Olbermann's New Blog: "The Nexus of Politics and Terror" (13 instances)

[Patsy Stone]

<snip>

I suggested that in the last three years there had been about 13 similar coincidences - a political downturn for the administration, followed by a “terror event” - a change in alert status, an arrest, a warning.

We figured we’d better put that list of coincidences on the public record. We did so this evening on the television program, with ten of these examples. The other three are listed at the end of the main list, out of chronological order. The contraction was made purely for the sake of television timing considerations, and permitted us to get the live reaction of the former Undersecretary of Homeland Security, Asa Hutchinson.

<snip>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9665308/#051012a

[babylonsister]

1. KO knocked it out of the park tonight!

"Is there, in addition to the "fog of war" a simple, benign, "fog of intelligence”?

But, if merely a reasonable case can be made that any of these juxtapositions of events are more than just coincidences, it underscores the need for questions to be asked in this country - questions about what is prudence, and what is fear-mongering; questions about which is the threat of death by terror, and which is the terror of threat."

[Patsy Stone]

3. He did indeed!

I'm happy he included the additional three incidents, as well.

:loveya: KO.

[liveoaktx]

7. VIDEO

Olbermann Rocks

[Patsy Stone]

8. He so does rock.

Thanks for the video link. I cross posted it in tonight's live blog thread over in the Countdown/Keith Olbermann Group. :thumbsup:

[Julius Civitatus]

35. Ahem... Olbermann didn't do this research, and didn't credit his source

He actually took it almost verbatim from my blog. We did this study of false terror alerts in the summer of 2004:

Timeline of Terror Alerts

Chart of terror alerts vs. Bush ratings

While I think it's great this story is getting some air time, I think it's NOT FAIR that mainstream journalists take the work of bloggers without even a minimal credit or a miserable link to the source. It's becoming quite common for mainstream journos to take the hard work of bloggers without crediting. I think it's dishonest. If I did the opposite, it would be called plagiarism.

Our study has been posted online since the Summer of 2004 for everyone to see. How easy to just appropriate that study, ripe for the picking.

Maybe if you email Olbermann for taking on this story, you shoudl remind him that crediting his sources is the honorable thing to do:
[e-mail]

[ClintonTyree]

41. You're correct in your claim.....

that the MSM uses Bloggers as sources many times without giving credit where credit is due. If this story falls into that category is not really known. KO has mentioned this terror alert/ bush bad news connection in the past so it's not something that just popped up recently in his assessments. Others have noted this as well, it's not as if it was a super secret theory harbored by only a few.
That being said, I'd like to think that KO is the sort of man who would give credit where credit is due. From what I've seen on his show he does often cite Bloggers and doesn't seem the type that would blatantly plagiarize anyone for his own glory. Glory doesn't seem to be his motivator, with truth with a side of irony seemingly the real driving force of his show.
I know it must upset you to see work such as yours on a television show and not be given credit, but remember, you aren't the only one that has seen the connection here between bush's terror warnings and events not favorable to the administration. It's very possible that KO and his staff did this on their own and your Blog wasn't the source or impetus for it.
If you're that convinced that you have been wronged, send an e-mail to the directors or to Keith himself. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to discuss it with you if indeed there's anything to it.
Don't get down because of this, keep doing what you're doing and don't let up for a minute. We need more people like yourself involved with our country's affairs, certainly not less.
P.S. I enjoy your Blog immensely. :hi: and thanks.

[Henny Penny]

46. Well Julius, I for one would like to thank you and any other

contributors.

Thank you for helping to make a difference!

:toast: :hi: :thumbsup: :loveya: :headbang: :yourock: :applause:

[Julius Civitatus]

49. Thank you folks

:hi:

I really appreciate your support.

One thing that I would like to mention is that last year, when Biltud and worked on the list of terror alerts and decided to publish the study on the blog, we took a LOT OF CRAP for it.

