Rush Limbaugh : Reports say Chest Pains/Heart Attack; Press is Inexplicibly Silent

This came before the strange news blackout on what should be a big story even if this is a mild case of anxiety. Something is up when all of the major news outlets relegate the news of the possible heart attack of a major force on the dark side to the bottom of the pile. This is being mentioned as an afterthought, and I have been in a fugue state with this story all day, wondering if I made it up. But here it is, still fresh 24 hours later...




Rush Limbaugh has reportedly been rushed to a hospital in Honolulu Hawaii with chest pains. His site reports that he is resting comfortably, but various news outlet reports differ (and its been really hard to find anything that isn't a copy of the local paper with no real information,) with early reports being that he is in critical condition with a heart attack. There will supposedly be official news tomorrow morning so stay tuned.

I don't know what to say, folks...It seems that the liberal, politically correct way is to try not to sink to the level of the likes of a cretin like Limbaugh, but apparently that's not me. I have to wonder if there is a moment for a sociopath in this advanced stage of narcissistic self involvement, where he realizes that this may be the big "it," and start to bargain with his God. I wonder about the real fear beneath the "heaven" bravado, and if he felt much pain before they started pumping him with medicines.

Tomorrow he may walk waving from the hospital with a cigar clenched in his teeth, tanned and ready for another round of golf...but right now, maybe there is a modicum of payback going on for the hate and violence that he incites; a seed of insight in that view of an end of the construct that is Rush, which touches even a tiny amount on the pain and turmoil that he as caused for countless innocent victims in the name of freedom of speech and capitalism. Maybe there will be some moment where the bluster breaks and he sees that the end is lonely, the riches fall away, and there is nothing but truth, whether you are to be a recycled part of the circle of nature, or judged in heaven, there cannot be an easy and good ending for this man.
I just hope that at some point the realization comes upon him...and that his legacy will be solely that he made money on the destruction of the struggling American society and spirit.

I don't like to be this hateful, but I, like so much of American society, have become a little hardened by what has gone on.. and Ive lost my patience for anyone who continues to deride those who are trying to chip away at the rubble pile left by the Bush-Cheney regime.

So, say a prayer to whatever god you've got; a prayer that people who go through these things are at the very least, faced with the truth of who they are and what they've done; then hes on his own and his record speaks for itself.

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Obama's Gesture; Tries to Block Torture Pictures That Are Already Out There. Nice Try...I Guess....

So, who is he blocking these pictures from? In the shadow of the looming snowball rolling down the hill behind him, President Obama seemingly caved today and decided to block the release of the new array of torture photos coming out of Abu Ghraib Prison, Iraq. The pictures are more of the same series that we've seen already, and many have been already published in other countries. In a way, the President was able to play both sides of the fence in that the pictures had already been leaked anyway, and so he was able to appear thoughtful on the effect that these photos would have on our soldiers serving around the world, but also he could be sure that the outrage would be there because they, or some of them, would be out in a bigger way than they had been previously. The problem is that in trying to cover this up for whatever reason, we hurt ourselves more, in that anything short of demanding a thorough investigation of the torture program of the previous administration will not be enough to regain our worldwide moral standing.

In covering his bases, Obama maintains his legendary cool but can also find his outrage along with the people. He should, however, be careful in that there will be a point, if it hasn't come already, that he starts to seem disingenuous in his handling of the situation. There is really only one response to what has gone on; it has to be addressed, not buried. Whatever the reasons are for his decisions so far, there is no excuse for not appointing an independent prosecutor to look at this; especially in light of Nancy Pelosi's statements today...talk about disingenuous!I'm having alot of trouble buying that deer in the headlights exclamation of surprise! If I knew they were lying about everything then what did the likes of Ms. Pelosi need? We are supposed to believe that just now she put the dates of reported torture together with the briefings and realized that they lied to her!!? At least she has the power to demand an investigation, and it looks like she will. I think that we are going to see more and more of this, because the vortex of wrongdoing is going to suck everyone in who doesn't get on the right side of this thing. (and for a really disgusting experience, see Rove's article in the Wall Street Journal today about the Pelosi timeline, breaking down what she knew and when she knew it, according to the master manipulator himself!)



