A local Occupy update:
I was surprised when I went downtown today to learn that the Occupy Denver rally has been going on for 10 days.
Surprised because according to my local news, there is no such thing as 'Occupy' anything.
What does make the news is that legislators - Democrats and Republicans - just voted to have 1.7 million dollars worth of gold re-plated on the Capitol's Dome.
It is the clearest example of what one 99 percenter described as a literal metaphor of the phrase
'let them eat cake'
Pictures and videos on the 10th night of Occupy Denver...
Once again The Fates have come our way to provide a story, and once again, we have a contender for the "Ironic Story Of The Year".
It's got everything you need for serious irony: an irascible comedian who mocked religion at every opportunity, a city that loved him, and the rich coincidence of his having been born at the crossroads of New York City's communities of religious education.
And that's why, today, we'll be talking about the effort to name the street right next to Manhattan's Seminary Row...Carlin Street.
(And before we go further, a language warning: we'll be quoting George Carlin liberally, and that means there may be present today certain of the seven words with which he created one of his best known routines. You are now officially warned.)
So I thought I was going to have another Jay Inslee story for y'all today, but it turns out that I'm going to have to do more research before we can "come to press" with that one.
But that's OK, because the world's been busy doing a lot of other things - and while many of them get media coverage, some don't get a lot of notice at all.
And of course, there are also those stories that look one way at first glance...but look a lot different when you dig a bit deeper.
We'll hit a few of those today, have a bit of fun doing it, and get ready for what promises to be another busy week of strategically not doing things in Washington.
To make things even better, some of the stories will be real, and some won't.
If your view of politics is filtered by a lens marked "Progressive" or "Liberal", there's a pretty good chance that you've been gnashing your teeth and pulling your hair in frustration over the "give away the store, then negotiate" approach professional Democrats have used when facing the challenges from the Tea Party last year, and all that's come after.
Over and over and over people like me have written stories wondering why Democrats, starting with this President, don't get out in a very public way and slam Republican policies, over and over and over-especially when most Americans hate the things Republicans seem to love to support.
Turning over Government to the highest bidder?
Not so popular.
Going back to a heathcare system run by, for, and of the insurance industry?
Again, not so much.
Jacking up taxes and healthcare costs for you and me in order to provide another trillion in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires?
So unpopular pollsters hardly believe it.
But there is another way, and today's story is in two parts: we're going to talk about how hard it is to get Democrats, as a group, to get loud and get aggressive-and then we're going to talk about Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who is out there showing any reluctant Democrat just exactly how you can "grow the brand".
Ever since September 11th, fear as a political motivator has been on steroids. The joint efforts in the early days of the war by the mainstream media and that of the conservative right led the general public into a state of paranoia and mistrust of the others. Citizens were convinced that there was a boogeyman around every shadowy corner. Everyday the alert state of the country was trumpeted and the war on terror televised. Beginning with Afghanistan and peaking with the invasion of Iraq. American patriotism was all or nothing subject. One was not to question the efforts of the United States and the way the war was prosecuted. Everyday, in some form of another, popular media found away to indoctrinate and endure the mistrust of the foreign other, such as television shows like 24, Alias, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Each of these shows represented a form of public mistrust in the alien other, especially 24.
Race in America has flared up once again. It is unfortunate that the race issue has continued to be a factor. It has been nearly two years since the election of President Barack Obama. It was thought that America had finally grown up and was potentially transitioning into adulthood. The election was a signal that America was getting beyond its petulant teenage or twenty-something years and moving forward somewhat graciously into a pragmatic thoughtful entity. The honeymoon barely lasted a month, when the near collapse of the US economy curtailed the visions and hopes of the citizenry.
That was Dan Fanelli, Rep. Alan Grayson's GOP opponent in this years election. He is, as of this report, still an asshole
Now read this
On May 10th, a middle-aged man carried a can of gasoline and a pipe bomb into the Jacksonville Islamic Center of Northeast Florida during evening prayers and detonated it.
And here is J.T. Ready (Left) with Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, the author of the new Arizona police state "show me your papers" law, who has his own history of ties to Neo Nazi white supremacist groups.
In most states being seen publicly with a Nazi would ruin your political career. In most states you would be shunned by your political party. But not in Arizona, and not in the Republican party.
This week, communities across Colorado will launch the Welcoming Colorado Initiative. This new project seeks to encourage immigrant and non-immigrant communities to engage in respectful dialogue, share experiences and correct misinformation through innovative programs.