Within days of publishing the study in my blog on August 6, I received dozens of nasty death threats and literally hundreds of ugly emails from Freepers and LGF'ers. A week after the post, I received a DOS (denial of service) attack on my email account, and hundreds of emails loaded with computer viruses. Somehow a mysterious bug got into my computer and lost all data in a hard drive. I documented all these nasty occurrences in the blog, and even thought of quitting. It was a very awful experience.

Lefty bloggers, in these neo-McCarthyite times, take lots of risks by simply exercising their first amendment rights. That's one of the reasons why I think it would have been honorable for KO to at least mention where he got those terror alert analogies.

[RevCheesehead]

2. Great way for those on dial-up to read what KO's show was about.

Kick and nominated, Patsy dahling! :hi:

[Patsy Stone]

4. Thanks,

Also a nice way to print it out, or forward it around. Let's spread the word. :)

[Nomad559]

5. The Nexus of Politics and Terror (Video)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=109x23335

:)

[moobu2]

6. Nominated. Thanks for posting this.

[Patsy Stone]

9. Number Eleven kills me.

Number Eleven:

October 22nd, 2004. After weeks of Administration insistence that there are terrorist plans to disrupt the elections, FBI, Law Enforcement, and other U.S. Intelligence agencies report they have found no direct evidence of any plot. More over, they say, a key CIA source who had claimed knowledge of the plot, has been discredited.

October 29, 2004. Seven days later - four days before the Presidential election - the first supposedly new, datable tape of Osama Bin Laden since December 2001 is aired on the Al-Jazeera Network. A Bush-Cheney campaign official anonymously tells the New York Daily News that from his campaign’s point of view, the tape is quote “a little gift.”

[marions ghost]

10. and all these false terrorist threats

have made us numb to them. If they try one just after the Fitzgerald indictments get handed down, it will likely be ignored.

Thank you Keith, for putting this pattern of "coincidences" out there.

[watrwefitinfor]

22. It will not be ignored.

For confirmation that it still works, take a look at how Bloomberg has surged in the NY City polls following the recent subway farce.

There was at least one post here on DU this morning about these polls, and how far ahead they put Bloomberg now, simply because he showed his "leadership abilities" during the subway threat.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5048524

Makes you wonder if the whole thing was a set up - some sort of test run - for the feds to test the waters.

Wat

(Edit to add link)

[marions ghost]

25. someone in the thread you cited

said that the poll was conducted BEFORE the hoax was actually CONFIRMED. So of course the mayor's numbers would be up during the time of uncertainty. They should be going down as people realize it was a very expensive false alarm. Could even have been some sort of drill. People would have a tendency to flashback to the London subway bombings which would have increased the fear factor during the period of uncertainty.

Anyway Bloomberg's ratings may not reflect what New Yorkers think about the incident in general, only that he appeared to do a good job at the time (cautious and all that--people want hoaxes to be taken seriously as long as there is doubt).

That the hoax got so far has got to be eliciting some criticism from New Yorkers. There is a danger that after awhile people do get desensitized to false alarms.

[watrwefitinfor]

26. Oh how I hope you are right.

For I fear Bushco will take the wrong message from the poll.

wat

[ClintonTyree]

43. Once people get wind of the true facts surrounding this.......

non-event the polls will take a decidedly different turn I would imagine. People don't like to be fucked with and used, imagine that! They've gone to this terror well too many damned times and the thing has gone dry. That's a real shame because when there IS an actual terror event many people will die needlessly because the Cons cries "wolf" once too often. This is textbook fascism designed to keep the populace in constant fear of some invisible enemy.

[DemonFighterLives]

11. I was glued to that program

Thompson says there were people pushing for terror raises. Asa just blah, blahed and acted like it made no sense. The political hacks who pushed this crap on all of us should pay dearly.
I wouldn't put it past dubco to cause another real terror event to get his flock back in line. Like Big Eddy said the other day, that dubby was reading to some kids again- oh, no Pet Goat II.

[mestup]

12. Email him with your support!

[e-mail]

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

13. One thing I'm not clear on - can anyone clarify please?

Olbermann doesn't state whether these 13 incidences constitute all the "terror events" the administration has staged in the last three years.

