"about the corruption of "reporting" vs. blogging"

This morning Jason Linkins put up something on Huffington Post. You can read it here. From the headline on, Mr. Linkins is distorting reality which is what much of today's "reporting" and blogging are. Whatever Huffington or Mr. Linkins call it, it's a blog, but I know many or most people will read it as a "news story." I have seen the same things done in AP news so I'll be on the lookout for one to share because they do pretend to be a news outlet. I'm not sure what Huffington claims to be NOW, but they ain't much different from when what's-her-name ran it.
First of all the headline reads, "Ron Paul's Tampa Hopes Hinge On Cornhusker Convention Chaos," but NOWHERE  in the story does he describe anything except Ron Paul bakers USING THE RULES to support their candidate! You see, in America today, peasants aren't supposed to use the political system - that would be chaos! Here's the sinister description Mr. Linkins gives to the Ron Paul supporter's plan:

"First, meet up the night before to get everyone on the same page about who to vote for, including the convention chair. Second, get to the convention several hours ahead of everyone else to avoid being caught in line during registration. Third, vote for the convention chair.
The Daily Paul writer says “Stay sharp and show up in force!” The writer then orders (emphasis added) Mr. Paul’s supporters to make sure that the convention chair is put up for a vote, and tells them to make sure voting machines are not used to count delegate votes."

Mr. Linkins does not think smart, planned political actions from the peasants is a good idea. He also writes that, "...  it's been well known for some time that Paul's supporters plan to descend (emphasis added) on Tampa in force." How dare they? Anyway, everyone who FLYS into Tampa will descend, will they not? But, Mr. Linkins doesn't mean it that way. He means like a flock of vultures, like pickpockets will descend upon London during the Olympic Games.

Furthermore,  "... if it looks like Paul isn't getting the full measure of what he's entitled to in Tampa, trust me -- it will be hell with the lid off."  It would be HELL if the Ron Paul backers demand their legal rights! HELL?

"Of particular interest:," opines Mr. Linkins, "no matter what happens in Nebraska, Paul's supporters on the convention floor already have the leverage they need to force some chaos (emphasis added) in the process that officially nominates the vice president."

This shows the extent to which our nation has grown back to the Loyalist stance pre-1776. Much of the U.S. wants a king or a dictator. ALL the media bombard us with stories that imply that only the Presidential vote matters. ObamaCare is ALL Obama's fault. No, excuse me, it was passed into law by Congress and upheld my the Supreme Court. Oh, but all that is too complicated. Let's just focus on - OBAMA. 

And let's be dismissive of a democratic process that doesn't put money into media pockets. You know, like Ron Paul didn't spend the kind of money Romney did on advertising, so how can he possibly matter?

HP is neither a newspaper nor does it print objective reporting so why should it hire reporters? HP is "entertainment" and the articles are blogs, and that's the way it was under the previous owner, too. I just can't break away from it, though. I mean where else can I go to see all those "wardrobe malfunctions", and Miley's "too short" shorts, and sexy stuff without being ashamed of my browser history? And where else on Huffington Post does the PICTURE MATCH THE HEADLINE?

... about a smart Republican Marijuana Strategy

I think it would be a smart move on the part of Republicans to embrace at least this one aspect of Ron Paul's libertarianism and state's rights fight even if goes against their grain - POT. The federal government, both parties, do not let go of anything they get their hands on whether it makes Constitutional sense or not. For instance, education IS CONSTITUTIONALLY A STATE ISSUE, but both parties are intent on federalizing it one way (forced privatization) or another (giving money with provisos that weaken local control). On THIS issue, if the Republicans were smart, they could take the truth and own it. The drug war is an expensive, catastrophic failure. Marijuana is everywhere and always will be. Let the states make their own decisions. You get 50 experiments that way and one of them will work. The Democrats are trying to appeal to the religious right and other punishment freaks, a VERY SMALL group for them that they can TRY to convince to vote their way. Forget about it! The Republicans outsmarted you on that LONG ago. Appeal to your young base AND libertarians who you have a chance of winning over and getting to the polls, fools (I mean this is the party that lost the Kennedy Senate seat). You don't have enough on your hands successfully fighting the war on terror, upholding voting rights, improving the economy, winning in November? Oh, ok, then, Dems. Bust the free the weed movement. Lose for another generation. The smokers will still get their pot and you will still be hypocrites because tobacco and booze are the real killers. And Republicans will have busted (pun intended) down the doors that lead to STATE control of education (very little), STATE health laws (don't get sick), GUN laws (pack some heat everywhere esp. to the polls), etc. Oh, and they will collect a LOT of tax dollars and create a new tourist industry. Go for it Mitt! Pick Rand Paul as your running mate.

