"Hey 'Dogs! (with sincerest apologies to all my Georgia people) Hey 'Dogs! (Really, I'm so sorry for the humiliation put upon you by the Crimson Tide). We just beat the Hell out of you!"
"Rammer Jammer, Yellow Hammer, Give 'em Hell Alabama..... Indeed"!
"They got a name for the winners in the world...."
Reynolds, you're fucking up my plan to convert to Mormonism, then take Natalie, Scarlett and a yet to be named free agent.... maybe Tina Dico.... as my wives.
I'm coming after you, Ryan!
_______
I remember this... twas a really weird day in the city:
"Mankind's very survival depends on the future exploration of space, said NASA chiMichael Griffin in an interview with AFP marking the 50th anniversary of the US space agency.
This journey, said the veteran physicist and aerospace engineer, is full of unknowns and has only just begun.
'Does the survival of human kind depend upon it? I think so,' he said."
I know that Rebecca and Patterson are real proud of their involvement in Nuci's Space.
Y'all come off a few dollars today to help out this fundraiser. If you do then your sports team will win this weekend (except for UGA fans... sorry, but I'm hoping the Tide Rolls in Athens tomorrow), you'll be hit on at the bar by a pretty girl or handsome man tonight, and/or the bank in which you keep your dolla bills will not fail in the next few days.
Nuci's Space is our absolute favorite local charity. They are a non-profit support/resource center with comfortable rehearsal spaces. Their mission to provide obstacle free treatment for musicians suffering from depression and other such disorders as well as to assist in the emotional, physical and professional well-being of musicians in the Athens community is one that is close to all our hearts.
Sponsoring the DBT Phantom 309 running team is contributing to the betterment of Athens artists. Donating through this website is simple, fast (will take a couple of minutes to register your email & password) and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.
If you would like to run in the race or be a phantom runner (& get a free T-shirt) click here.
Many thanks for your support -- and please forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!
Best,
Rebecca Hood & the rest of the Drive By Trucker family"
_______
Check out the archived video footage of DBT at the Outside Lands Festival.
"Mercifully, it's alive and well and travelling the world in the form of the Drive-By Truckers. The road show came to Ft. Lauderdale and gave us townies a taste of the greatest touring band going. This is significant on a lot of levels. First, we just don't get many good shows. The live music scene here is abysmal, unless you're hip to Madonna, the Jonas Brothers or Merengue mega-stars that draw Saturday p.m. fans to Marlins games."
I've clearly got too much time on my hands cos I just finished creating a DBT Lyric Locator (basically all the song lyrics in one Word document with an a-z front page with internal links to the songs). It's just a v1.0 and if anyone wants a copy it's at:
If you improve it, amend lyrics (there's definitely some errors and omissions, even though they're the ones of the official site) etc. I'd appreciate if you mailed me a copy.
Paul (Bradford, UK)
_______
I loves me some creative DBT song usage in a YouTube:
"If the RIAA were a common street thug, here’s how things would go. It would jump an innocent old lady, stomp her within an inch of her life, and then, when she screamed for mercy, it would file a motion asking the nearest court to sanction her for wasting its time.
"CLEVELAND - Run-D.M.C. could 'Walk This Way' into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 1980s rap act, along with Metallica and the Stooges, are among the nine nominees for next year's hall of fame class, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced Monday.
The other nominees are guitarist Jeff Beck, singer Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, War, Bobby Womack, and disco and R&B group Chic."
_______
Possibly the best DBT Yahoo Group post ever.
For the male folk... or those ladies who apprecate asthetics.
"John McCain, whose ads skewer Barack Obama for his 'celebrity' status, has his own close ties to show business, the new issue of Us Weekly reports exclusively.
The 72-year-old was recently made TV-ready by makeup artist Tifanie White who's worked on So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.
McCain paid the 2002 beauty-school grad $5,583.43 for her services, according to the Federal Election Commission."
_______
Letterman rips McSame a new asshole.... which is hard to do if you are one giant asshole.
"'In the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, 'Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?'
Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, 'You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves.' And he joked: 'I think someone's putting something in his metamucil.'
'He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?'
'What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!'"
"In a world exclusive The NATIONAL ENQUIRER names GOP VP Candidate Sarah Palin's secret lover!
No less than three members of the man’s family including one by sworn affidavit have claimed that Sarah Palin engaged in an extramarital affair with hus�band Todd’s former business partner, Brad Hanson.
These sources have named Hanson as Palin’s secret love, and say their affair nearly wrecked both their marriages."
________
OK, first.... Bush... uh-huh-huh.
2nd, they hates it when they accidentally speaks the truth.
After 5 colleges in 6 years, I'm sure she's a really quick study. Wonder if Cliff Notes makes a V-P manual.
"WASHINGTON - First lady Laura Bush says Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin lacks sufficient foreign policy experience but is a very quick study."
"Officials at a US Christian college have launched an investigation after a cardboard effigy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was hung from a tree, a statement said Wednesday.
George Fox University, in Newberg, Oregon, said in a statement on its website that the cutout of Obama was found hanging from a tree on campus early Tuesday morning before being removed by staff.
A sign reading 'Act Six reject' was taped to the cutout. Act Six is a scholarship program run by the college granted to 10 student leaders from urban Portland. Most of the students currently benefiting from the program are ethnic minorities, the statement said."
"frames the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout as a Nigerian 419 scam. The author is unknown:
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe."
