Wednesday, August 08, 2007

One Hitters

Update: Baseball Home Run King... still.

I'm a daily reader of DailyKos. Recently, the site came under attack by O'Lielly and the hacks at FAUX news. (I shan't link to O or FAUX).

Let us recall the words of Mahatma O-G:

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

They ignored DK, then they ridiculed DK before the 06 elections as some hippy-dippy San Francisco Values smut peddler. Now they're fighting DK.

Good.

In only it's 2nd year of existence, YearlyKos, a netroots gathering that was birthed from DK, attracted every major Dem candidate running for President. They came and had their feet held to the fire by people power.

The Rise of Kos

"Perhaps you missed it, but Wednesday was the 19th anniversary of Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Limbaugh was celebrating his ripe old age, in media years, in the same week that liberal blog fans were trekking to Chicago for the YearlyKos convention. Therein lies one of the most important stories in American politics."


I'm a big fan of Kos and I keep the words to his first post accessible at all times because they express my political philosophy exactly:

I am progressive. I am liberal. I make no apologies. I believe government has an obligation to create an even playing field for all of this country's citizens and immigrants alike. I am not a socialist. I do not seek enforced equality. However, there has to be equality of opportunity, and the private sector, left to its own devices, will never achieve this goal. - Kos

Here's a recent diary from DK with which I strongly agree.

Why taxes matter and why we shouldn't knee jerk vote for every putz that says he'll lower them.

Why? 'Cause your ass might be quickly 'lowered' into a watery grave by not paying enough taxes:

Daily Kos: 'Deferred Maintenance,' Tumbledown Bridges, and Bathtubs:

"A tragedy courtesy of politicians who, in their own ways, follow Grover Norquist's dictum of reducing government until it's small enough to drown in the bathtub. And of passing out massive tax cuts, mostly to people who need them least.

It's not just bridges. As the American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card 2005 points out, we're $1.6 trillion behind in infrastructure investment. That, by the way, is the amount of tax cuts Mister Bush tried to get passed in 2001, before he had the Global War on Terrorism™ with which to shape his legacy. Congress 'compromised' and gave him only $1.35 trillion, tax cuts that writer Robert Freeman once labeled a 'national form of insanity.'"
_______

I'm glad I had a couple of music posts to do to start the week because this has been eating away the lining of my stomach.

As I've written previously, the progressives' fight is on two fronts. The Republicans on one side and a good chunk of Democrats who are fucking worse than the Republicans. We've set the tone for the jackass Dems with what we did to Lieberman in 06. Lieberman is still around because he's the worst of the worst, but we've signaled that we ain't putting up with any more fake Democrats.

We've got a lot of work to do for 2008.

I want my Constitution back, motherfuckers.

Tell 'em Cenk:

Cenk Uygur: The Soft Underbelly of the Democratic Party:

"Here we go again. I was going to write a nice, fun piece about Matt Damon on a lovely Sunday afternoon when the Democrats went and ruined everything, as usual. From time to time, I am told that I am too hard on the Democrats. It is not possible to be too hard on these vacillating, spineless, rudderless, clueless clowns.

Alright, there has to be an important distinction here. Most of the Democrats in the House voted the right way on the latest capitulation to the most unpopular president in history. And 28 Democratic Senators voted the right way. The rest are the biggest bunch of weaklings and half-wits I have ever seen. They are the soft underbelly of the Democratic Party.

How many times do I have to write this article? How many times will these same Democrats give in to the worst president in history? So, this time, they caved on FISA. And they caved big time."
______

With that said, the Democratic party is the only party in America with vision and, well, a soul.

Can you imagine this bill ever even being mentioned under a Republican controlled Congress?

"Green Jobs Act of 2007": Pelosi's Plan To Save The Polar Bears -- And Poor Kids, Too

There has been a lot of discussion about the Energy Package that is set to pass the U.S. House this week.

But the media so far has missed one of the most interesting and innovative proposals that will be voted on: the Green Jobs Act of 2007.

This ground-breaking legislation will make $120 million a year available across the country to begin training workers (and would-be workers) for jobs in the clean energy sector. When the bill becomes law, 35,000 people a year will benefit from cutting edge, vocational education in fields that could literally save the Earth.

Lofty as that sounds, the Green Jobs Act is responding smartly to an important, practical need. To beat global warming and meet the energy challenges of the future, the United States will need hundreds of thousands of "green-collar workers." Such workers will be needed to install millions of solar panels; weatherize homes and other buildings; create a sufficient quantity of bio-fuels; build and maintain wind-farms and much, much more. Without these workers, the country will not have the working muscle and hands-on smarts to change our trajectory and fashion a different future.

There is an added bonus found in creating a strong, green-collar workforce: these energy-saving, air-quality-improving, carbon-cutting jobs can do more than just save the planet or help avoid oil wars in the future. For tens of thousands of Americans who are falling behind in the global job market, these work opportunities can also create "green pathways out of poverty."

_______

hehe. Damn lazy stoners. Great team name, though.

The Raw Story | Pro-pot sluggers dominating congressional softball league:

"The top spot in a Congressional softball league belongs to drug reform advocates who are 'busting the stoners-as-slackers stereotype,' Roll Call reports.

The 'One Hitters,' took over the No. 1 spot in the Congressional Softball League last week, and the team fielded by Students for a Sensible Drug Policy and NORML holds a 13-3 record in the league comprised of lobbyists, Capitol Hill aides and interest group employees."
________

I can really get behind the bill. "Pro-leisure group..." Hilarious.

NPR : Congress Asked to Mandate Vacation Time:

"Pro-leisure group Take Back Your Time wants Congress to mandate three weeks paid vacation for all workers. But one recent survey shows that not only do U.S. workers earn fewer vacation days, but they also don't use an average of three days every year they're owed."
_______
_____
___

No comments: