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calimary

calimary's Journal
calimary's Journal
August 31, 2012

They're troops of every color, too.

I love photos like these - close up and the wide shot. That reception looks pretty sincere, unlike some I saw when dubya was prancing around military bases.

This man never served, either. But he's got more compassion and respect for our troops, and has paid more attention to their issues, than any of his GOP predecessors I can think of at the moment.

And frankly, I don't think ANY president serves our troops OR cares about their issues - who insists on sending them to an unnecessary and fabricated war for ulterior motives about which he never once was honest, unnecessarily putting their lives in danger and squandering American good will around the world.

August 31, 2012

Great point! Something everybody should tape to their driver's licenses or their bathroom mirrors or

something - where they see it a LOT: "these people will run into a fucking building for them and they still get disrespected."

That's what makes me boil!

Picking on firefighters and police officers and other first responders, and teachers, the human infrastructure of our whole society!!! Those are the "bridges," the "highways," the "tunnels," and "levies" and more. Their work and their presence is foundational, supporting the whole damn society. The WHOLE THING! It ALL depends on these people. Your very life depends on these people. Literally. And that includes the teachers, who become first-line guardians for our kids if there's an emergency during school hours and the student body has to be secured.

It is an OUTRAGE (YES I'm yelling) that these people, the backbone of our civilization, are so disrespected. How when the bad guys start wanting to nickel and dime us, they start with these. HOW DARE THEY!!!!

It's not just an outrage, it's downright UNPATRIOTIC. It's un-American! It's totally foreign and - speaking in a language the bad guys will clearly understand, "other."

I seriously do not understand why anyone would vote republi-CON by now, except the really rich and the really bent, or ignorant, or maybe they're the same thing. They AREN'T in favor of ANYTHING that enhances, supports, or secures the greater good. And I mean GREATER, as in the whole country, not just this little sliver of the population that is doing well enough for themselves that they don't need any extra help. They're the crowd that's so hell-bent on actually taking rights AWAY, whether it's from women or minority voters. That one alone is a stunner for me. It's so anti-American I truly can't believe I see organized and state-sanctioned voter suppression and nullification in my own country. I just can't believe that is so. And who's in charge of that? NOT the Dems!

The whole thing just leaves me completely bewildered.

August 30, 2012

Lyin' ryan, the CouponCare Kid.

What a lineup that was, last night, 'eh?

Contradicta and the CouponCare Kid. Sounds like some sort of Bizarro World Wild West revue.

August 30, 2012

Me, too, Patricia. You are a hard-working professional and you deserve respect - at all times.

Funny, though, Patricia is exactly what these judgmental assholes are belching about - SHE'S got a job at which she works hard every day and earning a paycheck and doing quality work, building a career and a reputation as a professional camera operator and technical specialist, and being a contributing member of society. As a retired newsperson myself, believe me, I KNOW how hard the camera crews work! Could it be that the nut-throwers' hatred of her is because she's more living proof of how wrong they are? She's the living breathing embodiment of their LIES, abject IDIOCY, bone-marrow-deep prejudice and RACISM, sheer INHUMANITY, and embarrassing SMALL-MINDEDNESS. I bet they assume they're better-educated than she is, too. Oh, excuse me, black people are just lazy moochers, correct? That's what we all know to be true, isn't it? Wink-wink. WHAT? This one isn't? But, but, but... what about our theory that black people are just lazy moochers? Damn her then!

Wonder how many of THEM in that convention center among the melanin-deficient are mooching off the system even as we speak? After all, what about all the studies and statistics that show most welfare recipients are white?

And add that to another undercurrent I bet some of this human backwash in that convention center is thinking also - HEY! Why is SHE taking a job that a good Christian white man should have?

Well, the hell with them!!! I wish we knew the names of the nut-throwers. Lying racist weasels. Well, they can hide from us. But they can't hide from The Big Guy Upstairs. He knows exactly who they are.

I also feel bad for those of us who thought, presumed, hoped, or were taught, that racism in America is a thing of the past. I myself dared to think that, when Barack Obama was elected President, then and there we had direct evidence that racism in America was a thing of the past. Man, was I wrong! It just gave all the racists license to act out, uglier and more flagrant than ever. And the republi-CON party embraced them and gave them respectability. They ALL publicly shame and disgrace America to all the world, with every breath they take.

We can all take a lesson in true nobility from Barack Obama, and from Patricia Carroll, too. Thank Heavens that there are people in this country like them - who can serve as a counter-balance to the madness we see on display FAR too often, here in the 21st Century.

