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Comments Posted By AdLib

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Bunning Man

Now he’s just a relief bitcher.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 1:53 pm

The question is too rarely asked, “Is our children learning?”

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:47 am

Heh! I guess there’s an upside to hammering the public with words…they sometimes want to find out what they mean.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:11 am

It’s tempting to have Jim Bunning as the poster geezer for the GOP’s Party of No but if it meant the suffering or others, I couldn’t go along with it.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:07 am

Co-sign and well said!

The anger will indeed be at inaction. The Dems may have an excuse for their impotence but it’s still humiliating.

The Dems need some political Viagra, they certainly could have stayed and outlasted Bunning but instead, they fell asleep and turned over.

As for your point about the American habit of wanting quick fixes, so true. That kneejerk thinking of “getting” the people in office now by voting them out…shows such ignorance because there is no thinking of what they’re voting in.

Another 4 years of Bush policies? Really? Would that be better?

Let alone the near term issue that a Repub controlled House or Senate under Obama would lead to total gridlock for 2 years…in the midst of a record recession when so many other pressing things need to get done.

People are frustrated about government no working so what kind of foolishness is it to go from watered down reform to total gridlock?

The masses are indeed asses.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:00 am

I’m not a big fan of Reid but I think it’s unfair to put that much blame on him.

I do agree that Reid and the Dems should have forced Bunning to spend all night and morning there, to get done what was desperately needed to get done. So, I’d agree that they should have tried to outlast him that way.

At the same time, they were there for 3 hours going around and around in circles with Bunning, arguing and cajoling non-stop. Bunning may have had 3 pots of coffee in his system, knowing what he was going to do and Dems may not have been prepared.

This is squarely on Bunning’s shoulders but Reid and the Dems should have shown more strategy and determination in beating him, indeed.

No doubt, the Dems had some political consideration of how this would damage the Repubs and help them, image wise. It may be cynical but perhaps that factored into their not sticking it out…which would be pretty terrible, making all those people suffer unnecessarily just for political games.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 10:34 am

GROW – The Specific Agenda and Tactics

You are psychic!!! I’m a-scared!

Night, Kes!!!

» Posted By AdLib On March 3, 2010 @ 8:35 pm

Hmm…I can say that I posted my Larry King/Sarah Palin parody over there (and it has a 100% funny rating).

Wonder what else could be cross-posted there…hmmm…the possibilities are GROWing in my mind.

» Posted By AdLib On March 3, 2010 @ 8:33 pm

Talking about using humor and satire to make a strong point, Funny Or Die’s parody directed by Ron Howard with SNL’s Presidents through the years, arguing for the consumer protection board to be legislated:

» Posted By AdLib On March 3, 2010 @ 8:09 pm

Very cool! Thanks Sue!!!

» Posted By AdLib On March 3, 2010 @ 11:35 am

So, to figure out where we are on things, what does everyone here think about making the reversing of the SCOTUS ruling the initial/primary focus of GROW?

Please don’t hesitate to suggest something else though.

GROW could of course speak out against all the related issues of corporate domination but the proposition is that protests focus on one issue at the outset.

What about the style of protests? Satirical, visual and humorous to attract media attention to the cause or direct, earnest and passionate to make a more serious statement?

» Posted By AdLib On March 3, 2010 @ 10:43 am

Just barely better than “Citizen Mob”. I agree, it has a negative connotation of taking the law into one’s own hands.

Proving how important a name is in characterizing a group. Would anyone here want to claim membership in a “posse”?

» Posted By AdLib On March 3, 2010 @ 10:32 am

Nice selections. The Orwell quote especially resonates for me.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 1:37 pm

It makes sense! Only I might suggest not having corporations represented as people.

Might be funny to have a kid smushing an ice cream, swinging a jumprope, etc. against a corporate building, (Citibank, B of A, WalMart, etc.).

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 1:35 pm

Patsy – Now it wants to sleep in my bed and kick me out of it!

And it won’t stop running on its own, I can’t keep it on a leash!

It’s biting the hand that fed it and gave it birth!

It’s totally out of control but if I put it to sleep, the rest of the family will kill me!

I can’t do anything but hope it just grows out of it before it ruins our house!

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:39 am

I do get a little Bunning sensation when I…

I always wanted to go to Burning Man, beginning in the early days of it and never have.

How many times has he been? Have you been?

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:35 am

Actually, they’re kind of handcuffed because they’ll want to attack the Tea Party candidates but the TPs are the most activist form of Repubs out there, they need them.

It will be very amusing to watch them battling the monster they created.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:15 am

Thanks bito! I will study the material at all of these links!

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:13 am

Heh! Now why aren’t I writing for the New Yorker?

I’m going to Twitter them about that!

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:09 am

Like both your points. Getting the youth vote out is enormous, the skew away from RW is bigger, the younger the voter group.