I am curious as to whether ANY terror event did NOT correlate with bad news for the GOP, or if Olbermann has demonstrated that EVERY terror event can be linked to a significant reason why the GOP would want to create a distraction.

Olbermann didn't make this clear on his show or his blog. I should probably be asking him, but I'm putting the question out to DUers. Anybody know?

Edit: typo

[Berry Cool]

21. He did not try to link EVERY terror event with bad GOP news

just point out that there had been 13 occasions when the two coincided within days of each other.

And he did a great job of it.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

36. The reason I ask

is because it would strengthen the premise if every terror event - or even the majority of them - corresponded with bad GOP news. As great as it is, Olbermann's analysis leaves open the question of what he measured as a terror event. I want to know his methodology, so I have sent my question to him.

[Overseas]

40. Bushco has so much to hide-- each one probably does correspond

with something they were hoping most US citizens wouldn't notice.
>>>There are the mistakes the public has noticed and reacted to, and
>>>Things they hope the public won't notice, and
>>>war profiteering as usual
and gee, when was the Pentagon's inability to account for $3 trillion announced?

[Patsy Stone]

50. I looked on the DHS site

and some matched and some didn't appear in KO's list (Sept, 2002 and May, 2003). That was just scanning the Press Release section of the site. Some of the confluences were off-handed comments from Administration officials, like Ashcroft, and others were "unsubstantiated" feelings, not official threat level increases.

So, if Keith doesn't answer your e-mail (and be patient, I'm sure he's only received 5000 or so since last night :)), the only way to find the answer is to research on something like Lexis/Nexis to see what people said when, in addition to reading all the official notices.

I don't think he meant to imply they all corresponded, but more that he's was pointing out where they did coincide and what the "threat" really was versus what was currently going wrong for the Administration.

ed: clarity.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

53. Thanks for that

No one at Countdown has ever responded to any of the emails I've sent since I began watching early last year so I don't expect one anymore. I'll take a look at DHS...don't have access to Lexis/Nexis. My question is fueled by a desire to make a stronger case for administration chicanery, not to debunk any of the findings presented last night.

[Patsy Stone]

55. I understand.

You made me curious as well. I also found some information under the statements section. The stuff is all over the place. Don't give up on the e-mails of thanks, or those asking intelligent questions. I've received a response before, so it's not unheard of. Sometimes, however, he just writes back to the mean and stupid people who make him laugh. :)

Good luck.

[VolcanoJen]

14. I just watched this on the midnight repeat

Fascinating, concise timeline. Well-presented.

I'd forgotten about Colin Powell and the palm tree. "Get out of the way, Emily!"

[SittingBull]

15. Dear Mr. Olbermann, thanks for your good work

with Nexus of politics and terror. With my information degree ( here in germany it's quite a lot easier to inform yourself ) you wouldn't doubt that there were no coindidences. You should consider to make a similar examination about real terror attacks from "Al Qaida" throughout the world and compare it with the status of THEIR agenda. Just a few examples: Nick Berg beheaded after Torture-scandal, 9-11 after lowest polls and during discussion about the rightness of Bush presidency, afterwards THEY could easily archive THEIR goals of transformation with the new pearl harbor, Ankara attack on british bank just when Bush and Blair were meeting and Millions of Protestors gathering trough London streets, nearly the same with last british subway bombing and the peace movement driven by Bob Geldof, which brought 3. world and poverty to the mind of G8- for a short time, indeed. OBL with new video on the eve of the vote. And on and on.

There are dozens of hints that Al Qaida was only a bogus state terror organisation. Al-Zarkawi, the myth figure in iraq, was made responsible for nearly every attack in whole iraq, he's likely long time dead- the same for Osama, the running CIA-Mate.
US-cars used in iraqi-suicide attacks. The timing of all bombings. And other evidence.

We here in germany have the fantastic webside called: www.arbeiterfotografie.com Mostly in german. If you only take these news-round-up serious together, there was no other conclusion possible. I don't know if you have similar archieve in the US, perhaps http://www.whatreallyhappened.com will go the same direction...

Greetings from germany

keep on your good work- the blogosphere appreciate that

Sitting-Bull
Hamburg, Germany

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. ***VIDEO in WMV and Real Meda formats, AUDiO in MP3, and more!***

Here's our dzika's post on it, including video clips in Windows Media format and Real Media format plus audio in MP3:
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001917.htm



Windows Media format (DOWNLOADING as an 8.5 mb file, 12 min):
http://www.ameratsu.com/media/vid/msnbc/msnbc_ko_nexus_politics_terrori_051012a.wmv

Real Media format (STREAMING):
http://www.ameratsu.com/media/vid/msnbc/msnbc_ko_nexus_politics_terrori_051012a.ram

Audio File in MP3:
http://www.ameratsu.com/media/vid/msnbc/msnbc_ko_nexus_politics_terrori_051012a.mp3

As pointed out in the OP of this thread, here is the text of the show, including ALL THIRTEEN of the "coincidences" (only ten were broadcast):
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9665308/#051012a

Dzika also includes a link to the eerily related BBC series, "The Power Of Nightmares":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/3755686.stm
Video here:
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

Thanks for all of this, dzika! :hi:

[Patsy Stone]

18. Hey, Hope!

Thanks for posting that here.
He did the country proud this evening, didn't he? :loveya:

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. Hey, Pats!!! Oooooh yes, he most certainly did. He was very, very fine.

His wording was cautious and measured as it had to be, but his outrage was burning bright and clear. I hope he opened some eyes that have been "wide shut."
:loveya: :toast:

[Hissyspit]

17. Excellent show all around, except I missed tonight's World's Worst Person

anyone remember who it was?

[Patsy Stone]

19. There was none.

But my vote for stealth answer is either the Terra Alerts or the Administration. :)

[Catchawave]

23. A kick and a nom for Keith !

Thanks sweetie-dahlin' Pats for posting this! I wish #12 made the on air list:
<snip>
Number Twelve:

May 5th, 2005. 88 members of the United States House of Representatives send a letter to President Bush demanding an investigation of the so-called “Downing Street Memo” - a British document which describes purported American desire dating to 2002 to "fix" the evidence to fit the charges against Iraq. In Iraq over the following weekend, car bombings escalate. On the 11th, more than 75 Iraqis are killed in one.

May 11th, 2005. Later that day, an instructor and student pilot violate restricted airspace in Washington D.C. It is an event that happens hundreds of times a year, but this time the plane gets to within three miles of the White House. The Capitol is evacuated; Vice President Cheney, the First Lady, and Nancy Reagan are all rushed to secure locations. The President, biking through woods, is not immediately notified.
<snip>

This has always bugged me. Mass hysteria at the Capitol as the President pedals. And about the time the DSM fell off the public radar
:shrug:

Also, the timing of one of Bush's 'War on Terra' primetime speeches was a couple of days before the DC War Protest? Followed by a bioterror bacteria found in air vents in several DC locations that weekend?

Lots of these little coincidences just keep popping up whenever this administration feels threatened. Makes you wonder who the real terrorists are?

[McCamy Taylor]

24. Olberman's good deeds even more impressive considering context.

Look at what Rove and Co. did to Mapes/Rather and the way they managed to terrorize most of the MSM journalists. When they went after 60 Minutes in the brazen way they did, I sort of expected that some journalists would do the opposite of hide in fear, ours being the culture of "HIgh Noon" and all. But I didnt expect that MSNBC would give anyone a whole hour every night to do it.

What Olberman does not discuss---because it is too contraversial even for him---is the darker face of fear. Rove does not just use terror warnings to distract the masses. He uses his own rep for breaking the law and the administration's rep for lying to get what it wants to terrorize its enemies. Say a bad word about the Iraq War on TV? Rove will forge documents and tell Viacom CBS to fire you. DEmocratic Senate leader? Someone is going to mail anthrax to you, and the FBI will never find out who. People in the know can ignore the bogus terror threats and concentrate on the real news, but those with a little too much knowledge are always looking over their shoulders wondering if Rove and Co. have taken notice of them.

http://www.grandtheftelectionohio.com/051007.htm


Let's hope that an indictment and conviction of Rove and the Iraq Team neutralize their death grip of fear. However, given the way these guys work, I am keeping an eye on them, Cheney in particular. He strikes me as someone who would make a very nasty cornered rat.

