a thoughtful essay delivered without tearing either candidate down. i have a few issues as i always do with walkers opinions, and i have been reading her since the early 80s and have met her a few times. but in general worth reading and thinking about.

my favorite quotes;

I want the Israeli government to be made accountable for its behavior towards the Palestinians, and I want the people of the United States to cease acting like they don't understand what is going on.  All colonization, all occupation, all repression basically looks the same, whoever is doing it.

Imagine, if he wins the presidency we will have not one but three black women in the White House;  one tall, two somewhat shorter;   none of them carrying the washing in and out of the back door.

We have come a long way, Sisters, and we are up to the challenges of our time.  One of which is to build alliances based not on race, ethnicity, color, nationality, sexual preference or gender, but on Truth.  Celebrate our journey.  Enjoy the miracle we are witnessing.  Do not stress over its outcome.  Even if  Obama becomes president, our country is in such ruin it may well be beyond his power to lead us toward rehabilitation.  If he is elected however, we must, individually and collectively, as citizens of the planet, insist on helping him do the best job that can be done; more, we must insist that he demand this of us.

http://theroot.com/#

This diary is a list of things that will happen if we dont get a democrat elected president in 2008.

Please add your own nightmares.

#1  2 or 3 Justices of the Supreme court will retire or die and will be replaced with conservative judges guaranteeing;

#2 Roe v Wade will be weakened further or reversed.

#3 DOJ will continue to be politicised

#4 there will never be any investigations resulting in any charges being brought against anyone other than democrats....no republican will ever be held responsible for lying, profiteering, covering up, destroying evidence, or breaking any law.

#5  rich people will get more tax breaks.

#6 the middle class will continue to shrink.

#7 the environment will be raped and pillaged further.

#8 our food system will become completely poisoned.

#9 alternative energy systems will get no developmental help from the govt.

#10 our childrens will still be lernin, just less and less.

#11 we will have to hire an army to protect our oil.

#12 more people will hate us and feel so powerless they will turn to suicide bombing our cities, not just their own.

#13 our infrastructure will continue to crumble

#14 less and less people will be covered by any kind of health insurance, less and less people will get any kind of health care.

#15 more and more people will be forced into bankruptcy to cover their medical bills.

From The Washington Post - Chris Cillizza;

"The Gender Gap: For nine states covered by exit polling data purchased by The Post, the gender gap on the Democratic side showed up in full force. Taking out the two candidates' home states, the exit polls reveal a vote split clearly down gender lines. Obama won the male vote in all six of the seven non-native son/daughter states (he crushed Clinton by 39 points among men in Georgia) while she won men in Tennessee by three points. Among women, Clinton rolled to double-digit victories in five of the seven states; Obama won women in Georgia by a whopping 28 points thanks to his strength among black voters and beat Clinton by a single point among women in Missouri. The numbers in individual states were eye-popping -- Clinton did 27 points better among women than men in Massachusetts, 26 points better in California and 20 points better in New Jersey."

I really believe this proves my point that men are not as threatened by a well educated, articulate, half black man then they are by a strong white women.

Several people have insisted its the candidates themselves....but if that is true these discrepancies just would not be this high. Women arent stupid....if Hillary is that bad why are they voting for her in such large numbers?

Racism and sexism are alive and well in America.....Obama is benefitting as a black man who isnt coming off as that black while Hillary cant be seen as anything other than a woman.

Let me go even further....its ok for a black man to "act" white....its not ok for a woman to act manly...then she is a bitch.

And probably a lesbian.

And lets not forget women won the right to vote 50 years after black men did.

Im not writing this to get into a pissing match about which group is more likely to be penalized for who they are....there is plenty of hate to go around in all groups towards all groups....i just think its really interesting to look at the underlying things that are happening here....we need to dissect this stuff and get some understanding of it so we can fight it....self awareness is always a good first step.

It will be even more interesting to see how republicans handle these issues.

Disclaimer;  I didnt watch the speech last night (duece bigelo, my favorite manwhore was on) but i did watch the talking heads of cable news till 2am and read all the right and left wing blogs of note. So i think i got a feel for the speech and the reactions across the board, as opposed to just the echo chambers of the progressive left.

My thesis is that bush is a genius. I know it sounds crazy and i admit he wasnt as manly last night as he usually is (bad news for him cause america doesnt like feeling castrated by bush's war), but if he pushes for a surge, what are the possibile outcomes?

we know we dont have the troops for a real surge....so he will send a few more troops and that wont work...in the mean time the dems will be trying to reverse his actions and get him to draw down....whether they succeed or not bush can now and in the future say we could have won if the dems had only let him send more troops......thats the plan....americans dont give a crap about iraqi people, civilian deaths, torture, eavesdropping, or even american casualties below an undetermined number splashed on their tv sets every night.....the american people care about winning....they hate losing....they want to get out of iraq because they arent winning and arent likely to win.....they allowed bush to go to iraq (75% approval in 2003) because a win seemed easy....and what do you think the chances are now of a terrorist attack on american soil before the next election? do you think this admin is competent enough to keep that from happening? how hard do you really think they will try knowing that is what galvanizes people to their side?.....how hard do you think the dems will work knowing their hold on power is so slim and that the american people have shown over and over again they are willing to vote against their self interests to feel "safe"?

i think the only things that can really squash bush is the price of gas and the corporate media....since the oil companies have been shown to be controlling the price of gas to sway votes to the republicans i dont know how that can be overcome....the media is a different story....i honestly think the people powered media is having an effect on the corporate media.....small and slow but i think we are seeing the beginning of a revolution of sorts here....i just wish the american people werent so dumb and worried about the bloody stumps where their dicks are supposed to be.

November 14th, 2006

To My Conservative Brothers and Sisters,

I know you are dismayed and disheartened at the results of last week's election. You're worried that the

country is heading toward a very bad place you don't want it to go. Your 12-year Republican Revolution has

ended with so much yet to do, so many promises left unfulfilled. You are in a funk, and I understand.

Well, cheer up, my friends! Do not despair. I have good news for you.  I, and the millions of others who are

now in charge with our Democratic Congress, have a pledge we would like to make to you, a list of promises

that we offer you because we value you as our fellow Americans. You deserve to know what we plan to do with

our newfound power -- and, to be specific, what we will do to you and for you.

Thus, here is our Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives:

Dear Conservatives and Republicans,

I, and my fellow signatories, hereby make these promises to you:

1. We will always respect you for your conservative beliefs. We will never, ever, call you "unpatriotic" simply

because you disagree with us. In fact, we encourage you to dissent and disagree with us.

2. We will let you marry whomever you want, even when some of us consider your behavior to be "different"

or "immoral." Who you marry is none of our business. Love and be in love -- it's a wonderful gift.

3. We will not spend your grandchildren's money on our personal whims or to enrich our friends. It's your

checkbook, too, and we will balance it for you.

4. When we soon bring our sons and daughters home from Iraq, we will bring your sons and daughters home,

too. They deserve to live. We promise never to send your kids off to war based on either a mistake or a lie.

5. When we make America the last Western democracy to have universal health coverage, and all Americans

are able to get help when they fall ill, we promise that you, too, will be able to see a doctor, regardless of your

ability to pay. And when stem cell research delivers treatments and cures for diseases that affect you and

your loved ones, we'll make
sure those advances are available to you and your family, too.

6. Even though you have opposed environmental regulation, when we clean up our air and water, we, the

Democratic majority, will let you, too, breathe the cleaner air and drink the purer water.

7. Should a mass murderer ever kill 3,000 people on our soil, we will devote every single resource to tracking

him down and bringing him to justice. Immediately. We will protect you.

8. We will never stick our nose in your bedroom or your womb. What you do there as consenting adults is your

business. We will continue to count your age from the moment you were born, not the moment you were

conceived.

9. We will not take away your hunting guns. If you need an automatic weapon or a handgun to kill a bird or a

deer, then you really aren't much of a hunter and you should, perhaps, pick up another sport. We will make

our streets and schools as free as we can from these weapons and we will protect your children just as we

would protect ours.

10. When we raise the minimum wage, we will pay you -- and your employees -- that new wage, too. When

women are finally paid what men make, we will pay conservative women that wage, too.

11. We will respect your religious beliefs, even when you don't put those beliefs into practice. In fact, we will

actively seek to promote your most radical religious beliefs ("Blessed are the poor," "Blessed are the

peacemakers," "Love your enemies," "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a

rich man to enter the kingdom
of God," and "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."). We will let

people in other countries know that God doesn't just bless America, he blesses everyone. We will discourage

religious intolerance and fanaticism -- starting with the fanaticism here at home, thus setting a good example

for the rest of the world.

12. We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go

after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the

corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are

in power does not give
us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as

the loyal opposition.

I promise all of the above to you because this is your country, too.  You are every bit as American as we are.

We are all in this together.  We sink or swim as one. Thank you for your years of service to this country and

for giving us the opportunity to see if we can make things a bit better for our 300 million fellow Americans --

and for the rest
of the world.