Lets recap, for those who have been watching the Cheney media circus this past week, and who might be a tad confused. First of all, contrary to the blathering of the Cheney machine, we know that torture doesn't work. This is a fact that has been proven by numerous experts over many years, and this example of torture has proved it again. Torture is only used to force captives to make untrue statements incriminating themselves and their countries or groups; this would be helpful only if one wanted to connect something like, say, 9-11 to Saddam Hussein...um...yeah.

The Bush/Cheneys decided to disregard all real expert opinion, and surround themselves with only those who would be blindly loyal to their plan, (Plan: the concept of which I use lightly in this instance,) and that meant that they had to find malleable fundamentalists or blind patriots who had less experience in these issues than they should have had and that would follow orders without question; as Bill Maher said "low hanging fruit."

So, how could this happen? The channels that are the checks and balances of this country were corrupted, so If the orders came directly from the oval office that this was an unprecedented national emergency, then I suppose that the spy agencies might lie to the congress, right? Who knows? It was such a mess and Bush/Cheney were rewriting the rules as they went along. The only example that I can think of as anything like this situation is, unfortunately, 24! That's all well and good, but the glaring sticking point is that it went on for so long. This wasn't a one shot deal, it was a program that reportedly came directly down from the Vice President's office.



Ultimately, all of that tin-foil-hat stuff that we were trying not to succumb to, turned out to be true. All along, I kept saying that next comes the dancing girls and elephants, because I couldn't believe that it could possibly get this much stranger than fiction. I have trouble still believing that all of this was done for the money and/or revenge for Bush one, but anything could be true....the only thing that resonates with me is that this is a sort of fundamentalist mental illness, and group-think of the kool-aid variety; cognitive dissonance. To break the very tenants that this country was founded on, and to perform acts that we tried and convicted others of in the past, thereby creating more recent law that we can cite along with the actual laws and the Geneva Convention, and to do it all so openly, leads me to believe that there is some sort of real deep mental problem here which we would could call any number of things, but the actions performed in it's service were clearly illegal and must be addressed.



Obama can block the images all he wants but they will see the light. The thing is that he must come out in favor of investigation of these crimes soon, regardless of any precedent he might set for prosecution of prior Presidents of the Untied States. He must assume that neither he or any other President would commit such acts and if they were ever implicated for actions in office, they would welcome at least an investigation. To not investigate and try to bury this is much more of a danger to our troops all over the world than looking at it in the light and punishing the criminals.


c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Elliot Spitzer Again....Truth to Power; Listen to this Guy...

What if the most reasonable voice out there on the financial crisis was a discredited, fallen, former prosecutor and governor, who now, having been through the depths of what happens when you turn over too many rocks in this game, can actually speak about it without looking over his shoulder? We know his horrible secret already, and that's the beauty of having him as a voice now. Watch this entire thing because you need to know this. I would venture to say that if we had leaders who were as smart as this guy and who were exorcising their demons with high class call girls rather than say...um...torturing people, maybe we'd be in better shape. I'm sorry for all of us women who were promised fidelity forever and the perfect cotton candy skies (as Sammy Seder used to say about the World of Your Imagination,) but maybe these high power guys should be assigned a hooker of their own, just to keep it all in the lines...y'know? I'm just sayin'...I'm not dismissing his expertise because he did it with a fancy hooker...OK? At least she was fancy and seemingly didn't have diseases; I guess we all draw our own lines.

You didn't hear it from me, but this guy is coming back:




and for those of you who wanted to hear him speak on the horrible scandal, for which he was not charged with any criminal wrongdoing...far be it for me to deprive you of this part:



If we are supposed to focus on the shiny hookers and blow aspect of this guy,then maybe we need to step back from what the media want us to think about and think that he knows so much about this that might actually help us, and what is it that they don't want us to know?