"A secret US intelligence report which says the political and military situation in Afghanistan is 'grim' will be withheld from the public until after the election, a new report says.
Intelligence officials are finishing up the National Intelligence Estimate on Aghanistan, according to ABC's Brian Ross, 'but there are 'no plans to declassify' any of it before the election,' an official said.
Keeping the intelligence report under wraps would likely help Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)."
_______
Just as evil as Cheney and half as smart.
Can you ever think of a time when a VP candidate hasn't taken a reporter's question in over a month?
"NEW YORK - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has not held a press conference in nearly four weeks of campaigning, on Tuesday barred most pool reporters from her meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the first foreign head of state she has ever met.
Journalists protested the campaign's decision to exclude all but photographers and a TV crew from Palin's sessions with foreign leaders. CNN decided to withdraw its TV crew, effectively denying Palin the high visibility she sought for her initial foray into world affairs. The campaign then reversed course, saying pool reporters — a small group that provides information to all media — could attend the meetings planned after Karzai hosted Palin at his suite in The Barclay New York Hotel."
"A fellow at New York City's Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Sam Parnia is one of the world's leading experts on the scientific study of death. Last week Parnia and his colleagues at the Human Consciousness Project announced their first major undertaking: a 3-year exploration of the biology behind 'out-of-body' experiences. The study, known as AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation), involves the collaboration of 25 major medical centers through Europe, Canada and the U.S. and will examine some 1,500 survivors of cardiac arrest. TIME spoke with Parnia about the project's origins, its skeptics and the difference between the mind and the brain."
"And for my money, the song that best captures the economic anxieties and aspirations voters are feeling now — and the song of the 2008 cycle — is 'The Righteous Path' by the Drive-By Truckers. Take a look at the pitch-perfect opening lyrics:
I got a brand-new car that drinks a bunch of gas I got a house in a neighborhood that's fading fast… I got a beautiful wife and three tow-headed kids I got a couple of big secrets I'd kill to keep hid I don't know God but I fear his wrath I'm trying to keep focused on the righteous path
In just the first two lines, the song seems to anticipate $4 gasoline and the subprime housing crisis, even though it was recorded in 2007 and released on the album 'Brighter Than Creation's Dark,' this January. With accurate artistic forecasting like this, I'd trade these drunken country punks for a boatload of bickering economists."
_______
Not just no, but Hell No.
Fuck giving 700 billion dollars of our taxes to a corrupt industry with air Bush strings attached.
"But all of this starts with a total rejection of Hank Paulson as a bad faith actor. This deal is bullshit. Progressives should pick a new number at random to start negotiations, say, $400 billion or $1.2 trillion, and start there with an entirely different framework. It doesn't matter. This is a political game of chicken, and the administration is acting like this is 9/11 and they have another opportunity to rob everyone blind and then run an election on law and order.
"A critical - and radical - component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press. Section 8 (which ironically reminds one of the popular name of the portion of the 1937 Housing Act that paved the way for subsidized affordable housing ) of this legislation is just a single sentence of thirty-two words, but it represents a significant consolidation of power and an abdication of oversight authority that's so flat-out astounding that it ought to set one's hair on fire. It reads, in its entirety:
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."
We are witnessing a bankers' coup d’etat. In the name of saving the economy from a crisis created by their own greed and immense profits, the biggest bankers have taken a country and a people hostage.
“Give us your money and tear up what’s left of your Constitution or we will sink your economy,” is the message from Wall Street and the Bush Administration. “Give us the power and money we demand or you will be left jobless from a new economic depression."
Under the pretext of the banking crisis, the Bush Administration is changing the way this country operates. This is not simply taking trillions of dollars from the people and giving it to the richest bankers to do with as they see fit.
"OLEMA (AP) ― Motorists entering the quaint, woodsy town of Olema near the sea in Marin County may notice a subtle change as they enter: it appears the burg's name has been changed to ''Obama.''"
"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
_______
One is a leader with a vision, the other a crazy old man willing to say anything.
"The responses of Barack Obama and John McCain to the economic crisis today tells you all you need to know about the choice in this election.
One the one hand, in Barack Obama we've got a statesman who wants to work together to get things done for all Americans. On the other hand, in John McCain we've got a yipping little dog (apologies to canine lovers everywhere) who will tear anything down to get ahead.
Here's a short video I put together to illustrate the contrast:"
"In the second test, the volunteers were subjected to a loud, unexpected noise, with scientists measuring the involuntary blinking that followed. A strong startle response is indicative of heightened fear and arousal. The results, which are published in the journal Science, revealed significant differences in both responses, which corresponded with people’s political views. Those with “markedly lower physical sensitivity to sudden noises and threatening visual images” tended to support liberal positions, while those with strong responses tended to be more conservative.
This would fit with the hypothesis that people who have more fearful responses to perceived threats are more likely to be conservative, while those who have weaker responses develop more liberal views."
"6. The impressive dimensions of the strap-on system in your dresser would make your average Alaskan redneck hockey player scream in horror even as it openly titillated a dozen Republican senators from Colorado Springs to Idaho, though it would probably still get you arrested in Alabama.
"Erykah Badu has canceled her “Austin City Limits” TV show taping scheduled for Sept. 26, but she is still playing the festival in Zilker Park, ACL booker Terry Lickona said Friday.
“She said the band is not quite ready to tape a show for national television,” Lickona said. “We don’t really know what the details are.”
The Drive-By Truckers will be taking her slot that day, though the exact time of the taping is up in the air, Lickona added. “They’ve been on my list for some time themselves.”"