[Patsy Stone]

27. Did you hear Mike Malloy this morning?

Singing Keith's praises and wondering aloud about MSNBC allowing him to continue with his "liberal" reporting?

[gkhouston]

32. you know what's really sad?

Olbermann isn't really a "liberal" reporter... he's a truthful one. I've seen him diss politicians on both sides of the aisle when they've behaved like idiots, and rightly so. It says something about the current political climate when an anchorman gets branded with the scarlet L for actually providing fair and balanced coverage.

[Patsy Stone]

34. He did say it more tongue in cheek.

And, yes, really more to imply that he was reporting the facts accurately. You are correct.

:hi:

For KO: :loveya:

[MellowOne]

28. Happy Dance time!!!

Light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully America will wake up.

[npincus]

29. Please send a Thank-You to Olbermann

Olbermann E-mail: [e-mail]

my thread here on the topic: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2154497

[savemefromdumbya]

30. #14 Armageddon

I guess if there are no indictments there won't be a real terror attack! Or maybe they will 'find' Osama Bin Laden? I'm sure that they are saving something big?

[Roxy66]

31. I wish he would have included the "Osama Tape" on his show

This was such a clear and blatant fear mongering plot right before the election....it would have been a great example to those who voted over the next few days. Not that many people will go to read his blog for the other three

[eridani]

58. I don't understand why there haven't been more questions--

--about whether or not this video was even real. It is very easy to take an old video of OBL back when he was chipper and healthy, and with modern audio techniques, completely fabricate a new speech and add it to the old video. I'm sure that such a process would leave traces, and I don't get why amateur media analysts didn't go after this one the way they did the Nick Berg video.

[Julius Civitatus]

33. Olbermann should have mentioned where he got his data

It would have been nice if Keith Olberman had credited where he got his analogies. I'm just saying...

Timeline of Terror Alerts

Chart of terror alerts vs. Bush ratings

We did this study a year ago and posted it in my blog in August 2004. He got most of his 13 false terror alerts from our study. I'm glad this is getting some air time, but I'm sick of mainstream journalists taking the work of bloggers without even a minimal mention of where they got it from.

I mean, our study of terror alerts has been circulating online for a year. His lists of 13 false terror alerts are almost verbatim from our study.

Not fair.

[Pluvious]

37. Yes, very true

I know how you feel, and it is frustrating I'm sure.

It's no surprise MSM don't wish to give any kudos, credit, or
attention to the blogosphere, since they feel threatened themselves.

OTOH, you can be satisfied that your objective of informing the sheeple
has inched one more step closer to enlightenment - thanks to your efforts.

From little ole nobody me... THANK YOU !

HAIL JULIUS !!!

____________________
"worker bees can leave
even drones can fly away
the queen is their slave" (FC)

[emald]

38. I'm another nobody

who wishes to thank you for your prior work. It's great that olbermann has run with the story and if he arrived at the conclusions only after reading your blog then shame on him. I've read your work on occasion and even referenced you site to friends for their elucidation(?). I appreciate and respect those who bring this crap to light, no matter who they may be. Thank you, for what it's worth.

[yy4me]

39. I understand your request for source but if its any consolation,

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We are all thankful that this information finally made the airwaves. If some was your work then you also deserve thanks. I can only hope everyones work on this "outing" of information does some good. Our thanks for your input. We all thank Keith too for his courage in fighting the media on this one. Can you imagine how much flack he is taking? He deserves credit for courage.

[amitten]

42. Newscaster+Fame=Ego ;)

And not always in that order, either. Let's be realistic. Most newscasters, especially good ones, are (some by their own admission) a little, er, fond of themselves. They're not always going to give kudos to the little guy who may have helped behind the scenes. While sources should of course always be given due credit, don't hold your breath, because seldom does it turn out that way. This is true in many professions. Instead, be thankful, very thankful, that at last someone with the ability to reach thousands has made this issue public.

