Time to Bring Honest Government to NYC

As the Bloomberg administration has been exposed for it's blatant attempts to subvert basic democratic institutions - buying and bribing politicians and charities in exchange for political support and subverting the entire system of public education to benefit private interests, a call has gone out to find an appropriate candidate on the Democratic side to stand firm for more honest government.

After diligent research, Education Notes has come up with a worthy candidate who will soon be available and looks clean as a hound's tooth compared to Bloomberg - soon to be former Illinois governor Rudy Blogojevich.

With his appointment yesterday of a candidate for the US Senate who is about 1000% more qualified than Bloomberg's favorite, Carolyn Kennedy, Rudy B has exhibited a significantly higher degree of judgement (and honesty) than Bloomberg.

Of course, if Rudy B is not available, there's always Bernie Madoff - who better to have raise money in a budget crunch?

But if Bernie's not available, here's my favorite -


Related from Gary Babad at NYC Public School Parents:

Test Scores Crash, Class Size Soars as Klein Rings Closing Bell

GBN News “Best Headline of 2009” Contest

Election Whoopee

For The Wave: Politically Unstable (column)

Election Whoopee
by Norman Scott

There's a lot to be said about the election. I know people are thinking about the race issue. Since so many people are touching on this issue with more eloquence, I'll leave that to others. I am thinking about other issues. A smart guy in charge (Clinton was too but seemed to have other things on his - er - mind.) A connection to the young people that reminds me of the way we felt in 1960 seeing the glorious John F. Kennedy replace Eisenhower. (We used to race home after school to see his press conferences.) An activated army who got involved in politics. Expect to see a new, inspired generation of people who hopefully won't get fooled again.

I haven't cared all that much about the politics as usual for quite a while, having voted 3rd party in all but one or two elections over the last 25 years. Yet last Sunday I got up early and drove to Allentown, PA to spend a few hours working for Obama. Witnessing the massive ground game as people from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other places poured into a basement Obama headquarters on the outskirts of town made it worth it. And made me feel just a little less dread about losing PA, which I felt was the key (stone) state. It did turn out that way (along with the Buckeye state and about 30 others.) And hanging with like-minded people, whom I had to look for under rocks in Rockaway. Some of the awful letters in The Wave didn’t help. Thank goodness for the good sense to endorse Obama.

The conversations I engaged in with people who came up with so many irrational reasons to vote against Obama had been discouraging. The emails came in daily disparaging Obama for being the next Hitler and looking to set up a police state and being a terrorist Manchurian candidate. His "associations." Remember how he was going to paint the White House black?

They always made sure to disavow that race was an issue. Yet they were so over the top on a candidate whose policies were not so far off John Kerry and Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Very talented, but a fairly traditional politician. An impeccable personal history. Exceedingly bright. Amazingly disciplined. Self-controlled. Calm. And logical and orderly in his thinking. Did I say exceedingly bright?

Growing up poor, both black and white, married to a working class gal. Both had used their smarts to rise to the top of society. How could all this not only be ignored, but be disparaged?

Some element of racism, latent or not, had to be in operation. I can just imagine what they were thinking as they saw people dancing in the streets in Harlem last night. Will they secede from like half the nation did when another candidate from Illinois was elected 7 score and 8 years ago?

I purposely watched Fox last night, which had done its share in scaring people. Suddenly commentators were talking about how Obama was really a centrist and was surrounding himself with Clinton era advisers. I mean Warren Buffet the terrorist? Duh!

Will Obama turn out to be a great president or a failure? An FDR or a Herbert Hoover, who had an even lower approval rating than W?

It could go either way. When you think of great presidents, they seem to emerge only in times of crisis. Think there are just a few lurking?

FDR ran for president with a very different agenda than he ended up enacting due to desperate times. He showed the kind of flexibility that was needed. Policies that had a major impact for generations.

The problem I have had with Republicans is that they are driven by a narrow ideology that has helped put us into this mess. Like if you breathe government action, you are a socialist. But when it takes forms of socialism to bail out millionaires, why go right ahead. It was this sort of thinking that led to handing over billions to banks that should have had the requirement to be used as loans to free up credit but instead is being held onto by banks to buy other banks. One day soon we will have only 3 or 4 banks in this country.

The only thing I have to fear is fear of Obama's dependence on the same old, same old Clinton people, who come out of places like Goldman Saks when we need some truly radical thinking. Bill Ayres, where are you when we need you?

It is worth hearing from the left on the election. Here is George Schmidt, who is based in Chicago, posting on ICE-mail, where some vituperative attacks on Obama have taken place by both the right and left.

One of the strangest things to watch the past couple of months was how the "left" deployed towards the finish line on Obama. We've reported, early and often, that he was one of the most brilliant politicians ever to come out of Chicago. Now everyone knows that who has been paying attention. What happened yesterday in places like Pasco County, Florida (where I spent some time long long ago living and working out at a gym in New Port Ritchey) and Southwest Ohio was simple:

Chicago precinct work linked to the Internet.

Once you have a very very very good candidate (and Obama was one of the best bourgeoise candidates we've ever seen come out of Chicago politics; Harold Washington was another), a lot of the job is what is called "the ground game." After the AFT convention, I was miffed (that Obama snubbed both AFT and NEA) and worried (that the snub would leave huge parts of white America without the infantry for the ground game the final weeks before the election).

Now it's back to work.

Most of us here think the world is a happier place this morning because of what those of us who voted in the USA did yesterday. A large number of our neighbors went down to Grant Park last night and haven't been seen since. As someone said, this is the world's biggest (Chicago style) block party.

To have helped smash white supremacy on the level it existed in the USA in one lifetime has been a wonderful moment. And we have, indeed, helped smash it with what has been done the past year, culminating in the past week.

I have three sons, one of whom is 19 and in college, and the other of whom are seven and four. All three, at their levels, understood that something very important was happening yesterday (and leading up to yesterday).

As to what's going to happen next (especially for K-12 education)?

The one thing we've learned from Barack Obama over the years (remember: some of us have known him since he was in the Illinois Senate) is that you can't predict the next policy thrust -- only that it will have been very carefully thought out and very well planned (example: the last six weeks of the campaign organization, from TV ads to precinct work across the entire country, from suburban Indiana to the vastness of Montana).

It's worth savoring today. Our children are very happy. Coming from a time when my father's best friends (all brave men who had fought to defeat Nazism on the ground in France, Belgium, Germany and Austria) referred to Jackie Robinson as "Black Jack" and use to cheer the Dodgers with a cheer of "Run N_____ Run!" I'm very glad my own sons are coming of age in a different world. My Mom and Dad were among the few people in Linden, New Jersey who explained to us why we shouldn't use the "N" word back in the 1950s, while also explaining that the people we knew who did use it were good people (and brave; these were men who had "served" in combat in World War II) but limited.

Today, even in the most segregated parts of the USA (and Chicago has some of the most intensely segregated parts of the USA) that Jackie Robinson era racism is simply out of fashion. And given what things look like now, it's unlikely it will make a comeback, despite all the exertions of Sarah Palin and those mobs she luridly fired up at the most base level.

George N. Schmidt
Editor, Substance

www.substancenews.net

Election Yin and Yang

Just back from the gym. Ran into a UFT retiree. "Explain to me how the union could support a candidate who is against voting by secret ballot?" Huh? "What are you talking about? Where did you hear this?"

I know what's coming. Some kind of Obama trashing (the same thing happened last week with a retired fireman - why are they coming to me?)

"I was told by someone that he wants to take away the secret ballot." I begin turn 5 shades of green. "I don't want to talk about anything else. I just wanted to ask that question." "But McCain and Republicans view unions as enemies of big business."

I then started to explain that this position supports union attempts to organize.

"I don't want to get into it. But cry the beloved country." Oy!

Brilliant. Why get the real facts when all you need is an excuse to continue to bash Obama? My instinct is there's heavy racism acting here. The vehemence goes way beyond normal dislike of candidates. Like would this same conversation have taken place over Kerry or Gore given the same exact positions?

I also spoke to the gal who is having the Obama election night open house. She is from Canada and rethinking things if McCain wins. Or maybe just drink her way through tomorrow evening. Or the next 4 years.

On the other hand there's this from Five Thirty Eight's 3am polls:

Barack Obama's position has become somewhat stronger since our update this afternoon. We now have him with a 5.8 point lead in the national popular vote, and winning the election 96.3 percent of the time. Earlier today, those figures were 5.4 and 93.7, respectively.

I continue to find a hair's worth of tightening on balance in the state-by-state polls -- even as Obama's position in the national trackers seems to be roughly as strong as it has ever been. This, ironically, is the exact reverse of the position we saw earlier in the week, when the national polls seemed to be tightening even as the state polls weren't.

However, Obama's win percentage has ticked upward again for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he's gotten some relatively good numbers out of Pennsylvania since our last update, with PPP and Zogby giving him leads of 8 and 14 points, respectively, and Rasmussen showing his lead expanding to 6 points after having been at 4 before. (The Zogby poll is probably an outlier, but may serve to balance out outliers like Strategic Vision on the other side).

