HELEN:
Margaret, I ventured into new territory today. I tuned into Fox News. It was kind of like going to the zoo… not so scary once you learn the animals can’t get out of their cages.
Just like when I go to a regular zoo, I didn’t know the names of all the animals at Fox, but I quickly learned the ones with opposable thumbs and the ability to reason were token Democrats who had, at some point, worked in the Clinton administration. The ones who liked to rattle their cages and screech at the visitors were the angry Republican hacks who seemed to be, for the first time, discovering the wonders of math.
I was surprised to see so many animals that I thought were long ago extinct. There was angry, old Lou Dobbs plodding around mumbling something about voter fraud and immigrants and Mike Huckabee being all folksy and jolly. And there was Oliver North, Liz Cheney, Haley Barbour and even Geraldo Rivera who now just goes by Geraldo like Madonna, Cher and Cavuto.
Over in a corner in a cage all by himself was the red-assed Karl Rove. Now that one scares me. When they called Ohio for Obama I heard he started flinging pooh and screaming about recounts and faulty polls.
I got a chance to spot the elusive big-footed Ann Coulter which was thrilling. Since her visit to The View, she only makes appearances when no other women are in the room. She seemed pretty at ease in the zoo. I guess that comes from all the time she spent collaborating with monkeys on those personal therapy projects she calls books. Ann seemed remarkably calm considering not only the election results but also the colossal failure that was her last book. Usually she’s shrill and fidgety but sitting there in the cage with Sean Hannity she seemed almost human.
There was a lovely exhibit of irrelevant talking parrots including Shepard Smith, Greg Gutfeld, Tucker Carlson and Mr. Van Susteren. I can’t keep all of their names straight but one of them suggested that the majority of voters are like abused housewives who voted to stay with their abuser. Most of them were squawking about Hurricane Sandy and that America was about to go over a cliff. As expected, they blamed the liberal media for handing the election to Obama while simultaneously chirping that Fox is the most watched news broadcast in the nation. I know. I know. It doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense but it’s Fox News. It doesn’t have to. While I don’t think they understand the difference between Mexican-Americans and Cuban-Americans, they seem to think that any Republican politician with a name ending in O or Z will need to be on the bottom half of the ticket in 2016 if Republicans are to take the White House back.
Every zoo has its specialty and Fox is no exception. They have the largest collection of blonde, bulemic middle school girls posing as reporters with names like Megyn, Gretchen, Cheryl and Dana… many of them openly wept as the election results came in causing a river of mascara that got all over everything.
But the real treat came when I ran across that rare but ever-lovable snow beast, Sarah Palin. She’s a bit older but still very capable of smacking her lips while rattling off those non-sensical run-on sentences like “this election if it continues the way it is going will be a catastrophic setback to our economy and to any opportunity that we would have for Supreme Court justices to be appointed who would be strict adherents to the traditional interpretation of what our Constitution says which is a blueprint towards a more perfect union.” Isn’t she precious? Honestly, I was surprised to see that she had actually survived the end-of-days calamity known as the 2008 election.
Now Margaret, I don’t suggest that you visit the Fox Zoo. The lighting is bad, the air is thin, and reality is in short supply. They haven’t cleaned the cages in years so the bullshit is everywhere. Instead let me visit occasionally and send back reports. Trust me. It’s better that way.
Unlike the zoo, trips to Fox News should probably be few and far between. I mean it. Really.
MARGARET:
Thanks dear. I’ll stick to Ellen and leave the heavy lifting to you. But next time you are there do check and see what ever happened to Mrs. Van Susteren.
Good Lord no! He’s not liberal at all! He is not a progressive in any sense of the word. He IS a pragmatist, and won’t discard an idea just because it has a progressive flavor to it. My husband sez he is RePub lite, just like Clinton. But for heavens sakes, Barry Goldwater looks like a wildeyed liberal when compared with the current crop of RW nutjobs and fruitloops!
By: JC on November 11, 2012
at 3:40 PM
Robert – my progressive radio station has the Buffalo Bills on (cuts in to a program in progress) just for the season I think. (Sister station carries Right Wing) Still have the regular line up (Press, Miller, Schutz, Rhodes and Hartmann) during the day and Ring of Fire on Sat & Sun night…so far. But I know that WPOJ in Portland, OR has changed to sports; no longer a progressive talk station. Portland a very liberal city! NYC has no left wing stations! Yes it is happening, IMO.
They say that progressive talk radio doesn’t make money (or demand for it) but most are “small stick” stations covering a small area. The advertizers would rather spend their money on larger stations covering a larger portion of the population. Can’t blame them.
But realizing the turn out of Dems this election and last why would there be no demand for left wing radio??? It is said for every 1000 hours of Conservative talk radio there is 100 hours of liberal talk radio. I would not be surprised if they are working to eliminate the left wing stations along with NPR. Are they stacking the deck the SOBs.
Peace.
By: Cynthia on November 11, 2012
at 3:38 PM
From Democracy Now, an interview with Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West… their thoughts after the election.. worth watching because its what I’ve been saying all along, Obama is not a liberal.
“Rockefeller Republican in Black face”… http://www.democracynow.org/2012/11/9/tavis_smiley_cornel_west_on_the
By: Robert on November 11, 2012
at 3:23 PM
Has anybody noticed if their local liberal radio talk show channel has changed programming? I usually listen to Keep Hope Alive (Jesse Jackson) on Sunday mornings, but today as well as yesterday when Ring Of Fire radio (Mike P, Bobby Kennedy) was usually on, the programming was all sports, all day. Its still sports programming as I type. It would usually be re-runs of the weeks liberal radio shows on the weekends.
I know Clear Channel owns the channel I listen to. I’m wondering if they are retaliating for Obama’s win and cutting back on liberal show hosts? I’m anxious to hear if the normal weekly programming with Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann and Ed Schutlz, et al remains the same.
By: Robert on November 11, 2012
at 3:02 PM
pelican,
Someone, back when the comment section was changed, relayed the following process for seeing all the comments. Scroll to the bottom (or use the End key) of the page and click on ‘Older Comments’. Repeat this until you get to the comment you want or the beginning. Then you can read UP in chronological order. At the top of that page, use the Forward Arrow of your browser to jump to the bottom of the next page. Repeat until current.
PEACE ~ Δ
ps: Don’t forget to check previous threads for new comments.
By: Whirled Peas Δ on November 11, 2012
at 1:55 PM
Augh I haven’t even got thru the authoritarians yet!!
By: JC on November 11, 2012
at 1:35 PM
That was an odd post, pel, especially since Patty was posting back to alaskapi…who has posted quite frequently over the last day or so – all reasonable well thought out statements. Not really sure what you are getting at here. Very strange.
By: JC on November 11, 2012
at 1:33 PM
Another interesting article.
http://www.sott.net/article/253449-America-Myth-Reality-Death-Squads-and-al-Qaeda#
Peace.
By: Cynthia on November 11, 2012
at 1:20 PM
ALERT to any newcomer to this wonderful and witty blog: there are intelligent comments posted here. I just had to scroll way…WAY…down, ignoring the stupid stuff along the way, to find them. Thanks, Patty, for your words of encouragement when I was about to give up.
By: pelican on November 11, 2012
at 1:12 PM
thanks so much Pi.. xoxoxoxoo
By: lori on November 11, 2012
at 12:51 PM
ALERT to any newcomers to this wonderful, witty blog: there ARE intelligent comments despite the nonsense perpetrated by the crazies and the uglies. I just had to scroll way…WAY…down to find them. Thanks, Patty, for the words of encouragement just when I was about to give up.
By: Anonymous on November 11, 2012
at 12:43 PM
lori- please tell delurkergurl to check her email.I don’t know what will shake out. Sending best wishes…
By: alaskapi on November 11, 2012
at 10:07 AM
Hey Pi, do you still keep in touch with Jeuno Joe???? We haven’t heard from G-ma Katie in a while and we are starting to get a little worried. JJ kept in touch with her. We wondered if he has heard from her lately. Would you ask him for us?