Also, bear in mind the possibility that Keith's idea on this didn't necessarily come DIRECTLY from your blog, though he may have used your blog as a time line source in the name of expediency. He may also have used another source entirely, and maybe THAT source lifted the info from your blog. Who knows? At any rate, I'm happy this made it to cable news, and my thanks goes to anyone and everyone involved.

[dzog]

44. Asked for an explanation?

Have you tried to contact Countdown about this, Julius? I've heard Olbermann credit other blog sources on the air before ... not sure why he would decide not to credit yours. If you haven't already, I'd try getting a hold of somebody at the show and ask them "what gives?"


Oh ... BTW, first post. Hiya DUers. :)

[Julius Civitatus]

47. Thank you for your support, fellows. I don't think it's a coincidence

I agree with all of you that it seems out of character from Keith Olbermann to take something from a blogger without crediting the source. I sent an email to politely ask about this matter.

All these mainstream media anchors work with a large team of assistants and interns that do all the research legwork for him. I can see this scenario: KO asks his team to look into the fake terror alerts, and some smart-ass assistant lifts all the work that Biltud and I performed, claiming that it was his or her own research.

It happened to us before. A guy from a college newspaper in AZ published an article that was taken, almost word by word, from our study. A call to the newspaper editor corrected the situation, and the newspaper issued a correction and an apology, as well as a link to the original source. This happened around election time last year, a good three months after we posted the study.

See, it wouldn't be the first time.

My point about Olbermann's article is that, if you check with my study side by side, he uses teh same analogies, the same conclussions, and similar language, at times almost word by word (his numbers #6 and #7 are almost stright copy-and-paste from ours, with minor verbal modifications). We listed 15 occurrences, he lists 13, rejecting two from our list that seemed less solid.

Sorry to be so cynical, but I don't believe this is a coincidence.

[Julius Civitatus]

52. PS: let me also mention the risks we took with that article

We definitely took a lot of crap from Freepers and LGF'ers when I published that study. I received tons of hate mail, about a dozen death threats, and a week later a DOS (denial of service) attack to my email account. I documented some of these woes in the blog. I even lost a hard drive!

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

57. Welcome to DU, dzog.

[merh]

45. Thank you Keith!

Damn! Out of the park! :applause: :applause: :applause:

:loveya: :loveya:

[donkeyotay]

48. The GOP ran their campaign on terror because it was the issue

they polled most strongly on. Here's a sample:

June 15, 2004
Man allegedly in al-Qaida plot
to bomb Ohio shopping mall
Suspect got terror training in Africa before
returning to carry out attack, indictment says

WASHINGTON - A Columbus, Ohio, man has been charged with participating in an al-Qaida plot to blow up a shopping mall in Ohio, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Monday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5209103/


Oct 20, 2004
Vice President Cheney's Remarks at a Victory 2004 Rally in Batavia, Ohio

But in all seriousness, this is a very important election -? and it could not come at a more crucial time in our history. Today we face an enemy today every bit as intent on destroying us as the Axis powers were in World War II. This is not an enemy we can reason with or negotiate with or appease. This is, to put it simply, an enemy that we must destroy. And with George Bush as Commander-in-Chief, that is exactly what we are doing. (Applause.)

Under President Bush's leadership, we are confronting the terrorists with our military, so we do not have to fight them with armies of firefighters, police and medical personnel on the streets of our own cities.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041011-11.html


Cheney suggests nuclear threats
CARROLL, Ohio
October 20, 2004

Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday raised the possibility of terrorists bombing US cities with nuclear weapons and questioned whether Senator John F. Kerry could combat such an ''ultimate threat . . . you've got to get your mind around."

''The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us -- biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans," Cheney said.
...