Secondly, McCain's clock has simply run out. While there is arguable evidence of a small tightening, there is no evidence of a dramatic tightening of the sort he would need to make Tuesday night interesting.

Related to this is the fact that there are now very, very few true undecideds left in this race.

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Dear Bubbe And Zaidy

This article appeared in The Wave
http://www.rockawave.com/news/2008/1024/columnists/050.html

It's My Turn
By Howie Greene

Howie Greene is the consummate New Yorker. Born and raised in Brooklyn and at one time a resident of Beach 117 Street, Greene knows New York. He was part of the management team for The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, traveling the world with him.

He was also an executive Producer for Sirius Satellite Radio, working on their Talk & Comedy channels. Greene spent two years working on cruise ships and has literally "sailed the seven seas."

He's been involved in New York politics for decades and at one time had aspirations of being a professional bowler, actually obtaining his PBA card.

Greene lived in Rockaway Beach in the early 90s when he was the morning show host on the old WDRE-FM in Long Island.

I've been thinking a lot lately about my Uncle Milty. It usually happens this time of year around the High Holidays. He was the one who made sure I carried on the family tradition of going to shul, admitting my sins and asking for forgiveness before G-D. My father, being a Holocaust survivor, abandoned his religion way before I was born. So it was left to the uncle.

This year, however, my wife had to drag me to Yom Kippur services. Why? Well, maybe it's because I've seen the people I respected the most, all of the bubbes and zaidies who put up with bigotry, racism, religious zealotry and Nazis, abandon the basic tenets of what it means to be a Jew.

With all due respect to Sarah Silverman, I do not see this as a laughing matter. It is impossible for me to justify how "my people" will not vote for Barack Obama because he has a funny name, or, worse, to paraphrase Jackie Mason, is a "fancy schvartze."

Have you become so comfortable, Bubbe and Zaidy down in your South Florida condo communities, that you have completely forgotten from whence you came? Even though, on these, the holiest of holy days on the Jewish calendar we promise our redeemer that we will never forget? That we will be tolerant, and righteous and KIND?

My Uncle Milt was once turned down for a job at Con Edison, the New York area utility. It was the late 1930s, his father had just passed away, and it was up to him to support his immigrant mother and his younger brother and sister. He dropped out of high school. There were jobs at Con Ed. The interviewer asked him if his last name, Grosswirth, was German? Uncle Milty said, "It's Jewish." The interviewer insisted it was German … my uncle, however, did not relent. The interviewer told him that Con Ed would not hire Jews, so please say he was German. Well, my uncle never got the Con Ed gig. All of you, my dear Bubbes and Zaidies, have family stories like these. When did you forget? How did you forget?

Some of you won't vote for Barack because of his name. Okay. Did you know that Barack is the Muslim equivalent of Baruch … Hebrew for Blessed? The beginning of EVERY blessing to G-D we ever utter. Some of you have said you'd vote for him if he changed his name to Barry. WHAT? When did we forget as a people, our being persecuted for our names? How many times did your name exclude you from employment, club membership or staying at a hotel? Surely my family wasn't the only one asked to display our "horns" by ignorant Southerners back in the 1960s. Surely my family wasn't the only one that was told to go find a "jew hotel." At what moment did you forget this, Bubbe and Zaidy?

Not voting for Senator Obama because you are afraid is an insult. It's an insult to those who were murdered because of our names and our religion. It's an insult to those of us who came after you. To vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin simply because they are not Barack Obama is not only a shondeh, it is quite simply, ignorant.

McCain/Palin have come to South Florida to scare you. To drop the name of the Holocaust on your laps. They've intimated that Obama consorts with terrorists. That he is not a friend of Israel. But here is the record:

Gov. Palin belongs to a church that believes Jerusalem is the launching pad for the Rapture. Gov. Palin sat idly by in this church while leaders of Jews for Jesus proclaimed that Israel was getting what it deserved because they refused to acknowledge Jesus as the messiah. Gov. Palin is not a friend to our people.

Sen. McCain, for all of his "straight talk," has advisers on his campaign staff that have records as lobbyists for Saddam Hussein and Saudi Arabia.

And, the most heinous is that these two Americans who claim to put "Country First" have spent the past two weeks whipping up crowds into frenzy with hatred for Obama. Didn't those hate-filled rallies with cries to do harm to Obama remind you of anything, Bubbe and Zaidy? Have you finally forgotten the Nazi rallies in the 1930s that were used to whip up crowds into similar frenzies while blaming the Jews of Europe for all of its economic ills?

Surely, Bubbe and Zaidy, you recall the days of McCarthyism, where scores of Jews were blacklisted from ever working again in this nation because they went to a meeting or a party that happened to have a Socialist or Communist as a guest. And Jewish lives and livelihoods were wiped out because of our names or loose, quite loose, associations.