By: lori on November 11, 2012
at 9:13 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
My opinion and observations:
There is nothing quite so OVER as a national election when it’s OVER. Well, maybe Christmas, after all the shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, decorating and putting up with cranky relatives for the day and then the clean up. And of course the THUD of taking down and dismantling the tree to say nothing of deciding what to do with the monstrous ‘authentic object d’art’ Cousin Jake proudly brought us from Las Vegas.
I couldn’t be more pleased with the re-election of President Obama. I have thought right along that he is a fine man with the best interests of the whole country at heart. Besides that, he is highly intelligent and now has four years of experience under his belt in trying to “work with” the Republicans. He is no longer naïve about that, I’m sure.
The doom and gloom boys are already out in full force as if their viewpoint has ever solved any problems. Since President Obama no longer has to be concerned about re-election, he can break out the executive order pen as soon as the GOP starts dragging their feet (knuckles?) again. He can now concentrate his energies on getting the job done without the Hanging of the Crepe from the Right.
I only wish we had been able to pick up a few more House seats. It is still going to be near impossible trying to get even a little cooperation from that bunch. We have progressed a long way though and I have noticed that popular vote-wise, many of the former solidly red states are gradually turning toward shades of purple. That’s a good sign.
I do feel however that we should not let our guard down. And I don’t mean wasting time going off half-cocked on paranoid conspiracy theories. That’s the Right-wing’s specialty. We do know for sure now that the 1% money people are livid! Their very ‘raison d’etre’ is their money with the power and influence they expected it would buy. All those billions down the drain. For those whose entire identity is wrapped up in their net worth, it must truly be panic time. With the drop in the stock market since Election Day, I think we saw some of them scurrying to stash assets in Switzerland and the Caymans quick, quick before the Bush tax cuts expire, unless they think they can find a way to con President Obama into extending them. He’s not likely to fall for it this time around.
It has been my experience in my rather long life that trying to ‘reason’ with deeply ingrained philosophical, ideological and religious convictions is an exercise in futility as well as a waste of time. No amount of ‘clips’ and ‘proof’ from the expert evidence of metonymic rhetoric on Fox or in the social media is likely to change anyone’s perspective. Certainly not mine!
I don’t have much faith in fraudulent, scheming and weak historical injustices perpetuated because of traditional irredentist claims. It boils down to this: all people prefer to live rather than to die; to spend their days in a modicum of comfort rather than pain and deprivation. That requires a few basic necessities. In civilized society it is called humanity caring for humanity.
Aloha!
Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
P. S. Need I emphasize? LET’S STAY VIGILANT!!!!!!!
By: waialeale on November 11, 2012
at 2:09 AM
One more comment . . . sorry lovely ladies with my favorite new blog that’s getting a billion comments because FARK gave you love . . . this one’s just so I can do it without checked boxes, in hopes I won’t keep getting endless emails about irrelevant comments. Much love and happy strolling!
By: Steven D'Mused on November 11, 2012
at 12:34 AM
Right on ladies! Right on!
By: Valerie Vaughan on November 10, 2012
at 10:43 PM
Does anyone remember Mittens Robme, the great business genius who was going to turn the country around with his colossal ego, his extensive business experience and his state-of-the-art voter supression program called “ORCA”? I get hot flashes just thinking about what a doofus he turned out to be.
Here is a prime example of how he managed to blow off his foot. It’s a hoot.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/08/Orca-How-the-Romney-Campaign-Suppressed-Its-Own-Vote
By: Anonymous on November 10, 2012
at 10:37 PM
SkylEr- I thought it was a gentle rebuke to me spelling your screen name incorrectly:-)
Jim Wright delights me over and over. His smackdown of Mr Aiken made me laugh so hard my dog got up and ran out of the room.
Cynthia- thank you!
Mr Rich deserves praise for coining the term “post fact” Republican-right? Romney campaign along with the whole of his argument there.
He did point to something else we should stay very aware of a couple weeks ago though
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/27/frank_rich_right_will_rage_if_obama_wins/
As Colorado Blue, sidney, and others have said it is not over. The 2014 midterms will be very important , right along with the day to day keeping up.
The one and only Representative in the House for my state, Mr Don Young, Congressmen only for those who vote for him, affectionately known as Yon Dung, could do with some of those letters you all are writing also, too.
By: alaskapi on November 10, 2012
at 8:53 PM
I made a quick attempt to find if this had been posted already. If so it is worth reading twice.
Fantasyland
“Denial has poisoned the GOP and threatens the rest of the country” too.http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/gop-denial-2012-11/
Stonekettle was great!…again…as usual!
Peace.
By: Cynthia on November 10, 2012
at 7:16 PM
That was me, Skyler, Alaskapi. — when it said E. I was typing in the info when it decided to “send.”
By: Skyler on November 10, 2012
at 7:03 PM
Ha Alaskapi. I love Stonekettle Station’s blog as well. Guess I’m not the only “hated one” now that the “party of hate” lost the election. I’m still laughing at Stonekettle’s blog about Todd Aikan where he said that if a woman can shut that down in cases of rape, that sounds like birth control and he wondered if the pope was aware of that.
By: E on November 10, 2012
at 7:01 PM
Jim at Stonekettle does it yet again!
http://www.stonekettle.com/2012/11/hemlock-with-small-side-of-schadenfreude.html
Skylar-
See comment from Don in Waco , Nov 8
By: alaskapi on November 10, 2012
at 3:40 PM
Peas…..as long as the republican party learns how to say “we hate you, you mooching spics”, in Spanish, then everything will be good for the next election. LOL …..I just love the sites you post, and I have no clue how to do that. I’m on an iPad, so I don’t even know if i could.
By: sidney18511 on November 10, 2012
at 1:54 PM
How wonderful! I’m so happy that I stumbled onto your blog; thank you for taking time our of your day to share your insights.
By: Katherine Thomasser on November 10, 2012
at 1:16 PM
.
.
Here’s a vulture at the ‘Zoo’.
Charles Krauthammer:
“Legalize Their Status Enough To Live In The Shadows”
Evolution can be a very slow process for the Right.
.
PEACE ~ Δ
By: Whirled Peas Δ on November 10, 2012
at 12:08 PM
I have been making more than just “extra income” from an invention I’ve been peddling to the conspiracy theorists.
They are the antecedents of the torch carriers in Young Frankenstien, an historical documentary concerning a period of time of the gop.
It was easily determined that they were experiencing interference in receiving clear signals from Mars while wearing their Reynold’s Wrap hats.
I watched one of them and took note of the facial twitches, grunts, angrily puzzled expression and sweat.
I then realized that they were suffering from OCD which manifests itself in neurotically blaming President Obama for everything that has ever occurred in the 6,000 years of their world’s history.
What I did was asked one of them for permission to inspect one of their “Truth Caps”.
I used oven mitts to avoid any infection.
I had lined this cap with pennies and asked to CTer to put it back on.
He immediately wore a wide smile with even more facial tics.
I knew I had something so, I went to the bank and bought rolls of pennies.
I then went around to all the “myth robme” rallies and set up a stand.
I sold these rolls of pennies to them @ 2 rools for $3.00.
I then took their caps and lined them with pennies.
I ekplained to them that the copper in the pennies would enable them to pick up clear signals from Pluto with the explanation that that was where the actual headquarters were for the campaign.
I made so much more money than I expected as, when one of them told another, it spread like wildfire, almost as fast as unfounded rumors in that crowd.
Now, I did have to wear shin pads during these events to protect my legs from the vast forest of constantly jerking knees.
I realized early on that I can be prepared to make a vast fortune during the next election cycle so, I have rented warehouses around the country, mostly in the red(neck( states.
I will be acquiring bridges and swampland and stiocking them in these warehouses.
I expect to be able to retire after raking in all that easy money.
By: Just Me on November 10, 2012
at 11:53 AM
Skyler……the republicans not only have the ability to lie to their supporters without blinking an eye, it appears they also have no problem LYING to themselves!
They also believe that if they can explain the conservative ideology to the Latino population in Spanish, that they can win them over, because once the Latinos understand that giving up their Medicare benefits so the billionaires can keep their taxes low, the problem will be solved. They are delusional to the extream. Really.
By: sidney18511 on November 10, 2012
at 11:40 AM
JC-
The whole thing is long and complicated and would try the patience of even those who were interested.