"So you don't have like an idea of how big you are here?
PH: No idea. I know we're playing a lot bigger room this time than last time, so that's a good sign, given it's not empty, but if it's empty then it's not a good sign, less people than in the little ones.
At this point Patterson and I relocate to a different room because Shit City is practicing on stage and it's became extremely difficult to hear what we were saying to each other.
"Occasionally, there have been tunes that have inspired me. More often, though, it's been a band that has become my favorite that has been inspiring with their catalog. In 2002, I had just moved my family to Wilmington, North Carolina, which is still holding on by a thread as being my favorite place I've lived in this country, after living almost 7 years in Pensacola, Florida. I was reading a Rolling Stone magazine and read something about the Drive-By Trucker's Southern Rock Opera."
"Fame Records, the original home of The Muscle Shoals Sound, will release its first catalog collection in over thirty years this fall. The label, sister company to the world famous FAME Recording Studios founded by Rick Hall in 1959, plans to release historic reissues, new recordings, and never-before-heard tracks from its extensive archives, via a new arrangement with EMI Distribution Co.
The first release from the reinvigorated FAME label 'The Best of Jimmy Hughes,' is an eighteen -track collection from the archetypal soul singer, coming out October, 28, 2008.
Rodney Hall, vice-president of FAME Records and son of Rick Hall, said 'It's been nearly fifty years since my father built FAME Studios, and the music made here is more influential now than ever. Our mission with FAME Records is to keep the legacy of this essential American music alive, and show the world that Muscle Shoals still thrives as a music mecca today.'"
"The Blues Rolls On" harks back to Elvin Bishop's roots, paying tribute to the musicians who inspired him and who also helped give him his start. Supported by an all-star cast of blues royalty featuring B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, George Thorogood, James Cotton, Kim Wilson, Tommy Castro, John Németh, Angela Strehli, plus many more; Bishop leads the way through a smoldering set of searing blues and rollicking R&B. While Bishop handles a majority of the vocals, he graciously steps aside on several numbers in order to allow his guests ample room to strut their stuff, including rising star and vocal powerhouse John Nemeth, as well as other distinguished personnel that include George Thorogood, Angela Strehli, Ronnie Baker Brooks and R.C. Carrier. With over 45 years of blues experience under his belt, Bishop is widely recognized and highly respected as a slide guitar master with a history dating all the way back to his electrifying and groundbreaking work in the 60's with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. By assembling a dizzying array of musical talent - age 9 through 82, Bishop has collected together a lifetime’s worth of education in the blues into one complete cohesive package; thereby allowing him the opportunity to present and pass along to the younger generation some of what the older guys gave to him. “The Blues Rolls On” is another defining moment in Bishop’s long career - a crowning achievement and welcome reminder for all of us that the blues is still alive and well.
"Writer Mark Kemp was born and raised in Charlotte, and came back in 2002 to be the music editor for The Charlotte Observer. 'They are playing basic rock en Espa�ol,' he says, 'but the themes are about things going on here like immigration issues.'
Kemp says that when he heard a band called La Rua, it reminded him of the rock en Espa�ol explosion he witnessed back in California in the early 1990s. This time, however, the music is about the experience of being Latino south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
'They have this song about this guy working to get money so he can bring his girlfriend over,' Kemp says. 'That is brand new for the South — it's not for them. For the South and the Midwest, it's brand new.'"
"I truly believe that people like myself, who are in a position of entertainers in the limelight, should keep their mouth shut on politics," he noted. "Because at the end of the day, let me tell you what I 'm good at: I'm good at writing songs and singing. What I'm not educated in is the field of political science. And so for me to be sharing my views and influencing people of who I think they should be voting for ... I think would be very irresponsible on my part. So I'll just keep my mouth shut on that."
He further suggests that political candidates might be better off to avoid close connections to those in the entertainment business.
"I think celebrity endorsements hurt politicians," he said. "Because as soon as somebody comes out for a politician, especially in Hollywood, when they all go, 'I'm voting for this guy!' -- I go, 'That's not who I'm voting for!' ... As soon as Oprah Winfrey pops up and goes 'Ha-la-la-la-la,' I'm like, 'I love Barrack Obama. I hate Oprah Winfrey.'" He adds, "I don't hate her. I just don't believe in her, so I don't want any part of any of that. I think celebrities hurt politicians."
As a celebrity who has gotten plenty of media attention -- both good and bad -- Kid Rock also had some words to say about the proliferation of Internet blogs.
"There's a real problem with this Internet thing and everyone thinking they have a voice," he said. "This is where freedom can get out of hand. Everybody should not have a voice is what we've just proven by the Internet. Because I'm convinced that Jesus Christ could come back onto this earth and forgive everybody's sins, and it'd be the greatest day in mankind ever. Somebody would take a picture of him. They'd put him on a Web site like TMZ, and the first comment would be 'Jesus is a douche bag.' You know what I'm sayin'?
"This is what the Internet and bloggers are all about. They're all little haters. It's like, 'Welcome to Haterville. Population: You!'"
I'd like to start out by saying I'm not a politician, but that's not exactly true. Politics aren't limited to those who hold or seek office. Anyone who tries to bring people together toward a common goal is a politician. Anyone who understands or attempts to understand anything about group dynamics is a politician. By profession, as the wonderfully articulate James McMurtry would attest, "I'm a beer salesman," but I'm of the mind that if we want things to be different, we must affect change. We must be heard.