That is why your refusal to vote for Barack Obama because of his race and name is so perplexing and disturbing. When did we become the very people who threatened our existence?

Bubbe and Zaidy … listen to me. You owe this to us. You gave us eight years of George Bush. Okay, maybe it was an accident. But, you had your Franklin Delano Roosevelt whom you no doubt still revere. Barack Obama is OUR FDR! Let us have our chance to have the America I thought you always wanted for us.

I don't know how my Uncle Milty would have voted. He's gone now. But, I DO know he would not have dismissed Barack Obama because of his name, race or out of unsubstantiated fear!

Look, if you want to vote for McCain/ Palin because you think they would be a better team, then go vote. But, if you are voting for them because they are not a fancy schvartze with a scary name, then PLEASE, on Election Day, stay home, for us. Or better yet, find a good mah jongg or pinochle game and leave the future to your little bubbelehs.

You Can't See It Any Better

Don't miss NYC Educator's latest. Here is a delicious slice:

Because that's what the GOP is all about. We'll stick with you right up until you're born, but from there on in, you're on your own, kid (unless you're an investment bank or something). No health care for you. Unqualified inexperienced incompetent teachers, but let's hope at least they aren't unionized. Perish forbid that nasty Barack Obama should open up the health plan US government employees have to Joe Sixpack, Joe the Plumber, or any of the regular Joes Maverick Johny supposedly pals around with while driving his 13 cars between his nine homes.

Make sure to eat the entire pie. It's fairly small but packed with goodies.

John McCain- Make-Believe Maverick - Rolling Stone

A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam.

McCain is studying at the National War College, a prestigious graduate program he had to pull strings with the Secretary of the Navy to get into. Dramesi is enrolled, on his own merit, at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in the building next door.

There's a distance between the two men that belies their shared experience in North Vietnam — call it an honor gap. Like many American POWs, McCain broke down under torture and offered a "confession" to his North Vietnamese captors. Dramesi, in contrast, attempted two daring escapes. For the second he was brutalized for a month with daily torture sessions that nearly killed him. His partner in the escape, Lt. Col. Ed Atterberry, didn't survive the mistreatment. But Dramesi never said a disloyal word, and for his heroism was awarded two Air Force Crosses, one of the service's highest distinctions. McCain would later hail him as "one of the toughest guys I've ever met."

On the grounds between the two brick colleges, the chitchat between the scion of four-star admirals and the son of a prizefighter turns to their academic travels; both colleges sponsor a trip abroad for young officers to network with military and political leaders in a distant corner of the globe.

"I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran."

"Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively.

"It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says.

"Why? Where are you going to, John?"

"Oh, I'm going to Rio."

"What the hell are you going to Rio for?"

McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.

"I got a better chance of getting laid."

Dramesi, who went on to serve as chief war planner for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and commander of a wing of the Strategic Air Command, was not surprised. "McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi says today. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."

More
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

Mad Dog Palin - Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone

Some choice excerpts

The scariest thing about John McCain's running mate isn't how unqualified she is - it's what her candidacy says about America
......
The defining moment for me came shortly after Palin and her family stepped down from the stage to uproarious applause, looking happy enough to throw a whole library full of books into a sewer.
.....
She appeared to be completely without shame and utterly full of shit, awing a room full of hardened reporters with her sickly-sweet line about the high-school-flame-turned-hubby who, "five children later," is "still my guy." It was like watching Gidget address the Reichstag.
.....
Right-wingers of the Bush-Rove ilk have had a tough time finding a human face to put on their failed, inhuman, mean-as-hell policies. But it was hard not to recognize the genius of wedding that faltering brand of institutionalized greed to the image of the suburban-American supermom. It's the perfect cover, for there is almost nothing in the world meaner than this species of provincial tyrant.
.....
Sarah Palin is that new, new thing, and in the end it won't matter that she's got an unmarried teenage kid with a bun in the oven. Of course, if the daughter of a black candidate like Barack Obama showed up at his convention with a five-month bump and some sideways-cap-wearing, junior-grade Curtis Jackson holding her hand, the defenders of Traditional Morality would be up in arms.
.....
...she didn't actually sell the Alaska governor's state luxury jet on eBay but instead sold it at a $600,000 loss to a campaign contributor (who is reportedly now seeking $50,000 in taxpayer money to pay maintenance costs).
.....
It is worth noting that the same criticisms of Palin also hold true for two other candidates in this race, John McCain and Barack Obama. As politicians, both men are more narrative than substance, with McCain rising to prominence on the back of his bio as a suffering war hero and Obama mostly playing the part of the long-lost, future-embracing liberal dreamboat not seen on the national stage since Bobby Kennedy died.
.....
So, sure, Barack Obama might be every bit as much a slick piece of imageering as Sarah Palin. The difference is in what the image represents. The Obama image represents tolerance, intelligence, education, patience with the notion of compromise and negotiation, and a willingness to stare ugly facts right in the face, all qualities we're actually going to need in government if we're going to get out of this huge mess we're in.
.....
The truly disgusting thing about Sarah Palin isn't that she's totally unqualified, or a religious zealot, or married to a secessionist, or unable to educate her own daughter about sex, or a fake conservative who raised taxes and horked up earmark millions every chance she got. No, the most disgusting thing about her is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we'll not only thank you for your trouble, we'll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time.

