The Liberal Coalition

From SoonerThought:

I watched the pathetic Dateline NBC show, where chat show host (the Today Show is a talk show, you know) Matt Lauer beat up on Michael Moore about his new film.

Lauer must have thought he looked like a tough, impartial journalist. I think he was just sucking up to his corporate masters. Just pathetic.

Moore gave as good as he got, telling Lauer "You know I've been sitting here for like the last 20 minutes thinking, man, if he would have only asked Bush administration officials these kind of hard questions in the weeks leading up to the war, and then when the war started, maybe there wouldn't be a war. Because the American people, once given the truth, you know the old saying from Abraham Lincoln, give the people the facts and the Republic will be safe."

Amen.

posted by Anonymous @ 8:22 AM |

Yeah, I haven't been the most productive of the LC members lately...but I have been busy! I've been working on quite a few things actually. In addition to taking some vacation. That would be, a vacation from the city and a vacation from the news.

Now that I'm back, somewhat, I thought I would start off with a miniscule contribution of a newslink. I know, it's kind of cheap, but it is what it is.

'Abu Ghraib, USA'

When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail.

When I heard that dogs had been used to intimidate and bite at least one detainee at Abu Ghraib, I thought of the training video shown at the Brazoria County Detention Center in Texas.

When I learned that the male inmates at Abu Ghraib were forced to wear women's underwear, I thought of the Maricopa County jails in Phoenix, Arizona.

And when I saw the photos of the naked bodies restrained in grotesque and clearly uncomfortable positions, I thought of the Utah prison system.

Donald Rumsfeld said of the abuse when he visited Abu Ghraib on May 13, "It doesn't represent American values."

But the images from Iraq looked all too American to me.

posted by zozosma @ 4:13 PM |

In a post for my late night readers at The Fulcrum, I asked:

At what point does a church cross the line in advocating for a particular candidate and become liable to lose its tax exempt status? Or is there a point? I'm not going to give you choices and I'm not interested in what the law literally says; I'm hoping to start a true discussion. In comments to my post below on Bush asking the Pope to interfere in the upcoming elections, there are those who say it's almost impossible to cross that line without actually uttering the words "vote for [fill in the blank]." I have my own opinion on the subject, but am very much interested in what you all think.

Please drop by The Fulcrum and add your voice to the discussion.

posted by Charles Perez @ 11:03 PM |

A right-wingnut site called Move America Forward is asking its readers to call on the movie chains that plan to show Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 and complain. They have posted a page with contact information for executives for the major movie houses for that purpose.

I propose that we subvert their own resources: Please go to this page and pick one, two or all of the contacts listed there and e-mail them with support for their decision to screen this film.

Mention the First Amendment. Mention a couple of groups known for wanting to suppress dissenting views; Communists, Fascists, Dictators of all stripes. Throw in a few of your own. Then mention the fact that you can influence a group of people not to patronize their businesses; how many people read your blog? how many people do you speak to daily? Let them know there are consequences for backing down from these fascist tactics. Be polite, don't use any profanity. But be firm in your conviction.

Go. And please, pass this around - post it on your blog.

Cross posted from The Fulcrum.

posted by Charles Perez @ 10:57 AM |