I'll give you some words I sang at the top of my range and voice, in repetition, most nights for six years, words I don't remember uttering even once since I began this phase of my life: "I'm scared shitless of what's coming next." Never has that been so true.
I miss singing those words. I miss singing all those words, but more than that, I miss seeing people in the audience who actually felt like they had some control over their individual and collective fates. It seems, in hindsight, that the folks I met on the road seven years ago were more hopeful, more convinced that they too had some kind of voice.
"You get the government you deserve." I've heard it said and I've said it myself. I'm not sure if it's true, but it's the kind of sentiment I can get behind. Cold, stubborn, rallying, almost. We don't, however get the education we deserve. We don't get the freedom to worship (and NOT to worship) we deserve. We don't get the health care we deserve. We don't get the renewable energy we deserve. I think this is because we aren't given the information we deserve.
It seems to me that the modern conservative movement treats the general American public like children. Because Americans can't raise their kids properly, they should have to pray in school. Because American women can't handle the responsibility of choice, they shouldn't be allowed to have abortions under almost any circumstances. Because some Americans are so strange and misguided that they have become attracted to members of their own sex, they should be denied the rights of heterosexuals until they clean up their loathsome act. I can't make myself see the logic in this last one. If marriage is so sacred, where's McCain's first wife? If family is so important, where is Cindy's half-sister and why does she keep referring to herself as an only child?
I believe that, if given enough information, Americans can make good choices. I think two daddies can have a perfectly normal life with a functional, sane, and well-adjusted child. I think atheists can be kind and generous. Every time I'm stuck in traffic in Atlanta or Birmingham or Boston, I am happy that abortion (and birth control) hasn't yet been outlawed. Sounds rough, I know, but how many people do we really need?
Are these the real issues, though? Maybe the help we need isn't in decision making, but in the creation of opportunity. Will pouring money (tax-cuts) on the top really cause the divide between rich and poor to reduce it's size? I don't know. I'm not an economist. I do know of, however, a lot of beat-up trailers with McCain signs in their front yard. These folks had Bush signs in their front yards a few years ago. Reagan signs when the trailers were new and shiny. I think the irony is lost. I think these people, for the most part, vote with bibles in hand while they starve to death. You might be able to roll a joint with that rice paper, but you can't eat it. Meanwhile the same government they support waits for the surplus to trickle down. We need a steady stream, not a trickle.
I'm going to vote for the man who doesn't hug W. in public. I'm going to vote for the man who Rudy Giuliani can't stand. I can't stand Rudy Giuliani. He mocks hope. Maybe Obama doesn't have a lot of experience. Neither did Thatcher. Maybe he has a strange name that sounds somewhat foreign. I'm not scared by that. I look at Obama, I listen to him speak, and I trust him. More importantly than that, I think he trusts us. I think he believes in our decision-making ability. Hopefully that will continue.
"On the heels of media reports that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was using a private Yahoo e-mail account (gov.palin@yahoo.com) to conduct Alaska state business, hackers have broken into the account and posted evidence of the hijack on Wikileaks.
An activist group calling itself ‘anonymous’ claimed responsibility for the compromise and released screenshots, photographs and the e-mail addresses of several people close to Palin, including her husband Todd and assistant Ivy Frye."
_______
Besides, the Repubs picked the wrong Palin to join the ticket.
_______
Great article on my friend's bro who just won his primary in NY.
"In just a few short days, Daniel L. Squadron has gone from neophyte insurgent candidate to wunderkind. His victory in the Democratic primary last week over State Senator Martin Connor, a 30-year veteran of Albany and onetime Senate minority leader, has made Mr. Squadron, 28, one of the most talked-about figures in New York City politics."
_______
Who came up with this crap idea anyway?
I've never understood vodka and Red Bull. Not even the beloved-in-Athens chipmunk.
"MILWAUKEE - Twenty-five states asked beverage maker MillerCoors LLC on Wednesday to abandon plans for a new caffeine-infused alcoholic energy drink.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement that the Sparks Red drink is a 'recipe for disaster' because adding caffeine to alcoholic beverages reduces drinkers' sense of intoxication."
_______
And, I TOLD Y'ALL!
Vegetables will kill you!
Thank jeebus I've stuck to a meat a potato diet lo' these many years.
"MELBOURNE: Scientists have discovered that going veggie could be bad for your brain-with those on a meat-free diet six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage."
"Brain scans of more than 1,800 people found that people who downed 14 drinks or more a week had 1.6% more brain shrinkage than teetotallers. Women in their seventies were the most at risk.
But then there's this part:
Beer does less damage than wine according to a study in Alcohol and Alcoholism.
Researchers found that the hippocampus-the part of the brain that stores memories - was 10% smaller in beer drinkers than those who stuck to wine."
"WASHINGTON - Another day, but not just another bailout. This one's a stunning government takeover.
In the most far-reaching intervention into the private sector ever for the Federal Reserve, the government stepped in Tuesday to rescue American International Group Inc. with an $85 billion injection of taxpayer money. Under the deal, the government will get a 79.9 percent stake in one of the world's largest insurers and the right to remove senior management."
"In perhaps one of the strangest twists to date in the story of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a video now shows the governor crediting her electoral success to a preacher who claims to successfully hunt witches."
"She scares me,' said Bess. 'She's Jerry Falwell with a pretty face.
'At this point, people in this country don't grasp what this person is all about. The key to understanding Sarah Palin is understanding her radical theology.'"