Read the rest:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23318320/mad_dog_palin

Will Obama or McCain Be FDR or Hoover?

UPDATE: Fred Klonsky on Palin's future - a companion piece

“Terrorist,” they screamed at Obama at a McCain rally. “Kill him,” some in the crowd were quoted as saying. These are people who are preparing for life after an Obama victory and are beginning to organize now. Economic pain for working people is not going to end on November 4th or even in January. Organizing fear and anger and attempting to direct it at a black president and a potentially progressive dominated congress is their plan. History has seen stuff like it before.

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If we are comparing the world to the Great Depression and we are roughly in the 1928 area with the major economic crunches to come, it is much more likely that whoever "wins" the election will be fairly helpless to do much other than to watch the economy spiral down to massive unemployment.

In my opinion, only a New Deal WPA-like government supported massive job program could reverse course. Our infrastructure could sure use a little injection of capital instead of sending enormous sums to bail out Wall Street.

Remember, in the 20's and 30's, the Soviet Union was still viewed as heroic by many and the left was fairly strong. With the right wing anti-left, anti union ideology so prevalent today, there is little chance Obama, even if he wanted to, would get to set much of an FDR New Deal agenda. McCain doing so, of course, is out of the question.

If Obama wins, if he can't pull off FDR-type magic, it is likely he would be a one-term president as he gets the blame for not being able to stop the bleeding. Then Hillary Clinton gets to pick up the pieces for 2012.

Goin' Shoppin'

Some lessons of the 1920's and 30's: Remember how Germany printed money and they had hyperinflation, one of the keys to the rise of Hitler. See Reality-Based Educator over at NYC Educator today:

The Fed is going to start lending directly to businesses.
And where are they going to get the money from?
They're going to print it.

Of course in the Great Depression there was massive deflation. But given the choice today, government will choose inflation by printing money which might help disguise the problem.

But eventually, the population will get restless and move left. That is where repression comes in. [See Naomi Klein's "Shock Capitalism" for the chilling details.]

In the meantime, Palin polishes her act. Expect her to be around as a leading Republican presidential prospect for the next 20 years. It is almost inevitable that at some point she will be president.

In times of massive economic dislocation you end up with dictatorships and totalitarianism. And horrendous wars. (Iraq may prove to be a cupcake.)

People as late as the mid 30's laughed at Hitler. To those who laugh at Palin, beware. Imagine if Bill Clinton had ignored subpoenas, which Palin has done in Alaska over the firing of her ex-brother-in-law’s boss? All the seeds are in place in this country with extraordinary powers given to turn this into a police state.

A third term for Bloomberg? When will we see a president in crisis times calling for a repeal of the XXII Amendment limiting presidents to two terms?

As for me, my wheelbarrow is ready to be loaded with the money for that hyper inflated day when I’ll need to buy a loaf of bread.

Did Obama Bomb the World Trade Center?

Ed Notes News has learned that Barack Obama once walked past the World Trade Center, clearly an indication he was part of the terrorist plot. Sarah Palin is expected to make this charge at upcoming appearances. ENN has obtained an advanced copy of Palin's remarks, to be delivered at a meeting of a group of loyalists who will be wearing their newly laundered sheets for this special occasion.

“There is a lot of interest, I guess, in what I read and what I’ve read lately. Well, I was reading my copy of today’s Education Notes and I was interested to read about Barack’s strolls around Manhattan before the World Trade Center bombing.

“I get to bring this up not to pick a fight, but it was there in Education Notes, so we are gonna talk about it. Turns out one of Barack’s earliest visits when he came to New York, according to Education Notes, and they are hardly ever wrong, was walk past the WTC, where he was observed looking up for some 30 seconds."

Background: here and here.

Ed Note: We're betting that polls will show a majority of Americans who come across this parody will believe that Obama is really a member of bin Laden's organization. Or do they believe that already?