Thanks to Rachel Maddow for booking him...and Fareed Zakaria for booking him for us.

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast!

Its the Votes, Stupid! BradBlog Breaks GOP Voter Registration Fraud Arrest...Live on Fox News!

Our great friend Brad of Brad Blog was able to break this story live on Fox News last night in the midst of an appearance with scary John Fund, punditizing for the left on a segment that was purported to be about voter disenfranchisement/fraud through home foreclosures. These things usually devolve into a tit for tat of "well, no one made the borrowers take the loans" versus "well, no one made the banks loan the money," with the likes of Fund saying "poor banks were forced by Freddie/Fannie..." and that the unscrupulous borrowers should have known better...whatever; used to be that the lender did a thorough check as to whether a borrower could afford a loan. So, enter our hero, stage left, with a real breaking story about real, immediate, lawbreaking on the GOP side, and gasp!!! ...Fox led with the breaking story at the top of the news hour, and Fund is probably still bristling.

This is a great example of real news reporting meeting Faux News and the real stuff winning out.... Because when faced with stark truth, even in the face of the angry Fund types trying to spin it, this kind of thing can't get a footing even at Fox. They have to leave it with a "well, if this is true we will run it," statement...and then, they sorta have to run it...

Imagine what would happen if each outlet had to be fair and balanced, and if it was a matter of national regulation rather than corporate interest ...imagine what would happen if Americans had the actual information breaking from wherever the news was, without the spin, and were tasked with coming to their own conclusions...it sounds quaint and old fashioned, but here it is; reporting like it used to be....


Thanks, as always, to Brad for working tirelessly to get the truth out about making our votes count and be counted! This is probably the one most important issue leading to this election, and we all need to be aware of what is going on. Visit Brad often for the constantly breaking news and let your representatives know that you are watching this situation and that you expect to be protected and to have your vote counted.

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Obama The Grown Up ...Moving Forward and Healing America in a Contentious Enviornment

I've got to admit that during this campaign I haven't been as taken with Obama as some people have. I find myself too disappointed in the process as its been to believe in promises anymore. Maybe its age but these days I hang back with my heart until I see it all in motion. I'm not a true believer in a system being played as if any pure theory of government works without some overlap. The truth of political campaigns is that they are full of empty promises and ideas until its clear that the bodies are all in place and the votes are there to support a promised agenda. Even then, these plans, in the best case scenario, go into working mode with, hopefully, enough representation from the other side to balance, but not enough to stop progress. Somewhere along the line the spinners have convinced the American people that there isn't tremendous room for shaping the ideas that are set forth in these lofty speeches.

It seems to me that a President Obama will certainly go into office and get to work disassembling alot of what the Bushies have put in place, (a huge job,) but beyond that there is no guarantee that anything being said now will emerge from the process looking exactly like it does in the campaign promises. Those promises are merely outlines of ideas after all, and once the new President has spent 100 days putting things right and assigning committees to work on these ideas, they may turn out to be pretty different than what is being proposed in the heat of battle.

Of course, its by these beginnings of ideas that we get the idea of who the candidate is and what his direction is...right? Obama's ideals are hopeful and almost old fashioned in that we haven't heard much along those lines lately, This is the stuff that is so unusual in the climate that we've been living in as to elicit cries of socialism; surely dirty, right? It sounds that way, anyway...Or maybe it's a good overlapping part of any successful capitalistic government? Yeah, Obama is hopeful... and I feel almost hopeful...But its all promises, promises, promises to me until I see him actually get to work.

There is something so off about anyone wanting this job at this point in time. Wanting to drag their families and friends through the hazing and nonsense indicates something that used to be called public service but is now more akin to craziness. There is a fine line between being compelled to this kind of visible public service and pure narcissism, and in times like these, when things are so bad, the stakes are high, the candidates are bound to exhibit certain extremes of personality. What is it that the American people need at any given point? A cartoon cowboy full of swagger? A Lifetime movie of a POW?

John McCain certainly is extreme; the way he has plodded through his life is scary-reminiscent of a textbook narcissist, or the ones that too many of us grew up with, who also suffers from a range of battle related disorders. Being such a basic life failure in school and the military, and then only succeeding in government on the strength of his worst failure, must create a tremendous emotional split, and having to embrace his worst life experiences as his greatest triumph could only be repeated trauma...but the whole persona is built on that war hero so, what can he do?

Saturday's New York Times has a scathing article about Cindy McCain, who, even as a reportedly cold hard bitch, has seemingly done her time. My god, is this the 1950's in Stepford, or is she just really hardened by a life that was privileged and yet lacking in some crucial elements necessary to become a whole person? Maybe after enough years of decorating house after house and buying car after car you become the cunt that he says you are. I feel sorry for her, but as my Mom just said, this is no first lady of the United States! It sort of lays to rest all the worry about Michelle Obama, terrorist, in that at least she has some affect and empathy for the little people. Poor Cindy, Shes got to take that sack of pathology home after this is over and try to go on....and I don't care how rich she is, its not gonna be easy. Oh, I know they have separate lives, but he's sick and close to the end of being functional. I also believe that he may be at the end of his ongoing government aspirations on any level; even Arizona is not all so find of Johnny anymore, and he is not young enough to wait for the conservatives to swing around again.

Who are any of these candidates beyond what we project onto them? Why is it so easy for ad-men like Rove to write the outline of of what we take in? Maybe its the decline of the culture pushing our expectations into the gutter; we've grown so accustomed to being shown titillating pictures and uncovering dirty secrets, that without dancing girls and Jerry Springer fights we hardly even begin to show interest. Its a cruel realization that the National Enquirer usually does have the story first! Its a cruel realization that if there is a staffer to fuck or a bathroom to cruise, our leaders are there; truth: marriages end and everyone has cellulite and even celebrities look washed out without makeup. There are no statesmen with dignity, ethics, and morals, out there, as my Grandpa often says.... but actually Grandpa, there never really have been. Its all the morass of humanity come home to roost when the facade of civility gets wiped away by a public eager for scandal and a press that has an ever tightening bottom line. Society has changed; and it will likely change back again and again before this planet flicks the likes of us from its overburdened surface. We are always in a state of flux, but the question is that in the ongoing liberalization of our society how do we treat each other and where is the line between self realization and working together for the good of all?

The shocking Palinesque fringe underground and their forebears have been kept and fed not only by the likes of the Bush regime, but really since the beginning of social history as a part of the human condition. Nothing surprises me anymore, but this circus is a little further out there than I could imagine things flying, even after what we've witnessed in this country in the past 8 years. I suppose that remote areas spawn the more extreme belief in magic that alot of the reported religious practice is based on, and while not talking up the rapture and/or handling snakes, its a wonder that spaceships don't land and spirit the whole bunch of them away.

Yeah, I'm knee jerk opposed to any sort of evangelical movement because it takes spirituality and belief in God and removes the personal relationship and social responsibility of the individual in favor of the direction of the preacher and the movement of the group as a whole. In that atmosphere, even the most absurd becomes acceptable, and the reasoning and questioning part of any healthy spiritual quest is removed in favor of memorization of talking points....its a wonder that the recent powerbrokers in DC have made good use of these groups; they come as a fully formed army and they are very suggestible.

I know that they get the Internets out there in Alaska and in places like the wilds of Montana, and it seems odd to me that there isn't more dissent; I really don't believe that Alaska is full of Palin-like people, but it does also seem that remote rural areas of this country need services and education immediately; that certain areas in the deep south could really benefit from children's programs aimed at literacy and some vision of the big world that is out there. How can any young American citizen participate fully in our democracy if they don't understand how they fit into the their community, state, and the country, much less the world. It seems like its a huge disservice to all taxpayers to not educate everyone about civics, philosophy, and decision making. Maybe some people in some communities wont grasp the larger picture, but at least offering the knowledge might open some minds that might otherwise have remained closed...and really, its not like everyone in rural America is gonna rise up and participate, but they might participate locally or in their own families to the extent that they can. What is the fear out there of educating people? Oh yeah, they might not just lay down and take it.