"Moments after Gov. Sarah Palin's first speech as Republican John McCain's running mate, she sat with her kids backstage, thumbing one of the two BlackBerrys that are always with her. You can see them in photographs from that day on the campaign blog of one of McCain's daughters.
The tech-savvy governor has one of the devices (which allow users to read and send e-mails) for state business, another for personal matters, but those worlds intertwine.
Palin routinely uses a private Yahoo e-mail account to conduct state business. Others in the governor's office sometimes use personal e-mail accounts too.
The practice raises questions about backdoor secrecy in an administration that vowed during the 2006 campaign to be 'open and transparent.'"
_______
I will do all in my power to put porn back on top.
"CANBERRA (Reuters) - Social networking sites are the hottest attraction on the Internet, dethroning pornography and highlighting a major change in how people communicate, according to a web guru."
_______
There was a time in 'Merica when this guy's excuse would have gotten him a fee pass.
"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A 40-year-old man walking his dog in the nude was Tasered by police when he refused to follow an officer's commands. David McCranie of the Tallahassee Police Department said an officer on patrol spotted the man shortly after 8 p.m. Friday.
The man was asked what he was doing and told the officer, 'Allah told me to watch a Bruce Willis movie and walk the dog,' McCranie said."
"'Both sources say those in the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill are raising questions about the political intent of this new aggressive stance,'' NPR reports. 'The question is,' said one of the sources, 'Why wasn't this done a year ago?'"
_______
Somebody lied and intimidated for someone hopped up on goofballs.
Let's see.... drugs.... stolen from a charity.... OD cover-up.... intimidation.... lies upon lies....
"Cindy McCain's addiction to prescription painkillers emerged into public view 14 years ago with a well-orchestrated PR campaign designed to preserve her husband's political future.
Aside from a lengthy contemporary investigation from Phoenix's alternative weekly and occasional mentions since then, the addiction back-story -- including ample questions about what John McCain knew, when he knew it and questions over whether he was complicit in the cover-up -- has gone largely untold. Until now.
Tom Gosinski, a former employee of the medical-aid charity Cindy McCain used as personal supplier of Percocet and Vicodin, is speaking out publicly for the first time."
"A 60-minute DVD, titled 'Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West,' is being distributed in millions of newspapers across the country this week primarily in swing states through an advertising purchase by a shadowy group called the Clarion Fund."
"Mississippi’s governor, Haley Barbour, and its secretary of state have come up with a particularly cynical dirty trick for the November election. Let’s call it: “Where’s the Senate race?”
Defying state law, they have decided to hide a hard-fought race for the United States Senate at the bottom of the ballot, where they clearly are hoping some voters will overlook it. Their proposed design is not only illegal. It shows a deep contempt for Mississippi’s voters.
Republicans have long had a lock on the state’s two Senate seats. But this year, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, has been running close to Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, in the polls. Mr. Wicker was appointed to the seat by Governor Barbour in late December after Trent Lott stepped down."
"Pima County (Tucson), Arizona Election Integrity advocate and expert John Brakey was arrested last night while performing his job as an election supervisor, on behalf of both the Democratic and Libertarian parties, during a post-election hand-count audit of ballots.
Brakey becomes the latest in a growing string of EI advocates to be arrested and/or barred from observing (Brakey was lucky enough to merit both 'honors' apparently) while attempting to assure accuracy, fairness, and transparency in voting and in the reporting of election results on behalf of citizens.
"I think I might be able to explain some of Sarah Palin's appeal. She's the 'American Idol' candidate. Consider. What defines an 'American Idol' finalist? They're good-looking, work well on television, have a sunny personality, are fierce competitors, and so talented, why, they're darned near the real thing. There's a reason 'American Idol' gets such high ratings. People identify with the contestants. They think, Hey, that could be me up there on that show!
My problem is, I don't want to be up there. I don't want a vice president who is darned near good enough. I want a vice president who is better, wiser, well-traveled, has met world leaders, who three months ago had an opinion on Iraq. Someone who doesn't repeat bald- faced lies about earmarks and the Bridge to Nowhere. Someone who doesn't appoint Alaskan politicians to 'study' global warming, because, hello! It has been studied. The returns are convincing enough that John McCain and Barack Obama are darned near in agreement."
"(09-11) 12:29 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A car-burglary suspect fell to his death early today after he climbed over a wall on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill while trying to flee from police, apparently unaware that on the other side of the wall was a 200-foot cliff, authorities said."
"'Since I was a little baby,' she says. 'Literally. I learned to walk with a baseball bat in my hand. My momma played in a league until I was a teenager. My daddy coached my brother's team.'
And Tucker played in her Killen, Ala., youth softball league from the age of 5 until the age of 11, when she decided she'd rather play hardball.
'I was the only girl in the baseball league,' she says. 'I played third base and first base. After that, I went back to softball in junior high and made varsity in high school.'"
"'I'm Sorry Huston' was written in 20 minutes after an odd experience at her house one day. 'I live out in the country in Alabama and the people that do know me know that I'm on the road most of the time,' she says. 'So, I don't get people just stopping by, especially at seven o'clock in the morning. There was a knock at the door and there was this little man and he was so intense and so wanting me to help him with the neighbor's horses so bad. I couldn't help him at all. I was in my pajamas and he wanted me to walk across the street with him over there and make sure he could read the address on the mailbox right.'"