Howling at the Debate: Did Ifill Roll Over for Palin?

THE IFILL COWER: Gwen Ifill asked very few follow-up questions last night. Was that because of the evening’s format? Or was it a function of Ifill’s political problems? Brit Hume’s first remarks after last night’s debate referred to the problem Ifill carried with her into this debate:

HUME (10/2/08): Well, now the families come on the stage to join the two contestants as they say good-bye and thanks to the moderator, Gwen Ifill, who seemed to have gotten through this evening without anybody jumping on anything she said or making her the issue, which I'm sure she's very grateful for.

Let’s translate: If Ifill had challenged Palin last night, conservative elements would have scorched her for displaying her vile “liberal bias.” And yes, that’s clearly what Hume meant. Because let’s face it, there was exactly zero chance that weaklings of the pseudo-left were ever goin to “jump on” Ifill. As we all know, conservatives go after people like Ifill. Liberals ask her for jobs.

More insightful analysis of how the so-called liberal press operates at today's edition of The Daily Howler.

700 Billion Reasons to Vote Against the Bailout

David Sirota actually has 5 reasons. Read them at Norms Notes.

Awe Shocks: Disaster Capitalism in Action

Are we in the worst financial crisis since the depression of the 1930's? I'm not so sure. And why should we believe what we're being told? Sure there are banks in trouble. But imagine if there's a tad of exaggeration to exploit the crisis. We're seeing shock and awe all over the place. While we're left staring into space, they run in a grab the cookie jar. Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," lays a lot of this out.

The proposed massive bailout has been called socialistic. Not. It is the reverse - the total take over of the financial system (it was part of the way there already) without the few checks and balances that remain. I can assure you of one thing. You hear all that talk about limiting CEO profits and pay? Right now for public consumption to temper the critics. Like I say about the UFT: Watch what they do, not what they say. They'll make an example of a few but the fat cats will walk away fatter than ever. At one point we said the new Russia was becoming more like us. It looks more like the US is becoming Russia with its privatized state with billionaire oligarchs and gangsters. Can assassinations of critics in the press in the US be far behind? Maybe that's why the press corps is so cowed about reporting the truth. Like, why isn't Naomi Klein on major TV stations explaining what's really going on? (Though I hear she made a great appearance on Bill Maher a few days ago.)

Klein's thesis is that when a system suffers severe shock, whether a natural disaster or man made, a golden opportunity is presented for those who are prepared to rush in and grab what can be grabbed while people are still in shock and before any opposition can formulate. This is a world-wide phenomenon: Examples she cites: Iraq, New Orleans, Russia, Chile in the 70's under Pinochet. She could have included the NYC school system under BloomKlein, as clear a case of the shock doctrine as can be made. But more on shock and awe in NYC schools at another time.

Klein (Naomi, not Joel) puts forth the idea that in the 1970's the Milton Friedman school of an unfettered, fundamentalist view of capitalism began to put into effect its plan to dismantle the New Deal, which just by the way saved capitalism from coming undone in the last great financial crisis when there was actually a left in this country that was capable of organizing people.

Klein writes in her introduction:

The corporatist alliance is in the midst of conquering its final frontiers: sectors of Western economies that have long been protected from profit making – including responding to disasters and raising armies. Since there is not even the veneer of seeking public consent to privatize such essential functions, either at home or abroad, escalating level of violence and even larger disasters are required in order to reach the goal....Bush's exploits merely represent the monstrously violent and creative culmination of a fifty-year campaign for total corporate liberation.

Well, we may be in the mother of financial disasters and whether it is all real or "created" or exaggerated to create the sense of shock needed, the goal is to move the ball up the field. Check Blackwater to see private armies and the privatization of disaster response. Oh, and have you checked the enormous profit-making opportunities in the NYC school system where even after school programs have been thrown on the table for private firms to make a bundle? Sorry, I was going to resist going there today.

Klein talks about the Keynesian/New Deal concepts of capitalism:

A free market in consumer products can coexist with free public health care, with public schools, with a large segment of the economy – like a national oil company– held in state hands. It's equally possible to require corporations to pay decent wages, to respect the right of workers to form unions, and for governments to tax and redistribute wealth so that the sharp inequalities that mark the corporatist state are reduced. Markets need not be fundamentalist.

Keynes proposed exactly this kind of mixed, regulated economy after the Great Depression, a revolution in public policy that created the New Deal and transformations like it around the world.

It was exactly this system of compromises, checks and balances that [Milton] Friedman's counterrevolution was launched to methodically dismantle....the desire for a clean slate on which to build a re engineered model society.

Klein refers to the Friedman doctrine as a "dangerous ideology" because of its drive for purity. Sound familiar?