It's just literally dizzying! I mean - we're IN THE 21ST CENTURY forcryingoutloud!!!! This Troglodyte thinking is STILL alive and well at this late date? Unbelievable. Astounding! Disgusting! Deeply embarrassing! And downright sad.

August 30, 2012

I hated that, too.

She mocked him mercilessly.

But sometimes she does make a lot of sense.

That said - she doesn't like paul ryan? She doesn't like what he stands for? Well, maureen, YOU helped enable the ascent of Neanderthal bastards like him. Every time you take your snarky little potshots at liberals and Dems, you further the ambitions of beasts like him.

August 30, 2012

Must have been an avalanche if they felt compelled to mention it.

Wonder if they're finally realizing that at least some of us are keeping track?

And maybe they're looking at all those emails and extrapolating out what they might mean, numerically. And believe me, those numbers talk. Loudly. When I was in radio, even a SINGLE comment on the request line was carefully noted. Listener guidance and feedback mattered a lot. Depending on the size of the market, one request on the request line might be representative of at least ten, or maybe 100, or a thousand, or more - sometimes MUCH more. The idea being - if ONE person calls in, that means there's at least X number more people who feel the same way, only they're too busy to call in, or they forget to, or they think it doesn't make any difference so why bother.

I haven't told this story in a long time and there are quite a few new folks here, so let me offer this personal testament. I worked at a big station where program directors were changed almost as often as underwear. That always made for lots of firings. VERY unstable time at that place. Since it was a rock station, my part of the on-air presentation (morning and noon news breaks) wasn't exactly regarded as essential programming. And anything considered non-essential was usually not long for this world.

Arbitron was the main ratings service at that time (back in the late 70s - way before the People Meters and such). People would fill out "diaries" of their listening preferences, on paper by hand, regarding when and for how long, for a given time frame. Arbitron had this extra service called the "ARB Talkback," in which it wasn't simply about numbers of listeners but what they SAID in those "diaries." There was room for comment. In this particular "book," somebody wrote a comment saying "entertaining morning news with 'calimary'." The people who got these "diaries" to fill out were random people, completely anonymous, and nobody anyone knew or could be put up to it. There wasn't any way to cheat. I have no idea who wrote that comment, but when the station got all these stats, these sheets always got passed around all over the building within minutes, and everybody soon knew that - out of all the dayparts and well-known jocks and slogans and jingles and playing the hits, it was their little morning news-chick who'd been singled out, by name, for praise in the all-important holier-than-holy "ARB Talkback" this time.

It was ONE mention. And that ONE mention saved my job for a year.

August 30, 2012

Now THAT is one for my quotes file!

Well done, my friend!

August 30, 2012

I know. Thank you Citizens United - that opened the floodgates.

That's why anybody who can, hopefully will donate to Dems, especially Obama, before Friday night so they can buy the most TV time they can. So infuriating but that's what it comes down to. Just spread the poison and repeat, repeat, repeat. AWFUL!!!! 'Cause sooner or later, that barrage will start to wear some people down. And if they can just wear down enough of 'em...

August 29, 2012

I LOVE this story, grantcart!

Thank you for sharing this one!

I just love these testimonials. It's anecdotal evidence like this that keeps me hopeful. Also, I think it helps buoy us all up. Not just restoring some faith, but also, maybe some conviction to go out there and see if there's another soul that can be saved, or another pair of eyes that can be opened, or another heart that can be softened, or another mind that can be opened. The more of these stories we see ought to convince us that there are MANY such remarkable awakenings to be had. All they need is to be shown a few facts, one-on-one, up close 'n' personal.

August 29, 2012

Welcome to DU!

I think maybe we KEEP talking about it. KEEP the awareness turned up on high. Knowledge is power. It helps shine a light - and break through some very horrible darkness.

Profile Information

Gender: Female
Home country: USA
Current location: Oregon
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 83,592

About calimary

Female. Retired. Wife-Mom-Grandma. Approx. 30 years in broadcasting, at least 20 of those in news biz. Taurus. Loves chocolate - preferably without nuts or cocoanut. Animal lover. Rock-hound from pre-school age. Proud Democrat for life. Ardent environmentalist and pro-choicer. Hoping to use my skills set for the greater good. Still married to the same guy for 40+ years. Probably because he's a proud Democrat, too. Penmanship absolutely stinks, so I'm glad I'm a fast typist! I will always love Hillary and she will always be my President.
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