On the heels of the presidential debates and alot of ugliness that has been shaken loose by the level of the McCain campaign, I have become more and more appreciative of Obama the grownup, who somehow manages to stand back and just watch, sorta shaking his head and smiling, as gramps McCain sprouts horns and snakes crawl from his mouth. I suppose that there is nothing more gratifying at this point than standing back and watching the old coot twitch, and unravel himself. Rather than taking him apart, which would have been just a little too easy, Obama just looks at it happen, as if he is in as much disbelief as every other right minded American has been all along.

These wingnuts need to be allowed to speak their minds, because apparently, after the past 8 years, there are enough levelheaded Americans, from all walks of life, who have finally and at long last, had enough. This is the time to examine whats in the snowball that Rovian political spin has been rolling downhill. Hearing it spoken is all we really need. Why any citizen might vote republican this time are clear cut and range from laziness to stupidity to selfish greed. I have searched and searched for some positive reason besides tax cuts which are, for the rich anyway, merely an immediate band aid representing more of a rollback than a proper cut. The recycled plans the McCain cites were largely already out there and rejected, and experts have explained why, regardless of how little people want to know of facts. There is no victory and no winning the Iraq war, and letting McCain follow his heart in replaying some shattered memory of his own past is crazy-suicidal for this country... And the way in which he might rip the throat from anyone who disagrees with him brings us full circle back to the sick old man who needs to go home to one of his houses and retire with whatever honor is left. Need I go on? The health plan, our right to privacy, the constitution, the power of the executive....my god, can we afford another moment of this social and political backsliding? THIS episode may be merely a blip in history but it sure hurts here on the ground.

I am in awe of the raw, sensational, crudeness of this underside beast unleashed seemingly by the dying gasp of the facade of a campaign that was built on a foundation of the ugliness of the depths of human depravity, living in some underground cave coveting it's Precious-rightfully-theirs. From the depths of Gollum's cave comes the fairy tale that even greedy-badness has a Smeagol side, fondly remembering friendship and love, softening at the edges before the ring snaps him back to the reality of losing this coveted thing.

The story can be read on the grimacing face of John McCain during events longer than a few minutes, and as he starts to lose it, blinking and wincing, trying to keep the man behind the curtain hidden, its so clear that he is spinning out of control, if not for a cadre of handlers who must have a hell of a job getting from point A to point B in one piece. In his face its apparent that this country has somehow lost an intangible element of reality versus the lies that we need to hear to make the way we've been living over the past 8 years OK. I'm afraid that whats gone on will make it impossible for even a middle of the road liberal politician to do much of anything in the next term...but then...but then, even in my fugue state of driving around looking at the houses and cars behind the McCain lawn signs and wondering what went wrong there; what goes on in those houses that allows those people to be so blind and hateful?... I'm feeling the hope of the landslide and trying to not be hurt by every McCain sticker and sign out there. Because there is really no excuse anymore...as if it could be simply "taxes" or "I'm so selfish that I don't give a crap about anyone else," because that's the way its been shown to us on TV...he's a hero and has experience...we're afraid?I'm tired of excuses based on weakness and fear.

When did it become OK to not care about our neighbors? When did it become OK to question the patriotism of others because they have different ideas than we do?...when did it become OK to shut down the exchange of ideas that allows the democratic ideal to flourish? And when did it become OK to loudly proclaim that fantasy and lies are reality and truth, forget questioning because they won't answer questions (insert wink and head tilt here.)