_______
Check out the nice pics of DBT performing at The Green Man Festival in Wales:
"Don Chambers' blue-collar rasp may warrant comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, but the haunting, backwoods rock & roll that permeates Zebulon is more closely aligned with the distorted country-rock of the Drive-By Truckers. Appropriately, DBT frontman Patterson Hood lends his help to the effort, co-producing the entire album while adding backing vocals to a pair of songs. Brimming with muscled guitar riffs, twang, and fiery mesquite melodies, Zebulon is a passionate record, one that confronts the hardships of the South with an angry swagger. Yet the album is also lush, foregoing the ramshackle, breakneck pace of cowpunk bands in favor of a sound that crackles and burns. Chambers' hefty baritone is placed front and center, his melodies booming with reverb during tracks like 'Paint the Moon', while Hood's production captures a veritable swamp of guitars, pedal steels, and swirling organs. 'Highwater' is the highlight here, a slow-building mixture of harmonies and piano chords that eventually gives way to a guitar-filled catharsis, but Zebulon remains solid throughout."
I'd like to start out by saying I'm not a politician, but that's not exactly true. Politics aren't limited to those who hold or seek office. Anyone who tries to bring people together toward a common goal is a politician. Anyone who understands or attempts to understand anything about group dynamics is a politician. By profession, as the wonderfully articulate James McMurtry would attest, "I'm a beer salesman," but I'm of the mind that if we want things to be different, we must affect change. We must be heard.
I'll give you some words I sang at the top of my range and voice, in repetition, most nights for six years, words I don't remember uttering even once since I began this phase of my life: "I'm scared shitless of what's coming next." Never has that been so true.
I miss singing those words. I miss singing all those words, but more than that, I miss seeing people in the audience who actually felt like they had some control over their individual and collective fates. It seems, in hindsight, that the folks I met on the road seven years ago were more hopeful, more convinced that they too had some kind of voice.
"You get the government you deserve." I've heard it said and I've said it myself. I'm not sure if it's true, but it's the kind of sentiment I can get behind. Cold, stubborn, rallying, almost. We don't, however get the education we deserve. We don't get the freedom to worship (and NOT to worship) we deserve. We don't get the health care we deserve. We don't get the renewable energy we deserve. I think this is because we aren't given the information we deserve.
It seems to me that the modern conservative movement treats the general American public like children. Because Americans can't raise their kids properly, they should have to pray in school. Because American women can't handle the responsibility of choice, they shouldn't be allowed to have abortions under almost any circumstances. Because some Americans are so strange and misguided that they have become attracted to members of their own sex, they should be denied the rights of heterosexuals until they clean up their loathsome act. I can't make myself see the logic in this last one. If marriage is so sacred, where's McCain's first wife? If family is so important, where is Cindy's half-sister and why does she keep referring to herself as an only child?
I believe that, if given enough information, Americans can make good choices. I think two daddies can have a perfectly normal life with a functional, sane, and well-adjusted child. I think atheists can be kind and generous. Every time I'm stuck in traffic in Atlanta or Birmingham or Boston, I am happy that abortion (and birth control) hasn't yet been outlawed. Sounds rough, I know, but how many people do we really need?
Are these the real issues, though? Maybe the help we need isn't in decision making, but in the creation of opportunity. Will pouring money (tax-cuts) on the top really cause the divide between rich and poor to reduce it's size? I don't know. I'm not an economist. I do know of, however, a lot of beat-up trailers with McCain signs in their front yard. These folks had Bush signs in their front yards a few years ago. Reagan signs when the trailers were new and shiny. I think the irony is lost. I think these people, for the most part, vote with bibles in hand while they starve to death. You might be able to roll a joint with that rice paper, but you can't eat it. Meanwhile the same government they support waits for the surplus to trickle down. We need a steady stream, not a trickle.
I'm going to vote for the man who doesn't hug W. in public. I'm going to vote for the man who Rudy Giuliani can't stand. I can't stand Rudy Giuliani. He mocks hope. Maybe Obama doesn't have a lot of experience. Neither did Thatcher. Maybe he has a strange name that sounds somewhat foreign. I'm not scared by that. I look at Obama, I listen to him speak, and I trust him. More importantly than that, I think he trusts us. I think he believes in our decision-making ability. Hopefully that will continue.
"For me, this surreal moment - like the entire surrealism of the past ten days - is not really about Sarah Palin or Barack Obama or pigs or fish or lipstick. It's about John McCain. The one thing I always thought I knew about him is that he is a decent and honest person. When he knows, as every sane person must, that Obama did not in any conceivable sense mean that Sarah Palin is a pig, what did he do? Did he come out and say so and end this charade? Or did he acquiesce in and thereby enable the mindless Rovianism that is now the core feature of his campaign?
So far, he has let us all down. My guess is he will continue to do so. And that decision, for my part, ends whatever respect I once had for him. On core moral issues, where this man knew what the right thing was, and had to pick between good and evil, he chose evil. When he knew that George W. Bush's war in Iraq was a fiasco and catastrophe, and before Donald Rumsfeld quit, McCain endorsed George W. Bush against his fellow Vietnam vet, John Kerry in 2004. By that decision, McCain lost any credibility that he can ever put country first. He put party first and his own career first ahead of what he knew was best for the country."
_______
Say it loud and say it proud... SLEAZY GODDAMN LIES.