Bob Herbert in the NY Times last week discussed the Palin/McCain health plan which would basically lead to the end of employer backed health plans and throw everyone at the feet of health insurer middlemen who can take their pound of flesh out of the system. And how's about that old kid, social security, the prime New Deal enchilada the Friedman bunch have been after? I'm heading down to get mine while it's still there.

So expect the latest economic shocks to lead to - not more regulation, but less. Just listen to those radical kids for change - Palin and McCain who will take the right wing ideology so well described by Naomi Klein in her book and use the current crisis to go further in making the American government an instrument and banker for the private interests while removing as many of the protections for the American public as they can get away with.

As for the NYC school system, 3 reorganization shocks were applied and the continuance of the mayoral control onslaught continues. As we write this the UFT leadership is figuring out how they can present to the membership a PR-based document that makes it look like they want changes but in reality continues a system that has the ability to apply the shocks needed to cow parents and teachers, not to say children, into submission.

For a prime example of the latter, check out D2Route's Educating the future workforce to accept disaster capitalism. (thanks to A Voice). If you think this is about KIPP, you are correcto.

Derek Jeter for President

Todays' food for thought:

Would all the rabid Jeter fans whose vote for president might be influenced by race, view Jeter's mixed race the same way they view Obama's? Is Jeter more qualified than Palin? If he's not retired in 2012....

DEEEEE- REGULATION!

Bloggers (Daily Howl, Chancellors New Clothes) have compared Wendy Kopp, Michelle Rhee, BloomKlein, Sharpton, all the EEPs and other education reform flim flam men and women with "The Music Man's" Harold Hill.

But they all pale in comparison to the man who eagerly signed on to their phony ed reform: Republican presidential candidate and likely next co-president of the United States, John McCain.

You see, according to McCain, the major problem in this country is too much regulation and he promises to DEEEEEEE-REGULATE. The poor financial institutions have been so limited by all that regulation, that they have not been able to make even worse loans. The American and world financial world is in meltdown because they don't have enough freedom.

Remember the good old days of the 1920's when they could do anything they wanted. When investment companies and banks intermingled and all sorts of abuses led to the dreaded D word. And I don't mean DEEEEEEE-REGULATION!

Now I was a history major and we actually studied the D-word. We learned there would never be another D-word because the banking industry was now REGULATED. Remember Glass-Steagall?

Established 1933- a very good year - and repealed 1999. Remmber the president who signed that repeal? He wasn't named Bush.

The poor dears in the banking industry joined the oil and other corporate powers and bought both parties. But McCain feels they still need more DEEEEEEEEEEE-REGULATION!

So today, we salute the American political world with a few words from Harold Hill with a few minor changes.

It starts with a capital D
And that rhymes with P
And that stands for "POOR"

Well, either you're closing your eyes
To a situation you do now wish to acknowledge
Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated
By the presence of a Palin in your community.

Ya got trouble, my friend, right here,
I say, trouble right here in D.C. City.

And it starts with T
And that rhymes with P
And that stands for PALIN

Oh, we've got trouble.
We're in terrible, terrible trouble.

Original lyrics here.

ICE-Mail Debate on McCain/Obama/Biden/Palin

Worth checking out some of the angst on the left. Comparisons to Germany in the early 30's are not crazy. I've been reading Alan Furst 1930's spy novels and Hilter was still considered a joke by many as late as 1938. Remember, he came to power due to economic dislocation. So don't laugh too hard at Bush followed by Palin. It can only get worse. I asked my mattress today how much interest it pays.

Posted at Norm's Notes.

Klein (Naomi) and Klein (Joel)

I finally got a glimpse of Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine" at a panel discussion on the presidential election at Cooper Union Saturday night, where many NYC area activists, progressives, radicals, and those do-nothing community organizers gathered. Bet there were just a few coppers at Cooper lurking. I tried to smile often in case they wanted a clear picture.

The left is going crazy over Obama - and not positive crazy. People are extremely unhappy over his policies and especially his rightward drift over the past few months. How long before he starts to wear pant suits? However, where else can they go in this election? The answer is that some of the leading lights, while they will probably vote Obama because he is better than the alternative, do not view these elections as the end all and be all. Rather they look at things from the view of the level of activism and how that can force change outside the election process.

My immediate reaction is to say, "Good luck and good night" – in that order. But, darn, there's always that slight tug of optimism. Or why else would I even bother to stay involved in education? You see, I agree with the idea of creating an activist movement. But my small mammalian brain can only seem to narrow cast on the ed wavelength. And narrow cast even narrower on the union without getting too distracted.

But the UFT gets so boring so easily. Not facing the daily outrages that used to drive my anger and activism has an impact. Thank goodness for people like Under Assault, who today takes another shot at the UFT, this time focusing on the official propaganda tool, the NY Teacher.

Which brings me to Klein (Naomi), who is quickly becoming a legend for her clear thinking and analysis. And reporting too. Saturday night she was not too user friendly to Barack, stressing that he was more likely to continue Bush policies than McCain.

Huh?

Well, it seems Klein(Naomi) thinks that McCain is the real agent of change and after listing the Obama policies that line up with Bush, she pointed to the McCain claim that in the first 90 days they would remake government - mostly by eliminating it. Basically, we can see the irony being played out in front of us of the 90 days of The New Deal being dismantled 75 years later - in 90 days. That is the promise of the McCain campaign. Better eat your meat and get yer puddin' while you can because once they get rid of the FDA, FTA, etc. we will be "ptomaine nation."

That the forces backing Palin are in control of McCain and the Republican Party is increasingly clear, as he has become a total puppet so he can be president - with his strings being pulled. Not exactly a Manchurian candidate, but a puppet with the forces backing Palin pulling the strings.

Klein (Naomi) used her favorite word - "shock" to describe the tactic Palin/McCain will use.
I finally bought her book the other day and in the first few pages of reading about the 35 year war on progressives and liberals through the use of the shock doctrine, I was reminded of how Klein (Joel) and Bloomberg (Mike) used exactly that same philosophy to dismantle the NYC school system. There's more to it than I want to go into here, but those who have lived through multiple reorganizations and incompetence couldn't understand why a system in need of change would face the BloomKlein lunacy that has so shocked the system that my words to Klein (Joel) back in 2004 still echo in my mind - that the school systems of Kabul and Baghdad will recover sooner than the NYC school system. (I was later branded by Carmen Farina as having accused Klein of being worse than the Taliban. Hmmm!)

I really want to write more about the shock doctrine as I get further into the books. Today I was reminded by Under Assault about a piece done on that blog on this very idea back in January '08. So I'm going to shut up while you go over and read it.

http://underassault.blogspot.com/2008/01/shock-comparisons.html

Election 2012: Clinton vs. Palin

You read it here first - I think.

UPDATE: No, you didn't read it here first. This is all over the internet - Google clinton, palin, 2012 and get a load of stuff.

A scriptwriter couldn't fashion a better scenario.

The Clintons never believed Obama could win and therefore were positioning Hillary to pick up the pieces for a 2012 run against McCain? Who would be 76?

Palin is the new wild card and if she doesn't self-destruct, a very likely Republican candidate in 2012, win or lose. But if she and McCain win... oh what a delicious scenario.

Clinton does pick up the pieces and would waltz into the nomination, thus setting up the dream match-up and the sure bet guarantee of a woman president in 2012.

From a Wasilla, Alaska Housewife: The Real Deal on Sarah Palin

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team.


In a fascinating piece by a neighbor of Sarah Palin, I found the above selection the scariest of all. A commentator compared Palin to Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick character in the 1999 movie "Election." If you haven't seen it do so. And then be scared. Very scared. The author herself says, "this is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future." Don't bet it won't.

UPDATES:
Check out The Ballad of Sarah Palin at psuedo-intellectualism.
And this report on the librarian who Palin attempted to fire over a loyalty test.
Looks to me Palin will make George Bush Pale In comparison when it comes to partisan politics.

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit- generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex- husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in- law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit, exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance-- but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT

*"Hockey mom": true for a few years

*"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since

*"NRA supporter": absolutely true

*social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional) .

*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.

*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation

*"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.

*political maverick: not at all

*gutsy: absolutely!

*open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.

*has a developed philosophy of public policy: no

*"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro- drilling off-shore and in ANWR.

*fiscal conservative: not by my definition!

*pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.

*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents

*pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla's history.

*pro-labor/pro- union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro- union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that's life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS

I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.

Anne Kilkenny

Boston Herald on Kilkenny

Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now Arrested at RNC

You tube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.democracynow.org

Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested At the RNC

September 1, 2008

Contact:
Denis Moynihan 917-549-5000
Mike Burke 646-552-5107, mike@democracynow.org

ST. PAUL, MN—Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her. Video of her arrest can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfully detained. They are Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman's crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were being arrested on suspicion of rioting. They are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in St. Paul.

Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman's office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which they were arrested law enforcement office used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. Several dozen others were also arrested during this action.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism's top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar is a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists from the nation's leading independent news outlet.

Democracy Now! is a nationally syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

Video of Amy Goodman's Arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

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John McCain for President - An Ad You'll Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svmd6ps1BMc