Yep, humor is a great tool to connect with younger voters and I agree, YouTube, Facebook and (unfortunately) Twitter are the best candidates for reaching out to them.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 11:04 am

Right with you, javaz!

We do have other Planet members in AZ so if they too are participating in GROW, I’m sure we could work out videotaping personal pieces together or an actual GROW protest.

As to the efforts you describe, all of those things would be very valuable. If everyone is doing what they can, it could make a huge impact.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 10:51 am

Morality in Twitter? You mean the service people use to disrupt their getting married, helping their injured child or in the midst of giving birth?

My personal opinion of Twitter is that, yes, it can have constructive uses, as it did during the Iran protests but as a whole, it is the further descent into trivia, egotism and distraction that is hampering people from concentrating on things that really matter.

On the other hand, my realist, Planet Admin opinion is that it is a thriving part of the social networking system out there and that it can be a constructive and useful tool for promoting things that really matter and taking action.

Will read the articles now…right after I Twitter about how I think Twittering is something no one should invest time in doing.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 10:45 am

Indeed, I too would like to see GROW and PlanetPOV interlinking and supporting The Coffee Party.

I do have a difference of opinion on focus though. I don’t think GROW should have a primary focus on networking groups together to write petitions and letters.

I think GROW needs to have its own purpose and area of focus, namely, confronting corporate control of our government. A primary campaign should be established, i.e., redressing the SCOTUS ruling.

In that way, GROW has a unique strength which compliments and is complimented by Coffee Party and other groups that focus in their directions.

Also, my proposition is that physical, satirical protests should be the tool of choice for GROW. That doesn’t mean GROW shouldn’t originate or participate in petitions and letters but my thought is that GROW could have something special to add to the mix that is unique unto itself.

I am flattered and on board with making a video of Dr. Suits. Sharing the post and later, an eventual video of Dr. Suits would seem to me to be a good way to represent GROW and its sensibilities…and attract members.

No worries, you’re not jumping the gun, this is exactly what we are and should be discussing here, what should we do and how should we do it.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 10:25 am

It’s very exciting and validates that there are many out there who want to participate and be active in fighting for our democracy but need a vehicle to do so.

It is absolutely the smartest thing for such groups to collaborate and support each other, I completely agree that GROW, once established, should reach out to them and see how we can work together to accomplish our goals which are entwined.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 10:12 am

Because MSNBC made the principled choice of showing curling instead of the HCR summit, I watched the “analysis” after the end of the summit on CNN and…couldn’t stop throwing up.

One of the first things they did was have Mary Matalin and Eric Cantor on to diss HCR, the summit, Obama, Dems, etc.

And the discussions were never about what was presented by speakers, or as you say, disputing lies and hypocrisies, they were about “who won” and “was it a waste?”.

There is a terrible combination of corporate agenda and dumbing down to simplify and entertain that makes MSM news toxic.

Again, I think it is the role of responsible citizens to keep the bell ringing to alert others that the MSM emperors have no clothes, that the news they present is filtered and reformulated to advance the interests of the corporations that own them, politically and financially.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 8:25 am

I think most here would agree on that, the corporate nature of the MSM undermines the role of the press in being the safeguard of democracy it used to be.

As to how that could be changed, I don’t know. It certainly can be exposed regularly as it needs to be to keep the public cautious about believing everything the MSM tries to feed them.

And an affirmative thing would be to encourage people to look to the internet instead and a variety of sites to get information so they can get perspective on issues and make up their own minds on what’s really going on.

» Posted By AdLib On March 2, 2010 @ 8:12 am

KQuark has really made the case through his description of that paper mill that became employee-owned. I know there have got to be a number of other examples.

It absolutely makes enormous sense and unlike the stockholders’ need for increased quarterly profits indefinitely, it is truly sustainable. Not to mention what pay equity would mean to strengthen and advance the middle class in America.

Certainly, existing corporations would never be willing to cross over voluntarily, it would seem that only if a business was in trouble could an employee buyout or takeover occur.

What are your thoughts on how this could be promoted?

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 11:19 pm

You won’t see any disagreement from me, it is a powerful sentiment from one of the most visionary and revered activists in our history.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 11:07 pm

I think we’re all on the same wavelength here. Start off focused on a single aspect of corporate control over our nation and democracy but not be limited that forever. As the group grows and has enough members and resources to accommodate additional issues, they can be added to the agenda.

Yes, once this group is off the ground, GROW should have a separate website and be a separate entity from The Planet. Many good reasons for this, giving GROW and The Planet much more flexibility. GROW “grows” as its members choose and The Planet continues as a political blog and think tank to support current and future activism projects.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 11:02 pm

Indeed, the first duty of any entity that’s starting up is to be successful at starting up…and existing.

In this case, I agree that it does require a single issue to rally around, to establish the character of the group and to be able to simply and effectively promote it.

As you mention, having an initial issue means just that, other issues should be discussed and prioritized but for cohesion of a new organization, there does need to be a narrow focus that all can collaborate on together.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 10:45 pm