that you hold dear what is America? It's just a whole big country that sits between two big arse oceans, sandwiched between Canadians and Mexicans. It's nothing. You have lost the symbolic core of America through the abolition of your rights for your safety. You are now little more than just a powerful country. You have strength and money and power, but America has lost it's soul.

If I was American, I would be a proud American, just like I'm a proud Aussie. But don't support Bush just cause he's your leader. Support the ideas of America that your president is there to uphold and defend. Something which Bush certainly has not done, taking away the rights of American citizens all in the name of "safety against terrorism".

If you are a nation willing to sacrifice your rights and liberties for a bit of safety, then by all means -2 me. If you think you should lose your liberties because you think that safety is more important then I take back all I've said. But, if you are a nation that is proud of it's values, a nation proud of it's liberties, a nation proud of the freedoms that the Bush regime has taken away in the name of safety under the aura of fear, then prove it. Do not support your president if he is a tyrant, which he is. That is in your constitution too! PATRIOT act has taken it away but fight back.

Note: This post isn't intended to be anti-American, and if you interpreted it as such then you're the kind of idiot I'm speaking out against. This is to tell you that your president is NOT America and you do not need to support him like sheep.

welcome to me

2004-11-10T17:14:00.000-08:00

hi all. i'm not sure if i know everyone in the blog or not, but thank you to kerry for inviting me...

2004-11-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hi PK, thanks for inviting me in. I'll also start with a quote.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -- MLK Jr.

Citizens of the world unite against ignorance

2004-11-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." Albert Einstein

"If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation." Abigail Adams