Friday, May 28, 2010

Make that Change

The political center of America has been moving decidedly to the right for decades.

Actual liberals have been all-but banished from the Democratic Party.

Ask yourself, do we have any heroes in America like Marek Edelman, who left us this past October? Uncompromising and fierce, even in the face of death, even in the face of the scorn of his countrymen and allies?

The Democrats will not get their shit together on issues like marriage equality or reproductive rights and they have caved on every economic issue there is.

The Clinton 90's heralded an era of Democratic Reaganomics.

The Democrats are now on the wrong side on the death penalty, the war on crime, the war on drugs, and more or less every other aspect of both our foreign and domestic policy.

Gains are small and usually immediately taken away. Resistance is met with either scorn, or muscle.

We, the left, caught a great deal of grief from the Democratic Party when we dared to refuse to support Gore and Lieberman who might as well be Republicans.

I’m sorry, but you can’t move that far to the right and then complain that the left has abandoned you.

And anyone who has spoken out in the last eight years, from Ward Churchill to Bill Maher to the Dixie Chicks can tell you what it’s like be responded to with simple, brutal, unmoving force.

And now, we are at a crossroads. Did we really mean what we said when we voted for change, or are we just jerking off?

Are we pissed off enough about this recession to demand that the people we just put into office reverse the past 28 years of systematic deregulation that led to this whole mess?
The hubris of the last eight years, the prioritizing of power over party, and party over country has imploded the Republican Party and we have been given a magnificent opportunity. It would be a crime to waste it. But the Democrats have indeed wasted the opportunity.

They could not get meaningful health care for all Americans even with a Super-majority in both houses. You know why? Because they didn't fucking try!

They talked of bi-partisanship as if it were the primary virtue for any politician. As if making friends with the enemy were more important than principle.

They've put Blackwater into Pakistan for Christ's sake!

No more. I've come to a crucial decision. When you choose between the lesser of two evils, you are still choosing evil.

Go ahead and tell me I'm throwing my vote away.

But from now on, every vote will go to a Socialist, Green or Independent candidate.

I used to think the Democrats' problem was weakness. Now I see that it's a lack of conviction.

And for the record, to you, the Democratic Party, you left us. Adieu.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Contact Your Lawmakers! Get Out of Afghanistan!

Below is a link you can click to send messages to your Senators and your Rep asking them to support legislation getting us out of Afghanistan.

http://www.winwithoutwar.org/page/speakout/timeline

They have their own pre-written message, but I suggest writing your own. I think when politicians get the same thing over and over they tend to think a lot of people are clicking without thinking and probably don't give it
the weight they should.

So, in the hopes that Sen. Bond, Sen. McCaskill and Rep. Graves will actually read something I took the time to compose m
yself, here's what I wrote:

With due respect, the arrogance with which we are fighting this war is staggering.

I know that you are educated. You don't get to where you are if you're not smart.


No superpower in history has been able to conquer Afghanistan and many have tried.


First, the terrain is prime for defense and second, this is not a culture that surrenders. EVER.


What's happening there now is a civil war and we have got to get out. Please, I care about my country too much to stand by and watch it continue in its imperialism.


I'm writing to ask that you support legislation introduced by Senator Feingold (S.3197) or Representatives McGovern and Jones (H.R. 5015) requiring the president to submit to Congress a plan for the "safe, orderly and expeditious redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan."


President Obama promised change and he has not delivered it. It is up to the legislative branch to stand up and get our troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq.


Please, don't let any more of them die over there.


Please don't let any more of our young people become killers.


Thank you for listening.


Joshua D. Lucht

Blue Springs, MO 64015

joshlucht@yahoo.com

Friday, May 14, 2010

In Her Wake: An Interview with Dr. Nancy Rappaport

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Dr. Nancy Rappaport, author of "In Her Wake," about her mother's suicide.

This is an unbelievable book that everyone who is depressed or knows someone who is mentally ill needs to read.

Friday, May 7, 2010

SWAT Team shoots dogs in front of 7-year-old child

This shit is just disgraceful. What's sad is that the worst thing that could possibly happen to these cops is they'll lose their jobs. And that's the best we can hope for.

We have to stop letting these guys get away with this just because they're in uniform. As a society, we have to start demanding criminal prosecution for cops who do things like this.

What you see in this video is not something that happens in a free country.

SWAT Team shoots dogs in front of 7-year-old child


Friday, April 9, 2010

Severe Clear - Kristian Fraga (2009)

I don't think I've looked forward to a documentary like this since Paradise Lost 2.









Severe Clear, comprised of clips from a video journal shot by Lt. Mike Scotti has made the festival circuit and is about to see a limited U.S. theatrical release.


Whether it will come to Kansas City remains to be seen.

From the clips I've seen, Scotti and the film's director, Kristian Fraga showed a great deal of courage in releasing footage that shows every aspect of what I can only imagine what it must be like to be over there.

I saw desperation, grief, terror, courage, determination, horror, more grief, more terror and above all, desperation again.

My heart sank as Lt. Scotti told about how he and his squad fired on a car they thought was hostile, but turned out to be a man with his daughter.


He talks about killing and burying a little girl with her pink shoes. I felt anger, grief, hatred, pity and revulsion all within the span of about ten seconds.

The rate, range and intensity of emotions was staggering.


And this was in a couple minutes worth of clips that I managed to see.


That's my review of the couple of minutes. Severe Clear has made the festival circuit and from what I've heard, it's amazing.

I'm going to watch it as soon as possible and let you all know how it is.






Sunday, April 4, 2010

In the Spirit of MF Easter

I'm not generally in the habit of quoting Bible verses. I find it a nasty and rude habit. However, in light of recent events and seeing as how it's Easter, I'd like to say:

Matthew 18:6, motherfuckers!!!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Happy Good Friday Everybody!!!

HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY EVERYBODY! MAY ALL YOUR CRUCIFIXIONS BE BRIGHT!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Benedict Deserves Nothing But Scorn And The Church Deserves To Die

If there is in fact a Hell, then I have no doubt that soon, the artist formerly known as Ratzinger will be in the hands of an angry God.

Report: Priest Sex Abuse Accusations Went Unanswered

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Monday, March 22, 2010

Why Did We Elect You?

You ran on a platform of opposition to the war.

We elected you and you failed to end them.
You told us you supported gay rights.

Don't Ask-Don't Tell is still in place.

You pretended to support a woman's right to choose.
And now comes a sweeping anti-choice executive order so you can get your watered-down 'reform' passed and claim a victory.

I desperately wish I had voted for Cynthia McKinney. Most would tell me that doing so would have been throwing my vote away.

At least I would have been voting for someone with principles.
Never a democrat. Never again.