I look at the McCain signed houses around here and examine the houses and cars trying to figure it all out. Downtown I see families with kids getting out of Hummers or Porsche SUV's and I wonder what went wrong there. What message is anyone sending by having a vehicle that costs so much, is a "war" vehicle, burns unnecessarily large amounts of fuel, and yells aggressively to the community a message that I cant quite fathom. I want to take the hands of those people and ask them what the problem is...were they abused somehow? have they felt attacked during this obviously profitable time for them? What is it...whats happened? Because, they couldn't have been so short sighted to have thought that any of this could possibly go on, could they?

The past 8 years have been full of so much backsliding on hard won social progress, and if our society is to continue at all we have to get back on that track. It involves maybe a little bit more insight and courage than we are encouraging our kids to have via education, and that may be what was the plan. But if logic at least prevails, a society that cares for its weakest members and provides preventative care also saves money in the long run, (that's after the rapture, for any fundies out there... the left behind will need something to rebuild with, afterall.) The windfall may very well be over for this select few and it may be a time when America reconnects with the middle class; America is a country of the middle class and for the middle class, and the promise of being able to own a little piece of it and get your kids some bit of education is not yet cold in the ground...Maybe this Obama guy with his calm demeanor and no nonsense attitude can get some of that back.

The political seasons pass and it could well be that those who profited on what amounts to alot of destructive ugliness over the past 8 years, had better have socked away the nuts for a long winter. We could be hitting some lean times, and the coming times may require that you put your hummer in the garage and take your aggressive public stance underground where those like you will sleep and regain strength for the next go round. Its time for the middle class to rebuild our country and to try to find their hearts under the hard shell built up after too many days of hard work to try to make ends meet in the trickle up economy of yesterday. Its time to bring the jobs back home and invest in our education system so that we have American workers that can do those jobs.

Ultimately I find myself liking the fatherly Obama, all full of hope and ideals, all sacrificial and willing to give his time and energy to the thankless next 8 years, which heaven knows can go either way. Just that smile and shake of the head shows us all what we know; that this is all bullshit, and it has been bullshit for too long, and now there will be people in charge who are grownups, and who know whats gone wrong...I hope so anyway. I assume nothing anymore...I count on no one.... But, since I first saw Obama speaking to a full stage of democrat candidates over a year ago, he has matured and grown into the stature and body of President of the United States. I can see it now, but I'm not over the moon because realistically, any movement is gonna take time, and the American attention span doesn't lend itself to anything less than a speedy and full recovery complete with flat screen TVs and trips to Disney Land. I really long to breathe a sigh of relief and just retire from all of this thinking about the country and the state of things, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Mike Boettcher Takes Flight With No Ignoring! Truth Through Risk!

Our good friend, Mike Boettcher, of No Ignoring!, has reportedly completed preproduction and headed back to the sandbox. He headed out yesterday and is currently in Kuwait at Ali as Salim Air Base. He is now scheduled for an early equipment draw and then an air movement into Baghdad's Green Zone, followed by a Rhino Ride to Camp Liberty. At Liberty the team has a production trailer from which they will jump headlong into the dangerous project that they have spent months preparing for via a boot camp-like preproduction situation. The time in Baghdad is approximately 7 hours ahead of us here in New York City, and as he is duplicating the experience of the soldiers in the field, we can expect that by now Mike and his team are exhausted.

In the coming weeks, Mike will be providing us with information and stories from the battlefield to the field camps of Iraq. He and his team will be living alongside the soldiers and showing their experiences as soldiers, members of their platoons, and as human beings far from home, doing a job that is as difficult as it is terrifying and heartbreaking.






At the same time, Mike will be co-teaching a groundbreaking class, "War and Media,"at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, along with the Gaylord College of Journalism. Mike will appear weekly via video link to interact with students and give them an on the ground experience of what goes into war reporting. More on that here.

McCain Watch

Blue Girl (from the Red State) has a great new regular feature: McCain Watch!
I expect to link to this regularly and also to contribute as much as I can. Kudos to the Girl for spearheading what will hopefully be a running conversation on the blogs and in the M$M...There is a truth about McCain that is shrouded in the aura of the war hero, and its a truth that has to get out to the American people before we find ourselves in real trouble, worse than we've seen yet....