In Des Moines, on Sept. 7, Cheney told supporters: ''It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again, that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States, and that we'll fall back into the pre-9/11 mindset, if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts and that we're not really at war."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/10/20/cheney_suggests_possible_nuclear_biological_risks/

[zonkra]

51. Well...

we can talk until we're exhausted about how this is the most venal and corrupted cabal ever, or we could give a viable alternative at the same time. Here's my list of ten things we should be FOR to win back Congress and the White House:

1) Support separation of church and state: this is what our Constitution intended. Therefore, dedicate ourselves to efforts to end the Republican march towards theocracy. State publicly that you don't have to have religion to have ethics, and that the Republicans demonstrate maybe the inverse of this is more true. End tax exemptions for religious groups that are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Republican party, and prosecute their leaders under the existing tax code (Falwell, Robertson, Dobson, Graham Jr., Moon)

2) End corporate welfare. Stop talk about poor people looting WalMart and start talking about Halliburton looting the US treasury.

3) Make the rich pay their fair share of taxes. They make more, they get more, they should pay more. Even Eisenhower knew that.

4) End the "war on terrorism". You can't fight a war tactic. You can only fight the causes for war, like world poverty because of corporate imperialism and profiteering at the expense of the oppressed.

5) End the "war on drugs". Prohibition? Failure. "War on Drugs"? Bigger failure. You can't stop people from wanting to escape pain. You can only try to help eliminate the pain. Besides, the people doing drugs in America have money. Legalize it, tax it, and put money into health care for addicts who want to stop the insanity. Stop making an Al Capone every day. His corruption only took over Chicago. The corruption of drug money is taking over the world. End the motive. Make it cheap, available, but stupid. Just like TV.

6) Stop the propaganda. Liberal media? Get real. Examine who owns what, who they donate to, and just follow the money. Get the FOX out of the henhouse, and stop corporate fascism dead in its tracks.  End the reliance of media on advertising by subsidizing the truly fair and balanced instead of the totally unfair and unbalanced.

7) Sink the Titanic. The Golden Age wasn't golden. Neither is the New Golden Age. Trickle-down is bullshit, just like Dave Stockman confessed. You can't have one standard for those fortunate to stroll on the promenade deck and one for those poor bastards in steerage, because when the ship goes down, everybody drowns. Get enough lifeboats for everybody! Take the money we're spending trying to build WalMarts in Iraq and invest it in our infrastructure don't people don't get gang-raped in the Superdome just because they were unlucky enough to survive a hurricane.

8) Speaking of Iraq: get the hell out, now. Pay reparations, get Bush a cell next to Slobbo at the Hague, and apologize like hell for invading a country based on pure fabrication. It would be way cheaper than hanging in there until our troops are hanging off helicopters out of Baghdad in a Saigon reprise. The world would respect us for getting honest and for making amends rather than hanging on to the bitter end like Nazi Germany and embarrassing ourselves further. They elected an idiot, and so did we. Can't we cop to that and do the right thing?

9) Reintroduce the Equal Rights Amendment and pass it this time. Instead of talking about the plight of Iraqi women, what about US women? Equal pay for equal work, equality of rights. Isn't that fair, and don't we advertise ourselves to be on the side of fairness? Action, not hype, will convince the rest of the world what could work for them as well as us.

10) While talking about rights, what about rights for all Americans. Let "marriage" take place in church, if you want. Let's have civil unions for those who don't want a church, with the same rights as are respected for everybody else who commits to such a partnership of interests. The Old Testament endorses slavery and outright murder. Why should "Christians" (New Testament, anybody?) cite that tired old screed to exclude everybody they don't like from the love, tolerance, and enlightenment expressed in the book they purport themselves to be based upon? Only a total hypocrite would, and only enlightened Democrats are the hope they won't get away with such naked duplicity to their own avowed religion. If they claim they're Christian, hold them to their standard. If they refuse, show them again that American principles can override religious fakery anytime, and that our deist founding fathers knew that from day one.

[Olney Blue]

56. Zonkra, thank you for your thoughtful post.

Welcome to DU.

[childslibrarian]

54. Keith, no small aircraft

No dark alleys...I'm not kidding...x(