"But, let's face it, John McCain is running a campaign almost entirely based on straight up lies. Not just exaggerations or half truths but the sort of straight up, up-is-down mind-blowers we've become so accustomed to from the current occupants of the White House. And today McCain comes out with this rancid, race-baiting ad based on another lie. Willie Horton looks mild by comparison. (And remember, President George H.W. Bush never ran the Willie Horton ad himself. It was an outside group. He wasn't willing to degrade himself that far.) As TPM Reader JM said below, at least Horton actually was released on a furlough. This is ugly stuff. And this is an ugly person. There's clearly no level of sleaze this guy won't stoop to to win this election."
"In a country with a responsible news media, the presidential frontrunner beginning a speech by excoriating American journalism as an institution would prompt deep reflection on the problems in news coverage by every newspaper in the country. Every op-ed columnist and editorial page would endorse more substantive coverage, and newsrooms would switch gears and start reporting Obama and McCain's records and policy proposals on everything from nuclear terrorism to urban policy. This kind of crap would be relegated to paragraph-length articles, if retained at all. When Sarah Palin claimed she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere, the AP headline would be 'Palin Repeats Lie about Infamous Bridge'.
Obviously, this isn't a country with a responsible news media, and so none of that's going to happen. The Times and the Post will repeat the McCain camp's petty lies and slams without an ounce of critical analysis, not because they believe the spin, but because there's a massive conservative infrastructure devoting to working the refs and getting the coverage the right wants."
_______
Say it loud and say it proud.... I'M A LIBERAL AND FUCK YOU IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT!!!
"Ignorance must really be bliss. How else, over so many years, could the G.O.P. get away with ridiculing all things liberal?
Troglodytes on the right are no respecters of reality. They say the most absurd things and hardly anyone calls them on it. Evolution? Don’t you believe it. Global warming? A figment of the liberal imagination.
Liberals have been so cowed by the pummeling they’ve taken from the right that they’ve tried to shed their own identity, calling themselves everything but liberal and hoping to pass conservative muster by presenting themselves as hyper-religious and lifelong lovers of rifles, handguns, whatever."
_______
Jason Bourne has got a really good head on his shoulders. Smart as a whip, too (One has to be smart to write a script like Good Will Hunting).
"ROTC Cadet, Air Force Captain, Free Republic diarist, James Dobson quoting conservative, 2 time Bush voter. Church worship leader. These all describe me. And there are more just like me. My evolution to progressive awareness has been a slow one, but is has never gone faster than in the last 3 or 4 months. How do I describe myself now - a progressive conservative, of course (if there is such a thing)!
So why am I and those like me out here? I am out here because I see through the hysteria that the right wing has become. I know the abandonment of principles when we see it. I despise in today's Republican Party what I was always told were the worst traits of the 'left' in years past. I know better these days. I have come to the realization that in many ways I left my brain turned off for far too long. I listened to those I was supposed to agree with, and never tried to be, as Rush Limbaugh says, a 'truth seeker'. Well I am a truth seeker now, I find truth much more often when I listen to Rachel Maddow that I ever did on Rush. I am able to see (on the right) political opportunism, shameless lying, rampant political positioning, and a party leadership that has forfieted all claim to trust."
_______
On Tuesday I posted about my good friend's brother who was running for NY State Senate and was in a primary election yesterday.
Daniel pulled it off and defeated a 30 year incumbent.
"Daniel L. Squadron defeated Martin E. Connor, a former Senate minority leader in office since 1978, in a Democratic primary for a State Senate district that covers parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Mr. Squadron, a 28-year-old former aide to United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, campaigned on a pledge to bring reform and fresh energy to Albany and was endorsed by a number of prominent politicians, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg."
"In a year in which Democrats have a lead of 11 million registered voters over Republicans, and have been adding to that advantage through a robust field operation, are pollsters over-sampling Republicans?"
_______
And an anecdote from Bama to salve those scary polls.
"I live near Birmingham, AL. I am north of Birmingham, in a mostly white area, chock full of the perfect demographic for the McCain campaign...
I had reason to meet up with an acquaintance last night... One I was SURE would give me a hard time about my Obama magnets I sport on 3 sides of my car....
"'I mean think about it, you guys remember this, it was just like a month ago they were all saying ‘experience, experience, experience’,' Obama said as the crowd snickered, 'Then they chose Palin and started talking about ‘change, change, change’ - What happened?'
'I mean, mother, governor, moose shooter?! I mean I think that’s cool, that’s cool stuff,' Obama said about Palin’s biography.
When discussing McCain’s energy plan, Obama poked fun at his line on drilling. 'What were the Republicans hollerin’, ‘drill baby drill’? What kind of slogan is that?! They were getting all excited about drilling!'
He even found a way to make an answer to a question on civil liberties comical. While speaking about the importance of habeas corpus, Obama said, 'We don’t always catch the right person. We may think this is Mohammed the terrorist, it might be Mohammed the cab driver. You may think it’s Barack the bomb thrower, but it might be Barack the guy running for president.'"
"A former Democratic New York mayor who backed George W. Bush for President in 2004 has now labeled Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin 'scary' and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).
Politico asked Koch 'what prompted the move.'
'The designation of Palin to be vice president,' he replied. 'She's scary.'
'Any time someone goes to the library and says, 'I want to ban books,' and the librarian says 'no,' and she threatens to fire them -- that's scary,' he said."
_______
And her state's largest newspaper sure has some problems with her.
"There's no polite way to say it: Sarah Palin has been hiding out from hard questions. It took 10 days from when John McCain announced his pick until the McCain campaign agreed to schedule Palin an unscripted interview with a serious journalist.
