Propaganda

America's Little Warlings

“We’ve worn handmade peace shirts every Thursday since the first week of school, without fail,” Skylar said.

But what started out as a light-hearted gesture soon started to be taken out of context.

Students started approaching the group members, yelling obscene things at them, said Lauren.

“People just turned on us like that,” she said. “At least 10 boys stood up and yelled things at me at once, and we couldn’t even walk through the halls without a harsh comment being made.”

The heckling began early in the school year, according to group members. They said they were putting small posters promoting peace on friends’ lockers with their permission.

They thought it was OK, because the cheerleaders and football players had signs on theirs. Eventually, though, group members said they were told by the school’s administration they could no longer hang up the posters.

“People tore them down and drew swastikas and ‘white power’ stuff on them,” Lauren said.

Skylar had similar things written on her posters.

“Someone taped an ‘I Love Bush’ sign over my ‘Wage Peace’ sign,” she said. “So I tore it down, threw it away, and the whole commons starting booing. I walk by later and find that someone has completely tore my sign down and placed an ‘I Love America, Because America Loves War’ sign up.”

—Students Wear Confederate Flag Shirts To Oppose Peace-Shirt Group, commondreams.org | sombrero tip to C&L

IT SAYS SOMETHING very revealing that there are young people who think that symbols made immortal by Adolf Hitler are a valid response to a peace sign today. Who see the confederate flag (and it is not being used here to represent "heritage," if you don't mind) as a sane response to a peace symbol. Who feel that White Supremacy is the counter-argument to those who ask to live without war between nations. And maybe those pundits who entertain the notion that the USA is engaged in wars of "Liberation" and such should look to the children, who so often lead the way. When we care to pay attention, that is. Because clearly, the kids are not misled. Not by our equivocating fairNBalanced frenzies. When they go crazy it is because of the binds we provide, a series of traps to which we've often long been blind. But those newer, more naive, less compromised and cluttered minds always suss out the truth behind our apathy-weighted sighs and rationalized diatribes. And they know what these wars are about. No, not about Freedom, or Peace, or Liberty, or Democracy, of course. Those are soundbytes for Fox-Watchers, para-citizens on brain vacation. The wars of our dear United States of America are about that dark desire that moves mobs to cheer a lynching; they are about about colonialism and imperialism and genocidal impulse and an all-too-human lust for dominance and violence and power at any cost.

Fraud quits fraud

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/15/malkin-quits-oreilly-factor/

Amanda over at Think Progress is reporting that la Malkin has left in a hissy fit The O'Reilly factor due to their ... get this ... lack of integrity.

Ahhhhhh ... yah.

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Congressman Joe Barton (R-CD6) uses SCHIP to audition for The Simpsons?

O. M. F. G. This is really awesome.

I direct you to the latest press release coming from the government run and financed website for the Committee on Energy and Commerce Republicans. It seems that Congressman Joe Barton has a hyperactive funny bone and since the SCHIP debacle broke out, he's been using the website as a place to issue his one-man smackdowns to any and all supporters of SCHIP.

Joe Barton uses The Simpsons for SCHIP-bashing: Republicans using their goernment websites for snarky purposes. Cool!

Here's the link to the first one I noticed, The â€˜Câ€™ in SCHIP Is for Children, Except When Itâ€™s Not. Today Mr. Barton issued a new release, Bipartisanship on SCHIP!. This one will go down into the annals of the US Congress history as not only an excellent example of Fair Use (something a lot of Republicans stand against), and the First Amendment, but it stands are proof positive that those stodgy conservatives are hip to the popculty times.

Starring "Republican" businessman Montgomery Burns and "Democrat" Mayor Joe Quimby, the press release goes on to depict how the bill is not about the kids but all about the greed. A bipartisan greed that, by the way, is aided an abetted by MoveOn.org and the head of the Democratic Caucus, Rahm Emanuel.

I. Kid. You. Not.

WTF!

The full bipartisan greedy fun after the jump :

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Joe Barton uses The Simpsons for SCHIP-bashing

Republicans using their goernment websites for snarky purposes. Cool!

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Hillary Clinton reaches out to 'hispanic' bloggers through ... a marketing site?

This has got to be one of the weirdest blog outreach maneuvers coming from the current crop of Presidential candidates. Juan Tornoe, of Hispanic Trending, a marketing site, has published an "interview" with the junior senator of New York and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

Let's just start by clearing out the air here. Even though I loathe the word Hispanic I don't necessarily loathe the people that use it. I believe though that the use of the word contextualizes the politics of the person using it. So within the context of my previous post, make what you will of my view on the "hispanic" demographics.

That said, even though I read from time to time Tornoe's blog, I wouldn't consider it as Ms. Clinton has allegedly said in the interview, a very popular site --especially within the latino blogosphere.

I'd just as well think that honor would fall on blogs like Vivir Latino, Latina Lista, Xicano Power, Unapologetic Mexican, LatinoPundit or Latino Politico. Last place I would go for all things latino would be a marketing site, if you know what I mean.

» read more | liza's blog | 7 comments | email this blog | 812 reads

We forgot them

9/11 has been robbed of its significance. It no longer lights up the neurons recalling an American tragedy, but instead activates those that understand political strategy. I hate them for that. So this isn't a 9/11 remembrance. We've never been allowed to forget 9/11. Not for an instant. What we have been allowed to forget is 2,974 individuals who perished in that attack, who didn't die because they wanted to invade Iraq or because they thought Republicans were insufficiently competitive in elections, but because they were murdered. Remember them.

— Ezra Klein,2,974

» email this quotes | liza's quotes | 334 reads

Google shills to the health care industry thanks to the US Supreme Court

I complete agree with Ross Mayfield : Advertising is not Democratic.

This past weekend whilst the technology blogosphere was drooling over the iPhone, a post by one of Google's advertising account planner in the health category created the effect of rubbernecking in front of a car crash. And I mean it when I say it was ugly. Ugly in a "We Do Evil* As Long As There Is Cash Involved" kind of ugly.

In Does Negative Press Make You Sicko?, Lauren Turner wrote :

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Scenes from the PBS Democratic Forum spin room

Previous | Image 1/11 | Next

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Right-wing extremists crow about their "Gathering of Eagles"

This would have been an awesome Daily Show or Stephen Colbert skit. The problem is that this "gathering" of "soaring eagles" did happen as a counter-rally to the demonstrations happening across the nation on the 4th anniversary of the occupation of Iraq.

Here's a taste of their mission statement :

Gathering of Eagles Â» Our Mission Statement:

7. We vehemently oppose the notion that it is possible to â€œsupport the troops but not the war.â€ We are opposed to those groups who would claim support for the troops yet engage in behavior that is demeaning and abusive to the men and women who wear our nationâ€™s uniform.

8. We believe in freedom at all costs, including our own lives. We served to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy, and we agree with Thomas Jeffersonâ€™s assertion that â€œFrom time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants.â€

9. We will accept nothing less than total, unqualified victory in the current conflict. Surrender is not an option, nor is defeat.

They call themselves non-partisan but you know that's a lie. Check out a sampling of their blogroll :

Dr. Laura
Rush Limbaugh
Free Republic
Patriot Files

and my favorite

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FoxAttacks

Robert Greenwald continues the saga started with his groundbreaking Outfoxed. From the website : Fox is not a credible news outlet and needs to be stopped. Foxattacks.com will give you the information and tools you need to hit fox where it hurts.