Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Losing Our Democracy

The Republicans’ War on Democracy is taking its toll. Stealing elections and suppressing voters is a full time campaign, and the Guardians of Plutocracy are unrelenting.

Today’s New York Times article is a clear warning that democracy is losing in America. Fascism, totalitarianism, corporatocracy, or whatever you want to call the opposite of democracy, is prevailing.

The percentage of registered New Mexico voters has fallen. New voter registration rates in Florida are falling by 20 to 40% in certain counties. College voter registration tables are empty.

The League of Women Voters registration efforts have been crippled. The Florida Secretary of State is threatening a $50 dollar fine for each “late” application form.

It’s good to see the Brennan Center for Justice is challenging the Florida Republicans’ voter suppression laws on First Amendment grounds that registering to vote is protected speech.

In the meantime, the Republican Party has been winning their war on democracy.

I know it sucks to vote the lesser of evils. I hate voting for those almost as loathsome corporatist Democrats.

But is there any other real choice?

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Oppose the Hate

I wasn’t going to comment on yet another incident of vile hatred spewing from Republican spokesman Limbaugh. Now I need to speak up. One reason is to support and report the fact that corporations have spoken up, in their way, that is meaningful even to the fanatics of the radical Right. Sleep Number, The Sleep Train, Quicken Loans, Legal Zoom, Citrix, Carbonite, and ProFlowers have pulled their ads from Limbaugh’s hate show. Several others are considering following their lead. Only when faced with losing sponsors did Rush "Mr. Oxycontin/viagra" Limbaugh even pretend to apologize to the woman he called a slut.

The second, and primary, reason I must address this topic is this:

Hate is a contagious and toxic infection on humanity. Limbaugh’s hate was passed on to an innocent girl with a painful medical condition treated by birth control medication.

From the article:

The note was in her locker when she opened it before her first class. She was so upset that she went to her teacher in first period and asked to be excused to go to the bathroom. She said for first and second period she tried not to be too upset- she cried a little bit but was just trying to figure out who would leave such a piece of trash in her locker. By third period, she had shown the note to a couple of her friends and they were so helpful, trying to play detective and at the same time telling her she should just ignore the stupid people!

She managed to get through a math quiz and Spanish test and headed off to lunch in a pretty solid frame of mind. And that's when it really fell apart; apparently, the girls from the day before were the authors of the note. They lined up behind my daughter to get their lunch tray and started in on her. "Birth control whore", "I told my mom you were on the pill and she said you were nothing but a little tramp" "My mom said some guy she listens to on the radio was just talking about girls like you- he even said you were a slut!" "Yeah, my mom said the same thing, said it's about time people spoke up and weren't afraid to tell the truth"!

They laughed, they harassed, they said so many things my daughter couldn't begin to remember it all- she walked back to her table without food and told her friends what was going on. She cried through lunch and through the rest of the day. She said she almost went to the office to call me to come get her but she was trying to be strong and not let them win! The last class of the day, however, was the final straw- it's her history class and 2 of these little monsters are in the class with her.

They start the class off by talking about current events. One of the little witches brought up Rush Limbaugh and the (male) teacher said that he was an American Icon- sometimes he says things that can be construed as insensitive but overall, he was one of the few people left in today's media who was not afraid to speak the truth!


Please read the full story. And then, please go to the link for the petition to remove the hateful arrogant Limbaugh off Armed Forces Radio. Our tax dollars must not be used to promote the evil of the radical Right.

Here is the petition and link:

Sec. Panetta, Get Rush Limbaugh Off Armed Forces Radio NOW! No tax money for abusive, divisive, insulting language.

It is not bad enough that he provides partisan blather, that he demeans our President.
He has regularly demeaned women.

His remarks this week were well beyond the pale of what should be broadcast to our military and their families, supported with our tax dollars.

We have a moral objection to our tax dollars being used for such a purpose.

You should move immediately to cancel any further broadcast through government facilities of his venom.

There is no excuse for the US Government, in any capacity, giving this man an audience.
It is an insult to the honorable men and women who serve this nation.


The people in our military services do not need the hateful evil of that man on their radio.