Also- I realize looking at how I said that I have left the appearance that the turning-red here thing was fully on the doorsteps of the Ds. As much as I think the failure of the state Ds to understand what was going on contributed considerably to the Native population shifting away from the party, I also think the standard and accepted notion that the oil boom changed demographics enough to shift us played a part, though not nearly as much as many think.
Short story:
Against the backdrop of multiple landmark settlements in land, subsistence rights, and the like coupled with the federal government’s abandonment of assimilation policies (starting under Nixon almost unbelievably!) Ds here missed the primary difference Alaska Natives had/have with traditionally D civil rights issues :
from section 1.3-
“In contrast to the civil rights movement of American blacks, Native Americans sought to mitigate the injustices perpetrated against them mainly by pursuing political self-determination, in the form of tribal self-rule.”
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/civil-rights/
and through inattention and oversight lost the larger Native community. It is a distinction which eludes Ds in large numbers here yet.
The *saving* or *helping* was in trying to apply civil rights notions of what to do for disadvantaged persons as individuals while ignoring the group’s intention to stay whole. There is some similarity here to the beginning-to-be-understood downside of colorblind polices elsewhere but I would have to think more on how much…
It is not to say that the community became Rs though. The Rs are no friend of the community but Rs like Senator Stevens and Senator Murkowski have filled in plenty of gaps the State will not for Native communities and have thus become the enemy-we-know.
Personally, I am mixed race, with a foot in 2 worlds, both of which are full of the good, bad, and the ugly. For me, the Ds still present a better chance for resolution of age old problems but locally an awful lot of them are pretty clueless.
Mageen- I looked up the Murray Energy guy and read his lil prayer and all. Whoa! what a doof!
What’s up with rich -job-providers who blame the President, any President, for shifts in the whole market? If people are relying more on natural gas, where was he in cutting himself into that market? Isn’t that what the so-called smart ones do?
Sheesh.
By: alaskapi on November 10, 2012
at 11:08 AM
Even though I didn’t post my pro-Obama views on Facebook or rub them in anybody’s face, or say na-na-na-na-na after he won, I’ve been “unfriended” on Facebook, and I’ve got 3-4 other friends who have lost friends over the election (although I think these weren’t really friends, but who am I to say?) I think I will order a T-shirt that says: I voted for Obama and got unfriended. Even though Romney bashed women, the middle class, gays, the military, latinos and all immigrants, blacks, all minorities, basically everyone except for rich, white men, and belonged to an anti-woman cult, and even though some republican senatorial candidates thumbed their noses up to rape (and would have changed the laws to make it a non-crime if they could have), these oh-so-smart republicans cannot understand why so many in the above-mentioned bashed groups didn’t vote for Romney and are convinced it’s my fault. Oh well, no tears shed here. I went out to breakfast with one of my Canadian friends yesterday and people in the cafe heard us talking. They were complete strangers, but came over to shake my hand. Proud to meet an American who supported Obama, and some said they wished they had been able to vote as well.
By: Skyler on November 10, 2012
at 10:43 AM
Apparently, the FBI was monitoring Petraeus’s emails and that’s how the affair was discovered. So, who is monitoring the FBI’s emails, the NSA or is HSA? We should also realize everything we do through the internet or electronically on our phones is being archived. There is no privacy anymore. None. The Military/NSA is building a very large facility in Utah that is where the data will all be archived. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/
When you call your bank and enter the account and pin # into the phone, all that data is being archived. The entire string of numbers. People should also realize, all our calls are also being recorded. So when you tell a family member where the house key is hidden or what the combination on a lock is or something personal about your life, just remember that info is out there to be resurrected whenever you become a target of investigation. All it will take is a breach of that information by some rogue employee or hacker to cause some real security issues for all of us.
1984 is here. I don’t much like this future. The younger generations don’t seem to care though. They tell everything they do as though they’re a Kardashian, only without the million dollar contracts. There is no anonymous behavior anymore. When we know we are being watched, we act different. But its being sold as its for our own safety and welfare. People think reality shows are just on TV. We are all in a reality show now. Some of the internet companies are now offering home monitoring. Do people think those cams are off just because they think they turned them off when they came home? How will you know they’re really off?
By: Robert on November 10, 2012
at 6:34 AM