... About Education

The simple truth (from a retired teacher) is that those nations that continually outscore our kids are separating students by ability level. We put a non-reader-gang-banger bully in the same room with a kid with a genius IQ and call the teachers bad because they can't be everything to everybody. This country's definition of a "good teacher" is really the definition of a genius angel. Let's get real. I know that historically classification of students by "ability" led to discrimination - by sex, by race, etc. How about this as a start - let any kid take any class (even the high-level classes) as long as they TRY to learn! There will be some who achieve at lower levels, but that's when a good teacher can accommodate both the lesson AND the grade. Who decides who is really trying and learning at an adequate level? Well, the teacher of course, and if a teacher is discriminating it's an administrators job to catch it.

About Sin and Crime

This post is a prelude to a series of postings I have planned for years about religion and the American Constitution. When I begin that I will refer to the Bible and the Constitution for exact quotes. Today, I'm working from memory.
Jesus said, "As a man thinketh, so is he." Yes, I believe that. I believe it on a religious level and on a psychological level, but I do not believe it on a legal or criminal level. Mental sin is between you and God. Acting out a sin is often, not always, a crime. For instance, the making and selling of cigarettes and booze may be a sin, but it is legal as hell. Masturbating MAY be a sin - certainly, though, it is one we are all guilty of. Should we go to jail for it? Of course not. It is a more of a sin against our children that we keep secret auto-erotic asphyxiation and every year talk about "mysterious" suicides-by-hanging.
Being in a gang may be a sin, but it is the ACTIONS of the gang that can be crimes. Murder is a sin and a crime, but is it more of a crime if it is done out of sheer hatred than if it is done "in a moment of passion?" I think not, because NONE of us can see into another's head. Dylan wrote, "If my thought dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guilloine." That's true of all of us at some time or another.
The latest items I read about possible sin and "crime" deal with marijuana. It is wayyyy over-criminalized and we, as taxpayers, pay to lock up people who are as harmless as a man with two beers in him walking home. If one is not driving and not giving pot to minors I argue that there is no crime. If a tipsy man is walking or being driven home, he is no criminal. We cannot afford, as a nation, to lock up every drunk or pot smoker unless their ACTIONS are harming OTHERS overtly. We should be ashamed to be the foremost nation on earth when it comes to the percentage of our population behind bars.
Gov. Christie recently said it would cost 1/2 as much to "treat" marijuana smokers as to incarcerate them. So what? That's still too much to pay and I know that, since Christie is a Republican, that he would count that very treatment as a reason to take away that person's right to vote!
That's what the "drug war" has always been 1/2 about - the demonization of people. Nixon ginned it up along with the "Southern strategy" as a way to bring voters to the GOP. (Those anti-war protestors are just high on drugs.) The CIA joined the government of England (opium in China) as drug pushers. England just wanted the money. The CIA was out to demonize people, mainly people of color. The other 1/2 of the drug war is an excuse to prop up right-wing dictators with military equipment and to "militarize" our local police forces. These actions go unpunished on earth although they are criminal. They'll see what God thinks later on.
I like the ballot proposition that will be voted on in November in Colorado. Basically, it says, we'll distribute, tax, and control pot like booze. The federal government has it's hands full, so how about letting go a little, Fed, and let states make a few decisions? The horror that has gone on in Mexico is a reflection of what the U.S. should have learned during prohibition. And that horror is blood on the hands of the U.S. government. It's a crime. Let people grow weed in a locked greenhouse or home, along with state-controled sales and save Mexico!
Three things have grossly distorted American politics: the media - deregulation of our media ownership laws, the abandonment of the Fairness Doctrine, and the fact that we PAY for democracy; the usurpation of religion by politicians; and the jailing and government murder of innocent people. I know so many people who feel it unfair, or would feel it unfair, if THEIR child went to prison for a joint. But that black boy...  'First they came for the pot smokers, but I was not a pot smoker, so I paid no mind.' "Money doesn't talk, it swears (Dylan)." So money is speech? Then why was Paris Hilton born with more freedom of speech than Fannie Lou Hamer? That's a crime. The Constitutional view of media, esp. broadcast media is that the medium belongs to the People and the same should hold true of the entire electromagnetic spectrum (internet). So WE the People shouldn't pay a dime for political commercials. We should protest the giving away of huge amounts of money to TV and radio and MAKE them set aside debate time, no commercials. "Next they came for the protestors, but I was not a protestor..." And what the hell is with the Morman Church OWNING Marriot, etc., etc. and other denominations OWNING businesses? Take that away! That's a crime against small business owners having to compete with tax-free institutions. And tax churches - we did until the Johnson administration. Some of them or more country clubs, with gyms and movie theaters, than the instrument of God.
WE pay too much for locking people up for things that are sins, not crimes.