ABC landed the big 'get' with Palin. She'll talk to Charlie Gibson of 'Good Morning America' later this week.
McCain's camp has handled their vice-presidential pick like some celebrity who will only deign to give an interview if conditions are favorable. McCain campaign manager Rick Davis told Fox News Sunday, Palin would take questions 'when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it.'
Palin has accused Barack Obama of being a me-first celebrity candidate for president. At least he has been facing media questions for the past 18 months.
Here are some of the questions Palin should be answering, for Alaskans and the rest of the country:"
Yo New Yorkers.... specifically, those living in the 25th district.
My friend Seth's brother Daniel Squadron is up for election today. Get out there and vote!
More from Seth:
...My brother Daniel Squadron is running for NY State Senate in the 25th district, covering Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. The election is tomorrow -- Tuesday, September 9th -- and most observers think it may be decided by as little as a hundred votes (his opponent is a 30 year incumbent, but Daniel has made an incredible impact).
Neighborhoods in the 25th district: -Carroll Gardens -Cobble Hill -Brooklyn Heights -Dumbo -Williamsburg/Greenpoint -Lower Manhattan (Financial District, Tribeca, Battery Park City) -Soho/Noho -Lower East Side -Chinatown -East Village
Daniel has been endorsed by The New York Times, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Congressman Anthony Weiner, Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, The Progressive Working Families Party, Downtown Express, The Brooklyn Paper, and a host of other newspapers, community leaders, labor unions and neighborhood organizations.
"DOTHAN, Ala. - Larry Blumberg is looking for a few good Jews to move to his corner of the Bible Belt. Blumberg is chairman of an organization offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan, an overwhelmingly Christian town of 58,000 that calls itself the Peanut Capital of the World. Get involved at Temple Emanu-El and stay at least five years, the group's leaders say, and the money doesn't have to be repaid."
_______
"Appreciate the Fireflie baby, Just in case, you never see the stars." - The Drams
"Sarah Palin could be the President of the United States in four and a half months. We tend to think of this as an abstraction; but it's true. And yet today she's so unprepared and knows so little about the challenges and tasks facing the country that she can't even give a softball interview.
That's really all we need to know. Yes, she's off being prepped at some undisclosed location. And I've little doubt that by the time her debate rolls around she'll be sufficiently pumped full of slogans and bromides to make a show of it. But now, this moment, is the one that tells us all we need to know.
As is so often the case, Palin is the incarnation of the Republican slurs. The darling of the hard-right; she gives a stem-winding speeches. She pushes all their buttons. But she's such a lightweight, they can't risk letting her answer a few questions. Not even on Fox. They know she's not ready and probably never will be. But they think the politics might work for them."
_______
Uh, oh looks like someone has ADD. Not good when you're negotiating with Putin.
"POKANE, Wash. - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin attended five colleges in six years before graduating from the University of Idaho in 1987.
Federal privacy laws prohibit the schools from disclosing her grades, and none of the schools contacted by The Associated Press could say why she transferred. There was no indication any of them were contacted as part of the background investigation of Palin by presidential candidate John McCain's campaign.
'Our office was not contacted by anyone,' said Tania Thompson, spokeswoman for the University of Idaho in Moscow."
_______
Super Sarah was for earmarks before she was against them.
"The Seattle Times reported yesterday that she submitted 31 earmark requests totaling $197 million in the current (FY2009) budget cycle. According to that paper, it was “more, per person, than any other state.”
The Washington Post reports that in 2000, Palin took an extraordinary step as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town that had fewer than 5,500 residents—she hired a Washington lobbyist to seek congressional earmarks. According to the Post, she won a total of $6.1 million in earmarks for the city of Wasilla in 2002."
Both numbers need to be placed in some perspective. Fiscal year 2008 was the first year for which there was a complete listing of all earmarks contained in all appropriation bills. That information was loaded into several databases, including the one developed by Taxpayers for Common Sense. According to that data, the average state got about $50 per person in earmarked funds in 2008. Alaska, represented by Ted Stevens, the Senate’s earmarker-in-chief, got $506 per person—about 10 times the national average. Wasilla between 2000 and 2003 was getting well over $1,000 per person—twice the Alaska state average in 2008.
_______
But the mean ol' new media needs to stop trying to ask her questions. Just shut up and parrot whatever the McSame campaign tells you to say. Haven't you learned anything over the past 8 years.
"ST. PAUL, Minn. — On behalf of the media, I would like to say we are sorry.
On behalf of the elite media, I would like to say we are very sorry.
We have asked questions this week that we should never have asked.
We have asked pathetic questions like: Who is Sarah Palin? What is her record? Where does she stand on the issues? And is she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?
We have asked mean questions like: How well did John McCain know her before he selected her? How well did his campaign vet her? And was she his first choice?
Bad questions. Bad media. Bad.
It is not our job to ask questions. Or it shouldn’t be. To hear from the pols at the Republican National Convention this week, our job is to endorse and support the decisions of the pols."
_______
Hopefully the putzs in the traditional media will do their damn job this time around.
"The second thing is more insidious: Steve Schmidt has decided, for tactical reasons, to slime the press. He wants the public to believe that there is an unfair--sexist (you gotta love it)--personal assault going on against Palin and her family. This is a smokescreen, intended to divert attention from the very real and responsible vetting that is taking place in the media--about the substance of Palin's record as mayor and governor."
There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.
_______
Whenever I think of V-PILF this song pops into my head...