Signed,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com

P.S. Please feel free to pass this on.

i just dont have that much important stuff to say...and this is probably a mistate writing this one.

can you imagine going 6 days with no news, no internet, no radio, no tv, absolutely no knowledge of whats going on in the world?

can you imagine being in so much pain that the liquid oxycontin...the stuff they give cancer patients to handle break out pain when the morphine stops working, isnt doing a darn thing to take away the pain?

can you imagine getting pics of a giant red tumor looking thing sent to you by your surgeon and knowing they just pulled that alien thing out of your body?

can you imagine working thru the pain and the nausea and ther lack of cholocate or any other solid food fior 6 days ans nothing liquid either besides flat diet creme soda and that wont stay down....but getting up anyway to catch up on a tiny bit of news at the frog pond where i dont have to slog thru narcissistic diaries and breaking headlines that arent and armondo sucks rants....and instead finding yet another flame war and a pond empty of some of my favorite people....again.

i counted on you people to hold down the fort and be here now with action suggerstions and hope and insights i wont get anywhere else.

now i fel even sicker than i did 5 minutes ago.

I saw the speech....i have not seen a word of analysis or spin and i havent been around the blogs this morning yet so i have no idea what america thought of it.

I thought it was the best speech he ever gave....i know that aint saying much so i will put it a different way...he did a damn good job delivering a brilliant speech.

you may have to take your filters off to see this....im trying to see it thru the eyes of moron america as well as through a marketers eyes.

as far as moron america is concerned...they are grasping at any message that helps them regrow their penis....thats why murthas ideas are resonating with so many people....he isnt saying cut our penises off and run like the republican spin meisters are trying to frame it...he is saying lets take our big giant penises up on that hill where we can watch over things and bash bad guys over the head from afar with our superior firepower penises if we need to....last night bush gave a speech that explained in almost a benevolently fatherish way why and how he thinks we can win this....winning is the main point....the defeatists are reinforcing the little penis problems america has....the defeatists (that is how they are succesfully being framed) are not getting across the message that bush himself lost this war....they are being painted very successfully as wanting to run away while holding onto their bloody stumps...america isnt going to go for that...i think the polls are showing that too.....on the one hand people are pissed at bush....they think his war policies are a disaster...and they want a way out....but they arent overwhelmingly supporting a pullout ....they are looking for a pullout plan that gives them the illusion they still have their dicks...whoever comes up with that plan and manages to get it across to moron america will be the winner here as far as message goes...

another thig bush did last night that was different than his usual....he totally changed his delivery.....toned down his criticism...he was very conciliatory.....the republican strategists who came up with that are geniuses....all the people out there who supported going to war (over 70% of americans 2 years ago)....all the people who voted for bush out of a sense that he has good moral character (i dont know what those people are smoking either but they are there)....all of those people who are independent but swung to the right last november...they dont want to be lumped into the far left radical camp and treated with disdain by der furor....last night chimpy did a very good job of giving them a way to not be totally disgusted with him....he turned them back i guarantee it....not only did he give them back a little of their penises but he stroked them enough to lull them back to sleep......very comforting...very effective.

A few people have asked for my annual list and review of my favorite sex toys so here it is....you should be able to find these online or in your local adult book store.  I included the manufacturers number which is often used at the retail outlet. ps I edited some of the language.

And dont forget that the crazy right wing fascists who dont know how to mind their own business want to take away our rights to porn and sex toys and anything that makes sex more enjoyable, available, or fun. Please support organizations like the National Coalition For Sexual Freedom (www.ncsfreedom.org) when you can. They are doing good work fighting for our privacy rights.

everyone is wondering why the wingnuts are objecting to miers....its so very clear to me what their problems is...they suspect, but cant say for sure, that she is a closet lesbian and susceptible to the souter effect....david souter was an unmarried man (harriet has never been married and has no known children), was nominated by a republican president so they thought they could count on him for right wing judicial activism, and has totally disappointed them with his thoughtful mostly left wing votes....the right wingers objecting to miers look at her and her advocacy of gay rights as they pertain to adoptions, plus her endorsement by texas lgbt orgs, and they get that queasy feeling in their jesus bellies that leaves them wondering if they are gonna get duped again.

dont believe the cover that they object because she isnt qualified....they dont mind their public servants dumber than a box of rocks....they elected a dumbass president....they love clarence pubichaironmycokecan darkasnight dumberthanjoecuntsdog thomas....i mean that man is a mental midget (no offense to midgets) but he very dependably votes their way without even having to think too hard about the issues....they overlooked his race (way daker than the black people they usually grudgingly support), his marriage to a white woman (lynching material only 40 years prior), his religion (catholic but better than a jew), his sexual harrassment reputation(if only anita hill was white), his lack of intellectual skills (his staff can do all the work)...and they confirmed him while calling all his detractors rascist.... they have a long list of supposedly more qualified conservative candidates this time around and ill bet not one of them would ever put money in a pac that would donate to that other suspected closet lesbian hillary or support exodus (gay prison persons org)....nope....the non qualified meme is a red herring...its the fear of not being able to control a possible carpet munching female that has them uneasy.