... About Education

I was a teacher before the No Student Left Un-Recruited Law. The Bill was a Republican plan. What do think was supposed to happen? The quickening of privatization, that's what. 100% of ANY nations' students are not going to be proficient in school; can we have some common sense, please? The famous support of Edward Kennedy of this law is a shame. He played the role of rich kid invited to the neighborhood game only because he owned a ball. Democrats must begin to care more about justice than they do about trying to get the "middle" (read right-wing) vote. After the law passed there was a huge increase in the use of consultants (teachers tired of teaching students) and a decrease in the amount of money spent directly in the classroom. Education is, Constitutionally, a STATE issue, and the fed needs to butt out, if only because EACH new administration is going to change the policy of the previous administration. It was justice to integrate the schools and it took the federal government to do it, but education in and of itself is not a Civil Right. The movement to declare it so is a Republican move to further discredit PUBLIC schools so that they can reward their buddies with privatization. The first violators of the "Civil Right" to education are always PARENTS (for the first five or six years) and they set the stage for that child's future. But no parent will ever be accused of the violation; unionized teachers will.

CIA Whistle-Blower on Torture Prosecuted

Huffington Post reports that , "... the same month (CIA whistle-blower) Kiriakou was indicted, former CIA officer Jose Rodriguez, who oversaw the interrogation program, was on a book tour, proudly defending waterboarding and his own decision to destroy videos of interrogations in which it was used." I understand the outrage. A man who did not torture might go to jail, while a man who did torture and destroy the evidence is free. And of course the blogosphere is full of condemnation of Obama. So many people raise the specter of an America gone awry: buy guns, stock up on food and water, dig a shelter...

I don't want to live in that world. They're playing a kid's game of Cowboys and Indians with real weapons and they're the Indians. If that nightmare scenario comes true it's because it's already too late and the police and the military will kill you.

But ... imagine ... Maybe Obama HAS to do certain things in order to convince the majority of America's secret agencies and high-level military that Democrats CAN and HAVE kept America safe from outside attacks, whereas the Republicans did NOT.

I, too, have been deeply disappointed, but stop blaming the one person - the President. WE the people have foolishly sat back and let Congress become a home for fools and let the Supreme Court pick our President. THAT was the day for Al Gore to become a hero for all time. On that day we should have flooded the streets in protest!! This is America of course we're going to do a recount, even a new vote, if necessary. THAT'S what I wish Mr. Gore had said. Of course, he would have been assassinated.

Who is most likely to engage in "mass incarcerations" - Obama or ANY Republican President? I'm voting for Obama. He yanked us from the brink of the cliff of full-blown fascism. He is leading us back to the center, opening the door for a future wherein the American people wake  up to the fact that we have been robbed by the rich. Unfortunately, he has not yanked us all the way to Disneyland, but with Obama we have a chance to regain sanity. The Republican Party leaders are insane.

England growing - How about US?

Imagine ... living in a country where the leader can say the equivalent of "I want to establish a full parliamentary inquiry involving both houses, chaired by the chairman of the Commons Treasury Select Committee."
UK prime minister Cameron said people "want to see bankers who acted improperly punished, and they want to know we will learn the broader lessons of what happened in this particular scandal". I say re-elect Obama AND support the Ron Paul move to audit the Federal Reserve. It's our money.
Imagine ... living in a country where the leader can say, "This committee will be able to take evidence under oath, it will have full access to papers and officials and ministers 
including ministers and special advisers from the last government." The USA cannot come to grips with the enormous danger in our Empire-seeking secret agencies, wasteful wars that create more danger to us than they do to protect us and an economy that rewards bribing cheating speculator/gamblers more than real workers until our leaders can speak openly about Wall Street crime and wrong-doing in former administrations.